Strategies to improve the performance of a spark ignition engine using fuel blends of biogas with natural gas,propane and hydrogen

This work presents the strategies applied to improve the performance of a spark ignition (SI) biogas engine. A diesel engine with a high compression ratio (CR) was converted to SI to be fueled with gaseous fuels. Biogas was used as the main fuel to increase knocking resistance of the blends. Biogas was blended with natural gas, propane, and hydrogen to improve fuel combustion properties. The spark timing (ST) was adjusted for optimum generating efficiencies close to the knocking threshold. The engine was operated on each blend at the maximum output power under stable combustion conditions. The maximum output power was measured at partial throttle limited by engine knocking threshold. The use of biogas in the engine resulted in a power derating of 6.25% compared with the original diesel engine (8 kW @ 1800 rpm). 50% biogas + 50% natural gas was the blend with the highest output power (8.66 kW @1800 rpm) and the highest generating efficiency (29.8%); this blend indeed got better results than the blends enriched with propane and hydrogen. Tests conditions were selected to achieve an average knocking peak pressure between 0.3 and 0.5 bar and COV of IMEP lower than 4% using 200 consecutive cycles as reference. With the blends of biogas, propane, and hydrogen, the output power obtained was just over 8 kW whereas the blends of biogas, natural gas, and hydrogen the output power were close to 8.6 kW. Moreover, a new approach to evaluate the maximum output power in gas engines is proposed, which does not depend on the engine % throttle but on the limit defined by the knocking threshold and cyclic variations.     

Effect of the turbulence intensity on knocking tendency in a SI engine with high compression ratio using biogas and blends with natural gas,propane and hydrogen

This research presents the test results carried out in a diesel engine converted to spark ignition (SI) using gaseous fuels, applying a geometry change of the pistons combustion chamber (GCPCC) to increase the turbulence intensity during the combustion process; with similar compression ratio (CR) of the original diesel engine; the increase in turbulence intensity was planned to rise turbulent flame speed of biogas, to compensate its low laminar flame speed. The research present the test to evaluate the effect of increase turbulence intensity on knocking tendency; using fuel blends of biogas with natural gas, propane and hydrogen; for each fuel blend the maximum output power was measured just into the knocking threshold before and after GCPCC; spark timing (ST) was adjusted for optimum generating efficiency at the knocking threshold. Turbulence intensity with GCPCC was estimated using Fluent 13, with 3D Combustion Fluid Dynamics (CFD) numerical simulations; 12 combustion chamber geometries were simulated in motoring conditions; the selected geometry had the greatest simulated turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) and Reynolds number (Re) during combustion. The increased turbulence intensity was measured indirectly through the periods of combustion duration to mass fraction burn 0–5%, 0–50% and 0–90%; for almost all the fuel blends the increased turbulence intensity of the engine, increased the knocking tendency requiring to reduce the maximum output power to keep engine operation just into the knocking threshold. Biogas was the only fuel without power derating by the conditions of higher pressure and higher turbulence during combustion by GCPCC and improve its generating efficiency. Peak pressure, heat release rate, mean effective pressure and exhaust temperature were lower after GCPCC. Tests results indicated that knocking tendency was increased because of the higher turbulent flame speed; fuel blends with high laminar flame speed and low methane number (MN) had higher knocking tendency and lower output power.     

Experimental investigation of varying composition of HCNG on performance and combustion characteristics of a SI engine

With rapid depletion of petroleum resources, researchers are investigating alternate fuels to meet global transportation energy demand. Gaseous fuels such as compressed natural gas (CNG) and hydrogen are of special interest because of their cleaner combustion characteristics compared to liquid petroleum based fossil fuels. However both these gaseous fuels have some technical issues when they are used as stand-alone alternate fuel in conventional spark ignition (SI) engines. CNG suffers from lower energy density and narrow flammability range whereas backfiring tendency is highly pronounced in hydrogen fueled engines. Hydrogen enriched compressed natural gas (HCNG) mixtures are observed to be good alternative to these individual fuels since these mixtures do not pose the issues experienced by the constituent fuels i.e. CNG and hydrogen. In this study, experiments were conducted in a spark ignited gas engine using various compositions of HCNG mixtures having 0, 10, 20, 30, 50, 70 and 100% (v/v) hydrogen fraction. The performance and combustion characteristics of these test fuels were compared with that of baseline CNG, in order to find an optimum HCNG mixture composition for a single cylinder gas engine. Results obtained showed that 30HCNG mixture delivered superior engine performance compared to other HCNG mixtures and baseline CNG, which is in sharp contrast to 15HCNG being advocated globally.     

