Diesel-Like Efficiency Using Compressed Natural Gas/Diesel Dual-Fuel Combustion

2016 ◽  
Vol 138 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karthik Nithyanandan ◽  
Jiaxiang Zhang ◽  
Yuqiang Li ◽  
Xiangyu Meng ◽  
Robert Donahue ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Natural Gas ◽  
Substitution Rate ◽  
Fuel Combustion ◽  
Dual Fuel ◽  
Injection Timing ◽  
Diesel Combustion ◽  
Compressed Natural Gas ◽  
Diesel Injection ◽  
Dual Fuel Combustion ◽  
Ci Engines

The use of natural gas in compression ignition (CI) engines as a supplement to diesel under dual-fuel combustion mode is a promising technique to increase efficiency and reduce emissions. In this study, the effect of dual-fuel operating mode on combustion characteristics, engine performance and pollutant emissions of a diesel engine using natural gas as primary fuel and neat diesel as pilot fuel, has been examined. Natural gas (99% methane) was port injected into an AVL 5402 single cylinder diesel research engine under various engine operating conditions and up to 90% substitution was achieved. In addition, neat diesel was also tested as a baseline for comparison. The experiments were conducted at three different speeds—1200, 1500, and 2000 rpm, and at different diesel-equivalent loads (injection quantity)—15, 20 (7 bar IMEP), and 25 mg/cycle. Both performance and emissions data are presented and discussed. The performance was evaluated through measurements of in-cylinder pressure, power output and various exhaust emissions including unburned hydrocarbons (UHCs), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and soot. The goal of these experiments was to maximize the efficiency. This was done as follows—the compressed natural gas (CNG) substitution rate (based on energy) was increased from 30% to 90% at fixed engine conditions, to identify the optimum CNG substitution rate. Then using that rate, a main injection timing sweep was performed. Under these optimized conditions, combustion behavior was also compared between single, double, and triple injections. Finally, a load and speed sweep at the optimum CNG rate and timings were performed. It was found that a 70% CNG substitution provided the highest indicated thermal efficiency (ITE). It appears that dual-fuel combustion has a maximum brake torque (MBT) diesel injection timing for different conditions which provides the highest torque. Based on multiple diesel injection tests, it was found that the conditions that favor pure diesel combustion, also favor dual-fuel combustion because better diesel combustion provides better ignition and combustion for the CNG-air mixture. For 70% CNG dual-fuel combustion, multiple diesel injections showed an increase in the efficiency. Based on the experiments conducted, diesel-CNG dual-fuel combustion is able to achieve similar efficiency and reduced emissions relative to pure diesel combustion. As such, CNG can be effectively used to substitute for diesel fuel in CI engines.

Diesel-Like Efficiency Using CNG/Diesel Dual-Fuel Combustion

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karthik Nithyanandan ◽  
Jiaxiang Zhang ◽  
Yuqiang Li ◽  
Xiangyu Meng ◽  
Robert Donahue ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Natural Gas ◽  
Substitution Rate ◽  
Fuel Combustion ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Pollutant Emissions ◽  
Dual Fuel ◽  
Injection Timing ◽  
Diesel Combustion ◽  
Diesel Injection ◽  
Dual Fuel Combustion

The use of natural gas in compression ignition engines as a supplement to diesel under dual-fuel combustion mode is a promising technique to increase efficiency and reduce emissions. In this study, the effect of dual-fuel operating mode on combustion characteristics, engine performance and pollutant emissions of a diesel engine using natural gas as primary fuel and neat diesel as pilot fuel, has been examined. Natural Gas (99% Methane) was port injected into an AVL 5402 single cylinder diesel research engine under various engine operating conditions and up to 90% substitution was achieved. In addition, neat diesel was also tested as a baseline for comparison. The experiments were conducted at three different speeds — 1200, 1500 and 2000 RPM, and at different diesel-equivalent loads (injection quantity) — 15, 20, and 25 mg/cycle. Both performance and emissions data are presented and discussed. The performance was evaluated through measurements of in-cylinder pressure, power output and various exhaust emissions including unburned hydrocarbons (UHC), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and soot. The goal of these experiments was to maximize the efficiency. This was done as follows — the CNG substitution rate (based on energy) was increased from 30% to 90% at fixed engine conditions, to identify the optimum CNG substitution rate. Then using that rate, a main injection timing sweep was performed. Under these optimized conditions, combustion behavior was also compared between single, double and triple injections. Finally, a load and speed sweep at the optimum CNG rate and timings were performed. It was found that a 70 % CNG substitution provided the highest indicated thermal efficiency. It appears that dual-fuel combustion has a Maximum Brake Torque (MBT) diesel injection timing for different conditions which provides the highest torque. Based on multiple diesel injection tests, it was found that the conditions that favor pure diesel combustion, also favor dual-fuel combustion because better diesel combustion provides better ignition and combustion for the CNG-air mixture. For 70% CNG dual-fuel combustion, multiple diesel injection showed an increase in the efficiency. Based on the experiments conducted, diesel-CNG dual-fuel combustion is able to achieve similar efficiency and reduced emissions relative to pure diesel combustion. As such, CNG can be effectively used to substitute for diesel fuel in CI engines.

