Typical performance behavior of a Diesel cycle agricultural tractor engine with electronic injection management and turbocharger

ABSTRACT: Over the past few years, changes have been observed in the behavior of typical performance curves, after higher technology has been incorporated into the agricultural tractor engines, either to satisfy the ceiling of the new pollutant gas emission limits or to achieve better efficiency. The aim of this study was to assess the typical performance behavior of an agricultural tractor engine, possessing electronic injection management, turbocharger, aftercooler and EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) treatment system. An analysis was done of the information the manufacturers provided, in terms of nominal power, maximum power and maximum power with Booster, maximum torque and maximum torque with Booster. From the results, the percentage difference between the nominal power and maximum power were found to hover anywhere from 1.49 to 11.97%, for the same manufacturer, 0% in another manufacturer and 9% in a third manufacturer, for all the models. Similar results were noted for the data reported on the maximum torque and maximum torque with Booster, giving 0.62% as the minimum value, 7.44% as the average value and 12.65% as the maximum value for the entire series.

Calculation studies of the influence of exhaust gas recirculation on the characteristics of the natural gas-fueled diesel engine

When converting diesel engines to run on natural gas on the gas-diesel cycle, additional problems arise associated with the high thermal stress of the exhaust valves and valve seats at high loads and engine speeds. There is also an increase in NOx emissions due to higher combustion temperatures of natural gas. One of the ways to improve the economic and environmental performance of engines operating on a gas-diesel cycle with a lean air-fuel mixture is to optimize the combustion of the air-fuel mixture by using an exhaust gas recirculation system (EGR). The principle of operation of this system is as follows: exhaust gas entering the intake manifold and further into the combustion chamber reduces the oxygen concentration in the air-fuel mixture, which leads to a dilution effect and, accordingly, to a decrease in combustion temperature and a decrease in NOx content. In order to study the influence of EGR on the dual-fuel gas and diesel engine parameters in the AVL Boost software package, a computer model of the existing 6ChN13/15 engine was developed. A low-pressure EGR system with an exhaust gas cooler was simulated on this engine. Values of NOx emissions, brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) and brake efficiency have been obtained at different recirculation rate by calculation method. These values allow to estimate the feasibility of using a cooled EGR in a natural gas-fueled diesel engine.

A TOOL FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF THERMAL EFFICIENCY OF IDEAL DIESEL CYCLES, PROVIDED TO FUTURE MARINE ENGINEERS

Diesel engines are a type of internal combustion engine widely spread in the maritime sector. In a world depending on fossil fuels, the challenge faced by scientists and professionals consists in the efficient use of this kind of fuels. The future of these engines strongly depends on the efficiency enhancement. Future mechanical engineers have to be trained in order to gain engineering judgement and enterprising attitude. In this respect, this paper deals with a theoretical study focused on the improvement of the efficiency of the ideal Diesel cycle. This type of study was recently introduced in Constanta Maritime University, within Thermodynamics seminar activities, delivered to future marine engineers, enrolled in their third semester. This study will reveal the fact that the efficiency of Diesel cycles is affected by the variation of compression ratio, cut off ratio and specific heats ratio. The results obtained will show that, for the ranges taken into discussion, thermal efficiency might be enhanced by the rise of compression ratio and specific heat ratio values and by lowering cut off ratio values. The study is a predecessor of expensive and time costing experiences and it is also a guidance in the hand of future professionals – able to train them for real solutions.

Ways to solve the problem of converting diesel locomotives to gaseous fuel

The Government of the Russian Federation has set the task of expanding the field of application of gaseous fuels in the national economy. In accordance with this task, an agreement of June 17, 2016 was developed on cooperation between PJSC Gazprom, JSC Russian Railways, JSC Sinara Group, JSC Transmashholding in the use of natural gas as a motor fuel, which provides for the production of shunting gas locomotives and mainline diesel locomotives and gas turbine locomotives. This work is a continuation of the work begun in the 1990s to create, fine-tune and test diesel locomotives using natural gas as a motor fuel. The conversion of diesel locomotives to gaseous fuel can be carried out in two ways: creation of diesel locomotives with gas piston engines and the modernization of diesel locomotives of the existing fleet by converting the diesel engines of these locomotives to use the gas-diesel cycle. A comparison of these options is given and solutions are proposed that allow using gas-diesel cycle on diesel locomotives. Mathematical models for calculating the performance indicators of a gas-diesel generator plant in operating modes and separately for the fuel supply process are presented, their features and some calculation results are presented. The experimentally determined reasons for the impossibility of operation of the power plant in the gas-diesel cycle of a shunting diesel locomotive based on TEM18 below the fourth position of the driver's controller are theoretically substantiated. The minimum required structural changes to the standard fuel equipment are determined, which are necessary to ensure stable operation of a diesel locomotive on gaseous fuel. A comparative assessment of the efficiency of converting diesel locomotives to gaseous fuel is carried out and the cost of fuel consumed per hour of operation is determined, depending on the degree of fuel replacement with gas when the locomotive is operating in average operating modes.

