Experimental investigation on the performance and emissions of a diesel engine fuelled with ethanol–diesel blends

An experimental investigation on the application of the blends of ethanol with diesel to a diesel engine was carried out. First, the solubility of ethanol and diesel was conducted with and without the additive of normal butanol (n-butanol). Furthermore, experimental tests were carried out to study the performance and emissions of the engine fuelled with the blends compared with those fuelled by diesel. The test results show that it is feasible and applicable for the blends with n-butanol to replace pure diesel as the fuel for diesel engine; the thermal efficiencies of the engine fuelled by the blends were comparable with that fuelled by diesel, with some increase of fuel consumptions, which is due to the lower heating value of ethanol. The characteristics of the emissions were also studied. Fuelled by the blends, it is found that the smoke emissions from the engine fuelled by the blends were all lower than that fuelled by diesel; the carbon monoxide (CO) were reduced when the engine ran at and above its half loads, but were increased at low loads and low speed; the hydrocarbon (HC) emissions were all higher except for the top loads at high speed; the nitrogen oxides (NO_x) emissions were different for different speeds, loads and blends.     

Performance and emission characteristics of a diesel engine fueled with coconut oil–diesel fuel blend

The objective of the present study is to reveal the effects of pure coconut oil and coconut oil–diesel fuel blends on the performance and emissions of a direct injection diesel engine. Operation of the test engine with pure coconut oil and coconut oil–diesel fuel blends for a wide range of engine load conditions was shown to be successful even without engine modifications. It was also shown that increasing the amount of coconut oil in the coconut oil–diesel fuel blend resulted in lower smoke and NO_x emissions. However, this resulted in an increase in the BSFC. This was attributed to the lower heating value of neat coconut oil fuel compared to diesel fuel.     

Combustion and emission characteristics of an off-road diesel engine fuelled with biodiesel–diesel blends

In this work, the combustion and emission characteristics were studied in a 186FA diesel engine fuelled with biodiesel–diesel to examine the effect of the percentage of biodiesel in the blends, and the experimental investigation was conducted with various blending ratios of biodiesel under different operating conditions. In addition, the combustion noise of the diesel engine fuelled with biodiesel–diesel was analysed, and then the emission characteristics of NO_x and soot were studied through simulation analysis where the formation rate and distribution of NO_x and soot for pure diesel and B20 fuel were described. Based on the simulation data of the original diesel engine fuelled with B20 fuel, the swirl ratio and fuel injection timing were optimised and the technical measures were suggested to reduce the two different emissions simultaneously. The simulation results showed the emission characteristics were optimal when the swirl ratio was 2.7 and fuel injection timing was 7.5° degree of crank angle before top dead centre respectively.     

Theoretical and experimental study on the performance of a diesel engine fueled with diesel–biodiesel blends

This study reports the effects of engine load and biodiesel percentage on the performance of a diesel engine fueled with diesel–biodiesel blends by experiments and a new theoretical model based on the finite-time thermodynamics (FTT). In recent years, biodiesel utilization in diesel engines has been popular due to depletion of petroleum-based diesel fuel. In this study, performance of a single cylinder, four-stroke, direct injection (DI) diesel engine fueled with diesel–biodiesel mixtures has been experimentally and theoretically investigated. The simulation results agree with the experimental data. After model validation, the effects of engine load and biodiesel percentage on engine performance have been parametrically investigated. The results showed that, effective power increases constantly, effective efficiency increases to a specified value and then starts to decrease with increasing engine load at constant biodiesel percentage and compression ratio. However, effective efficiency increases, effective power decreases to a certain value and then begins to increase with increasing biodiesel percentage at constant equivalence ratio and compression ratio.     

A study of the performance,emission and combustion characteristics of a compression ignition engine using methyl ester of paradise oil–eucalyptus oil blends

The significance of this study is the complete replacement of diesel fuel with bio-fuels. For this purpose; bio-fuels, namely, methyl ester of paradise oil and eucalyptus oil were chosen and used as fuel in the form of blends. Various proportions of paradise oil and eucalyptus oil are prepared on a volume basis and used as fuels in a single cylinder, four-stroke DI diesel engine, to study the performance and emission characteristics of these fuels. In the present investigation a methyl ester derived from paradise oil is considered as an ignition improver. The results show a 49% reduction in smoke, 34.5% reduction in HC emissions and a 37% reduction in CO emissions for the Me50–Eu50 blend with a 2.7% increase in NO_x emission at full load. There was a 2.4% increase in brake thermal efficiency for the Me50–Eu50 blend at full load. The combustion characteristics of Me50–Eu50 blend are comparable with those of diesel.     

