Browse Topic: Gasohol

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Stochastic Preignition (SPI) is an abnormal combustion phenomenon that can occur in spark-ignition engines particularly under high-load operation. SPI is characterized by uncontrolled initiation of combustion prior to spark discharge, an abnormal combustion process that can lead to severe knock events and significant engine damage. SPI has been associated with fuel properties, lubricant composition, and engine design and operation. In this work, a single-cylinder test engine with a dry-sump oil system was utilized to study the SPI response of E10 and E25 fuels with a range of Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP). An automated test procedure was employed, consisting of ten square-waved load profile segments, with each segment composed of 5 min of low-load operation followed by 25 min of sustained high-load operation. These tests were replicated across multiple days of testing including a lubricant triple flush between tests, and an online Fuel in Oil diagnostic measurement. Exhaust particulate emissions were continuously measured by an AVL microsoot sensor (MSS). Elevated particulate matter emissions were observed to occur concurrently with SPI events as blooms of soot. Particularly after clustered events (i.e., multiple SPI cycles occurring within 10 consecutive engine cycles), high soot emissions were observed to persist over several days of sequential operation despite daily lubricant changes, a complete warm-up procedure, and sustained low-load operation between test segments. This result implies that the particulate emissions trends may be dominated by deposit-based effects, where higher load operation is needed to alter deposition and formation processes. The observed soot blooms were also found to correspond to a reduction in the engine fueling and the fuel engine oil dilution rate despite the engine exhaust remaining at stoichiometric exhaust operation. These observations suggest that post-SPI events, pathways for lubricant migration and consumption into the combustion chamber may occur until these pathways are closed from deposit formation or ring dynamics during extended operation. These observed sooting propensity persisted with all fuels tests, but a linear correlation was observed between the summation of soot and particulate matter index (PMI) value for each fuel as well as SPI events, proving that PMI is a crucial fuel property for reducing SPI.1
Splitter, DerekJatana, GurneeshDelVescovo, DanDouvry-Rabjeau, JulienFioroni, GinaChapman, ElanaSalyers, John
On the way to net zero emissions and to cut the oil import bills, NITI Aayog, Government of India and Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas (MoP&NG) has rolled out roadmap for ethanol blending in India during 2020-2025. Also, National Policy on Biofuels – 2018, provides an indicative target of 20% ethanol blending under the Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme by 2030. Considering these Government’s initiatives current studies were performed on BSVI compliant gasoline direct injection vehicle on RDE compliant route (Route formulated by Indian Oil R&D Centre) with different ethanol blended gasoline fuel formulations i.e., E0 (Neat Gasoline), E10 (10% Ethanol in gasoline) & E20 (20% Ethanol in gasoline). The study aims to determine the compliance of Conformity Factor (C.F.) for ethanol blended gasoline fuel on Direct Injection gasoline engine. The conformity factors were calculated in each case for CO, NOx & PN using moving window average evaluation method. For reference CO2 characteristics curve, CO2 values were measured over Modified Indian Driving Cycle (MIDC) on chassis dynamometer. The study suggests that the use of oxygenated fuel formulations (E10 & E20) impacts tail pipe emissions in a greater way and without any change in the hardware of after treatment devices of the vehicle tail pipe emissions can be reduced. Paper presents RDE as well laboratory mass emissions data collected. However, all the emission values are well below the typical BSVI/Euro6d limits and the C.F for NOx is also below than stated limit of BS_2.0 IRDE (Indian Real Driving Emissions).
Kant, ChanderArora, AjaySaroj, ShyamsherKumar, PrashantSithananthan, MChakradhar, Dr MayaKalita, Mrinmoy
In alignment with its carbon reduction commitments, India is transitioning towards higher ethanol-blended fuels, with E20 set for nationwide implementation by 2025. Ethanol is a renewable, domestically produced biofuel produced through fermentation of biomass such as sugarcane, corn. It possesses a higher octane rating and oxygen content compared to conventional gasoline, making it a favorable additive for improving engine performance and reducing emissions. This study investigates the impact of E20 fuel on performance parameters of a 694 cc MPFI , water-cooled, twin-cylinder gasoline engine. For deriving maximum benefits of increased Octane rating of E20, compression ratio was increased to 12.5:1. Experimental analysis was conducted to assess the changes in combustion behavior, brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC), torque output, engine out emissions and thermal efficiency when operating on E20 compared to baseline gasoline (E10). Base results indicate that E20 promotes more efficient combustion, owing to its higher laminar flame speed and elevated oxygen content, leading to a 3–4% improvement in low-end torque across real-world operating speed ranges. Conversely, on-road evaluations reveal a 3–4% fuel economy penalty with E20 relative to E10. Recovering E10-comparable fuel efficiency with E20 necessitates comprehensive engine calibration optimization, supported by targeted hardware modifications. Additionally, the high octane rating of ethanol reduces knock propensity, enabling the adoption of more aggressive ignition timing and higher compression ratios without compromising engine durability. Thermal benefits are also taken into consideration, with a reduction in peak mid-catalyst temperatures by approximately 30–40°C, this enables stoichiometric operation throughout operating range without any enrichment. These improvements suggest that engines calibrated specifically for E20 can be benefited through fuel’s inherent properties to achieve higher thermal efficiency and lower tailpipe emissions. In conclusion, the incorporation of E20 fuel in internal combustion engines shows notable advancements in engine performance and efficiency.
Kulkarni, DeepakMalekar, Hemant AThonge, RavindraKanchan, Shubham
Particulate matter (PM), mainly its finer fraction, is among the main atmospheric pollutants present in an urban environment. The relationship between the increase in the concentration of this pollutant and the harm to human health is well established. The main sources of particulate matter in urban areas are mobile sources, which include the exhaust emission from light duty vehicles. This work measured the emission of PM in three light duty passenger vehicles, characterizing it in terms of emitted mass in one “flex” vehicle with port fuel (indirect) injection (PFI), using ethanol and gasohol (mixture of 22% anhydrous ethanol and 78% gasoline, by volume), in another “flex” vehicle with direct fuel injection (GDI), and in a diesel vehicle. In addition to mass measurement, images of the filters used in PM sampling were produced using scanning electron microscopy. The processing of these images made it possible to determine the average PM size, as well as establish a particle size distribution for each vehicle and test fuel. With the same instrument, the presence of some chemical elements present in the sample could be determined, through Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) analysis.
Borsari, VanderleiNeto, Edson Elpídiode Abrantes, Rui
Alcohol fuels are regarded as a feasible approach to address rising energy demands and reduce the dependency on fossil fuels, with ethanol and methanol emerging as a promising renewable fuel for spark-ignition engines. In this research work, tests were performed on a spark ignition engine altered from a diesel engine that employs ethanol/methanol-gasoline blend as fuel operating under lean conditions. The experiments were conducted at 10.5:1 compression ratio and 1500 rpm under full throttle condition with three fuel blends namely M10 (10% of methanol+ 90% gasoline), E10 (10% of ethanol+ 90% gasoline), E5M5 (5% of each ethanol and methanol+ 90% gasoline). Investigational results reveals that alcohol-gasoline blends displayed low COV of IMEP. Furthermore, the alcohol-gasoline mixtures enhanced the peak in-cylinder pressure owing to improved flame speed and flammability limits. Adopting lean-burn operation and high compression ratio can efficiently improve combustion attributes in an alcohol-gasoline fuel operated spark ignition engine.
Devunuri, SureshPorpatham, Dr. E
India aims to achieve 20% ethanol blending (E20) in petrol by 2025 under its National Biofuels Policy to reduce carbon emissions, enhance energy security, and support the agricultural economy. Building on this, E27 (27% ethanol in gasoline) is being evaluated as an advanced mid-level blend to further lower greenhouse gas emissions and reduce reliance on fossil fuels. This study investigates the performance, emissions, and combustion characteristics of a turbocharged gasoline direct injection (TGDI) engine using E27 fuel over 20,000 km in real-world driving conditions, as part of a broader research program accumulating over 100,000 km across multiple vehicle categories. Key findings indicate that E27 achieves an optimal balance of emissions reduction and performance, with NOx and THC emissions decreasing by 12% and 5%, respectively, compared to E10, while CO and CO₂ levels remained stable, reflecting ethanol’s oxygenation effect and lower carbon intensity. Power output and acceleration improved slightly due to ethanol’s higher-octane rating and improved combustion efficiency. Oil degradation and wear remained within acceptable limits, confirming E27's suitability for regular use without requiring engine modifications. The findings suggest that E27 blended fuel has potential and can significant future ethanol adoption strategy, which will also supporting its 2030 carbon reduction targets. Further research should focus on optimizing calibration in engine for different ethanol blends as the current study has focused on E10 compliant vehicle’s long-term durability, and performance of the with higher fuel blends aligning with real time usage pattern.
D R, VigneshwarBhakthavachalu, VijayabaskarMuralidharan, M.
The application of short burn durations at lean engine operation has the potential to increase the efficiency of spark-ignition engines. To achieve short burn durations, spark-assisted compression ignition (SACI) as well as active pre-chamber (PC) combustion systems are suitable technologies. Since a combination of these two combustion concepts has the potential to achieve shorter burn durations than the application of only one of these concepts, the concept of jet-induced compression ignition (JICI) was investigated in this study. With the JICI, the fuel is ignited in the PC, and the combustion products igniting the charge in the main combustion chamber (MC) triggered the autoignition of the MC charge. A conventional gasoline fuel (RON 95 E10) and a Porsche synthetic fuel (POSYN) were investigated to assess the fuel influence on the JICI. Variations of the relative air/fuel ratio in the exhaust gas (λex) were performed to evaluate both the occurrence of the JICI and the dilution capability. To assess the sensitivity of the JICI, variations of the engine speed and the engine load were performed. When using RON 95 E10, a shift from a conventional PC combustion to the JICI was observed between λex = 2.3 and λex = 2.5. The variations of the engine speed and the engine load revealed an increased JICI intensity when the engine speed decreased and when the engine load increased. When using POSYN, no JICI was observed. The occurrence of the JICI was correlated to the knock resistances of the fuels, i.e., the lower knock resistance of RON 95 E10 yielded the JICI, whereas the higher one of POSYN did not. At λex = 2.8, applying POSYN resulted in an increase of the burn duration of 5.5°CA, which was a relative increase of 41%, compared to the use of RON 95 E10 due to the absence of the JICI in case of POSYN. However, the application of POSYN resulted in the highest net indicated efficiency (ηi,net). In particular, the application of RON 95 E10 yielded a maximum of ηi,net = 41.5% at λex = 2.6, whereas using POSYN resulted in a maximum of ηi,net = 42.6% at λex = 2.2 due to the higher knock resistance of POSYN.
