Inlet Valve Research Articles

Three-Dimensional Discontinuum Modeling and Rigid Block Stability Analysis of a Group of Three Caverns for Hydroproject in Northeast India

Abstract This paper presents various methods for calculating the factor of safety (FOS) and utilizes the Isoblock method to analyze the stability of underground powerhouse caverns located in the North-East state of India. A three-dimensional discontinuum analysis simulates the stability of the downstream sidewall, upstream sidewall, and crown of the caverns. The results indicate that the powerhouse cavern contains approximately 2.36% unstable blocks, while the Main Inlet Valve (MIV) and Transformer Caverns exhibit 0.14% and 0.84% unstable blocks, respectively. A comprehensive parametric analysis investigates the impact of joint stiffness, joint friction angle, in-situ stress, cover depth, and the orientation of the cavern's longer axis on stability. The findings reveal that the cavern's stability is significantly influenced by variations in lateral stress ratio and the direction of in-situ principal stress. Stability is optimized at stress ratios between 1.2 and 1.8, with maximum instability observed in the powerhouse cavern, correlating with its larger size. Notably, the stability of the crown is greater than that of the sidewalls, particularly when the cavern orientation is aligned between N68°E and N78°E. The study underscores the importance of these factors in the design and stability assessment of underground structures, providing valuable insights to enhance their safety and reliability. This analysis highlights the necessity for considering joint stiffness and in-situ stress orientations in future designs to mitigate risks associated with instability.

Novel optimal high pressure determination method for CO2 air source heat pump water heater: Experimental study and methodology development

As an efficient and environment-friendly solution to replace traditional fuel-fired boiler, CO2 air source heat pump water heater (HPWH) is widely used in the commercial and residential water heating. In order to achieve the optimal performance of CO2 air source HPWH systems, the effects of electronic expansion valve (EEV) opening and inlet water flow rate on system performance are experimentally studied and the optimal matching of the two parameters are obtained in this study. Then, the relationship between the optimal high pressure and the optimal matching of EEV opening and water flow rate is discussed. Finally, a new parameter, the endpoint temperature difference (ΔTep), is defined and a novel control strategy of ΔTep = 0 is proposed to determine the optimal high pressure. The results indicate that the optimal matching of EEV opening and water flow rate corresponds to the optimal high pressure and the best COPheat of system. A smaller ΔTep corresponding to a better matching degree and a larger system COPheat. The maximum deviation between the high pressure determined by the proposed new control strategy and the optimal high pressure is less than 1.8 %, and the system COPheat under the proposed new control strategy can achieve more than 97.6 % of the maximum COPheat. Therefore, the proposed control strategy in the paper is better than that of the commonly used off-line optimal high pressure correlation and can provide guidance for the efficient operation of the CO2 air source HPWH system.

Application of acetylene in multi-cylinder low heat rejection diesel engine fueled with ternary blend

The depletion of fossil fuels and environmental degradation have driven researchers worldwide to seek suitable alternative fuels for diesel engines. Internal combustion engines typically emit carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbon (HC), and smoke, contributing to environmental pollution. To address this issue, petroleum fuels can be substituted with alternative options like acetylene gas, hydrogen, CNG, or LPG. One effective strategy is to incorporate renewable fuels into diesel engines by partially or fully replacing diesel in a dual fuel mode (DFM). This research focuses on alternative renewable fuels for diesel engines like biodiesel and alcohol and its blends. The current research investigates the engine characteristics of diesel engines fueled with ternary blend (TB) fuel and different flow rates of acetylene in DFM. TB fuel was prepared using 70 % diesel, 20 % waste cooking oil biodiesel (WCOB), and 10 % methanol by volume. The induction of acetylene at different flow rates, such as 2, 4, and 6 lpm. Waste cooking oil is used to prepare biodiesel by transesterification. Partially stabilized zirconia (PSZ) is used to coat the cylinder head, piston crown, inlet, and exhaust valves with a thickness of 0.5 mm. The HC, CO, and smoke emissions are decreased by about 35.7 %, 29.8 %, and 21.6 %, respectively, for TB fuel with acetylene at 6 lpm at full load condition. The high calorific value of acetylene gas raised the in-cylinder temperature, significantly accelerating the combustion process. The heat release rate (HRR) and cylinder pressure are increased by 9.8 % and 6.8 %, respectively, at TB fuel with 6 lpm of acetylene induction. Acetylene induces rapid fuel combustion, resulting in increased energy transfer. The brake thermal efficiency (BTE) is improved by about 10.3 % for TB fuel with acetylene at 6 lpm and exhaust gas temperature (EGT) increased to 461oC at full load condition.

