Effect of EGR in a Gasoline Operated Diesel Engine in LTC Mode

Author(s):  
Stephen Ciatti ◽  
Swami Nathan Subramanian ◽  
Alison Ferris

Conventional combustion techniques struggle to meet the current emissions’ regulations while retaining high engine efficiency. Specifically in automotive diesel engines, oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and particulate matter (PM) emissions have limited the utilization of diesel fuel in compression ignition engines. By comparison, throttled, knock-limited conventional gasoline operated SI engines tend not to be fuel efficient. Advanced combustion systems that simultaneously address PM and NOx while retaining the high efficiency of modern diesel engines, are being developed around the globe [1]. One of the most difficult problems in the area of advanced combustion technology development is the control of combustion initiation [2] and retaining power density [3]. During the past several years, significant progress has been accomplished in reducing emissions of NOx and PM through strategies such as LTC/HCCI/PCCI/PPCI and other advanced combustion processes; however control of ignition and improving power density has suffered to some degree — advanced combustion engines tend to be limited to the 10 bar BMEP range and under [4]. Experimental investigations have been carried out on a light duty, DI, multi cylinder, diesel automotive engine. The engine is operated in low temperature combustion technology with 87 RON (Research Octane Number) fuel [7]. Using an Ignition Quality Test (IQT) device, the equivalent Cetane Number (CN) was measured to be 25. In the present work, various EGR rates are examined to determine the effect on the combustion, emissions and performance. Experiments were conducted at three different engine load/speed combinations that are part of General Motors’ reference points for vehicle operation. To reduce the complexity, boost pressure and injection pressure and timing were kept constant while EGR percentage and intake temperature were used as parameters in this study. The intake temperature was not truly independent, as it trended with EGR level, but based upon the boost level and the available EGR cooling, Intake Air Temperature (IAT) was kept in the range of 40–80 deg C. Additional cooling capacity will be added in future work in an effort to keep IAT more consistent. EGR rates have a detrimental effect on engine efficiencies at lower load while it appears to have little effect on efficiency at higher loads. A more significant effect at very low load appears to be higher intake temperatures (hot EGR) as opposed to the very slight decrease in oxygen concentration.

Author(s):  
Riley C. Abel ◽  
Jon Luecke ◽  
Matthew A. Ratcliff ◽  
Bradley T. Zigler

Abstract Cetane number is one of the most important fuel performance metrics for mixing controlled compression-ignition “diesel” engines, quantifying a fuel’s propensity for autoignition when injected into end-of-compression-type temperature and pressure conditions. The historical default and referee method on a Cooperative Fuel Research (CFR) engine configured with indirect fuel injection and variable compression ratio is cetane number (CN) rating. A subject fuel is evaluated against primary reference fuel blends, with heptamethylnonane defining a low-reactivity endpoint of CN = 15 and hexadecane defining a high-reactivity endpoint of CN = 100. While the CN scale covers the range from zero (0) to 100, typical testing is in the range of 30 to 65 CN. Alternatively, several constant-volume combustion chamber (CVCC)-based cetane rating devices have been developed to rate fuels with an equivalent derived cetane number (DCN) or indicated cetane number (ICN). These devices measure ignition delay for fuel injected into a fixed volume of high-temperature and high-pressure air to simulate end-of-compression-type conditions. In this study, a range of novel fuel compounds are evaluated across three CVCC methods: the Ignition Quality Tester (IQT), Fuel Ignition Tester (FIT), and Advanced Fuel Ignition Delay Analyzer (AFIDA). Resulting DCNs and ICNs are compared for fuels within the normal diesel fuel range of reactivity, as well as very high (∼100) and very low DCNs/ICNs (∼5). Distinct differences between results from various devices are discussed. This is important to consider because some new, high-efficiency advanced compression-ignition (CI) engine combustion strategies operate with more kinetically controlled distributed combustion as opposed to mixing controlled diffusion flames. These advanced combustion strategies may benefit from new fuel chemistries, but current rating methods of CN, DCN, and ICN may not fully describe their performance. In addition, recent evidence suggests ignition delay in modern on-road diesel engines with high-pressure common rail fuel injection systems may no longer directly correlate to traditional CN fuel ratings. Simulated end-of-compression conditions are compared for CN, DCN, and ICN and discussed in the context of modern diesel engines to provide additional insight. Results highlight the potential need for revised and/or multiple fuel test conditions to measure fuel performance for advanced CI strategies.