Burkardt, PatrickGünther, MarcoVillforth, JonasPischinger, Stefan
Dimethyl ether (DME) is an alternative fuel that, blended with propane, could be an excellent alternative for exploring the use of fuels from renewable sources. DME–propane blends are feasible for their comparable physicochemical properties; these fuels may be pressured as liquids using moderate pressure at ambient temperature. Adding a proportion of DME with a low octane number to a less reactive fuel like propane can improve the combustion process. However, the increased reactivity of the mixture induced by the DME could lead to the early appearance of knocking, and this tendency may even be pronounced in boosted SI engines. Hence, this study experimentally analyzes the effect of E10 gasoline (baseline) and DME–propane blends, with varying proportions of DME in propane ranging from 0% to 30% by weight, in increments of 5% on knocking tendency, combustion characteristics, gaseous emissions, and particle number concentration, under different intake pressure conditions (0.8, 0.9, 1.0, and 1.1 bar) in an SI engine. The results show that as the proportion of DME in the propane blend rises, the knocking tendency becomes more pronounced. That behavior intensifies with increasing intake pressure, but with 20% DME in the propane blend, reaching the maximum brake torque (MBT) without knocking in the four boosted conditions is feasible. The presence of knock limited the advance of combustion phasing and decreased the gross indicated thermal efficiency (ITEg) with E10 gasoline and 25% and 30% DME in propane blends under 1.0 and 1.1 bar boosted conditions. In these knock-limited circumstances, the NOx emissions decreased due to the retarded phasing, and THC and PN emissions increased due to the lower combustion stability, considerably raising the concentration of accumulation mode particles in the particle size distribution (PSD) compared to the other fuel blends tested.
Soto, LianHan, TaehoonBoehman, Andre L.
Ethanol blending is one method that can be used to reduce knock in spark ignition engines by decreasing the autoignition reactivity of the fuel and modifying its laminar flame speed. In this paper, the effects of ethanol blending on knock propensity and flame speed of petroleum and low-carbon gasoline fuels is analyzed. To do so, surrogate fuels were formulated for methanol-to-gasoline (MTG) and ethanol-to-gasoline (ETG) based on the fuels’ composition, octane number, and select physical properties; and 0-D and 1-D chemical kinetics simulations were performed to investigate reactivity and laminar flame speed, respectively. Results of MTG and ETG were compared against those of PACE-20, a well-characterized surrogate for regular E10 gasoline. Similarly to PACE-20, blending MTG and ETG with ethanol increases the fuel’s research octane number (RON) and sensitivity. The trends of the ethanol blending effects were slightly stronger with PACE-20 and MTG than with ETG, with 13.6% volume of ethanol necessary to reach a RON of 98 for MTG and 18.4% volume necessary for ETG. 1-D modeling of the flame speed showed that while ethanol has a faster flame speed than gasoline at pressures below 2.4 bar, the flame speed decreases at increasing pressure, with regular gasoline having a higher flame speed at pressures representative of combustion. Sensitivity analyses to identify the reactions and species relevant in controlling laminar flame speed showed that for ethanol, the active radicals in the flame decreased as pressure increased due to increasing methyl recombination leading to a decrease of the flame speed. For regular gasoline, the formation of active radicals increased with pressure due to increasing HCO decomposition leading to an increase in the flame speed.
MacDonald, JamesLopez Pintor, DarioMatsubara, NaoyoshiKitano, KojiYamada, Ryota
The present study aims to determine the comparative performance evaluation in terms of fuel economy (kmpl) and wide open throttle (WOT) power derived from set of different blends of high octane gasoline fuel(s) i.e., Neat Gasoline (E0), E10 & E20 (With different dosages of additives) in high compression ratio (HCR) motorcycle on chassis dynamometer facility. With the Government of India focus on use of alcohol as co-blend of gasoline with the endeavour to save foreign exchange and also to reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions. The commercially available blended fuels, E10 & E20, have high research octane number (RON, 92-100) and as per the available literature high RON fuel have the better anti-knocking tendencies thereby lead to higher fuel economy. There are various routes to formulate high octane fuel (refining technologies, additive approach & ethanol blending route) in the range of 92-100 octane number which are currently commercialized in Indian market. In the present study, ethanol based high octane fuel blend(s) along with doping of novel indigenous type of additives (multifunctional additive & octane booster) to achieve the utilization benefits in terms of fuel economy (FE) & power improvement. The findings of present study largely suggest that with the high octane fuel blends (only ethanol) the fuel economy and Wide Open Throttle (WOT) power reduces. On the other hand, by adding gasoline multi-functional additive (GMFA) in combination of octane booster in the ethanol blended fuels, fuel economy and WOT power are compensated fairly. Fuel economy and Wide Open Throttle (WOT) power were investigated under operating conditions (Indian driving cycle - IDC). On adding ethanol only by 10% and 20% in gasoline the fuel economy is lowered by 1.9% and 4.94% respectively. The loss in fuel economy is reduced by 0.74% and 3.36% through addition of indigenously developed GMFA with Octane Booster in E10 & E20 gasoline blends.
Saroj, ShyamsherKalita, MrinmoyKumar, PrashantKant, ChanderPatanwal, PradeepChakradhar, MayaSithananthan, MArora, Ajay KumarHarinarain, Ajay KumarMaheshwari, Mukul
Net-Zero emission ambitions coupled with availability of oxygenated fuels like ethanol encouraged the Government towards commercial implementation of fuels like E20. In this background, a study was taken up to assess the impact of alcohol blended fuels on performance and emission characteristics of a BS-VI complaint motorbike. A single cylinder, 113-cc spark ignition, ECU based electronic fuel injection motorbike was used for conducting tests. Pure gasoline (E0), 10% ethanol-gasoline (E10), 20% ethanol-gasoline (E20) and 15% methanol-gasoline (M15) blends meeting respective IS standards were used as test fuels. The oxygen content of E10, E20 and M15 fuels were 3.7%, 7.4% and 8.35% by weight respectively. Experiments were conducted following worldwide motorcycle test cycle (WMTC) as per AIS 137 standard and wide-open-throttle (WOT) test cycle, using chassis dynamometer. The experimental results on WMTC tests indicated that the fuel consumption of the vehicle increased with increase in oxygen content of the test fuels. The maximum increase in fuel consumption was 6.40% with M15 fuel as compared to E0 fuel. CO2 emission decreased moderately with the use of oxygenated fuels due to lower carbon content. CO and THC emissions decreased with oxygenated fuels and E20 fuel resulted in lowest level compared to all other test fuels. NOx emission increased linearly with increase in oxygen content of the test fuels and M15 recorded the highest. Under WOT conditions, the carbon emissions (CO, THC) decreased significantly with oxygenated fuels, with increase in NOx emission due to better combustion. However, CO2 emission was higher for oxygenated fuels due to high fuel consumption to achieve desired power output under full load operation. Overall, the alcohol blends help to decrease the CO and THC emissions with slight penalty on fuel economy. Fine-tuning of ECU parameters specific to fuel, has potential to improve fuel economy while reducing emissions.
Sahu, YamanP, SakthivelSithananthan, MMaheshwari, Mukul
Surrogate fuels that reproduce the characteristics of full-boiling range fuels are key tools to enable numerical simulations of fuel-related processes and ensure reproducibility of experiments by eliminating batch-to-batch variability. Within the PACE initiative, a surrogate fuel for regular-grade E10 (10%vol ethanol) gasoline representative of a U.S. market gasoline, termed PACE-20, was developed and adopted as baseline fuel for the consortium. Although extensive testing demonstrated that PACE-20 replicates the properties and combustion behavior of the full-boiling range gasoline, several concerns arose regarding the purity level required for the species that compose PACE-20. This is particularly important for cyclo-pentane, since commercial-grade cyclo-pentane typically shows 60%–85% purity. In the present work, the effects of the purity level of cyclo-pentane on the properties and combustion characteristics of PACE-20 were studied. Chemical kinetic simulations were performed to predict the effects of cyclo-pentane impurities on the properties, octane rating, and autoignition reactivity under homogeneous charge compression-ignition conditions of PACE-20. From the numerical results, cyclo-pentane with 85% purity or higher is required to reasonably match both the research octane number and motor octane number of the target gasoline. Finally, homogeneous charge compression-ignition engine simulations show that impurities have only a modest effect on reactivity at naturally aspirated conditions, but cyclo-pentane purity is critical to properly replicate the pressure dependency of the reactivity.
Lopez-Pintor, DarioAbboud, RamiMacDonald, JamesLee, Sanguk
Ethanol-gasoline blended fuels have been widely implemented in Indian markets followed by the Govt of India’s road map as ethanol reduces life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions and improves anti-knock performance. However, effects of Ethanol Blending on engine out emissions characteristics including particulates from gasoline direct injection (GDI) engine remains under development and investigation. In this study the effect of ethanol blended gasoline fuels with two blending rates 10% and 20% (v/v %) on catalyst conversion efficiencies and emissions on a 1.2 litre 3-cylinder turbo GDI engine is investigated. The addition of ethanol to gasoline fuel enhances the Octane rating (RON) of the blended fuels, oxygen content and changes Reid vapor pressure (RVP). The influence of lambda biasing, and lambda trim controller has been tested. The approach for calibration was adopted based on achieving the target pollutant conversion efficiencies. Test bench results indicated that with E10 blend all pollutant conversion is more than 98% at all engine operating points. However, with E20 blend using the same lambda bias, fuel enrichment was required to retrieve the NOX conversion efficiency, which was improved back to 98% via suitable trim controller correction.
