The influence of oxygenated fuels on emissions of aldehydes and ketones from a two-stroke spark ignition engine

A spark-ignited two-stroke chainsaw engine was used to study the influence of pure oxygenated fuels on exhaust emissions of carbonyls (aldehydes and ketones) and regulated emissions, i.e. hydrocarbons (HC), carbon monoxide (CO), and nitrogen oxides (NO_x). Three fuels—methanol, methyl tert-butylether (MTBE), and ethyl tert-butylether (ETBE)—were used in the tests, each at three air/fuel ratios (λ) and the generated emissions were compared to those observed in previous tests with ethanol, aliphatic gasoline, and regular gasoline. Use of all four oxygenated fuels (ETBE, ethanol, methanol and MTBE) resulted in substantially higher total carbonyl emissions (11, 11, 8.9 and 7.8 g/kWh, respectively) than use of both aliphatic and regular gasoline (2.1 and 2.6 g/kWh, respectively). Further, up to 44-fold higher levels of specific carbonyls were generated from the oxygenated fuels than from regular gasoline: significant amounts of formaldehyde were produced from all of the oxygenated fuels, but they were especially high from methanol and MTBE; acetaldehyde was formed in high amounts from ethanol and ETBE; while acetone and methacrolein were formed from both MTBE and ETBE. In addition, increases in λ increased exhaust emissions of formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, acetone, and methacrolein in cases where these were the main carbonyls formed. Increasing λ also variously increased, reduced or had no significant effect on emissions of other measured carbonyls. Lower amounts of CO and NO_x emissions were formed from all oxygenates (especially methanol) than from regular gasoline.     

Knock rating of gaseous fuels in a single cylinder spark ignition engine

This paper presents the determination of knock rating of gaseous fuels in a single cylinder engine. The first part of the work deals with an application of a standard method for the knock rating of gaseous fuels. The Service Methane Number (SMN) is compared with the standard Methane Number (MN) calculated from the standard AVL software METHANE (which corresponds to the MN measured on a Cooperative Fuel Research engine). Then, in the second part, the ‘mechanical’ resistance to knock of our engine is highlighted by means of the Methane Number Requirement (MNR). A single cylinder LISTER PETTER engine was modified to run as a spark ignition engine with a fixed compression ratio and an adjustable spark advance. Effects of engine settings on the MNR are deduced from experimental data and compared extensively with previous studies. Using the above, it is then possible to adapt the engine settings for optimal knock control and performances. The error on the SMN and MNR stands beneath ±2 MN units over the gases and engine settings considered.     

An analysis for effect of cetane number on exhaust emissions from engine with the neural network

Decoupling cetane number from the other compositions and properties of diesel fuel, the individual effect of cetane number on the exhaust emissions from an engine may be researched. This paper has presented a back-propagation neural network model predicting the exhaust emissions from an engine with the inputs of total cetane number, base cetane number and cetane improver, total cetane number and nitrogen content in the diesel fuel; as well as the output of the exhaust emissions of hydrocarbon (HC), carbon oxide (CO), particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen oxide (NO_x). An optimal design has been completed for the number of hidden layers, the number of hidden neurons, the activation function, and the goal errors, along with the initial weights and biases in the back-propagation neural network model. HC, CO, PM and NO_x have been predicted with the model, the effects of cetane improver and nitrogen content on them have also been analyzed, and better results have been achieved.     

Laminar flame speeds and extinction limits of conventional and alternative jet fuels

Experimental results of laminar flame speeds and extinction stretch rates for the conventional (Jet-A) and alternative (S-8) jet fuels are acquired and compared to the results from our earlier studies for neat hydrocarbon surrogate components, including n-decane and n-dodecane. Specifically, atmospheric pressure laminar flame speeds are measured using a counterflow twin-flame configuration for Jet-A/O₂/N₂ and S-8/O₂/N₂ mixtures at preheat temperatures of 400, 450, and 470 K and equivalence ratios ranging from 0.7 to 1.4. The flow field is recorded using digital particle image velocimetry. Linear extrapolation is then applied to determine the unstretched laminar flame speed. Experimental data for the extinction stretch rates of the nitrogen diluted jet fuel/oxidizer mixtures as a function of equivalence ratio are also obtained. In addition, the experimental data of Jet-A are compared to the computed values using a chemical kinetic mechanism for a kerosene surrogate reported in literature. A sensitivity analysis is further performed to identify the key reactions affecting the laminar flame speed and extinction stretch rate for this kerosene surrogate.     

