The Effects of Spark Timing and Equivalence Ratio on Spark-Ignition Linear Engine Operation with Liquefied Petroleum Gas

Author(s):  
Jaeheun Kim ◽  
Choongsik Bae ◽  
Gangchul Kim
Author(s):  
İsmet Sezer ◽  
Atilla Bilgin

This study aims at the theoretical exergetic evaluation of spark ignition engine operation. For this purpose, a two-zone quasi-dimensional cycle model was installed, not considering the complex calculation of fluid motions. The cycle simulation consists of compression, combustion and expansion processes. The combustion phase is simulated as a turbulent flame propagation process. Intake and exhaust processes are also computed by a simple approximation method. The results of the model were compared with experimental data to demonstrate the validation of the model. Principles of the second law are applied to the model to perform the exergy (or availability) analysis. In the exergy analysis, the effects of various operational parameters, i.e. fuel–air equivalence ratio, engine speed and spark timing on exergetic terms have been investigated. The results of exergy analysis show that variations of operational parameters examined have considerably affected the exergy transfers, irreversibilities and efficiencies. For instance, an increase in equivalence ratio causes an increase in irreversibilities, while it decreases the first and also the second law efficiencies. The irreversibilities have minimum values for the specified engine speed and optimum spark timing, while the first and second law efficiencies reach a maximum at the same engine speed and optimum spark timing.


2019 ◽  
Vol 141 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph K. Ausserer ◽  
Marc D. Polanka ◽  
Paul J. Litke ◽  
Jacob A. Baranski

Interest is growing in converting commercially available, two-stroke spark-ignition engines from motor gasoline to low-anti-knock-index fuel such as diesel and Jet A, where knock-limited operation is a significant consideration. Previous efforts have examined the knock limits for small two-stroke engines and explored the effect of engine controls such as equivalence ratio, combustion phasing, and cooling on engine operation during knock-free operation on high octane number fuel. This work culminates the research begun in those efforts, investigating the degree of knock-mitigation achievable through varying equivalence ratio, combustion phasing, and engine cooling on three small (28, 55, and 85 cm3 displacement) commercially available two-stroke spark-ignition engines operating on a 20 octane number blend of iso-octane and n-heptane. Combustion phasing had the largest effect; a 10 deg retardation in the CA50 mass-fraction burned angle permitted an increase in throttle that yielded a 9–11% increase in power. Leaning the equivalence ratio from 1.05 to 0.8 resulted in a 10% increase in power; enriching the mixture from 1.05 to 1.35 yielded a 6–7% increase in power but at the cost of a 25% decrease in fuel-conversion efficiency. Varying the flow rate of cooling air over the engines had a minimal effect. The results indicate that the addition of aftermarket variable spark timing and electronic fuel-injection systems offer substantial advantages for converting small, commercially available two-stroke engines to run on low-anti-knock-index fuels.


2019 ◽  
Vol 141 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinlong Liu ◽  
Hemanth Kumar Bommisetty ◽  
Cosmin Emil Dumitrescu

Heavy-duty compression-ignition (CI) engines converted to natural gas (NG) operation can reduce the dependence on petroleum-based fuels and curtail greenhouse gas emissions. Such an engine was converted to premixed NG spark-ignition (SI) operation through the addition of a gas injector in the intake manifold and of a spark plug in place of the diesel injector. Engine performance and combustion characteristics were investigated at several lean-burn operating conditions that changed fuel composition, spark timing, equivalence ratio, and engine speed. While the engine operation was stable, the reentrant bowl-in-piston (a characteristic of a CI engine) influenced the combustion event such as producing a significant late combustion, particularly for advanced spark timing. This was due to an important fraction of the fuel burning late in the squish region, which affected the end of combustion, the combustion duration, and the cycle-to-cycle variation. However, the lower cycle-to-cycle variation, stable combustion event, and the lack of knocking suggest a successful conversion of conventional diesel engines to NG SI operation using the approach described here.


2003 ◽  
Vol 125 (2) ◽  
pp. 500-504 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. A. Attar ◽  
G. A. Karim

The knock tendency in spark ignition engines of binary mixtures of hydrogen, ethane, propane and n-butane is examined in a CFR engine for a range of mixture composition, compression ratio, spark timing, and equivalence ratio. It is shown that changes in the knock characteristics of binary mixtures of hydrogen with methane are sufficiently different from those of the binary mixtures of the other gaseous fuels with methane that renders the use of the methane number of limited utility. However, binary mixtures of n-butane with methane may offer a better alternative. Small changes in the concentration of butane produce almost linearly significant changes in both the values of the knock limited compression ratio for fixed spark timing and the knock limited spark timing for a fixed compression ratio.