R, Navaneetha KannanS, Easwar RamS, Satish KumarKarthi, RamanathanRamakrishnan, Muthu
Several governments are increasing the blending mandate of renewable fuels to reduce the life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions of the road transport sector. Currently, ethanol is a prominent renewable fuel and is used in low-level blends, such as E10 (10 %v/v ethanol, 90 %v/v gasoline) in many parts of the world. However, the exact concentration of ethanol amongst other renewable fuel components in commercially available fuels can vary and is not known. To understand the impact of the renewable fuel content on the emissions from Euro 6d-TEMP emissions specification vehicles, this paper examines the real-driving emissions (RDE) from four 2020 to 2022 model-year vehicles run on E0 and E10 fuels. CO, CO2, NO, and NO2 were measured through a Portable Emissions Measuring System (PEMS). In addition, N2O, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and other gaseous and particulate tailpipe emissions were measured and categorized in cold-start, urban, rural, and motorway segments with a proprietary system developed by Emissions Analytics. Engine-out emissions were also measured from a single-cylinder engine at steady-state low speed and load conditions. The results show that the aldehydes, VOCs, and N2O emissions were greatest at cold-start and lowest at motorway conditions. The formaldehyde real-driving emissions increased by 14 % on average between the E0 and E10 fuels. However, the formaldehyde engine-out emissions were reduced for E10. Acetaldehyde real-driving emissions were below the detectable threshold for both E0 and E10 fuels, whereas, engine-out emissions increased for the E10. Whilst CO emissions presented inconsistent results across the cars and driving conditions, a reduction in CO2 emissions with the E10 fuel was observed across all conditions. NOx emissions increased for E10 compared to the E0 fuel in urban conditions and the opposite was observed for the motorway conditions. These findings highlight the need for the co-development of emissions regulations as greater ethanol and other renewable fuel content is blended into gasoline.
Shankar, VarunUsen, ImeMolden, NickWillman, ChristopherLeach, Felix
Tank-to-wheels (TTW) CO2 reduction for ethanol blends is determined from either gasoline composition or vehicle exhaust measurements. Fuels are characterized using a carbon intensity (CI), which is the ratio of carbon (as CO2 mass) in the fuel to the net heating value. Our objective is to assess changes in CI of market gasoline with varying ethanol content that can be used to appreciate change in vehicle tailpipe greenhouse gases (GHG) in response to policy controlling the ethanol level in market fuels. Ethanol has both a reduced carbon content and a reduced net (lower) heating value relative to petroleum species, with a CI slightly lower than that of typical petroleum gasoline. However, ethanol blending offers additional CI reduction because it enables a reduction of aromatics in the petroleum blendstock for oxygenate blending (BOB) while maintaining octane rating of the blend. Aromatics have a CI about 20% higher than paraffins. The primary refinery option for aromatic reduction is through lower severity or throughput for the gasoline reformer, which ultimately reduces CI in the BOB and the finished blend. Expected gasoline market blends were projected by developing a model that addressed US refining and blending in response to octane requirements. A TTW blending CI, or BCI, for ethanol is proposed to describe the total CI reduction in the finished blend enabled by the ethanol. The ethanol BCI was found to average at 59 gCO2/MJ for E10, E15, and E20 (10%, 15%, and 20% ethanol by volume) market fuels in this study. This is substantially below the ethanol chemical CI of 71.0 gCO2/MJ and petroleum CI of 73.5 g CO2/MJ due to the enabling of aromatic reduction. E10 in comparison to E0 (purely petroleum) is estimated to offer a national US tailpipe CO2 reduction of 16.6 billion kg annually.
Clark, Nigel N.Klein, TammyHiggins, TerrenceMcKain, David
The study was aimed at assessing the impact of fuel quality on the PN10 and PN23 emissions. A total of 6 fuels having different level of ethanol, renewable components, additives, and aromatic hydrocarbons were tested on the test vehicle. In the first phase of the study, the emission tests were conducted removing the GPF present in the original aftertreatment system to measure the direct impact of different fuels on the tailpipe particle emissions. The emission results showed that heavy aromatics components lead to a significant increase in particle emissions while the fuel with renewable components and E20 emit less PN comparing to the E10 reference fuel. However, those fuel impacts became very small with a GPF present due to a high filtration efficiency independent of fuel type.
Chijiiwa, RyokoRose, DominikBoger, ThorstenKrueger-Venus, JensCracknell, RogerWilliams, Rod
Reducing the carbon emissions associated with ICE- containing vehicles is a complimentary step towards carbon neutrality alongside the introduction of vehicles using newer energy vectors. In this study, the authors investigated emissions and efficiency impact of fully renewable E10-grade gasoline fuels blended with sustainable components at both 90 RON and 96 RON in comparison with reference regular E0 and premium certification gasolines across a range of ICE vehicle applications. Both renewable fuels were blended to the Japan JIS K2022 2012 E10 specification. The study shows very low carbon gasolines are technically feasible and potentially have an important role to play in decarbonizing both new advanced technology ICE vehicles and, critically, the existing ICE vehicle parc in the transition towards a zero emissions future.
Yates, TimothyAli, RanaSuzuki, MayuMatsubara, NaoyoshiYokoo, NozomiMorii, TakuyaAkiyama, ShotaIshizaki, Keita
With the ever-increasing demand for sustainable energy, alcohol fuels have garnered interest for use in heavy duty engines. The significant infrastructure for ethanol production and blending of ethanol with gasoline make these fuels/fuel blends desirable candidates. However, development of heavy duty engine technology that is capable of burning alcohol fuels while retaining the advantages of traditional diesel combustion requires an improved understanding of the soot formation for these fuels under conditions relevant to mixing-controlled combustion. This work uses an extinction diagnostic to study the sooting tendency of ethanol and gasoline/ethanol blends ranging from E10 to E98 during ignition in a homogeneous environment. Experiments were conducted in a rapid compression machine (RCM) for compressed conditions of 20 ± 1 bar and an approximately constant temperature (± 10K) which was unique for each fuel. For a given soot volume fraction, a linear relationship was observed between ethanol content and the equivalence ratio in which that soot volume fraction was formed. Accounting for the oxygenated nature of ethanol, E85 and E98 fuels produced similar amounts of soot at a given ϕox,, suggesting other factors outside of fuel oxygen content, such as fuel morphology, impact soot formation. Ignition delay data is reported for compressed pressures of 20 ± 1 bar and compressed temperatures ranging from 633 – 670 K for E10 and 771 – 789 K for E98. Varying pressures for E10 and E98 at conditions producing similar soot volume fractions demonstrated a linear dependence of soot formation on pressure, regardless of if the pressure considered was at top dead center or peak combustion pressure. The data gleaned from this work will be used to select soot models and chemical kinetic mechanisms for RCM simulations to ultimately model heavy duty engine technology with the studied fuels.
Gross, JosephChowdhury, MusharratDempsey, AdamAllen, Casey
The aim of this study is to develop a pathway towards Hydrogen combustoin on an opposed-piston four stroke engine (OP4S) by using 1D simulation code from Gamma Technologies. By its configuration, the OP4S engine has significant thermal efficiency benefits versus conventional ICE. The benefit of the OP4S is reduced heat losses due to elimination of the cylinder head, which increase the brake thermal efficiency. A hydrogen-fueled (H2) opposed-piston four stroke (OP4S) engine was modeled using GTPower to determine the potential on performance, thermal efficiency and emissions targets. The 1D model was first validated on E10 gasoline using experimental data and was used to explore changes to fuel type in NG and H2, fueling location (TPI and DI), fuel mixture strength (stoichiometric and lean), for an optimized plenum volume and turbocharger selection. The impact of these changes on volumetric efficiency, rated power, brake thermal efficiency and finally emissions for naturally aspirated and boosted conditions was determined. The simulation study demonstrates an engine design strategy for H2 fueled OP4S to meet power target of 20kW, brake thermal efficiency target of 40% and US EPA-Class II emission regulations for non-road small SI engine. The results also found that with a boosted stoichiometric burn direct injection H2 strategy combined with the OP4S can meet all performance and emission targets.
Zoldak, PhilipDouvry-Rabjeau, JulienZyada, Antowan
Formula (1) vehicles have transitioned from E5 to E10 fuel for the 2022 season to reduce carbon emissions and by 2026 the vehicles are required to use 100% sustainable fuels. The aim of this paper is to identify the operating envelope of the F1 power unit for E10-E100 fuel and the resulting emission levels for these fuel compositions using numerical simulations. To achieve this aim an F1 engine model has been developed in GT-Suite with reference to the FIA 2022 Technical Regulations. The combustion model has been validated using data obtained from literature relating to laminar and turbulent flame speed, friction and heat transfer characteristics within the combustion chamber. One of the main challenges of using ethanol-based fuels is the increased levels of formaldehyde in the tailpipe. This paper presents the operating window for achieving the optimum engine performance with ethanol fuel blends ranging from the current E10 to E100, in keeping with the current 2022 FIA F1 regulations and beyond 2026 where all fuel must be fully sustainable. The study showed that the estimated formaldehyde levels from 2026 Formula (1) engine is significantly higher than the current emission levels of automotive vehicles. This paper highlights the required regulatory changes to ensure the engine out aldehyde emissions meet WHO air quality standards.
