Crude palm oil fuel for diesel-engines: Experimental and ANN simulation approaches

In the current work, the effect of using CPO (crude palm oil)-OD (ordinary diesel) blends as fuel on the performance of CI (compression ignition) engine is studied. Three different blends of CPO-OD (25%, 50% and 75%) were investigated using direct-injection, stationary diesel engine. The CPO-OD blends were preheated to about 60 °C before the injection to reduce the viscosity of the blends. The experiments were conducted at variable engine speeds (1000 rpm through 3000 rpm) under fixed throttle opening. The results revealed that the CPO-OD exhibited higher torque and power output at engine speeds lower than 2000 rpm, while the BSFC (brake specific fuel consumption) was found to be higher than the OD at the same engine speeds. CPO enhanced the BSFC at higher engine speeds (above 2000 rpm). The CPO-OD blends exhibited lower emissions of NO_x and higher emission of CO compared to the OD.     

Performance and emission characteristics of a diesel engine using isobutanol–diesel fuel blends

The aim of this study is to investigate the suitability of isobutanol–diesel fuel blends as an alternative fuel for the diesel engine, and experimentally determine their effects on the engine performance and exhaust emissions, namely break power, break specific fuel consumption (BSFC), break thermal efficiency (BTE) and emissions of CO, HC and NO_x. For this purpose, four different isobutanol–diesel fuel blends containing 5, 10, 15 and 20% isobutanol were prepared in volume basis and tested in a naturally aspirated four stroke direct injection diesel engine at full -load conditions at the speeds between 1200 and 2800 rpm with intervals of 200 rpm. The results obtained with the blends were compared to those with the diesel fuel as baseline. The test results indicate that the break power slightly decreases with the blends containing up to 10% isobutanol, whereas it significantly decreases with the blends containing 15 and 20% isobutanol. There is an increase in the BSFC in proportional to the isobutanol content in the blends. Although diesel fuel yields the highest BTE, the blend containing 10% isobutanol results in a slight improvement in BTE at high engine speeds. The results also reveal that, compared to diesel fuel, CO and NO_x emissions decrease with the use of the blends, while HC emissions increase considerably.     

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.     

Influence of injection timing on performance,combustion and emission characteristics of Jatropha biodiesel engine

The study of effect of injection timing along with engine operating parameters in Jatropha biodiesel engine is important as they significantly affect its performance and emissions. The present paper focuses on the experimental investigation of the influence of injection timing, load torque and engine speed on the performance, combustion and emission characteristics of Jatropha biodiesel engine. For this purpose, the experiments were conducted using full factorial design consisting of (3³) with 27 runs for each fuel, diesel and Jatropha biodiesel. The effect of variation of above three parameters on brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC), brake thermal efficiency (BTE), peak cylinder pressure (P_max), maximum heat release rate (HRR_max), CO, HC, NO emissions and smoke density were investigated. It has been observed that advance in injection timing from factory settings caused reduction in BSFC, CO, HC and smoke levels and increase in BTE, P_max, HRR_max and NO emission with Jatropha biodiesel operation. However, retarded injection timing caused effects in the other way. At 15 N m load torque, 1800 rpm engine speed and 340 crank angle degree (CAD) injection timing, the percentage reduction in BSFC, CO, HC and smoke levels were 5.1%, 2.5%, 1.2% and 1.5% respectively. Similarly the percentage increase in BTE, P_max, HRR_max and NO emission at this injection timing, load and speed were 5.3%, 1.8%, 26% and 20% respectively. The best injection timing for Jatropha biodiesel operation with minimum BSFC, CO, HC and smoke and with maximum BTE, P_max, HRR_max is found to be 340 CAD. Nevertheless, minimum NO emission yielded an optimum injection timing of 350 CAD.     

The characteristics of waste-cooking palm biodiesel-fueled CRDI diesel engines: Effect hydrogen enrichment and nanoparticle addition

The influence of iron nanoparticle (INP) addition (75 ppm) and hydrogen enrichment (10 lpm) with waste cooking palm biodiesel blend (WCB) on a CRDI diesel engine is evaluated. A blend of 20% WCB and 80% diesel is used, and the dosing level of INP has been kept at 75 ppm, which has been decided based on the oxygen content of biodiesel. Results indicate that the combination of H₂ enrichment and INP addition improves the BTE and BSFC of biodiesel blends as that of diesel. A maximum improvement of BTE of 7.1% than that of diesel is obtained at 90% loading. The combined impact of better hydrogen combustion characteristics and improved air-fuel mixing with nanoparticles reduces CO and HC emissions by 37.5% and 41.8%, respectively, for the WCB fuel sample. However, NO_X emission shows an elevation of 27.4% compared to diesel. Combustion parameters, namely ICP (80.1 bar) and HRR (89.5 J/˚CA) indicate an improvement of 5.3% and 6.7% compared to diesel for WCB + INP + H₂. This is owing to the combination of hydrogen's rapid flame speed and INP-added biodiesel's increased thermal conductivity.     

