Kadir Aydin

Biodiesel Production from Terebinth (Pistacia Terebinthus) Oil and its Usage in Diesel Engine

This paper presents the results of investigations carried out on a three-cylinder, fourstroke, and direct-injection CI engine operated with terebinth (pistacia terebinthus) oil biodiesel. Terebinth oil was squized using the extraction method and therefore terebinth oil biodiesel was produced via the transesterification method. Terebinth oil biodiesel (B)—diesel fuel (D) blends were tested in a direct injection diesel engine at full load condition. Power values showed a trend of decreasing with all biodiesel fuels at high engine speeds. Specific fuel consumption (SFC) values increased depending on the amount of biodiesel in the test fuels. In general, exhaust emission profile of biodiesel fuels improved. CO and CO2 emissions decreased up to 34.54% and 10.69% respectively. However, NOx emissions increased up to 32.97%.

Decomposition of Turbulent Velocity Fields in an SI Engine

In this study, the turbulence filter, the phase averaging and the proper orthogonal decomposition methods are used to decompose experimentally measured turbulent velocity fields in an SI engine. The radial and circumferential turbulent velocity fields were measured using hot wire anemometer under motored conditions at different engine configurations. The decomposed results of each technique are compared with each other. In addition, the obtained organized and turbulence motions and their energy spectra are examined. Finally, coherent structures of velocity fields and their activities are investigated.

Performance and Emission Studies of Castor Bean (Ricinus Communis) Oil Biodiesel and Its Blends with Diesel Fuel

Abstract An experimental study was conducted to evaluate the use of various blends of castor (Ricinus Communis) oil methyl ester with diesel fuel. Performance and exhaust emissions of castor oil biodiesel with diesel fuel in a commercial compression ignition engine were presented in this study. Biodiesel produced from castor oil was blended with diesel fuel at the volumetric ratios of 5% (B5), 10% (B10), 25% (B25), 50% (B50), and 100% (B100). Fuel properties of castor oil methyl ester and its blends with diesel fuel were stated. The performance results showed that blends of castor oil methyl ester with diesel provided an increase on brake specific fuel consumption and a small decrease on brake power output. Compared with diesel fuel, diesel-castor oil methyl ester blends showed that while the carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide emissions became reduced; the oxides of nitrogen emissions observed higher than diesel fuel emission characteristics. Test results showed that B25 was determined as a suitable alternative fuel for diesel engines.

Engine Performance and Emission Characteristics of Plastic Oil Produced from Waste Polyethylene and Its Blends with Diesel Fuel

The overall objective of this study was to explore the utility of waste plastics as a potential source of diesel fuel. An experimental study was conducted to evaluate the use of various blends of plastic oil produced from waste polyethylene (WPE) with diesel fuel (D). WPE was degraded thermally and catalytically using sodium aluminum silicate as a catalyst. The oil collected at optimum conditions (414°C–480°C range and 1 h reaction time) was fractionated at different temperatures and fuel properties of the fractions were measured. Plastic oil was blended with diesel fuel at the volumetric ratios of 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, and 100%. Fuel properties of blends are found comparable with those of diesel fuel within the EN 590 Diesel Fuel standard and they can also be used as fuel in compression ignition engines without any modification. Engine performance and exhaust emission studies of 5% WPE-D (WPE5) blend were performed. Experimental results showed that carbon monoxide (CO) emission is decreased by 20.63%, carbon dioxide (CO2) emission is increased by 3.34%, and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emission is increased by 9.17% with WPE-D (WPE5) blend compared to diesel fuel.

Investigation of Nanoparticle Additives to Biodiesel for Improvement of the Performance and Exhaust Emissions in a Compression Ignition Engine

Worldwide energy demand has been growing steadily during the past five decades and most experts believe that this trend will continue to rise. The amount of emitted harmful emission gases increases in parallel with increasing energy consumption. This increase has forced many countries to take various precautions, and various restrictions on emitted emissions have been carried. In this study, effects of addition of oxygen containing nanoparticle additives to biodiesel on fuel properties and effects on diesel engine performance and exhaust emissions were investigated. Two different nanoparticle additives, namely MgO and SiO2, were added to biodiesel at the addition dosage of 25 and 50 ppm. Fuel properties, engine performance, and exhaust emission characteristics of obtained modified fuels were examined. As a result of this study, engine emission values NOx and CO were decreased and engine performance values slightly increased with the addition of nanoparticle additives.

The Potential of Microalgal Biodiesel in Turkey

Turkey has limited petroleum reserves which causes the country to become a foreign dependent in respect to energy. As a result, the dependency level of Turkey on foreign fossil fuel suppliers reaches around 70%. Biodiesel, which has a more favorable combustion emission profile, relatively high flash point, and good lubrication properties, can be an effective alternative energy source. However, to provide the necessary amount of oil from agricultural products may affect food production and require a high amount of water and fertilizer. With their high oil content and high productivity rates, microalgae seems to be the best source of fuel which can replace petroleum products totally. This article introduces methods of microalgae production and discusses the potential of Turkey to pass microalgal biodiesel technology.