Effects of distribution valve spring stiffness and opening pressure on the volumetric efficiency of micro high-pressure plunger pump

With the rapid development of material science and manufacturing capabilities, hydraulic technology is increasingly high-pressure, lightweight and miniaturizing. Micro plunger pump is widely used in the field of deep-sea hydraulic equipment and advanced intelligent hydraulic equipment, owing to its high-power density, high output pressure and many other advantages. Its broad application aims to examine the inlet and outlet distribution valve spring parameters change on the micro high-pressure plunger pump volumetric efficiency, by changing the inlet and outlet distribution valve. This paper is based on the simulation of AMESim engineering software to derive multiple sets of data. It compared and analysed the specific effect of different spring stiffness and opening pressure on the volumetric efficiency of the micro high-pressure plunger pump which was then verified through experiment. Results of this study have certain reference significance for the design of the spring of the inlet and outlet distribution valve of the micro high-pressure plunger pump, which facilitates the optimization and improvement of the dynamic performance of the micro high-pressure plunger pump.

SIMULATION OF TORQUE VARIATIONS IN A DIESEL ENGINE FOR LIGHT HELICOPTERS USING PI CONTROL ALGORITHMS

This article presents the results of simulation research of a diesel engine for a light helicopter. The simulations were performed using the 1D software AVL Boost RT. The engine model includes elements such as cylinders, turbine, compressor, inlet and outlet valves, ambient environment definition, and fuel injection control strategy. The simulations aimed to evaluate the engine's response to step changes in the main rotor load, both increasing and decreasing power demands. Parameters analyzed included power deviation, torque, engine rotational speed, and stabilization time of the main rotor rotational speed. All tests were conducted using a single set of PI controller settings. The results demonstrate that these parameters are dependent on the magnitude of the step change in the main rotor load demand. The study compares the maximum engine rotational speed deviation from the nominal value for both increasing and decreasing main rotor load demands. The findings indicate that using PI regulator to control rotational speed in the diesel engine in a light helicopter significantly depends on the change in the load torque on the rotor.

Multiple quadrants displacement tracking control of independent metering electro-hydraulic system

Aiming at the oscillation caused by the hydraulic cylinder of independent metering system (IMS) running between multiple working quadrants, a novel multiple quadrants switching displacement tracking control strategy is proposed in this paper. In this control strategy, both the cylinder chamber pressure under resistance and overrunning conditions are controlled by the inlet valve, and the outlet valve is utilized to control the displacement of cylinder. This method allows the hydraulic cylinder to always run in energy-efficient. When the working quadrant changes, the valve’s working modes are unchanged, which avoids oscillation caused by changes of valves working modes in principle. And a reduced-order active disturbance rejective displacement controller and an active disturbance rejective pressure controller are designed to get high-precision tracking of the displacement and pressure. Numerous experimental results show that the proposed method is reasonable and effective, hydraulic cylinder operates smoothly between multiple quadrants, the pressure and displacement controllers have good anti-interference ability and robustness, and the energy consumption can be reduced by more than 23% compared to the traditional constant pressure valve control system.

A Literature Review of the Design, Modeling, Optimization, and Control of Electro-Mechanical Inlet Valves for Gas Expanders

A Literature Review of the Design, Modeling, Optimization, and Control of Electro-Mechanical Inlet Valves for Gas Expanders

