Effects of secondary combustion on efficiencies and emission reduction in the diesel engine exhaust heat recovery system

An experimental study on the effects of secondary combustion on efficiencies and emission reduction in the diesel engine exhaust heat recovery system has been undertaken. The co-generation concept is utilized in that the electric power is produced by the generator connected to the diesel engine, and heat is recovered from both combustion exhaust gases and the engine by the fin-and-tube and shell-and-tube heat exchangers, respectively. A specially designed secondary combustor is installed at the engine outlet in order to reburn the unburned fuel from the diesel engine, thereby improving the system’s efficiency as well as reducing air pollution caused by exhaust gases. The main components of the secondary combustor are coiled Nichrome wires heated by the electric current and diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC) housed inside a well insulated stainless steel shell. The performance tests were conducted at four water flow rates of 5, 10, 15 and 20 L/min and five electric power outputs of 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11 kW. The results show that at a water flow of 20 L/min and a power generation of 9 kW, the total efficiency (thermal efficiency plus electric power generation efficiency) of this system reaches a maximum 94.4% which is approximately 15–20% higher than that of the typical diesel engine exhaust heat recovery system. Besides, the use of the secondary combustor and heat exchangers results in 80%, 35% and 90% reduction of carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxide (NO_x) and particulate matter (PM), respectively.     

Performance and emission comparison of a supercharged dual-fuel engine fueled by producer gases with varying hydrogen content

This study investigated the effect of hydrogen content in producer gas on the performance and exhaust emissions of a supercharged producer gas–diesel dual-fuel engine. Two types of producer gases were used in this study, one with low hydrogen content (H₂ = 13.7%) and the other with high hydrogen content (H₂ = 20%). The engine was tested for use as a co-generation engine, so power output while maintaining a reasonable thermal efficiency was important. Experiments were carried out at a constant injection pressure and injection quantity for different fuel–air equivalence ratios and at various injection timings. The experimental strategy was to optimize the injection timing to maximize engine power at different fuel–air equivalence ratios without knocking and within the limit of the maximum cylinder pressure. Two-stage combustion was obtained; this is an indicator of maximum power output conditions and a precursor of knocking combustion. Better combustion, engine performance, and exhaust emissions (except NO_x) were obtained with the high H₂-content producer gas than with the low H₂-content producer gas, especially under leaner conditions. Moreover, a broader window of fuel–air equivalence ratio was found with highest thermal efficiencies for the high H₂-content producer gas.     

A thermodynamic analysis of a novel high efficiency reciprocating internal combustion engine—the isoengine

A novel concept for a high efficiency reciprocating internal combustion engine (the isoengine) is described and its cycle is analysed. The highly turbocharged engine configuration, which is intended primarily for on-site and distributed power generation, has a predicted electrical output of 7.3 MW. It has the option for co-generation of up to 3.2 MW of hot water at 95 °C supply temperature. The maximum net electrical plant efficiency is predicted to be about 60% on diesel fuel and 58% on natural gas. The key to the high electrical efficiency is the quasi-isothermal compression of the combustion air in cylinders, which are separate from the power cylinders. This achieves a significant saving in compression work and allows the recovery of waste heat back into the cycle, mainly from the exhaust gas by means of a recuperator. The construction of a first 3 MW_e prototype isoengine has been completed and its testing has begun. Relevant test results are expected in the near future.     

Technological and economical analysis of water recovery in steam injected gas turbines

Steam injected gas turbines are an interesting technology for co-generation applications. In these gas turbines the heat of the exhaust gases is used to produce steam. This steam is injected in the combustion chamber, resulting in a high specific power and a high thermal efficiency. A major disadvantage of steam injected gas turbines is the large water consumption. Placing a condenser in the cycle makes it possible to recover all the injected steam. An analysis is made of different types of condensers. Condensers based on finned tubes and direct-contact-condensers are considered. The dimensions of the condensers are determined for existing steam injected gas turbines. Furthermore, the investment costs and the exploitation costs for each type are compared.     

