Performance and emission study in manifold hydrogen injection with diesel as an ignition source for different start of injection

Over the past two decades there has been a considerable effort to develop and introduce alternative transportation fuels to replace conventional fuels, gasoline and diesel. Environmental issues are the principal driving forces behind this effort. To date the bulk of research has focused on the carbon-based fuels such as reformulated gasoline, methanol and natural gas. One alternative fuel to carbon-based fuels is hydrogen which is considered to be low polluting fuel. In the present experimental investigation hydrogen was injected into the intake manifold by using an injector. Using an electronic control unit (ECU) the injection timing and the duration were controlled. From the results it is observed that the optimum injection timing is at gas exchange top dead center (GTDC). The efficiency improved by about 15% with an increase in NO_X emission by 3% compared to diesel. The smoke emission decreased by almost 100%. A net reduction in carbon emissions was also noticed due to the use of hydrogen. By adopting manifold injection technique the hydrogen–diesel dual fuel engine operates smoothly with a significant improvement in performance and reduction in emissions.     

Effect of injection pressure on performance,emission and combustion characteristics of high linolenic linseed oil methyl ester in a DI diesel engine

Due to the increasing demand for fossil fuels and environmental threat, a number of renewable sources of energy have been studied worldwide. In the present investigation a high linolenic linseed oil methyl ester has been investigated in a constant speed, DI diesel engine with varied fuel injection pressures (200, 220 and 240 bar). The main objective of this study is to investigate the effect of injection pressures on performance, emissions and combustion characteristics of the engine. The test results show that the optimum fuel injection pressure is 240 bar with linseed methyl ester. At this optimized pressure the thermal efficiency is similar to diesel and a reduction in carbon monoxide, unburned hydrocarbon and smoke emissions with an increase in the oxides of nitrogen was noticed compared to diesel. The combustion analysis shows that, the ignition delay is lower at higher injection pressures compared to diesel and the peak pressure is also higher at full load. The combustion duration was almost same at all the injection pressures. It is concluded that linseed methyl ester at 240 bar injection pressure is more efficient than 200 and 220 bar, except for nitrogen oxides emission.     

Experimental investigation on a DI dual fuel engine with hydrogen injection

Over the past two decades considerable efforts have been undertaken to develop and introduce new alternative fuels for the conventional gasoline and diesel. Many alternative fuels, both liquid and gaseous, have been experimented and some have even been commercialized such as ethanol, natural gas, etc. Hydrogen has been considered as an excellent fuel to replace the petroleum‐based fuels due to its clean burning characteristics. In the present experimental investigation, hydrogen was injected in the intake manifold and diesel fuel was injected inside the engine cylinder in the conventional manner. Hydrogen injection parameters such as injection timing, injection duration and quantity of hydrogen injected were optimized based on the performance and emission characteristics. Exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) technique was adopted to reduce the oxides of nitrogen emission. From the results it was observed that for hydrogen diesel dual fuel (DF) engine, the optimal operating parameters for hydrogen injection were start of injection at gas exchange top dead centre with injection duration of 30° crank angle with the hydrogen flow rate of 7.5 litres per minute (lpm). With EGR the optimized condition was found to be 20% for the entire load. The brake thermal efficiency with 20% EGR increases by 16% at 75% load as compared with diesel, while at full load it reduces by 8% due to the recirculation of exhaust gases that results in a reduction of intake oxygen concentration compared with part load. NO_X emission decreases by five and half times, while other emissions increase by 1.4 times as compared with DF engine. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Corrosion of nickel-base and iron-base alloys in a simulated fluidized-bed coal-combustion environment

The modes of initiation and propagation of corrosion attack on a series of high-temperature alloys were studied in synthetic gas mixtures at 900°C. The gas mixtures were intended to simulate the oxygen and sulfur partial pressures experienced in reducing zones in a coal-fired fluidized-bed combustor and comprised mixtures of CO, CO₂, and SO₂. The alloys studied were candidates for in-bed heat exchanger tubing for an air-heater cycle operating at 843°C and 300–500 psig and so ranged from type 300-series stainless steels to nickel-base alloys. With the exception of two FeCrAlY alloys and types 304 and 347 stainless steels, it was found that sulfidation corrosion could be initiated on all the alloys within 0.25 hr; the rate of propagation of the corrosive attack depended on the flux of SO₂ in the environment and on the nickel content of the alloys. The presence of iron in the alloys appeared to slow the initiation of sulfidation, by forming a continuous iron oxide layer. The effects of various alloying additions are discussed, and a schematic model for the initiation of sulfidation is proposed.     