Survey of seed oils for use as diesel fuels

Fifty-one out of 364 plant seeds being surveyed had fatty acid contents greater than 15% (dry weight), and their methyl esters had cetane indices higher than 50. Rambutan seed was an exception, with a lipid content of only 14.7%, but a high cetane index (67.1); thus, it was included in this report. Twenty seed oil methyl esters had cetane indices greater than 60. Three seed oils from the Sapindaceae family not only had high cetane indices but also contained long-chain fatty acids of 20 carbon atoms. Gross heats of combustion of the fatty acid methyl esters were slightly higher than those of neat oil, ranging from 38.2 to 40.8 j/g, whereas the heating values of the oils ranged from 37.4 to 40.5 j/g. Thus, these plant seed oils have great potential for development as diesel fuel or diesel fuel extender.     

Cetane numbers of branched and straight-chain fatty esters determined in an ignition quality tester

The cetane number, a widely used diesel fuel quality parameter related to the ignition delay time (and combustion quality) of a fuel, has been applied to alternative diesel fuels such as biodiesel and its components. In this work, the cetane numbers of 29 samples of straight-chain and branched C₁-C₄ esters as well as 2-ethylhexyl esters of various common fatty acids were determined. The cetane numbers of these esters are not significantly affected by branching in the alcohol moiety. Therefore, branched esters, which improve the cold-flow properties of biodiesel, can be employed without greatly influencing ignition properties compared to the more common methyl esters. Unsaturation in the fatty acid chain was again the most significant factor causing lower cetane numbers. Cetane numbers were determined in an ignition quality tester (IQT) which is a newly developed, automated rapid method using only small amounts of material. The IQT is as applicable to biodiesel and its components as previous cetane-testing methods.     

Vegetable oils and animal fats as alternative fuels for diesel engines with dual fuel operation

Vegetable oils and animal fats are applicable as fuels in standard diesel engines after having adapted the fuel system for electronically controlled dual fuel regime oil/fat-fossil diesel. In this contribution, performance and emission characteristics of the engines running on rapeseed oil, lard, or chicken fat are given and compared to those of fossil diesel and fatty acid methyl esters. The results of engine tests of these fuels show a decrease in maximum power and maximum torque in comparison to fossil diesel due to a lower energy content of triacylglycerols. These values are influenced also by a type of the engine used at testing. When compared to fossil diesel, the opacity of oil/fat based fuels is higher for an engine with lower injection pressures while it is lower for an engine with higher injection pressures. The level of both controlled and uncontrolled emissions is low for all tested biofuels and is low also for the reference fossil diesel. The results of performance and emission tests for rapeseed oil containing 3 and 6 vol.% of anhydrous ethanol are comparable to those obtained for pure oil. In this paper, practical experiences based on long-term operation of adapted vehicle fleet fuelled with oil/fat-fossil diesel are mentioned.     

Methane number testing of alternative gaseous fuels

Alternative gaseous fuels, like syn-gas and bio-gas, are attractive fuels for internal combustion engines due to energy and environmental concerns. Although the worldwide use of alternative gaseous fuels has increased, the knock properties of these fuels are not well understood. The methane number (MN) knock rating technique was selected based on its range and sensitivity. Eight alternative gaseous fuel compositions were simulated with a gas blending system and tested for MN in a Cooperative Fuel Research (CFR) F-2 engine. The alternative gaseous fuels ranged from 24 to 140 MN (natural gas typical range 75-95).     

Characterization of a lab-scale platinum filament pyrolyzer for studying the fast devolatilization of solid fuels

Platinum filament pyrolyzers achieve very high temperature and heating rate and can provide useful parameters for practical applications in combustion, pyrolysis and gasification processes. The critical use of an experimental instrument is necessary to provide reliable data. In this work, a commercial pyrolyzer (CDS Pyroprobe 2000) is characterized to obtain a correspondence between the nominal and the effective operating conditions. This is the basis for the modeling estimation of the effective thermal history of the sample during each experimental run. The experimental results obtained performing the devolatilization of coals, biomass and waste fuels using the pyrolyzer are compared with those obtained in a conventional thermogravimetric balance, to evaluate the effects of extremely different operating conditions. The amount of volatile released programming the most severe thermal conditions using the pyrolyzer (thus in conditions more similar to large-scale plants) differs significantly from that of thermogravimetric runs. Global kinetics are obtained fitting the experimental results and using the thermal history of the sample from the model results. They depend strongly on the conditions used for the devolatilization. Global kinetics obtained in the thermogravimetric balance runs (low heating rate) overestimate the rate of devolatilization in the pyrolyzer (high heating rate).     