Reeves, NickSamuel, Stephen
Climate change mitigation is the main challenge for the automotive industry, as the government issues legislation to combat CO2 emissions. In addition to electrification and battery electric vehicles, using low-carbon and zero-carbon fuels in Internal Combustion (IC) engines can also be an effective way to reach net zero-carbon transport. This study investigated and compared the combustion characteristics, performance and emissions of a highly boosted spark ignition (SI) engine fuelled with EU VI 95 RON E10 gasoline and blends of second-generation bio-gasoline with different ethanol contents of 5% (E5), 10% (E10), and 20% (E20). The single-cylinder SI engine was equipped with a centrally mounted high-pressure injector and supplied externally boosted air. Engine experiments were conducted at 2000 RPM and 3000 RPM with low and high load operations. The overall finding indicates that increasing the ethanol content of second-generation biofuels from 5% to 20% improves the indicated thermal efficiency at low load by 2.1% and increases the knock resistance by 16.8% at high load operation as well as a reduction by 0.7% on cycle-to-cycle variation. The engine emissions were primarily affected by the engine operating conditions, and no consistent correlation between the ethanol content and emissions. However, it was noted that the average NOx and THC emissions were increased by 11.02% and 66%, respectively, at the low load operation when the ethanol content was increased from 5% to 20% at the exact fuel injection timing of 350 BTDC.
Mohamed, MohamedZhao, HuaHarrington, AnthonyHall, Jonathan
The transition towards sustainable mobility encourages research into biofuels for use in internal combustion engines. For these alternative energy carriers, high-fidelity experimental data of flame speeds influenced by pressure, temperature, and air-fuel equivalence ratio under engine-relevant conditions are required to support the development of robust combustion models for spark-ignition engines. E.g., physicochemical-based approximation formulas adjusted to the fuel provide similar accuracy as high fidelity chemical kinetic model calculations at a fraction of the computational cost and can be easily adopted in engine simulation codes. In the present study, a workflow to enable predictive combustion engine modeling is applied first for a gasoline reference fuel and two biofuel blends recently proposed by Dahmen and Marquardt [Energy Fuels, 2017]. They identified one promising high-octane rating biofuel blend, expected to be optimized for SI combustion engines, and one promising low carbon high energy density blend with an optimized production pathway. The first blend consists of ethanol, 2-butanone, cyclopentane, and cyclopentanone, and the second blend consists of 1-butanol, ethanol, and cyclopentane. In the present study, the reference fuel RON95 E10 and both biofuel blends were experimentally examined for their flame speed in RWTH-ITV’s closed combustion chamber at 423 K and 2.5 bar, with equivalence ratios (Φ) ranging from 0.8 to 1.3. Then, pressure (1 atm and 5 bar) and temperature variations (398 K and 450 K) were conducted for the blends at Φ = 1.1. Due to its good agreement with the experimental results, a detailed kinetic mechanism was selected and used for comprehensive flame speed calculations at engine conditions. The approximation formula was parametrized in the next step, showing good agreement with the detailed calculations. Finally, the flame speed model is adopted for engine simulations, and the 0-2% burn duration of gasoline is used as a benchmark against engine data, showing the improved predictability of the newly derived approximation compared to a standard correlation. The biofuels’ burn durations indicate slight improvements due to higher flame speeds.
Hesse, RaikSchwenzer, ChristianGlaznev, RomanEsposito, StefaniaFenard, YannPitsch, HeinzBeeckmann, Joachim
Much development in the automotive industry relates to the use of high-content ethanol blended fuels to reduce the emissions produced by on-road engines/vehicles. However, less research has been done on the effect of operating small off-road engines (SORE) on high-blend ethanol fuels without substantial modifications. Most manufacturers of such engines only certify proper operation on low content ethanol blends such as E10 (10% ethanol, 90% gasoline by volume). This paper focuses on the use of E77 fuel in a small off-road engine which is speed-governed. Such engines are commonly used in lawn mowers, small recreational vehicles, or other equipment. The exhaust emissions and performance of the engine were evaluated using the EPA 6-mode duty cycle for small recreational engines where testing and analysis followed the recommendations of SAE J1088. This test cycle consisted of operating the engine at steady state load points using a fixed engine speed. The performance of the engine was compared to a baseline, found using E10 fuel. Following this, the engine was tested using E77 fuel utilizing the original un-modified carburetor with the original size jet and modified jet openings to provide better fuel-air mixture when using the high-blend ethanol fuel. Details of the engine jet modifications and the resulting performance are provided.
Davis, GregoryMazzei, Arnaldo
Biofuels are a promising alternative to fossil fuels as their availability has been reduced during the last decades and they are the main sources of greenhouse gases emissions. Moreover, the targets of the international regulations include reduction of fossil fuels consumption, and improvement of the sustainability of the vehicle fleet. Blending gasoline with biofuels will result in changes in fuel blending procedures and combustion process especially for the gasoline direct injection (GDI) engines. In this article, flame visualization using chemiluminescence techniques in a Single Cylinder Optical Research Engine (SCORE) is presented, with an adjusted intake pressure of 850 mbar and early intake single injection (280 CAD BTDC), by using 100% hydrocarbon-based gasoline, E10 (90% gasoline - 10% ethanol) and ETBE20 (80% gasoline - 20% ethyl tert-butyl ether). ETBE20 is a potential alternative for E10, as it contains the same amount of renewable fuel and has low water solubility. Moreover, ETBE20 does not have the issues of increased volatility as E10. The injection pressure was adjusted to 100 bar and the measurements were conducted at two different air / fuel ratios, stoichiometric (λ=1) and lean (λ=1,2) at 2000 RPM. Flame boundaries were identified by chemiluminescence images using an in-house algorithm and it was found that Ε10 showed faster flame development and its MFB (Mass Fraction Burned) ratio increased faster than ETBE20 for both stoichiometric and lean combustion conditions. The maximum COVIMEP (covariance of IMEP) was observed for E10 lean combustion at 2000 RPM, and it was equal to 2.1. In most cases the ETBE20 showed the lowest COVIMEP.
Tsiogkas, Vasileios D.Kleitsas, IoannisKolokotronis, DimitriosTourlidakis, AntoniosKaronis, Dimitrios
A vehicle fleet of seven low-mileage gasoline direct injection (GDI) vehicles from the U.S. market were tested to determine if GDI injector deposits were present causing a loss in fuel economy (FE). The real-world vehicles were tested “as-is” from the field. The data shows that, even in a deposit control additive (DCA) mandated market that uses E10 gasoline, injector deposits can still result in up to 2.7 % loss in FE. In addition, the data shows that the level of real-world FE loss is comparable to that demonstrated in the GDI injector fouling test developed to simulate real-world dirty-up of GDI vehicle injectors.
Taylor, Daniel J.Sears, BrianGalante-Fox, Julie
Renewable synthetic fuels offer the opportunity to significantly reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions worldwide if burned in the internal combustion engines of existing and future passenger car fleets. To evaluate this potential, two renewable synthetic gasoline fuels and alcohol blends that can be produced via the methanol-to-gasoline (MtG) synthesis process are evaluated in this study. The first synthetic gasoline, hereafter referred to as MtG, was developed by Chemieanlagenbau Chemnitz GmbH and Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg, produced within the closed carbon cycle mobility (C3-Mobility) project, and was blended with 10%(V/V) ethanol (MtG-E10), 20%(V/V) ethanol (MtG-E20), 15%(V/V) methanol (MtG-M15), and 15%(V/V) 2-butanol (MtG-2Bu15). The second synthetic fuel, named POSYN (POrsche SYNthetic fuel), was developed by Porsche. The suitability of the synthetic fuels was experimentally investigated in a spark-ignition (SI) single-cylinder research engine with a compression ratio (CR) of 10.8 and compared with conventional gasoline fuel with Research Octane Number 95 and 10%(V/V) ethanol (RON95 E10) gasoline fuel. Load variations at a constant engine speed of 2500 rpm showed no significant differences between Methanol-to-Gasoline with 10%(V/V) ethanol (MtG-E10) and RON95 E10 in terms of both combustion performance and emissions. Additionally, a load variation with MtG-E10 and RON95 E10 at an engine speed of 3000 rpm was performed on a commercially available BMW multi-cylinder engine (MCE), which confirmed that both these fuels show an almost identical combustion and emission behavior. However, the knock resistance improved with higher alcohol fractions. Because of the favorable anti-knock properties of methanol, Methanol-to-Gasoline with 15%(V/V) methanol (MtG-M15) showed the highest maximum net indicated efficiency of 39.33%. This is 2% more than with Methanol-to-Gasoline with 20%(V/V) ethanol (MtG-E20), despite the lower alcohol volume fraction. In contrast, Methanol-to-Gasoline with 15%(V/V) 2-butanol (MtG-2Bu15) showed no improvement. POSYN enabled a significant efficiency advantage over RON95 E10 because of its high knock resistance, however, achieved the same maximum engine load because of the reduced octane sensitivity. The variation of the relative air/fuel ratio at an engine speed of 2500 rpm and an engine load of 16 bar net indicated mean effective pressure confirmed these findings. The highest net indicated efficiency of 42.4% was achieved with POSYN at a relative air/fuel ratio of 1.6. The lean limit could not be increased with the synthetic fuels and alcohol blends albeit with an improved combustion stability.
Wouters, ChristianLehrheuer, BastianPischinger, StefanSeifert, PeterRaabe, ToniKolbeck, MichaelRausch, BenjaminMenger, LarsCasal Kulzer, André
Autoignition enhancing additives have been used for years to enhance the ignition quality of diesel fuel, with 2-ethylhexyl nitrate (EHN) being the most common additive. EHN also enhances the autoignition reactivity of gasoline, which has advantages for some low-temperature combustion techniques, such as Sandia’s Low-Temperature Gasoline Combustion (LTGC) with Additive-Mixing Fuel Injection (AMFI). LTGC-AMFI is a new high-efficiency and low-emissions engine combustion process based on supplying a small, variable amount of EHN into the fuel for better engine operation and control. However, the mechanism by which EHN interacts with the fuel remains unclear. In this work, a chemical-kinetic mechanism for EHN was developed and implemented in a detailed mechanism for gasoline fuels. The combined mechanism was validated against shock-tube experiments with EHN-doped n-heptane and HCCI engine data for EHN-doped regular E10 gasoline. Simulations showed a very good match with experiments. EHN chemistry fundamentals were also studied. Under LTGC-AMFI engine conditions, EHN generates NO2, formaldehyde and a combination of ~85% 3-heptyl and ~15% 1-butyl radical and butoxy diradical. Results show that the 3-heptyl and 1-butyl radicals are responsible for the autoignition-enhancing effect of EHN. Each mole of these radicals rapidly generates 2 moles of OH, which accelerate the low-temperature chemistry of the fuel, increasing its reactivity. The effects of the operating conditions on the effectiveness of EHN to increase the autoignition reactivity of the fuel were also studied. EHN’s effectiveness for increasing the autoignition reactivity is highest in the low-temperature regime, and it decreases as the temperature increases. EHN’s effectiveness to increase autoignition reactivity decreases with the combination of intake-pressure boost and EGR for typical engine operation. The effect of EHN on autoignition reactivity increases as equivalence ratio increases, enhancing the fuel’s φ-sensitivity. Therefore, with fuel stratification, EHN’s larger enhancement of autoignition reactivity for richer regions makes stratification techniques more effective.