Energetic analysis of SOFC co-generation system integrated with EV charging station installed in multifamily apartment

The authors propose a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) co-generation system integrated with an electric vehicle (EV) charging station. To examine the feasibility of the proposed system, the authors numerically simulated the operation pattern of the proposed system, using the electric and thermal demands measured at a multifamily apartment from May 2003 to April 2004. Based on the simulation results, the authors calculated the overall efficiency of the system as well as the primary energy saving rate. The available electric energy for EV charging was also evaluated for the case of the proposed system installed in the multifamily apartment. As a result, it is made clear that the annually averaged overall efficiency reaches about 77% (LHV) and the expected primary energy saving rate exceeds 30% throughout the year. In addition, it is also found that sufficient amount of electric energy for EV charging can be obtained from the proposed system. Therefore, it can be concluded that the proposed SOFC system can successfully combine electrical/thermal energy co-generation and electric vehicle charging while maintaining high energy efficiency and good matching to energy consumption patterns.     

Performance, emission and combustion characteristics of biodiesel fuelled variable compression ratio engine

Experiments has been carried out to estimate the performance, emission and combustion characteristics of a single cylinder; four stroke variable compression ratio multi fuel engine fuelled with waste cooking oil methyl ester and its blends with standard diesel. Tests has been conducted using the fuel blends of 20%, 40%, 60% and 80% biodiesel with standard diesel, with an engine speed of 1500 rpm, fixed compression ratio 21 and at different loading conditions. The performance parameters elucidated includes brake thermal efficiency, specific fuel consumption, brake power, indicated mean effective pressure, mechanical efficiency and exhaust gas temperature. The exhaust gas emission is found to contain carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon, nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxide. The results of the experiment has been compared and analyzed with standard diesel and it confirms considerable improvement in the performance parameters as well as exhaust emissions. The blends when used as fuel results in the reduction of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon, carbon dioxide at the expense of nitrogen oxides emissions. It has found that the combustion characteristics of waste cooking oil methyl ester and its diesel blends closely followed those of standard diesel.     

Effects on CHP plant efficiency of H2 production through partial oxydation of natural gas over two group VIII metal catalysts

Blending H₂ with natural gas in spark ignition engines can increase for electric efficiency. In-situ H₂ production for spark ignition engines fuelled by natural gas has therefore been investigated recently, and reformed exhaust gas recirculation (RGR) has been identified a potentially advantageous approach: RGR uses the steam and O₂ contained in exhaust gases under lean combustion, for reforming natural gas and producing H₂, CO, and CO₂. In this paper, an alternative approach is introduced: air gas reforming circulation (AGRC). AGRC uses directly the O₂ contained in air, rendering the chemical pathway comparable to partial oxidation. Formulations based on palladium and platinum have been selected as potential catalysts. With AGRC, the concentrations of the constituents of the reformed gas are approximately 25% hydrogen, 10% carbon monoxide, 8% unconverted hydrocarbons and 55% nitrogen. Experimental results are presented for the electric efficiency and exhaust gas (CO and HC) composition of the overall system (SI engine equipped with AGRC). It is demonstrated that the electric efficiency can increase for specific ratios of air to natural gas over the catalyst. Although the electric efficiency gain with AGRC is modest at around 0.2%, AGRC can be cost effective because of its straightforward and inexpensive implementation. Misfiring and knock were both not observed in the tests reported here. Nevertheless, technical means of avoiding knock are described by adjusting the main flow of natural gas and the additional flow of AGRC.     

NO2-Assisted Soot Regeneration Behavior in a Diesel Particulate Filter with Heavy-Duty Diesel Exhaust Gases

A major concern in operating a diesel engine is how to reduce the soot emission from the exhaust gases, as soot has a negative effect on both human health and the environment. More stringent emission regulations make the diesel particulate filter (DPF) an indispensable after-treatment component to reduce diesel soot from exhaust gases. The most important issue in developing an effective DPF, however, is regeneration technology to oxidize the diesel soot trapped in the filter, either periodically or continuously, during regular engine operations. Various methods exist for regenerating diesel soot captured by the filter. Of these, NO₂ is widely used for continuous regeneration of diesel soot since it can oxidize diesel soot at lower temperatures than the conventional oxidizer O₂ In this work, after introducing governing equations for trapping and regenerating diesel soot in the DPF, regeneration behavior is examined by changing such various parameters as exhaust gas temperature and O₂ concentration. Numerical investigation is then performed in order to find the optimum NO₂/soot ratio required for continuous regeneration of the soot deposited in the DPF.     

