Numerical investigation on the effects of load conditions and hydrogen-air ratio on the combustion processes of a HSDI engine

Owing to high specific energy and low emissions production, hydrogen is a desirable alternative fuel. The combustion and emission performance can be improved by hydrogen addition injected in-cylinder, intake manifold and aspirated with air. However, engine loads and hydrogen-air ration have a significant effect on the performance, combustion and emission of the diesel-hydrogen (high speed direct injection) HSDI engine. In this paper, the CFD method is used to calculate the combustion process of a diesel-hydrogen dual HSDI engine working at constant speed of 4000 rpm, at different hydrogen added from intake port (hydrogen volume fraction of 0%–10%) and five engine loads (equivalent to 20%, 40%, 60%, 80% and 100% of its maximum output power), respectively. The modelling results showed that the in-cylinder pressure and temperature under low engine load were more affected by hydrogen addition. With increasing hydrogen volume fraction, the indicated expansion work and in-cylinder peak pressure increased, and combustion duration decreased due to faster fuel-air mixing and spray flame speed.     

Modeling and optimization of biodiesel engine performance using kernel-based extreme learning machine and cuckoo search

This study presents the optimization of biodiesel engine performance that can achieve the goal of fewer emissions, low fuel cost and wide engine operating range. A new biodiesel engine modeling and optimization framework based on extreme learning machine (ELM) is proposed. As an accurate model is required for effective optimization result, kernel-based ELM (K-ELM) is used instead of basic ELM because K-ELM can provide better generalization performance, and the randomness of basic ELM does not occur in K-ELM. By using K-ELM, a biodiesel engine model is first created based on experimental data. Logarithmic transformation of dependent variables is used to alleviate the problems of data scarcity and data exponentiality simultaneously. With the K-ELM engine model, cuckoo search (CS) is then employed to determine the optimal biodiesel ratio. A flexible objective function is designed so that various user-defined constraints can be applied. As an illustrative study, the fuel price in Macau is used to perform the optimization. To verify the modeling and optimization framework, the K-ELM model is compared with a least-squares support vector machine (LS-SVM) model, and the CS optimization result is compared with particle swarm optimization and experimental results. The evaluation result shows that K-ELM can achieve comparable performance to LS-SVM, resulting in a reliable prediction result for optimization. It also shows that the optimization results based on CS is effective.     

Microstructure and mechanical properties of Nb4AlC3 MAX phase synthesized by reactive hot pressing

The present study aims at synthesizing the Nb₄AlC₃ MAX phase by reactive hot pressing using Nb:Al:NbC as starting materials. In order to identify the reaction path, interrupted tests at intermediate temperatures were performed as well as differential thermal analyses (DTA) of powders. Coupling between DTA and XRD data and SEM/EDS analyses of the samples allows a better understanding of the reaction mechanisms. Pure and fully dense Nb₄AlC₃ samples were obtained and characterized for the first time by EBSD and SEM to assess, using an original method, grain size and microstructure. For instance, in the present study, an average grain length of 5–7?µm was obtained.Standard mechanical characterizations showed interesting properties: K_Ic≈?6?MPa?m^1/2, E?≈?350?GPa and α?≈?7.10^?6 °C^?1. Oxidation performance of Nb₄AlC₃ was evaluated at 1100?°C under cyclic conditions. A breakaway regime was instantaneously established for this condition, thus demonstrating the impossibility of using such an unprotected material for structural applications at high temperature in air environment.     

Recent advancement and prospective of waste plastics as biodiesel additives: A review

Recently, commodity plastics have been shown to be a promising additive to improve the fuel properties of biodiesel, which offers a promising solution to the plastic pandemic. As many environmental and societal issues arise from plastic pollution, repurposing technologies are paramount in order to meet Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). A potentially cost-effective approach can be achieved by using waste plastics as biodiesel additives – resonating to the expression ‘to kill two birds with one stone’. However, given the novelty of such investigation, current optimization studies show varying results on the ideal plastic-to-biodiesel ratio as well as the reaction parameters. The difficulty in determining the exact optimum values is due to the many variations of biodiesel properties and the complex behaviour of plastic polymers, which are seldom discussed in review papers. Hence, to address the literature gap, this paper offers the necessary fundamentals of biodiesel and plastic dissolution; facilitating future researches to advance the application of plastics as viable biodiesel additives. Accordingly, the topics covered include the fuel and solvent properties of biodiesel related to its' composition, as well as the polymer dissolution phenomena. Finally, as the focal aim of the paper, a synopsis on the recent advancement of plastic-added biodiesel is presented; in particular, those that are related to the blend characteristics, fuel properties, combustion quality, and environmental impact.     

