ANALYTICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF TEMPERATURE-SWING INSULATION ON ENGINE PERFORMANCE

Abstract

In-cylinder thermal barrier materials have been thoroughly investigated for their potential improvements in thermal efficiency in reciprocating internal combustion engines. These materials show improvements both directly in indicated work and indirectly through reduced demand on the cooling system. Many experimental and analytical sources have shown reductions in heat losses to the combustion chamber walls, but converting the additional thermal energy to indicated work has proven more difficult. Gains in indicated work over the expansion stroke could be made, but these were negated by increased compression work and reduced volumetric efficiency due to charge heating. Typically, the only improvements in brake work would come from the pumping loop in turbocharged engines, or from additional exhaust energy extraction through turbine-compounding devices. The concept of inter-cycle wall-temperature-swing holds promise to reap the benefits of insulation during combustion and expansion, while not suffering the penalties incurred with hotter walls during intake and compression. The combination of low volumetric heat capacity and low thermal conductivity would allow the combustion chamber surface temperature to quickly respond to the gas temperature throughout combustion. Surface temperatures are capable of rising in response to the spike in heat flux, thereby minimizing the temperature difference between the gas and wall early in the expansion stroke when the greatest conversion of thermal energy to mechanical work is possible. The combination of low heat capacity and thermal conductivity is essential in allowing this temperature increase during combustion, and in enabling the surface to cool during expansion and exhaust to avoid harmfully affecting engine volumetric efficiency during the intake stroke and minimizing compression work performed on the next stroke. In this thesis, thermal and thermodynamic models are constructed in an attempt to predict the effects of material properties in the walls, and to characterize the effects of heat transfer at different portions of the cycle on indicated work, volumetric efficiency, exhaust energy and gas temperatures of a reciprocating internal combustion engine. The expected impact on combustion knock in spark-ignited engines was also considered, as this combustion mode was the basis for the experimental engine testing performed. Conventional insulating materials were evaluated to benchmark the current state-of-the-art, and to gain experience in the analysis of materials with temperature-swing capability. Unfortunately, the effects of permeable porosity within the conventional coating on heat losses, fuel absorption and compression ratio tended to mask the effects of temperature swing. The individual impact of each of these loss mechanisms on engine performance was analyzed, and the experience helped to further refine the necessary traits of a successful temperature-swing material Finally, from the learnings of this analysis phase, a novel material was created and applied to the piston surface, intake valve faces, and exhaust valve faces. Engine data was taken with these coated components and compared to an un-coated baseline. While some of the test pieces physically survived the testing, analysis of the data suggests that they were not fully sealed and suffered from the same permeability losses that affected the conventional insulation. Further development is necessary to arrive at a robust, effective solution for minimizing heat transfer through wall temperature swing in reciprocating internal combustion engines. The success of temperature-swing thermal barrier materials requires very low thermal conductivity, heat capacity, and appropriate insulation thickness, as well as resilient sealing of any porous volume within the coating to avoid additional heat and fuel energy losses throughout the cycle.