Investigation of Post-Flame Oxidation of Unburned Hydrocarbons in Small Engines

2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Javier Vera ◽  
Jaal Ghandhi
2021 ◽  
pp. 146808742110050
Author(s):  
Enrica Malfi ◽  
Vincenzo De Bellis ◽  
Fabio Bozza ◽  
Alberto Cafari ◽  
Gennaro Caputo ◽  
...  

The adoption of lean-burn concepts for internal combustion engines working with a homogenous air/fuel charge is under development as a path to simultaneously improve thermal efficiency, fuel consumption, nitric oxides, and carbon monoxide emissions. This technology may lead to a relevant emission of unburned hydrocarbons (uHC) compared to a stoichiometric engine. The uHC sources are various and the relative importance varies according to fuel characteristics, engine operating point, and some geometrical details of the combustion chamber. This concern becomes even more relevant in the case of engines supplied with natural gas since the methane has a global warming potential much greater than the other major pollutant emissions. In this work, a simulation model describing the main mechanisms for uHC formation is proposed. The model describes uHC production from crevices and flame wall quenching, also considering the post-oxidation. The uHC model is implemented in commercial software (GT-Power) under the form of “user routine”. It is validated with reference to two large bore engines, whose bores are 31 and 46 cm (engines named accordingly W31 and W46). Both engines are fueled with natural gas and operated with lean mixtures (λ > 2), but with different ignition modalities (pre-chamber device or dual fuel mode). The engines under study are preliminarily schematized in the 1D simulation tool. The consistency of 1D engine schematizations is verified against the experimental data of BMEP, air flow rate, and turbocharger rotational speed over a load sweep. Then, the uHC model is validated against the engine-out measurements. The averaged uHC predictions highlight an average error of 7% and 10 % for W31 and W46 engines, respectively. The uHC model reliability is evidenced by the lack of need for a case-dependent adjustment of its tuning constants, also in presence of relevant variations of both engine load and ring pack design.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 779
Author(s):  
Ashraf Elfasakhany

Biofuels are receiving increased scientific attention, and recently different biofuels have been proposed for spark ignition engines. This paper presents the state of art of using biofuels in spark ignition engines (SIE). Different biofuels, mainly ethanol, methanol, i-butanol-n-butanol, and acetone, are blended together in single dual issues and evaluated as renewables for SIE. The biofuels were compared with each other as well as with the fossil fuel in SIE. Future biofuels for SIE are highlighted. A proposed method to reduce automobile emissions and reformulate the emissions into new fuels is presented and discussed. The benefits and weaknesses of using biofuels in SIE are summarized. The study established that ethanol has several benefits as a biofuel for SIE; it enhanced engine performance and decreased pollutant emissions significantly; however, ethanol showed some drawbacks, which cause problems in cold starting conditions and, additionally, the engine may suffer from a vapor lock situation. Methanol also showed improvements in engine emissions/performance similarly to ethanol, but it is poisonous biofuel and it has some sort of incompatibility with engine materials/systems; its being miscible with water is another disadvantage. The lowest engine performance was displayed by n-butanol and i-butanol biofuels, and they also showed the greatest amount of unburned hydrocarbons (UHC) and CO emissions, but the lowest greenhouse effect. Ethanol and methanol introduced the highest engine performance, but they also showed the greatest CO2 emissions. Acetone introduced a moderate engine performance and the best/lowest CO and UHC emissions. Single biofuel blends are also compared with dual ones, and the results showed the benefits of the dual ones. The study concluded that the next generation of biofuels is expected to be dual blended biofuels. Different dual biofuel blends are also compared with each other, and the results showed that the ethanol–methanol (EM) biofuel is superior in comparison with n-butanol–i-butanol (niB) and i-butanol–ethanol (iBE).


Author(s):  
Mohamed A. Altaher ◽  
Hu Li ◽  
Simon Blakey ◽  
Winson Chung

This paper investigated the emissions of individual unburned hydrocarbons and carbonyl compounds from the exhaust gas of an APU (Auxiliary Power Unit) gas turbine engine burning various fuels. The engine was a single spool, two stages of turbines and one stage of centrifugal compressor gas turbine engine, and operated at idle and full power respectively. Four alternative aviation fuel blends with Jet A-1 were tested including GTL, hydrogenated renewable jet fuel and fatty acid ester. C2-C4 alkenes, benzene, toluene, xylene, trimethylbenzene, naphthalene, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde and acrolein emissions were measured. The results show at the full power condition, the concentrations for all hydrocarbons were very low (near or below the instrument detection limits). Formaldehyde was a major aldehyde species emitted with a fraction of around 60% of total measured aldehydes emissions. Formaldehydes emissions were reduced for all fuels compared to Jet A-1 especially at the idle conditions. There were no differences in acetaldehydes and acrolein emissions for all fuels; however, there was a noticeable reduction with GTL fuel. The aromatic hydrocarbon emissions including benzene and toluene are decreased for the alternative and renewable fuels.


Author(s):  
Marco A. R. Nascimento ◽  
Electo S. Lora ◽  
Guido A. Sierra R. ◽  
Manuel A. Rendon

Biodiesel is an alternative fuel that has become more attractive recently because of its environmental benefits and the fact that it is made from renewable resources. As it can be blended in any proportion with mineral Diesel, and there are several reports which presented substantial reductions in emissions of unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and particulate in IC engines without reducing the output power significantly. The aim of this work was to perform an emissions and performance experimental analysis to evaluate and compare the use of Biodiesel obtained from different sources, Castor, Soy and Palm Oil, on a 30 kW regenerative gas micro turbine engine installed in the laboratories of the Federal University of Itajuba´ – Unifei, Brazil, at different power levels at steady state condition. All the fuels were characterized in terms of its viscosity and heat value, and the thermal performance and the emissions were measured. In all cases, it was performed a comparison between the obtained results with Biodiesel and Diesel. None of the fuels presented any problem related to atomization process in the related tests, and have shown no significant changes in performance of the microturbine reaching levels of around 26% of thermal efficiency. The minimum Heat Rate obtained at full load, was for the Biodiesel from Palm oil case, and the maximum was for Castor oil with a value 8.38% higher than when operated with Diesel. In Addition, when measuring pollutants emissions in the exhaust gases, it was observed a slightly increment in CO and a reduction in NOx concentration.


Author(s):  
L. A. Diehl ◽  
J. A. Biaglow

Emissions and performance characteristics were determined for two full-annulus swirl-can modular combustors operated to near-stoichiometric fuel air ratios. The purposes of the tests were to obtain stoichiometric data at inlet-air temperatures up to 894 K and to determine the effect of module number by investigating 120 and 72 module swirl-can combustors. The maximum average exit temperature obtained with the 120-module swirl-can combustor was 2465 K with a combustion efficiency of 95 percent at an inlet-air temperature of 894 K. The 72-module swirl-can combustor reached a maximum average exit temperature of 2306 K with a combustion efficiency of 92 percent at an inlet-air temperature of 894 K. At a constant inlet air temperature, maximum oxides of nitrogen emission index values occurred at a fuel-air ratio of 0.037 for the 72-module design and 0.044 for the 120-module design. The combustor average exit temperature and combustion efficiency were calculated from emissions measurements. The measured emissions included carbon monoxide, unburned hydrocarbons, oxides of nitrogen, and smoke.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document