车用柴油机排气微粒后处理器的开发

开发了一种用于市内公共汽车的6120Q型柴油机的排气微粒后处理器。后处理器用泡沫陶瓷作为微粒捕集介质,保证净化效率在50％以上。鉴于我国市内公共汽车柴油机的平均排气温度很低,在捕集器的前端装了一个燃烧器,定期对陶瓷滤芯进行热再生。文中介绍了微粒捕集器和再生燃烧器结构发展的沿革,特别是再生系统的工作和性能。     

Effects of hydrogenation of fossil fuels with hydrogen and hydroxy gas on performance and emissions of internal combustion engines

Energy security is an important consideration for development of future transport fuels. Among the all gaseous fuels hydrogen or hydroxy (HHO) gas is considered to be one of the clean alternative fuels. Hydrogen is very flammable gas and storing and transporting of hydrogen gas safely is very difficult. Today, vehicles using pure hydrogen as fuel require stations with compressed or liquefied hydrogen stocks at high pressures from hydrogen production centres established with large investments.Different electrode design and different electrolytes have been tested to find the best electrode design and electrolyte for higher amount of HHO production using same electric energy. HHO is used as an additional fuel without storage tanks in the four strokes, 4-cylinder compression ignition engine and two-stroke, one-cylinder spark ignition engine without any structural changes. Later, previously developed commercially available dry cell HHO reactor used as a fuel additive to neat diesel fuel and biodiesel fuel mixtures. HHO gas is used to hydrogenate the compressed natural gas (CNG) and different amounts of HHO-CNG fuel mixtures are used in a pilot injection CI engine. Pure diesel fuel and diesel fuel + biodiesel mixtures with different volumetric flow rates are also used as pilot injection fuel in the test engine. The effects of HHO enrichment on engine performance and emissions in compression-ignition and spark-ignition engines have been examined in detail. It is found from the experiments that plate type reactor with NaOH produced more HHO gas with the same amount of catalyst and electric energy. All experimental results from Gasoline and Diesel Engines show that performance and exhaust emission values have improved with hydroxy gas addition to the fossil fuels except NO_x exhaust emissions. The maximum average improvements in terms of performance and emissions of the gasoline and the diesel engine are both graphically and numerically expressed in results and discussions. The maximum average improvements obtained for brake power, brake torque and BSFC values of the gasoline engine were 27%, 32.4% and 16.3%, respectively. Furthermore, maximum improvements in performance data obtained with the use of HHO enriched biodiesel fuel mixture in diesel engine were 8.31% for brake power, 7.1% for brake torque and 10% for BSFC.     

An experimental investigation on performance and emissions study with port injection using diesel as an ignition source for different EGR flow rates

Exhaust gas recirculation, EGR, is one of the most effective means of reducing NO_x emissions from IC engines and is widely used in order to meet the emission standards. In the present work, experimental investigation has been carried out to study the NO_x reduction characteristics by exhaust gas recirculation in a dual fueled engine using hydrogen and diesel. A single cylinder diesel engine was converted to operate on hydrogen-diesel dual fuel mode. Hydrogen was injected in intake port and diesel was injected directly inside the cylinder. The injection timing and injection duration of hydrogen were optimized initially based on the performance and emissions. It was observed that start of injection at 5° before gas exchange top dead center (BGTDC) and injection duration of 30° crank angle gives the best results. The flow rate of hydrogen was optimized as 7.5 lpm for the best start of injection and injection duration of hydrogen. Cold exhaust gas recirculation technique was adopted for the optimized injection parameter of hydrogen and flow rate. Maximum quantity of exhaust gases recycled during the test was 25% beyond this the combustion was not stable resulting in increase in smoke.     

Experimental investigation of the influence of blending on engine emissions of the diesel engine fueled by mahua biodiesel oil

The present article elaborates on the various emission characteristics of mahua oil with diesel fuel in a diesel engine at various blending conditions. Experimental investigation results are studied for various parameters such as exhaust emission of carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbon (HC), and oxides of nitrogen (NO) gases and exhaust gas temperature. Results show that residual oxygen, CO, HC, and NO emission were the lowest for mahua biodiesel compared with diesel. The experimental results proved that the use of mahua oil biodiesel as fuel in the diesel engine is a viable alternative to diesel fuel. Mahua biodiesel oil may be beneficial in decreasing greenhouse gas emissions without any engine modification. Mahua oil has the possibility of becoming a sustainable fuel source as biodiesel.     

