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At least 1,351 records · Page 75
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

Piston geometry and stroke optimization for high efficiency propane spark ignition engines

Propane has unique properties and offers interesting characteristics for high-efficiency spark ignition engines. Its high volatility reduces or completely eliminates fuel-wall wetting and facilitates fuel air mixing. Furthermore, propane has a research octane number of 112 and a high octane sensitivity of 15. Finally, its laminar flame speed is on the same order as that of conventional gasoline, and it exhibits high dilution tolerance. Modern spark ignition internal combustion engines rely on fast combustion rates and high dilution to achieve high brake thermal efficiencies. To accomplish this, high stroke-to-bore ratios and high geometric compression ratios have been used in new engine designs. Therefore, propane’s relatively high laminar flame speeds, high knock resistance, and dilution tolerance make it an excellent candidate fuel for modern spark ignition engines. The objective of this work is to co-optimize the piston geometry and the engine stroke to maximize the efficiency of a spark-ignition engine fueled with propane. 3D computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations employing the extended coherent flamelet model were used to study the parametric effects of piston shape and stroke length. A piston geometry based on high performing pistons was parameterized using four controlling parameters. The piston geometry and engine stroke design space was explored using deterministic and quasi-random sampling techniques. In conclusion, a Gaussian process regression model was built using the simulation data to explain the results observed.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Gasoline fuels properties for multi-mode operation – Observations in a GDI and the CFR engine

The combustion behavior of five full boiling range RON98 gasoline blends was evaluated for multi-mode operation in a GDI and the CFR octane rating engine. The GDI engine tests were conducted with stoichiometric air-fuel ratio in spark-ignition (SI), and with air-diluted homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) mode. In the CFR engine, the knocking combustion was analyzed under standard RON testing conditions at both peak knocking lambda and stoichiometric air-fuel ratios, whereas compression ignited operation was characterized by utilizing the HCCI number test protocol. Disparate knock limited SI and HCCI combustion behavior was observed for the test fuels, despite four of the fuels having the same RON and octane sensitivity. It was found that knock-limited combustion phasing in the GDI engine did not align well with the RON. However, a detailed comparison of knock-limited SI operation in the GDI and CFR engine revealed that a more appropriate effective RON based on a common knock intensity metric (MAPO) and stoichiometric air-fuel ratio resulted in comparable knock characterization between the two engine platforms. Furthermore, the critical intake air temperature and the critical compression ratio were proposed to characterize knock-limited SI operation, while the minimum intake air heating and compression ratio were used to define a fuel's autoignition propensity for compression ignition operation in the GDI and CFR engine, respectively. Finally, each fuel's characteristic compression ratio needed to obtain knock-limited SI (KLSI) and HCCI operation was used to calculate an effective multi-mode octane number (MM-ON) based on the primary reference fuel blends.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Caution on Using Tetrahydrofuran for Processing Crystalline Silica Samples From Engineered Stone for XRD Analysis

Abstract We conducted laboratory experiments to investigate a suspected effect of tetrahydrofuran (THF) on quantifying crystalline silica in samples collected from working with engineered stone when THF is used to process samples prior to the X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. Two groups of samples from grinding either engineered stone or granite were simultaneously taken from a laboratory testing system, with one group of samples using THF for processing and another group using muffle furnace for ashing. For each stone type, we also tested four levels of respirable dust loading on the samples by varying the grinding time from 1 to 8 min. Statistical analysis of the experimental results on crystalline silica contents of the two groups of samples showed that the difference between the two methods was not significant (P ≥ 0.05) for the granite at all four levels of respirable dust loading and for the engineered stone at the two levels of respirable dust loading greater than 0.5 mg. However, the crystalline silica content from using THF processing was significantly lower (P = 0.001) than that from using muffle furnace ashing for engineered stone when the respirable dust loading levels were less than 0.5 mg. For the engineered stone dust samples with grinding times of 1 and 2 min, the average respirable dust loading was about 0.19 and 0.34 mg, respectively; while the crystalline silica content from using THF processing was 30.9 and 21.5% lower than that from using muffle furnace ashing, respectively. Since most full-shift samples from field assessments in this industry are expected to have respirable dust loading less than 0.5 mg, muffle furnace or radio frequency plasma ashing should be specified as the preferred sample processing method instead of the THF processing method for quantification of crystalline silica when engineered stone is expected to present to avoid artificially reduced silica content values, which are likely caused by the reactions between THF and the resins in engineered stone.

