Advances in Engineering Advances in Engineering features breaking research judged by Advances in Engineering advisory team to be of key importance in the Engineering field. Papers are selected from over 10,000 published each week from most peer reviewed journals.
Significance Statement
Combustion of fossil fuels is by far the dominant source of nitrogen oxides (NOX) pollutant emissions. NOX contributes to acid deposition which, in turn, can lead to potential changes occurring in soil and water quality. The subsequent impacts of acid deposition can be significant, including adverse effects on aquatic ecosystems in rivers and lakes and damage to forests and crops. Moreover, soot such as diesel exhaust pollution, accounts for over one quarter of the total hazardous pollution in the air.
Professor Ming Zheng and Dr. Shui Yu from the Clean Combustion Engine Lab at Department of Mechanical, Automotive, and Materials Engineering – University of Windsor in Canada studied the effect of the fuel ratio, the exhaust gas recirculation and the diesel start of injection on the dual-fuel combustion and the emissions from medium to high loads. The Canadian research team has been developing since 2003 clean combustion technologies toward engines that are clean, efficient, cost-effective, and likely to produce real-world benefits.
The authors showed that ethanol-diesel dual fuel method is capable of lowering engine-out emissions significantly. Their method achieved a low nitrogen oxide level of 0.2 g/kW h and a soot level below 0.01g/kW h under high engine loads without the use of any after-treatment devices.
Journal Reference
Journal of Automobile Engineering June 28, 2015.
Shui Yu, Ming Zheng
Department of Mechanical, Automotive and Materials Engineering, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, Canada
Abstract
Ethanol–diesel dual-fuel premixed charge compression ignition combustion was investigated in a diesel engine with a compression ratio of 18.2:1, where the ethanol was delivered via port fuel injection and the diesel was injected through common-rail high-pressure direct injection. The paper presents the test results highlighting the effect of the fuel ratio, the exhaust gas recirculation and the diesel start of injection on the dual-fuel combustion and the emissions from medium to high loads.
The results showed that the usage of ethanol can effectively suppress the nitrogen oxide emissions and the soot emissions with less aggressive exhaust gas recirculation levels than with diesel-only low-temperature combustion. The combustion phasing was responsive to the in-cylinder diesel injection over a wide range of timings. The dual-fuel operation load was increased to an indicated mean effective pressure of 18 bar (nearly the full load of the test engine), with a boost intake pressure of up to 2.5 bar and the ethanol ratio increased to about 0.9. The high-load premixed charge compression ignition was realized through adequate control of the exhaust gas recirculation level, the intake boost pressure, the injection pressure, the injection scheduling and the fuel ratio.
The challenges and the approaches to suppress the nitrogen oxide emissions and the soot emissions simultaneously at a high load were demonstrated. The nitrogen oxide level was constrained to within 0.2 g/kW h and the soot level was simultaneously below 0.01g/kW h at a stable operation load with an indicated mean effective pressure of 16 bar and a moderate pressure rise rate.
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