Feasibility and performance study of turpentine fueled DI diesel engine operated under HCCI combustion mode

In the present investigation a volatile fraction of Pinus resin called Turpentine has been experimented in a direct injection diesel engine under HCCI combustion mode. The engine chosen to experiment is a single cylinder DI diesel engine and modified in such a way to ignite Turpentine in a diesel engine under HCCI mode. As the Turpentine has a higher self ignition temperature the ignition of Turpentine in regular diesel engines with auto-ignition is not possible. Hence, suitable modification is made in the engine to ignite Turpentine in a diesel engine like diesel fuel. The modified engine has ECM controlled fuel spray and an air preheater in the suction side of the engine. The combined effort of adiabatic compression and supply of preheated air ignites turpentine by auto-ignition and its timing of ignition is precisely controlled by changing intake air temperature. This investigation revealed that the engine operated with turpentine performed well with little loss of brake thermal efficiency. And, emitted comparatively lower emissions such as NO_x and smoke and proved that the turpentine is a best suited fuel for HCCI operation.     

A study on the rapid bulk combustion of premixture using the radical seeding

The objective of this study is the rapid bulk combustion of mixture in a constant volume chamber with a tiny sub-chamber. Some narrow passage holes were arranged to induce simultaneous multi-point ignition in the main chamber by jet of burned and unburned gases including radicals from the sub-chamber, and the equivalence ratios of pre-mixture in the main chamber and the sub-chamber were the same. The principal factors of the Radical Induced Auto-Ignition (RIAl) method are the diameter of the passage holes and the volume of sub-chamber. The relationship between the sub-chamber and diameter of passage hole was represented by the ratios of sub-chamber volume to passage hole volume. The ratios are non-dimensional coefficients for sub-chamber characteristics. As a result, the RIAI method reduced the combustion period, which expanded the lean limit in comparison with SI method.     

An experimental study on the effects of impingement-walls on the spray and combustion characteristics of SIDI CNG

Compressed natural gas (CNG) is regarded as one of the most promising alternative fuels, and maybe the cleanest fuel for the sparkignition (SI) engine. In the SI engine, direct injection (DI) technology can significantly increase the engine volumetric efficiency and decrease the need of throttle valve. During low load and speed conditions, DI allows engine operation with the stratified charge, and the use of extremely lean fuel-air mixture enables relatively higher combustion efficiency. In this study, a combustion chamber with a visualization system is designed. The spray development and combustion propagation processes SIDI CNG were digital recorded. It was found that high injection pressure reduced the ignition probability significantly because of quenching of flame kernel. To improve the ignition probability, three kinds of impingement-walls were designed to help the mixture preparation. It was found that the CNG-air mixture can be easily formed after spray-wall impingement and the ignition probability was also improved. The results of this study can contribute important data for the design and optimization of spark-ignition direct injection (SIDI) CNG engine.     

Improvement and experimental validation of a multi-zone model for combustion and NO emissions in CNG fueled spark ignition engine

This article reports the experimental and theoretical results for a spark ignition engine working with compressed natural gas as a fuel. The theoretical part of this work uses a zero-dimensional, multi-zone combustion model in order to predict nitric oxide (NO) emission in a spark ignition (SI) engine. The basic concept of the model is the division of the burned gas into several distinct zones for taking into account the temperature stratification of the burned mixture during combustion. This is especially important for accurate NO emissions predictions, since NO formation is strongly temperature dependent. During combustion, 12 products are obtained by chemical equilibrium via Gibbs energy minimization method and nitric oxide formation is calculated from chemical kinetic by the extended Zeldovich mechanism. The burning rate required as input to the model is expressed as a Wiebe function, fitted to experimentally derived burn rates. The model is validated against experimental data from a four-cylinder, four-stroke, SI gas engine (EF7) running with CNG fuel. The calculated values for pressure and nitric oxide emissions show good agreement with the experimental data. The superiority of the multizone model over its two-zone counterpart is demonstrated in view of its more realistic in-cylinder NO emissions predictions when compared to the available experimental data.     

Comparisons of predicted and measured results on performance and emission of engine effected by intake air dilution and supercharging