Combustion Performance and Unburned Hydrocarbon Emissions of a Natural Gas–Diesel Dual Fuel Engine at a Low Load Condition

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongsheng Guo ◽  
Brian Liko ◽  
Luis Luque ◽  
Jennifer Littlejohns
Keyword(s):  
Natural Gas ◽  
Internal Combustion Engines ◽  
Load Condition ◽  
Fuel Combustion ◽  
Dual Fuel ◽  
Injection Timing ◽  
Unburned Hydrocarbon ◽  
Diesel Injection ◽  
Dual Fuel Engines ◽  
Dual Fuel Combustion

The combustion of natural gas reduces fuel cost and generates less emissions of carbon dioxide and particulate matter than diesel and gasoline. Replacing diesel by natural gas in internal combustion engines is of great interest for transportation and stationary power generation. Dual fuel combustion is an efficient way to burn natural gas in internal combustion engines. In natural gas–diesel dual fuel engines, unburned hydrocarbon emissions increase with increasing natural gas fraction. Many studies have been conducted to improve the performance of natural gas–diesel dual fuel engines and reported the performance of combustion and emissions of regulated pollutants and total unburned hydrocarbon at various engine operating strategies. However, little has been reported on the emissions of different unburned hydrocarbon components. In this paper, an experimental investigation was conducted to investigate the combustion performance and emissions of various unburned hydrocarbon components, including methane, ethane, ethylene, acetylene, propylene, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde and benzaldehyde, at a low engine load condition. The operating conditions, such as engine speed, load, intake temperature and pressure, were well controlled during the experiment. The combustion and emissions performance of pure diesel and natural gas–diesel dual fuel combustion were compared. The effect of diesel injection timing was analyzed. The results show that appropriately advancing diesel injection timing to form a homogeneous charge compression ignition-like combustion is beneficial to natural gas–diesel dual fuel combustion at low load conditions. The emissions of different unburned hydrocarbon components changed in dual fuel combustion, with emissions of some unburned hydrocarbon components being primarily due to the combustion of natural gas, while those of others being more related to diesel combustion.

Combustion Performance and Unburned Hydrocarbon Emissions of a Natural Gas–Diesel Dual Fuel Engine at a Low Load Condition

2018 ◽  
Vol 140 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongsheng Guo ◽  
Brian Liko ◽  
Luis Luque ◽  
Jennifer Littlejohns
Keyword(s):  
Natural Gas ◽  
Internal Combustion Engines ◽  
Load Condition ◽  
Fuel Combustion ◽  
Dual Fuel ◽  
Injection Timing ◽  
Unburned Hydrocarbon ◽  
Diesel Injection ◽  
Dual Fuel Engines ◽  
Dual Fuel Combustion

The combustion of natural gas reduces fuel cost and generates less emissions of carbon dioxide and particulate matter (PM) than diesel and gasoline. Replacing diesel by natural gas in internal combustion engines is of great interest for transportation and stationary power generation. Dual fuel combustion is an efficient way to burn natural gas in internal combustion engines. In natural gas–diesel dual fuel engines, unburned hydrocarbon emissions increase with increasing natural gas fraction. Many studies have been conducted to improve the performance of natural gas–diesel dual fuel engines and reported the performance of combustion and emissions of regulated pollutants and total unburned hydrocarbon at various engine operating strategies. However, little has been reported on the emissions of different unburned hydrocarbon components. In this paper, an experimental investigation was conducted to investigate the combustion performance and emissions of various unburned hydrocarbon components, including methane, ethane, ethylene, acetylene, propylene, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, and benzaldehyde, at a low engine load condition. The operating conditions, such as engine speed, load, intake temperature, and pressure, were well controlled during the experiment. The combustion and emissions performance of pure diesel and natural gas–diesel dual fuel combustion were compared. The effect of diesel injection timing was analyzed. The results show that appropriately advancing diesel injection timing to form a homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI)-like combustion is beneficial to natural gas–diesel dual fuel combustion at low load conditions. The emissions of different unburned hydrocarbon components changed in dual fuel combustion, with emissions of some unburned hydrocarbon components being primarily due to the combustion of natural gas, while those of others being more related to diesel combustion.

