Analysis of Properties of Adulterated Fuel and Its Effects on Internal Combustion Engines and the Environment: A Case Study Tema Metropolitan Assembly, Tema, Ghana

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Simons ◽  
E. K. Gbadam
Keyword(s):  
Internal Combustion Engines ◽  
Internal Combustion ◽  
Exhaust Emissions ◽  
Oil Refinery ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Combustion Engines ◽  
Research Octane Number ◽  
Filling Station ◽  
Gum Content

This paper seeks to investigate the sources and the level of fuel contamination in the Ghanaian market and its effects on internal combustion engines and the environment. A survey was conducted in and around the Tema Metropolitan Assembly to collect samples of fuels from different retailers without letting them know the intentions of the buyer (that these are for research). Experiments were carried out at Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), Tema, Ghana, on the two conventional fuels collected from these sources. The analysis of the results showed that fuel from the fuel tank and “Zamelama” (small scale petrol retailers) filling station had the highest level of contamination as far as the experiment on petrol (gasoline) was concerned. With the diesel fuel experiment, most of the values obtained were high but within the standard range at the refinery. Information obtained from questionnaires given to fuel tanker drivers, mechanics and sales persons at various filling stations indicated that the adulteration is done using Naphtha and Kerosene. Consequently, other experiments were carried out at TOR using different proportions of Naphtha and Kerosene and the resultant properties as a result of the adulteration were analyzed. It was observed that the adulterated fuels have undesirable properties such as High Gum Content, low Research Octane Number (RON) and Reid Vapour Pressure (RVP) values which may lead to engine damage and pollution of the environment due to increased exhaust emissions. Considering the results of the experiment, it can be concluded that Petrol adulterated with Naphtha or Kerosene should not be used in Internal Combustion Engines. This is because of its undesirable properties such as higher Gum content, lower RON and RVP values which lead to engine damage and pollution of the environment due to increased exhaust emissions.

System Parameters Identifying and Performance Predicting of ICEs Combining Multidisciplinary Model With System Responding Data

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xianghui Meng ◽  
Youbai Xie
Keyword(s):  
Structural Change ◽  
Internal Combustion Engines ◽  
Structural Parameters ◽  
Internal Combustion ◽  
Combustion Engines ◽  
Piston Rings ◽  
System Parameters ◽  
Multidisciplinary Model ◽  
Cylinder Sleeve

For complex equipments, the phenomena of system declining such as wear and fatigue often takes place and spreads after a period of running. So it is important to identify the interior structural change of system during maintenance to avoid the system to be broken abruptly. Traditionally there are two methods to analyze and predict the structural change of system. One is from the monitoring data of equipments. Another is from the mechanism of structural changing and the interior working process of equipments. In this paper a combining method, which combining the advantages of the above two methods, is used to identify the structural change of internal combustion engines. The principle of the method is to firstly build an analytical system model, in which the system parameters stand for the structural parameters or constraints. Then the current value of system parameters in the model can be identified by comparing the calculating responding results and the detected responding data. From the varying of system parameters the structural change of system can be deduced. For internal combustion engines (ICEs), the most important CPSR (combustion Chamber-Piston-cylinder Sleeve-piston Rings) system is taken as the research object. A multidisciplinary model is built to simulate the interior working processes, especially the combustion process, the structural dynamics process, the tribology process and the coupling processes among them. Then the seeking-roots method (SRM) is used to identify the value of system parameters. A case study on a low power gasoline engine verifies the above method. In the case study, the blow by gap, which stands for the wear of piston rings and cylinder sleeve, is identified with the detected combustion pressure. The case study shows that the method of this paper can identify the structural change of complex equipments. It can provide accurate information for equipments maintenance as well as the residual life prediction.

scholarly journals The research of the probabilistic characteristics of exhaust emissions from vehicle engines

2011 ◽  
Vol 144 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-55
Author(s):  
Zdzisław CHŁOPEK
Keyword(s):  
Probability Density ◽  
Internal Combustion Engines ◽  
Operating Temperature ◽  
Internal Combustion ◽  
Exhaust Emissions ◽  
Combustion Engines ◽  
Average Speed ◽  
Passenger Vehicles ◽  
The Monte Carlo Method ◽  
Skewness Coefficient

