Experimental and numerical investigation of effects of CNG and gasoline fuels on engine performance and emissions in a dual sequential spark ignition engine

Compared to widening usage of CNG in commercial gasoline engines, insufficient but increasing number of studies have appeared in open literature during last decades while engine characteristics need to be quantified in exact numbers for each specific fuel converted engine. In this study, a dual sequential spark ignition engine (Honda L13A4 i-DSI) is tested separately either with gasoline or CNG at wide open throttle. This specific engine has unique features of dual sequential ignition with variable timing, asymmetrical combustion chamber, and diagonally positioned dual spark-plug. Thus, the engine led some important engine technologies of VTEC and VVT. Tests are performed by varying the engine speed from 1500 rpm to 4000 rpm with an increment of 500 rpm. The engine’s maximum torque speed of 2800 rpm is also tested. For gasoline and CNG fuels, engine performance (brake torque, brake power, brake specific fuel consumption, brake mean effective pressure), emissions (O₂, CO₂, CO, HC, NO_x, and lambda), and the exhaust gas temperature are evaluated. In addition, numerical engine analyses are performed by constructing a 1-D model for the entire test rig and the engine by using Ricardo-Wave software. In the 1-D engine model, same test parameters are analyzed, and same test outputs are calculated. Thus, the test and the 1-D engine model are employed to quantify the effects of gasoline and CNG fuels on the engine performance and emissions for a unique engine. In general, all test and model results show similar and close trends. Results for the tested commercial engine show that CNG operation decreases the brake torque (12.7%), the brake power (12.4%), the brake mean effective pressure (12.8%), the brake specific fuel consumption (16.5%), the CO₂ emission (12.1%), the CO emission (89.7%). The HC emission for CNG is much lower than gasoline. The O₂ emission for CNG is approximately 55.4% higher than gasoline. The NO_x emission for CNG at high speeds is higher than gasoline. The variation percentages are the averages of the considered speed range from 1500 rpm to 4000 rpm.     

Comparative evaluation of performance,emission, lubricant and deposit characteristics of spark ignition engine fueled with CNG and 18% hydrogen-CNG

Gaseous fuels such as CNG and hydrogen are promising alternative fuels which receive more attention all over the world. This paper investigates the effect of compressed natural gas (CNG) and 18% hydrogen blended compressed natural gas (HCNG) on a retrofitted gasoline genset engine’s performance, emissions, deposits and lubricants under long duration testing. During the 60 h test, lower BSFC, CO and HC are observed for HCNG with the penalty of NOx values. The deposits of iron on spark plug and cylinder liner are higher for HCNG compared to CNG. As kinematic viscosity and TBN values of lubricant decreased significantly with HCNG, it has resulted in higher concentration of wear metals (iron and copper) in the used oil.     

Comparative study of mathematical and experimental analysis of spark ignition engine performance used ethanol–gasoline blend fuel

This study consists of two cases: (i) The experimental analysis: Ethanol obtained from biomass can be used as a fuel in spark ignition engines. As renewable energy source ethanol, due to the high octane number, low emissions and high engine performance is preferred alternative fuel. First stage of this study, ethanol–unleaded gasoline blends (E10, E20, E40 and E60) were tested in a single cylinder, four-stroke spark ignition and fuel injection engine. The tests were performed by varying the ignition timing, relative air–fuel ratio (RAFR) and compression ratio at a constant speed of 2000 rpm and at wide open throttle (WOT). Effect of ethanol–unleaded gasoline blends and tests variables on engine torque and specific fuel consumption were examined experimentally. (ii) The mathematical modeling analysis: The use of ANN has been proposed to determine the engine torque and specific fuel consumption based on the ignition timing, RAFR and compression ratio at a constant speed of 2000 rpm and at WOT for different fuel densities using results of experimental analysis. The back-propagation learning algorithm with two different variants and logistic sigmoid transfer function were used in the network. In order to train the neural network, limited experimental measurements were used as training and test data. The best fitting training data set was obtained Levenberg–Marquardt (LM) algorithm with five neurons in the hidden layer, which made it possible to the engine torque and specific fuel consumption with accuracy at least as good as that of the experimental error, over the whole experimental range. After training, it was found the R² values are 0.999996 and 0.999991 for, the engine torque and specific fuel consumption, respectively. Similarly, these values for testing data are 0.999977 and 0.999915, respectively. As seen from the results of mathematical modeling, the calculated engine torque and specific fuel consumption are obviously within acceptable uncertainties.     

