Effect of fuel injection timing of hydrogen rich syngas augmented with methane in direct-injection spark-ignition engine

The product of gasification of solid biomass, also called syngas is believed to be good fuel for internal combustion engines in the move from the carbon based fuel to zero emission fuels. The only problem is its lower calorific value which is placed at one third of that of compressed natural gas (CNG). There are latest efforts to enhance the hydrogen rich syngas by augmenting it with methane so that the calorific value can be improved. This paper presents experimental results of the effect of the start of fuel injection timing (SOI) on the combustion characteristics, performance and emissions of a direct-injection spark-ignition engine fueled with a 20% methane augmented hydrogen rich syngas of molar ratio of 50% H₂ and 50% CO composition. The engine was operated at fully open throttle and the start of fuel injection (SOI) was varied at 90, 120 and 180° before top dead center (BTDC). The experiment was conducted at lean mixture conditions in the low and medium engine speed ranges (1500–2400 RPM). The spark advance was set to the minimum advance for a maximum brake torque in all the test parameters. The methane augmented hydrogen rich syngas was observed to perform well over wide range of operation with SOI = 180°CA BTDC. However, SOI = 120°CA BTDC performed well at lower speeds recording improved performance and emissions. Limitation of operable load was observed for both SOI = 120°CA BTDC and 90°CA BTDC due to an insufficient time for complete injection of fuel at lower relative air–fuel ratio (λ) with higher speeds.     

ANFIS modeling of biodiesels' physical and engine characteristics: A review

 Population increase has resulted in an increase in the worldwide demand for alternative fuels due to depleting resources. There is a periodic increase in concern about the engine performance, pollutant emissions, and their predictions, from an engine using biodiesels. The use of intelligent algorithms in modeling and forecasting alternative fuels characteristics and their performance in engines are critically reviewed in this study. The paper aims at demonstrating with artificial intelligence methodologies the main conclusions of the recent research done for the above topic from 2012 to 2020. This article attempted to demonstrate an exploratory examination of the adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) soft computing technique used for the exact measurement and analysis of engine performance, emissions of exhaust engines when biodiesel is used as an alternative fuel. Additionally, the yield of biodiesel and their different characteristics predicted using ANFIS are also reviewed. Integration of particle swarm optimization (PSO), genetic algorithm (GA), and response surface methodology (RSM), either for comparison or optimization with ANFIS is presented. The summary of all studies is provided in tabular form. For the demonstration purpose, the ANFIS studies predicting different biodiesel and engine characters are provided with illustrative figures. The ANFIS prediction related to biodiesel used engine and biodiesel self-characteristics is found to be excellent. The ANFIS accuracy reported is better than the artificial neural network (ANN) accuracy. A minimum of 0.9 R² value is generally obtained which is around 5% greater than the ANN modeling results reported. However, the ANFIS predictions are much more fitter than the RSM predictions. The integration of ANFIS-PSO and ANFIS-GA provided much more optimized results.     

Influence of hydrogen peroxide emulsification with gasoline on the emissions and performance in an MPFI engine

Spark ignition (SI) engines have been a major contributor from the transportation sector towards the increased emissions to the environment. Modifications to the SI engine like structural modifications, pre, and post-combustion treatments have been investigated in the literature. The use of oxygenated additives to gasoline fuel has been major research interest in curbing the emissions without any significant loss in engine performance. Hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) has not been investigated as an additive in SI engines although its effect is demonstrated for compression ignition (CI) engines. This paper aims to address this gap by ascertaining the influence of H₂O₂ concentration on SI engine emissions and performance. H₂O₂ is varied from 0 to 1.5% and the engine speed varied from 1500 to 3000 rpm by operating at a constant load. A total of 16 trials (with three replicates) is carried out. The output responses are brake thermal efficiency (BTE), brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC), emissions of CO, CO₂, HC, and NOx. Artificial neural networks are adopted to ascertain the relation between the inputs and the output responses. Emulsifying gasoline with 1.5% H₂O₂ resulted in an average reduction of CO and HC emissions by 21.1% and 28.6% respectively with an overall average of 25.3% of reduction in the NOx. The average BTE at all engine speeds increases from 21.6% for G0 to 23.8% for G1.5 and an overall average of 10.5% reduction in BSFC is obtained. The study shows that H₂O₂ can be employed as an emulsifier to gasoline fuel, however, more rigorous studies are required to ascertain its impact, volatility, and storage.     

