Investigations on Combustion and Performance Characteristics of a Turbocharged Natural gas and Pilot Ignition Dual Fuel Engine

The increasing use of natural gas as a vehicle fuel has generated considerable research activity to characterize the performance of engines utilizing this fuel. A light duty prechamber diesel engine was run under naturally aspirated and turbocharged CNG- Diesel dual fuel mode at four engine speeds 1100, 1400, 1700 and 2000 rpm. The maximum percentage of CNG substitution continues up to the engine knock limited power. The experimental results indicate a fall in brake power under naturally aspirated CNG-Diesel dual fuel mode compared to neat diesel operation. It was due to decrease in volumetric efficiency and slower combustion. Although turbocharged dual fuel operation shows an increase in brake power as well as an improvement in brake specific energy consumption as it provides a better air/fuel mixing and improves the homogeneous natural gas/air charge. A computer simulation model is also developed to predict the pressure crank angle diagram, peak cylinder pressure, delay period, brake power under naturally aspirated and turbocharged CNG-Diesel dual fuel operation. The model was validated using available experimental results.