Public, Environmental & Occupational Health↗
DOE OSTI2026

Dynamics and observational signatures of core-collapse supernovae with central engines: hydrodynamics simulations with Monte Carlo post-processing

A long-lived central engine embedded in expanding supernova ejecta can alter the dynamics and observational signatures of the event, producing an unusually luminous, energetic, and/or rapidly evolving transient. We use 2D hydrodynamics simulations to study the effect of a central energy source, varying the amount, rate, and isotropy of the energy deposition. We post-process the results with a time-dependent Monte Carlo radiation transport code to extract observational signatures. The engine excavates a bubble at the centre of the ejecta, which becomes Rayleigh–Taylor unstable. Sufficiently powerful engines are able to break through the edge of the bubble and accelerate, shred, and compositionally mix the entire ejecta. The breakout of the engine-driven wind occurs at distinct rupture points, and the outflowing high-velocity gas may eventually give rise to radio emission. The dynamical impact of the engine leads to faster rising optical light curves, with photon escape facilitated by the faster expansion of the ejecta and the opening of low-density channels. For models with strong engines, the spectra are initially hot and featureless, but later evolve to resemble those of broad-line Ic supernovae. Under certain conditions, line emission from ionized, low-velocity material near the centre of the ejecta may be able to escape and produce narrow emission similar to that seen in interacting supernovae. We discuss how variability in the engine energy reservoir and injection rate could give rise to a heterogeneous set of events spanning multiple observational classes, including the fast blue optical transients, broad-line Ic supernovae, and superluminous supernovae.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Numerical Prediction of Cyclic Variability in a Spark Ignition Engine Using a Parallel Large Eddy Simulation Approach

Cycle-to-cycle variability (CCV) is detrimental to IC engine operation and can lead to partial burn, misfire, and knock. Predicting CCV numerically is extremely challenging due to two key reasons. First, high-fidelity methods such as large eddy simulation (LES) are required to accurately resolve the in-cylinder turbulent flow field both spatially and temporally. Second, CCV is experienced over long timescales and hence the simulations need to be performed for hundreds of consecutive cycles. Ameen et al. (2017, "Parallel Methodology to Capture Cyclic Variability in Motored Engines,"Int. J. Engine Res., 18(4), pp. 366-377.) developed a parallel perturbation model (PPM) approach to dissociate this long time-scale problem into several shorter time-scale problems. This strategy was demonstrated for motored engine and it was shown that the mean and variance of the in-cylinder flow field was captured reasonably well by this approach. In the present study, this PPM approach is extended to simulate the CCV in a fired port-fuel injected (PFI) spark ignition (SI) engine. The predictions from this approach are also shown to be similar to the consecutive LES cycles. It is shown that the parallel approach is able to predict the coefficient of variation (COV) of the in-cylinder pressure and burn raterelated parameters with sufficient accuracy, and is also able to predict the qualitative trends in CCV with changing operating conditions. It is shown that this new approach is able to give accurate predictions of the CCV in fired engines in less than one-tenth of the time required for the conventional approach of simulating consecutive engine cycles.

Ameen, Muhsin M.↗
DOE OSTI2017

Genome Stability in Engineered Strains of the Extremely Thermophilic Lignocellulose-Degrading Bacterium Caldicellulosiruptor bescii