Experimental studies on homogeneous charge CI engine fueled with LPG using DEE as an ignition enhancer

Producing and using renewable fuels for transportation is one approach for sustainable energy future for the world. A renewable fuel contributes lesser global climate change. The present work reports on the utilization of liquified petroleum gas (LPG) as a primary fuel with diethyl ether (DEE) as an ignition enhancer in a direct injection diesel engine. LPG has a simpler hydrocarbon structure than conventional fuels. DEE is recently reported as a renewable fuel and to be a low-emission high-quality diesel fuel replacement. A single cylinder, four-stroke, water-cooled naturally aspirated DI diesel engine having rated output of 3.7 kW at 1500 rpm was used for the experiments. Measurements were made to study the performance, combustion and emissions characteristics. From the results, it is observed that, the brake thermal efficiency lower by about 23% at full load with a reduction of about 65% NO emission than the diesel operation. The maximum reduction in smoke and particulate emissions is observed to be about 85% and 89%, respectively, when compared to that of diesel operation, however an increase in CO and HC emissions was observed.     

Phase field simulations of ferroelectrics domain structures in PbZrxTi1−xO3 bilayers

Domain stability and structures in Pb(Zr_0.3Ti_0.7)O₃/Pb(Zr_0.7Ti_0.3)O₃ bilayer films under different substrate strains are studied using the phase field method. It is demonstrated that the domain structure of the bilayer film is very different from those of the corresponding single layer films grown on the same silicon substrate with an incoherent interface. Moreover, the predicted rhombohedral domains in the Pb(Zr_0.7Ti_0.3)O₃ layer of the bilayer film have smaller sizes than those in the single layer case. These results are compared with experimental observations and previous thermodynamic analyses. The polarization distributions of the ferroelectric–paraelectric bilayer are analyzed as a function of the thickness of the bilayer film, where there is a “ferroelectric proximity effect” due to dipole–dipole interactions. The phase diagrams for both the bilayer and single layer films as a function of temperature and effective in-plane substrate strain are constructed.     

Modulation of Cellular Fate of Vinyl Triarylamines through Structural Fine Tuning: To Stay or Not To Stay in the Mitochondria?

Mitochondria are involved in many cellular pathways and dysfunctional mitochondria are linked to various diseases. Hence efforts have been made to design mitochondria-targeted fluorophores for monitoring the mitochondrial status. However, the factors that govern the mitochondria-targeted potential of dyes are not well-understood. In this context, we synthesized analogues of the TP-2Bzim probe belonging to the vinyltriphenylamine (TPA) class and already described for its capacity to bind nuclear DNA in fixed cells and mitochondria in live cells. These analogues ( TP-1Bzim, TPⁿ-2Bzim, TP¹⁺-2Bzim, TN-2Bzim ) differ in the cationic charge, the number of vinylbenzimidazolium branches and the nature of the triaryl core. Using microscopy, we demonstrated that the cationic derivatives accumulate in mitochondria but do not reach mtDNA. Under depolarisation of the mitochondrial membrane, TP-2Bzim and TP¹⁺-2Bzim translocate to the nucleus in direct correlation with their strong DNA affinity. This reversible phenomenon emphasizes that these probes can be used to monitor ΔΨ_m variations.     

Design of Compact D-shaped Frequency Reconfigurable Slot Antenna for Ku/K Band Applications

Wireless Personal Communications - In this paper, a new compact design of frequency reconfigurable slot antenna is presented. The proposed radiating patch consists of two symmetrical D shape slots...     

Combined effect of injection timing,EGR and injection pressure in reducing the NOx emission of a biodiesel blend

In this study, an attempt was made to reduce the higher oxides of nitrogen (NO_x) emission of a crude rice bran oil methyl ester (CRBME) blend through modification of combustion process by retarding fuel injection timing and exhaust gas recirculation at an increased fuel injection pressure. At modified condition, delay period and peak pressure of CRBME blend were lower than those at normal condition. The occurrence of maximum heat release rate retarded with a higher magnitude when compared with normal condition. Experimental results show that as a result of combustion modification, NO_x and carbon monoxide emissions were reduced significantly with marginal increase in smoke density. Brake thermal efficiency and unburnt hydrocarbon emissions of the engine were increased significantly as a result of this modification process. This investigation shows that the NO_x emission of a biodiesel blend can be reduced with less sacrifice on smoke density and increase in the brake thermal efficiency by modifying the combustion process.