Roussos G. Papagiannakis

Comparative Evaluation of Ethanol, n-Butanol, and Diethyl Ether Effects as Biofuel Supplements on Combustion Characteristics, Cyclic Variations, and Emissions Balance in Light-Duty Diesel Engine

AbstractThis work evaluates experimentally on a comparative basis the effects of using three customary biofuels on the cyclic variability (irregularity) of combustion and emissions balance in a single-cylinder, light-duty, direct-injection diesel engine run at three loads. Blends of fossil diesel with up to 15% (by volume) ethanol and 24% n-butanol or diethyl ether (DEE) are investigated. Related experimental study including heat release diagrams reported by the authors for these blends in the same engine disclosed the differentiation in performance and emissions of these biofuel blends from running the engine with neat fossil diesel. Given that low ignition quality fuels, as the present biofuels, mainly at high blending ratios may give rise to unstable engine functioning and hence detrimental performance, this work examines on a comparative basis the strength of combustion cycle-to-cycle variations as revealed in the measured cylinder pressure diagrams. The latter are analyzed with respect to maximum pre...

Comparative Evaluation of the Effect of Intake Charge Temperature, Pilot Fuel Quantity and Injection Advance on Dual Fuel Compression Ignition Engine Performance Characteristics and Emitted Pollutants

The simultaneous reduction of nitrogen oxide emissions and particulate matter in a compression ignition environment is quite difficult due to the soot/NOx trade off and it is often accompanied by fuel consumption penalties. Thus, fuel reformulation is also essential for the curtailment of diesel pollutant emissions along with the optimization of combustion-related design factors and exhaust after-treatment equipment. Various solutions have been proposed for improving the combustion process of conventional diesel engines and reducing the exhaust emissions without making serious modifications on the engine, one of which is the use of natural gas as a supplement for the conventional diesel fuel (Dual Fuel Natural Gas/Diesel Engines). Natural gas is considered to be quite promising since its cost is relative lower compared to conventional fuels and it has high auto-ignition temperature compared to other gaseous fuels facilitating thus its use on future and existing fleet of small high speed direct injection diesel engines without serious modifications on their structure. Moreover, natural gas does not generate particulates when burned in engines. The most common natural gas/diesel operating mode is referred to as the Pilot Ignited Natural Gas Diesel Engine (P.I.N.G.D.E). Here, the primary fuel is natural gas that controls the engine power output, while the pilot diesel fuel injected near the end of the compression stroke autoignites and creates ignition sources for the surrounding gaseous fuel mixture to be burned. Previous research studies have shown that the main disadvantage of this dual fuel combustion is its negative impact on engine efficiency compared to the normal diesel operation, while carbon monoxide emissions are also increased. The specific engine operating mode, in comparison with conventional diesel fuel operation, suffers from low brake engine efficiency and high carbon monoxide (CO) emissions. The influence becomes more evident at part load conditions. Intake charge temperature, pilot fuel quantity and injection advance are some of the engine parameters which influence significantly the combustion mechanism inside the combustion chamber of a Pilot Ignited Natural Gas Diesel Engine. In order to be examined the effect of these parameters on performance and exhaust emissions of a natural gas/diesel engine a theoretical investigation has been conducted by using a numerical simulation. In order to be examined the effect of increased air inlet temperature combined with increased pilot fuel quantity and its injection timing on performance and exhaust emissions of a pilot ignited natural gas-diesel engine, a theoretical investigation has been conducted by using a comprehensive two-zone phenomenological model. The results concerning engine performance characteristics and NO, CO and Soot emissions for various engine operating conditions (i.e. load and engine speed), comes from the employment of a comprehensive two-zone phenomenological model which had been applied on a high-speed natural gas/diesel engine. The main objectives of this comparative assessment are to record and to comparatively evaluate the relative impact each one of the above mentioned parameters on engine performance characteristics and emitted pollutants. Furthermore, the present investigation deals with the determining of optimum combinations between the parameters referred before since at high engine load conditions, the simultaneous increase some of the specific parameters may lead in undesirable results about engine performance characteristics. The conclusions of the specific investigation will be extremely valuable for the application of this technology on existing DI diesel engines.Copyright

Numerical Evaluation of the Effects of Compression Ratio and Diesel Fuel Injection Timing on the Performance and Emissions of a Fumigated Natural Gas–Diesel Dual-Fuel Engine

AbstractVarious solutions have been proposed for reducing the exhaust emissions and improve the well-known soot and nitrogen oxide (NO) trade-off in diesel engines, without making serious modifications to the engine, one of which is the use of natural gas as supplement to liquid diesel fuel. In these types of engines, referred to as fumigated, natural gas–diesel dual-fuel compression ignition (CI) engines, gaseous fuel is fumigated and premixed with the aspirated air during the induction stroke. Natural gas is a clean-burning fuel with a relatively high auto-ignition temperature, which is a serious advantage in dual-fuel combustion. Previous research studies have shown that the natural gas–diesel fuel dual-fuel combustion in a CI engine environment, compared with conventional diesel fuel operation, suffers from high specific fuel consumption and high carbon monoxide (CO) and unburned hydrocarbon (HC) emissions. Compression ratio (CR) and diesel fuel injection timing (IT) are two engine parameters that can...

