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Fuel and Engine Design for Future Thermal Propulsion Systems

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A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "J: Thermal Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2020) | Viewed by 18920

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Amin Paykani

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Guest Editor

School of Engineering and Computer Science, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, UK
Interests: low temperature combustion strategies (HCCI, RCCI, GCI); synthetic and e-fuels; alternative fuels-including gaseous fuels

Prof. Dr. Agustin Valera-Medina

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Guest Editor

Institute of Energy, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
Interests: alternative fuels; hydrodynamics; flame stabilization; fuel injection; heat transfer; combustion technologies
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Felix Leach

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Guest Editor

Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PJ, UK
Interests: combustion; emissions and efficiency in internal combustion engines; instrumentation; fuel injection; particulates; real driving emissions; fuels

Dr. Chong Cheng Tung

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

China-UK Low Carbon College, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
Interests: bioenergy; gas turbine combustion; alternative fuels; spray flame; pyrolysis; biofuel production

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Transport will continue to be powered by internal combustion (IC) engines; however, the growing challenges for IC engines in terms of additional reductions in CO2 emissions and air quality motivate the use of low carbon fuels. Alongside electric mobility, highly efficient IC engines running on renewable synthetic fuels represent a promising avenue. For Post-2025 CO2 targets, IC engines need to be improved through optimization in engine design and combustion system. To make deep cuts to transportation emissions, scenarios for co-development of low carbon fuels and optimized powertrains will be needed. This Special Issue of Energies aims to compile recent research and development efforts towards fuel and engine design to meet future emissions targets in thermal propulsion systems. Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

Low temperature combustion strategies (HCCI, RCCI, GCI);
Advanced combustion strategies for automotive applications;
Optimized IC engines for mild hybrid vehicle platforms;
Alternative low carbon fuels (natural gas, biofuels, ethanol, etc.);
Renewable fuels (HVO, FAME, etc.);
Renewable synthetic and e-fuels (hydrogen, methanol, ammonia, etc.);
Fuel reforming in advanced combustion engines (D-EGR, TFR, NVO, etc.);
Wankel rotary engine and gas turbine as a range extender;
Innovative technologies such as split-cycle and free-piston engines.

Dr. Amin Paykani
Dr. Agustin Valera-Medina
Dr. Felix Leach
Dr. Chong Cheng Tung
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 6149 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Comparative Study on Chemical Kinetics Mechanisms for Methane-Based Fuel Mixtures under Engine-Relevant Conditions

by Amin Paykani

Energies 2021, 14(10), 2834; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14102834 - 14 May 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2072

Abstract

The use of natural gas in pure or in a blended form with hydrogen and syngas in spark ignition (SI) engines has received much attention in recent years. They have higher diffusion coefficient and laminar flame speed, a small quenching distance and wider flammability limit which compensate the demerits of the lean-burn natural gas combustion. Therefore, a careful examination of the chemical kinetics of combustion of gaseous fuel blends is of great importance. In this paper, performance of the various chemical kinetics mechanisms is compared against experimental data, accumulated for methane-based fuel blends under engine-relevant conditions to find the most appropriate mechanism in engine simulations. Pure methane, methane/syngas, and methane/propane blends are mainly studied at various temperatures, pressures, and equivalence ratios. The ignition delay time and laminar flame speed are used as quantitative metrics to compare the simulation results with the data from experiments. The mechanisms were shown to be mainly consistent with the experimental data of lean and stoichiometric mixtures at high pressures. It was also shown that the GRI-3.0 and 290Rxn mechanisms have high compatibility with the ignition delay times and laminar flame speed at high pressures and lean conditions, and they can be utilized for simulations of SI engine combustion due to their lower computational cost. The results of present research provide an important contribution to the methane-based fuel blends combustion simulation under SI engine-relevant conditions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fuel and Engine Design for Future Thermal Propulsion Systems)