Caldicellulosiruptor bescii is the most thermophilic cellulose degrader known and is of great interest because of its ability to degrade nonpretreated plant biomass. For biotechnological applications, an efficient genetic system is required to engineer it to convert plant biomass into desired products. To date, two different genetically tractable lineages of C. bescii strains have been generated. The first (JWCB005) is based on a random deletion within the pyrimidine biosynthesis genes pyrFA , and the second (MACB1018) is based on the targeted deletion of pyrE , making use of a kanamycin resistance marker. Importantly, an active insertion element, IS Cbe4 , was discovered in C. bescii when it disrupted the gene for lactate dehydrogenase ( ldh ) in strain JWCB018, constructed in the JWCB005 background. Additional instances of IS Cbe4 movement in other strains of this lineage are presented herein. These observations raise concerns about the genetic stability of such strains and their use as metabolic engineering platforms. In order to investigate genome stability in engineered strains of C. bescii from the two lineages, genome sequencing and Southern blot analyses were performed. The evidence presented shows a dramatic increase in the number of single nucleotide polymorphisms, insertions/deletions, and IS Cbe4 elements within the genome of JWCB005, leading to massive genome rearrangements in its daughter strain, JWCB018. Such dramatic effects were not evident in the newer MACB1018 lineage, indicating that JWCB005 and its daughter strains are not suitable for metabolic engineering purposes in C. bescii . Furthermore, a facile approach for assessing genomic stability in C. bescii has been established. Caldicellulosiruptor bescii is a cellulolytic extremely thermophilic bacterium of great interest for metabolic engineering efforts geared toward lignocellulosic biofuel and bio-based chemical production. Genetic technology in C. bescii has led to the development of two uracil auxotrophic genetic background strains for metabolic engineering. We show that strains derived from the genetic background containing a random deletion in uracil biosynthesis genes ( pyrFA ) have a dramatic increase in the number of single nucleotide polymorphisms, insertions/deletions, and IS Cbe4 insertion elements in their genomes compared to the wild type. At least one daughter strain of this lineage also contains large-scale genome rearrangements that are flanked by these IS Cbe4 elements. Finally, in contrast, strains developed from the second background strain developed using a targeted deletion strategy of the uracil biosynthetic gene pyrE have a stable genome structure, making them preferable for future metabolic engineering studies.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2026

Engineering Controls Database

Cyber-Informed Engineering (CIE) addresses the reality that cyber attacks on engineered systems can have consequences far beyond data loss or disruption of digital networks. When control systems are compromised, safety, reliability, and performance of the physical process itself may be threatened. This database is meant to establish clear examples and guidance for defining and applying engineered controls in CIE. It explains what engineered controls are, how they differ from information security measures, and how they are integrated into system design. The goal is to ensure that resilience is engineered into systems from the outset. Unlike cybersecurity protections that defend the digital layer, engineered controls act directly at the physical and algorithmic levels to guarantee that unacceptable consequences are prevented or limited. CIE keeps the consequences of a cyber attack from impacting the safety, reliability, and performance of engineered systems.

Source record↗
DOE OSTI2021

NRIC Digital Engineering Ecosystem

The NRIC Digital Engineering Ecosystem is a software suite designed to eliminate procedural failures in the engineering lifecycle of complex projects. It focuses on improving the flow of scheduling data, safety information, engineering requirements, and CAD files among stakeholders of complex engineering projects. The project comprises software adapters that move engineering data from disparate software tools in and out of a central database. The ecosystem is designed to efficiently incorporate data sources from many different engineering toolsets, making it software agnostic, and adaptable to many different engineering applications.

Harris, BrennanK↗
DOE OSTI2018

Advanced combustion free-piston engines: A comprehensive review

A reciprocating engine without a crank-slider mechanism is called a free-piston engine. If the piston is directly connected to a linear alternator, it is called a free-piston linear alternator. Free-piston engines and free-piston linear alternators have the potential to offer solutions for future hybrid electric vehicles and stationary power generation, by enabling direct conversion of mechanical energy to electricity. They benefit from reduced friction losses compared to conventional engines and can have variable compression ratio, which enables combustion control and optimization. Their widespread application has been limited by the necessity for high-speed control strategies. However, their operating characteristics can provide high efficiency, especially when used with low temperature combustion strategies. Low temperature combustion combines the high thermal efficiency of diesel engines, with the low soot emissions of spark-ignition engines, and low NO x emissions because of low burned gas temperatures. This article provides a comprehensive review of free-piston engine technology, with a focus on advanced combustion processes and their potential for use in future powertrain systems.

Zhou, Yingcong↗
DOE OSTI2023

Additive-Mixing Fuel Injection (AMFI): A device for robust control and improved performance of high-efficiency LTGC engines