Experimental investigation on biogas enrichment with hydrogen for improving the combustion in diesel engine operating under dual fuel mode

Biogas valorization as fuel for internal combustion engines is one of the alternative fuels, which could be an interesting way to cope the fossil fuel depletion and the current environmental degradation. In this circumstance, an experimental investigation is achieved on a single cylinder DI diesel engine running under dual fuel mode with a focus on the improvement of biogas/diesel fuel combustion by hydrogen enrichment. In the present investigation, the mixture of biogas, containing 70% CH₄ and 30% CO₂, is blended with the desired amount of H₂ (up to 10, 15 and 20% by volume) by using MTI 200 analytical instrument gas chromatograph, which flow thereafter towards the engine intake manifold and mix with the intake air. Depending on engine load conditions, the volumetric composition of the inducted gaseous fraction is 20–50% biogas, 2–10% H₂ and 45–78% air. Near the end of the compression stroke, a small amount of diesel pilot fuel is injected to initiate the combustion of the gas–air mixture. Firstly, the engine was tested on conventional diesel mode (baseline case) and then under dual fuel mode using the biogas. Consequently, hydrogen has partially enriched the biogas. Combustion characteristics, performance parameters and pollutant emissions were investigated in-depth and compared. The results have shown that biogas enriched with 20% H₂ leads to 20% decrease of methane content in the overall exhaust emissions, associated with an improvement in engine performance. The emission levels of unburned hydrocarbon (UHC) and carbon monoxide (CO) are decreased up to 25% and 30% respectively. When the equivalence ratio is increased, a supplement decrease in UHC and CO emissions is achieved up to 28% and 30% respectively when loading the engine at 60%.     

Effect of exhaust gas recirculation on diesel engine nitrogen oxide reduction operating with jojoba methyl ester

Jojoba methyl ester (JME) has been used as a renewable fuel in numerous studies evaluating its potential use in diesel engines. These studies showed that this fuel is good gas oil substitute but an increase in the nitrogenous oxides emissions was observed at all operating conditions. The aim of this study mainly was to quantify the efficiency of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) when using JME fuel in a fully instrumented, two-cylinder, naturally aspirated, four-stroke direct injection diesel engine. The tests were carried out in three sections. Firstly, the measured performance and exhaust emissions of the diesel engine operating with diesel fuel and JME at various speeds under full load are determined and compared. Secondly, tests were performed at constant speed with two loads to investigate the EGR effect on engine performance and exhaust emissions including nitrogenous oxides (NO_x), carbon monoxide (CO), unburned hydrocarbons (HC) and exhaust gas temperatures. Thirdly, the effect of cooled EGR with high ratio at full load on engine performance and emissions was examined. The results showed that EGR is an effective technique for reducing NO_x emissions with JME fuel especially in light-duty diesel engines. With the application of the EGR method, the CO and HC concentration in the engine-out emissions increased. For all operating conditions, a better trade-off between HC, CO and NO_x emissions can be attained within a limited EGR rate of 5–15% with very little economy penalty.     