An investigation of engine performance parameters and artificial intelligent emission prediction of hydrogen powered car

With the depletion of fossil fuel resources and the potential consequences of climate change due to fossil fuel use, much effort has been put into the search for alternative fuels for transportation. Although there are several potential alternative fuels, which have low impact on the environment, none of these fuels have the ability to be used as the sole “fuel of the future”. One fuel which is likely to become a part of the over all solution to the transportation fuel dilemma is hydrogen. In this paper, The Toyota Corolla four cylinder, 1.8 l engine running on petrol is systematically converted to run on hydrogen. Several ancillary instruments for measuring various engine operating parameters and emissions are fitted to appraise the performance of the hydrogen car. The effect of hydrogen as a fuel compares with gasoline on engine operating parameters and effect of engine operating parameters on emission characteristics is discussed. Based on the experimental setup, a suite of neural network models were tested to accurately predict the effect of major engine operating conditions on the hydrogen car emissions. Predictions were found to be ±4% to the experimental values. This work provided better understanding of the effect of engine process parameters on emissions.     

Effect of different types of fuels tested in a gasoline engine on engine performance and emissions

In this study, three different fuels named G100 (pure gasoline), E20 (volume 20% ethanol and 80% gasoline blend) and ES20 (20% sodium borohydride added ethanol solution and 80% gasoline) were used to test in a gasoline engine. First of all, G100 fuel, E20 and ES20 blended fuels, respectively, were tested in a gasoline engine and the effects of fuels on engine performance and exhaust emissions were investigated experimentally. Experiments were carried out at full load and at five different engine speeds ranging from 1400 to 3000 rpm, and engine performance and exhaust emission values were determined for each test fuel. When the test results of the engine operated with E20 and ES20 blended fuels are compared with the test results of the engine operated with gasoline; engine torque of E20 blended fuel increased by 1.87% compared to pure gasoline, while engine torque of ES20 blended fuel decreased by 1.64%. However, the engine power of E20 and ES20 blended fuels decreased by 2.02% and 5.10%, respectively, compared to the power of pure gasoline engine, while their specific fuel consumption increased by 5.02% and 6.57%, respectively, compared to pure gasoline fueled engine. On the other hand, CO and HC emissions of the engine operated with E20 and ES20 blended fuels decreased compared to the pure gasoline engine, while CO₂ and NO_x emissions increased.     

Evaluation of electric motor and gasoline engine hybrid car using solar cells

We evaluated the utility of a hybrid car in which both power sources of an electric motor and a gasoline engine are used and solar cells are settled on the roof and the bonnet. An array of 1.6 kW solar cells was installed on the top of a building to charge the batteries by solar energy. Though the capacities of the electric motor and batteries are half compared with conventional electric vehicles, we confirmed that this hybrid car has sufficient utility for practical use. The whole electric energy consumed in a day can be supplied by 1.6 kW solar cell system.     

Comparative study on combustion and emission of SI engine blended with HHO by different injection modes of gasoline

As a hydrogen fuel for real-time production without storage, HHO has great research prospect and significance. In this paper, we conducted experiments on a spark ignition (SI) engine which has two independent fuel supply systems to compare two combination modes of gasoline port injection plus HHO (GPI + HHO) and gasoline direct injection plus HHO (GDI + HHO) at different HHO flow rate, λ, engine speed and load. The results show that, in both modes, HHO addition increases the maximum cylinder pressure and torque. With the increase of HHO flow rate, the flame development period and flame propagation period shorten, the crank angle corresponding to the maximum cylinder pressure is closer to top dead center. In addition, GDI + HHO mode has better engine performance. HHO has a significant effect on improving combustion stability. Especially at λ = 1.4, as HHO flow rate increases from 0 to 16 L/min, the coefficient of indicated mean effective pressure variation of GPI + HHO and GDI + HHO mode decreases by 69.17% and 58.29%, respectively. Moreover, HHO addition improves HC and CO emissions but increases NOx emissions. CO and HC emissions of GDI + HHO mode are the lowest under all conditions, and reaching the lowest value when HHO flow rate = 16 L/min. Besides, GDI + HHO mode not only has lower NO emissions under normal working conditions (λ = 1) but also can maintain a better combustion environment under lean-burn conditions (λ = 1.2, 1.4). In general, the application of HHO as fuel in engine can improve combustion and emission characteristics and GDI + HHO mode is the best combination of gasoline and HHO.     