Prediction of air compressor faults with feature fusion and machine learning

Air compressors are critical for many industries, but early detection of faults is crucial for keeping them running smoothly and minimizing maintenance costs. This contribution investigates the use of predictive machine learning models and feature fusion to diagnose faults in single-acting, single-stage reciprocating air compressors. Vibration signals acquired under healthy and different faulty conditions (inlet valve fluttering, outlet valve fluttering, inlet-outlet valve fluttering, and check valve fault) serve as the study’s input data. Diverse features including statistical attributes, histogram data, and auto-regressive moving average (ARMA) coefficients are extracted from the vibration signals. To identify the most relevant features, the J48 decision tree algorithm is employed. Five lazy classifiers viz. k-nearest neighbor (kNN), K-star, local kNN, locally weighted learning (LWL), and random subspace ensemble K-nearest neighbors (RseslibKnn) are then used for fault classification, each applied to the individual feature sets. The classifiers achieve commendable accuracy, ranging from 85.33% (K-star and local kNN) to 96.00% (RseslibKnn) for individual features. However, the true innovation lies in feature fusion. Combining the three feature types, statistical, histogram, and ARMA, significantly improves accuracy. When local kNN is used with fused features, the model achieves a remarkable 100% classification accuracy, demonstrating the effectiveness of this approach for reliable fault diagnosis in air compressors.

Computational fluid dynamic analysis of the effect of inlet valve closing timing on common rail diesel engines fueled with butanol–diesel blends

The inlet valve closing (IVC) timing plays a crucial role in engine combustion, which impacts engine performance and emissions. This study attempts to measure the potential to use n-butanol (Bu) and its blends with the neat diesel in a common rail direct injection (CRDI) engine. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation is carried out to estimate the performance, combustion, and exhaust emission characteristics of n-butanol–diesel blends (0%–30% by volume) for variable valve timings. An experimental study is carried out using standard valve timing and blends to validate the CFD model (ESE AVL FIRE). After validation, the CFD model is employed to study the effect of variable valve timings for different n-butanol–diesel blends. Extended coherent flame model-3 zone (ECFM-3Z) is implemented to conduct combustion analysis, and the kappa–zeta–f (k–ζ–f) model is employed for turbulence modeling. The inlet valve closing (IVC) time is varied (advanced and retarded) from standard conditions, and optimized valve timing is obtained. Advancing IVC time leads to lower cylinder pressure during compression due to reduced trapped air mass. The brake thermal efficiency (BTE) is increased by 4.5%, 6%, and 8% for Bu10, Bu20, and Bu30, respectively, compared to Bu0. Based on BTE, optimum injection timings are obtained at 12° before the top dead center (BTDC) for Bu0 and 15° BTDC for Bu10, Bu20, and Bu30. Nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions increase due to complete combustion. Due to IVC timing, further carbon monoxide and soot formation decreased with blends and had an insignificant effect.

Fault diagnosis of air compressors using transfer learning: A comparative study of pre-trained networks and hyperparameter optimization

Air compressors are critical components in many industries whose catastrophic failure results in huge financial losses and downtime leading to accidents. Hence, real time fault diagnosis of air compressor is essential to predict the health condition of air compressor and plan scheduled maintenance thereby reducing financial losses and accidents. Fault diagnosis using transfer learning aids in real time fault detection. In the present study, five air compressor conditions were considered namely, check valve fault, inlet and outlet reed valve fluttering fault, inlet reed valve fluttering fault, outlet reed valve fluttering fault, and good condition. The raw vibration data was converted to radar plot images that were pre-processed and classified using four pre-trained networks (ResNet-50, GoogLeNet, AlexNet, and VGG-16). The hyperparameters like epochs, batch size, optimizer, train-test split ratio, and learning rate were varied to find out the best network for air compressor fault diagnosis. ResNet-50 among all other pre-trained networks produced the maximum classification accuracy (average of five trials) of 98.72%.

Effect of knock on piston thermal load of a high compression ratio natural gas engine based on stepwise decoupling calculation