Effect of syngas composition on combustion and exhaust emission characteristics in a pilot-ignited dual-fuel engine operated in PREMIER combustion mode

The objective of this study was to investigate the performance and emissions of a pilot-ignited, supercharged, dual-fuel engine powered by different types of syngas at various equivalence ratios. It was found that if certain operating conditions were maintained, conventional engine combustion could be transformed into combustion with two-stage heat release. This mode of combustion has been investigated in previous studies with natural gas, and has been given the name PREmixed Mixture Ignition in the End-gas Region (PREMIER) combustion. PREMIER combustion begins as premixed flame propagation, and then, because of mixture autoignition in the end-gas region, ahead of the propagating flame front, a transition occurs, with a rapid increase in the heat release rate. It was determined that the mass of fuel burned during the second stage affected the rate of maximum pressure rise. As the fuel mass fraction burned during the second stage increased, the rate of maximum pressure rise also increased, with a gradual decrease in the delay between the first increase in the heat release rate following pilot fuel injection and the point when the transition to the second stage occurred. The H₂ and CO₂ content of syngas affected the engine performance and emissions. Increased H₂ content led to higher combustion temperatures and efficiency, lower CO and HC emissions, but higher NOx emissions. Increased CO₂ content influenced performance and emissions only when it reached a certain level. In the most recent studies, the mean combustion temperature, indicated thermal efficiency, and NOx emissions decreased only when the CO₂ content of the syngas increased to 34%. PREMIER combustion did not have a major effect on engine cycle-to-cycle variation. The coefficient of variation of the indicated mean effective pressure (COV_IMEP) was less than 4% for all types of fuel at various equivalence ratios, indicating that the combustion was within the stability range for engine operation.     

Experimental research on a blended hydrogen-fuel engine

An experimental study on the performance of a single cylinder engine fueled with hydrogen/gas fule blends was carried out. The performance of engine with different fuel components under the load characteristics of the engine was analyzed. The experimental results showed that with the increase of hydrogen blending ratio, the combustion speed was accelerated, and the maximum torque and maximum pressure in the cylinder were increased; The maximum torque of blended fuel with 40% CO₂ was 68.3% of that without CO₂; The maximum pressure in cylinder of blended fuel with 40% H₂ was 1.6 times higher than that without hydrogen; When the proportion of hydrogen was more than 30%, the torque decreased; When the mixture was blended with 30% N₂, the engine torque reached the maximum at the hydrogen ratio of 15%; With the increase of hydrogen blending ratio, the emission of CO increased and the emission of HC and NOx decreased; When the hydrogen blending ratio remained unchanged, the CO emission was the largest at medium load, the HC emission was the largest at small load, and the NOx emission was the largest at high load; When the mixture was blended with 15% H₂, with the increase of the proportion of nitrogen, emission of CO decreased, emissions of HC and NOx increased. The research of this paper provided an experimental basis for the design and development of gas fuel engines.     

Utilization of pyrolytic oil and hydrogen enriched syngas from single feedstock (delonix regia) through pyrolysis process and its influence on performance and emission characteristics in CI engine

The main objective of the present investigation is to conduct the performance, combustion and emission analysis of CI engine operated using hydrogen enriched syngas (pyrolytic gas) and biodiesel (pyrolytic oil) as dual fuel mode condition. Both the pyrolytic oil and syngas is obtained from single feedstock delonix regia fruit pod through pyrolysis process and then pyrolytic oil is converted into biodiesel through esterification. Initially biomass is subjected to thermal degradation at various pyrolysis temperature ranges like 350–600 °C. During the pyrolysis process syngas, pyrolytic oil and char are produced. The syngas is directly used in the CI engine and pyrolytic oil is converted into biodiesel and then used in the CI engine. The pyrolytic oil and syngas is subjected to FTIR and GC/TCD analysis respectively. The syngas analysis confirms the presence of various gases like H₂, CH₄, CO₂, CO and C₂H₄ in different proportions. The various proportions of the syngas is mainly depending upon the reactor temperature and moisture content in the biomass. The syngas composition varies with increase in the temperature and at 400 °C, higher amount of hydrogen is present and its composition are H₂ 28.2%, CO is 21.9%, CH₄ is 39.1% and other gases in smaller amounts. The biodiesel of B20 and syngas of 8lpm produced from the same feedstock are considered as test sample fuels in the CI engine under dual fuel mode operation to study the performance and emission characteristics. The study reveals that BTE has slight increase than diesel of 1.5% at maximum load. On the another hand emission like CO, HC and smoke are reduced by 15%,25% and 32% respectively at full load condition, whereas NO_x emission is increased at all loads in the range of 10–15%. Therefore B20+syngas of 8lpm can be used as an alternative fuel in CI engine without any modification and major products from pyrolysis process with waste biomass is fully used as fuel in the CI engine.     

