Numerical simulation of biodiesel fuel combustion and emission characteristics in a direct injection diesel engine

The effect of the physical and chemical properties of biodiesel fuels on the combustion process and pollutants formation in Direct Injection (DI) engine are investigated numerically by using multi-dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation. In the current study, methyl butanoate (MB) and n-heptane are used as the surrogates for the biodiesel fuel and the conventional diesel fuel. Detailed kinetic chemical mechanisms for MB and n-heptane are implemented to simulate the combustion process. It is shown that the differences in the chemical properties between the biodiesel fuel and the diesel fuel affect the whole combustion process more significantly than the differences in the physical properties. While the variations of both the chemical and the physical properties between the biodiesel and diesel fuel influence the soot formation at the equivalent level, the variations in the chemical properties play a crucial role in the NO_x emissions formation.     

柴油机高压共轨喷射系统参数对燃烧和排放性能影响的研究

利用AVL-FIRE软件建立TBD234柴油机高压共轨燃烧过程仿真计算模型,通过仿真计算,系统分析了喷射系统主要参数对柴油机高压共轨燃烧和排放性能的影响。最后进行了试验验证,结果表明,仿真值与试验值基本吻合。研究结果为柴油机高压共轨喷射系统参数的优化设计提供了可靠依据。     

Effect of injection parameters on the combustion and emission characteristics in a common-rail direct injection diesel engine fueled with waste cooking oil biodiesel

The objective of this paper was to study the effects of the injection pressure and injection timing on the combustion and emission characteristics in a single-cylinder common-rail direct injection (CRDI) diesel engine fueled with waste cooking oil (WCO) biodiesel and commercial diesel fuel. The fuel property including fatty acid composition for the biodiesel were measured and compared with those of the conventional diesel fuel. The engine tests were conducted at two injection pressures (80 and 160 MPa) and different injection timings from −25 to 0 crank angle degree (CAD) after top dead center (aTDC) under two different engine loads. The results showed that the indicated specific fuel consumption (ISFC) with respect to the injection timings of the biodiesel was higher than that of the diesel fuel under all experimental conditions. The peak cylinder pressure and the peak heat release rate of the biodiesel were slightly lower, while the ignition delay was slightly longer under all operating conditions. In terms of emissions, the biodiesel had benefits in reduction of smoke, carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbon (HC) emissions especially with high fuel injection pressure. The nitrogen oxide (NO_x) emissions of the biodiesel were relatively higher than those of the diesel under all experimental conditions.     

Numerical simulation of biodiesel fuel combustion and emission characteristics in a direct injection diesel engine

The effect of the physical and chemical properties of biodiesel fuels on the combustion process and pollutants formation in Direct Injection (DI) engine are investigated numerically by using multi-dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation. In the current study, methyl butanoate (MB) and n-heptane are used as the surrogates for the biodiesel fuel and the conventional diesel fuel. Detailed kinetic chemical mechanisms for MB and n-heptane are implemented to simulate the combustion process. It is shown that the differences in the chemical properties between the biodiesel fuel and the diesel fuel affect the whole combustion process more significantly than the differences in the physical properties. While the variations of both the chemical and the physical properties between the biodiesel and diesel fuel influence the soot formation at the equivalent level, the variations in the chemical properties play a crucial role in the NO _x emissions formation.     

Effect of mixture strength and injection timing on combustion characteristics of a direct injection hydrogen-fueled engine

An experimental investigation was performed to characterize the hydrogen combustion in a spark-ignition direct-injection engine. It was focused on the effects of mixture strength and injection timing on the characteristics of hydrogen combustion. For this purpose, the practical tests were carried out on an experimental test rig. It is originally designed for optimization of the direct-injection natural-gas engine. The experimental test-rig results comprised the traces for the in-cylinder pressure, mass fraction burned, and heat release rate under the different operation conditions. The results obtained show that the richer mixture condition produced higher pressure trends at all tested points. Besides that, it exhibited a faster rate of increase in combustion rate due to the increase of flame speed. However, the combustion characteristics deteriorated due to the lack of mixture stratification with earlier injection timing. It is concluded that direct-injection timing is essential to achieve better combustion performance. Moreover, retarding the spark ignition timing is also crucial to avoid abnormal combustion in the case of a richer mixture and early start on injection.     