High compression ratio natural gas engine (NGE) is prone to knock at high load, which aggravates the thermal load of piston. Therefore, accurately evaluating the piston thermal load in the practical design is essential to enhance engine reliability and improve performance. The typical piston thermal load simulation adopts uniform wall boundary conditions, making it difficult to reveal the influence of turbulent flame and knock on the piston thermal load. In this paper, a stepwise decoupling method is applied to calculate the piston thermal load. The advancement of this method lies in its integration of chemical reaction mechanism with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to calculate the spatial variations in heat transfer coefficient (HTC) and near-wall gas temperature at the piston top. Moreover, the conjugate heat transfer (CHT) method is adopted to solve the piston thermal load by coupling the thermal boundary conditions (TBC) obtained in the first step with the cooling oil boundary conditions. Based on this method, the effect of knock on piston thermal load of a high compression ratio NGE under different knock intensities is explored in this paper. It is found that turbulent combustion causes uneven distribution of thermal load at piston top. The decrease in knock intensity significantly reduces the gas temperature, heat flux and thermal load at piston top. Particularly under severe knock, the average temperature of piston is 22.9 K and 32.4 K higher than that of light knock and normal combustion, respectively. Furthermore, the main factor affecting the piston temperature field distribution is the gas temperature rather than the HTC. The gas temperature at piston top is overall the highest on the side near the inlet valve pit, which leads to a higher temperature on this side. Compared to light knock and normal combustion, when severe knock occurs, the thermal load on the exhaust valve pit increases significantly. This study provides an effective method for analyzing the heat transfer of the piston under knocking combustion, which is of guiding significance for controlling the thermal load of the high-temperature components in the combustion chamber.

Investigation on varied sewage sludge producer gas and methane blend equivalence ratios operated SI engine intact with Miller cycle strategy

Decentralised power generation through a gasifier-engine genset can reduce both reliance on power grid and pollution. However, the low calorific value of the produced gaseous fuel moderates engine power and efficiency, which is a big challenge for its utilisation. For early and cost-effective solution prediction, a simulation tool of adequate precision can effectively envisage dual-fuel (DF) mode engine performance. Thus, this study simulates DF-SI engines with late inlet valve closures (LIVCs) to improve thermal efficiency using the Miller cycle strategy. Simulation is performed using quasi-dimensional thermodynamic modelling (QDTM). After validating the model using referred experimental results, QDTM was employed to study the parametric impacts of inputs (blends, LIVC and equivalence ratio) variations on performance and emissions response parameters. Power improves by blending sewage sludge-based producer gas with methane. Multi-objective optimisation through the response surface method (RSM) determined the optimum operating parameters as 0.814 equivalence ratio, 68.23% SSPG-blend and 55.9° CA (ABDC) LIVC. Corresponding optimal responses were 5.906 bar IMEP, 3.85 kW BP, 28.6% BTE, 12.596 MJ/kWh BSEC, 0.134 V% CO and 2045.29 ppm NO emissions. ANOVA-based optimal results presented a composite desirability of 0.843 with a 95% confidence level. Conclusively, methane mix and LIVC approach increase the power and efficiency of the DF-SI engine; additionally, optimisation guides to balance power and emission trade-off.

Numerical Simulation and Comparison of Different Steady-State Tumble Measuring Configurations for Internal Combustion Engines

To enhance air–fuel mixing and turbulence during combustion, spark ignition internal combustion engines commonly employ tumble vortices of the charge inside the cylinder. The intake phase primarily dictates the generated tumble, which is influenced by the design of the intake system. Utilizing steady-state flow rigs provides a practical method to assess an engine’s cylinder head design’s tumble-generating characteristics. This study aims to conduct computational fluid dynamics (CFD) numerical simulations on various configurations of steady-state flow rigs and compare the resulting tumble ratios. The simulations are conducted for different inlet valve lifts of a four-valve cylinder head with a shallow pent-roof. The findings highlight variations among these widely adopted configurations.

Development and Integration of a Digital Twin Model for a Real Hydroelectric Power Plant.

In this study, a digital twin model of a hydroelectric power plant has been created. Models of the entire power plant have been created and malfunction situations of a sensor located after the inlet valve of the plant have been analyzed using a programmable logic controller (PLC). As a feature of the digital twin (DT), the error prediction and prevention function has been studied specifically for the pressure sensor. The accuracy and reliability of the data obtained from the sensor are compared with the data obtained from the DT model. The comparison results are evaluated and erroneous data are identified. In this way, it is determined whether the malfunction occurring in the system is a real malfunction or a malfunction caused by measurement or connection errors. In the case of sensor failure or measurement-related malfunction, this situation is determined through the digital twin-based control mechanism. In the case of actual failure, the system is stopped, but in the case of measurement or connection errors, since the data are calculated by the DT model, the value in the specified region is known and thus there is no need to stop the system. This prevents production loss in the hydroelectric power plant by ensuring the continuity of the system in case of errors.

