Scott A. Miers

A Comparison of Ethanol and Butanol as Oxygenates Using a Direct-Injection, Spark-Ignition Engine

This study was designed to evaluate a “what if” scenario in terms of using butanol as an oxygenate in place of ethanol in an engine calibrated for gasoline operation. No changes to the stock engine calibration were performed for this study. Combustion analysis, efficiency, and emissions of pure gasoline, 10% ethanol, and 10% butanol blends in a modern direct-injection four-cylinder spark-ignition engine were analyzed. Data were taken at engine speeds of 1000 rpm up to 4000 rpm with load varying from 0 N m (idle) to 150 N m. Relatively minor differences existed between the three fuels for the combustion characteristics such as heat release rate, 50% mass fraction burned, and coefficient of variation in indicated mean effective pressure at low and medium engine loads. However at high engine loads the reduced knock resistance of the butanol blend forced the engine control unit to retard the ignition timing substantially, compared with the gasoline baseline and, even more pronounced, compared with the ethanol blend. Brake specific volumetric fuel consumption, which represented a normalized volumetric fuel flow rate, was lowest for the gasoline baseline fuel due to the higher energy density. The 10% butanol blend had a lower volumetric fuel consumption compared with the ethanol blend, as expected, based on energy density differences. The results showed little difference in regulated emissions between 10% ethanol and 10% butanol. The ethanol blend produced the highest peak specific NOx due to the high octane rating of ethanol and effective antiknock characteristics. Overall, the ability of butanol to perform equally as well as ethanol from an emissions and combustion standpoint, with a decrease in fuel consumption, initially appears promising. Further experiments are planned to explore the full operating range of the engine and the potential benefits of higher blend ratios of butanol.

Drive cycle analysis of butanol/diesel blends in a light-duty vehicle.

The potential exists to displace a portion of the petroleum diesel demand with butanol and positively impact engine-out particulate matter. As a preliminary investigation, 20% and 40% by volume blends of butanol with ultra low sulfur diesel fuel were operated in a 1999 Mercedes Benz C220 turbo diesel vehicle (Euro III compliant). Cold and hot start urban as well as highway drive cycle tests were performed for the two blends of butanol and compared to diesel fuel. In addition, 35 MPH and 55 MPH steady-state tests were conducted under varying road loads for the two fuel blends. Exhaust gas emissions, fuel consumption, and intake and exhaust temperatures were acquired for each test condition. Filter smoke numbers were also acquired during the steady-state tests.

Combustion Behavior of Gasoline and Gasoline/Ethanol Blends in a Modern Direct-Injection 4-Cylinder Engine

Early in 2007 President Bush announced in his State of the Union Address a plan to off-set 20% of gasoline with alternative fuels in the next ten years. Ethanol, due to its excellent fuel properties for example, high octane number, renewable character, etc., appears to be a favorable alternative fuel from an engine perspective. Replacing gasoline with ethanol without any additional measures results in unacceptable disadvantages mainly in terms of vehicle range.

Effects of Blending Gasoline With Ethanol and Butanol on Engine Efficiency and Emissions Using a Direct-Injection, Spark-Ignition Engine

