An Investigation of the Combustion Process of a Heavy-Duty Natural Gas-Diesel Dual Fuel Engine

2018 ◽  
Vol 140 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hailin Li ◽  
Shiyu Liu ◽  
Chetmun Liew ◽  
Timothy Gatts ◽  
Scott Wayne ◽  
...  

This paper investigates the effect of the addition of natural gas (NG) and engine load on the cylinder pressure, combustion process, brake thermal efficiency, and methane combustion efficiency of a heavy-duty NG-diesel dual fuel engine. Significantly increased peak cylinder pressure (PCP) was only observed with the addition of NG at 100% load. The addition of a relatively large amount NG at high load slightly retarded the premixed combustion, significantly increased the peak heat release rate (PHRR) of the diffusion combustion, decreased the combustion duration, and advanced combustion phasing. The accelerated combustion process and increased heat release rate (HRR) at high load were supported by the increased NOx emissions with the addition of over 3% NG (vol.). By comparison, when operated at low load, the addition of a large amount of NG decreased the PHRR of the premixed combustion and slightly increased the PHRR during the late diffusion combustion. Improved brake thermal efficiency was only observed with the addition of a relatively large amount of NG at high load. The improved thermal efficiency was due to a decrease in combustion duration and the shifting of the combustion phasing toward the optimal phasing. The overall combustion efficiency of the dual fuel operation was always lower than diesel-only operation as indicated by the excess emissions of the unburned methane and carbon monoxide from dual fuel engine. This deteriorated the potential of dual fuel engine in further improving the brake thermal efficiency although the combustion duration of dual fuel engine at high load was much shorter than diesel only operation. The addition of NG at low load should be avoided due to the low combustion efficiency of NG and the decreased thermal efficiency. Approaches capable of further improving the in-cylinder combustion efficiency of NG should enable further improvement in the brake thermal efficiency.

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 990 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinze Li ◽  
Longfei Deng ◽  
Jianjun Guo ◽  
Min Zhang ◽  
Zhenyuan Zi ◽  
...  

The direct injection of natural gas (NG), which is an important research direction in the development of NG engines, has the potential to improve thermal efficiency and emissions. When NG engines operate in low-load conditions, combustion efficiency decreases and hydrocarbon (HC) emissions increase due to lean fuel mixtures and slow flame propagation speeds. The effect of two combustion modes (partially premixed compression ignition (PPCI) and high pressure direct injection (HPDI)) on combustion processes was investigated by CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics), with a focus on different injection strategies. In the PPCI combustion mode, NG was injected early in the compression stroke and premixed with air, and then the pilot diesel was injected to cause ignition near the top dead center. This combustion mode produced a faster heat release rate, but the HC emissions were higher, and the combustion efficiency was lower. In the HPDI combustion mode, the diesel was injected first and ignited, and then the NG was injected into the flame. This combustion mode resulted in higher emissions of NOx and soot, with a diffusion combustion in the cylinder. HC emissions significantly decreased. Compared with PPCI combustion, HPDI had a higher thermal efficiency.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shouvik Dev ◽  
Hongsheng Guo ◽  
Brian Liko

