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At least 55 records · Page 3

Investigation of a tripropylene-glycol monomethyl ether and diesel blend for soot-free combustion in an optical direct-injection diesel engine

Natural luminosity and chemiluminescence imaging diagnostics were employed to investigate if a 50/50 blend by volume of tripropylene-glycol monomethyl ether (TPGME) and ultra-low sulfur #2 diesel certification fuel (CF) could enable leaner-lifted flame combustion (LLFC), a non-sooting mode of mixing-controlled combustion associated with equivalence ratios below approximately 2. The experiments were performed in a singlecylinder heavy-duty optical compression-ignition engine at three injection pressures and three dilution levels. Results indicate that TPGME addition effectively eliminated engine-out smoke emissions by curtailing soot production and/or increasing soot oxidation during and after the end of fuel injection. TPGME greatly reduced soot luminosity when compared with neat CF, but did not enable LLFC because the equivalence ratios at the lift-off length, $\phi$(H), never reached the non-sooting limit. Nevertheless, this study showed that TPGME addition has the potential to enable LLFC under different experimental conditions that would further decrease $\phi$(H) to ~ 2 and below. Concerning other engine-out emissions, injection pressure influenced the effects of TPGME addition on NO x emissions. Finally, HC and CO emissions were higher compared to baseline fuel likely due to the lower net heat of combustion of TPGME and the need to limit fuel-injection duration for valid optical measurements.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗

Verification of diesel spray ignition phenomenon in dual-fuel diesel-piloted premixed natural gas engine

Dual-fuel (DF) engines, in which premixed natural gas and air in an open-type combustion chamber is ignited by diesel-fuel pilot sprays, have been more popular for marine use than pre-chamber spark ignition (PCSI) engines because of their superior durability. However, control of ignition and combustion in DF engines is more difficult than in PCSI engines. In this context, here we focus on the ignition stability of n-heptane pilot-fuel jets injected into a compressed premixed charge of natural gas and air at low-load conditions. To aid understanding of the experimental data, chemical-kinetics simulations were carried out in a simplified engine-environment that provided insight into the chemical effects of methane (CH4) on pilot-fuel ignition. The simulations reveal that CH4 has an effect on both stages of n-heptane autoignition: the small, first-stage, cool-flame-type, low-temperature ignition (LTI) and the larger, second-stage, high-temperature ignition (HTI). As the ratio of pilot-fuel to CH4 entrained into the spray decreases, the initial oxidization of CH4 consumes the OH radicals produced by pilot-fuel decomposition during LTI, thereby inhibiting its progression to HTI. Using imaging diagnostics, the spatial and temporal progression of LTI and HTI in DF combustion are measured in a heavy-duty optical engine, and the imaging data are analyzed to understand the cause of severe fluctuations in ignition timing and combustion completeness at low-load conditions. Images of cool-flame and hydroxyl radical (OH*) chemiluminescence serve as indicators of LTI and HTI, respectively. The cycle-to-cycle and spatial variation in ignition extracted from the imaging data are used as key metrics of comparison. The imaging data indicate that the local concentration of the pilot-fuel and the richness of the surrounding natural-gas air mixture are important for LTI and HTI, but in different ways. In particular, higher injection pressures and shorter injection durations increase the mixing rate, leading to lower concentrations of pilot-fuel more quickly, which can inhibit HTI even as LTI remains relatively robust. Decreasing the injection pressure from 80 MPa to 40 MPa and increasing the injection duration from 500 µs to 760 µs maintained constant pilot-fuel mass, while promoting robust transition from LTI to HTI by effectively slowing the mixing rate. This allows enough residence time for the OH radicals, produced by the two-stage ignition chemistry of the pilot-fuel, to accelerate the transition from LTI to HTI before being consumed by CH4 oxidation. Thus from a practical perspective, for a premixed natural gas fuel–air equivalence-ratio, it is possible to improve the “stability” of the combustion process by solely manipulating the pilot-fuel injection parameters while maintaining constant mass of injected pilot-fuel. This allows for tailoring mixing trajectories to offset changes in fuel ignition chemistry, so as to promote a robust transition from LTI to HTI by changing the balance between the local concentration of the pilot-fuel and richness of the premixed natural gas and air. This could prove to be a valuable tool for combustion design to improve fuel efficiency or reduce noise or perhaps even reduce heat-transfer losses by locating early combustion away from in-cylinder walls.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Diesel Particulate Filter Durability Performance Comparison Using Metals Doped B20 vs. Conventional Diesel Part I: Accelerated Ash Loading and DPF Performance Evaluation

The project objective was to generate experimental data to evaluate the impact of metals doped B20 on DPF ash loading and performance compared to that of conventional petrodiesel. Accelerated ash loading was conducted on two DPFs - one exposed to regular diesel fuel and the other to B20 containing metal dopants equivalent to 4 ppm B100 total metals (currently total metals are limited to 10 ppm in ASTM D6751, the standard for B100). Periodic performance evaluations were conducted on the DPFs at 10 g/L ash loading intervals. After the evaluations at 30 g/L, the DPF was cleaned with a commercial DPF cleaning machine and another round of DPF evaluations were conducted. A comparison of the effect of ash loading with the two fuels and DPF cleaning is presented. The metals doped B20 fuel resulted in ash that was similar to that deposited when exposed to ULSD (lube oil ash) and exhibited similar ash cleaning removal efficiency. Metals doped B20 resulted in faster ash accumulation within the DPF, as expected, but did not appear to have a negative effect on DPF pressure drop or regeneration rates (up to 30 g/L of ash) or exhibit deleterious physical effects on the DPF substrate.

ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS,BIOMASS FUELS↗

Mapping of exhaust gas recirculation and combustion-residual backflow in the intake ports of a heavy-duty diesel engine using a multiplexed multi-species absorption spectroscopy sensor [Mapping of EGR and combustion residual backflow in the intake ports of a heavy duty diesel engine using a multiplexed multi-species absorption spectroscopy sensor]

Here, the combustion-residual backflow into the intake ports of a commercial diesel engine (Cummins ISX series) was spatiotemporally mapped using a multiplexed multi-species absorption spectroscopy sensor system; the resulting cycle- and cylinder-resolved measurements are applicable for assessing cylinder charge uniformity, control strategies, and computational fluid dynamics tools. On-engine measurements were made using four compact (3/8 in Outside Diameter) stainless steel probes which enabled simultaneous multi-point measurements, required minimal engine hardware modification, and featured a novel tip design for measurement of gas flows parallel to the probe axis. Three sensor probes were used to perform simultaneous backflow measurements in intake runners corresponding to three of the six engine cylinders, and a fourth probe was installed in the intake manifold plenum for tracking dynamics introduced by an external exhaust gas recirculation mixer. Near-crank-angle resolved measurements (5 kHz, that is, 1.2 crank angle resolution at 1000 RPM) were performed during steady-state engine operation at various levels of external exhaust gas recirculation to measure the gas properties and penetration distance of the backflow into the intake runners on a cylinder- and cycle-basis. Validation of computational fluid dynamics model results is also presented to demonstrate the utility of such measurements in advancing engine research.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