Syngas (H2/CO) in a spark-ignition direct-injection engine. Part 1: Combustion,performance and emissions comparison with CNG

The combustion, performance, and emissions of syngas (H₂/CO) in a four-stroke, direct-injection, spark-ignition engine were experimentally investigated. The engine was operated at various speeds, ranging from 1500 to 2400 rev/min, with the throttle being held in the wide-open position. The start of fuel injection was fixed at 180° before the top dead center, and the ignition advance was set at the maximal brake torque. The air/fuel ratio was varied from the technically possible lowest excess air ratio (λ) to lean operation limits. The results indicated that a wider air/fuel operating ratio is possible with syngas with a very low coefficient of variation. The syngas produced a higher in-cylinder peak pressure and heat-release rate peak and faster combustion than for CNG. However, CNG produced a higher brake thermal efficiency (BTE) and lower brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC). The BTE and BSFC of the syngas were on par to those of CNG at higher speeds. For the syngas, the total hydrocarbon emission was negligible at all load conditions, and the carbon monoxide emission was negligible at higher loads and increased under lower load conditions. However, the emission of nitrogen oxides was higher at higher loads with syngas.     

Biofuels and thermal barrier: A review on compression ignition engine performance,combustion and exhaust gas emission

The performance of an internal combustion engine is affected when renewable biofuels are used instead of fossil fuels in an unmodified engine. Various engine modifications were experimented by the researchers to optimise the biofuels operated engine performance. Thermal barrier coating is one of the techniques used to improve the biofuels operated engine performance and combustion characteristics by reducing the heat loss from the combustion chamber. In this study, engine tests results on performance, combustion and exhaust emission characteristics of the biofuels operated thermal barrier coated engines were collated and reviewed. The results found in the literature were reviewed in three scenarios: (i) uncoated versus coated engine for fossil diesel fuel application, (ii) uncoated versus coated engine for biofuels (and blends) application, and (iii) fossil diesel use on uncoated engine versus biofuel (and blends) use on coated engine. Effects of injection timing, injection pressure and fuel properties on thermal barrier coatings were also discussed. The material type, thickness and properties of the coating materials used by the research community were presented. The effectiveness and durability of the coating layer depends on two key properties: low thermal conductivity and high thermal expansion coefficient. The current study showed that thermal barrier coatings could potentially offset the performance drop due to use of biofuels in the compression ignition engines. Improvements of up to 4.6% in torque, 7.8% in power output, 13.4% in brake specific fuel consumption, 15.4% in brake specific energy consumption and 10.7% in brake thermal efficiency were reported when biofuels or biofuel blends were used in the thermal barrier coated engines as compared to the uncoated engines. In coated engines, peak cylinder pressure and exhaust gas temperature were increased by up to 16.3 bar and 14% respectively as compared to uncoated condition. However, changes in the heat release rates were reported to be between ?27% and +13.8% as compared to uncoated standard engine. Reductions of CO, CO₂, HC and smoke emissions were reported by up to 3.8%, 11.1%, 90.9% and 63% respectively as compared to uncoated engines. Significant decreases in the PM emissions were also reported due to use of thermal barrier coatings in the combustion chamber. In contrast, at high speed and at high load operation, increase in the CO and CO₂ emissions were also reported in coated engines. Coated engines gave higher NO_x emissions by about 4–62.9% as compared to uncoated engines. Combined effects of thermal barrier coatings and optimisation of fuel properties and injection parameters produced further performance and emissions advantages compared to only thermal barrier coated engines. Overall, current review study showed that application of thermal barrier coatings in compression ignition engines could be beneficial when biofuels or biofuel blends are used instead of standard fossil diesel. However, more research is needed combining coatings, types of biofuels and other engine modifications to establish a concrete conclusion on the effectiveness of the thermal barrier when biofuels are used in the compression ignition engine. Reduction of NO_x emissions is another important R & D area.     