An experimental study was conducted on a single cylinder direct injection diesel engine to investigate the effects of diluting intake air, with different gases and increasing intake pressure on combustion process and exhaust emissions. The intake O₂ concentration is changed from 15% to 21% by diluting intake air with different gases (CO₂, Ar, N₂), and the intake pressure is changed from one to two bar by a screw compressor. A modified program for calculating heat release rate, is used to study the characteristics of combustion and exhaust emissions in detail. The main results show that the addition of either CO₂ or Ar to the intake air increases the ignition delay. The variations of ignition delay with CO₂ are much larger than those of ignition delay with Ar for the same O₂ concentration. The emission of NOx decreases with the decrease of O₂ concentration and the smoke level is lower with the addition of the CO₂ than with that of Ar. As the intake pressure is increased, the ignition delay is shortened. Furthermore the high intake air pressure enhances the air-fuel mixing and diffusion combustion, and reduces the premixed combustion, so that NOx emission is decreased without increasing smoke emissions. The addition of CO₂ at high intake pressure, drastically reduces NOx emissions and smoke emission simultaneously at a high load condition, and the addition of CO₂ reduces NOx emissions without affecting the smoke emissions substantially at a low load condition. A zero-dimensional combustion simulation program incorporated with the present heat release correlation and ignition delay correlation is used to predict ignition delay, cylinder pressure and engine power. The results show that the correlations are likely to be adequate for the engine operating under diluted intake air and various intake pressure.     

Numerical analysis of the combustion process in a four-stroke compressed natural gas engine with direct injection system

In this paper, a numerical study to simulate and analyze the combustion process occurred in a compressed natural gas direct injection (CNG-DI) engine by using a multi-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code was presented. The investigation was performed on a single cylinder of the 1.6-liter engine running at wide open throttle at a fixed speed of 2000 rpm. The mesh generation was established via an embedded algorithm for moving meshes and boundaries for providing a more accurate transient condition of the operating engine. The combustion process was characterized with the eddy-break-up model of Magnussen for unpremixed or diffusion reaction. The modeling of gaseous fuel injection was described to define the start and end of injection timing. The utilized ignition strategy into the computational mesh was also explained to obtain the real spark ignition timing. The natural gas employed is considered to be 100% methane (CH₄) with three global step reaction scheme. The CFD simulation was started from the intake valves opening until the time before exhaust valves opening. The results of CFD simulation were then compared with the data obtained from the single-cylinder engine experiment and showed a close agreement. For verification purpose, comparison between numerical and experimental work are in the form of average in-cylinder pressure, engine power as well as emission level of CO and NO. This paper was presented at the 9^th Asian International Conference on Fluid Machinery (AICFM9), Jeju, Korea, October 16–19, 2007.     

A mathematical model for the prediction of the injected mass diagram of a S.I. engine gas injector

A mathematical model of gaseous fuel solenoid injector for spark ignition engine has been realized and validated through experimental data. The gas injector was studied with particular reference to the complex needle motion during the opening and closing phases, which strongly affects the amount of fuel injected. As is known, in fact, when the injector nozzle is widely open, the mass flow depends only on the fluid pressure and temperature upstream the injector: this allows one to control the injected fuel mass acting on the “injection time” (the period during which the injector solenoid is energized). This makes the correlation between the injected fuel mass and the injection time linear, except for the lower injection times, where we experimentally observed strong nonlinearities. These nonlinearities arise by the injector outflow area variation caused by the needle bounces due to impacts during the opening and closing transients [1] and may seriously compromise the mixture quality control, thus increasing both fuel consumption and pollutant emissions, above all because the S.I. catalytic conversion system has a very low efficiency for non-stoichiometric mixtures. Moreover, in recent works [2, 3] we tested the simultaneous combustion of a gaseous fuel (compressed natural gas, CNG, or liquefied petroleum gas, LPG) and gasoline in a spark ignition engine obtaining great improvement both in engine efficiency and pollutant emissions with respect to pure gasoline operation mode; this third operating mode of bi-fuel engines, called “double fuel” combustion, requires small amounts of gaseous fuel, hence forcing the injectors to work in the non-monotonic zone of the injected mass diagram, where the control on air-fuel ratio is poor. Starting from these considerations we investigated the fuel injector dynamics with the aim to improve its performance in the low injection times range. The first part of this paper deals with the realization of a mathematical model for the prediction of both the needle motion and the injected mass for choked flow condition, while the second part presents the model calibration and validation, performed by means of experimental data obtained on the engine test bed of the internal combustion engine laboratory of the University of Palermo.     

Influence of compression ratio on combustion characteristics of a VCR engine using Calophyllum inophyllum biodiesel and diesel blends

The standard configuration parameters of a Variable compression ratio (VCR) engine neglect to give specific execution with biodiesel from distinctive origins. Alongside, a bunch of exploration of diversified biodiesel over performance and emission analysis, extremely constrained work has been taken out on combustion analysis with VCR. This survey was performed to identify the impact of compression ratio on the combustion characteristics of a diesel engine fueled with Calophyllum inophyllum oil methyl ester (COME) and its blends with diesel. Experiments were conducted at a fixed speed of 1500 RPM, full load and at different compression ratios of 16:1, 17:1 and 18:1. Results, revealed that combustion duration of Calophyllum inophyllum oil was more, while the ignition delay period was shorter than that of diesel.     