Theoretical Investigation of the Factors Affecting the Performance of a High Speed DI Diesel Engine Fuelled With Natural Gas

Reduction of exhaust emissions is a major research task in diesel engine development in view of increasing concern regarding environmental protection and stringent exhaust gas regulations. Simultaneous reduction of NOx emissions and particulate matter is quite difficult due to the soot/NOx trade-off and is often accompanied by fuel consumption penalties. Towards this aim, automotive engineers have proposed various solutions, one of which is the use of alternative gaseous fuels as a supplement for the commercial liquid diesel fuel. This type of engine, which operates fuelled simultaneously with conventional diesel oil and gaseous fuel, is called “dual fuel” diesel engine. Among alternative gaseous fuels, natural gas is considered to be quite promising due to its low cost and its higher auto-ignition temperature compared to other gaseous fuels facilitating thus its use on existing diesel engines. Previous research studies revealed that natural gas/diesel engine operation results in deterioration of brake engine efficiency, CO and HC emissions compared to conventional diesel fuel operation. In attempt to curtail these negative effects, various theoretical and experimental studies were carried out examining the influence of various parameters such as pilot fuel quantity, diesel fuel injection timing advance and intake charge conditions on “dual fuel” engine performance characteristics and pollutant emissions. However, there are more to know about the proper combination of these engine parameters to attain the optimum results regarding reduction of CO and HC emissions without further deteriorating, if not improving, brake engine efficiency. Hence, in the present study, a theoretical investigation is conducted using an engine simulation model to examine the effect of the aforementioned parameters on performance and exhaust emissions of a natural gas/diesel engine. Predictions are produced for a high-speed natural gas/diesel engine performance characteristics and NO, CO and Soot emissions at diverse engine speeds and loads using a comprehensive two-zone combustion model. The main objective of this comparative assessment is to elaborate the relative impact of each one of the above mentioned parameters on engine performance characteristics and exhaust emissions. Furthermore, an endeavor is made to determine the optimum combinations of these engine operational parameters. The conclusions of this study may be proven to be considerably valuable for the application of this technology on existing DI diesel engines.Copyright

Effects of Boost Pressure and Spark Timing on Performance and Exhaust Emissions in a Heavy-Duty Spark-Ignited Wood-Gas Engine

AbstractWood gas represents a viable energy source, particularly for stationary electric power generation, as it allows for a wide flexibility in fossil fuel sources and can be used as full supplement fuel in conventional heavy-duty (HD), turbocharged (T/C), spark-ignited (SI) engines. For such engines fuelled with wood gas, spark timing and boost pressure are critical parameters that affect both engine performance characteristics and NO and CO emissions. Thus, the main objective of this study is to investigate theoretically the effects of these parameters on the performance and exhaust emissions (NO and CO) of such an existing engine fueled with wood gas. The investigation is conducted by using a comprehensive two-zone phenomenological model. The predictive ability of model was tested against experimental measurements, which were obtained from the operation of such an engine fueled with wood-gas fuel under various operating conditions. The experimental results were found to be in good agreement with the ...

Intake-Air Oxygen-Enrichment of Diesel Engines as a Power Enhancement Method and Implications on Pollutant Emissions

Increasing the in-cylinder oxygen availability of diesel engines is an effective method to improve combustion efficiency and to reduce particulate emissions. Past work on oxygen-enrichment of the intake air, revealed a large decrease of ignition delay, a remarkable decrease of soot emissions as well as reduction of CO and unburned hydrocarbon (HC) emissions while, brake specific fuel consumption (bsfc) remained unaffected or even improved. Moreover, experiments conducted in the past by authors revealed that oxygen-enrichment of the intake air (from 21% to 25% oxygen mole fraction) under high fuelling rates resulted to an increase of brake power output by 10%. However, a considerable increase of NOx emissions was recorded. This manuscript, presents the results of a theoretical investigation that examines the effect of oxygen enrichment of intake air, up to 30%v/v, on the local combustion characteristics, soot and NO concentrations under the following two in-cylinder mixing conditions: (1) lean in-cylinder average fuel/oxygen equivalence ratio (constant fuelling rate) and (2) constant in-cylinder average fuel/oxygen equivalence ratio (increased fuelling rate). A phenomenological engine simulation model is used to shed light into the influence of the oxygen content of combustion air on the distribution of combustion parameters, soot and nitric oxide inside the fuel jet, in all cases considered. Simulations were made for a naturally aspirated single-cylinder DI diesel engine “Lister LV1” at 2500 rpm and at various engine loads. The outcome of this theoretical investigation was contrasted with published experimental findings.Copyright

Application of a diagnostic technique for evaluating the quality of the air–fuel mixture and the ignition quality of a spark-ignition reciprocating aircraft piston engine