Author(s):  
Fuad N. Alasfour ◽  
Hassan K. Abdulraheem

The purpose of this research is to investigate the effect of using LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) fuel on the performance of spark ignition engine under summer climate. A Hydra single-cylinder, spark ignition, water cooled engine was tested under elevated inlet air temperature. The effect of preheating inlet air from 25 to 60 °C to simulate Kuwait summer climate was investigated. Engine performance and the level of CO and CO2 emissions were measured experimentally using a gaseous Hydra research engine. The engine was fueled with local, commercial LPG. Several parameters were varied during the experimental work: fuel/air equivalence ratio, engine load and engine speed. The goal of this research was to investigate and simulate the effect of elevated inlet air temperature on the performance of car engine during summer season in Kuwait. The local LPG fuel is composed of 25% propane, 23% Iso-butane and 52% n-butane. Results show that the engine performance curves (brake power, brake specific fuel consumption and mechanical efficiency) have lower performance effect when inlet air temperature preheated from 25 to 60 °C, where the engine brake power dropped by 8% at equivalence ratio of 0.8. Carbon monoxide emission increased as inlet air preheated except at fuel air equivalence ratio less than 0.78. The present research provides a quantitative comparison of engine performance and CO and CO2 emissions between engine running at ambient and elevated inlet air temperature. Although there is a slight drop in the engine performance with heated inlet air, there is good reduction in the level of CO2.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinlong Liu ◽  
Cosmin E. Dumitrescu ◽  
Hemanth Bommisetty

Abstract The conversion of existing internal combustion engines to natural-gas operation can reduce U.S. dependence on petroleum imports and curtail engine-out emissions. In this study, a diesel engine with a 13.3 compression ratio was modified to natural-gas spark-ignited operation by replacing the original diesel injector with a high-energy spark plug and by fumigating fuel inside the intake manifold. The goal of this research was to investigate the combustion process inside the flat-head and bowl-in-piston chamber of such retrofitted engine when operated at different spark timings, mixture equivalence ratios, and engine speeds. The results indicated that advanced spark timing, a lower equivalence ratio, and a higher speed operation increased the ignition lag and made it more difficult to initiate the combustion process. Further, advanced spark timing, a larger equivalence ratio, and a lower speed operation accelerated the flame propagation process inside the piston bowl and advanced the start of the burn inside the squish. However, such conditions increased the burning duration inside the squish due to more fuel being trapped inside the squish volume and the smaller squish height during combustion. As a result, the end of combustion was almost the same despite the change in the operating conditions. In addition, the reliable ignition, stable combustion, and the lack of knocking showed promise for the application of natural-gas lean-burn spark-ignition operation in the heavy-duty transportation.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoxi Zhang ◽  
Xiao Yu ◽  
Simon Leblanc ◽  
Ming Zheng ◽  
Jimi Tjong

Abstract Downsizing, turbocharging, and lean burn strategies offer improved fuel efficiency and engine-out emissions to that of conventional spark ignition engines. However, maintaining engine stability becomes difficult, especially at low load and low speed operation such as cold start conditions. Under cold start operation, the spark timing is retarded to rush catalyst warm-up temperature followed by advancing the spark timing for engine stability. In this sequence, securing ignition while using retarded spark timing is difficult because of the cold cylinder walls and low engine loads. Through previous investigations, the noval multiple ignition sites strategy demonstrated its capability to expend lean burn boundaries beyond traditional single core spark plug and improve cycle to cycle variation. In this work, multisite ignition is tested on a production 4-cylinder direct injection spark ignition engine. A large number of tests are performed on the engine to investigate the impact of ignition strategy on emissions and stability during catalytic converter warm up period as part of the cold-start operation. Results show that the three-core spark igniter shortens the ignition delay thus providing a wider stable spark timing window for stable engine operation. As a result, the concentration of unburnt fuel in the exhaust gas can be reduced before the catalyst reaches the light-off temperature.


Author(s):  
Edson Batista da Silva ◽  
Marcelo Assato ◽  
Rosiane Cristina de Lima

Usually, the turbogenerators are designed to fire a specific fuel, depending on the project of these engines may be allowed the operation with other kinds of fuel compositions. However, it is necessary a careful evaluation of the operational behavior and performance of them due to conversion, for example, from natural gas to different low heating value fuels. Thus, this work describes strategies used to simulate the performance of a single shaft industrial gas turbine designed to operate with natural gas when firing low heating value fuel, such as biomass fuel from gasification process or blast furnace gas (BFG). Air bled from the compressor and variable compressor geometry have been used as key strategies by this paper. Off-design performance simulations at a variety of ambient temperature conditions are described. It was observed the necessity for recovering the surge margin; both techniques showed good solutions to achieve the same level of safe operation in relation to the original engine. Finally, a flammability limit analysis in terms of the equivalence ratio was done. This analysis has the objective of verifying if the combustor will operate using the low heating value fuel. For the most engine operation cases investigated, the values were inside from minimum and maximum equivalence ratio range.


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