乙醇掺混燃烧对柴油机油耗影响的实验研究

乙醇吸热后部分热解可产生多种气体的混合物,为了研究气体混合物掺混燃烧在柴油机上的节油效果,对柴油机系统进行了改造:乙醇通过安装在柴油机排气管上的小型高效换热器吸收烟气余热,部分热解后混合气体由进气道通入柴油机燃烧室改善燃烧.在该系统上进行了定功率-不同转速以及额定转速-不同功率下的节油试验,表明:该系统在高低功率条件下均有较好的节油和节能效果.柴油机转速为1 500 r/min时,节油率最高可达40％,节能率最高可达13.5％;在柴油机额定转速2 000 r/min时,节油率最高可达24％,节能率最高可达5.7％.结合乙醇热解的气体混合物的测量数据,得出了低功率下主要依靠乙醇蒸气,高功率下主要依靠小分子气体的节油原理.     

Impact of HHO produced from dry and wet cell electrolyzers on diesel engine performance,emissions and combustion characteristics

Water electrolysis produces HHO gas by using sodium hydroxide catalyst. Dry and wet cells designs are applied producing the gas flow rates at 0.5 and 0.75 LPM, respectively. Tests are done in a diesel engine at engine speed variation and full load. Performance, combustion characteristics and emissions investigations of diesel engines using HHO gas from dry and wet cells are performed. HHO gas addition enhances the brake thermal efficiency by 2 and 2.5% but the exhaust gas temperature highest decreases for dry and wet cells are 8 and 10%, respectively about diesel oil. The maximum decreases are evaluated as for CO (15, 22%), HC (31, 39%), NO_x (35, 42%) and smoke emissions (25, 35%), respectively for dry and wet cells about diesel fuel. The improvements in cylinder pressures are 5 and 10%, respectively and the heat release rate enhancements are 4.5 and 6.5%, respectively about pure diesel for dry and wet configurations.     

An onboard hydrogen generator for hydrogen enhanced combustion with internal combustion engine

Hydrogen enhanced combustion (HEC) for internal combustion engine is known to be a simple mean for improving engine efficiency in fuel saving and cleaner exhaust. An onboard compact and high efficient methanol steam reformer is made and installed in the tailpipe of a vehicle to produce hydrogen continuously onboard by using the waste heat of the engine for heating up the reformer; this provides a practical device for the HEC to become a reality. This use of waste heat from engine enables an extremely high process efficiency of 113% to convert methanol (8.68 MJ) for 1.0 NM of hydrogen (9.83 MJ) and low cost of using hydrogen as an enhancer or as a fuel itself. The test results of HEC from the onboard hydrogen production are presented with 2 gasoline engine vehicles and 2 diesel engines; the results indicate a hike of engine efficiency in 15–25% fuel saving and a 40–50% pollutants reduction including 70% reduction of exhaust smoke. The use of hydrogen as an enhancer brings about 2–3 fold of net reductions in energy, carbon dioxide emission and fuel cost expense over the input of methanol feed for hydrogen production.     

The effect of EGR and hydrogen addition to natural gas on performance and exhaust emissions in a diesel engine by AVL fire multi-domain simulation,GPR model,and multi-objective genetic algorithm

In this study, the effect of adding hydrogen to natural gas and EGR ratio was conducted on a diesel engine to investigate the engine performance and exhaust gases by AVL Fire multi-domain simulation software.For this investigation, a mixture of hydrogen fuel and natural gas replaced diesel fuel. The percentage of hydrogen in blend fuel changed from 0% to 40%. The compression ratio converted from 17:1 to 15:1. The EGR ratios were in three steps of 5%, 10%, and 15%, with different engine speeds from 1000 to 1800 RPM. The Gaussian process regression (GPR) was developed to model engine performance and exhaust emissions. The optimal values of EGR and the percentage of hydrogen in the blend of HCNG were extracted using a multi-objective genetic algorithm (MOGA).The results showed that by increasing EGR, thermal efficiency, the engine power, and specific fuel consumption decreased due to prolongation of combustion length while cumulative heat release increased but, its effect on cylinder pressure is insignificant. Adding hydrogen to natural gas increased the combustion temperature and, consequently NOx. While the amount of CO and HC decreased. The results of GPR and MOGA illustrated that at different engine speeds, the optimum values of EGR and HCNG were 6.35% and 31%, respectively.     