Lopez Pintor, DarioDec, John
Rapid population growth and fuel crisis due to limited availability of fossil fuels, led the research in the fields of alternative fuel for the replacement of conventional fuels. The petroleum-like characteristics of ethanol make it an excellent alternative fuel for the internal combustion (IC) engines. It can be easily derived from waste agricultural resources such as plant biomass and forest residue, ease of production increases the possibility of its utilization locally in the agricultural engine and transport vehicles. A laboratory experiment was carried out, using a common rail direct injection (CRDI) diesel engine at varying load conditions (no-load, 20 Nm and 40 Nm) with two ethanol blends (5% and 10% v/v indicated by E05 and E10) and diesel (D100) to explore the combustion stability, combustion behaviour and emissions parameters of ethanol in existing compression ignition (CI) engine. The maximum in-cylinder pressure and heat release rate (HRR) were increased with ethanol addition into diesel. Ethanol’s higher latent heat of vaporization promotes cooling effects that prolong ignition time. Inherent oxygen and lower viscosity of ethanol improve the combustion phenomena, which results in the lower cycle-to-cycle variation and lower coefficient of variation (COV) for indicated mean effective pressure and peak in-cylinder pressure. Combustion stability was increased with the addition of ethanol. E10 is showing the lowest COVimep value (3.01%), then E05 (4.2%) followed by D100 (6.78%). Lower standard deviations were observed for E10 fuel throughout the combustion, representing stable combustion among tested fuels (D100 and E05) in test conditions (40 Nm). Lower carbon to hydrogen ratio and stable combustion, decrease CO, HC and smoke emissions by a substantial amount in the tailpipe with the increasing amount of ethanol in blends compare to base fuel.
Sahu, Tomesh KumarKshatri, RavindraKumar, AtulShukla, Pravesh Chandra
Effects of Ethanol-Blended Fuel on Combustion Characteristics, Gaseous and Particulate Emissions in Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI) Engines2021-26-03569/22/2021
Ethanol fuel blends with gasoline for spark ignition (SI) internal combustion engines are widely used on account of their advantages in terms of fuel economy and emissions reduction potential. The focus of this paper is to study the effects of these blends on combustion characteristics such as in-cylinder pressure profiles, gas-phase emissions (e.g., unburned hydrocarbons, NOx) and particulates (e.g., particulate matter and particle number) using both measurement campaigns and digital engineering workflows. Nineteen load-speed operating points in a 1L 3-cylinder GDI SI engine were measured and modelled. The measurements for in-cylinder pressure and emissions were repeated at each operating point for three types of fuel: gasoline (E0, 0% by volume of ethanol blend), E10 (10 % by volume of ethanol blend) and E20 (20% by volume of ethanol blend). A digital engineering workflow combining high-fidelity physico-chemical modelling with advanced machine learning techniques was adopted to cover the entire load-speed operating window of the engine within practical computational times. Model parameter estimation and validation against measurements were performed with respect to the in-cylinder pressure profiles and emissions. Subsequently, the validated model was applied for further investigations. The study demonstrates that the digital engineering workflow is capable of accurately simulating the effects of ethanol blended fuels on in-cylinder pressure profiles and trends in emissions, by simply modifying the chemical fuel composition to reflect the ethanol content in the blended fuel. Secondly, the calibrated model parameters behave well over the entire operating window, which is useful in simulating in-cylinder pressure profiles and emissions at new load-speed operating points, thus demonstrating the capability of the digital workflow to populate data and thus augment measurements. Finally, it was observed that the effects of ethanol content vary according to the operating conditions, e.g., particle number (PN) was found to decrease with increasing ethanol percentages for most of the engine operating points except at high engine load.
Lai, JiaweiLee, Kok FoongYap, Jun HouYadollahi, BijanBhave, AmitZhang, ZhouMa, XiaoXu, Hongming
In order to maximize the efficiency of light-duty gasoline engines, the Co-Optimization of Fuels and Engines (Co-Optima) initiative from the U.S. Department of Energy is investigating multi-mode combustion strategies. Multi-mode combustion can be describe as using conventional spark-ignited combustion at high loads, and at the part-load operating conditions, various advanced compression ignition (ACI) strategies are being investigated to increase efficiency. Of particular interest to the Co-Optima initiative is the extent to which optimal fuel properties and compositions can enable higher efficiency ACI combustion over larger portions of the operating map. Extending the speed-load range of these ACI modes can enable greater part-load efficiency improvements for multi-mode combustion strategies. In this manuscript, we investigate fuel effects for six different fuels, including four with a research octane number (RON) of 98 and differing fuel chemistries, iso-octane, and a market representative E10 fuel, on the load limits for two different ACI strategies: spark-assisted compression ignition (SACI) and partial fuel stratification-gasoline compression ignition (PFS-GCI) operation. Experimental results show that limits to intake boosting limit high load operation for most fuels, but high smoke emissions for high particulate matter index (PMI) fuels under SACI conditions could also be a limitation. Contrastingly, low load is limited by combustion efficiency, but these effects have more pronounced variation with fuel chemistry for PFS-GCI than with SACI. Additional, distinct effects affecting autoignition timing and peak heat release at higher speeds were identified for fuels having different low temperature heat release (LTHR) propensities for both ACI modes.
Powell, TommySzybist, James
Ethanol is regarded as a potential alternative fuel for combustion engine as it provides lower exhaust emissions, higher efficiency and higher octane rating. However, the solubility of ethanol in oil can effect lubricant quality. The impact of ethanol-blend gasoline on lubricants is a matter of concern that must be addressed. With this in mind, the current study investigates the effect of blending ethanol with gasoline on the oil layer adsorption/desorption mechanism. The blends used for the study are E0, E5, E10, and E15. The study is carried out with the help of a mathematical model that predicts the fuel adsorbed/desorbed in the oil layer of an engine. The mathematical model predictions are compared to experimental results obtained on a single-cylinder gasoline engine. Fuel adsorbed in the oil layer ranges from 0.46% for E0 fuel to 0.35% for E15 fuel. Similarly, the desorbed fuel ranges from 0.45% to 0.29% as the ethanol fraction increases from 0% to 15%. Despite the fact that the amount of fuel adsorbed/desorbed in the oil layer decreases as the ethanol fraction increases, the amount of fuel stored in the oil layer (i.e., the difference between adsorbed and desorbed fuel) increases from 0.01 percent to 0.06 percent which can significantly degrade the lubricant quality.
Kushwaha, GarimaSaraswati, SamirPaul PhD, Bireswar
Chassis dynamometer tests were conducted on three Class III on-highway motorcycles produced for the North American market and equipped with advanced emission control technologies in order to inform emissions inventories and compare the impacts of existing Tier 2 (E0) fuel with more market representative Tier 3 and LEV III certification fuels with 10% ethanol. For this study, the motorcycles were tested over the US Federal Test Procedure (FTP) and the World Motorcycle Test Cycle (WMTC) certification test cycles as well as a sample of real-world motorcycle driving informally referred to as the Real World Driving Cycle (RWDC). The primary interest was to understand the emissions changes of the selected motorcycles with the use of certification fuels containing 10% ethanol compared to 0% ethanol over the three test cycles. Generally, for most of the test motorcycle/drive cycle combinations, the use of E10 certification fuels compared to Tier 2 (E0) resulted in reductions in CO, HC, NMHC; with some FTP and RWDC tests showing increased NOx emissions. Reductions in CO2 with the use of E10 fuels were noted with N2O and CH4 emissions having little impact onCO2 equivalent emissions. PM mass emission rates were below 1 mg/km with no discernable trends concerning fuel changes. Tier 3 and LEV III E10 fuels also resulted in emissions changes to a suite of air toxics, including 17 carbonyl compounds, 1,3-butadiene, BTEX, styrene, and five C9 aromatics. Acetaldehyde emissions increased significantly with the E10 fuels for all motorcycle/drive cycle combinations, while toluene and benzene emissions decreased. The estimated ozone formation potential of the 30 compounds was reduced with the E10 fuels compared to Tier 2. Overall, this study, which examined the emission profiles of multiple motorcycles, test cycles, and in-use driving samples, provides insights on the emission inventory impacts from the introduction of ethanol-containing fuels, over a range of motorcycles, reflective of the North American in-use fleet.