2018 ◽  
Vol 388 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Luca Piancastelli ◽  
Eugenio Pezzuti ◽  
Stefano Cassani

The primary task in DI (Direct Injection) diesel engines design is the fulfilment of the required emission limits. This result should be achieved with acceptable power-to-rpm diagrams, acceptable fuel consumption, acceptable power density and affordable purchase and maintenance expenses. The most common approach to fulfil these requirements is the downsizing. In this case a significant increase in the crankshaft speed and boost pressure is unavoidable. In this way, an improvement in airflow through the redesign of the intake and exhaust geometry is obtained. Unfortunately, duct design is extremely difficult due to “Mach lock”. A further important boundary condition is due the injector inertia. The dynamic response improves with small injectors due to the Newton’s second law. Small injectors designed for unitary power of 15 to 70 HP are extremely common. Therefore, most of the research is centered on these injectors. Furthermore, their small inertia favors better opening and closing time. Nozzles number and position is also greatly influential on combustion performance. The larger surface of the spray reduces the gasification time of the droplets. For these reasons, multiple injectors systems may be used in large high pressure HSDI-CR (High Speed Direct Injection – Common Rail) diesels. Multi injection was commonplace in relatively large old diesels. This paper proposes new intake duct geometries for modern two-injectors-per-cylinder truck-size engines. For this purpose a new promising, patented concept is introduced. The study includes flow simulations during the intake phase. This patented geometry induces the presence of two extremely strong swirls approximately centered to the injectors, with excellent swirl coefficient and high flow rate. The use of swirl generators on the manifolds avoids the necessity to design helical intake ducts. This patented approach simplifies head design. Moreover, using a VG (Variable Geometry) arrangement for the volutes (swirl generators) it is possible to tune the swirl index at the optimum for every crankshaft velocity and every load. In this way, the vehicle fuel consumption is also reduced.


Author(s):  
Keshav S. Varde ◽  
Shubha K. Veeramachineni

There has been considerable interest in recent years in using blends of petroleum diesel and biodiesels in diesel engines. Some of the interests arise in making use of renewable fuels, or in reducing dependency on imported fossil fuels and, in some cases, to provide economic boost to agricultural industry. It is believed that substitution of a small amount of biodiesel for petroleum diesel can reduce the import of fuel and help in trade balance. Biodiesels, whether derived from vegetable oils or animal fat, have many properties that align with those of petroleum diesel. This makes biodiesel a good candidate for blending it in small quantities with petroleum diesel. Studies have shown biodiesel blends to work well in diesel engines. However, experimental investigations of biodiesel blends have shown some discrepancies in engine thermal efficiency and emissions of NOx. A combustion simulation model for diesel engine may help to understand some of the differences in engine performance when different fuels are used. This paper deals with an existing simulation model that was applied to a diesel engine operating on biodiesel blends. The model was a modified version of GT-Power that was specifically modified to fit the test engine. The model was calibrated using a single cylinder, naturally aspirated, DI diesel engine operating on ultra-low sulfur (ULSD) diesel. It was used to predict engine performance when operating on different blends of soy biodiesel and ULSD. The simulation utilized detailed physical and chemical properties of the blends to predict cylinder pressures, fuel consumption, and emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NOx). Comparison between predicted and experimental values showed good correlations. The predicted trends in fuel consumption, emissions of NOx and smoke showed comparable trends. The model allows the user to change fuel properties to assess the impact of variations in blend composition on exhaust emissions. This paper discusses comparisons between the predicted and experimental results and how fuel composition can possibly impact NOx emissions.