Future fuels and mixture preparation methods for spark ignition automobile engines

Research in the automobile industry focuses on studies of spark ignition automobile engines especially of stratified charge engines, lean combustion concepts, engines fueled by alcohol/gasoline blends, alcohol engines, and engines with on-board gas generators fueled by a variety of liquid fuels. The goal of this work is the development of low-emission, high fuel-economy and high performance power systems for the early 1990s. The implementation of this objective makes it necessary for more information on future fuel characteristics. In addition proper mixture preparation methods must be applied to find solutions to specific problems such as NO_x formation and aldehyde emission, while maintaining good fuel economy and high engine efficiency. The goal of this paper is to discuss the most attractive approaches for improved preparation and distribution of the fuel-air mixture with respect to future fuels such as alcohol/gasoline blends and other alcohol fuels.     

Engine knock and combustion characteristics of a spark ignition engine operating with varying hydrogen and carbon monoxide proportions

Varying proportions of hydrogen and carbon monoxide (synthesis gas) have been investigated as a spark ignition (SI) engine fuel in this paper. It is important to understand how various synthesis gas compositions effect important SI combustion fundamentals, such as knock and burn duration, because in synthesis gas production applications, the compositions can vary significantly depending on the feedstock and production method.A single cylinder cooperative fuels research (CFR) engine was used to investigate the knock and combustion characteristics of three blends of synthesis gas (H₂/CO ratio); 1) 100/0, 2) 75/25, and 3) 50/50, by volume. These blends were tested at three compression ratios (6:1, 8:1, and 10:1), and three equivalence ratios (0.6, 0.7, and 0.8).It was revealed that the knock limited compression ratio (KLCR) of a H₂/CO mixture increases with increasing CO fraction, for a given spark timing. For a given equivalence ratio and spark timing, a 50%/50% H₂/CO mixture produced a KLCR of 8:1 compared to a 100% H₂ condition, which produced a KLCR of 6:1. The burn duration and ignition lag is also increased with increasing CO fraction. The results from this work are important for those considering using synthesis gas as a fuel in SI engines. It reveals that although CO is a slow burning fuel, higher CO fractions in synthesis gas can be beneficial, because of its increased resistance to knock, which gives it the potential of producing higher indicated efficiencies through the utilization of an engine with a higher compression ratio.     

Fuel conversion efficiency of a port injection engine fueled with gasoline–isobutanol blends

This paper describes the comparative advantages of using isobutanol as a fuel for SI (spark ignition) engines instead of ethanol. An experimental study of fuel conversion efficiency was performed on a port injection engine fueled with mixtures containing 10, 30 and 50% isobutanol blended with gasoline. Efficiency as well as performance levels were maintained within acceptable limits for all three types of fuel blends compared to running the engine on straight gasoline. These results show that isobutanol is an attractive drop-in fuel for SI engines, and can be blended with gasoline in much higher concentrations compared to ethanol, without any modifications to the fuel system or other engine components.     

Particulate emissions from laser ignited and spark ignited hydrogen fueled engines

Exponentially increasing energy demand and stricter emission legislations have motivated researchers to explore alternative fuels and advanced engine technologies, which are more efficient and environment friendly. In last two decades, hydrogen has emerged as promising alternative fuel for internal combustion (IC) engines and vehicles. For gaseous fuels, laser ignition (LI) has emerged as a novel ignition technique due to its superior characteristics, leading to improved combustion, engine performance and emission characteristics. Numerous advantages of LI system such as flexibility of plasma location, lower NO_x emissions and capability of igniting ultra-lean fuel–air mixture makes LI system superior compared to conventional spark ignition (SI) system. This study experimentally compares particulate emissions from hydrogen fueled engine ignited by LI and SI systems. Experiments were performed in a constant speed engine prototype, which was suitably modified to operate on gaseous fuels using both LI as well as SI systems. Particulate were characterized using engine exhaust particle sizer (EEPS) spectrometer. Results showed that LI engine resulted in relatively higher particulate number concentration as well as particulate mass compared to SI engine. In both ignition systems, particulate emissions increased with increasing engine load however rate of increase was relatively higher in LI system. Relatively larger count mean diameter (CMD) of particulate emitted from SI engine compared to LI engine was another important observation. This showed emission of relatively smaller particles in larger numbers from LI engine, compared to baseline SI engine.     