The effect of combustion parameters on the nitric oxide emission in direct injection type diesel engine

This paper presents the investigation of influence factors on the output performance and the reduction of exhaust emission in the direct injection type diesel engine. In this work, the analysis of combustion products and combustion characteristics are investigated by numerical method and experiment under the various engine operating conditions. The combusion performance and exhaust emissions are analyzed in terms of the heat release, cylinder pressure and major exhaust emissions of engine. The accuracy of the prediction versus experimental data and the capability of the heat release, cylinder pressure and all the major exhaust emissions are demonstrated. The results of this study show that the combustion parameters have influence on the combustion processes and the nitric oxide emission in the direct injection type diesel engine. The nitric oxide concentration decreases with the increase of engine speed and the advance of injection timing.     

A study on the characteristics of combustion variations of compression ignition engine

This paper describes the results of a study of the variation of combustion characteristics in a precombusion chamber type water-cooled diesel engine. Statiscal analysis on cycle-by-cycle variation of combustion characteristics such as rate of pressure rise, heat release rate, and mass burning rate from combustion pressure-crank angle data of one thousand cycles were made under several operating conditions. The influence of engine speed and coolant temperature upon maximum frequency of combustion characteristics are discussed also.     

Experimental investigation on the effect of charge temperature on ethanol fueled HCCI combustion engine

In this investigation, an attempt has been made to study by varying the charge temperature on the ethanol fueled Homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) combustion engine. Ethanol was injected into the intake manifold by using port fuel injection technique while the intake air was heated for achieving stable HCCI operation. The effect of intake air temperature on the combustion, performance, and emissions of the ethanol HCCI operation was compared with the standard diesel operation and presented. The results indicate that the intake air temperature has a significant impact on in-cylinder pressure, ringing intensity, combustion efficiency, thermal efficiency and emissions. At 170°C, the maximum value of combustion efficiency and brake thermal efficiency of ethanol are found to be 98.2% and 43%, respectively. The NO emission is found to be below 11 ppm while the smoke emission is negligible. However, the UHC and CO emissions are higher for the HCCI operation.

     

Improving the ecological indices of a hydrogen diesel engine with direct gaseous hydrogen injection

A detailed survey of the operating process and formation of nitrogen oxides in the combustion chamber of a hydrogenous diesel has been carried out in three-dimensional space using a mathematical model verified by experimental data. The specific features of the thermophysical processes in the combustion chamber of the hydrogen diesel engine have been specified, providing the applicable ecological and efficient indices of a stationary hydrogen diesel engine.     

Analysis on possibility of expanding low-load operation area for homogeneous charge compression ignition in CI engine with variable exhaust valve actuation

Various technologies are being studied for the advancement of diesel passenger cars and associated environmental regulations. Effective compression ignition combustion in diesel engines is highly dependent on the cylinder charging temperature, composition, and cylinder pressure during valve train operation. The application of variable valve control in diesel engines has several potential advantages. In this study, we applied the variable valve actuation system to a single-cylinder engine model using a GT-POWER simulation and analyzed the effects of the recompression and rebreathing valve profiles, and fuel-injection pressure on the combustion characteristics of a compression ignition engine. As a result, NOx emissions were reduced by more than 90 %, while those of indicated mean effective pressure were reduced by up to 35 %. The benefits of recompression strategies in terms of NOx emissions reduction were confirmed.

     

Simulation of combustion in a porous-medium diesel engine

The future internal-combustion (IC) engines should have minimum emissions level under lowest feasible fuel consumption. This aim can be achievable with a homogeneous combustion process in diesel engines. We used a porous medium (PM) to homogenize the combustion process. This research studies simulation of a direct-injection diesel engine, equipped with a chemically inert hemispherical PM. Methane is injected into a hot PM, assuming mounted up the cylinder in head. Combustion with lean mixture occurs inside PM. A numerical model of PM engine was carried out using a modified version of the KIVA-3V code. PM results were evaluated with experimental data of unsteady combustion-wave of methane in a porous tube. The results show the mass fraction of methane, CO, NO and temperature in solid and gas phases of the PM and in-cylinder fluid. Also presented are the effects of injection timing and compression ratio on combustion.

     

Phenomenological combustion modeling of a direct injection diesel engine with in-cylinder flow effects

A cycle simulation program is developed and its predictions are compared with the test bed measurements of a direct injection (DI) diesel engine. It is based on the mass and energy conservation equations with phenomenological models for diesel combustion. Two modeling approaches for combustion have been tested; a multi-zone model by Hiroyasu et al (1976) and the other one coupled with an in-cylinder flow model. The results of the two combustion models are compared with the measured imep, pressure trace and NOx and soot emissions over a range of the engine loads and speeds. A parametric study is performed for the fuel injection timing and pressure, the swirl ratio, and the squish area. The calculation results agree with the measured data, and with intuitive understanding of the general operating characteristics of a DI diesel engine.     