Combustion and Emission Characteristics of a CI Engine Operating in Diesel-1-Butanol/CNG Dual Fuel Mode With Low and High CNG Substitution Rates in Light Load Operation

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiangyu Meng ◽  
Yuanxu Li ◽  
Karthik Nithyanandan ◽  
Wuqiang Long ◽  
Chia-Fon F. Lee
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Efficiency ◽  
Substitution Rate ◽  
Fuel Combustion ◽  
Dual Fuel ◽  
Injection Timing ◽  
Combustion Mode ◽  
Substitution Rates ◽  
Low Load ◽  
Pilot Fuel ◽  
Dual Fuel Combustion

Dual-fuel combustion mode with direct injection of diesel as the pilot fuel and port injection of compressed natural gas (CNG) in compression ignition (CI) engines has been widely investigated to comply with the latest emission regulations. The diesel-CNG dual-fuel combustion mode shows some potential to decrease NOx and soot emissions simultaneously, while it reveals a lower thermal efficiency compared to the pure diesel combustion mode under low load condition. The purpose of the current study is to investigate the possibility of using diesel blended with 1-butanol as the pilot fuel to enhance the engine performance and reduce emissions. Three pilot fuels — B0 (pure diesel), B10 (90% diesel and 10% 1-butanol by volume) and B20 (80% diesel and 20% 1-butanol) with the CNG substitution rates of 50% and 80% were compared at an engine speed of 1200 rpm. The experiments were conducted by sweeping the pilot fuel injection timing from −3 to −18 ° CA ATDC with an equivalent total energy (∼5 bar IMEP). The results illustrated that, for the 50% CNG substitution rate, the dual-fuel operation mode revealed a higher indicated thermal efficiency (ITE) under low load conditions, and B10 can significantly improve the ITE due to the shorter combustion duration. The emission results of B10 showed that it obtained lower THC and CO emissions, but a slightly higher NOx emission. For the 80% CNG substitution rate, the results presented lower ITE, higher THC and lower NOx emissions, comparatively.

Numerical Investigation of the Performance of a High Pressure Direct Injection (HPDI) Natural Gas Engine

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Won Geun Lee ◽  
David Montgomery
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Natural Gas ◽  
Direct Injection ◽  
Gas Injection ◽  
Load Condition ◽  
Fuel Combustion ◽  
Dual Fuel ◽  
Injection Timing ◽  
Pilot Injection ◽  
Dual Fuel Combustion

High Pressure Direct-Injection (HPDI) is a technology option for engines used in mobile equipment applications where use of LNG as a fuel is desired. Using the combination of a diesel pilot injection and direct gas injection, HPDI has the potential to deliver low emissions, excellent transient performance, high efficiency, and high gas substitution. When the HPDI program was initially undertaken, in order to aid in initial hardware design, 3-dimensional computational fluid dynamic modeling was conducted to understand the mixing and reaction processes in the combustion chamber of an HPDI engine. Gaining insight into qualitative trends of operation parameters and hardware configurations was a first critical step toward delivering a hardware set to demonstrate HPDI natural gas combustion system capabilities. To model the combustion of multi-component fuel at arbitrary constituent ratios, a combustion model based on a detailed chemical kinetics approach was employed. Several published mechanisms and combinations of established mechanisms were tested by comparing results with existing fumigated dual fuel engine results. The result shows that some of combined mechanisms for n-heptane combustion and methane combustion are capable of adequately predicting combustion behavior in diesel-natural gas dual fuel combustion systems. One of the reduced n-heptane mechanisms (by Patel et al.) also matched dual fuel combustion results reasonably well. This preliminary simulation study was conducted with typical trapped air conditions and fuel quantities matching the energy delivery for a 100 % load condition in existing DI diesel engines. A full 360-degree mesh at intake valve closing was constructed and a detailed geometry of the gas injector nozzle and sac area was modeled in locally refined grids using a Caterpillar proprietary CFD code that accepts industry standard mechanisms. The diesel pilot injection followed by gas injection and resulting combustion inside an HPDI engine was simulated from IVC through the compression and combustion strokes. The operating parameters — such as diesel pilot injection timing, pilot injection amount, and start of gas injection — were varied, and the effect on IMEP, NOx, CO and cylinder pressure were investigated. It was shown that the start of gas injection is the strongest parameter for control of combustion. Subsequent to the work discussed in this paper, the hardware configuration established as optimal during the modeling work was carried forward to the physical engine testing and was successful in delivering the performance and emissions goals without modification, demonstrating the accuracy and value of modern combustion modeling.

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