Dilution of fresh charge for reducing combustion knock in the internal combustion engine fueled with hydrogen rich gases

Hydrogen as potential engine fuel can appear either as a single gas or as a component in processing gases e.g. syngas, hythane and coke gas. The research in this paper investigates impact of combustible mixture dilution on abnormal combustion called knock in the reciprocating internal combustion engine. Dilution can be realized by either exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) or making the combustible mixture lean. Novelty of this work is a new metrics defined as dilution ratio, which makes it possible to compare knock reduction caused by either EGR or leaning the air-gas mixture to the engine. Two gaseous fuels were investigated: hydrogen and coke gas with 65% hydrogen. Conclusion based on the proposed dilution ratio states that, for hydrogen as the fuel, applying EGR is more effective in knock reduction than making the mixture lean. It was found that EGR strategy in the hydrogen fueled engine can reduce knock intensity from initial 40 kPa–20 kPa, whereas by leaning the mixture to the same dilution ratio, the knock is reduced to approximately 28 kPa. With respect to coke gas, it is proved that both EGR and lean mixtures influence on knock reduction at the same strength.     

Comparison of performance and emissions of a supercharged dual-fuel engine fueled by hydrogen and hydrogen-containing gaseous fuels

This study investigated the engine performance and emissions of a supercharged engine fueled by hydrogen (H₂), and three other hydrogen-containing gaseous fuels such as primary fuels, and diesel as pilot fuel in dual-fuel mode. The energy share of primary fuels was about 90% or more, and the rest of the energy was supplied by diesel fuel. The hydrogen-containing fuels tested in this study were 13.7% H₂-content producer gas, 20% H₂-content producer gas and 56.8% H₂-content coke oven gas (COG). Experiments were carried out at a constant pilot injection pressure and pilot quantity for different fuel-air equivalence ratios and at various injection timings. The experimental strategy was to optimize the pilot injection timing to maximize engine power at different fuel-air equivalence ratios without knocking and within the limit of the maximum cylinder pressure. Better thermal efficiency was obtained with the increase in H₂ content in the fuels, and neat H₂ as a primary fuel produced the highest thermal efficiency. The fuel-air equivalence ratio was decreased with the increase in H₂ content in the fuels to avoid knocking. Thus, neat H₂-operation produced less maximum power than other fuels, because of much leaner operations. Two-stage combustion was obtained; this is an indicator of maximum power output conditions and a precursor of knocking combustion. The emissions of CO and HC with neat H₂-operation were 98-99.9% and NOx about 85-90% less than other fuels.     

Use of palm oil-based biofuel in the internal combustion engines: Performance and emissions characteristics

Palm oil (PO) was treated using different methods in order to use and test it as fuel in Compression Ignition (CI) engines. The treatments include PO preheated and preparation of PO/diesel oil blends, using mixtures of PO with waste cooking oil (WCO), which are converted into esters by a transesterification process. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the potential of the palm oil-based biofuels to replace diesel oil in CI engines.Tests were conducted in a single cylinder, four-stroke, air-cooled, direct injection diesel engine (no engine modifications were required). Experiments were initially carried out with diesel oil for providing baseline data. All the tested fuels have a low heating value compared to diesel fuel. A high fraction of PO in diesel fuel decreases the heating value of the blend. The brake thermal efficiency increases for the PO/Diesel blends. HC emissions for all those fuels except for the PO/Diesel blends are found lower, while CO emissions rise for all types of fuels. NO_x emissions are higher at low load, but lower at full load, for the engine fueled with PO and lower both at middle and full load for the engine fueled with the esters.     

Investigating the effects of LPG on spark ignition engine combustion and performance

A quasi-dimensional spark ignition (SI) engine cycle model is used to predict the cycle, performance and exhaust emissions of an automotive engine for the cases of using gasoline and LPG. Governing equations of the mathematical model mainly consist of first order ordinary differential equations derived for cylinder pressure and temperature. Combustion is simulated as a turbulent flame propagation process and during this process, two different thermodynamic regions consisting of unburned gases and burned gases that are separated by the flame front are considered. A computer code for the cycle model has been prepared to perform numerical calculations over a range of engine speeds and fuel–air equivalence ratios. In the computations performed at different engine speeds, the same fuel–air equivalence ratios are selected for each fuel to make realistic comparisons from the fuel economy and fuel consumption points of view. Comparisons show that if LPG fueled SI engines are operated at the same conditions with those of gasoline fueled SI engines, significant improvements in exhaust emissions can be achieved. However, variations in various engine performance parameters and the effects on the engine structural elements are not promising.     