Key properties and blending strategies of hydrotreated vegetable oil as biofuel for diesel engines

Hydrotreating catalysis is becoming a promising alternative to transesterification for the production of biofuels derived from vegetable oils. They have potential advantages with respect to both biodiesel fuels and petroleum-derived diesel fuels in terms of production costs, engine emissions and adaptability to current engine designs, but they have also some limitations which may restrict their capability to replace diesel fuels. Those fuel properties considered the most restrictive ones were measured on different blends of HVO (selected among the variety of names given to these fuels) with a winter ultra low sulfur diesel fuel (in 10, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, and 75 vol.%) in order to propose some blending strategies to optimize engine performance and emissions, to protect the engine components and to keep the vehicle operability. The results obtained show that the main restrictions are imposed by lubricity and cetane number, and, in case of cold regions, also by cold flow properties. A compromise between lubricity and derived cetane number would lead to a recommendation for low or medium HVO concentrations, and blends with concentrations above 50% would not be recommended. Density and viscosity would not impose direct blending restrictions, although the reductions in density could provide some economic savings and some flexibility to refineries. The loss of heating value per unit volume (and consequently the expected increase in fuel consumption) would be lower than 3% in blends up to 50% in volume. Finally, the sooting tendency of the blends is sharply reduced, indicating lower engine PM emissions and reduced need for regeneration of diesel particulate filters.     

A comparative experimental study of the autoignition characteristics of alternative and conventional jet fuel/oxidizer mixtures

Autoignition characteristics of an alternative (non-petroleum) and two conventional jet fuels are investigated and compared using a heated rapid compression machine. The alternative jet fuel studied is known as “S-8”, which is a hydrocarbon mixture rich in C₇-C₁₈ linear and branched alkanes and is produced by Syntroleum via the Fischer-Tropsch process using synthesis gas derived from natural gas. Specifically, ignition delay times for S-8/oxidizer mixtures are measured at compressed charge pressures corresponding to 7, 15, and 30 bar, in the low-to-intermediate temperature region ranging from 615 to 933 K, and for equivalence ratios varying from 0.43 to 2.29. For the conditions investigated for S-8, two-stage ignition response is observed. The negative temperature coefficient (NTC) behavior of the ignition delay time, typical of higher order hydrocarbons, is also noted. Further, the dependences of both the first-stage and the overall ignition delays on parameters such as pressure, temperature, and mixture composition are reported. A comparison between the autoignition responses obtained using S-8 and two petroleum-derived jet fuels, Jet-A and JP-8, is also conducted to establish an understanding of the relative reactivity of the three jet fuels. It is found that under the same operating conditions, while the three jet fuels share the common features of two-stage ignition characteristics and a NTC trend for ignition delays over a similar temperature range, S-8 has the shortest overall ignition delay times, followed by Jet-A and JP-8. The difference in ignition propensity signifies the effect of fuel composition and structure on autoignition characteristics.     

提高催化裂化柴油十六烷值技术探讨及应用

随着柴油质量标准的不断升级,催化裂化柴油因十六烷值低、芳烃含量高等特点,加工难度日趋增大。研究学者针对提高催化裂化柴油十六烷值开发出加氢改质、加氢转化、加氢处理-催化裂化组合、加氢裂化掺炼催化柴油等技术,各类技术在产品结构、产品质量、改造难度等方面各具特色。炼油企业可根据自身的需求选择适宜的技术,以实现柴油质量升级。某企业在应用了加氢裂化掺炼催化柴油技术、加氢处理-催化裂化组合技术后,柴油十六烷值有所提升,车用柴油比例由60%提升至94%,在每月加工1万t外购催化柴油的情况下,车用柴油比例仍维持80%以上。     

Transient testing of soy methyl ester fuels in an indirect injection,compression ignition engine