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17 pages, 7723 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Resonant Combustion Start Considering Potential Energy of Free-Piston Engine Generator

by Mitsuhide Sato, Takumi Goto, Jianping Zheng and Shoma Irie

Energies 2020, 13(21), 5754; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13215754 - 03 Nov 2020

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2172

Abstract

Free-piston engine generators without a crank mechanism are expected to be used in series hybrid vehicles because of their lower losses. The series hybrid system requires a low starting thrust because the engine frequently starts depending on the battery state. This study clarifies the effectiveness of the constant thrust resonance starting method that utilizes the compression pressure of the engine and the spring thrust. The piston must pass the combustion starting point with a predetermined speed to start combustion. Herein, we present a thrust setting method that uses the energy state diagram to optimize the velocity at the combustion start point. A simulation is performed assuming output when mounted on a vehicle. Consequently, the simulation results show that the maximum thrust can be reduced by more than 90% compared to that without resonance. Moreover, the speed at the combustion start point is in agreement with the value obtained using an energy state diagram. An impulse-like combustion pressure is generated in 180 ms, and combustion can be started using resonance, as shown in an experiment using a small-output engine and linear motor. The effectiveness of the constant thrust resonance starting method was confirmed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fuel and Engine Design for Future Thermal Propulsion Systems)

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20 pages, 5175 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Prediction of Novel Humified Gas Turbine Cycle Parameters for Ammonia/Hydrogen Fuels

by Milana Guteša Božo and Agustin Valera-Medina

Energies 2020, 13(21), 5749; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13215749 - 02 Nov 2020

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2660

Abstract

Carbon emissions reduction via the increase of sustainable energy sources in need of storage defines chemicals such as ammonia as one of the promising solutions for reliable power decarbonisation. However, the implementation of ammonia for fuelling purposes in gas turbines for industry and energy production is challenging when compared to current gas turbines fuelled with methane. One major concern is the efficiency of such systems, as this has direct implications in the profitability of these power schemes. Previous works performed around parameters prediction of standard gas turbine cycles showed that the implementation of ammonia/hydrogen as a fuel for gas turbines presents very limited overall efficiencies. Therefore, this paper covers a new approach of parameters prediction consisting of series of analytical and numerical studies used to determine emissions and efficiencies of a redesigned Brayton cycle fuelled with humidified ammonia/hydrogen blends. The combustion analysis was done using CHEMKIN-PRO (ANSYS, Canonsburg, PA, USA), and the results were used for determination of the combustion efficiency. Chemical kinetic results denote the production of very low NOx as a consequence of the recombination of species in a post combustion zone, thus delivering atmospheres with 99.2% vol. clean products. Further corrections to the cycle (i.e., compressor and turbine size) followed, indicating that the use of humidified ammonia-hydrogen blends with a total the amount of fuel added of 10.45 MW can produce total plant efficiencies ~34%. Values of the gas turbine cycle inlet parameters were varied and tested in order to determine sensibilities to these modifications, allowing changes of the analysed outlet parameters below 5%. The best results were used as inputs to determine the final efficiency of an improved Brayton cycle fuelled with humidified ammonia/hydrogen, reaching values up to 43.3% efficiency. It was notorious that humidification at the injector was irrelevant due to the high water production (up to 39.9%) at the combustion chamber, whilst further research is recommended to employ the unburned ammonia (0.6% vol. concentration) for the reduction of NOx left in the system (~10 ppm). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fuel and Engine Design for Future Thermal Propulsion Systems)

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21 pages, 111317 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Combustion Analysis of a Diesel Engine during Warm up at Different Coolant and Lubricating Oil Temperatures

by Faisal Lodi, Ali Zare, Priyanka Arora, Svetlana Stevanovic, Mohammad Jafari, Zoran Ristovski, Richard J. Brown and Timothy Bodisco

Energies 2020, 13(15), 3931; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13153931 - 01 Aug 2020