Rosenblatt, DeborahStokes, JonathanCaffrey, CherylBrown, Kevin
Ethanol has shown tremendous potential in the journey of substitution of fossil fuels in the recent past. Primarily, the ethanol blends up to 10% in gasoline used in many countries as the existing vehicles are compatible with lower ethanol content. However, it is essential to address the compatibility of the vehicle’s fuel system when using higher ethanol-containing blends. The current study focused on the compatibility of different ethanol-gasoline blends with two widely used elastomer materials in the vehicle’s fuel system, namely, nitrile butadiene rubber/polyvinyl chloride blend (NBR/PVC) and epichlorohydrin (ECO). These materials are used for manufacturing parts like seals, gaskets, hoses/tubes, and cover of the fuel systems. The test fuels used in this study include commercial gasoline (E0), gasoline containing 10% ethanol (E10), 12% ethanol (E12), 15% ethanol (E15), and 20% ethanol (E20). The compositional analysis of NBR/PVC blend and ECO samples was undertaken using Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Sulfur (CHNS) analyzer, Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA). The test material specimens were immersed in test fuels at an elevated temperature of 55 ± 2°C for 1008 hr, or six weeks. Critical properties of material specimens under fresh, post immersion (wet), and dry conditions were analyzed. These properties include visual inspection, volume change, weight change, hardness change, tensile strength, and percentage (%) elongation change. Variations in properties of test specimens were used to illustrate the compatibility with test fuels. The results indicate that the volume change and weight change correspond well with hardness, tensile strength, and % elongation trends. The behavior of E10 and E12 fuels with test materials were found to be similar within a 5.0% tolerance. As we move to E15 and E20, the performance of elastomers changed moderately in certain properties, tensile strength, and % elongation change in particular.
Katta, LakshmiJoshi, RatnadeepSeth, SaritaSakthivel, P.Garg, SaritaChakradhar, MayaKagdiyal, VivekanandSaxena, DeepakRamakumar, S.S.V.
In view of the new emission regulations seeking to lower the particle cut-off size down to the current 23 nm, an extensive comprehension on the nature of sub-23 nm particles is crucial. In this regard, a new challenge lies ahead considering an even more massive use of biofuels. The objective of this research study was to characterize the sub-23 nm particles and to evaluate their volatile organic fraction (VOF) from a high performance, 1.8 L gasoline direct injection (GDI) engine under the Worldwide harmonized Light vehicles Test Cycle (WLTC). Particle emissions were measured through an Engine Exhaust Particle Sizer (EEPS) capable of particle sizing and counting in the range 5.6 - 560 nm. The sampling and conditioning were performed by both a single diluter and the Dekati Engine Exhaust Diluter (DEED) a Particle Measurement Programme (PMP) compliant sample conditioning system. The temperature of the dilution air at the first dilution stage and of the evaporation chamber in the DEED were varied to promote nucleation and condensation phenomena thus allowing to distinguish the VOF. The effect of ethanol at 10 %v/v (E10) and 85 %v/v (E85) blend on particle emissions was analyzed. The weight of sub-23 particles on the total emissions was assessed at each phase of the cycle. Main results highlighted that sub-23 nm particles give an important contribution to the total particle emissions. A strong reduction of particle concentration as the ethanol content in the fuel increases was observed. Moreover, the test performed at low dilution temperature showed a large number of su-23 nm particles thus revealing a large fraction of volatile components in specific phases of the cycle.
Catapano, FrancescoDi Iorio, SilvanaMagno, AgneseVaglieco, Bianca Maria
Low-temperature gasoline combustion engines can provide high efficiencies with very low NOx and particulate emissions, but rapid control of the combustion timing (50% burn point, CA50) remains a challenge. Partial Fuel Stratification (PFS) was recently demonstrated [2019-01-1156] to control CA50 over a wide range at some selected operating conditions using a regular-grade E10 gasoline. PFS was produced by a double direct injection (D-DI) strategy using a gasoline-type direct injector. For this D-DI-PFS strategy, the majority of the fuel is injected early in the intake stroke, establishing the minimum equivalence ratio in the charge, while the remainder of the fuel is supplied by a second injection at a variable time (SOI2) during the compression stroke to vary the amount of stratification. Adjusting the stratification changes the combustion timing, and this can be done on a cycle-to-cycle basis by adjusting SOI2. The current work expands the understanding of D-DI-PFS by investigating the effects of global equivalence ratio, variations in the fuel-fraction split between the two injections, and intake pressure on the ability of D-DI-PFS to control CA50, for both a regular-grade gasoline and this same gasoline additized with 2-ethylhexyl nitrate (EHN) to enhance its autoignition reactivity. Moreover, the understanding gained from these fixed-load experiments was applied to determine the ability of D-DI-PFS to control CA50 through a load sweep from 0.42 ≥ φ ≥ 0.30 at intake pressures equal to 1.0 bar and 1.3 bar for both the non-additized and EHN-additized gasolines. For each load, SOI2 was adjusted to keep CA50 between the knock and misfire limits, while also considering emissions constraints. For both fuels, D-DI-PFS was shown to be effective for maintaining appropriate CA50 phasing over the sweep. Furthermore, NOx emissions were kept close to the US-2010 HD limit and combustion stability (COV-IMEPg) was kept to a reasonable value.
Lopez Pintor, DarioGentz, GeraldDec, John
Mixture formation in GDI engine is considered crucial in determining combustion and emissions characteristics, which mainly depend on fuel spray quality. However, spray characteristics change with variations in control parameters such as fuel injection parameters, fuel injection strategy, engine operating conditions, and fuel properties. Growing research interest in the use of methanol as an additive with gasoline has motivated the need for deeper investigations of spray characteristics of these fuels. Although, it can be noted that sufficient literature is available in the area of spray characterization under several independent influencing factors, however, comparative analysis of gasohol spray behavior under different ambient conditions is hardly studied. This study is aimed at investigating the spray morphology, and evaporation and mixing characteristics of M15 (15% v/v methanol in iso-octane) and M85 (85% v/v methanol in iso-octane) in comparison to iso-octane at early injection and late injection conditions. CFD simulation studies were performed using multi-hole GDI injector in a constant volume spray chamber (CVSC) using Converge software. Numerical model used for the analysis was validated using experimental spray penetration measurements, available at the ECN. The results highlighted that effect of methanol properties on spray penetration and SMD of fuel droplets diminished under high temperature-high pressure conditions. Although, substantial difference in droplets evaporation was found among the test fuels due to inferior volatility of methanol, which definitely demands optimization of fuel injection parameters for adapting methanol blends in the engine. However, despite lower droplet evaporation, equivalence ratio distribution for methanol blends was more shifted towards stoichiometric conditions due to inherent fuel oxygen content.
Kalwar, AnkurChintagunti, SamAgarwal, Avinash Kumar
Particulate matter, mainly its finer fraction, is among the main atmospheric pollutants present in an urban environment. The relationship between the increase in the concentration of this pollutant and the harm to human health is well established. The main sources of particulate matter in urban areas are mobile sources, which includes the exhaust emission from light duty vehicles. In Brazil since its advent in 2003, there has been great penetration in the market for bi-fuel or "flex" vehicles, which use ethanol, gasoline or their mixtures as fuel. More recently, with the introduction of public policies that led to the adoption of improvements in the energy efficiency of vehicles, the use of direct fuel injection technology (GDI), as a trend in downsizing for improved fuel economy, gained prominence. This technology optimizes the burning process in the combustion chamber of the engines, making their use more efficient. On the other hand, it has the side effect of a higher emission of particulate matter compared to engines that use indirect injection. This higher emission is aggravated by the fact that the particulate matter is extremely fine, precisely the most harmful fraction because it contains a large amount of inhalable particles. This work measured the emission of particulate matter in light passenger vehicles, characterizing it in terms of emitted mass in "flex" vehicles with port fuel (indirect) injection (PFI), using ethanol and gasoline, and in a gasoline vehicle with direct fuel injection. For the four flex fuel PFI vehicles, the average emission of particulate matter was 1.1 ± 0.3 mg.km-1 for the tests running ethanol, and 1.0 ± 0.3 mg.km-1 for gasohol. For the vehicle equipped with GDI the average emission, with gasohol fuel was 2.8 ± 0.2 mg.km-1.
Borsari, VanderleiNeto, Edson ElpídioFerreira, Vanderlei RodriguesBerber, Erick Bueno
The compatibilities of fuel system elastomers and plastics were evaluated for test fuels containing 16 vol.% isobutanol (iBu16) and 10 vol.% ethanol (E10). Elastomers included two fluorocarbons, four acrylonitrile butadiene rubbers (NBRs), and one type of fluorosilicone, neoprene, and epichlorohydrin/ethylene oxide. Plastic materials included four nylon grades, three polyamides, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE), polyphenylene sulfide (PPS), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), polyoxymethylene (POM), flexible polyvinylchloride (PVC), polyetherimide (PEI), polyetheretherketone (PEEK), and a phenol formaldehyde reinforced with glass fiber (GFPF). For each polymer material, the volume, mass, and hardness were measured before and after drying. Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) measurements were also performed on the dried specimens. For the elastomer materials the measured properties were similar for both fuels. The fluorocarbons and fluorosilicone swelled the least (~20%), while more moderate (20-45%) expansion occurred for the two NBR hose grades and (ECO). HNBR, neoprene, and silicone exhibited high swelling and softening, which likely precludes their use in many fuel systems. For the plastic materials, the observed swell was low; Nylon 11 swelled around 15%, but otherwise, their measured swell was <10%. Many of the plastics also showed sensitivity to alcohol type, as the E10 test fuel often imparted appreciably higher swell than iBu16. In general, the plastic materials showed good compatibility with the iBu16 and E10 test fuels. The sole exception was the PVC material, which was structurally degraded from exposure to either fuel type. Compositional analysis showed high fuel retention in Nylon 12 and PVC. PVC also experienced a significant reduction in plasticizer compounds following exposure, which resulted in embrittlement and an increase in the glass-to-rubber transition temperature.
