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Performance Characteristics and Emission Formations of a Spark Ignition (SI) Engine Fueled with Different Gaseous Fuels

  • Research Article - Mechanical Engineering
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Abstract

In this study, engine performance, combustion characteristics and exhaust emissions such as CO\(_{2}\), CO, N\(_{2}\), O\(_{2}\), O, H, OH, H\(_{2}\), H\(_{2}\)O and NO of a spark ignition engine fueled with different gaseous fuel types such as propane, methane and hydrogen at stoichiometric condition are examined. A validated combustion model by experiments has been used to demonstrate different fuel types’ influences on the engine performance and exhaust products. The acquired results are compared with the data of gasoline combustion. The results indicated that the engine operating with the gaseous fuels has close results to the engine fueled with gasoline in terms of performance characteristics such as power output (PO), indicated mean effective pressure and thermal efficiency. The PO of the engine fueled with propane is able to provide 98.2% of the power of the engine fueled with gasoline. The power reduction percentages of methane- and hydrogen-fueled engines are 10 and 22%. The percentage differences of propane, methane and hydrogen are 1.6, 3 and 29% in terms of TE. However, different gaseous fuel kinds lead to remarkable differences in terms of emission formations. 72% less NO formation is seen in hydrogen combustion compared to gasoline combustion. The propane combustion decreases the CO\(_{2}\) and NO up to 3 and 9%, and increases the CO up to 2%. The methane combustion reduces the CO, CO\(_{2}\) and NO by 23, 21 and 35%.

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Abbreviations

A :

In-cylinder area (m\(^{2})\)

B :

Bore (m)

\(C_\mathrm{v} \) :

Specific heat at constant volume (kJ/kg K)

\(C_\mathrm{p} \) :

Specific heat at constant pressure (kJ/kg K)

C :

Blow-by coefficient

CI:

Compression ignition

CNG:

Compressed natural gas

DI:

Direct injection

F :

Fuel–air ratio

h :

Specific enthalpy (kJ/kg)

\(h_{\mathrm{tr}} \) :

Coefficient of heat transfer (kW/m\(^{2}\) K)

H :

Total enthalpy (kJ/kg)

\(H_\mathrm{u} \) :

Calorific value of fuel (kJ/kg)

ICE:

Internal combustion engine

IMEP:

Indicated mean effective pressure (bar)

LPG:

Liquefied petroleum gas

m :

Mass (kg)

\(\dot{m}\) :

Time-dependent mass ratio (kg/s)

M :

Molecular weight

P :

Pressure (bar)

PO:

Power output (kW)

R :

Gas constant (kJ/kg K)

RGF:

Residual gas fraction

\(\dot{Q}\) :

Heat transfer rate (kW)

s :

Specific entropy (kJ/kg K)

S :

Stroke (m)

\(\bar{S}_{\mathrm{p}} \) :

Average piston speed (m/s)

SFC:

Specific fuel consumption

SI:

Spark ignition

T :

Temperature (K)

TE:

Thermal efficiency

u :

Specific internal energy (kJ/kg)

v :

Specific volume (m\(^{3}\)/kg)

V :

Volume (m\(^{3})\)

W :

Work output (kJ)

x :

Burn fraction

\(\alpha \) :

Carbon atom number

\(\beta \) :

Hydrogen atom number

\(\gamma \) :

Oxygen atom number

\(\delta \) :

Nitrogen atom number

\(\varepsilon \) :

Molar fuel–air ratio

\(\phi \) :

Equivalence ratio

\(\theta \) :

Crank angle (\(^\circ \))

\(\omega \) :

Angular velocity (rad/s)

a:

Air

b:

Burnt region

cyl:

Cylinder

f:

Fuel

l:

Loss

r:

Reference

st:

Stoichiometric

u:

Unburnt region

w:

In-cylinder wall

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering Department, Yildiz Technical University, Besiktas, Istanbul, Turkey

    Guven Gonca & Bahri Sahin

  2. Marine Engineering Operations Department, Yildiz Technical University, Besiktas, Istanbul, Turkey

    Mehmet Cakir

Authors
  1. Guven Gonca
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  2. Mehmet Cakir
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  3. Bahri Sahin
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Correspondence to Guven Gonca.

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Gonca, G., Cakir, M. & Sahin, B. Performance Characteristics and Emission Formations of a Spark Ignition (SI) Engine Fueled with Different Gaseous Fuels. Arab J Sci Eng 43, 4487–4499 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-017-2906-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13369-017-2906-3

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