OBJECTIVE: Climate change is primary driver in the current discussions on CO2 reduction in the automotive industry. Current Type approval emissions tests (BS III, BS IV) covers only tailpipe emissions, however the emissions produced in upstream and downstream processes (e.g. Raw material sourcing, manufacturing, transportation, vehicle usage, recycle phases) are not considered in the evaluation. The objective of this project is to assess the environmental impact of the product considering all stages of the life cycle, understand the real opportunities to reduce environmental impact across the product life cycle. METHODOLOGY: As a part of environmental sustainability journey in business value chain, Life-cycle assessment (LCA) technique helps to understand the environmental impact categories. To measure overall impact, a cradle to grave approach helps to assess entire life cycle impact throughout various stages. LCA is a technique to assess environmental impacts associated with all the stages of a product's life from raw material extraction through materials processing, manufacture, distribution, use, repair & maintenance, disposal or recycling. A study was conducted on a passenger vehicle for life cycle…

The research work intends to assess the need and improvement of using a low viscous bio oil, RH (Rice Husk) Nano Particles and water injection method in enhancing the performance, emission and combustion characters of a diesel engine. One of the major setbacks for using biodiesel was its higher viscosity. Hence, a low viscous oil (Pine oil) which doesn’t need transesterification process was used as a biofuel in this study. To further improve its characteristics a non-metallic Nano additive produced from rice husk was added at 3 proportions (50, 100, 200 ppm) and the optimal quantity was found as 100ppm based on the BTE (brake thermal efficiency) value of 30.2% at peak load condition. This efficiency value was accompanied by a considerable decrease in pollutants like HC (Hydrocarbon), Smoke, CO (Carbon monoxide). On the contrary NOx (Oxides of Nitrogen) emission was found to be increased for all load values. At peak load, when compared with diesel, pine oil with RH has 19.2% increased NOx emission. To reduce this increased NOx emission, water was injected along…

In the present work, it is aimed at developing an integrated approach for combustor modeling involving rapid prototyping and water tunnel testing to assess the cold flow numerical simulations; the physical model will be subjected to cold flow visualization and parametric studies and CFD analysis to demonstrate its capability for undergoing rigorous cold flow testing. A straight through annular combustor is chosen for the present study because of it has low pressure drop, less weight and used widely in modern day aviation engines. Numerical Analysis has been performed using ANSYS-FLUENT. Three dimensional RANS equations are solved using k-ɛ model for the Reynolds numbers ranging from 0.64 x 10^5- 1.5 x 10^5 based on the annulus diameter. Post processing the results is done in terms of jet penetration, formation of re-circulation zone, effective mixing, flow split and pressure drop for different cases. Physical combustor models are fabricated using Rapid prototyping with Poly Lactic Acid material and approximated 2D combustor model is used for capturing important flow patterns using high speed camera in 2D water tunnel, and…

It is very important to derive the optimal process parameters combination in EDM process to enhance its efficacy. In the present study an attempt has been made to perform multiple criteria decision making using Taguchi-Methodology in EDM process. Titanium (Ti-6Al-4V) alloy has been machined as workpiece specimen with tungsten carbide tool electrode. Material removal rate, surface roughness and tool wear rate has been used as performance measures. From the experimental results, the optimal process parameters has been found. It has been observed Peak current has more influential nature on determining the performance measures in EDM process.

In photovoltaic system the efficiency of solar cells is determined in combination with latitude and climate. The electricity generation in photovoltaic cell is more in the morning time than in the afternoon time. This is due to the fact that an increase in solar cell temperature leads to a decrease in efficiency of the solar panel. This work aims to provide necessary cooling to the solar panel for favourable output during noon time. Normally electrical modular vehicles use non-split cell solar panels. In order to increase the efficiency, we are using split cell solar panel as it increases voltage by halving the size of the silicon chips. Thus, halving the cells results in increasing efficiency and lowering the operation temperature. The solar panel should be maintained at a particular temperature by adopting sprinkling of water method in solar panel for hybrid vehicles. The proposed system consists of storage tank, temperature sensor, water sprinkle jets attached to the hybrid vehicle. When the temperature increases beyond the limit, the temperature sensor provides signal to the water jets…