Diesel fueled compression ignition engines are widely used in power generation and freight transport owing to their high fuel conversion efficiency and ability to operate reliably for long periods of time at high loads. However, such engines generate significant amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and particulate matter (PM) emissions. One solution to reduce the CO2 and particulate matter emissions of diesel engines while maintaining their efficiency and reliability is natural gas (NG)-diesel dual-fuel combustion. In addition to methane emissions, the temperatures of the diesel injector tip and exhaust gas can also be concerns for dual-fuel engines at medium and high load operating conditions. In this study, a single cylinder NG-diesel dual-fuel research engine is operated at two high load conditions (75% and 100% load). NG fraction and diesel direct injection (DI) timing are two of the simplest control parameters for optimization of diesel engines converted to dual-fuel engines. In addition to studying the combined impact of these parameters on combustion and emissions performance, another unique aspect of this research is the measurement of the diesel injector tip temperature which can predict potential coking issues in dual-fuel engines. Results show that increasing NG fraction and advancing diesel direct injection timing can increase the injector tip temperature. With increasing NG fraction, while the methane emissions increase, the equivalent CO2 emissions (cumulative greenhouse gas effect of CO2 and CH4) of the engine decrease. Increasing NG fraction also improves the brake thermal efficiency of the engine though NOx emissions increase. By optimizing the combustion phasing through control of the DI timing, brake thermal efficiencies of the order of ∼42% can be achieved. At high loads, advanced diesel DI timings typically correspond to the higher maximum cylinder pressure, maximum pressure rise rate, brake thermal efficiency and NOx emissions, and lower soot, CO, and CO2-equivalent emissions.


Author(s):  
Jeongwoo Lee ◽  
Sanghyun Chu ◽  
Kyoungdoug Min ◽  
Hyunsung Jung ◽  
Hyounghyoun Kim ◽  
...  

In this study, two different operating strategies of gasoline and diesel dual-fuel premixed compression ignition (PCI) were investigated by using a single cylinder compression ignition engine. Verification of high thermal efficiency potential under the low load condition and the suppression of the maximum in-cylinder pressure rise rate (PRRmax) under the relatively high load condition were considered in this study. Two approaches to implement dual-fuel PCI were considered. The first approach (A-mode PCI) was an early diesel injection with very leaner overall equivalence ratio condition. In this case, a high exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) rate was not needed because lean premixed combustion promised to provide low nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter (PM) emissions. The second method (B-mode PCI) involved the use of a high EGR rate to moderate dual-fuel combustion with adjusting diesel injection timing. The first operating strategy prolonged the ignition delay via early diesel injection and lean mixture condition; in this manner, a high EGR helped to increase ignition delay. The experimental result showed that the A-mode PCI strategy promised higher gross indicated thermal efficiency (GIE) than that of the B-mode PCI. However, the B-mode PCI strategy provided a lower PRRmax than that of the first case. By applying the A-mode PCI, which was implemented by the early diesel injection with overall lean premixed combustion, a high GIE of 47.8 % could be obtained under low speed and low load condition. In addition, the dual-fuel PCI operating range could be increased using a gross indicated mean effective pressure (gIMEP) of 14 bar at 2000 r/min with a low PRRmax of 7 bar/deg (constraint 10 bar/deg) by applying the B-mode PCI strategy, which split the heat release rate (HRR) peaks to enable smooth combustion.


2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazuki Inaba ◽  
Yuto Ojima ◽  
Yosuke Masuko ◽  
Yoshimitsu Kobashi ◽  
Gen Shibata ◽  
...  