Experimental investigation on performance and emissions of a spark-ignition engine fuelled with natural gas–hydrogen blends combined with EGR

An experimental investigation on the influence of different hydrogen fractions and EGR rates on the performance and emissions of a spark-ignition engine was conducted. The results show that large EGR introduction decreases the engine power output. However, hydrogen addition can increase the power output at large EGR operation. Effective thermal efficiency shows an increasing trend at small EGR rate and a decreasing trend with further increase of EGR rate. In the case of small EGR rate, effective thermal efficiency is decreased with the increase of hydrogen fraction; while in the case of large EGR rate, thermal efficiency is increased with increasing of hydrogen fraction. For a specified hydrogen fraction, NO_x concentration is decreased with the increase of EGR rate and this effectiveness becomes more obviously at high hydrogen fraction. HC emission is increased with the increase of EGR rate and it decreases with the increase of hydrogen fraction. CO and CO₂ emissions show little variations with EGR rate, but they decrease with the increase of hydrogen fraction. The study shows that natural gas–hydrogen blend combining with EGR can realize high-efficiency and low-emission spark-ignition engine.     

The effects of Al2O3–TiO2 coating in a diesel engine on performance and emission of corn oil methyl ester

Today, as a result of increase in oil prices, limited fossil fuel resources, environmental consideration and global warming, the methyl ester fuels have been focused on alternative fuels. Methyl ester fuels can be used more efficiently in low heat rejection engines (LHR), in which the temperature of combustion chamber is increased by creating a thermal barrier. In this study, the piston, cylinder head, exhaust and inlet valves of a diesel engine were coated with the ceramic material Al₂O₃–TiO₂ by the plasma spray method. Thus, a thermal barrier was provided for the parts of the combustion chamber with these coatings. The effects of corn oil methyl ester that produced by the transesterification method, and No. D2 fuels’ performance and exhaust emissions’ rate were studied by using equal in every respect coated and uncoated engines. Tests were performed on the uncoated engine, and then repeated on the coated engine and the results were compared. A decrease in engine power and specific fuel consumption, as well as significant improvements in exhaust gas emissions (except NOx), were observed for all test fuels used in the coated engine compared with that of the uncoated engine.     

Performance and emission evaluation of a CI engine fueled with preheated raw rapeseed oil (RRO)–diesel blends

Many studies are still being carried out to find out surplus information about how vegetable based oils can efficiently be used in compression ignition engines. Raw rapeseed oil (RRO) was used as blended with diesel fuel (DF) by 50% oil–50% diesel fuel in volume (O50) also as blended with diesel fuel by 20% oil–80% diesel fuel in volume (O20). The test fuels were used in a single cylinder, four stroke, naturally aspirated, direct injection compression ignition engine. The effects of fuel preheating to 100 °C on the engine performance and emission characteristics of a CI engine fueled with rapeseed oil diesel blends were clarified. Results showed that preheating of RRO was lowered RRO’s viscosity and provided smooth fuel flow Heating is necessary for smooth flow and to avoid fuel filter clogging. It can be achieved by heating RRO to 100 °C. It can also be concluded that preheating of the fuel have some positive effects on engine performance and emissions when operating with vegetable oil.     

Performance,emission and combustion characteristic of a multicylinder DI diesel engine running on diesel–ethanol–biodiesel blends of high ethanol content