Effect of induction on exhaust gas recirculation and hydrogen gas in compression ignition engine with simarouba oil in dual fuel mode

Biofuels extracted from non-edible oil is sustainable and can be used as an alternative fuel for internal combustion engines. This study presents the performance, emission and combustion characteristic analysis by using simarouba oil (obtained from Simarouba seed) as an alternative fuel along with hydrogen and exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) in a compression ignition (CI) engine operating on dual fuel mode. Simarouba biofuel blend (B20) was prepared on volumetric basis by mixing simarouba oil and diesel in the proportion of 20% and 80% (v/v), respectively. Hydrogen gas was introduced at the flow rate of 2.67 kg/min, and EGR concentration was maintained at 30% of total air introduction. Performance, combustion and emission characteristics analysis were examined with biodiesel (B20), biodiesel with hydrogen substitution and biodiesel, hydrogen with EGR and were compared with neat diesel operation. Results indicate that BTE of the engine operating with biodiesel B20 was decreased when compared to neat diesel operation. However, introducing hydrogen along with B20 blend into the combustion chamber shows a slight increase in the BTE by 1%. NO_x emission was increased to 18.13% with the introduction of hydrogen than that of base fuel (diesel) operation. With the introduction of EGR, there is a significant reduction in NO_x emission due to decrease in in-cylinder temperature by 19.07%. A significant reduction in CO, CO_2, and smoke emissions were also noted with the introduction of both hydrogen and EGR. The ignition delay and combustion duration were increased with the introduction of hydrogen, EGR with biodiesel than neat diesel operation. Hence, the proposed biodiesel B20 with H₂ and EGR combination can be applied as an alternative fuel in CI engines.     

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.     

Effect of natural antioxidant additive on hydrogen-enriched biodiesel operated compression ignition engine

The environmental degradation and depletion of fossil fuel, urges the need of renewable fuel for IC engines. Among the renewable fuel, biodiesel are widely used as alternative fuel but for recent years hydrogen is also considered as alternative fuel because of zero emission but it possess higher auto ignition temperature. In order to reduce the self-ignition temperature of hydrogen and another liquid fuel is mixed and operated as a dual fuel mode condition in CI engine. The current investigation aims to analyse the impact of natural antioxidant additive on hydrogen-enriched biodiesel operation in a diesel engine. During the experimentation process hydrogen is admitted at the intake manifold and B20 blend of juliflora biodiesel is injected in combustion cylinder. The three test fuel samples are used for the experimentation process such as diesel, B20 and B20 with hydrogen in different flow rates such as 8, 10, 12, 16,20lpm. B20 with hydrogen shows an increment of brake thermal efficiency (BTE). Among the test fuels B20 + 16lpm and B20 + 20lpm blends have better improvement of BTE of 28.815% and 28.32%, which is higher than the conventional engine at maximum load CO, HC emission is also lower for B20 + 16lpm and B20 + 20lpm than other blends but the NO_x emission increases of 26 and 28% than diesel respectively. In order to minimize the NO_x emission, natural antioxidant additive Melia Azedarach (MA) of 1000 ppm is added to B20 + 16lpm and found that B20 + 16lpm with MA shows an improvement of BTE 2.17% higher than B20 + 16lpm without additive and the NO_x emission for B20 + 16lpm with additive is 1079 ppm, which is 21.9% lower than B20 + 16lpm without additives. Therefore B20 + 16lpm with additive is superior than other test blends.     

Experimental investigation of combustion characteristics and NOx emission of a turbocharged hydrogen internal combustion engine