An evaluation of the exhaust emissions from a compression ignition engine for fuels composed of 100 and 30% methyl esters of soy oil (SME) is described. These fuels were compared with a low-sulfur, petroleum #2 diesel fuel in a Caterpillar 3304, prechamber, 75 kW diesel engine, operated over heavy- and light-duty transient test cycles developed by the United States Bureau of Mines. More than 60 h of testing was performed on each fuel. The objective was to determine the influence of the fuels upon diesel particulate matter (DPM) and gaseous emissions. The effect of a modern diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC) also was determined in an effort to minimize emissions. Neat SME produced a higher volatile fraction of the DPM, but much less carbon soot fraction, leading to overall DPM reductions of 23 to 30% for the light- and heavy-duty transients. The DOC further reduced the volatile fraction and the total DPM. The SME fuel reduced gaseous emissions of CO by 23% and hydrocarbons by over 30% without increasing NO_x. The DOC further reduced CO and hydrocarbon levels. Mutagenicity of the SME exhaust was low. Results indicate that SME fuel, used with a proper DOC, may be a feasible emission reduction technology for underground mines. References to specific products do not imply endorsement by the U.S. Bureau of Mines, a now defunct agency.     

Combustion and emission characteristics of DME as an alternative fuel for compression ignition engines with a high pressure injection system

The subject of this work is the investigation of the injection characteristics of neat dimethyl ether (DME) and the effect of DME fuel on the exhaust emission characteristics and engine performance of compression ignition engines. In order to analyze the injection characteristics of DME fuel as an alternative fuel for compression ignition engines, experiments were conducted to obtain the injection rate profile. The effective nozzle diameter and its velocity, and the discharge coefficient of the nozzle were analyzed by applying a nozzle flow model that accounted for the effect of cavitation. In addition, combustion characteristics of DME and diesel fuel in terms of combustion pressure, rate of heat release, indicated mean effective pressure (IMEP), and ignition delay at various injection timings were investigated on a constant energy input basis.When a constant pulse width was applied, the results of DME injection characterization showed that the actual injection duration of DME was longer than that of diesel fuel because the injection started faster and ended with more delay. The DME fueled engine showed slightly higher IMEP and NO_x emission with drastically lower CO and HC emissions and the possible reasons for the higher IMEP of DME fuel was discussed.     

Mesoporous catalysts for the synthesis of clean diesel fuels by oligomerisation of olefins

Si/Al MCM-41 type mesoporous compounds, as such or containing small amounts of metal (Ni, Rh or Pt), were investigated in the synthesis of clean diesel fuels by oligomerisation of orphan olefin streams. Very good catalytic performances were obtained with C₄ and C₅ olefins, while almost no conversion occurred with ethylene. The activity increased with increasing reaction pressure, temperature and contact time, while high Si/Al ratios had a negative effect on both activity and catalyst stability. The presence of small amount of metal inside the mesoporous structure did not significantly modify the catalytic activity, although specific effects were detected for each element. Since the evaluation of the cetane number by H-NMR gave rise to values about 20% lower than the actual value, a new and more complex algorithm is proposed to calculate the cetane number. Using the proposed algorithm, a good correlation index was found between calculated and motor values for pure compounds. Further study is necessary to move from pure compounds to experimental mixtures.     

Experimental analysis of the ignition front propagation of several biomass fuels in a fixed-bed combustor

Fixed-bed combustion in a tube reactor is a useful procedure to exploit a large variety of biomasses obtaining accurate in-bed data. In this paper, the ignition front propagation velocity is experimentally studied in a counter-current process for eight different biomass fuels with a wide range of origins, compositions and packing properties. Air mass flow rate is the main operative parameter and clearly distinguishes three stages of combustion (oxygen-limited, fuel limited and cooling by convection). The impact of the excess air ratio is also analyzed. This parameter confirmed that the maximum front velocity is achieved under sub-stoichiometric conditions, where the cooling effects of excessive air are minimized. Other variables with a major influence on the ignition front velocity are moisture and ash content. Finally, an uncertainty analysis is included to determine the accuracy of the entire measurement process.     

Ignition delay in a palm oil and rapeseed oil biodiesel fuelled engine and predictive correlations for the ignition delay period

This paper presents the results of engine tests of biodiesels obtained by transesterification of palm oil and rapeseed oil and with fossil diesel fuel as a reference. The analysis is focused on the determination of the ignition delay and on obtaining a predictive correlation for it. The experiments show no significant difference in in-cylinder pressures at injection timing for each fuel. With biodiesel slightly lower peak cylinder pressures were observed for most engine conditions. Palm oil and rapeseed oil biodiesel gave shorter ignition delay than fossil diesel fuel due to the higher cetane number for the biodiesels. The ignition delay data were correlated as a function of the equivalence ratio, the mean cylinder pressure and mean temperature over the ignition delay interval. A comparison is made with other available correlations. The ignition delay values estimated by the new correlations are in good agreement with the experiments.     