Performance of a common rail diesel engine using biodiesel of waste cooking oil and gasoline blend

High viscosity, high pour point and low volatility are the major application blocks for biodiesel. In this study gasoline is mixed with biodiesel and they can be soluble with each other at any proportion. Combustion and emission characteristics are investigated on a turbocharged, in-line 6-cylinder, common rail diesel engine. Results showed that pour points, viscosities and distillation temperatures obviously decrease with gasoline ratio. Peak combustion pressures of biodiesel/gasoline blend fuels increase slightly. Ignition delays, peak heat release rates and combustion temperatures increase at partial and medium loads. HC and CO emissions increase at partial and medium loads and drop at high loads. NO_X emissions of blend fuels grow by 4.2% and 6.7% compared with biodiesel averagely at 1400r/min, while soot emissions decline by 31.6% and 38.6%. For ultrafine particles (<220 nm), diameters to peak number concentration of blend fuels are smaller than that of biodiesel. Number concentrations decrease by 30% and 49% averagely compared to biodiesel. Especially, gasoline plays a significant reduction role on ultrafine particles at low and medium loads and soot emissions at high loads.     

Exploration of engine characteristics in a CRDI diesel engine enriched with hydrogen in dual fuel mode using toroidal combustion chamber

The impact of dual fuel (diesel/hydrogen) on different performance aspects of CRDI diesel engines is investigated in this study. Amongst the fuel alternatives for IC (internal combustion) engines, the research described in this study recommended hydrogen as the least polluting and renewable in the long term. A CNG-LPG injector feeds hydrogen into the intake manifold, while diesel injectors pump pilot diesel to a DI engine adapted to hydrogen and diesel (dual-fuel mode). By maintaining 5.2 KW of consistent IP (Indicated Power) and engine speed at 1500 ± 10 rotations per minute (RPM), the hydrogen energy was varied in the dual fuel at 0% (100% diesel), 6%, 12%, 18% and 24%. With the increase in H₂ energy proportion, a decrease (5.2% decrease at 24% HES) in the BSEC (brake specific energy consumption) and the engine's BTE (brake thermal efficiency) is improved (7.85% increase at 24% HES). When emissions are considered, indicated NO_x increased (3.42%) while indicated CO₂ (3.61%), CO (2.84%), and smoke (4.85%) decreased with an increase in the proportion of hydrogen. Along with this, it was noted that the peak HRR (heat release rate) of 69.8 J/deg and in-cylinder pressure of 80.8 bar which increased significantly with the increase in hydrogen rate.     

Investigation on the effect of injection schedule and EGR in hydrogen energy share using common rail direct injection dual fuel engine

In this research work, four different diesel injection schedules have been experimented at a BMEP of 2 bar (Low load) in hydrogen diesel dual fuel (HDDF) mode, which are namely single pulse, double pulse phase-1, double pulse phase-2 and multi-pulse. The maximum possible hydrogen energy shares (HES) for single pulse, double pulse phase-1, double pulse phase-2 and multi-pulse injection schedules were 73.99%, 48.98%, 34.46% and 24.39% respectively. Over the injection schedules, double pulse phase-2 improved the brake thermal efficiency (BTE) from 19.50% (single pulse) to 21.61% with a penalty in NO emission. On the other hand, multi-pulse moderately increased the BTE with significant reduction in NO beside rise in smoke emission. At a BMEP of 5 bar (Medium load) operation, there was a considerable reduction in NO emission at maximum range of HES level with 18.21% of EGR, moreover the engine stability was improved with minor increase in smoke emission.     

Performance and combustion characteristics of a direct injection SI hydrogen engine

Hydrogen with low spark-energy requirement, wide flammability range and high burning velocity is an important candidate for being used as fuel in spark-ignition engines. It also offers CO₂ and HC free combustion and lean operation resulting in lower _NOx${\mathrm{NO}}_x$ emissions. However, well examined external mixing of hydrogen with intake air causes backfire and knock especially at higher engine loads. In addition, low heating value per unit of volume of hydrogen limits the maximum output power. In this study, attention was paid to full usage of hydrogen advantage employing internal mixing method. Hydrogen was directly injected into cylinder of a single-cylinder test engine using a high-pressure gas injector and effects of injection timing and spark timing on engine performance and _NOx${\mathrm{NO}}_x$ emission were investigated under wide engine loads. The results indicate that direct injection of hydrogen prevents backfire, and that high thermal efficiency and output power can be achieved by hydrogen injection during late compression stroke. Moreover, by further optimization of the injection timing for each engine load, _NOx${\mathrm{NO}}_x$ emission can be reduced under the high engine output conditions.     