In order to alleviate the contradictions of increasingly prominent environmental pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and oil resource security issues, the search for renewable and clean alternative energy sources is getting more and more attention. Hydrogen energy is known as a future energy source because of its safety, reliability, wide range of resources and non-polluting products. Hydrogen internal combustion engine combines the technical advantages of traditional internal combustion engines and has comprehensive comparative advantages in terms of manufacturing cost, fuel adaptability and reliability. It is one of the practical ways to realize hydrogen energy utilization. In this paper, the combustion characteristics and NOx emission of a turbocharged hydrogen engine were investigated using the test data. The results showed the combustion duration (the crank angle of 10%–90% fuel burned) at 1500 rpm and 2000 rpm was equal and the combustion duration is much bigger than the other loads when the BMEP is 0.27 MPa. The reason is the effect of the turbocharger on the gas exchange process, which will influence the combustion process. The cylinder pressure and pressure rise rate were also investigated and the peak pressure rise rate was lower than 0.25 MPa/°CA at all working conditions. Moreover, the NOx emission changed from 300 ppm to 1200 ppm with engine speed increasing and the maximum value can reach to 7000 ppm when the equivalence ratio is 0.88 at 2500 rpm, maximum brake torque. The NOx emission shows different changing tendencies with different working conditions. Finally, these conclusions can be used to develop controlling strategies to solve the contradictions among power, brake thermal efficiency and NOx emission for the turbocharged hydrogen internal combustion engines.     

Performance,emission and combustion characteristics of CI engine fuelled with diesel and hydrogen

Hydrogen (H₂) is being considered as a primary automotive fuel and as a replacement for conventional fuels. Some of the desirable properties, like high flame velocity, high calorific value motivate us to use hydrogen fuel as a dual fuel mode in diesel engine. In this experiment, hydrogen was inducted in the inlet manifold with intake air. The experiments were conducted on a four stroke, single cylinder, water cooled, direct injection (DI), diesel engine at a speed of 1500 r/min. Hydrogen was stored in a high pressure cylinder and supplied to the inlet manifold through a water-and-air-based flame arrestor. A pressure regulator was used to reduce the cylinder pressure from 140 bar to 2 bar. The hydrogen was inducted with a volume flow rate of 4l pm, 6l pm and 8l pm, respectively by a digital volume flow meter. The engine performance, emission and combustion parameters were analyzed at various flow rates of hydrogen and compared with diesel fuel operation. The brake thermal efficiency (BTE) was increased and brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) decreased for the hydrogen flow rate of 8l pm as compared to the diesel and lower volume flow rates of hydrogen. The hydrocarbon (HC) and carbon monoxide (CO) were decreased and the oxides of nitrogen (NO_x) increased for higher volume flow rates of hydrogen compared to diesel and lower volume flow rates of hydrogen. The heat release rate and cylinder pressure was increased for higher volume flow rates of hydrogen compared to diesel and lower volume flow rates of hydrogen.     

Effect of hydrogen and ethanol addition in cashew nut shell liquid biodiesel operated direct injection (DI) diesel engine

In this experimental research, the hydrogen gas at a different flow rate (4 lpm, 8 lpm, & 12 lpm) is introduced into the intake port of a diesel engine fueled with B20 (20% CNSL (Cashew nut shell liquid) + 80% diesel) biodiesel blend to find out the best H₂ flow rate. Then, ethanol-blended (5%, 10%, and 15% by volume) B20 blend along with the best H₂ flow rate are tested in the same engine to examine the engine performance. The experimental results showed that B20 with 8 lpm H₂ flow gives the maximum brake thermal efficiency and subsequently reduces the BSFC. Furthermore, by blending ethanol with the B20 blend, the BTE of the engine is improved further. The 10% ethanol blended B20 blend with 8 lpm hydrogen flow gives the maximum BTE of 37.9% higher than diesel whose values are 33.6% at full load. Also, this fuel combination led to the maximum reduced levels of CO and HC emissions with an increase in exhaust gas temperature and NOx emissions. From the results, the 10% ethanol blended B20 blend with 8 lpm H₂ flow dual-fuel configuration is recommended as an alternative to sole diesel fuel.     

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 exhaust emissions,vibration, and noise of a hydrogen enriched fuelled diesel engine

In this study, the effects of various input parameters are examined on exhaust emissions, vibration, and noise of an unmodified diesel engine. The primary aim of this study is to optimize the vibration, noise, and exhaust emissions of the engine to get optimal configuration parameters. Experiments were carried out on a four-stroke, four-cylinder, diesel engine fuelled with diesel-biodiesel-hydrogen blends. To minimize the number of experiments Box-Behnken design (BBD) has been adopted. Optimum desirability is found as 0.862 with hydrogen addition of 4.63 L/min, fuel blend of 26.8% and 1500 rpm engine speed for the diesel engine. When the diesel engine is operated at 1500 rpm engine speed and fuelled with 4.63 L/min hydrogen addition and 26.8% biodiesel blend ratio; the optimum responses of CO, CO₂, NO_x, vibration, and noise are established as 214 ppm, 1.35%, 90.4 ppm, 38.6 m/s², and 91.3 dB[A], respectively. The predicted values were confirmed experimentally and the errors in predicted values are found in a limit range.     