Low-temperature gasoline combustion (LTGC) engines can provide high efficiencies with very low NOx and particulate emissions. Despite these major advantages, methods for controlling LTGC combustion timing, achieving robust autoignition, and good low-load performance have challenged the development of practical LTGC engines. A key reason is that the ideal reactivity of the fuel varies with operating conditions, with low-reactivity fuels working well at high loads and higher-reactivity fuels working better at low loads. This article introduces a new technique called Additive Mixing Fuel Injection (AMFI) that adjusts the reactivity of the gasoline to obtain good performance over the operating map. Moreover, AMFI can provide robust combustion-timing control because it precisely meters very small amounts (0.01–0.6 mm 3 ) of an ignition-enhancing additive into the fuel each engine cycle. The additive used was 2-ethylhexyl nitrate (EHN), a common, inexpensive diesel-fuel ignition improver, but other additives could be used. Because additive amounts are so small, a 2-gal reservoir would be sufficient for medium-duty applications with refilling only at service intervals of about 8000 mi. The AMFI system has been installed on a single-cylinder LTGC research engine and demonstrated to provide robust combustion-timing control over wide ranges of combustion phasing, fueling rate, intake boost, engine speed, and intake temperature. AMFI also increases the fuel’s reactivity sufficiently to greatly reduce or eliminate the need for charge heating, simplifying engine design and significantly increasing thermal efficiency and the maximum load at low-boost conditions. The nitrogen in the EHN produced a modest increase in NOx, but it was mitigated by lower intake temperatures, and NOx emissions remained very low. Finally, the additive increases the sensitivity of autoignition reactions to variations in the local fuel/air mixture within the charge. This allows the use of controlled fuel stratification for improved LTGC-engine performance, and its potential to improve low-load operation was demonstrated.

Dec, John E.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Modeling the impact of the fuel injection strategy on the combustion and performance characteristics of a heavy-duty GCI engine

Gasoline compression ignition (GCI) is a promising strategy to achieve high thermal efficiency and low emissions with limited modifications to the conventional diesel engine hardware. It is a partially premixed concept, which derives its superiority from higher volatility and longer ignition delay of gasoline-like fuels combined with higher compression ratio typical of diesel engines. Here, the present study investigates the combustion process in a GCI engine operating with different injection strategies using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Simulations are carried out on a single cylinder of a multi cylinder heavy-duty compression ignition engine, which operates at a compression ratio of 17:1 and an engine speed of 1038 rev/min. Two different injection strategies viz., late injection (LI), and early pilot injection (EP) are investigated to understand their impact on combustion and performance of the engine. Renormalized group (RNG) k-ε model is used to describe in-cylinder turbulence and KH RT model is used to simulate the fuel spray breakup. The developed CFD methodology is validated against relevant experimental data under a wide range of operating conditions for each injection strategy. The developed CFD methodology was found to capture the engine combustion behavior quite well. Based on the validated CFD model, the differences in the progress of combustion event for the two injection strategies is highlighted. It was found that a larger pilot fuel mass fraction results in a steeper rise in the initial heat release rate which in turn influences the transition to mixing controlled combustion. In line with the experimental data, the study showed that the late pilot injection strategy with three injection pulses, results in higher performance compared to the other conditions.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2011

NTRCI Legacy Engine Research and Development Project Final Technical Report

The Legacy engine is a completely new design, transitional diesel engine, replacing the reciprocating engine with a rotary engine. The Legacy engine offers significant advances over conventional internal combustion engines in 1) power to weight ratio; 2) multiple fuel acceptance; 3) fuel economy; and 4) environmental compliance. These advances are achieved through a combination of innovative design geometry, rotary motion, aspiration simplicity, and manufacturing/part simplicity. The key technical challenge to the Legacy engine's commercialization, and the focus of this project, was the development of a viable roton tip seal. The PST concept for the roton tip seal was developed into a manufacturable design. The design was evaluated using a custom designed and fabricated seal test fixture and further refined. This design was incorporated into the GEN2.5A prototype and tested for achievable compression pressure. The Decision Point at the end of Phase 1 of the project (described below) was to further optimize the existing tip seal design. Enhancements to the tip seal design were incorporated into the GEN2.5B prototype and tested and evaluated using the iterative research strategy described below. Compression pressures adequate for compression ignition of diesel fuel were achieved, although not consistently in all combustion volumes. The variation in compression pressures was characterized versus design features. As the roton tip seal performance was improved, results pointed toward inadequate performance of the housing side seals. Enhancement of the housing side seal system was accomplished using a custom designed side seal test fixture. The design enhancements developed with the test fixture were also incorporated into the GEN2.5B prototype and tested and evaluated using the iterative research strategy described below. Finally, to simplify the requirements for the roton tip seals and to enhance the introduction and combustion of fuel, a flush-mount fuel injector was designed, manufactured and demonstrated in the GEN2.5B prototype.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2011