Performance analysis of methanol fuelled SI engine with boosted intake pressure and LIVC: A thermodynamic simulation and optimization approach

Methanol (CH3OH) is a low-carbon alternative fuel that can be derived through renewable power-to-fuel conversion, offering lower emissions and a higher resistance to knock in SI engines. However, the sole methanol-powered SI engine delivers less brake power. Fuels with a higher calorific value have been blended to solve this problem. However, this may cause overburden with storage, handling, and correct blending (like when methane and hydrogen are blended). To resolve this, this research suggested a novel approach for increasing the power and efficiency of a SI engine using the LIVC (late inlet valve closing) miller cycle and boosted intake pressure under 14 geometrical compression ratio (GCR) with the addition of the start of spark timing (SOI) and equivalency ratio (λ) effects. A quasi-dimensional thermodynamic model (QTDM) was applied to simulate the engine performance with respect to operating variables of 0.6–1.0 λ, 35.50 ––650 aBDC (after Bottom Dead Centre) LIVC timing, 30.00 ––150 bTDC (before Top Dead Centre) SOI Timing and 0.8–1.5 bar intake pressure. After that, design of experiments (DoE) based response surface methodology (RSM) was applied to determine optimum operating setting to maximize power and efficiency and minimize emission and fuel consumption. The results from the RSM illustrate the optimum input parameters to be 0.793 equivalence ratio, 46.900 aBDC-LIVC, 20.750 bTDC-SOI timing, and 1.5 bar intake pressure. Correspondingly, response output performances were found to be 12.36 kW-indicated power (IP), 11.20 kW- brake power (BP), 43.32 % indicated thermal efficiency (ITE), 39.32 % brake thermal efficiency (BTE), 9150.6 kJ/kWh brake specific energy consumption (BSEC), and 0.3 V%- carbon mono oxide (CO), 1247.8 ppm-nitric oxide (NO) emission at exhaust valve opening (EVO). The ANOVA regression models resulted in 95 % accuracy in forecasting output response and composite desirability of optimization of 0.83. Overall, it was found that miller-based LIVC and boosted intake pressure considerably improve the performance of SI engines, and the results projected would be helpful for further study and industry application.

An Optimized Artificial Neural Network Model of a Limaçon-to-Circular Gas Expander with an Inlet Valve

In this work, an artificial neural network (ANN)-based model is proposed to describe the input–output relationships in a Limaçon-To-Circular (L2C) gas expander with an inlet valve. The L2C gas expander is a type of energy converter that has great potential to be used in organic Rankine cycle (ORC)-based small-scale power plants. The proposed model predicts the different performance indices of a limaçon gas expander for different input pressures, rotor velocities, and valve cutoff angles. A network model is constructed and optimized for different model parameters to achieve the best prediction performance compared to the classic mathematical model of the system. An overall normalized mean square error of 0.0014, coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.98, and mean average error of 0.0114 are reported. This implies that the surrogate model can effectively mimic the actual model with high precision. The model performance is also compared to a linear interpolation (LI) method. It is found that the proposed ANN model predictions are about 96.53% accurate for a given error threshold, compared to about 91.46% accuracy of the LI method. Thus the proposed model can effectively predict different output parameters of a limaçon gas expander such as energy, filling factor, isentropic efficiency, and mass flow for different operating conditions. Of note, the model is only trained by a set of input and target values; thus, the performance of the model is not affected by the internal complex mathematical models of the overall valved-expander system. This neural network-based approach is highly suitable for optimization, as the alternative iterative analysis of the complex analytical model is time-consuming and requires higher computational resources. A similar modeling approach with some modifications could also be utilized to design controllers for these types of systems that are difficult to model mathematically.

Investigation of the relationship between combustion efficiency and total pressure gain for RDE

Total pressure gain is an important parameter in RDC engineering applications. Many factors affect the total pressure gain, such as the area ratio of the outlet to the inlet (A8/A3.1) and type of fuel. In this study, convergent–divergent slot and Tesla valve inlet configurations were adopted. Three convergent nozzles were used, and the ratios of the outlet area to the combustor cross-sectional area (A8/A3.2) were 0.65, 0.5, and 0.25, respectively. The experiments were conducted at mass flow rate of 1.5 kg/s, 1.3 kg/s, and 1.0 kg/s. The combustion efficiency and total pressure gain were calculated using the temperature increase and Mach-corrected static pressure (MCSP). When A8/A3.2 is 0.25, most of the propagation modes are longitudinal pulsed detonations (LPD). The combustion efficiency increased with the equivalence ratio within the range of the detonation boundary. A model was developed to describe the relationship between combustion efficiency and total pressure gain. Once the configuration of the RDC is fixed, a proportional relationship exists between the combustion efficiency and total pressure gain. Improving combustion efficiency enhances the total pressure gain.

EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF THE VIBRATION-REDUCTION CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SHAFT COATING FOR A TURBOCHARGER

A turbocharger is a system that is fitted to automotive engines to increase performance and efficiency by taking air at atmospheric pressure, compressing it to a higher pressure and passing the compressed air into the engine via the inlet valves. A turbocharger consists of a turbine and a compressor impeller interconnected with a shaft supported in most cases by journal bearings. The shaft is one of most crucial components of a turbocharger system and it operates at high speed. The shaft vibrations are an inherent phenomenon and they are travelling to the surrounding structure, effecting the stability and reliability of the turbocharger system. The selection of the appropriate shaft-material property is a critical parameter among the parameters that affect the vibration of the system. This study focuses on exploring whether it is possible to reduce the shaft vibration using different types of coating materials, including aluminum chromium nitride (AlCrN), titanium nitride (TiN) and aluminum titanium nitride (AlTiN), each having thicknesses of (2, 4, and 6) µm, for a shaft made of AISI 4140 alloy steel. The inherent natural vibration properties, such as the resonant frequencies, damping, and mode shapes of the turbocharger shaft with and without coating, were obtained by conducting an experimental modal analysis through measurements of the frequency-response function, which is about curve fitting the data using a predefined mathematical model of the turbocharger shaft. The results were validated numerically with the finite element method. From overall results, it was observed that the AlCrN, TiN, and AlTiN coating thicknesses have a small effect on the resonant frequencies, but a good damping effect. The resonant response of the turbocharger shaft at resonant frequencies was suppressed remarkably by the AlCrN and AlTiN coatings, especially those having a thickness of 6 and 4 µm.

Analysis of self-oscillation stability of a pump-turbine in the S-shaped regions of characteristic curves

Abstract The hydraulic oscillation of pumped-storage power station (PSPS) affects the safe and stable operation of the power station. The S-shaped characteristic curves of pump-turbine may sometimes result in instability in speed-no-load operation. To investigate the instability mechanisms and identify the main factors that affect stability, this paper used the overall matrix method to establish a self-excited oscillation calculation model of a PSPS and analyzed the stability characteristics and influencing factors of the S-shaped regions of the speed-no-load opening. The results show that when the slope of the characteristic curve is negative, the natural frequency attenuation factors of the system are negative, demonstrating stability. When the slope of the characteristic curve is positive, the system remains stable if the slope is large. However, if the slope of the characteristic curve is below a certain value, which may lead to instability. Increasing the inlet valve resistance and appropriately changing the valve layout position can enhance the stability of the system. The damping surge chamber fluctuations have no impact on system stability. The study also found that the stability regions of the S-shaped regions are related to the slope of the characteristic curve, the unit operating discharge, and the value resistance coefficient.

A Feature Extraction Method for Prognostic Health Assessment of Gas Compressor Valves

Abstract This paper presents features derived from the pressure-volume (PV) diagram that is useful in estimating different valve faults in reciprocating compressors with a strong potential of remaining useful life prediction. The PV diagram is expected to deviate depending on valve wear conditions. The valve degradation types explored in this work are leakage, seat wear, and spring fatigue in the suction and discharge assemblies of a Dresser-Rand ESH-1 compressor commonly used in the petrochemical industry. The proposed method estimates the polytropic exponent on the compression and expansion phase as well as the discharge and suction valve loss power and uses them as features for a quadratic discriminant analysis. The features are created through in-cylinder pressure, suction pressure, discharge pressure, and crank angle measurements collected on a single-stage, dual-acting compressor operating on air with wear precisely machined and seeded into the poppets of the inlet and outlet valves. A very high classification accuracy is achieved in distinguishing the wear types, severity, and location with strong prognostic trends.