Thermal efficiency–related parameters in semi-premixed diesel combustion with a twin peak shaped heat release were experimentally investigated in a 0.55-L single-cylinder diesel engine. Here, the first heat release peak is realized with the premixed combustion at top dead center after the end of the first fuel injection with a sufficient ignition delay. The fuel injection quantity for the first combustion was maximized in a range to limit the rate of pressure rise below 0.6 MPa/°CA at 0.4 MPa IMEP, 0.8 MPa/°CA at 0.8 MPa IMEP, and 1.0 MPa/°CA at 1.3 MPa IMEP to ensure the large degree of constant volume heat release and to suppress smoke emissions. The second heat release peak is formed from the rate-controlled combustion with the second fuel injection immediately after the end of the first combustion. The influence of the intake oxygen concentration and the intake gas pressure on the thermal efficiency and the exhaust gas emissions was systematically examined at three load conditions (indicated mean effective pressure ≈0.4, 0.8, and 1.3 MPa). The results with two types of combustion chambers, a toroidal chamber expecting smaller cooling losses with weaker in-cylinder gas motion, and with a re-entrant chamber expecting better air utilization with stronger in-cylinder gas motion are compared. At the medium load, a significantly high indicated thermal efficiency exceeding 50% is established with a reduction in the intake oxygen concentration due to the smaller cooling loss. The indicated thermal efficiency improves with a decrease in the intake oxygen concentration as the reduction in the cooling loss is more significant than the increase in the exhaust loss. However, an excessive reduction in the intake oxygen concentration results in a deterioration in the indicated thermal efficiency due to a reduction in the combustion efficiency. At low load conditions, the indicated thermal efficiency is lower than at the medium load due to lower combustion efficiency and the improvement in the indicated thermal efficiency with reductions in the intake oxygen concentration is not significant as the combustion efficiency decreases with the decrease in the intake oxygen concentration. At the high load condition, the indicated thermal efficiency is lower due to a larger exhaust loss than at the low and medium load conditions and the indicated thermal efficiency decreases with the decrease in the intake oxygen concentration. With an increase in the intake gas pressure, the indicated thermal efficiency increases consistently mainly due to the reducing cooling loss. In comparison with the re-entrant combustion chamber, the indicated thermal efficiency with the toroidal combustion chamber is 1% higher due to a smaller cooling loss at the low load, almost comparable at the medium load and 1.2% lower at the high load due to the larger exhaust loss.


2021 ◽  
pp. 146808742110516
Author(s):  
Enrico Mattarelli ◽  
Carlo Alberto Rinaldini ◽  
Stefano Caprioli ◽  
Francesco Scrignoli

Dual Fuel (DF) combustion can help to reduce the environmental impact of internal combustion engines, since it may provide excellent Brake Thermal Efficiency (BTE) combined with ultra-low emissions. This technique is particularly attractive when using biofuels, or fuels with a low Carbon content, such as Natural Gas (NG). Unfortunately, as engine load decreases and the homogeneous NG-air mixture tends to become very lean, the high chemical stability of NG can be a serious obstacle to the completion of combustion. As a result, BTE drops and UHC and CO emissions become very high. A possible way to address this problem could be the addition of hydrogen (H2) to the NG-air mixture. In this paper, a numerical study has been carried out on an automotive Diesel engine, modified by the authors in order to operate in both conventional Diesel combustion and DF NG-diesel mode. A previous experimental characterization of the engine is the basis for the CFD-3D modeling and calibration of the DF combustion process, using a commercial software. The effects on combustion stability and emissions of different NG-H2 mixtures (six blends with 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, and 30% by volume of hydrogen) are numerically investigated at a low load (BMEP = 2 bar, engine speed 3000 rpm). The results of the CFD-3D simulations demonstrate that NG-H2 blends are able to decrease strongly CO, UHC, and CO2 emissions at low loads. Advantages are also found in terms of thermal efficiency and NOx emissions.


Author(s):  
Dongwon Jung ◽  
Byeongseok Lee ◽  
Jinwook Son ◽  
Soohyung Woo ◽  
Youngnam Kim

Abstract This study demonstrates the effects of technologies applied for the development of a gasoline direct injection (GDI) engine for improving the brake thermal efficiency (BTE) over 44%. The GDI engine for the current study is an in-line four-cylinder engine with a displacement of 2156cm3, which has relatively high stroke to bore ratio of 1.4 (110mm stroke and 79mm bore). All experiments have been conducted using a gasoline having RON 92 for stoichiometric operation at 2000RPM. First, since compression ratio is directly related to the thermal efficiency, four compression ratios (14.3, 15.2, 15.8 and 17.2) were explored for operation without exhaust gas recirculation (EGR). Then, for the same four compression ratios, EGR was used to suppress the knock occurrence at high loads with high compression ratio (CR), and its effect on initial and main combustion duration was compared. Second, the shape of intake port was revised to increase tumble flow of in-cylinder charge for reducing combustion duration at low and high load, and extending EGR-stability limit further eventually. Then, as an effective method to ensure stable, complete and fast combustion for EGR-diluted stoichiometric operation, the use of twin spark ignition system is examined by modifying both valve diameter of intake and exhaust, and its effect is compared against that of single spark ignition. In addition, the layout of twin spark ignition was also examined for the location of Front-Rear and Intake-Exhaust. To get the maximum BTE at high load, 12V electronic super charger (eSC) was applied. Under the condition of using 12V eSC, the effect of intake cam duration was identified by increasing from 260deg to 280deg. Finally, 48V eSC was applied with the longer intake camshaft duration of 280deg. As a result, the maximum BTE of 44% can be achieved for stoichiometric operation with EGR.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 1342
Author(s):  
Van Chien Pham ◽  
Jae-Hyuk Choi ◽  
Beom-Seok Rho ◽  
Jun-Soo Kim ◽  
Kyunam Park ◽  
...  