Effect of changing injection pressure on Mahua oil and biodiesel combustion with CeO2 nanoparticle blend on CI engine performance and emission characteristics

Alternative fuels have sparked a lot of interest as oil deposits have decreased and environmental concerns have grown. Biodiesel is an alternative fuel that is being researched as a possible replacement for fossil fuels. In the current investigation, the combustion performance, and emission characteristics of CI(Compression Ignition) engine were examined by changing the fuel injection pressure (180, 200, 220 and 240 bar). The biodiesel (B20) used in this analysis was obtained from Mahua oil at 20% v/v blended with neat diesel (20% Mahua Biodiesel + 80% Diesel). CeO₂(Cerium Oxide) nanoparticles were introduced to the B20 fuel at four distinct concentrations are 25, 50, 75, and 100 ppm. Performance characteristics such as BTE(Brake Thermal Efficiency) and BSFC(Brake Specific Fuel Consumption) were inferior to diesel, at 240 bar B20 with 25 ppm CeO₂ indicated 1.9% increased BTE and 3.8% reduced BSFC compared B20 and 6% lower EGT (Exhaust Gas Temperature) compared diesel. At 200 bar, fuel samples indicated slightly higher In-Cylinder pressure and lower HRR (Heat release rate) compared to diesel. At 200 bar FIP(Fuel Injection Pressure), HC(Hydro Carbon) and CO(Carbon Monoxide) emissions were reduced significantly compared to diesel. The largest reduction in smoke opacity and NOx(Nitrous Oxide) emissions were observed at 240 bar with 75 ppm dosage, but CO₂(Carbon Dioxide) emissions were higher at 220 bar.     

Analysis of combustion and pollutants formation in a direct injection diesel engine using a multi-zone model

A two-dimensional multi-zone model for the calculation of the closed cycle of a direct injection (DI) diesel engine is presented. The fuel spray is divided into small packages and the effect of air velocity pattern on spray development is taken into account. The calculation of swirl intensity variations during the cycle is based on hybrid solid body-boundary layer rotation scheme. Application of the mass, energy and state equations in each zone yields local temperatures and cylinder pressure histories. For calculating the concentration of constituents in the exhaust gases, a chemical equilibrium scheme is adopted for the C-H-O system of the eleven species considered, together with chemical rate equations for the calculation of nitric oxide (NO). A model for the evaluation of soot formation and oxidation rates is incorporated. A comparison is made between the theoretical results from the computer program implementing the analysis, with experimental results from a vast experimental investigation conducted on a direct injection, Lister-Petter diesel engine, with very encouraging results. Plots of temperature, equivalence ratio, NO and soot distributions inside the combustion chamber are presented, elucidating the physical mechanisms governing combustion and pollutants formation.     

Backfire prediction in a manifold injection hydrogen internal combustion engine

Hydrogen internal combustion engine (H2ICE) easily occur inlet manifold backfire and other abnormal combustion phenomena because of the low ignition energy, wide flammability range and rapid combustion speed of hydrogen. In this paper, the effect of injection timing on mixture formation in a manifold injection H2ICE was studied in various engine speed and equivalence ratio by CFD simulation. It was concluded that H2ICE of manifold injection have an limited injection end timing in order to prevent backfire in the inlet manifold. Finally, the limit of injection end timing of the H2ICE was proposed and validated by engine experiment.     

Study on combustion and emission characteristics of a n-butanol engine with hydrogen direct injection under lean burn conditions

The n-butanol fuel, as a renewable and clean biofuel, could ease the energy crisis and decrease the harmful emissions. As another clean and renewable energy, hydrogen properly offset the high HC emissions and the insufficient of dynamic property of pure n-butanol fuel in SI engines, because of the high diffusion coefficient, high adiabatic flame velocity and low heat value. Hydrogen direct injection not only avoids backfire and lower intake efficiency but also promotes to form in-cylinder stratified mixture, which is helpful to enhance combustion and reduce emissions. This experimental study focused on the combustion and emissions characteristics of a hydrogen direct injection stratified n-butanol engine. Three different hydrogen addition fractions (0%, 2.5%, 5%) were used under five different spark timing (10° ,15° ,20° ,25° ,30° CA BTDC). Engine speed and excess air ratio stabled at 1500 rpm and 1.2 respectively. The direct injection timing of the hydrogen was optimized to form a beter stratified mixture. The obtained results demonstrated that brake power and brake thermal efficiency are increased by addition hydrogen directly injected. The BSFC is decreased with the addition of hydrogen. The peak cylinder pressure and the instantaneous heat release rate raises with the increase of the hydrogen addition fraction. In addition, the HC and CO emissions drop while the NOx emissions sharply rise with the addition of hydrogen. As a whole, with hydrogen direct injection, the power and fuel economy performance of n-butanol engine are markedly improved, harmful emissions are partly decreased.     