An experimental and numerical analysis of the HCCI auto-ignition process of primary reference fuels,toluene reference fuels and diesel fuel in an engine,varying the engine parameters

For a future HCCI engine to operate under conditions that adhere to environmental restrictions, reducing fuel consumption and maintaining or increasing at the same time the engine efficiency, the choice of the fuel is crucial. For this purpose, this paper presents an auto-ignition investigation concerning the primary reference fuels, toluene reference fuels and diesel fuel, in order to study the effect of linear alkanes, branched alkanes and aromatics on the auto-ignition. The auto-ignition of these fuels has been studied at inlet temperatures from 25 to 120 °C, at equivalence ratios from 0.18 to 0.53 and at compression ratios from 6 to 13.5, in order to extend the range of investigation and to assess the usability of these parameters to control the auto-ignition. It appeared that both iso-octane and toluene delayed the ignition with respect to n-heptane, while toluene has the strongest effect. This means that aromatics have higher inhibiting effects than branched alkanes. In an increasing order, the inlet temperature, equivalence ratio and compression ratio had a promoting effect on the ignition delays. A previously experimentally validated reduced surrogate mechanism, for mixtures of n-heptane, iso-octane and toluene, has been used to explain observations of the auto-ignition process.     

Impact of alcohol-gasoline fuel blends on the performance and combustion characteristics of an SI engine

In this study, the effects of ethanol-gasoline (E5, E10) and methanol-gasoline (M5, M10) fuel blends on the performance and combustion characteristics of a spark ignition (SI) engine were investigated. In the experiments, a vehicle having a four-cylinder, four-stroke, multi-point injection system SI engine was used. The tests were performed on a chassis dynamometer while running the vehicle at two different vehicle speeds (80 km/h and 100 km/h), and four different wheel powers (5, 10, 15, and 20 kW). The results obtained from the use of alcohol-gasoline fuel blends were compared to those of gasoline fuel. The results indicated that when alcohol-gasoline fuel blends were used, the brake specific fuel consumption increased; cylinder gas pressure started to rise later than gasoline fuel. Almost in the all test conditions, the lowest peak heat release rate was obtained from the gasoline fuel use.     

The fuel properties of three-phase emulsions as an alternative fuel for diesel engines

Diesel engines are employed as the major propulsion power for in-land and marine transportation vehicles primarily because of their rigid structure, low breakdown rate, high thermal efficiency and high fuel economy. It is expected that diesel engines will be widely used in the foreseeable future. However, the pollutants emitted from diesel engines (in particular nitrogen oxides and particulate matter) are detrimental to the health of living beings and ecological environment have been recognized as the major air pollution source in metropolitan areas and have thus attracted much research interest. Although diesel oil emulsion has been considered as a possible approach to reduce diesel engine pollutants, previous relevant applications were restricted to two-phase emulsions. Three-phase emulsions such as oil-in-water-in-oil briefly denoted as O/W/O emulsions and water-in-oil-in-water, denoted as W/O/W, have not been used as an alternative fuel for any combustion equipment. Studies on the properties of three-phase emulsion as fuel have not been found in the literatures. The emulsification properties of an O/W/O three-phase diesel fuel emulsion were investigated in this experimental study. The results show that the mean drop size of the O/W/O emulsion was reduced significantly with increasing homogenizing machine revolution speed. An increase in inner phase proportion of the O/W/O emulsion resulted in increasing the emulsion viscosity. The viscosity of O/W/O emulsion is greater than that for water-in-oil (denoted briefly as W/O emulsion) for the same water content. More stable emulsion turbidity appeared for three-phase O/W/O diesel emulsions added with emulsifier with HLB values ranging from 6 to 8. In addition, three-phase O/W/O emulsions with greater water content will form a larger number of liquid droplets, leading to a faster formation rate and greater emulsion turbidity at the beginning but a faster descending rate of emulsion turbidity afterwards. The potential for using O/W/O emulsions as an alternative fuel for diesel engines was also evaluated.