Efficiency and pollutant emissions of an SI engine using biogas-hydrogen fuel blends: BIO60, BIO95, H20BIO60 and H20BIO95

Our planet has been experiencing abrupt climate changes in recent years. The major contributor to this phenomenon is, without doubt, emissions of gases derived from petroleum-based fuels, compared to their high consumption, especially diesel and gasoline. In Brazil, the sum of all motorized trips shows that more than half of them (60%) is based on public transport, with buses carrying 94% of all those who use this service. These vehicles, in their vast majority, use the technology of Compression Ignition (CI) engines. On the other hand, studies have shown that the country has a high biofuel production potential from various sources, such as landfills and hydroelectric plants, with an extensive production of biogas and hydrogen, that can be used, for example, in Spark Ignition (SI) engines. Nevertheless, SI engines have lower efficiency than CI engines. Part load operation of SI engines is conventionally achieved by the use of a throttle to control the airflow or air-fuel mixture into the engine. When operating at partial load the throttle causes exergy losses what affecting on decreasing engine efficiency. With the objective of analysing the emission of pollutants and the efficiency of conversion of fuel chemical energy, this work presents an analysis on the use of blends of hydrogen (H₂), biogas (BIO60) and methane (BIO95) using an SI engine. The system was operated in partial load and the addition of H₂ was an attempt to increase efficiency by reducing the pumping work through the throttle, once it was possible increasing the lambda value. The tests were performed at different ignition angles and air/fuel ratio. The value of ignition advance angle has been adjusted to obtain maximum Brake Thermal Efficiency (BTE) of the engine. It was possible to recognize that the addition of H₂ allowed the combustion limits to be extended. On the other hand, reduced values of CO and NO_x emissions could be achieved.     

Comparative performance of coke oven gas,hydrogen and methane in a spark ignition engine

In this study, coke oven gas (COG), a by-product of coke manufacture with a high volumetric percentage of H₂ and CH₄, has been identified as auxiliary support and promising energy source in stationary internal combustion engines. Engine performance (power and thermal efficiency) and emissions (NO_x, CO, CO₂ and unburned hydrocarbons) of COG, pure H₂ and pure CH₄ have been studied on a Volkswagen Polo 1.4 L port-fuel injection spark ignition engine. Experiments have been done at optimal spark advance and wide open throttle, at different speeds (2000–5000 rpm) and various air-fuel ratios (λ) between 1 and 2. The obtained data revealed that COG combines the advantages of pure H₂ and pure CH₄, widening the λ range of operation from 1 to 2, with very good performance and emissions results comparable to pure gases. Furthermore, it should be highlighted that this approach facilitates the recovery of an industrial waste gas.     

Biodiesel fuel in diesel micro-turbine engines: Modelling and experimental evaluation

Many performance and emission tests have been carried out in reciprocating diesel engines that use biodiesel fuel over the past years and very few in gas turbine engines. This work aims at assessing the thermal performance and emissions at full and partial loads of a 30 kW diesel micro-turbine engine fed with diesel, biodiesel and their blends as fuel. A cycle simulation was performed using the Gate Cycle GE Enter software to evaluate the thermal performance of the 30 kW micro-turbine engine. Performance and emission tests were carried out on a 30 kW diesel micro-turbine engine installed in the NEST laboratories of the Federal University of Itajubá, and the performance results were compared with those of the simulation. There was a good agreement between the simulations and the experimental results from the full load down to about 50% of the load for diesel, biodiesel and their blends. The biodiesel and its blends used as fuel in micro-turbines led to no significant changes in the engine performance and behaviour compared to diesel fuel. The exhaust emissions were evaluated for pure biodiesel and its blends and conventional diesel. The results revealed that the use of biodiesel resulted in a slightly higher CO, lower NO_x and no SO₂ emissions.     