The effects of ethanol–unleaded gasoline blends on engine performance and exhaust emissions in a spark-ignition engine

Alcohols have been used as a fuel for engines since 19th century. Among the various alcohols, ethanol is known as the most suited renewable, bio-based and ecofriendly fuel for spark-ignition (SI) engines. The most attractive properties of ethanol as an SI engine fuel are that it can be produced from renewable energy sources such as sugar, cane, cassava, many types of waste biomass materials, corn and barley. In addition, ethanol has higher evaporation heat, octane number and flammability temperature therefore it has positive influence on engine performance and reduces exhaust emissions. In this study, the effects of unleaded gasoline (E0) and unleaded gasoline–ethanol blends (E50 and E85) on engine performance and pollutant emissions were investigated experimentally in a single cylinder four-stroke spark-ignition engine at two compression ratios (10:1 and 11:1). The engine speed was changed from 1500 to 5000 rpm at wide open throttle (WOT). The results of the engine test showed that ethanol addition to unleaded gasoline increase the engine torque, power and fuel consumption and reduce carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NO_x) and hydrocarbon (HC) emissions. It was also found that ethanol–gasoline blends allow increasing compression ratio (CR) without knock occurrence.     

Comparative performance and emission studies for vaporized diesel fuel and gasoline as supplements in swirl-chamber diesel engines

An experimental study has been conducted to evaluate and compare the use of fumigated diesel fuel or gasoline as supplementary fuels for a naturally-aspirated, four-stroke diesel engine with a swirl-combustion chamber. The supplementary diesel fuel or gasoline is introduced together with the aspirated air (fumigation) in various proportions with respect to the main diesel fuel, which is injected in the usual manner. The influence of fuel/feed ratios (supplementary or main feed), for a large range of loads, has been examined on fuel consumption, pressure diagrams, exhaust smokiness and exhaustgas emissions (nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide). Knocking limits have been determined. The differences in the measured performance and exhaust-emission parameters from baseline engine operation, when using either supplementary diesel fuel or gasoline fumigated in the intake air, are determined and compared. Our study shows promise for this approach and indicates that above ˜60% of maximum load, there is high smoke reduction with only a slight change in specific fuel consumption, when using either one of the supplementary fumigated fuels. Examination of gaseous pollutant levels shows involved relations with respect to load and fuel proportions. Theoretical aspects of the supplementary fuel-mode (fumigation) of combustion are used to explain the observed engine behaviour.     

Idle performance of a hydrogen/gasoline rotary engine at lean condition

Because of the limit of properties of gasoline and irregular design of chamber, the pure gasoline rotary engine generally encounters partial burning, increased noxious emissions or even misfire at lean conditions. This situation could be deteriorated at idle because of the high variation in the intake charge and low combustion temperature. Hydrogen addition is proved to remit the deterioration of performance of sparked-ignited (SI) engines at idle and lean conditions. This paper conducted an experiment on a modified rotary engine equipped with gasoline and hydrogen port-injection systems to explore the performance of a hydrogen–gasoline rotary engine (HGRE) at idle and lean conditions. An electronic management unit (EMU) was invented to manage spark and fuel injection. Excess air ratio (λ) and hydrogen volumetric fraction in the total intake (${\alpha }_{{\text{H}}_2}$) were also governed through the EMU. For this study, the HGRE was operating at idle and ${\alpha }_{{\text{H}}_2}$ was kept at 0% and 3%, respectively. For a specific ${\alpha }_{{\text{H}}_2}$, gasoline flow rate was reduced to make the HGRE run at desired λ. Results indicated that engine fluctuation and fuel energy flow rate were both decreased after hydrogen addition. Combustion duration was cut down and central heat release point was advanced after hydrogen addition. Peak chamber temperature (T_max), pressure and heat release were enhanced after hydrogen blending. HC, CO and CO₂ emissions were simultaneously reduced because of hydrogen enrichment. Specifically, at λ = 1.00, HC, CO and CO₂ emissions were respectively reduced from 42,411 to 26,316 ppm, 1.86 to 0.78% and 9.96 to 8.58% when 3% hydrogen was added.     