The performance characteristics of an aircraft piston engine are affected mainly by the air–fuel mixture quality (i.e. condition of the fuel injection system) and by the spark timing and spark duration (i.e. condition of ignition system). Thus, the present work focuses on investigating the effect of both fuel injection and spark ignition systems on performance characteristics of two aircraft piston engines which are of the same type but have overhauled by two different workshops. The investigation is conducted by applying an existing diagnostic technique, which is based on the simultaneous recording and processing of two electric signals: one corresponding to cylinder pressure and the second corresponding to the ignition system. The basic characteristics of the proposed methodology are simplicity and field applicability on engines of this type. A detailed experimental investigation has been conducted on the aforementioned two aircraft piston engines on a dedicated test bench. From the results, it is revealed that the proposed diagnostic methodology provides reliable information for the effect of both the ignition and fuel injection systems on engine performance characteristics. The results derived from the specific work enable the comparative evaluation of the engines and their ignition and fuel injection systems. Finally, based on this first investigation, the proposed methodology seems to be promising, because it can be easily applied on any type of spark-ignited engine and especially on aircraft piston engine, where due to its geometry and multicylinder nature, the application of lab techniques on the field is, if not impossible, extremely difficult.

Use of a Diagnostic Methodology for Spark Ignited Engines to Investigate the Effect of AFR on the Performance and Combustion Characteristics of a Reciprocating Aircraft Engine

Reciprocating engines are still frequently used in aviation especially in applications such as recreation planes, taxi-planes, fire extinguishing aircraft and generally applications that do not require a high power density. For such applications they have a significant advantage against turbine engines as far as purchase and maintenance cost is concerned. The proper and efficient operation of these engines in aviation applications is critical and therefore techniques that are used to determine engine condition and to detect potential faults are extremely important. The performance of these engines depends strongly on the condition of the ignition system and the quality of the supplied mixture. For this reason in the present work it is examined the effect of mixture AFR on the combustion mechanism and engine performance using an existing diagnostic methodology for spark ignited engines developed by the present research group. The investigation is conducted on a radial, spark-ignited reciprocating engine used on the CL-215 fire extinguishing aircraft. The diagnostic technique is used to investigate the effect of AFR on the main combustion and performance characteristics of the engine and specifically brake power output, rate of heat release, cumulative heat release, peak firing pressure, ignition and injection timing and duration of combustion. Furthermore the diagnostic technique is used to derive information for spark advance, spark duration, compression condition etc. The diagnostic technique is based on a thermodynamic two-zone combustion model for spark ignited engines. To examine the effect of AFR on the combustion mechanism a detailed experimental investigation was conducted on an engine (radial, supercharged, air-cooled, eighteen-cylinders) mounted on a test bench. The measurement procedure involved measurements at various operating conditions (load and speed) and various AFR values. During the experimental investigation beyond the conventional test bench measurements, measurements were taken using a fast data acquisition system of cylinder pressure and the electric signal of both spark plugs. Engine diagnosis is established by processing of these measured data. From the results of the diagnosis procedure it is revealed that the diagnosis method provides detailed information for the operating condition of the engine and the values of parameters that cannot be measured on the field. The diagnosis results reveal that the proposed technique can determine the effect of AFR ratio on the combustion mechanism adequately and thus it can be used during engine testing to determine the optimum AFR ratio in combination with the remaining engine settings and mainly spark advance. The results obtained are positive and reveal that the proposed diagnostic technique can be easily applied on any type of spark-ignited engine and especially on aircraft piston engines (i.e. aviation applications), where the accurate estimation of the engine condition and settings is extremely important.Copyright

Thermodynamic Analysis of the Effects of Fuel-Side and Air-Side Oxygen Addition on Diesel Engine Combustion Characteristics and Pollutant Formation

A multi-zone combustion model is used in the present study to examine the effect of increased in-cylinder oxygen availability (either by using oxygenated fuels or by increasing the oxygen percentage of intake air) on direct injection (DI) diesel engine performance characteristics and pollutant emissions. Simulations are produced for a single-cylinder DI diesel engine (“Lister LV1”) by keeping constant the oxygen content of in-cylinder fuel/air mixture and the engine brake torque. The effects of the two oxygen-enhancement techniques on combustion characteristics, soot and NO concentrations inside the combustion chamber are examined using model predictions for a common diesel oil, a neat oxygenate and the case of increasing the oxygen fraction of intake air. The multi-zone model is also utilized to interpret the relative impact of fuel-side and air-side oxygen on soot formation mechanism by examining the temporal evolution of combustion characteristics and soot formation and oxidation rates inside the fuel jet zones. Evaluation of the theoretical results revealed that the increase of in-cylinder oxygen availability by both techniques resulted in earlier initiation of combustion, increase of peak cylinder pressure and increase of in-cylinder and exhaust NO concentrations. It resulted also in reduction of exhaust gas temperature and exhaust soot values. Fuel oxygen addition was proven to be more influential on combustion process and consequently, on soot and NO formation mechanism compared to oxygen-enhancement of intake air. This is attributed to the higher oxygen availability inside each fuel jet zone, which is observed in the case of oxygenated fuel combustion.Copyright