2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Soni S. Wirawan dkk

Biodiesel is a viable substitute for petroleum-based diesel fuel. Its advantages are improved lubricity, higher cetane number and cleaner emission. Biodiesel and its blends with petroleum-based diesel fuel can be used in diesel engines without any signifi cant modifi cations to the engines. Data from the numerous research reports and test programs showed that as the percent of biodiesel in blends increases, emission of hydrocarbons (HC), carbon monoxide (CO), and particulate matter (PM) all decrease, but the amount of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and fuel consumption is tend to increase. The most signifi cant hurdle for broader commercialization of biodiesel is its cost. In current fuel price policy in Indonesia (especially fuel for transportation), the higher percent of biodiesel in blend will increase the price of blends fuel. The objective of this study is to assess the optimum blends of biodiesel with petroleum-based diesel fuel from the technically and economically consideration. The study result recommends that 20% biodiesel blend with 80% petroleum-based diesel fuel (B20) is the optimum blend for unmodifi ed diesel engine uses.Keywords: biodiesel, emission, optimum, blend


Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 1850 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yann E. Bouvier ◽  
Diego Serrano ◽  
Uroš Borović ◽  
Gonzalo Moreno ◽  
Miroslav Vasić ◽  
...  

In modern aircraft designs, following the More Electrical Aircraft (MEA) philosophy, there is a growing need for new high-power converters. In this context, innovative solutions to provide high efficiency and power density are required. This paper proposes an unregulated LLC full-bridge operating at resonant frequency to obtain a constant gain at all loads. The first harmonic approximation (FHA) model is not accurate enough to estimate the voltage gain in converters with high parasitic resistance. A modified FHA model is proposed for voltage gain analysis, and time-based models are used to calculate the instantaneous current required for the ZVS transition analysis. A method using charge instead of current is proposed and used for this ZVS analysis. Using this method, an auxiliary circuit is proposed to achieve complete ZVS within the whole load range, avoiding a gapped transformer design and increasing the efficiency and power density. A 28 Vdc output voltage prototype, with 10 kW peak output power, has been developed to validate the theoretical analysis and the proposed auxiliary circuit. The maximum efficiency (96.3%) is achieved at the nominal power of 5 kW.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (14) ◽  
pp. 6549
Author(s):  
Hui Liu ◽  
Ming Zeng ◽  
Xiang Niu ◽  
Hongyan Huang ◽  
Daren Yu

The microthruster is the crucial device of the drag-free attitude control system, essential for the space-borne gravitational wave detection mission. The cusped field thruster (also called the High Efficiency Multistage Plasma Thruster) becomes one of the candidate thrusters for the mission due to its low complexity and potential long life over a wide range of thrust. However, the prescribed minimum of thrust and thrust noise are considerable obstacles to downscaling works on cusped field thrusters. This article reviews the development of the low power cusped field thruster at the Harbin Institute of Technology since 2012, including the design of prototypes, experimental investigations and simulation studies. Progress has been made on the downscaling of cusped field thrusters, and a new concept of microwave discharge cusped field thruster has been introduced.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 1756
Author(s):  
Gang Wang ◽  
Qiyu Hu ◽  
Chunyu Xu ◽  
Bin Zhao ◽  
Xiaobao Su

This paper proposes an integrated magnetic structure for a CLLC resonant converter. With the proposed integrated magnetic structure, two resonant inductances and the transformer are integrated into one magnetic core, which improves the power density of the CLLC resonant converter. In the proposed integrated magnetic structure, two resonant inductances are decoupled with the transformer and can be adjusted by the number of turns in each inductance. Furthermore, two resonant inductances are coupled to reduce the number of turns in each inductance. As a result, the conduction loss can be reduced. The trade-off design of the integrated magnetic structure is carried out based on the Pareto optimization procedure. With the Pareto optimization procedure, both high efficiency and high-power density can be achieved. The proposed integrated magnetic structure is validated by theoretical analysis, simulations, and experiments.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rohith Mittapally ◽  
Byungjun Lee ◽  
Linxiao Zhu ◽  
Amin Reihani ◽  
Ju Won Lim ◽  
...  

