Single cylinder and two cylinder diesel engines are having prevalent applications for as a source of power generation, three wheelers, agricultural machines, small house-hold applications as well as in mobile towers in India and other south Asian countries.
As emission limits for these segment of engines are becoming stricter than the existing limits, it is necessary to upgrade these engines to meet the various emission limits applicable. The design features & technical characteristics of these engines are very simple and primitive, hence, it is extremely difficult and challenging to make these engines emission compliant. By using the relevant simulation tools, the task of emissionising these engines can be made simple to a greater extent. It gives a greater flexibility and ease in analyzing, designing, and operating complex engine systems. Along with above abilities, the simulation also makes activities practicable which will be very easy and economical to implement the changes on the engine [1].
In this research work, up gradation of a diesel engine is explored by using one dimensional simulation tool. One dimensional simulation is easy and cost-effective means of exploring the possibility and helping in design the proto parts, analysis, building prototype components and carrying to iterations without having to resort to pilot programs. Simulation provides a method to the check various possible experimental options on a computer software tool to arrive at a better results in a shorter period. It is also an efficient communication tool to various engine development groups to synchronize the various paralleled activities very efficiently.
One of the principal benefits of adapting the simulation methodology is to begin with a simple approximation of a process and gradually refine the model. As the understanding of the process improves the accuracy of the work also advances. This “step-wise refinement” enables the simulation engineer to achieve good approximations of very complex problems surprisingly quickly. The refinements with accurate and precise inputs of the engine model, the output of the simulated model becomes more and more exact, errors reduce and co-relation improves.
In this research work, up-gradation of a constant speed two cylinder diesel engine for power generating set application is carried out first by making the simulated one dimensional model. Then by using the simulation output, experimentation trials were carried out with minimum hardware changes in the engine to make it cost effective. Thus, the engine is upgraded from Naturally Aspirated version to Turbocharged Intercooled configuration with Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR). The power output of the engine is increased from 18.6 kW to 23 kW without any change in the basic engine design. Nitric Oxides and Unburnt Hydrocarbons (NOx+HC) emissions of the upgraded engine was reduced by approximately 34 % from the base naturally aspirated version. Other pollutant constituents such as Carbon Monoxide (CO) and Particulate Matter (PM) emissions and smoke were also at acceptable level.
In this Paper, Software simulation tool predicted the performance at different modes by using one dimensional simulation tool GT-Power. The output performance of the simulation was validated with the engine experimented performance results on the steady state engine dynamometer test bed. EngCylCombDIJet Simulation model is used in the current research work [2].