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 4220

Abstract

A comprehensive analysis of combustion behaviour during cold, intermediately cold, warm and hot start stages of a diesel engine are presented. Experiments were conducted at 1500 rpm and 2000 rpm, and the discretisation of engine warm up into stages was facilitated by designing a custom drive cycle. Advanced injection timing, observed during the cold start period, led to longer ignition delay, shorter combustion duration, higher peak pressure and a higher peak apparent heat release rate (AHRR). The peak pressure was ~30% and 20% and the AHRR was ~2 to 5% and ±1% higher at 1500 rpm and 2000 rpm, respectively, during cold start, compared to the intermediate cold start. A retarded injection strategy during the intermediate cold start phase led to shorter ignition delay, longer combustion duration, lower peak pressure and lower peak AHRR. At 2000 rpm, an exceptional combustion behaviour led to a ~27% reduction in the AHRR at 25% load. Longer ignition delays and shorter combustion durations at 25% load were observed during the intermediately cold, warm and hot start segments. The mass fraction burned (MFB) was calculated using a single zone combustion model to analyse combustion parameters such as crank angle (CA) at 50% MFB, AHRR@CA50 and CA duration for 10–90% MFB. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fuel and Engine Design for Future Thermal Propulsion Systems)

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19 pages, 4938 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effect of Syngas Composition on the Combustion and Emissions Characteristics of a Syngas/Diesel RCCI Engine

by Navid Kousheshi, Mortaza Yari, Amin Paykani, Ali Saberi Mehr and German F. de la Fuente

Energies 2020, 13(1), 212; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13010212 - 02 Jan 2020

Cited by 39 | Viewed by 3579

Abstract

Reactivity controlled compression ignition (RCCI) strategy uses two different fuels with different reactivities which provides more control over the combustion process and has the potential to dramatically lower combustion temperature and NO_X and PM emissions. The objective of the present study is to numerically investigate the impact of syngas composition on the combustion and emissions characteristics of an RCCI engine operating with syngas/diesel at constant energy per cycle. For this purpose, different syngas compositions produced through gasification process have been chosen for comparison with the simulated syngas (mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide). The results obtained indicate that using syngas results in more soot, CO and UHC emissions compared with simulated syngas. Even though more NO_X reduction can be achieved while operating with syngas, the engine could suffer from poor combustion and misfire at low loads due to the presence of nitrogen in the mixture. In terms of exergy, both syngas mixtures lead to more exergy destruction by the increase of syngas substitution. Nevertheless, the magnitude of exergy destruction for simulated syngas is less than the normal syngas. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fuel and Engine Design for Future Thermal Propulsion Systems)

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Review

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21 pages, 580 KiB

Open AccessReview

Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis of Road Transportation Fuels and Vehicles: A Systematic Review and Classification of the Literature

by Martin Kügemann and Heracles Polatidis

Energies 2020, 13(1), 157; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13010157 - 28 Dec 2019

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 3452

Abstract

Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) methods help decision makers to consider and weigh diverse criteria that include economic, environmental, social and technological aspects. This characteristic makes them a popular tool to comparatively evaluate road transportation fuels and vehicles (RTFV). The aim of this paper is to systematically classify and analyse the literature applying MCDA methods on the evaluation of RTFV. To this end, 40 relevant papers are pinpointed and discussed. We identified a great number of evaluation criteria employed in the reviewed papers from which we have established a concluding list of 41 criteria, that can serve as a pool for future research. A further analysis of the evaluation criteria reveals that the process of criteria selection partly suffers from a lack of scientific foundation and standardization. We propose to standardize the criteria selection process by using the Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) methodology as a guiding reference. In addition, we compared the MCDA results obtained from studies with relatively similar setups and found that the evaluation results are also generally similar and seem not to be influenced by the particular MCDA method employed. Based on the results of the reviewed papers, one may say that electricity and ethanol appear to be good alternatives for light vehicles, whereas gaseous fuels seem more appropriate for heavy vehicles like buses. Striking deviations from these generally observed results are often caused by specific evaluation contexts, particular criteria taken into account and unusual weight sets applied. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fuel and Engine Design for Future Thermal Propulsion Systems)

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