Synergetic effect OF CI engine characteristics when fuelled with neem oil methyl ester enriched with a oxy-hydrogen gas

The Neem-oil methyl ester (NME) produced from transesterification of Neem-oil was mixed with diesel fuel in the share of 10%(N10) and 20%(N20) were used with varying flow rate of oxy-hydrogen gas (HHO) gas at 5%,10% and 15% energy share along with exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) in a 3.7 kW CI engine. Presence of fuel-borne oxygen in NME, facilitates increase in brake thermal efficiency (BTE) at high load related to neat diesel operation. Further the BTE was improved by introducing varying flow rate of HHO gas in order to maintain energy share of 5, 10 and 15% at all loads. The BTE was found as 33.80% and 35.40% for N20 + 10%HHO and N20 + 15%HHO compared to 31.5%, 30.4% and 29.4% for N20, N10 and Neat diesel fuel respectively. Significant emission reduction of CO, CO₂, uHC and smoke opacity were observed during NME + HHO gas operation, but NOx emission was augmented which was controlled using EGR along with further improvement in the engine characteristics.     

Impact of hydrogen generated by splitting water with nano-silicon and nano-aluminum on diesel engine performance

Efficient utilization of hydrogen generated during the reactions of nano-silicon/water and nano-aluminum/water in internal combustion engine has been investigated in the current work. Engine performance and emission studies of formulated and stabilized nanoemulsion fuels (water in diesel W/D), nano-aluminum in water/diesel (W/DA) and water in nano-silicon/diesel (W/DS) have been compared with those of diesel. Experimental investigations showed reduction in brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) by 21% and 37%; rise in brake thermal efficiency (BTE) by 16% and 14% when engine was fueled with W/DA and W/DS respectively. For nanoemulsion fuels an increase in induced power was also recorded. Brake mean effective pressure, BTE and NOx emission dropped for W/D due to reduced exhaust gas temperatures. Nevertheless due to elevated peak cylinder pressures and exhaust gas temperatures a marginal rise in NOx, CO, HC and radiative heat emissions was observed with W/DA and W/DS.     

Promotion of bio oil,H2 gas from the pyrolysis of rice husk assisted with nano silver catalyst and utilization of bio oil blend in CI engine

This paper reports on the pyrolytic distillation of rice husk with catalyst and its influence on both condensable and non-condensable volatiles. The catalyst used for pyrolysis was nano sized silver particles obtained through chemical reduction method. The structural features of the nano silver particles were explored through X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM) with Energy-dispersive-X-ray spectroscope (EDX), and the size of the nano particles was confirmed as 90 nm. After intimately mixing the rice husk (30 g) with the catalyst, the pyrolysis at various temperatures (400 °C, 450 °C, 500 °C, 550 °C) was performed. The products obtained during catalytic pyrolysis like gaseous fuel, bio oil, and bio char were separately collected and characterized through Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometer (GC-MS) and Inductively Coupled Plasma – Optical Emission Spectrometer (ICP-OES). About 50% of the solid biomass was converted into more useful liquid and gaseous fuel. It was noticed that during catalytic pyrolysis, the quantity of H₂ obtained was more (19.12%) in contrast to thermal pyrolysis and could be attributable to the influence of silver nano particles towards the enhancement in hydrogen gas production. The liquid hydrocarbon obtained during the catalytic distillation was blended with diesel in the ratio 20:80 in the compression ignition (CI) engine. The quality of the blended bio oil was assessed from brake thermal efficiency (BTE), brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) and emission of nitrogen oxides (NO_X), carbon monoxide (CO) and unburnt hydrocarbon (UHC). At full load, the diesel fuel emitted 1780 ppm of NO_x while the diesel blended with bio oil emitted only 1510 ppm which was 15.17% less than the diesel oil which proved its eco-friendly nature. In future, the bio oil obtained from catalytic pyrolysis can be used as a blend for diesel oil, since it reduces NO_x emission and replaces 20% of diesel oil.     

Syngas (H2/CO) in a spark-ignition direct-injection engine. Part 1: Combustion,performance and emissions comparison with CNG

The combustion, performance, and emissions of syngas (H₂/CO) in a four-stroke, direct-injection, spark-ignition engine were experimentally investigated. The engine was operated at various speeds, ranging from 1500 to 2400 rev/min, with the throttle being held in the wide-open position. The start of fuel injection was fixed at 180° before the top dead center, and the ignition advance was set at the maximal brake torque. The air/fuel ratio was varied from the technically possible lowest excess air ratio (λ) to lean operation limits. The results indicated that a wider air/fuel operating ratio is possible with syngas with a very low coefficient of variation. The syngas produced a higher in-cylinder peak pressure and heat-release rate peak and faster combustion than for CNG. However, CNG produced a higher brake thermal efficiency (BTE) and lower brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC). The BTE and BSFC of the syngas were on par to those of CNG at higher speeds. For the syngas, the total hydrocarbon emission was negligible at all load conditions, and the carbon monoxide emission was negligible at higher loads and increased under lower load conditions. However, the emission of nitrogen oxides was higher at higher loads with syngas.     