The impacts of compression ratio on the performance and emissions of ice powered by oxygenated fuels: A review

Energy sources are becoming a governmental issue, with cost and stable supply as the main concern. Oxygenated fuels production is cheap, simple and eco-friendly, as a well as can be produced locally, cutting down on transportation fuel costs. Oxygenated fuels are used directly in an engine as a pure fuel, or they can be blended with fossil fuel. The most common fuels that are conceded under oxygenated fuels are ethanol, methanol, butanol Dimethyl Ether (DME), Ethyl tert-butyl ether (ETBE), Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) and biodiesel that have attracted the attention of researchers. Due to the higher heat of vaporization, high octane rating, high flammability temperature, and single boiling point, the oxygenated fuels have a positive impact on the engine performance, combustion, and emissions by allowing the increase of the compression ratio. Oxygenated fuels also have a considerable oxygen content that causes clean combustion. The aim of this paper was to systematically review the impact of compression ratio (CR) on the performance, combustion and emissions of internal combustion engines (ICE) that are operated with oxygenated fuels that could potentially replace petroleum-based fuels or to improve the fuel properties. The higher octane rating of oxygenated fuels can endure higher compression ratios before an engine starts knocking, thus giving an engine the ability to deliver more power efficiently and economically. One of the more significant findings to emerge from this review study was the slight increases or decreases in power when oxygenated fuel was used at the original CR in ICE engines. Also, CO, HC, and NOx emissions decreased while the fuel consumption (FC) increased. However, at higher CR, the engine performance increased and fuel consumption decreased for both SI and CI engines. It was seen the NOx, CO and CO₂ emissions of oxygenated fuels decreased with the increasing CR in the SI engine, but the HC increased. Meanwhile, in CI engine, the HC, CO and NOx decreased as the CR increased with biodiesel fuel.     

Evaluation of acetylene as a spark ignition engine fuel

In spite of its known shortcomings as a fuel for spark ignition engines, acetylene has been suggested as a possible alternative to petroleum-based fuels since it can be produced from non-petroleum resources (coal, limestone and water). Therefore, acetylene was evaluated in a single-cylinder engine to investigate performance and emission characteristics with special emphasis on lean operation for NO_x control. Testing was carried out at constant speed, constant airflow and MBT spark timing. Equivalence ratio and compression ratio were the primary variables. The engine operated much leaner when fuelled with acetylene than with gasoline. With acetylene, the engine operated at equivalence ratios as lean as 0·53 and 0·43 for compression ratios of 4 and 6, respectively. However, the operating range was very limited. Knock-induced preignition occurred either with compression ratios above 6 or with mixtures richer than 0·69 equivalence ratio. Both the indicated thermal efficiency and power output were less for acetylene fuelling than for gasoline. Acetylene combustion occurred at sufficiently lean equivalence ratios to produce very low NO_x and CO emissions. However, when the low NO_x levels were achieved hydrocarbon control was not improved over that with gasoline. Despite the potential for NO_x control demonstrated in this study of acetylene fuelling, difficulties encountered with engine knock and preignition plus well-known safety problems (wide flammability limits and explosive decomposition) associated with acetylene render this fuel impractical for spark ignition engines.     

燃料辛烷值对HCCI燃烧特征和排放特性的影响

将一台4缸高速轻型柴油机中的一缸改装，使其具有独立的进排气系统和燃油供给系统，研究了参比燃料及其混合物在均质压燃过程中的着火时刻、燃烧速率和NOx、UHC、CO排放．考察了正庚烷、异辛烷和各种不同比例的混合物在常温、常压下各种负荷的燃烧特性．研究发现：随燃料辛烷值增加，第一阶段着火时刻推迟，燃烧持续期缩短，第一阶段反应结束时的压力升高量和温度升高量减少；第一阶段的累积放热量取决于燃料中高十六烷值燃料的浓度；第二阶段的着火时刻与第一阶段着火时刻呈线性关系；第二阶段燃烧持续期随当量比的增加而减小，且随辛烷值增加而延长；随燃料十六烷值和当量比增加，CO和UHC排放大幅度改善．     

Theoretical and experimental study on the performance of a diesel engine fueled with diesel–biodiesel blends

This study reports the effects of engine load and biodiesel percentage on the performance of a diesel engine fueled with diesel–biodiesel blends by experiments and a new theoretical model based on the finite-time thermodynamics (FTT). In recent years, biodiesel utilization in diesel engines has been popular due to depletion of petroleum-based diesel fuel. In this study, performance of a single cylinder, four-stroke, direct injection (DI) diesel engine fueled with diesel–biodiesel mixtures has been experimentally and theoretically investigated. The simulation results agree with the experimental data. After model validation, the effects of engine load and biodiesel percentage on engine performance have been parametrically investigated. The results showed that, effective power increases constantly, effective efficiency increases to a specified value and then starts to decrease with increasing engine load at constant biodiesel percentage and compression ratio. However, effective efficiency increases, effective power decreases to a certain value and then begins to increase with increasing biodiesel percentage at constant equivalence ratio and compression ratio.     

