scholarly journals Comparison of Propane and Methane Performance and Emissions in a Turbocharged Direct Injection Dual Fuel Engine

Author(s):  
C. M. Gibson ◽  
A. C. Polk ◽  
N. T. Shoemaker ◽  
K. K. Srinivasan ◽  
S. R. Krishnan

With increasingly restrictive NOx and PM emissions standards, the recent discovery of new natural gas reserves, and the possibility of producing propane efficiently from biomass sources, dual fueling strategies have become more attractive. This paper presents experimental results from dual-fueling a four-cylinder turbocharged DI diesel engine with propane or methane (a natural gas surrogate) as the primary fuel and diesel as the ignition source. Experiments were performed with the stock ECU at a constant speed of 1800 rev/min, and a wide range of BMEPs (2.7 to 11.6 bar) and percent energy substitutions (PES) of C3H8 and CH4. Brake thermal efficiencies (BTE) and emissions (NOx, smoke, THC, CO, and CO2) were measured. Maximum PES levels of about 80–95 percent with CH4 and 40–92 percent with C3H8 were achieved. Maximum PES was limited by poor combustion efficiencies and engine misfire at low loads for both C3H8 and CH4, and the onset of knock above 9 bar BMEP for C3H8. While dual fueling BTEs were lower than straight diesel BTEs at low loads, they approached diesel BTE values at high loads. With dual fueling, NOx and smoke reductions (from diesel values) were as high as 66–68 percent and 97 percent, respectively, but CO and THC emissions were significantly higher with increasing PES at all engine loads.

Author(s):  
C. M. Gibson ◽  
A. C. Polk ◽  
N. T. Shoemaker ◽  
K. K. Srinivasan ◽  
S. R. Krishnan

With increasingly restrictive NOx and particulate matter emissions standards, the recent discovery of new natural gas reserves, and the possibility of producing propane efficiently from biomass sources, dual fueling strategies have become more attractive. This paper presents experimental results from dual fuel operation of a four-cylinder turbocharged direct injection (DI) diesel engine with propane or methane (a natural gas surrogate) as the primary fuel and diesel as the ignition source. Experiments were performed with the stock engine control unit at a constant speed of 1800 rpm, and a wide range of brake mean effective pressures (BMEPs) (2.7–11.6 bars) and percent energy substitutions (PESs) of C3H8 and CH4. Brake thermal efficiencies (BTEs) and emissions (NOx, smoke, total hydrocarbons (THCs), CO, and CO2) were measured. Maximum PES levels of about 80–95% with CH4 and 40–92% with C3H8 were achieved. Maximum PES was limited by poor combustion efficiencies and engine misfire at low loads for both C3H8 and CH4, and the onset of knock above 9 bar BMEP for C3H8. While dual fuel BTEs were lower than straight diesel BTEs at low loads, they approached diesel BTE values at high loads. For dual fuel operation, NOx and smoke reductions (from diesel values) were as high as 66–68% and 97%, respectively, but CO and THC emissions were significantly higher with increasing PES at all engine loads.


2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 108-112
Author(s):  
Ashok Kumar ◽  
Piyushi Nautiyal ◽  
Kamalasish Dev

The present study is investigated on the performance and emissions characteristics of a diesel engine fuelled by compressed natural gas and base diesel (CNG + Diesel). The CNG fuels used as the primary fuel, and diesel as pilot fuel under dual-fuel mode. The pilot fuel is partially replaced by CNG at a different percentage. The primary fuel is injected into the engine with intake air during the suction stroke. The experimental results reveal the effect of CNG + diesel under dual fuel mode on BTE, BSFC, CO, CO2, HC, NOx and Smoke. It is observed from the experimental results that CO2, NOx and Smoke emissions decreased but HC and CO emissions increase with an increase in CNG energy share.


Author(s):  
N. T. Shoemaker ◽  
C. M. Gibson ◽  
A. C. Polk ◽  
S. R. Krishnan ◽  
K. K. Srinivasan

Different combustion strategies and fuel sources are needed to deal with increasing fuel efficiency demands and emission restrictions. One possible strategy is dual fueling using readily available resources. Propane and natural gas are readily available with the current infrastructure and biodiesel is growing in popularity as a renewable fuel. This paper presents experimental results from dual fuel combustion of methane (as a surrogate for natural gas) and propane as primary fuels with biodiesel pilots in a 1.9 liter, turbocharged, 4-cylinder compression ignition engine at 1800 rev/min. Experiments were performed with different percentage energy substitutions (PES) of propane and methane and at different brake mean effective pressures (BMEP/bmep). Brake thermal efficiency (BTE) and emissions (NOx, HC, CO, CO2, O2 and smoke) were also measured. Maximum PES levels for B100-methane dual fueling were limited to 70% at 2.5 bars bmep and 48% at 10 bars bmep, and corresponding values for B100-propane dual fueling were 64% and 43%, respectively. Maximum PES was limited by misfire at 2.5 bars bmep and the onset of engine knock at 10 bars bmep. Dual fuel BTEs approached straight B100 values at 10 bars bmep while they were significantly lower than B100 values at 2.5 bars bmep. In general, dual fueling was beneficial in reducing NOx and smoke emissions by 33% and 50%, respectively, from baseline B100 levels; however, both CO and THC emissions were significantly higher than baseline B100 levels at all PES and loads.