Feasibility of using high percentage of ethanol in diesel–ethanol blends, with biodiesel as a co-solvent and properties enhancer has been investigated. The blends tested are D70/E20/B10 (blend A), D50/E30/B20 (blend B) D50/E40/B10 (blend C), and Diesel (D100). The blends are prepared to get maximum percentage of oxygen content but keeping important properties such as density, viscosity and Cetane index within acceptable limits. Experiments are conducted on a multicylinder, DI diesel engine, whose original injection timing was 13° CA BTDC. The engine did not run on blends B and C at this injection timing and it was required to advance timing to 18° and 21° CA BTDC to enable the use of blends B and C respectively. However advancing injection timing almost doubled the NO emissions and increased peak firing pressure. The P–θ and net heat release diagrams shows that the combustion process of these blends delayed at low loads but approaches to the diesel fuel at high loads. The comparison of blend results with baseline diesel showed that brake specific fuel consumption increased considerably, thermal efficiency improved slightly, smoke opacity reduced remarkably at high loads. NO variation depends on operating conditions while CO emissions drastically increased at low loads. Blend B which replaced 50% diesel and having oxygen content up to 12.21% by weight has given satisfactory performance for steady state running mode up to 1600 RPM however, it does not showed any benefit on peak smoke emission during free acceleration test.     

An experimental study on performance and emission characteristics of a methane–hydrogen fuelled gasoline engine

In this paper, the performance and emission characteristics of a conventional twin-cylinder, four stroke, spark-ignited (SI) engine that is running with methane–hydrogen blends have been investigated experimentally. The engine was modified to realize hydrogen port injection by installing hydrogen feeding line in the intake manifolds. The experimental results have been demonstrated that the brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) increased with the increase of hydrogen fraction in fuel blends at low speeds. On the other hand, as hydrogen percentage in the mixture increased, BSFC values decreased at high speeds. Furthermore, brake thermal efficiencies were found to decrease with the increase in percentage of hydrogen added. In addition, it has been found that CO₂, NO_x and HC emissions decrease with increasing hydrogen. However, CO emissions tended to increase with the addition of hydrogen generally increase. It has been showed that hydrogen is a very good choice as a gasoline engine fuel. The data are also very useful for operational changes needed to optimize the hydrogen fuelled SI engine design.     

Experimental investigation and combustion analysis of a direct injection dual-fuel diesel–natural gas engine

A single-cylinder diesel engine has been converted into a dual-fuel engine to operate with natural gas together with a pilot injection of diesel fuel used to ignite the CNG–air charge. The CNG was injected into the intake manifold via a gas injector on purpose designed for this application. The main performance of the gas injector, such as flow coefficient, instantaneous mass flow rate, delay time between electrical signal and opening of the injector, have been characterized by testing the injector in a constant-volume optical vessel. The CNG jet structure has also been characterized by means of shadowgraphy technique.     

Environmental effects of adding aluminum oxide nano-additives on diesel engine fueled with pyrolyzed biomass oil–​diesel blends

The present study focuses on the investigation of environmental effects of adding aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃) nanoparticles as nano-additive in diesel-pyrolyzed biomass oil (PBO) blends. The PBO was extracted from jatropha seeds through the catalytic pyrolysis process at a temperature ranging from 450°C to 550°C. The esterification of PBO has been carried out using a catalyst in the presence of methyl alcohol to improve its physical properties and quality. The Al₂O₃ nano-additives were dispersed into PBO20 (20% of PBO and 80% of diesel) and PBO40 (40% of PBO and 60% of diesel) blends with a concentration of 50 ppm. The physical properties of test fuel blends were measured and compared with diesel. The engine emission tests were carried out using these blends at a constant speed of 1500 rpm by varying the load. The emission constituents such as CO, HC, and smoke were reduced. However, the emissions like CO₂ and NO were increased by the addition of nano-additives compared to diesel.     

Combustion,emission and engine performance characteristics of used cooking oil biodiesel—A review

As the environment degrades at an alarming rate, there have been steady calls by most governments following international energy policies for the use of biofuels. One of the biofuels whose use is rapidly expanding is biodiesel. One of the economical sources for biodiesel production which doubles in the reduction of liquid waste and the subsequent burden of sewage treatment is used cooking oil (UCO). However, the products formed during frying, such as free fatty acid and some polymerized triglycerides, can affect the transesterification reaction and the biodiesel properties. This paper attempts to collect and analyze published works mainly in scientific journals about the engine performance, combustion and emissions characteristics of UCO biodiesel on diesel engine. Overall, the engine performance of the UCO biodiesel and its blends was only marginally poorer compared to diesel. From the standpoint of emissions, NOx emissions were slightly higher while un-burnt hydrocarbon (UBHC) emissions were lower for UCO biodiesel when compares to diesel fuel. There were no noticeable differences between UCO biodiesel and fresh oil biodiesel as their engine performances, combustion and emissions characteristics bear a close resemblance. This is probably more closely related to the oxygenated nature of biodiesel which is almost constant for every biodiesel (biodiesel has some level of oxygen bound to its chemical structure) and also to its higher viscosity and lower calorific value, which have a major bearing on spray formation and initial combustion.     

