Abstract
The homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) is an alternative combustion concept for reciprocating engines. This study investigates an HCCI engine fuelled with Diethyl ether (DEE) ignition assisted wet ethanol (ethanol with 20% water content). The direct use of wet ethanol could reduce the associated energy required for distillation and dehydration of ethanol. The HCCI engine offers significant benefits in terms of its high efficiency and ultra low emissions. The experiment is conducted with various DEE flow rates and at different air-fuel ratios, for which stable HCCI combustion is achieved. Incylinder pressure, heat release analysis and exhaust emissions were observed. In this study, the effect of DEE on combustion parameters, thermal efficiency and emissions is analysed and discussed in detail. The experimental results indicate that the DEE flow rates have a significant effect on the maximum in-cylinder pressure and its position, thermal efficiency, maximum rate of pressure rise and the heat release rate. Results show that for all stable operating points, brake thermal efficiency is higher than reference mode at lower loads and almost same at higher loads. The emission parameters such as NO, HC and CO are lower than the dual fuel mode which is considered as a reference model for this experiment.
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Vinayagam, N., Nagarajan, G. Experimental study of performance and emission characteristics of DEE-assisted minimally processed ethanol fuelled HCCI engine. Int.J Automot. Technol. 15, 517–523 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12239-014-0054-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12239-014-0054-2