Support vector machines for aerobic fitness prediction of athletes

Support vector machine is a statistical learning classifier, based on the principle of structural risk minimization, which performs well when applied to data outside the training set. This paper presents a new approach based on support vector machines to predict whether an athlete is aerobically fit or not. The input data set contains physical properties of athletes as well as their cardiopulmonary exercise testing results which were obtained at Cukurova University Sports Physiology Laboratory. According to the exercise test protocol, speed and grade of the treadmill were increased at certain times and the input variables of time, speed and grade of the treadmill, and oxygen uptake, carbon dioxide output, minute ventilation and heart rate of athletes were recorded. The average of the exercise test data was taken over certain time intervals and a curve fitting algorithm was applied to remove the spikes in the data and make it more suitable to use with support vector machines. Experiments with several different training and test data show that curve-fitted data has better performance measures, such as higher prediction rate, sensitivity, specificity, and shorter training time.

Optimizing the Quantity of Diesel Fuel Injection by Using 25HHOCNG Gas Fuel Mixture

Injection behaviors of internal combustion engines are very substantial fact that provides developments to future strategies about optimizing the engine and fuel parameters. During the combustion process, pilot diesel injection technique is more preferable option while using alternative gas fuels in a diesel engine. In this experimental study, a 3.6 L commercial, four stroke, four cylinders and mechanical fuel pump non-modified diesel test engine operated with hydroxy (HHO) and compressed natural gas (CNG) fuel mixtures under 25% and 75% (vol/vol), respectively. Diesel fuel injection quantities were reduced with the help of steeping motor devices which mounted on mechanical fuel pump plunger pin. Sensitive removes of steeping motor, plunger pin twisted clockwise 360°, 720° and 1080°, respectively. Comparisons of engine performance and exhaust emissions were explained briefly and illustrated via graphs. As a result, 720° clockwise twisted pin is the optimum point for experimental fuel pump plunger while using 25HHOCNG fuel mixtures.

Traffic accident reconstruction and an approach for prediction of fault rates using artificial neural networks: A case study in Turkey

ABSTRACT Objective: Currently, in Turkey, fault rates in traffic accidents are determined according to the initiative of accident experts (no speed analyses of vehicles just considering accident type) and there are no specific quantitative instructions on fault rates related to procession of accidents which just represents the type of collision (side impact, head to head, rear end, etc.) in No. 2918 Turkish Highway Traffic Act (THTA 1983). The aim of this study is to introduce a scientific and systematic approach for determination of fault rates in most frequent property damage–only (PDO) traffic accidents in Turkey. Methods: In this study, data (police reports, skid marks, deformation, crush depth, etc.) collected from the most frequent and controversial accident types (4 sample vehicle–vehicle scenarios) that consist of PDO were inserted into a reconstruction software called vCrash. Sample real-world scenarios were simulated on the software to generate different vehicle deformations that also correspond to energy-equivalent speed data just before the crash. These values were used to train a multilayer feedforward artificial neural network (MFANN), function fitting neural network (FITNET, a specialized version of MFANN), and generalized regression neural network (GRNN) models within 10-fold cross-validation to predict fault rates without using software. The performance of the artificial neural network (ANN) prediction models was evaluated using mean square error (MSE) and multiple correlation coefficient (R). Results: It was shown that the MFANN model performed better for predicting fault rates (i.e., lower MSE and higher R) than FITNET and GRNN models for accident scenarios 1, 2, and 3, whereas FITNET performed the best for scenario 4. The FITNET model showed the second best results for prediction for the first 3 scenarios. Because there is no training phase in GRNN, the GRNN model produced results much faster than MFANN and FITNET models. However, the GRNN model had the worst prediction results. The R values for prediction of fault rates were close to 1 for all folds and scenarios. Conclusions: This study focuses on exhibiting new aspects and scientific approaches for determining fault rates of involvement in most frequent PDO accidents occurring in Turkey by discussing some deficiencies in THTA and without regard to initiative and/or experience of experts. This study yields judicious decisions to be made especially on forensic investigations and events involving insurance companies. Referring to this approach, injury/fatal and/or pedestrian-related accidents may be analyzed as future work by developing new scientific models.

Development of Solid Waste Management System for Adana Metropolitan Municipality

Adana is a major agricultural and commercial center in southern Turkey. Adana is one of the first industrialized as well as one of the most economically developed cities of Turkey. The main aim of this project is to develop a new infrastructure for integrated solid waste management for Adana Metropolitan Municipality, including Yedigoze Union. New transfer stations have been located in Yedigoze Union to transfer all collected solid wastes to Adana Metropolitan Municipality Landfill Site for recycling and disposal. All plastic materials, including medical wastes, collected from Adana Metropolitan Municipality and Yedigoze Union will be transferred to a thermal and catalytic cracking unit for producing plastic fuel. All medical wastes will be sterilized and converted to plastic fuel without any Medical Waste Sterilization Unit. Experiments have shown that plastic fuel can be blended with 10% of diesel fuel and can be used for waste collection truck without any modification.