Combustion,performances, and emissions characteristics of Hermetia illucens larvae oil in a direct injection compression ignition engine

Hermetia illucens larvae oil (HILO) is among biofuel feedstock from insects that has high potential to reduce dependency on petroleum resources. The present paper is motivated by the need to critically examine the effect of HILO mixed with diesel fuel (DF) on combustion, engine performance, and emission characteristics of a single cylinder direct injection (DI) compression ignition (CI) engine. The experiment was performed at a constant speed of 1500 rpm under various engine loads. The results revealed that the in-cylinder pressure, heat release rate (HRR), and the ignition delay (ID) were reduced by an average of 3.32%, 12.89%, and 4.36%, respectively. The brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) and exhaust gas temperature (EGT) increased considerably at all engine loads. The brake thermal efficiency (BTE) was discovered to be lower by 11.47% compared to DF. The finding also shows that carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO₂), and unburned hydrocarbon (UHC) emissions increased with the addition of HILO. The nitrogen oxides (NO_x) emission reduced by 19.80% compared to DF at all the engine loads. Overall, this study concluded the potential of HILO in CI engine as a promising renewable and environmentally friendly resource for the better earth.     

Optimization of port injection of n-decanol in a PCCI engine using response surface methodology

This work aims to define the optimum n-decanol fraction in the inlet port and the corresponding engine load for the better emissions and performance characteristics of a partially premixed charged compression ignition (PCCI) engine by response surface methodology (RSM). The numerical model based on multi-linear regression was established using experimental data. For this, the influence of various proportions of n-decanol through intake port including 10%, 20%, 30%, and 40% were experimentally investigated besides the primary injection of neem oil biodiesel in the volumetric ratio of 80% diesel and 20% neem biodiesel, namely NB20. The optimization using RSM is exploited to capitalize the brake thermal efficiency (BTE) and diminish the emissions including oxides of nitrogen (NO_x), carbon monoxide (CO) emission, smoke opacity, and hydrocarbon (HC) emission. The n-decanol fraction in the port injection of 31.43% and the engine load in terms of brake power of 2.950 kW were found to be optimum parameters with the maximum desirability of 0.752. The optimal responses for brake-specific fuel consumption (BSFC), BTE, CO, HC, smoke, and NO_x under these operating conditions were found to be 0.305 kg/kWh, 28.8%, 0.145%, 19.61%, 54.85 ppm, and 837.7 ppm, respectively. Likewise, the correlation coefficient R² values for BSFC, BTE, CO, HC, smoke and NO_x have been found to be 99.85%, 99.95%, 93.58%, 90.32%, 99.97%, and 99.93%, respectively. According to the study's findings, the RSM is a realistic method for calculating and enhancing a diesel engine's emission and performance values operating in PCCI mode and using n-decanol and NB20 as fuels.     

Effects of injection timing and rail pressure on combustion characteristics and cyclic variations of a common rail DI engine fuelled with F-T diesel synthesized from coal

The use of Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) diesel synthesized from coal in automobiles can alleviate the shortage of petroleum and promote clean utilization of coal. In this study, the effects of injection timing (IT) and rail pressure (RP) on the brake thermal efficiency (BTE), combustion characteristics, and cyclic variations of F-T diesel were investigated on a turbocharged, 6-cylinder, common rail direct injection (CRDI) diesel engine. The results indicate that increasing RP results in higher BTE, whereas advancing IT results in an initial BTE increase and a subsequent BTE decrease. In comparison with petroleum diesel, the BTE of F-T diesel increased by 0.54% on average and by a maximum of 1% under different conditions. When the IT was advanced from 2 °CA to 18 °CA BTDC, the ignition delay periods (IDP) first decreased and then increased, whereas the combustion durations (CD) first lengthened and then shortened; peak cylinder pressure (PCP), peak pressure rise rate (PPRR), and peak combustion temperature (PCT) gradually increased; peak heat release rate (PHRR) first decreased and then increased at the low loads, whereas it always increased at medium and high loads. In comparison with petroleum diesel, the IDP of F-T diesel decreased by 22–31% at various conditions, and the CD was slightly longer than that of petroleum diesel at most conditions. Additionally, increasing RP resulted in a decrease in the IDP and CD, and a significant increase in PCP, PPRR, PHRR, and PCT. At low loads, the PPRR and PHRR of F-T diesel were 32.72% and 32.13% lower than that of diesel owing to the shorter ignition delay. This implies that using F-T diesel can help in attaining smoother engine running and has lower combustion noise. Advancing the injection timing or increasing the engine loads can decrease the cyclic variations, whereas increasing rail pressure results in the increment of COVp_max at low loads and the significant decrement of COVp_max at medium and high loads. In comparison with petroleum diesel, F-T diesel exhibits higher combustion stability owing to the better volatility and higher fuel reactivity.     