Effect of spark plug protrusion on the performance and emission characteristics of an engine fueled by hydrogen-natural gas blends

Mixtures of hydrogen and natural gas are promising for improving efficiency and reducing harmful emissions in spark ignition engines, since limits of flammability can be extended while stable combustion is secured. In this research, the combustion characteristics of long electrode spark plugs were evaluated in a hydrogen blended with natural gas (HCNG) engine. Decreases in the flame propagation distance through the use of spark plugs can lead to increased burning rates and further improvement of fuel economy in HCNG engines. An 11-liter heavy duty lean burn engine was employed and performance characteristics including emissions were assessed according to the spark timing of the minimum advance for best torque (MBT) for each operating condition. Retarded MBT spark advance timing with long electrode spark plugs due to increased burning speed supported increases in engine efficiency and reductions of nitrogen oxide (NO_x) emissions. The lower positions of initial flame kernels due to the use of long electrode spark plugs were preferable to improvements of cyclic variability due to reduced flame front quenching, and carbon monoxide (CO) emissions at the flammability limit were also improved.     

Multi-stage turbocharger system analysis method for high altitude UAV engine

A multi-stage turbocharger system analysis method has been presented for a hydrogen fueled internal combustion engine targeted for High altitude long endurance UAV (HALE UAV), of which cruising altitude is 60000 ft. To utilize an internal combustion engine as a propulsion system of a HALE UAV, proper inlet pressure boost system such as a series of turbochargers should be ready, which makes engine performance less sensitive to flight altitude. In this study, to boost rarefied intake air pressure up to 1.7 bar to avoid early ignition of hydrogen and to produce required power from engine, we used a boost system which consists of three-staged turbocharger accompanied by intercooler to reduce compressed air temperature. To analyze multi-stage turbocharger performance at the cruising altitude, we established an explicit one-dimensional analysis method by matching required power between compressors and turbines. Then adequate turbochargers were searched for from commercially available models based on performance analysis results. One-dimensional analysis was also applied from sea level to the cruising altitude to decide turbocharger operating lines were located within each turbocharger operating ranges.

     

Investigation of coal-water slurry fuel combustion in reciprocating,internal combustion engine

Coal-water slurry(CWS) engine tests designed to investigate the ignition and combustion processes of the fuel are described in this paper. The effects of three different parameters, namely, (a) needle lift pressure, (b) fuel injection timing, and (c) percent coal loading in the slurry fuel are studied in detail. Successful operation of the engine using the coal water slurry required modifications to the engine and support systems. The physical trends of combustion under single parametric variations are presented in terms of the cylinder pressure, heat release rates, and cumulative heat release curves. The major conclusions of the work include: (a) higher needle lift pressures led to shorter ignition delay times for the CWS fuel: (b) the ignition delay time of the advanced injection start was little different from that of retarded fuel injection timing due to poor atomization: and (c) dilution of the slurry with water can significantly affect the combustion processes and ease of fuel handling.     

Cycle resolved no emissions and its relation with combustion chamber pressure in an s.i. engine with fast response no analyzer

A fast response NO analyzer was applied to investigate the relation between cycle-by-cycle NO emissions and combustion chamber pressure. NO emissions were sampled at an isolated exhaust manifold of 4-stroke spark ignition engine to avoid the interference of exhaust gas from other cylinders. The linear correlation analysis was performed with collected data of NO emissions and combustion chamber pressure with respect to the various air-fuel mixture ratios and engine loads. The sampled data sets were obtained during 200 cycles at each operating condition. The results showed that there was a typical pattern in NO emissions from an exhaust port through a cycle. It was possible to set a block of crank angle in which the linear correlation coefficient between NO emissions and combustion chamber pressure was high. As the engine load increased, NO emissions were more dependent on combustion chamber pressure after TDC. It was also analyzed that the correlation between two parameters with respect to air-fuel mixture ratio tended to increase as mixture went leaner. Furthermore, this correlation coefficient for the mixture near the lean limit seemed to be kept high even though combustion was unstable.     

Practical identification of non-linear characteristics of elastomeric couplings in engine assemblies

In many engineering applications, the connection between a combustion engine and the load is often done using elastomeric materials. However, these couplings far from behaving in a linear way, show a complex behavior that sometimes is difficult to evaluate. In this sense, with the present work it is intended to develop an easy methodology to identify the coupling characteristics to validate dynamic models of engine assemblies with this kind of connections, as well as to identify possible malfunction or damage behavior in a future. The method is based on static and dynamic tests, non-linear models and techniques for parameter identification. The process has been applied using two different couplings, mounted on a single-cylinder diesel engine (DE) and a three-cylinder spark ignition engine (SIE). Results demonstrate the validity of the method for any kind of engine (DE or SIE) and number of cylinders.