Kass, MichaelJanke, ChristopherConnatser, Raynella M.Lewis, SamuelBaustian, JamesWolf, LesKoch, Wolf
Water injection can be applied to spark ignited gasoline engines to increase the Knock Limit Spark Advance and improve the thermal efficiency. The Knock Limit Spark Advance potential of 6 °CA to 11 °CA is shown by many research groups for EN228 gasoline fuel using experimental and simulation methods. The influence of water is multi-layered since it reduces the in-cylinder temperature by vaporization and higher heat capacity of the fresh gas, it changes the chemical equilibrium in the end gas and increases the ignition delay and decreases the laminar flame speed. The aim of this work is to extend the analysis of water addition to different octane ratings. The simulation method used for the analysis consists of a detailed reaction scheme for gasoline fuels, the Quasi-Dimensional Stochastic Reactor Model and the Detonation Diagram. The detailed reaction scheme is used to create the dual fuel laminar flame speed and combustion chemistry look-up tables. The Detonation Diagram is used as a novel approach in the Quasi-Dimensional Stochastic Reactor Model to evaluate the auto-ignition characteristic in the end gas and determine if it is a harmless deflagration or developing detonation. First, the Quasi-Dimensional Stochastic Reactor Model is trained for three engine operating points and a RON95 E10 fuel. Its performance is evaluated based on experimental results of a single cylinder research engine. Subsequently, different spark timings and water-fuel ratios are investigated for different Primary Reference Fuels. The results outline that water addition can effectively reduce the strength of auto-ignition in the end gas for different Primary Reference Fuels. Thereby, it can be stated that the reduction of the auto-ignition strength through water addition by 50 - 80 % water-fuel ratio for high octane number fuels corresponds to the spark timing delay of 6 °CA or an increase of research octane number by 10 points.
Franken, TimSeidel, LarsMatrisciano, AndreaMauss, FabianKulzer, André C.Schuerg, Frank
ϕ-sensitivity is a fuel characteristic that has important benefits for the operation and control of low-temperature gasoline combustion (LTGC) engines. However, regular gasoline is not very ϕ-sensitive at low-pressure conditions, meaning that intake boosting (typically Pin ≥ 1.3 bar) is required to take advantage of this property. Thus, there is strong motivation to design a gasoline-like fuel that simultaneously improves ϕ-sensitivity, RON and octane sensitivity, to make an improved fuel suitable for both LTGC and modern SI engines. In a previous study [SAE 2019-01-0961], a 5-component regulation-compliant fuel blend (CB#1) was computationally designed; and simulations showed promising results when it was compared to a regular E10 gasoline (RD5-87). The current study experimentally evaluates CB#1 in the Sandia LTGC engine and compares the results with those of RD5-87. The RON and octane sensitivity were improved 1.3 and 3.6 units by CB#1, respectively. Similar amounts of intake heat are required to achieve autoignition of CB#1 and RD5-87 at premixed, naturally aspirated conditions, ensuring that CB#1 can operate under HCCI mode as easily as regular gasoline. Furthermore, similar maximum engine loads can be reached with both CB#1 and RD5-87 under premixed, high-boost conditions. The ϕ-sensitivity was evaluated using two metrics. First, starting from well-mixed conditions, the change in CA10 with a specific amount of fuel stratification provides a metric of how the ϕ-sensitivity advances the ignition. Second, the amount of CA50 advancement without knock that is achievable with stratification provides a metric of how the ϕ-sensitivity spreads the heat release. Both metrics showed that CB#1 has a greater ϕ-sensitivity than RD5-87. Additionally, CB#1 has a lower peak heat release rate than RD5-87 for stratified operation with the same combustion phasing because of the larger spread of heat release, leading to lower combustion noise and lower knock propensity. Finally, CB#1 was found to be a more suitable fuel to work with ignition enhancers, such as EHN, compared to RD5-87.
Lopez Pintor, DarioDec, JohnGentz, Gerald
Gasoline compression ignition (GCI) technology shows the potential to obtain high thermal efficiencies while maintaining low soot and NOx emissions in light-duty engine applications. Recent experimental studies and numerical simulations have indicated that high reactivity gasoline-like fuels can further enable the benefits of GCI combustion. However, there is limited empirical data in the literature studying the gasoline compression ignition process at relevant in-cylinder conditions, which are required for further optimizing combustion system designs. This study investigates the temporal and spatial evolution of the compression ignition process of various high reactivity gasoline fuels with research octane numbers (RON) of 71, 74 and 82, as well as a conventional RON 97 E10 gasoline fuel. A ten-hole prototype gasoline injector specifically designed for GCI applications capable of injection pressures up to 450 bar was used. Vapor and liquid penetration from high speed optical visualizations, as well as combustion measurement were studied in an optically accessible constant volume spray and combustion chamber. Near simultaneous shadowgraph and Mie scattering images were captured to investigate the spray characteristics. OH* chemiluminescence and natural luminosity images were recorded simultaneously to characterize the ignition process through two high-speed cameras. The experiments were conducted under a wide range of ambient charge gas conditions, including temperatures from 900 to 1200 Kelvin, charge gas pressures from 50 to 100 bar, oxygen levels from 10-21% to represent 0-50% exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) levels. The fuel was injected at 300 and 450 bar injection pressure. Results show that vapor penetration of the E10 and high reactivity gasoline fuels are similar, and the liquid penetration is related to the fuel density. With the OH* chemiluminescence images analysis, the ignition delay decreases, and the flame lift-off length moves upstream towards the injector tip with increasing ambient temperature, increasing charge gas pressure, increasing cetane number and decreasing EGR level. A gasoline ignition delay correlation and a lift-off length correlation considering the charge gas conditions and the fuel properties have been achieved.
Zhang, JiongxunTang, MengAtkinson, WilliamSchmidt, HenryLee, Seong-YoungNaber, JeffreyTzanetakis, TomSim, Jaeheon
The effect of low level ethanol fuel on the power and emissions characteristics was studied in a small, mass produced, carbureted, spark-ignited, Briggs and Stratton Vanguard 19L2 engine. Ethanol has been shown to be an attractive renewable fuel by the automotive industry; having anti-knock properties, potential power benefits, and emissions reduction benefits. With increasing availability and the possible mandates of higher ethanol content in pump gasoline, there is interest in exploring the effect of using higher content ethanol fuels in the small utility engine market. The fuels in this study were prepared by gravimetrically mixing 98.7% ethanol with a balance of 87 octane no-ethanol gasoline in approximately 5% increments from pure gasoline to 25% ethanol. Alcor Petrolab performed fuel analysis on the blended fuels and determined the actual volumetric ethanol content was within 2%. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the performance and emissions of a small utility engine across several load points. Compared to previous works, this study concentrated on engine operation at wide open throttle as any decrease in engine power output due to a fuel's ethanol content would negatively impact an engine's sales potential; small engines developed for this market sector are engineered to meet a certain horsepower rating. For this study, the engine governor was set at 3800 rpm. After the engine governor was adjusted to its maximum position (i.e. 3800 rpm), the engine was loaded by a hydraulic dynamometer. As the load was increased, the engine speed slowly decreased as the dynamometer's torque was increased. Full load engine operation down to an engine speed of approximately 2800 rpm, just higher than the engine's torque peak, was investigated. In addition to engine out emissions and shaft power, exhaust temperatures and cylinder pressure were recorded. Overall, the experimental results showed increasing ethanol content results in a small gain in power output even though the energy content of the fuel was decreasing. It was found that nitrogen oxides plus hydrocarbons emissions slightly decreased or stayed equivalent while the carbon monoxide emissions were reduced by 10% for the E10 blend and by 20% for the E15 blend. Finally, cylinder pressure and heat release analysis showed that the addition of ethanol increased peak cylinder pressure and advanced the main heat release closer towards top dead center.
Paliwal, SaagerBower, Glenn R.
Flash boiling, as a potential way to achieve good atomization at low cost, is of great interest to researchers. A customized wide-angle multi-hole gasoline injector was utilized in this work to see how commercial E10 gasoline spray behaves at high injection pressure of gasoline compression ignition (GCI) application from 5 MPa to 45 MPa, and ambient gas pressure from 3 kPa to 300 kPa . A diffused back illumination technique was implemented to visualize the spray at flash boiling and non-flashing conditions. Three different types of spray pattern were observed and correlated to the characteristics like penetration length and spray width. A new parameter, namely optical thickness, was applied in the field of characterizing flash boiling effect for the first time, and compared with widely used penetration length and spray width. Optical thickness was found to be a good indicator for collapse, transition, and non-flashing spray.
Du, JianguoMohan, BalajiSim, JaeheonChang, JunseokFang, TiegangRoberts, William L
The compatibility of four potential bio-derived blendstock molecules with infrastructure elastomers was determined by measuring the volume change following exposure. The blendstock molecules included 1-propanol, diisobutylene, cyclopentanone, and a furan mixture. The elastomers included two fluorocarbons, six nitrile rubbers (NBRs), and one each of fluorosilicone, neoprene, polyurethane, and silicone. The elastomers were exposed to the fuel molecules as blends ranging from 0 to 30 vol.% in both a blendstock for oxygenate blending (BOB) formulation and an E10 fuel. Silicone exhibited excessive swelling in each test fuel, while the other elastomers showed good compatibility (low swell) with diisobutylene, 1-propanol, and the furan mixture when BOB was used as the base fuel. The E10 base fuel produced high (>30%) swell in neoprene, polyurethane, and some nitrile rubbers. In most cases diisobutylene produced the least amount of volume expansion. In contrast, the addition of cyclopentanone produced unacceptably high swelling in each elastomer and is not considered suitable for use with these fuels. Analysis of the results showed that the swelling behavior is predominantly due to the polarity of the elastomer and test fuels.
Kass, Michael D.Janke, Christopher J.Connatser, Raynella M.West, Brian
In current production natural gas/gasoline bi-fuel vehicles, fuels are supplied via port fuel injection (PFI). Injecting a gaseous fuel in the intake port significantly reduces the volumetric efficiency and consequently torque as compared to gasoline. In addition to eliminating the volumetric efficiency challenge, direct injection (DI) of natural gas (NG) can enhance the in-cylinder flow, mixing, and combustion process resulting in improved efficiency and performance. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) approach to model high-pressure gaseous injection was developed and validated against X-ray data from Argonne’s Advanced Photon Source. NG side and central DI of various designs and injection strategies were assessed experimentally along with CFD correlation. Significant effects on combustion metrics were quantified and explained via improved understanding of the in-cylinder flow effects due to NG injection. On-demand in-cylinder blending using E10 PFI and NG DI provides an additional lever to adjust in-cylinder turbulence as well as knock resistance across the engine speed and load range. NG DI improves part-load dilution tolerance due to higher in-cylinder turbulence and the high knock resistance of NG compared to E10 improves wide open throttle (WOT) performance while enabling increased compression ratios (CR). Vehicle level simulations suggest that implementing this strategy on a ½ ton pick-up truck with a naturally aspirated engine at 12.5:1 CR improves energy consumption on the aggressive US06 drive cycle by 15.5% compared to E10 operation, and gives a petroleum reduction of 78% over the blended range. There are challenges regarding market acceptance and widespread adoption of dual-fuel NG-gasoline vehicle applications beyond the performance degradation when the vehicle runs out of natural gas. Those challenges include practical concerns such as loss of cargo volume and payload due to the NG storage tank, extended NG refueling times, fueling convenience due to gasoline and NG fuel tanks, and limited NG fueling infrastructure.