The influence of the probability density of the average speed on the probability density of the specific road exhaust emissions has been analyzed in the paper. The characteristics of the exhaust emissions from internal combustion engines warmed up to normal operating temperature have been examined. The research has been carried out for characteristics of the exhaust emissions from internal combustion engines of passenger vehicles. The research has been carried out for two kinds of functions in the form courses of average speed: of constant and normal distribution. The Monte Carlo Method has been used in the research. The probability density of the specific road exhaust emissions has been estimated. The zero–dimensional characteristics: the median, the kurtosis and the skewness coefficient, have been examined. A significant regularity of the displacement of the probability density towards smaller values in relation to the average speed probability density has been ascertained.

Hybrid Dual-Fuel Combined Cycles for Small-Scale Applications With Internal Combustion Engines

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miroslav P. Petrov ◽  
Thomas Stenhede ◽  
Andrew R. Martin ◽  
Laszlo Hunyadi
Keyword(s):  
Natural Gas ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Internal Combustion Engines ◽  
Internal Combustion ◽  
Combined Cycle ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Dual Fuel ◽  
Combustion Engines ◽  
Combined Cycles ◽  
Topping Cycle

Hybrid dual-fuel combined cycle power plants employ two or more different fuels (one of which is typically a solid fuel), utilized by two or more different prime movers with a thermal coupling in between. Major thermodynamic and economic advantages of hybrid combined cycle configurations have been pointed out by various authors in previous studies. The present investigation considers the performance of natural gas and biomass hybrid combined cycles in small scale, with an internal combustion engine as topping cycle and a steam boiler/turbine as bottoming cycle. A parametric analysis evaluates the impact of natural gas to biomass fuel energy ratio on the electrical efficiency of various hybrid configurations. Results show that significant performance improvements with standard technology can be achieved by these hybrid configurations when compared to the reference (two independent, single-fuel power plants at the relevant scales). Electrical efficiency of natural gas energy conversion can reach up to 57–58% LHV, while the efficiency attributed to the bottoming fuel rises with up to 4 percentage points. In contrast to hybrid cycles with gas turbines as topping cycle, hybrid configurations with internal combustion engines show remarkably similar performance independent of type of configuration, at low shares of natural gas fuel input.

scholarly journals Experimental test and thermodynamic analysis on scaling-down limitations of a reciprocating internal combustion engine

2020 ◽  
Vol 103 (3) ◽  
pp. 003685042093573
Author(s):  
Huichao Shang ◽  
Li Zhang ◽  
Bin Chen ◽  
Xi Chen
Keyword(s):  
Gas Exchange ◽  
Internal Combustion Engine ◽  
Internal Combustion Engines ◽  
Combustion Engine ◽  
Internal Combustion ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Combustion Engines ◽  
Effective Pressure ◽  
Scaling Down ◽  
Meso Scale

Due to the enormous energy densities of liquid hydrocarbon fuels for future utilization on micro scale, there is a concern about the feasibility of scaling down reciprocating internal combustion engines from small scale to meso scale. By building a specialized test bench, the performance and combustion characteristics of a miniature internal combustion engine with a displacement of 0.99 cc were tested, and the thermodynamic simulation was carried out to achieve a more complete understanding of in-cylinder mass and energy change of the miniature internal combustion engine. The miniature internal combustion engine had higher brake-specific fuel consumption, lower thermal efficiency, lower brake mean effective pressure, and serious cyclic variation; however, friction mean effective pressure seems to be less sensitive to engine speed. Simulation results showed that the miniature internal combustion engine had a poor volumetric efficiency, which was not more than 50%. The step-by-step processes of scaling down the miniature internal combustion engine were also simulated; it was found that the maximum indicated mean effective pressure loss was due to the imperfection of gas exchange processes, and the next was the imperfection of combustion. It is considered that for the scaled-down miniature internal combustion engines, more attention should be pay on improving the processes of gas exchange and combustion, and achieving meso-scale internal combustion engines with cylinder bore less than 1 mm is thermodynamically possible in future if these imperfections, especially that of the gas exchange process, can be effectively perfected.

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