This paper presents research on the combustion and emission characteristics of a four-stroke Natural gas–Diesel dual-fuel marine engine at full load. The AVL FIRE R2018a (AVL List GmbH, Graz, Austria) simulation software was used to conduct three-dimensional simulations of the combustion process and emission formations inside the engine cylinder in both diesel and dual-fuel mode to analyze the in-cylinder pressure, temperature, and emission characteristics. The simulation results were then compared and showed a good agreement with the measured values reported in the engine’s shop test technical data. The simulation results showed reductions in the in-cylinder pressure and temperature peaks by 1.7% and 6.75%, while NO, soot, CO, and CO2 emissions were reduced up to 96%, 96%, 86%, and 15.9%, respectively, in the dual-fuel mode in comparison with the diesel mode. The results also show better and more uniform combustion at the late stage of the combustions inside the cylinder when operating the engine in the dual-fuel mode. Analyzing the emission characteristics and the engine performance when the injection timing varies shows that, operating the engine in the dual-fuel mode with an injection timing of 12 crank angle degrees before the top dead center is the best solution to reduce emissions while keeping the optimal engine power.


2014 ◽  
Vol 699 ◽  
pp. 648-653 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bahaaddein K.M. Mahgoub ◽  
Suhaimi Hassan ◽  
Shaharin Anwar Sulaiman

In this review, a series of research papers on the effects of hydrogen and carbon monoxide content in syngas composition on the performance and exhaust emission of compression ignition diesel engines, were compiled. Generally, the use of syngas in compression ignition (CI) diesel engine leads to reduce power output due to lower heating value when compared to pure liquid diesel mode. Therefore, variation in syngas composition, especially hydrogen and carbon monoxide (Combustible gases), is suggested to know the appropriate syngas composition. Furthermore, the simulated model of syngas will help to further explore the detailed effects of engine parameters on the combustion process including the ignition delay, combustion duration, heat release rate and combustion phasing. This will also contribute towards the efforts of improvement in performance and reduction in pollutants’ emissions from CI diesel engines running on syngas at dual fuel mode. Generally, the database of syngas composition is not fully developed and there is still room to find the optimum H2 and CO ratio for performance, emission and diesel displacement of CI diesel engines.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (4B) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongliang Yu ◽  
◽  
Weiwei Wang ◽  
Shulin Duan ◽  
Peiting Sun ◽  
...  

The methane (CH4) burning interruption factor and the characteristic values characterizing the flame combustion state in the engine cylinder were defined. The logical mapping relationship between image feature values and combustion conditions in the framework of iconology was proposed. Results show that there are two periods of combustion instability and combustion stability during the combustion of dual fuel. The high temperature region with a cylinder temperature greater than 1800K is the largest at 17°CA after top dead center (TDC), accounting for 73.25% of the combustion chamber area. During the flame propagation, the radial flame velocity and the axial flame velocity are “unimodal” and “wavy,” respectively. During the combustion process, the CH4 burning interruption factor first increased and then decreased. The combustion duration in dual fuel mode is 21.25°CA, which is 15.5°CA shorter than the combustion duration in pure diesel mode.


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