Experimental investigations on the effect of fuel injection parameters on diesel engine fuelled with biodiesel blend in diesel with hydrogen enrichment

Fuel injection pressure and injection timing are two extensive injection parameters that affect engine performance, combustion, and emissions. This study aims to improve the performance, combustion, and emissions characteristics of a diesel engine by using karanja biodiesel with a flow rate of 10 L per minute (lpm) of enriched hydrogen. In addition, the research mainly focused on the use of biodiesel with hydrogen as an alternative to diesel fuel, which is in rapidly declining demand. The experiments were carried out at a constant speed of 1500 rpm on a single-cylinder, four-stroke, direct injection diesel engine. The experiments are carried out with variable fuel injection pressure of 220, 240, and 260 bar, and injection timings of 21, 23, and 25 °CA before top dead center (bTDC). Results show that karanja biodiesel with enriched hydrogen (KB20H10) increases BTE by 4% than diesel fuel at 240 bar injection pressure and 23° CA bTDC injection timing. For blend KB20H10, the emissions of UHC, CO, and smoke opacity are 33%, 16%, and 28.7% lower than for diesel. On the other hand NOx emissions, rises by 10.3%. The optimal injection parameters for blend KB20H10 were found to be 240 bar injection pressure and 23 °CA bTDC injection timing based on the significant improvement in performance, combustion, and reduction in exhaust emissions.     

YZC12Ⅱ型振动压路机的降噪技术浅析

YZC12Ⅱ型振动压路机为双频双幅串联式振动压路机,该机为全液压传动,采用全电液控制技术,具有两挡无级调速、双频双幅振动、三级减振、三级制动、铰接式转向和无级喷雾洒水等功能.投放市场后,用户反应该机机外噪声大,并存在非常刺耳的周期性啸叫声的问题.对压路机的动力系统进行分析,认为柴油机风扇在高速转动过程中,风扇叶片和高速通过发动机机罩的冷却风流所发生的周期性相互作用是产生高频噪声的主要原因.运用阻尼降噪和拍振现象的原理,对发动机机罩进风口的结构形式进行改进,将原平板式网状进风口改成百叶窗式的进风口,并在百叶窗叶片下侧粘贴海绵,同时在机罩内侧封闭部分粘贴吸音海绵.改进后测得机外噪声为95.7 dB(A),降噪效果明显.同时,在发动机罩顶部的左右方向增加两条加强筋,以使发动机机罩的固有频率远离噪声的激振频率,试验证明,经过改进后,发动机高速运转时产生的周期性啸叫声被消除.     

Behaviour of CI engine performance,combustion and exhaust emission with neem biodiesel at varied fuel injection rates

Motorisation and fast depletion of fossil fuel reserves and issues like global warming have led the researchers all over to look for substitute fuels. Biodiesel resulting from vegetable oil is being used around the globe to lessen air pollution and reduce the necessity of diesel fuel. The current study covers the various aspects of N20 neem biodiesel with increased fuel injection pressure. The blends of N20 were tested with increased fuel injection pressure to examine the characteristics such as brake thermal efficiency, fuel consumption, emission and combustion parameters. Experimental results indicated that N20 with 240?bar has a closer performance to diesel, reduced exhaust emission and improved combustion parameters.     

Robust numerical approach to steady-state calibration of mean-value models

A numerically robust approach to steady-state calibration of nonlinear dynamic models is presented. The approach is based on explicit formulation of the constraints on validity of internal model signals by set of inequalities. The constrained optimization with feasible iterates guarantees that the model will never be evaluated with invalid internal signals. This overcomes numerical difficulties often encountered when dealing with highly nonlinear models. Because the approach uses a large number of slack variables, distributed least squares algorithm is proposed. The robustness of this approach is demonstrated on a steady-state calibration of turbocharged diesel engine model starting from grossly inaccurate initial estimates.     

Impact of hydrogen generated by splitting water with nano-silicon and nano-aluminum on diesel engine performance

Efficient utilization of hydrogen generated during the reactions of nano-silicon/water and nano-aluminum/water in internal combustion engine has been investigated in the current work. Engine performance and emission studies of formulated and stabilized nanoemulsion fuels (water in diesel W/D), nano-aluminum in water/diesel (W/DA) and water in nano-silicon/diesel (W/DS) have been compared with those of diesel. Experimental investigations showed reduction in brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) by 21% and 37%; rise in brake thermal efficiency (BTE) by 16% and 14% when engine was fueled with W/DA and W/DS respectively. For nanoemulsion fuels an increase in induced power was also recorded. Brake mean effective pressure, BTE and NOx emission dropped for W/D due to reduced exhaust gas temperatures. Nevertheless due to elevated peak cylinder pressures and exhaust gas temperatures a marginal rise in NOx, CO, HC and radiative heat emissions was observed with W/DA and W/DS.     

Cascaded control of combustion and pollutant emissions in diesel engines

Control of the emissions of diesel engines is an upcoming approach for complying with legislation while limiting the calibration effort. In this paper, a controller for engine-out NO_x and PM is combined with a controller for the center of main combustion and the indicated mean effective pressure. The inner cascade combustion controller effectively reduces unwanted influences on the combustion. These influences are partly coupled to the outer-loop manipulated variables and partly result from disturbances which commonly appear in diesel engines. Robust stability is analyzed and holds in a wide operating range. Performance of the control structure is demonstrated with experiments.