2018 ◽  
Vol 140 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed A. Bassiony ◽  
Abdellatif M. Sadiq ◽  
Mohammed T. Gergawy ◽  
Samer F. Ahmed ◽  
Saud A. Ghani

New induction manifold designs have been developed in this work to enhance the turbulence intensity and improve the mixing quality inside diesel engine cylinders. These new designs employ a spiral-helical shape with three different helical diameters (1D, 2D, 3D; where D is the inner diameter of the manifold) and three port outlet angles: 0 deg, 30 deg, and 60 deg. The new manifolds have been manufactured using three-dimensional printing technique. Computational fluid dynamics simulations have been conducted to estimate the turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) and the induction swirl generated by these new designs. The combustion characteristics that include the maximum pressure raise rate (dP/dθ) and the peak pressure inside the cylinder have been measured for a direct injection (DI) diesel engine utilizing these new manifold designs. In addition, engine performance and emissions have also been evaluated and compared with those of the normal manifold of the engine. It was found that the new manifolds with 1D helical diameter produce a high TKE and a reasonably strong induction swirl, while the ones with 2D and 3D generate lower TKEs and higher induction swirls than those of 1D. Therefore, dP/dθ and peak pressure were the highest with manifolds 1D, in particular manifold m (D, 30). Moreover, this manifold has provided the lowest fuel consumption with the engine load by about 28% reduction in comparison with the normal manifold. For engine emissions, m (D, 30) manifold has generated the lowest CO, SO2, and smoke emissions compared with the normal and other new manifolds as well, while the NO emission was the highest with this manifold.


Author(s):  
M Capobianco

The paper presents the latest results of a wide investigation performed at the University of Genoa on the control of automotive direct injection (DI) diesel engines. A dedicated procedure was developed which enables analysis of the behaviour of engine operating parameters as a function of two control variables with a limited amount of experimental information and the definition of proper control strategies. A first application of the procedure is presented in the paper with reference to a typical turbocharged DI diesel engine for automotive applications. The exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) rate and the position of the turbocharger waste-gate regulating valve were assumed as control variables and the behaviour of the most important engine parameters was analysed in a wide range for 15 steady state operating conditions related to the European driving cycle. Particular attention was paid to the most significant pollutant emissions and to the exhaust boundary conditions for the application of a low temperature lean de-NOx catalyst. Two different control strategies were also developed by which the catalyst conversion efficiency and the NOx engine tail pipe emission were individually optimized, taking account of some operating limits for specific parameters.


Author(s):  
S. Pasupathy Venkateswaran ◽  
G. Nagarajan

The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of re-entrant bowl geometry on both engine performance and combustion efficiency in a direct injection (DI), turbocharged diesel engine for heavy-duty applications. The piston bowl design is one of the most important factors that affect the air–fuel mixing and the subsequent combustion and pollutant formation processes in a DI diesel engine. The bowl geometry and dimensions, such as the pip region, bowl lip area, and toroidal radius, are all known to have an effect on the in-cylinder mixing and combustion processes. Based on the idea of enhancing diffusion combustion at the later stage of the combustion period, three different bowl geometries, namely, bowl 1 (baseline), bowl 2, and bowl 3 were selected and investigated. All the other relevant parameters, namely, compression ratio, maximum diameter of the bowl, squish clearance and injection rate were kept constant. A commercial CFD code STAR-CD was used to model the in-cylinder flows and combustion process, and experimental results of the baseline bowl were used to validate the numerical model. The simulation results show that, bowl 3 enhance the turbulence and hence results in better air-fuel mixing among all three bowls in a DI diesel engine. As a result, the indicated specific fuel consumption and soot emission reduced although the NOx emission is increased owing to better mixing and a faster combustion process. Globally, since the reduction in soot is larger (−46% as regards baseline) than the increase in NOx (+15% as regards baseline), it can be concluded that bowl 3 is the best trade-off between performance and emissions.


Author(s):  
N. T. Shoemaker ◽  
C. M. Gibson ◽  
A. C. Polk ◽  
S. R. Krishnan ◽  
K. K. Srinivasan

Different combustion strategies and fuel sources are needed to deal with increasing fuel efficiency demands and emission restrictions. One possible strategy is dual fueling using readily available resources. Propane and natural gas are readily available with the current infrastructure and biodiesel is growing in popularity as a renewable fuel. This paper presents experimental results from dual fuel combustion of methane (as a surrogate for natural gas) and propane as primary fuels with biodiesel pilots in a 1.9 liter, turbocharged, 4 cylinder diesel engine at 1800 rev/min. Experiments were performed with different percentage energy substitutions (PES) of propane and methane and at different brake mean effective pressures (BMEP/bmep). Brake thermal efficiency (BTE) and emissions (NOx, HC, CO, CO2, O2 and smoke) were also measured. Maximum PES levels for B100-methane dual fuelling were limited to 70% at 2.5 bar bmep and 48% at 10 bar bmep, and corresponding values for B100-propane dual fuelling were 64% and 43%, respectively. Maximum PES was limited by misfire at 2.5 bar bmep and the onset of engine knock at 10 bar bmep. Dual fuel BTEs approached straight B100 values at 10 bar bmep while they were significantly lower than B100 values at 2.5 bar bmep. In general dual fuelling was beneficial in reducing NOx and smoke emissions by 33% and 50%, respectively from baseline B100 levels; however, both CO and THC emissions were significantly higher than baseline B100 levels at all PES and loads.


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