含氧燃料对内燃机燃烧和排放性能的影响

列举醇类、醚类、酯类、生物柴油等及其作为含氧燃料添加剂与汽、柴油混合的混合燃料性能，介绍部分纯质含氧燃料及其混合燃料对内燃机燃烧和排放的影响。研究表明，醇类燃料及其与汽油的混合燃料能够降低点燃式发动机的HC和CO排放，使发动机的动力性和经济性提高；二甲醚燃料、柴油与DMC或ADMM等的混合燃料对降低压燃式发动机的微粒排放具有显著的作用。含氧化合物混入燃油中有利于降低内燃机中HC，CO等物质的排放。     

Efficiency and emissions in a vehicle spark ignition engine fueled with hydrogen and methane blends

This paper shows the results of the tests carried out in a naturally aspirated vehicle spark ignition engine fueled with different hydrogen and methane blends. The percentage of hydrogen tested was up to 50% by volume in methane. The tests were carried out in a wide range of speeds with the original ignition timing of the engine. Also, lean equivalence ratios were proved. Just the fuel injection map was modified for each fuel blend and equivalence ratio tested. In this paper, the results of thermal efficiency and pollutant emissions achieved at full load have been compared with the corresponding gasoline test results. The best balance between thermal efficiency and pollutant emissions was observed with the 30% hydrogen and 70% methane fuel blend.     

Combustion and emissions performance of a hybrid hydrogen–gasoline engine at idle and lean conditions

Due to the narrow flammability of gasoline, pure gasoline-fueled spark-ignited (SI) engines always encounter partial burning or even misfire at lean conditions. Gasoline engines tend to suffer poor combustion and expel large emissions at idle conditions because of the high variation in the intake charge and low combustion temperature. Comparatively, hybrid hydrogen engines (HHE) fueled with the mixtures of hydrocarbon fuels and hydrogen seem to achieve lower emissions and gain higher thermal efficiencies than the original hydrocarbon-fueled engines due to the wide flammability and high flame speed of hydrogen. Since a HHE only requires a small amount of hydrogen, it also removes concerns about the high production and storage costs of hydrogen. This paper introduced an experiment conducted on a four-cylinder SI gasoline engine equipped with a hydrogen port-injection system to explore the performance of a hybrid hydrogen–gasoline engine (HHGE) at idle and lean conditions. The injection timings and durations of hydrogen and gasoline were governed by a hybrid electronic control unit (HECU) developed by the authors, which can be adjusted freely according to the commands from a calibration computer. During the test, hydrogen flow rate was varied to ensure that hydrogen volume fraction in the intake was constantly kept at 3%. For the specified hydrogen addition level, gasoline flow rate was reduced to make the engine operate at idle and lean conditions with various excess air ratios. The test results demonstrated that cyclic variations in engine idle speed and indicated mean effective pressure were eased with hydrogen enrichment. The indicated thermal efficiency was obviously higher for the HHGE than that for the original gasoline engine at idle and lean conditions. The indicated thermal efficiency at an excess air ratio of 1.37 was increased from 13.81% for the original gasoline engine to 20.20% for the HHGE with a 3% hydrogen blending level. Flame development and propagation periods were also evidently shortened after hydrogen blending. Moreover, HC, CO and NOx emissions were all improved after hydrogen enrichment at idle and lean conditions. Therefore, the HHE methodology is an effective and promising way for improving engine idle performance at lean conditions.     

Combustion and emissions performance of a DME-enriched spark-ignited methanol engine at idle condition

Dimethyl ether (DME) and methanol are thought to be one of the most promising alternative fuels for IC engines. Meanwhile, previous investigations also have pointed out the good prospects for adopting DME and methanol in IC engines. The experiments in this paper were carried out at idle condition to investigate the effect of applying the methanol/DME blended fuel in a SI engine. The engine was modified to be fueled with the mixture of methanol and DME which were injected into the engine intake ports simultaneously. Various DME fractions were selected to investigate the effect of DME addition on engine performance. The experimental results showed that indicated thermal efficiency was increased by 25% and coefficient of cyclic variation in engine speed was decreased by 29.2% at the DME energy fraction of 85.2% in the total fuel. In addition, both flame development and propagation durations were shortened with the increase of DME enrichment level at idle condition. Meanwhile, the largest drop of HC emissions was nearly 50% compared with the original methanol engine at stoichiometric condition. However, CO and NO_x emissions increase with the addition of DME.