E85 Optimized Engine

A 5.0L V8 twin-turbocharged direct injection engine was designed, built, and tested for the purpose of assessing the fuel economy and performance in the F-Series pickup of the Dual Fuel engine concept and of an E85 optimized FFV engine. Additionally, production 3.5L gasoline turbocharged direct injection (GTDI) EcoBoost engines were converted to Dual Fuel capability and used to evaluate the cold start emissions and fuel system robustness of the Dual Fuel engine concept. Project objectives were: to develop a roadmap to demonstrate a minimized fuel economy penalty for an F-Series FFV truck with a highly boosted, high compression ratio spark ignition engine optimized to run with ethanol fuel blends up to E85; to reduce FTP 75 energy consumption by 15% - 20% compared to an equally powered vehicle with a current production gasoline engine; and to meet ULEV emissions, with a stretch target of ULEV II / Tier II Bin 4. All project objectives were met or exceeded.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2011

The Use of Exhaust Gas Recirculation to Optimize Fuel Economy and Minimize Emission in Engines Operating on E85 Fuel

This report summarizes activities conducted for the project “The Use of Exhaust Gas Recirculation to Optimized Fuel Economy and Minimize Emissions in Engines Operating on E85 Fuel” under COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT NUMBER DE-FC26-07NT43271, which are as outlined in the STATEMENT OF PROJECT OBJECTIVES (SOPO) dated March 2007 and in the supplemental SOPO dated October 2010. The project objective was to develop and demonstrate an internal combustion engine that is optimized for E85 (85% ethanol and 15% gasoline) fuel operation to achieve substantially improved fuel economy while operating with E85 fuel and that is also production viable in the near- to medium-term. The key engine technology selected for research and development was turbocharging, which is known to improve fuel economy thru downsizing and is in particular capable of exploiting ethanol fuel’s characteristics of high octane number and high latent heat of vaporization. The engine further integrated synergistic efficiency improving technologies of cooled exhaust gas recirculation (EGR), direct fuel injection and dual continuously variable intake and exhaust cam phasers. On the vehicle level, fuel economy was furthered thru powertrain system optimization by mating a state-of-the-art six-speed automatic transmission to the engine. In order to achieve the project’s objective of near- to medium-term production viability, it was essential to develop the engine to be flex-fuel capable of operating with fuels ranging from E0 (0% ethanol and 100% gasoline) to E85 and to use three-way type of catalyst technology for exhaust aftertreatment. Within these scopes, various technologies were developed through systems approach to focus on ways to help accelerate catalyst light-off. Significant amount of development took place during the course of the project within General Motors, LLC. Many prototype flex-fuel engines were designed, built and developed with various hardware configurations selected to achieve the project goals. Several flex-fuel demonstration vehicles were designed and built for carrying out calibration development and final testing to quantify the technology merits. Based on the extensive test results collected from dynamometer and vehicle testing, the fuel economy benefits of cooled EGR from the intended level of turbocharger technology were quantified. When combined with turbo downsizing, the FE benefits are considered large enough for E0 fuel as well as for E85 fuel to warrant further development of the technology beyond the current proof-of-concept level to a level that can meet production driveability quality and durability requirements in order to meet customers’ expectations. Cold-start cart test results from the emissions segment of the project were positive, confirming the assumption of faster thermal response of turbo exhaust system for emissions reductions for both E0 and E85 fuels. Vehicle emissions test results directionally correlated to the cold-start cart findings. The limited number of test runs did demonstrate the potentials of meeting stringent emission standards, however, they did not comprehend the factors such as hardware variability and long-term durability, 3 which are essential for mass production to satisfy customers’ expectations. It is therefore recommended, moving forward, durability concerns over turbocharger, EGR system and aftertreatment system, which would likely impact production viability, should be addressed. The data moreover suggested that further FE increase is likely with turbocharger technology advancement.

Wu, Ko-Jen↗
DOE OSTI2018

Alternative Fuels DISI Engine Research ? Autoignition Metrics.

