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Women in Fuel

A topical collection in Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This collection belongs to the section "I1: Fuel".

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Editor

Institute of Sciences and Technologies for Sustainable Energy and Mobility (CNR_STEMS), Department of Engineering, ICT and Technologies for Energy and Transport, 80125 Naples, Italy
Interests: renewable fuels; combustion; internal combustion engines; Particulate Matter; sub-23 nm particles characterization and measure

Topical Collection Information

 Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue of Energies, entitled "Women in Fuel” aims to highlight the achievements of women in the transition toward environmentally friendly fuels in the energy and transportation sectors.

The depletion of petroleum oil reserves and the growing attention to global climate change have led to redefining the role of fuel. A wider class of compounds are considered, e.g., simple hydrocarbons, natural gas mixtures, oxygenated fuels and a large class of biofuels obtained from waste and biomasses, to address, on the one hand, emission regulations, and on the other, to maintain low costs and high sustainability. In recent years, the attention has mainly been shifting towards climate change. For this reason, the technology is driven by the target of decarbonizing energy systems. The use of synthetic fuels obtained from renewable energy sources (e.g., wind and solar) can play an important role in achieving CO2-neutral mobility. However, considerable efforts are still needed to meet this target.

In recent decades, the roles of women in sustainable mobility and energy production systems have increasingly grown, and as a result they are more important than ever. This Special Issue is focused on the contribution of women to the most challenging issues related to the production of biofuels, the impact of advanced renewable fuels on transport and the environment and the optimization of flexi-fuel technologies, through a collection of high-quality research papers and comprehensive review articles.

We welcome submissions from all authors, irrespective of gender.

Dr. Silvana Di Iorio
Guest Editor

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 collection 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.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

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.

Keywords

  • drop-in renewable fuels
  • potential of e-fuels
  • internal combustion engines
  • dual-fuel combustion technology
  • life cycle assessments (LCAs)

Published Papers (2 papers)

2023

18 pages, 4359 KiB  
Article
Optical and Numerical Investigations on Combustion and OH Radical Behavior Inside an Optical Engine Operating in LTC Combustion Mode
by Fadila Maroteaux, Ezio Mancaruso and Bianca Maria Vaglieco
Energies 2023, 16(8), 3459; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16083459 - 14 Apr 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 881
Abstract
Low Temperature Combustion (LTC) is a relevant process for internal combustion engines (ICE). This combustion mode is based on premixed fuel/air and fuel lean in-cylinder mixture allowing reduction in NOx and PM emissions while maintaining higher thermal efficiency. In order to investigate the [...] Read more.
Low Temperature Combustion (LTC) is a relevant process for internal combustion engines (ICE). This combustion mode is based on premixed fuel/air and fuel lean in-cylinder mixture allowing reduction in NOx and PM emissions while maintaining higher thermal efficiency. In order to investigate the effect of engine operating conditions on the behavior of LTC mode, including OH radical evolution, optical measurements and numerical simulations were performed on a transparent CR diesel engine. The homogeneity of the engine charge was obtained by using very early injection timings. In this study, varying injection strategies were investigated for different engine speeds. In parallel to the experimentation, simulations of LTC mode for the same experimental operations were carried out. The model used in this study is based on a stochastic reactor model. This model includes a turbulence (k-ε) model based on a zero-dimensional energy cascade to calculate the turbulent time scale during the cycle. On the other hand, due to the stochastic approach and to reduce initial heterogeneities of the mixture, a confidence parameter was introduced in the global model to consider the real variation ranges of engine. This latter was modeled as a function of the Reynolds number allowing to initiate heterogeneities of temperature and of species mass. OH radicals were estimated with high spatial and temporal resolution using chemiluminescence measurements. Simulated in-cylinder pressure and the OH radical rate were compared to the experimental data. A good agreement was observed in terms of in-cylinder pressure trace and ignition delay times, meaning that the confidence coefficient model is accurate to describe the initial heterogeneities of the mixture. The simulated OH rate profile has the same shape as the measured OH trace and the main ignition occurs at the same time. This study corroborates that the OH radical is an appropriate tool to identify combustion stages. Full article
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Figure 1

15 pages, 4812 KiB  
Article
The Potential of Ethanol/Methanol Blends as Renewable Fuels for DI SI Engines
by Silvana Di Iorio, Francesco Catapano, Agnese Magno, Paolo Sementa and Bianca Maria Vaglieco
Energies 2023, 16(6), 2791; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16062791 - 17 Mar 2023
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1204
Abstract
Electrification is considered an optimal long-term solution for the decarbonization of the transport sector. However, in the medium period, propulsion systems will continue to dominate urban mobility, thus requiring the shift from fossil fuels toward low carbon fuels. In this regard, the request [...] Read more.
Electrification is considered an optimal long-term solution for the decarbonization of the transport sector. However, in the medium period, propulsion systems will continue to dominate urban mobility, thus requiring the shift from fossil fuels toward low carbon fuels. In this regard, the request from the EU to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 is encouraging the use of innovative fuels and powertrains. Alcohols such as ethanol and methanol are particularly suitable for spark ignition engines. This paper investigates the effect of ethanol/methanol blends on the performance and emissions of a turbocharged direct injection spark ignition engine running on the worldwide harmonized light vehicles test cycle. Three blends were considered, consisting of 10% v/v ethanol (E10), 25% v/v ethanol (E25) and 5% v/v ethanol with 15% v/v methanol (E5M15). Gaseous and particle emissions were measured at the exhaust. The main novelty of the study regards the investigation of the behavior of alcohol blends, especially those based on methanol, in transient conditions. It was found that CO, THC and NOx emissions decrease with the increase in alcohol content in the blend, with different contributions in the different phases of the cycle. Particle emissions decrease for E10 and even more so for E25. When methanol is added to the blend, particle emissions increase with respect to E25 and they are characterized by a larger diameter. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

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