Influence of advanced injection timing on the performance and emissions of CI engine fueled with ethanol‐blended diesel fuel

Ethanol has been considered as an alternative fuel for diesel engines. On the other hand, injection timing is a major parameter that sensitively affects the engine performance and emissions. Therefore, in this study, the influence of advanced injection timing on the engine performance and exhaust emissions of a single cylinder, naturally aspirated, four stroke, direct injection diesel engine has been experimentally investigated when using ethanol‐blended diesel fuel from 0 to 15% with an increment of 5%. The original injection timing of the engine is 27° crank angle (CA) before top dead center (BTDC). The tests were conducted at three different injection timings (27, 30 and 33° CA BTDC) for 30 Nm constant load at 1800 rpm. The experimental results showed that brake‐specific energy consumption (BSEC), brake‐specific fuel consumption (BSFC), NO_x and CO₂ emissions increased as brake‐thermal efficiency (BTE), smoke, CO and HC emissions decreased with increasing amount of ethanol in the fuel mixture. Comparing the results with those of original injection timing, NO_x emissions increased and smoke, HC and CO emissions decreased for all test fuels at the advanced injection timings. For BSEC, BSFC and BTE, advanced injection timings gave negative results for all test conditions. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Performance and combustion characteristic of CI engine fueled with hydrogen enriched diesel

The combustion of hydrogen–diesel blend fuel was investigated under simulated direct injection (DI) diesel engine conditions. The investigation presented in this paper concerns numerical analysis of neat diesel combustion mode and hydrogen enriched diesel combustion in a compression ignition (CI) engine. The parameters varied in this simulation included: H₂/diesel blend fuel ratio, engine speed, and air/fuel ratio. The study on the simultaneous combustion of hydrogen and diesel fuel was conducted with various hydrogen doses in the range from 0.05% to 50% (by volume) for different engine speed from 1000 – 4000 rpm and air/fuel ratios (A/F) varies from 10 – 80. The results show that, applying hydrogen as an extra fuel, which can be added to diesel fuel in the (CI) engine results in improved engine performance and reduce emissions compared to the case of neat diesel operation because this measure approaches the combustion process to constant volume. Moreover, small amounts of hydrogen when added to a diesel engine shorten the diesel ignition lag and, in this way, decrease the rate of pressure rise which provides better conditions for soft run of the engine. Comparative results are given for various hydrogen/diesel ratio, engine speeds and loads for conventional Diesel and dual fuel operation, revealing the effect of dual fuel combustion on engine performance and exhaust emissions.     

The effects of fuel-injection timing at medium injection pressure on the engine characteristics and emissions of a CNG-DI engine fueled by a small amount of hydrogen in CNG

The experiments to determine the effect of fuel-injection timings on engine characteristics and emissions of a DI engine fueled with NG-hydrogen blends (0%, 3%, 5% and 8%) at various engine speeds were conducted. Three injection timings namely 120°, 180° and 300° CA BTDC with a wide open throttle at relative air-fuel ratio, λ = 1.0 were selected. The ignition advance angle was fixed at 30° CA BTDC, while the injection pressure was fixed at 1.4 MPa for all the cases. The tests were firstly performed at low engine speed of 2000 rpm to determine the engine characteristics and emissions. The results showed that the engine performance (e.g. Brake Torque, Brake Power and BMEP), the cylinder pressure and the heat release have the highest values at the injection timing of 180° CA BTDC, followed by the 300° CA BTDC and the 120° CA BTDC. The NO_x emission was found to be highest at the injection timing of 180° CA BTDC. The THC and CO emissions were found to decrease while the CO₂ emission increased with the advancement in the injection timing. The addition of a small amount of hydrogen to the natural gas was found to increase the engine performance, enhance combustion and reduce emissions for any selected injection timings. Secondly, the tests were carried out at variable engine speeds (i.e. 2000 rpm-4000 rpm) in order to further investigate the engine performance. The injection timings of 180° and 300° CA BTDC with CNG-H₂ blends were only selected for comparisons. The injection timing of the 300° CA BTDC was discovered to yield better engine performance as compared to the 180° CA BTDC injection timing after a cutoff engine speed of approximately 2500 rpm.