Improving the performance of a gasoline engine with the addition of hydrogen-oxygen mixtures

The limited fossil fuel reserves and severe environmental pollution have pushed studies on improving the engine performance. This paper investigated the effect of hydrogen-oxygen blends (hydroxygen) addition on the performance of a spark-ignited (SI) gasoline engine. The test was performed on a modified SI engine equipped with a hydrogen and oxygen injection system. A hybrid electronic control unit was adopted to govern the opening and closing of hydrogen, oxygen and gasoline injectors. The standard hydroxygen with a fixed hydrogen-to-oxygen mole fraction of 2:1 was applied in the experiments. Three standard hydroxygen volume fractions in the total intake gas of 0%, 2% and 4% were adopted. For a given hydroxygen blending level, the gasoline injection duration was adjusted to enable the excess air ratio of the fuel-air mixtures to increase from 1.00 to the engine lean burn limit. Besides, to compare the effects of hydroxygen and hydrogen additions on the performance of a gasoline engine, a hydrogen-enriched gasoline engine was also run at the same testing conditions. The test results showed that the hydroxygen-blended gasoline engine produced higher thermal efficiency and brake mean effective pressure than both of the original and hydrogen-blended gasoline engines at lean conditions. The engine cyclic variation was eased and the engine lean burn limit was extended after the standard hydroxygen addition. The standard hydroxygen enrichment contributed to the decreased HC and CO emissions. CO from the standard hydroxygen-enriched gasoline engine is also lower than that from the hydrogen-enriched gasoline engine. But NOx emissions were increased after the hydroxygen addition.     

Combustion,performance and emission analysis of dual fuel engine using tsrb biogas

In this work, an experimental investigation has been carried out to reduce the emission and improve the performance and combustion characteristics of direct injection compression ignition (DICI) engine fuelled with diesel and biogas in dual fuel mode. The anaerobic digestion method was used to produce biogas from tamarind seed and rice bran (TSRB). The diesel is injected by conventional injector setup and the biogas is inducted through the intake manifold with air in different flow rates such as 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, and 1.0 kg/hr. The emission, combustion, and performance test is conducted with a different flow rate of biogas with diesel and compared with diesel. Results show that the smoke and Nox emissions are lowered by 7.1and 23.27%, respectively compared to diesel mode.     

Energy and exergy analyses of a gasoline engine

This study presents comparative energy and exergy analyses of a four-cylinder, four-stroke spark-ignition engine using gasoline fuels of three different research octane numbers (RONs), namely 91, 93 and 95.3. Each fuel test was performed by varying the engine speed between 1200 and 2400 rpm while keeping the engine torque at 20 and 40 Nm. Then, using the steady-state data along with energy and exergy rate balance equations, various performance parameters of the engine were evaluated for each fuel case. It was found that the gasoline of 91-RON, the design octane rating of the test engine, yielded better energetic and exergetic performance, while the exergetic performance parameters were slightly lower than the corresponding energetic ones. Furthermore, this study revealed that the combustion was the most important contributor to the system inefficiency, and almost all performance parameters increased with increasing engine speed. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Performance and emission assessment of a multi-cylinder S.I engine using CNG & HCNG as fuels

The present study was carried out to assess the possibility of using the HCNG in the commercially available CNG vehicles, as the available literature indicated the benefits of adding hydrogen to CNG in small percentages by volume, leading to improved combustion characteristics of CNG and yielding sizeable benefits, regarding improved engine performance and reduced engine emissions in automotive applications. In the present study, a commercially available CNG manifold carburation kit, commonly known as “sequential injection” in the market, is evaluated for its operation characteristics, on a Spark Ignited (SI), MPFI automotive engine, of a mass-produced passenger vehicle, converted for gas operation, using, gasoline, CNG, HCNG 10% and HCNG 18% as fuels. In the study, the following performance parameters, torque, power, thermal efficiency, brake specific energy consumption (BSEC), lambda, engine oil temperature, exhaust gas species were measured. After exhaustive engine testing, a comparison of engine performance emission characteristics for gasoline, CNG and HCNG 10% and HCNG 18% is presented. The engine performance using the optimized MAP tables demonstrated torque and power improvements for HCNG 10% and HCNG 18% in comparison to CNG. The torque benefits up-to 6% and power benefits up-to 4% were observed. The fuel energy consumption was measured to be reduced, and improvement in fuel conversion efficiency was also observed. Hydrogen substitution in CNG helped in reducing CO, HC, CO₂ emissions for HCNG in comparison to CNG. Increase in NO_x emission was observed for HCNG in comparison with CNG. Superior engine emission characteristics in comparison to gasoline and CNG is also demonstrated. The commercially available sequential gas manifold carburation was found to be suitable for HCNG 10% and HCNG 18%.     