The new U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard requires an increase of ethanol and advanced biofuels to 36 billion gallons by 2022. Due to its high octane number, renewable character and minimal toxicity, ethanol was believed to be one of the most favorable alternative fuels to displace gasoline in spark-ignited engines. However, ethanol fuel results in a substantial reduction in vehicle range when compared to gasoline. In addition, ethanol is fully miscible in water which requires blending at distribution sites instead of the refinery. Butanol, on the other hand, has an energy density comparable to gasoline and lower affinity for water than ethanol. Butanol has recently received increased attention due to its favorable fuel properties as well as new developments in production processes. The advantageous properties of butanol warrant a more in-depth study on the potential for butanol to become a significant component of the advanced biofuels mandate. This study evaluates the combustion behavior, performance, as well as the regulated engine-out emissions of ethanol and butanol blends with gasoline. Two of the butanol isomers; 1-butanol as well as iso-butanol, were tested as part of this study. The evaluation includes gasoline as a baseline, as well as various ethanol/gasoline and butanol/gasoline blends up to a volume blend ratio of 85% of the oxygenated fuel. The test engine is a spark ignition, direct-injection, (SIDI), four-cylinder test engine equipped with pressure transducers in each cylinder. These tests were designed to evaluate a scenario in terms of using these alcohol blends in an engine calibrated for pump gasoline operation. Therefore no modifications to the engine calibration were performed. Following this analysis of combustion behavior and emissions with the base engine calibration, future studies will include detailed heat release analysis of engine operation without exhaust gas recirculation. Also, knock behavior of the different fuel blends will be studied along with unregulated engine out emissions.Copyright

Impingement Identification in a High Speed Diesel Engine Using Piston Surface Temperature Measurements

The objective of this investigation was to identify the impingement event on a diesel piston surface. Eight fast-response, surface thermocouples were installed in one of the pistons of a 2.0 liter, four-cylinder, turbo-charged diesel engine (97 kW @ 3800 rpm). Piston temperatures were transmitted from the engine using wireless microwave telemetry. An impingement signal was identified on the piston bowl lip. A simple parameter for characterizing the impingement event is proposed. The results show an impingement signature at one of the bowl lip thermocouples, under specific operating conditions.

Review of Waste Heat Recovery Mechanisms for Internal Combustion Engines

The demand for more fuel efficient vehicles has been growing steadily and will only continue to increase given the volatility in the commodities market for petroleum resources. The internal combustion engine utilizes approximately one third of the chemical energy released during combustion. The remaining two-thirds are rejected from the engine via the cooling and exhaust systems. Significant improvements in fuel conversion efficiency are possible through the capture and conversion of these waste energy streams. Promising waste heat recovery techniques include turbocharging, turbo compounding, Rankine engine compounding, and thermoelectric generators. These techniques have shown increases in engine thermal efficiencies that range from 2% to 20%, depending on system design, quality of energy recovery, component efficiency, and implementation. The purpose of this paper is to provide a broad review of the advancements in the waste heat recovery methods; thermoelectric generators and Rankine cycles for electricity generation, which have occurred over the past 10 years as these two techniques have been at the forefront of current research for their untapped potential. The various mechanisms and techniques, including thermodynamic analysis, employed in the design of a waste heat recovery system are discussed.Copyright

Nucleate Boiling Identification and Utilization for Improved Internal Combustion Engine Efficiency

Internal combustion engines continue to become more compact and require greater heat rejection capacity. This demands research in cooling technologies and investigation into the limitations of current forced convection based cooling methods. A promising solution is the cooling strategy optimized with nucleate boiling to help meet these efficiency and emission requirements. Nucleate boiling results in an increased heat transfer coefficient, potentially an order of magnitude greater than forced convection, thereby providing improved cooling of an engine. This allows reduced coolant flow rates, increased efficiency, and reduced engine warm-up time. A study was conducted to characterize nucleate boiling occurring in the cooling passages of an IC engine cylinder head in a computational as well as experimental domain. The simulation was conducted to understand the physics of boiling occurring in an engine cooling passage and provide support for a potential boiling detection method. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation was performed for a simplified, two dimensional domain that resembled an engine cooling passage. The simulation results were followed by investigations of a pressure-based detection technique which was proven to be an effective method to detect boiling. An experimental test rig was used which consisted of a single combustion chamber section from a 5.4L V8 cylinder head. Water was used as the coolant. Results demonstrate the phase change physics involved in the boiling in an engine cooling passage, pressure variations in the coolant, heat flux data associated with the onset of nucleate boiling, and a comparison with existing boiling curves for water. Results of the simulation and experimental setup indicated that the change in energy and accompanying increase in pressure values can be related to bubble dynamics and thus provides a potential method to accurately detect nucleate boiling occurrence in an engine cooling system.Copyright