Analyzing mechanical vibrations of an aircraft opposed piston engine

The paper presents the results of the bench tests to measure mechanical vibrations of a new aircraft opposed piston engine with reciprocating pistons. The PLZ-100 engine is a three-cylinder, six-piston, two-shaft drive unit with a two-stroke diesel cycle. This type of engine is dedicated for powering light aircraft, e.g. autogyros. The tests were carried out on a test bench at the Lublin University of Technology. The engine was loaded with constant torque, for several fixed values of rotational speed of a crankshaft. The angle of the start of diesel injection was changed for each of the rotational speeds. The mechanical vibrations that accompanied the operation of this drive unit were recorded with three measurement transducers and a National Instruments conditioning system. Each of the transducers was mounted on a different axis of the engine. The signals were analyzed from their courses with the DIAdem software. The results were the courses of effective speed and vibration acceleration to conduct a vibration-acoustic evaluation of the PLZ-100, detect and prevent various types of defects or failures.

Perspective Use of Fast Pyrolysis Bio-Oil (FPBO) in Maritime Transport: The Case of Brazil

The maritime transportation sector (MTS) is undertaking a major global effort to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG), e.g., sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, and the concentration of particulates in suspension. Substantial investment is necessary to develop alternative sustainable fuels, engines, and fuel modifications. The alternative fuels considered in this study include liquified natural gas, nuclear energy, hydrogen, electricity, and biofuels. This paper focuses on biofuels, in particular fast pyrolysis bio-oil (FPBO), a serious partial alternative in MTS. There are some drawbacks, e.g., biofuels usually require land necessary to produce the feedstock and the chemical compatibility of the resulting biofuel with current engines in MTS. The demand for sustainable feedstock production for MTS can be overcome by using cellulose-based and agroforestry residues, which do not compete with food production and can be obtained in large quantities and at a reasonably low cost. The compatibility of biofuels with either bunker fuel or diesel cycle engines can also be solved by upgrading biofuels, adjusting the refining process, or modifying the engine itself. The paper examines the possibilities presented by biofuels, focusing on FPBO in Brazil, for MTS. The key issues investigated include FPBO, production, and end use of feedstocks and the most promising alternatives; thermal conversion technologies; potential applications of FPBO in Brazil; sustainability; biofuels properties; fuels under consideration in MTS, challenges, and opportunities in a rapidly changing maritime fuel sector. Although the focus is on Brazil, the findings of this paper can be replicated in many other parts of the world.

Performance Optimizations with Single-, Bi-, Tri-, and Quadru-Objective for Irreversible Diesel Cycle

Applying finite time thermodynamics theory and the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-II (NSGA-II), thermodynamic analysis and multi-objective optimization of an irreversible Diesel cycle are performed. Through numerical calculations, the impact of the cycle temperature ratio on the power density of the cycle is analyzed. The characteristic relationships among the cycle power density versus the compression ratio and thermal efficiency are obtained with three different loss issues. The thermal efficiency, the maximum specific volume (the size of the total volume of the cylinder), and the maximum pressure ratio are compared under the maximum power output and the maximum power density criteria. Using NSGA-II, single-, bi-, tri-, and quadru-objective optimizations are performed for an irreversible Diesel cycle by introducing dimensionless power output, thermal efficiency, dimensionless ecological function, and dimensionless power density as objectives, respectively. The optimal design plan is obtained by using three solution methods, that is, the linear programming technique for multidimensional analysis of preference (LINMAP), the technique for order preferences by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS), and Shannon entropy, to compare the results under different objective function combinations. The comparison results indicate that the deviation index of multi-objective optimization is small. When taking the dimensionless power output, dimensionless ecological function, and dimensionless power density as the objective function to perform tri-objective optimization, the LINMAP solution is used to obtain the minimum deviation index. The deviation index at this time is 0.1333, and the design scheme is closer to the ideal scheme.