Effect of syngas addition on performance of a spark-ignited gasoline engine at lean conditions

The paper studied the effect of syngas addition on performance of a gasoline engine at lean conditions. The engine ran at 1800 rpm and a manifolds absolute pressure of 61.5 kPa. The spark timing for the maximum brake torque was adopted for each testing point. The syngas volume fraction in the total intake gas was fixed at 0% and 2.5%. The test results showed that peak cylinder pressure and indicated thermal efficiency were enhanced after the syngas enrichment. Flame development and propagation durations of the 2.5% syngas-blended engine were reduced by 7.2 and 5.7 °CA, compared with those of the original engine at an excess air ratio of 1.36. The coefficient of variation in the indicated mean effective pressure showed a noticeable decrease after the syngas addition. CO and NOx emissions were slightly increased with the syngas enrichment. HC emissions were first reduced and then increased after the syngas blending.     

CNG-diesel engine performance and exhaust emission analysis with the aid of artificial neural network

This study investigates the use of artificial neural network (ANN) modelling to predict brake power, torque, break specific fuel consumption (BSFC), and exhaust emissions of a diesel engine modified to operate with a combination of both compressed natural gas CNG and diesel fuels. A single cylinder, four-stroke diesel engine was modified for the present work and was operated at different engine loads and speeds. The experimental results reveal that the mixtures of CNG and diesel fuel provided better engine performance and improved the emission characteristics compared with the pure diesel fuel. For the ANN modelling, the standard back-propagation algorithm was found to be the optimum choice for training the model. A multi-layer perception network was used for non-linear mapping between the input and output parameters. It was found that the ANN model is able to predict the engine performance and exhaust emissions with a correlation coefficient of 0.9884, 0.9838, 0.95707, and 0.9934 for the engine torque, BSFC, NO_x and exhaust temperature, respectively.     

汽油机怠速模糊-PID控制系统研究与分析

为了进一步控制汽油机怠速转速波动,改善怠速控制品质,提出了怠速模糊-PID控制方法,并在Matlab/Simulink软件平台上,搭建了PID控制、模糊控制、模糊-PID三种怠速控制仿真模型,对比分析了各种怠速控制系统的控制响应特性。通过台架试验,对原机控制算法和所设计控制算法下发动机怠速转速进行了对比,验证了该算法的正确性。结果表明:模糊-PID控制系统可以显著缩小转速波动范围,且系统响应更快,载荷切换阶段的转速波动最大幅值小于30 r·min~(–1),稳态波动幅值在±15 r·min~(–1)范围内;与PID控制、模糊控制两种控制方式相比,模糊-PID控制可显著提高怠速控制品质。     

Validation of a ternary gasoline surrogate in a CAI engine

This experimental study validated in a piston engine the European gasoline surrogate from [Pera and Knop, Fuel 96 (2012) 59–69], consisting of a ternary mixture of n-heptane, iso-octane, and toluene. Because only the gas phase properties of gasoline were emulated with the selected mixture, this validation was deliberately limited to port fuel injection operating points. By considering engine operation under controlled autoignition (CAI) combustion mode, the validation focused on fuel autoignition characteristics (autoignition delay and rate of heat release). A direct comparison of gasoline and its surrogate over the entire CAI operating range permitted a comprehensive evaluation of the surrogate adequacy under purely kinetically controlled combustion mode. The acquired data include autoignition timings, rate of heat release, exhaust gas temperatures, pollutant emissions, operating point stability, and operating ranges under CAI combustion mode. Good agreement between gasoline and its surrogate was obtained for all quantities, indicating similar behavior for the two fuels. Experimental results showed that a mixture of 13.7 mol% n-heptane, 42.9 mol% iso-octane, and 43.4 mol% toluene is a satisfactory surrogate for a European unleaded gasoline with a research octane number of 95, conforming to the EN 228 specification.     

Performance and emission characteristics of a turbocharged CNG engine fueled by hydrogen-enriched compressed natural gas with high hydrogen ratio

This paper investigates the effect of high hydrogen volumetric ratio of 55% on performance and emission characteristics in a turbocharged lean burn natural gas engine. The experimental data was conducted under various operating conditions including different spark timing, excess air ratio (lambda), and manifold pressure. It is found that the addition of hydrogen at a high volumetric ratio could significantly extend the lean burn limit, improve the engine lean burn ability, decrease burn duration, and yield higher thermal efficiency. The CO, CH₄ emissions were reduced and NO_x emission could be kept an acceptable low level with high hydrogen content under lean burn conditions when ignition timing were optimized.     

汽油发动机稀薄燃烧NOx后处理系统试验研究

在一台1.5 L涡轮增压缸内直喷汽油发动机上,使用不同的三效催化反应器(three-way catalytic,TWC)、稀燃NOx捕集器(lean NOx trap,LNT)、被动选择性催化还原器(passive selective catalytic reduction,PSCR)等排气后处理组合,研究了汽油发动机...