Multi-dimensional modeling of mixture preparation in a direct injection engine fueled with gaseous hydrogen

With the recent advances of direct injection (DI) technology, introducing hydrogen into the combustion chamber through DI is being considered as a viable approach to circumvent backfire and pre-ignition encountered in early generations of hydrogen engines. As part of a broader vision to develop a robust numerical model to study hydrogen spark ignition (SI) combustion in internal combustion (IC) engines, the present numerical investigation focuses on mixture preparation in a hydrogen DI SI engine. This study is carried out with a single hole injector with gaseous hydrogen injected at 100 bar injection pressure. Simulations are carried out for high and low tumble configurations and validated against optical data acquired from planar laser induced fluorescence (PLIF) measurements. Varying mesh configurations are investigated for the impact on in-cylinder mixture distribution. A particular emphasis is placed on the effect of nozzle geometry and mesh orientation near the wall. Overall, the computational model is found to predict the mixture distribution in the combustion cylinder reasonably well. The results showed that the alignment of mesh with the flow direction is important to achieve good agreement between numerical analysis and optical measurement data.     

Energy and exergy analysis of a combined injection engine using gasoline port injection coupled with gasoline or hydrogen direct injection under lean-burn conditions

Hydrogen is considered to be a suitable supplementary fuel for Spark Ignition (SI) engines. The energy and exergy analysis of engines is important to provide theoretical fundaments for the improvement of energy and exergy efficiency. However, few studies on the energy and exergy balance of the engine working under Hydrogen Direct Injection (HDI) plus Gasoline Port Injection (GPI) mode under lean-burn conditions are reported. In this paper, the effects of two different modes on the energy and exergy balance of a SI engine working under lean-burn conditions are presented. Two different modes (GPI + GDI and GPI + HDI), five gasoline and hydrogen direct injection fractions (0, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%), and five excess air ratios (1, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4) are studied. The results show that the cooling water takes the 39.40% of the fuel energy on average under GPI + GDI mode under lean-burn conditions, and the value is 40.70% for GPI + HDI mode. The exergy destruction occupies the 56.12% of the fuel exergy on average under GPI + GDI mode under lean-burn conditions, and the value is 54.89% for GPI + HDI mode. The brake thermal efficiency and exergy efficiency of the engine can be improved by 0.29% and 0.31% at the excess air ratio of 1.1 under GPI + GDI mode on average, and the average values are 0.56% and 0.71% for GPI + HDI mode.     

Direct injection diesel engine performance,emission, and combustion characteristics using diesel fuel,nonedible honne oil methyl ester,and blends with diesel fuel

Honne oil methyl ester (HOME) is produced from a nonedible vegetable oil, namely, honne oil, available abundantly in India. It has remained as an untapped new possible source of alternative fuel that can be used for diesel engines. The present research is aimed at investigating experimentally the performance, exhaust emission, and combustion characteristics of a direct injection diesel engine (single cylinder, water cooled) typically used in agricultural sector over the entire load range when fuelled with HOME and diesel fuel blends, HM20 (20% HOME + 80% diesel fuel)–HM100. The properties of these blends are found to be comparable with diesel fuel conforming to the American and European standards. The combustion parameters of HM20 are found to be slightly better than neat diesel (ND). For other blend ratios, these combustion parameters deviated compared with ND. The performance (brake thermal efficiency (BTE), brake‐specific fuel consumption, and exhaust gas temperature) of HM20 is better than ND. For other blend ratios, BTE is inferior compared with ND. The emissions (CO and SO) of HM20–HM100, throughout the entire load range, are dropped significantly compared with ND. Unburned hydrocarbon emissions of HM20–HM40, throughout the entire load range, is slightly decreased, whereas for other blend ratios, it is increased compared with ND. NO_x emissions of HM20, throughout the entire load range, is slightly increased, whereas for other blend ratios, it is slightly decreased. The reductions in exhaust emissions together with increase in BTE made the blend HM20 a suitable alternative fuel for diesel fuel and thus could help in controlling air pollution. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.