Experimental study of the effect of HHO gas injection on pollutants produced by a diesel engine at idle speed

In this study, with the aim of reducing the energy consumption in the production of HHO gas for use in the combustion process of diesel fuel, different modes of gas production were investigated using electrolyzers. According to previous studies, the energy consumption rate of the electrolyzer to produce a high volumetric flow of HHO gas is very high. This high rate will restrict the use of equipment such as high-capacity batteries. The effects of HHO gas injection at the idle speed of the engine at a low temperature were evaluated. Because in this situation, the engine makes high air pollution. The results showed that the percentage of CO, CO2, HC, and NOX gases decreased by 66%, 33%, 38%, and 11%, respectively. On the other hand, the amount of O2 gas in the exhaust increased by 18%. These results were reported for HHO gas injection from 10 to 45 ml/s. The performance of Group Method of Data Handling (GMDH) neural network was desirable in modeling diesel engine pollutants. Because the Root-Mean-Square Error (RMSE) criterion for all evaluated gases is less than 0.32. The GMDH neural network was used for modeling the operation of the diesel engine with HHO supplemental fuel. The GMDH results showed that this artificial network can measure all engine exhaust gases. It can be used as a sensor and virtual simulator for this diesel engine with HHO supplemental fuel.     

Experimental investigations of performance and emissions of Karanja oil and its blends in a single cylinder agricultural diesel engine

An experimental investigation has been carried out to analyze the performance and emission characteristics of a compression ignition engine fuelled with Karanja oil and its blends (10%, 20%, 50% and 75%) vis-a-vis mineral diesel. The effect of temperature on the viscosity of Karanja oil has also been investigated. Fuel preheating in the experiments – for reducing viscosity of Karanja oil and blends has been done by a specially designed heat exchanger, which utilizes waste heat from exhaust gases. A series of engine tests, with and without preheating/pre-conditioning have been conducted using each of the above fuel blends for comparative performance evaluation. The performance parameters evaluated include thermal efficiency, brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC), brake specific energy consumption (BSEC), and exhaust gas temperature whereas exhaust emissions include mass emissions of CO, HC, NO and smoke opacity. These parameters were evaluated in a single cylinder compression ignition engine typically used in agriculture sector of developing countries. The results of the experiment in each case were compared with baseline data of mineral diesel. Significant improvements have been observed in the performance parameters of the engine as well as exhaust emissions, when lower blends of Karanja oil were used with preheating and also without preheating. The gaseous emission of oxide of nitrogen from all blends with and with out preheating are lower than mineral diesel at all engine loads. Karanja oil blends with diesel (up to 50% v/v) without preheating as well as with preheating can replace diesel for operating the CI engines giving lower emissions and improved engine performance.     

A new diesel oxygenate additive and its effects on engine combustion and emissions

2-methoxyethyl acetate (MEA) can be used to decrease exhaust smoke as a new oxygenated additive of diesel. Several fuel blends which containing 10%, 15% and 20% MEA were prepared. The effects of MEA on engine’s power, fuel economy, emissions and combustion characteristics were studied on a single cylinder DI diesel engine. Under the same speed and load conditions, the maximum cylinder pressure decreases when fueled with the blends, while the ignition delays and the combustion duration becomes shorter. The engine emissions of smoke, HC and CO are reduced when MEA is added in diesel. However, MEA has a little effect on NO_x emissions. When fueled with MEA15, the coefficient of light absorption of smoke opacimeter decreases about 50% with expense of 5% power, and the engine’s thermal efficiency increases about 2%.     

The utility of energy storage to improve the economics of wind–diesel power plants in Canada

Wind energy systems have been considered for Canada's remote communities in order to reduce their costs and dependence on diesel fuel to generate electricity. Given the high capital costs, low-penetration wind–diesel systems have been typically found not to be economic. High-penetration wind–diesel systems have the benefit of increased economies of scale, and displacing significant amounts of diesel fuel, but have the disadvantage of not being able to capture all of the electricity that is generated when the wind turbines operate at rated capacity.Two representative models of typical remote Canadian communities were created using HOMER, an NREL micro-power simulator to model how a generic energy storage system could help improve the economics of a high-penetration wind–diesel system. Key variables that affect the optimum system are average annual wind speed, cost of diesel fuel, installed cost of storage and a storage systems overall efficiency. At an avoided cost of diesel fuel of 0.30 $Cdn/kWh and current installed costs, wind generators are suitable in remote Canadian communities only when an average annual wind speed of at least 6.0 m/s is present. Wind energy storage systems become viable to consider when average annual wind speeds approach 7.0 m/s, if the installed cost of the storage system is less than 1000 $Cdn/kW and it is capable of achieving at least a 75% overall energy conversion efficiency. In such cases, energy storage system can enable an additional 50% of electricity from wind turbines to be delivered.