Characteristics analysis of carbon nanowires in diesel: Neochloris oleoabundans algae oil biodiesel–ethanol blends in a CI engine

The present work is dedicated to the study of diesel–biodiesel–ethanol blends in a diesel engine using carbon nanowires additives of various concentrations. Algae oil from microalgae has the possibility of becoming a sustainable fuel source as biodiesel. The Neochloris oleoabundans algal oil was extracted by the mechanical extraction method. The transesterification reaction of algal oil with methanol and base catalyst was used for the production of biodiesel. Experimental investigation results were studied for various parameters such as exhaust emission of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon, oxides of nitrogen gases, and smoke.     

Investigation of combustion and emission characteristics in a TBC diesel engine fuelled with CH4–CO2–H2 mixtures

In this study, an experimental investigation was performed to reveal combustion and emission characteristics of common-rail four-cylinder diesel engine run with CH₄, CO₂ and H₂ mixtures. The engine pistons were thermally coated with zirconia and Ni–Al bond coat by plasma spray method. With a small amount of the pilot diesel, port fuelled methane (100% CH₄), synthetic biogas (80% CH₄ + 20% CO₂), and hydrogen presented (80% CH₄+10% CO₂+10% H₂) mixtures were used as main fuel at different loads (50 Nm, 75 Nm, and 100 Nm) at a constant speed of 1750 min^?1. Comparative analysis of the combustion (cylinder pressure, PRR, HRR, CHR, ringing intensity, CA10, CA50, and CA90), BSFC, and emissions (CO₂, HC, NO_x, smoke, and oxygen) at the various engine loads with and without piston coating was made for all fuel combinations. It was found that coating the engine pistons enhanced the examining combustion characteristics, whereas it slightly changed BSFC and most of the emissions. As compared to the sole diesel fuel, the gaseous fuel operations showed higher in-cylinder pressure, PRR, and ringing intensity values, earlier combustion starting and CAs, and lower diesel injection pressure at the same engine operating conditions. Dramatic increase in the ringing intensity was particularly found by the hydrogen introduced mixture under the tests with coated piston. HC and CO₂ emissions increased in operation with the synthetic biogas; however, hydrogen introduction reduced HC emissions by 4.97–30.92%, and CO₂ emissions by 5.16–10%.     

Evaluation of vibration characteristics of a hydroxyl (HHO) gas generator installed diesel engine fuelled with different diesel–biodiesel blends

There are two main reasons of alternative fuel search of scientists: environmental problems resulted from combustion of fossil fuels and limited reserves of crude oil. Biodiesel and Hydrogen (H₂) are two of the most promising alternative fuels with their environmental friendly combustion profiles. The aim of this study was to evaluate vibration level of a hydroxyl (HHO) gas generator installed and diesel engine using different kinds of biodiesel fuels. In this study, at different flow rates, the effect of HHO gas addition on engine vibration performance was investigated with a Mitsubishi Canter 4D34-2A diesel engine. HHO gas introduced to the test engine via its intake manifold with 2, 4 and 6 L per minute (LPM) flow rates when the engine was fuelled with sunflower, canola, and corn biodiesels. The vibration data was collected between 1200 and 2400 rpm engine speeds by 300 rpm intervals. Finally, artificial neural network (ANN) approach was conducted in order to predict the effect of fuel properties and HHO amount on engine vibration level.     

Experimental study on combustion characteristics of a spark-ignition engine fueled with natural gas–hydrogen blends combining with EGR

An experimental study on the effect of hydrogen fraction and EGR rate on the combustion characteristics of a spark-ignition engine fueled with natural gas–hydrogen blends was investigated. The results show that flame development duration, rapid combustion duration and total combustion duration are increased with the increase of EGR rate and decreased with the increase of hydrogen fraction in the blends. Hydrogen addition shows larger influence on flame development duration than that on rapid combustion duration. The coefficient of variation of the indicated mean effective pressure increases with the increase of EGR rate. And hydrogen addition into natural gas decreases the coefficient of variation of the indicated mean effective pressure, and this effectiveness becomes more obviously at high EGR rate. Engine fueled with natural gas–hydrogen blends combining with proper EGR rate can realize the stable low temperature combustion in gas engine.     