Hydrogen supplemented natural gas effect on a DI diesel engine operating under dual fuel mode with a biodiesel pilot fuel

In order to slow down the continuing environmental deterioration, regulations for pollutant emissions limitations are increasingly rigorous. The development of new alternative fuels for internal combustion engines is a very interesting solution not only to overcome the pollution problem but also because of the petroleum shortage. In this context, the present work investigates the improvement of a DI diesel engine operating at constant speed (1500 rpm) and under dual fuel mode with eucalyptus biodiesel and natural gas (NG) enriched by various H₂ quantities (15, 25 and 30 by v%). The eucalyptus biodiesel quantity injected into the engine cylinder is kept constant, to supply around 10% of the engine nominal power, for all examined engine loads. The engine load is further increased using only the gaseous fuel (NG+H₂), which is introduced with the intake air. The effect of H₂/NG blending ratio on the combustion parameters, performance and pollutant emissions of the engine is investigated and compared with those of pure NG case. An important benefit in terms of brake specific fuel consumption, reaching a decrease of 4–10% with the 25% H₂ blend compared to the pure NG case, is achieved. Concerning the pollutant emissions, NG enrichment with H₂ is an efficient solution to enhance the combustion process and hence reduce carbon monoxide, unburned hydrocarbon and soot emissions at high loads where they are important for pure NG. However for the nitrogen oxide emissions, NG blending with H₂ is attractive only at low and medium loads where their levels are lower than pure NG.     

Performance and emission analysis of cottonseed oil methyl ester in a diesel engine

In this study, performance and emissions of cottonseed oil methyl ester in a diesel engine was experimentally investigated. For the study, cottonseed oil methyl ester (CSOME) was added to diesel fuel, numbered D2, by volume of 5%(B5), 20%(B20), 50%(B50) and 75%(B75) as well as pure CSOME (B100). Fuels were tested in a single cylinder, direct injection, air cooled diesel engine. The effects of CSOME-diesel blends on engine performance and exhaust emissions were examined at various engine speeds and full loaded engine. The effect of B5, B20, B50, B75, B100 and D2 on the engine power, engine torque, bsfc's and exhaust gasses temperature were clarified by the performance tests. The influences of blends on CO, NO_x, SO₂ and smoke opacity were investigated by emission tests. The experimental results showed that the use of the lower blends (B5) slightly increases the engine torque at medium and higher speeds in compression ignition engines. However, there were no significant differences in performance values of B5, B20 and diesel fuel. Also with the increase of the biodiesel in blends, the exhaust emissions were reduced. The experimental results showed that the lower contents of CSOME in the blends can partially be substituted for the diesel fuel without any modifications in diesel engines.     

Effect of H2 addition on combustion and exhaust emissions in a heavy-duty diesel engine with EGR

The effect of the addition of hydrogen (H₂) on the combustion process and nitric oxide (NO) formation in a H₂-diesel dual fuel engine was numerically investigated. The model developed using AVL FIRE as a platform was validated against the cylinder pressure and heat release rate measured with the addition of up to 6% (vol.) H₂ into the intake mixture of a heavy-duty diesel engine with exhaust gas recirculation (EGR). The validated model was applied to further explore the effect of the addition of 6%–18% (vol.) H₂ on the combustion process and formation of NO in H₂-diesel dual fuel engines. When the engine was at N = 1200 rpm and 70% load, the simulation results showed that the addition of H₂ prolonged ignition delay, enhanced premixed combustion, and promoted diffusion combustion of the diesel fuel. The maximum peak cylinder pressure was observed with addition of 12% (vol.) H₂. In comparison, the maximum peak heat release rate was observed with the addition of 16% (vol.) H₂. The addition of H₂ was a crucial factor dominating the increased NO emissions. Meanwhile, the addition of H₂ reduced soot emissions substantially, which may be due to the reduced diesel fuel burned each cycle. Furthermore, proper combination of adding H₂ with EGR can improve combustion performance and reduce NO emissions.     