Ammonia is now recognized as a very serious asset in the context of the hydrogen energy economy, thanks to its non-carbon nature, competitive energy density and very mature production, storage and transport processes. If produced from renewable sources, its use as a direct combustion fuel could participate to the flexibility in the power sector as well as help mitigating fossil fuel use in certain sectors, such as long-haul shipping. However, ammonia presents unfavorable combustion properties, requiring further investigation of its combustion characteristics in practical systems. In the present study, a modern single-cylinder spark-ignition engine is fueled with gaseous ammonia/air mixtures at various equivalence ratios and intake pressures. The results are compared with methane/air and previous ammonia/hydrogen/air measurements, where hydrogen is used as combustion promoter. In-cylinder pressure and exhaust concentrations of selected species are measured and analyzed. Results show that ammonia is a very suitable fuel for SI engine operation, since high power outputs were achieved with satisfying efficiency by taking advantage of the promoting effects of either hydrogen enrichment or increased intake pressure, or a…

This paper raises a coupling system of aircraft environmental control and fuel tank inerting based on membrane separation. The system applies a membrane dehumidifier to replace water vapor removal unit of heat regenerator, condenser and water separator, which is widely used in conventional aircraft environmental control system nowadays. Water vapor can travel across the membrane wall under its pressure difference without phase change, so the dehumidification process consumes no cooling capacity and the cooling capacity of the system increases. This paper first compares the thermodynamic properties of environmental control system based on membrane dehumidification and the environmental control system based on condensation. The results show that the membrane dehumidification system has bigger cooling capacity and lighter weight. For a given cooling capacity requirement of a certain aircraft, the membrane dehumidification system can use less bleed air since the temperature of the outlet air is lower. Nowadays, the fuel tanking inerting system also uses an air separation module to produce nitrogen enriched air based on membrane separation. After the air is dehumidified in membrane environmental control…

While the optimization of the internal combustion engine (ICE) remains a very important topic, alternative fuels are also expected to play a significant role in the reduction of CO2 emissions. High energy densities and handling ease are their main advantages amongst other energy carriers. Ammonia (NH3) additionally contains no carbon and has a worldwide existing transport and storage infrastructure. It could be produced directly from renewable electricity, water and air, and is thus currently considered as a smart energy carrier and combustion fuel. However, ammonia presents a low combustion intensity and the risk of elevated N-based emissions, thus rendering in-depth investigation of its suitability as an ICE fuel necessary. In the present study, a recent single-cylinder GDI SI engine is fueled with gaseous ammonia/hydrogen/air mixtures at various hydrogen fractions, equivalence ratios and intake pressures. Hydrogen is used as combustion promoter and might be generated in-situ through NH3 catalytic dissociation. In-cylinder pressure and exhaust concentrations of selected species are recorded and analyzed. Results show that ammonia is a very suitable fuel for SI engine operation, since…

Increasing the efficiency of modern gasoline engines (with direct injection and spark-ignition - DISI) requires innovative approaches. The reduction of the engine displacement, accompanied by an increase of the mean pressure, is limited by the tendency of increasing combustion anomalies. Conventional methods for knock mitigation, on the contrary, have a negative effect on consumption and efficiency. A promising technology to solve these conflicting objectives is the injection of water. Both the indirect and the direct water injection achieve a significant reduction in the load temperature. The fuel enrichment can be reduced, whereby the operating range of the exhaust aftertreatment can be extended. In addition, water injection paves the way for an increase in the geometric compression ratio, which leads to an efficiency advantage even at part load. The influence of water injection on combustion process and raw emissions was analyzed experimentally on a single-cylinder research engine with direct and indirect water injection. Even though water injection initially slows down the combustion process, both injection concepts allow a clear shift in the knock limit and a…

Water Injection (WI) has become a key technology for increasing combustion efficiency in modern GDI turbocharged engines. In fact, the addition of water mitigates significantly the occurrence of knock, reduces exhaust gas temperatures, and opens the possibility to reach optimum heat release phasing even at high load. This work presents the latest development of a model-based WI controller, and its experimental validation on a GDI TC engine. The controller is based on a novel approach that involves an analytic combustion model to define the SA required to reach a combustion phase target, considering injected water mass effects. The model has been expanded to directly consider air-to-fuel ratio variation effects on combustion phasing, and the same controller structure could integrate other variables that influence 50 percent of Mass Fraction Burned angular position (MFB50), such as EGR. The calibration and experimental validation of the proposed controller is shown in detail in the paper. At first, the focus is on the open-loop branch, to evaluate the performance of the combustion model and its ability to manage Spark Advance…