Modeling and prediction of NOx emission in an LPG–diesel dual-fuel CI engine

Different alternative fuels have been proposed by various researchers in diesel engines in view of increased NO_x and particulate emissions. Out of the various methods proposed, dual fueling is one of the most important techniques that helps solve the different operational problems related to diesel engine combustion and emission. In the current study, modeling and predicting the formation of NO_x emission in a duel fuel liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)–diesel engine has been undertaken. Simulations have been conducted for various LPG flow rates at different engine loads and the predicted NO_x values are compared with the experimental values. The results found that there is a decent agreement between the forecasted and the investigational results, where the average difference is within 13.7%. Furthermore, it is found that minimum NO_x emission was observed for an LPG flow rate in the range of 0.4–0.6 kg/h and when the engine is running with 75% loading.     

Influence of pentanol and dimethyl ether blending with diesel on the combustion performance and emission characteristics in a compression ignition engine under low temperature combustion mode

Dimethyl ether (DME) and n-pentanol can be derived from non-food based biomass feedstock without unsettling food supplies and thus attract increasing attention as promising alternative fuels, yet some of their unique fuel properties different from diesel may significantly affect engine operation and thus limit their direct usage in diesel engines. In this study, the influence of n-pentanol, DME and diesel blends on the combustion performance and emission characteristics of a diesel engine under low-temperature combustion (LTC) mode was evaluated at various engine loads (0.2–0.8 MPa BMEP) and two Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) levels (15% and 30%). Three test blends were prepared by adding different proportions of DME and n-pentanol in baseline diesel and termed as D85DM15, D65P35, and D60DM20P20 respectively. The results showed that particulate matter (PM) mass and size-resolved PM number concentration were lower for D85DM15 and D65P35 and the least for D60DM20P20 compared with neat diesel. D60DM20P20 turned out to generate the lowest NO_x emissions among the test blends at high engine load, and it further reduced by approximately 56% and 32% at low and medium loads respectively. It was found that the combination of medium EGR (15%) level and D60DM20P20 blend could generate the lowest NO_x and PM emissions among the tested oxygenated blends with a slight decrease in engine performance. THC and CO emissions were higher for oxygenated blends than baseline diesel and the addition of EGR further exacerbated these gaseous emissions. This study demonstrated a great potential of n-pentanol, DME and diesel (D60DM20P20) blend in compression ignition engines with optimum combustion and emission characteristics under low temperature combustion mode, yet long term durability and commercial viability have not been considered.     

Performance and combustion characteristics of biodiesel–diesel–methanol blend fuelled engine

An experimental investigation was conducted to evaluate the effects of using methanol as additive to biodiesel–diesel blends on the engine performance, emissions and combustion characteristics of a direct injection diesel engine under variable operating conditions. BD50 (50% biodiesel and 50% diesel in vol.) was prepared as the baseline fuel. Methanol was added to BD50 as an additive by volume percent of 5% and 10% (denoted as BDM5 and BDM10). The results indicate that the combustion starts later for BDM5 and BDM10 than for BD50 at low engine load, but is almost identical at high engine load. At low engine load of 1500 r/min, BDM5 and BDM10 show the similar peak cylinder pressure and peak of pressure rise rate to BD50, and higher peak of heat release rate than that of BD50. At low engine load of 1800 r/min, the peak cylinder pressure and the peak of pressure rise rate of BDM5 and BDM10 are lower than those of BD50, and the peak of heat release rate is similar to that of BD50. The crank angles at which the peak values occur are later for BDM5 and BDM10 than for BD50. At high engine load, the peak cylinder pressure, the peak of pressure rise rate and peak of heat release rate of BDM5 and BDM10 are higher than those of BD50, and the crank angle of peak values for all tested fuels are almost same. The power and torque outputs of BDM5 and BDM10 are slightly lower than those of BD50. BDM5 and BDM10 show dramatic reduction of smoke emissions. CO emissions are slightly lower, and NO_x and HC emissions are almost similar to those of BD50 at speed characteristic of full engine load.