Performance and heat release analysis of a pilot-ignited natural gas engine

2002 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 171-184 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. R. Krishnan ◽  
M Biruduganti ◽  
Y Mo ◽  
S. R. Bell ◽  
K. C. Midkiff

The influence of engine operating variables on the performance, emissions and heat release in a compression ignition engine operating in normal diesel and dual-fuel modes (with natural gas fuelling) was investigated. Substantial reductions in NOx emissions were obtained with dual-fuel engine operation. There was a corresponding increase in unburned hydrocarbon emissions as the substitution of natural gas was increased. Brake specific energy consumption decreased with natural gas substitution at high loads but increased at low loads. Experimental results at fixed pilot injection timing have also established the importance of intake manifold pressure and temperature in improving dual-fuel performance and emissions at part load.

Author(s):  
Shuonan Xu ◽  
David Anderson ◽  
Mark Hoffman ◽  
Robert Prucka ◽  
Zoran Filipi

Energy security concerns and an abundant supply of natural gas in the USA provide the impetus for engine designers to consider alternative gaseous fuels in the existing engines. The dual-fuel natural-gas diesel engine concept is attractive because of the minimal design changes, the ability to preserve a high compression ratio of the baseline diesel, and the lack of range anxiety. However, the increased complexity of a dual-fuel engine poses challenges, including the knock limit at a high load, the combustion instability at a low load, and the transient response of an engine with directly injected diesel fuel and port fuel injection of compressed natural gas upstream of the intake manifold. Predictive simulations of the complete engine system are an invaluable tool for investigations of these conditions and development of dual-fuel control strategies. This paper presents the development of a phenomenological combustion model of a heavy-duty dual-fuel engine, aided by insights from experimental data. Heat release analysis is carried out first, using the cylinder pressure data acquired with both diesel-only and dual-fuel (diesel and natural gas) combustion over a wide operating range. A diesel injection timing correlation based on the injector solenoid valve pulse widths is developed, enabling the diesel fuel start of injection to be detected without extra sensors on the fuel injection cam. The experimental heat release trends are obtained with a hybrid triple-Wiebe function for both diesel-only operation and dual-fuel operation. The ignition delay period of dual-fuel operation is examined and estimated with a predictive correlation using the concept of a pseudo-diesel equivalence ratio. A four-stage combustion mechanism is discussed, and it is shown that a triple-Wiebe function has the ability to represent all stages of dual-fuel combustion. This creates a critical building block for modeling a heavy-duty dual-fuel turbocharged engine system.


Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 2413 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lebedevas ◽  
Pukalskas ◽  
Daukšys ◽  
Rimkus ◽  
Melaika ◽  
...  

This paper presents a study on the energy efficiency and emissions of a converted high-revolution bore 79.5 mm/stroke 95 mm engine with a conventional fuel injection system for operation with dual fuel feed: diesel (D) and natural gas (NG). The part of NG energy increase in the dual fuel is related to a significant deterioration in energy efficiency (ηi), particularly when engine operation is in low load modes and was determined to be below 40% of maximum continuous rating. The effectiveness of the D injection timing optimisation was established in high engine load modes within the range of a co-combustion ratio of NG ≤ 0.4: with an increase in ηi, compared to D, the emissions of NOx+ HC decreased by 15% to 25%, while those of CO2 decreased by 8% to 16%; the six-fold CO emission increase, up to 6 g/kWh, was unregulated. By referencing the indicated process characteristics of the established NG phase elongation in the expansion stroke, the combustion time increase as well as the associated decrease in the cylinder excess air ratio (α) are possible reasons for the increase in the incomplete combustion product emission.


Author(s):  
Jiafeng Sun ◽  
Joshua A. Bittle ◽  
Timothy J. Jacobs

Most studies comparing diesel/gasoline dual-fuel operation and single-fuel diesel operation in diesel engines center on time-averaged results. It seems few studies discuss differences in cyclic variability. Motivated by this, the present study evaluates the cyclic variability of combustion in both dual-fuel and single-fuel operations of a diesel engine. Steady-state tests were done on a medium duty diesel engine with conventional direct injection timings of diesel fuel into the cylinder at one speed and three loads. In addition to single-fuel (diesel) operation, dual-fuel (gasoline and diesel) operation was studied at increasing levels of gasoline fraction. Gasoline fuel is introduced via a fuel injector at a single location prior to the intake manifold (and EGR mixing location). Crank-angle resolved data including in-cylinder pressure and heat release rate obtained for around 150 consecutive cycles are used to assess cyclic variability. The sources of cyclic variability, namely the factors causing cyclic variability or influencing its magnitude, especially those related to cylinder charge amount and mixture preparation, are analyzed. Fuel spray penetration and cyclic variability of cylinder charging, overall A/F ratio, and fuel injection timing, tend to increase cyclic variability of combustion in dual-fuel operation. On the other hand, fuel type and fuel spray droplet size tend to increase cyclic variability in single-fuel operation. The cyclic variability in dual-fuel operation in this study is more serious than that in single-fuel operation, in terms of magnitude, indicated by metrics chosen to quantify it. Most measures of cyclic variability increase consistently with increasing gasoline fraction. Variations of gasoline amount and possibly gasoline low temperature heat release cause higher combustion variation in dual-fuel operation primarily by affecting premixed burning. Statistical methods such as probability density function, autocorrelation coefficient, return map, and symbol sequence statistics methods are used to check determinism. In general, the parameters studied do not show strong determinism, which suggests other parameters must be identified to establish determinism or the system is inherently stochastic. Regardless, dominant sequences and optimal sequence lengths can be identified.