Wallner, ThomasPamminger, MichaelScarcelli, RiccardoPowell, ChristopherSimeu, Severin KamguiaWooldridge, StevenBoyer, BradIqbal, AsimReese, Ron
Φ-Sensitivity for LTGC Engines: Understanding the Fundamentals and Tailoring Fuel Blends to Maximize This Property2019-01-09614/2/2019
Φ-sensitivity is a fuel characteristic that has important benefits for the operation and control of low-temperature gasoline combustion (LTGC) engines. A fuel is φ-sensitive if its autoignition reactivity varies with the fuel/air equivalence ratio (φ). Thus, multiple-injection strategies can be used to create a φ-distribution that leads to several benefits. First, the φ-distribution causes a sequential autoignition that reduces the maximum heat release rate. This allows higher loads without knock and/or advanced combustion timing for higher efficiencies. Second, combustion phasing can be controlled by adjusting the fuel-injection strategy. Finally, experiments show that intermediate-temperature heat release (ITHR) increases with φ-sensitivity, increasing the allowable combustion retard and improving stability. A detailed mechanism was applied using CHEMKIN to understand the chemistry responsible for φ-sensitivity. For fuels with NTC behavior, φ-sensitivity is greatest in the NTC region due to enhanced ITHR reactions, which explains the experimental correlation between φ-sensitivity and ITHR. Under engine conditions, higher intake pressure means lower intake temperature to balance the reactivity, and both effects increase the φ-sensitivity. However, φ-sensitivity remains almost constant if decreased oxygen concentration is used to control the reactivity increase with intake-pressure boost because pressure and oxygen have opposite effects. Finally, for fuels without an NTC region, φ-sensitivity is lower and almost constant as operating conditions vary. The potential of designing fuel blends that increase the φ-sensitivity compared to RD5-87 (regular E10 gasoline), while maintaining high RON and octane-sensitivity, was investigated. Higher φ-sensitivity and higher RON than RD5-87 can be reached with a 5-component blend that meets U.S. regulations. The fuel mixture is composed of a combination of 1-hexene, n-pentane, iso-octane, p-xylene and iso-butanol (which was recently approved for gasoline in the U.S.). This study shows that it is possible to have both high φ-sensitivity and high RON with high octane-sensitivity.
Lopez Pintor, DarioDec, JohnGentz, Gerald
Internal combustion engines for plug-in hybrid heavy duty trucks, especially long haul trucks, could play an important role in facilitating use of battery power. Power from a low carbon electricity source could thereby be employed without an unattractive vehicle cost increase or range limitation. The ideal engine should be powered by a widely available affordable liquid fuel, should minimize air pollutant emissions, and should provide lower greenhouse gas emissions. Diesel engines could fall short in meeting these objectives, especially because of high emissions. In this paper we analyze the potential for a flex fuel gasoline-alcohol engine approach for a series hybrid powertrain. In this approach the engine would provide comparable (or possibly greater) efficiency than a diesel engine while also providing 90 around lower NOx emissions than present cleanest diesel engine vehicles. Ethanol or methanol would be employed to increase knock resistance. Engines that could be deployed in the relatively near term could also use high rpm operation and /or water injection, to allow operation with a very small amount of alcohol in addition to a low concentration mixture such as E10 (or possibly with no additional alcohol). Further NOx reduction (by use of higher levels of EGR) and increased efficiency (by use of alcohol enhance heat recovery) could potentially be obtained over a longer term. While the analysis shows the potential for substantial benefits of using this approach, more detailed engine modeling is needed to provide more accurate illustrative engine features.
Cohn, DanielBromberg, Leslie
Emissions from Low- and Mid-Level Blends of Anhydrous Ethanol in Gasoline2019-01-09974/2/2019
Typically ethanol is present in gasoline as a 10% blend by volume (E10), although E15, E85 (51 to 83%), and E0 are also available at selected stations. Numerous studies of tailpipe regulated emissions have been conducted to compare emissions from E10 and E0, and there is a growing body of literature addressing blends of E15 and higher. Isolating the effect of ethanol in a study is philosophically difficult, because the ethanol naturally displaces some hydrocarbons, because the ethanol interacts with the remaining gasoline, and because properties of mixing are often nonlinear. Some studies have used splash blending, simply mixing the ethanol with a reference gasoline to produce a blend for comparison to the reference. Others have used match blending, where the objective is to match selected properties of the blend to properties of a reference gasoline. Recent studies have examined both port injected and direct injected engines, the latter being both naturally aspirated and turbocharged, and differing test cycles have been used. In consequence, the conclusions of the studies are not uniform. This paper examines the available data and statistical analyses to determine the effects of blending approach, engine technology and test cycle on the comparative emissions. Of central interest are the parameters selected as study variables or to be held constant in match blending of fuels at different ethanol levels. Distillation matching must acknowledge the effect of ethanol on the curve, demanding correction by selective addition of hydrocarbons. Some multivariate studies have employed aromatic content and the particle mass index for additional matching With splash blending studies, the parameters vary by inherent nature of the mix, and octane number (ON) rises with ethanol content. Statistics and causes behind variability of results are explained, and the match blends employed in studies are compared with common refinery practice in producing gasoline. Results demonstrate the importance of including all multivariate study parameters for emissions prediction.
Clark, NigelKlein, TammyHiggins, TerryMcKain, David L.
When fuel at elevated temperatures is injected into an ambient environment at a pressure lower than the saturation pressure of the fuel, the fuel vaporizes in the nozzle and/or immediately upon exiting the nozzle; that is, it undergoes flash boiling. It is characterized by a two-phase flow regime co-located with primary breakup, which significantly affects the spray characteristics. Under flash boiling conditions, the near nozzle spray angle increases, which can lead to shorter penetration because of increased entrainment. In a multi-hole injector this can cause other impacts downstream resulting from the increased plume to plume interactions. To study the effect of injector temperature and injection pressure with real fuels, an experimental investigation of the spray characteristics of a summer grade gasoline fuel with 10% ethanol (E10) was conducted in an optically accessible constant volume spray vessel. A gasoline direct-injection injector with six holes typical of a side-injection engine was studied. Optical diagnostics included high-speed photography with alternate frame imaging from Mie-Scattering and Shadowgraph techniques. Ambient conditions representing Early Injection (45°C, 1 bar) and Late Injection (180°C, 4bar) conditions representative of gasoline direct injection events were studied at injector temperatures from 75 to 250°C and at injection pressures of 100, 150, 200 and 250 bar. Results showed that for early injection condition, increased fuel temperature leads to two primary effects due to flash boiling: (i) an appreciable increase in spray angle near the nozzle exit followed by (ii) a decrease downstream of the nozzle due to the interaction of the plumes and collapsing sprays. For the early injection condition, spray penetration was observed to be minimum at 100°C followed by an increase in penetration at higher temperatures due to the collapsing sprays. For the late injection condition, the spray angle at the exit and downstream of the nozzle decreased with temperature. Besides, increased injection pressures lead to increased spray penetration due to higher injection momentum of the sprays outperforming the plume to plume interactions.
Miganakallu Narasimhamurthy, NiranjanAtkinson, WilliamYang, ZhuyongNaber, Jeffrey
Combustion-Timing Control of Low-Temperature Gasoline Combustion (LTGC) Engines by Using Double Direct-Injections to Control Kinetic Rates2019-01-11564/2/2019
Low-temperature gasoline combustion (LTGC) engines can provide high efficiencies and extremely low NOx and particulate emissions, but controlling the combustion timing remains a challenge. This paper explores the potential of Partial Fuel Stratification (PFS) to provide fast control of CA50 in an LTGC engine. Two different compression ratios are used (CR=16:1 and 14:1) that provide high efficiencies and are compatible with mixed-mode SI-LTGC engines. The fuel used is a research grade E10 gasoline (RON 92, MON 85) representative of a regular-grade market gasoline found in the United States. The fuel was supplied with a gasoline-type direct injector (GDI) mounted centrally in the cylinder. To create the PFS, the GDI injector was pulsed twice each engine cycle. First, an injection early in the intake stroke delivered the majority of the fuel (70 - 80%), establishing the minimum equivalence ratio in the charge. Then, a second injection supplied the remainder of the fuel (20 - 30%) at a variable timing during the compression stroke, from 200° to 330°CA (0°CA = TDC-intake, 360°CA = TDC-compression) to provide controlled stratification. For both CRs, second DI timing sweeps were performed for a range of intake pressures from highly boosted to naturally aspirated conditions, allowing the CA50 control authority at each condition to be determined. By varying the late-DI timing, CA50 could be adjusted as much a 12°CA, from near the misfire limit (overly retarded CA50 with COV-IMEPg > 3%) to well beyond the acceptable knock/ringing limit (overly advanced CA50 with RI > 5 MW/m2). For different conditions, the amount of DI timing retard and CA50 advancement was limited by either engine knock, combustion instabilities, or high NOx emissions (NOx > 0.27 g/kWh). For most conditions, approximately 6-8°CA of CA50 control was possible with good stability and acceptable NOx emissions.
Gentz, GeraldDernotte, JeremieJi, ChunshengLopez Pintor, DarioDec, John
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