Effects of preheating vegetable oils on performance and emission characteristics of two diesel engines

Performance and emission characteristics of vegetable oils at elevated temperatures are studied. Fuels are run in two four-cycle, direct injection compression ignited engines having different number of cylinders, compression ratios, rated power and cooling systems but relatively close engine speed. Brake thermal efficiency, exhaust gas temperature, and CO, O₂, Unburned HC and NO emissions are determined as a function of load at ambient and preheat conditions for peanut, sunflower and canola oils. Overall, effects of preheat, engine type and type of vegetable oils on engine performance and exhaust gas emissions are discussed.     

The effect of clove oil and diesel fuel blends on the engine performance and exhaust emissions of a compression-ignition engine

Diesel engines provide the major power source for transportation in the world and contribute to the prosperity of the worldwide economy. However, recent concerns over the environment, increasing fuel prices and the scarcity of fuel supplies have promoted considerable interest in searching for alternatives to petroleum based fuels. Based on this background, the main purpose of this investigation is to evaluate clove stem oil (CSO) as an alternative fuel for diesel engines. To this end, an experimental investigation was performed on a four-stroke, four-cylinder water-cooled direct injection diesel engine to study the performance and emissions of an engine operated using the CSO–diesel blended fuels. The effects of the CSO–diesel blended fuels on the engine brake thermal efficiency, brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC), specific energy consumption (SEC), exhaust gas temperatures and exhaust emissions were investigated. The experimental results reveal that the engine brake thermal efficiency and BSFC of the CSO–diesel blended fuels were higher than the pure diesel fuel while at the same time they exhibited a lower SEC than the latter over the entire engine load range. The variations in exhaust gas temperatures between the tested fuels were significant only at medium speed operating conditions. Furthermore, the HC emissions were lower for the CSO–diesel blended fuels than the pure diesel fuel whereas the NO_x emissions were increased remarkably when the engine was fuelled with the 50% CSO–diesel blended fuel.     

Performance and emission analysis of compression ignition engine using biodiesels from Acid oil,Mahua oil,and Castor oil

Research on and use of biodiesels for engines is growing continuously in the present era. Compression ignition (CI) engine performance for biodiesels of blends B20 from Acid oil, Mahua oil, and Castor oil is experimentally investigated. The engine performance analysis in the form of brake‐specific fuel consumption, brake‐specific energy consumption, brake thermal efficiency (BTE), exhaust gas temperature (EGT), and air fuel ratio are compared with diesel as base fuel. Emission characteristics like CO, CO₂, NOx, and opacity are comparatively studied in detail for the considered biodiesels. The entire study is compared with the performance of engine when pure diesel is chosen as fuel. From the complete analysis it was observed that the BTE was higher for Acid oil and Mahua oil among the biodiesels used. And regarding CO emissions, Mahua oil showed lower effect than other biodiesels. Upto 6% increase in EGT of Mahua oil was obtained at no load and for other loads the percent reduced. For all the biodiesels the % enhancement in Co, CO₂, and NOx was more than 60% at highest load compared with diesel.     

Exergy efficiency applied for the performance optimization of a direct injection compression ignition (CI) engine using biofuels

The need to decrease the consumption of materials and energy and to promote the use of renewable resources, such as biofuels, stress the importance of evaluating the performance of engines based on the second law of thermodynamics. This paper suggests the use of exergy analysis (as an environmental assessment tool to account wastes and determine the exergy efficiency) combined with gas emissions analysis to optimize the performance of a compression ignition (CI) engine using biofuels such as cottonseed and palm oils, pure or blended with diesel for different engine loads. The results show that the combination of exergy and gas emissions analyses is a very effective tool for evaluating the optimal loads that can be supplied by CI engines. Taking into account technical constraints of engines, a tradeoff zone of engine loads (60% and 70% of the maximum load) was established between the gas emissions (NO and CO₂) and the exergy efficiency for optimal performance of the CI engine.