An Experimental Investigation of Biodiesel Injection Characteristics Using a Light-Duty Diesel Injector

The objective of this research was to experimentally evaluate the effects of two biodiesel fuels with different viscosities on fuel injection characteristics using a light-duty, common-rail, diesel injection system. A pure biodiesel (B100) and a 50/50 blend of pure biodiesel and refined, bleached, and deodorized vegetable oil (B50V50) were compared with a laboratory diesel fuel equivalent (D100). The fuel viscosity ranged from 2.6 cSt (D100) to 10.9 cSt (B50V50). Three injection pressures and two injector nozzle geometries and surface finishes were also investigated. Measurements of the injected fuel quantity showed that as fuel viscosity increased, the injected volume decreased and the variability in the injected volume tended to increase. This effect was more significant in an injector nozzle with converging, highly hydro-ground holes than one with straight, lightly hydroground holes. The rate-of-injection (ROI) data were quite similar for D100 and B100 when using the straight, lightly hydro-ground nozzle. There is a marked reduction in peak injection rate for the B100, compared to D100, when the highly hydro-ground nozzle was utilized. With both nozzles, the B50V50 blend produced narrower ROI curves with peak injection rates equal to or exceeding those of D100 fuel. For all three fuels, the start-of-injection delay increased as fuel viscosity increased. The end-of-injection time was very similar for D100 and B100 but was advanced for the B50V50 blend.Copyright

A Wireless Microwave Telemetry Data Transfer Technique for Reciprocating and Rotating Components

Wireless microwave telemetry addresses the difficult issue of obtaining transducer outputs from reciprocating and rotating components through the use of advanced electronic components. This eliminates the requirements of a direct link between the transducer and the acquisition system. Accuracy of the transducer signal is maintained through the use of a double frequency modulation technique which provides temperature stability and a 20 point calibration of the complete system. Multiple transmitters can be used for larger applications and multiple antennas can be used to improve the signal strength and reduce the possibility of dropouts. Examples of automotive torque converter and piston temperature measurements are provided, showing the effectiveness of the wireless measuring technique.

A Comparison of Ethanol and Butanol as Oxygenates Using a Direct-Injection, Spark-Ignition (DISI) Engine

This study was designed to evaluate a ‘what-if’ scenario in terms of using butanol as an oxygenate, in place of ethanol in an engine calibrated for gasoline operation. No changes to the stock engine calibration were performed for this study. Combustion analysis, efficiency and emissions of pure gasoline, 10% ethanol and 10% butanol blends in a modern, direct-injection four-cylinder, spark ignition engine were analyzed. Data was taken at engine speeds of 1000 RPM up to 4000 RPM with load varying from 0 Nm (idle) to 150 Nm. Relatively minor differences existed between the three fuels for the combustion characteristics such as heat release rate, 50% mass fraction burned, and coefficient of variation of indicated mean effective pressure at low and medium engine loads. However at high engine loads the reduced knock resistance of the butanol blend forced the engine control unit to retard the ignition timing substantially, compared to the gasoline baseline and even more pronounced compared to the ethanol blend. Brake specific volumetric fuel consumption which represented a normalized volumetric fuel flow rate, was lowest for the gasoline baseline fuel, due to the higher energy density. The 10% butanol blend had a lower volumetric fuel consumption compared to the ethanol blend, as expected based on energy density differences. Results showed little difference in regulated emissions between 10% ethanol and 10% butanol. The ethanol blend produced the highest peak specific NOx due to the high octane rating of ethanol and effective anti-knock characteristics. Overall, the ability of butanol to perform equally as well as ethanol from an emissions and combustion standpoint, with a decrease in fuel consumption, initially appears promising. Further experiments are planned to explore the full operating range of the engine and the potential benefits of higher blend ratios of butanol.Copyright