AbstractThermophotovoltaic approaches that take advantage of near-field evanescent modes are being actively explored due to their potential for high-power density and high-efficiency energy conversion. However, progress towards functional near-field thermophotovoltaic devices has been limited by challenges in creating thermally robust planar emitters and photovoltaic cells designed for near-field thermal radiation. Here, we demonstrate record power densities of ~5 kW/m2 at an efficiency of 6.8%, where the efficiency of the system is defined as the ratio of the electrical power output of the PV cell to the radiative heat transfer from the emitter to the PV cell. This was accomplished by developing novel emitter devices that can sustain temperatures as high as 1270 K and positioning them into the near-field (<100 nm) of custom-fabricated InGaAs-based thin film photovoltaic cells. In addition to demonstrating efficient heat-to-electricity conversion at high power density, we report the performance of thermophotovoltaic devices across a range of emitter temperatures (~800 K–1270 K) and gap sizes (70 nm–7 µm). The methods and insights achieved in this work represent a critical step towards understanding the fundamental principles of harvesting thermal energy in the near-field.


Metals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 1044
Author(s):  
Yaroslav Frolov ◽  
Maxim Nosko ◽  
Andrii Samsonenko ◽  
Oleksandr Bobukh ◽  
Oleg Remez

The most complex issue related to the design of high efficiency composite materials is the behavior of the reinforcing component during the bonding process. This study presents numerical and experimental investigations of the shape change in the reinforcing inlay in an aluminum-steel mesh-aluminum composite during roll-bonding. A flat composite material consisting of two outer strips of an EN AW 1050 alloy and an inlay of expanded C10 steel mesh was obtained via hot roll bonding with nominal rolling reductions of 20%, 30%, 40% and 50% at a temperature of 500 °C. The experimental procedure was carried out using two separate rolling mills with diameters equal to 135 and 200 mm, respectively. A computer simulation of the roll bonding was performed using the finite element software QForm 9.0.10 by Micas Simulations Limited, Oxford, UK. The distortion of the mesh evaluated via the change in angle between its strands was described using computer tomography scanning. The dependence of the absorbed impact energy of the roll bonded composite on the parameters of the deformation zone was found. The results of the numerical simulation of the steel mesh shape change during roll bonding concur with the data from micro-CT scans of the composites. The diameter of rolls applied during the roll bonding, along with rolling reduction and temperature, have an influence on the resulting mechanical properties, i.e., the absorbed bending energy. Generally, the composites with reinforcement exhibit up to 20% higher impact energy in comparison with the non-reinforced composites.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (8) ◽  
pp. 2234
Author(s):  
Hongye Zhang ◽  
Zezhao Wen ◽  
Francesco Grilli ◽  
Konstantinos Gyftakis ◽  
Markus Mueller

Superconductor technology has recently attracted increasing attention in power-generation- and electrical-propulsion-related domains, as it provides a solution to the limited power density seen by the core component, electrical machines. Superconducting machines, characterized by both high power density and high efficiency, can effectively reduce the size and mass compared to conventional machine designs. This opens the way to large-scale purely electrical applications, e.g., all-electrical aircrafts. The alternating current (AC) loss of superconductors caused by time-varying transport currents or magnetic fields (or both) has impaired the efficiency and reliability of superconducting machines, bringing severe challenges to the cryogenic systems, too. Although much research has been conducted in terms of the qualitative and quantitative analysis of AC loss and its reduction methods, AC loss remains a crucial problem for the design of highly efficient superconducting machines, especially for those operating at high speeds for future aviation. Given that a critical review on the research advancement regarding the AC loss of superconductors has not been reported during the last dozen years, especially combined with electrical machines, this paper aims to clarify its research status and provide a useful reference for researchers working on superconducting machines. The adopted superconducting materials, analytical formulae, modelling methods, measurement approaches, as well as reduction techniques for AC loss of low-temperature superconductors (LTSs) and high-temperature superconductors (HTSs) in both low- and high-frequency fields have been systematically analyzed and summarized. Based on the authors’ previous research on the AC loss characteristics of HTS coated conductors (CCs), stacks, and coils at high frequencies, the challenges for the existing AC loss quantification methods have been elucidated, and multiple suggestions with respect to the AC loss reduction in superconducting machines have been put forward. This article systematically reviews the qualitative and quantitative analysis methods of AC loss as well as its reduction techniques in superconductors applied to electrical machines for the first time. It is believed to help deepen the understanding of AC loss and deliver a helpful guideline for the future development of superconducting machines and applied superconductivity.


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