2003 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
H Ogawa ◽  
N Miyamoto ◽  
C Li ◽  
S Nakazawa ◽  
K Akao

In a compression ignition engine, using a rich and lean biform mixture composition that avoids both slightly lean and extremely over-rich regions would be effective in suppressing NOx formation without increasing smoke when the overall air-fuel ratio approaches the stoichiometric ratio. To realize the formation of rich and lean mixtures and the control of ignition timing, a dual-fuel diesel engine with an induced gas with resistance to self-ignition as the main fuel and with a small quantity of diesel fuel for the ignition source has potential merits. However, this method has the problem of knocking and misfiring when the percentage of inducted fuel is increased. In this research smokeless and very low NOx combustion without knocking over a wide operating range was established in a single-cylinder dual-fuel diesel engine with induced natural gas as the main fuel. Optimizations of the combustion chamber shape and operating factors, including exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) and intake air throttling, which determine conditions of the in-cylinder gas, were investigated at several i.m.e.p. (indicated mean effective pressure) conditions. The results of the experiments showed that a combination of the divided cavity, EGR and intake air throttling was effective in simultaneously eliminating knocking and reducing total hydrocarbon (THC) and NOx over a wide i.m.e.p. range. At high i.m.e.p. silent and smooth combustion without knocking was achieved, even with a large amount of induced natural gas. Moreover, the maximum i.m.e.p. increased in comparison with conventional diesel operation with a lower injection pressure system because smoke emission was not a limitation. At medium i.m.e.p. it was effective to adopt EGR and intake air throttling for very low NOx under relatively lower THC. However, at low i.m.e.p. it was difficult to avoid increases in THC and i.s.e.c. (indicated specific energy consumption) while realizing very low NOx and smokeless operation. At lower overall excess air ratio conditions, NOx reduction was shown with a biform mixture composition without slightly lean or extremely rich regions.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (10) ◽  
pp. 2817
Author(s):  
Arkadiusz Jamrozik ◽  
Wojciech Tutak ◽  
Karol Grab-Rogaliński

The development of compression ignition engines depends mainly on using alternative fuels, such as alcohols. The paper presents the results of tests of a stationary compression ignition engine fueled with mixtures of diesel oil and n-butanol with an energy share from 0 to 60%. The combustion and emission results of a dual-fuel engine were compared to a conventional diesel-only engine. As part of the work, the combustion process, including changes in pressure and heat release rate, as well as exhaust emissions from the test engine, were investigated. The main operational parameters of the engine were determined, including mean indicated pressure, thermal efficiency and specific energy consumption. Moreover, the stability of the engine operation was analyzed. The research shows that the 60% addition of n-butanol to diesel fuel increases the ignition delay (by 39%) and shortens the combustion duration (by 57%). In addition, up to 40%, it results in increased pmax, HRRmax and PPRmax. The engine was characterized by the highest efficiency, equal to 41.35% when operating on DB40. In the whole range of alcohol content, the dual-fuel engine was stable. With the increase of n-butanol content to 40%, the emission of NOx increased. The lowest concentration of CO was obtained during the combustion of DB50. After the initial increase (for DB20), the THC emission was reduced to the lowest value for DB40. Increasing the energy share of alcohol to 60% resulted in a significant, more than 43 times, reduction in soot emissions.


2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (12) ◽  
pp. 233-237
Author(s):  
Tomasz Skrzek ◽  
Grzegorz Jarzyński

The paper presents the results of research on dual-fuel, compression ignition engine, powered by natural gas. The main objective of the conducted research was to determine the impact of injection parameters initiating the ignition of a diesel oil dose, i.e.: the size and injection timing, on the emission of particulate matters. Studies have shown that when using a split of the diesel dose for the pilot and main dose, despite the significant (70%) share of natural gas in the mixture being combusted, the emission of particulate matters is comparable and even higher than that obtained on standard fuel. Previous studies of the dual-fuel engine showed that there is a clear need to divide the diesel dose into a pilot dose and the main dose. This division significantly affects the course of heat release, and at the same time is an effective method of reducing the maximum rate pressure rise, which allows increasing the share of gaseous fuel. From the point of view of particulate emissions, such division is counterproductive. The obtained results indicate that the values of pilot and main doses and their injection timing significantly affect the conditions of formation of particulate matters.


Author(s):  
J. B. Weathers ◽  
B. T. Marvel ◽  
K. K. Srinivasan ◽  
P. J. Mago ◽  
L. M. Chamra ◽  
...  

Uncertainty within measured variables and how such errors propagate throughout a given equation or set of equations can greatly affect the accuracy and understanding of the result for a given experiment. The major motivation (or impetus) for performing a detailed uncertainty analysis before beginning an experiment is to identify variables or parameters that would have the greatest/least impact on the total uncertainty of the result. The scope of this study is to perform a detailed uncertainty analysis on estimates of net heat release in a compression ignition engine. The analysis will examine each term of the net heat release rate equation, which is routinely estimated using a single zone thermodynamic model, and evaluate the respective Uncertainty Magnification Factors (UMF) and Uncertainty Percentage Distribution (UPC). Since the net work output from the engine is directly related to in-cylinder pressure data, it is important to evaluate the uncertainties associated with cylinder pressure measurement. The primary objective of this paper is to analyze the effect of biased and precision uncertainties associated with the measured cylinder pressure data on the rate of heat release (ROHR) of a pilot ignited natural gas engine. Sensitivity analysis of other parameters such as the correct estimation of compression ratio and using appropriate thermodynamic properties of combustion gases are also discussed. The estimates from this analysis are expected to aid the development of a detailed experimental matrix to analyze the nature of energy release and performance of combustion engines.


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.


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