Improved engine efficiency is required to comply with future fuel economy standards. Alternative fuels have the potential to enable more efficient engines while addressing concerns about energy security. This project contributes to the science base needed by industry to develop highly efficient direct injection spark igniton (DISI) engines that also beneficially exploit the different properties of alternative fuels. Here, the emphasis is on quantifying autoignition behavior for a range of spark-ignited engine conditions, including directly injected boosted conditions. The efficiency of stoichiometrically operated spark ignition engines is often limited by fuel-oxidizer end-gas autoignition, which can result in engine knock. A fuel’s knock resistance is assessed empirically by the Research Octane Number (RON) and Motor Octane Number (MON) tests. By clarifying how these two tests relate to the autoignition behavior of conventional and alternative fuel formulations, fuel design guidelines for enhanced engine efficiency can be developed.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Reducing Methane Emissions with an Engine Fuel Reformer

Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) designed and demonstrated a compact, plasma-based fuel reformer designed to reduce methane leaks from natural-gas engines used in pipeline compression and industrial power applications. The system uses pulsed electrical discharges to convert a small portion of methane (CH4) into hydrogen (H2) and light hydrocarbons, promoting more complete combustion and reducing unburned methane in the exhaust. The reformer was evaluated through bench-scale testing, high-flow facility testing, and engine-integration testing on representative low-speed and high-speed natural-gas engines. Measured methane-leak reductions ranged from 1 to 27 percent, depending on engine type and operating condition, while reformer energy consumption remained below one percent of total engine output. Design refinements addressed thermal and electrical challenges, resulting in reliable operation with minimal impact on engine control systems. The project achieved all performance objectives within budget and schedule, produced a patentable pulsed-power system design, and established a scalable, energy-efficient pathway for mitigating methane leaks from existing natural-gas engine infrastructure.

03 NATURAL GAS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Explaining Nonmerger Gamma-Ray Bursts and Broad-lined Supernovae with Close Binary Progenitors with Black Hole Central Engines

For over 25 yr, the origin of long-duration gamma-ray bursts (lGRBs) has been linked to the collapse of rotating massive stars. However, we have yet to pinpoint the stellar progenitor powering these transients. Moreover, the dominant engine powering the explosions remains open to debate. Observations of both lGRBs, supernovae associated with these GRBs, such as broad-line (BL) stripped-envelope (type Ic) supernovae (hereafter, Ic-BL), supernovae (SNe), and perhaps superluminous SNe, fast blue optical transients, and fast x-ray transients, may provide clues to both engines and progenitors. In this paper, we conduct a detailed study of the tight-binary formation scenario for lGRBs, comparing this scenario to other leading progenitor models. Combining this progenitor scenario with different lGRB engines, we can compare to existing data and make predictions for future observational tests. We find that the combination of the tight-binary progenitor scenario with the black hole accretion disk engine can explain lGRBs, low-luminosity GRBs, ultra-long GRBs, and Ic-BL. We discuss the various progenitor properties required for these different subclasses and note such systems would be future gravitational-wave merger sources. We show that the current literature on other progenitor-engine scenarios cannot explain all of these transient classes with a single origin, motivating additional work. We find that the tight-binary progenitor with a magnetar engine is excluded by existing observations. The observations can be used to constrain the properties of stellar evolution, the nature of the GRB, and the associated SN engines in lGRBs and Ic-BL. We discuss the future observations needed to constrain our understanding of these rare, but powerful, explosions.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Hydrocarbon Speciation in Blended Gasoline-Natural Gas Operation on a Spark-Ignition Engine

The high octane rating and more plentiful domestic supply of natural gas make it an excellent alternative to gasoline. Recent studies have shown that using natural gas in dual fuel engines provides one possible strategy for leveraging the advantages of both natural gas and gasoline. In particular, such engines been able to improve overall engine efficiencies and load capacity when they leverage direct injection of the natural gas fuel. While the benefits of these engine concepts are still being explored, differences in fuel composition, combustion process and in-cylinder mixing could lead to dramatically different emissions which can substantially impact the effectiveness of the engine’s exhaust aftertreatment system. In order to explore this topic, this study examined the variations in speciated hydrocarbon emissions which occur for different fuel blends of E10 and compressed natural gas and for different fuel injection strategies on a spark-ignition engine. Results indicate that hydrocarbon emissions are clearly impacted by the base fuel structure and that differences in the underlying fuel chemistry can produce significant variations (over 300%) in the emissions of various hydrocarbon species. Injection strategy plays a role in the amount of mixing achieved and as such impacts emissions, but fuel structure is a much more significant factor. By using 50-75% percent compressed natural gas (CNG) at the lower load points, total methane and non-methane emissions could be reduced by up to 37% without any significant drop in engine efficiency. At the higher load points, usage of 100% CNG is more advantageous due to the knock constraints.

Hall, Carrie↗