Multi-cylinder Spark Ignition Engine Research Articles

Numerical one-dimensional investigations on a multi-cylinder spark ignition engine using hydrogen/ethanol, hydrogen/methanol and gasoline in dual fuel mode

This study enhances the application of alternative fuels—specifically hydrogen, methanol, and ethanol—in a multi-cylinder gasoline engine.

Validation of Gasoline Surrogates Through Thermodynamic Analysis of Spark-Ignition Engine

Abstract The investigation aims to evaluate the impacts of commercial gasoline and gasoline surrogates on energy and exergy efficiencies in a spark-ignition (SI) engine. In this investigation, a new approach for formulating next-generation gasoline surrogates is investigated through testing these surrogates in a multi-cylinder SI engine. Energy and exergy analyses were carried out using the primary reference fuel-methylcyclohexane (PRF-MCH) blend (82.88% iso-octane + 9.16% n-heptane + 7.96% methylcyclohexane), primary reference fuel with 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene (PRF-1,2,4-TMB) blends (76% iso-octane + 9% n-heptane + 15% 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene and 61% iso-octane + 9% n-heptane + 30% 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene), and commercially available gasoline (gasoline) in an SI engine. The engine investigation results show that the PRF-MCH blend is a promising surrogate to reproduce the gasoline fuel engine characteristics such as combustion and emission characteristics of gasoline fuel. The detailed experiments were executed at the SI-engine speed conditions of 1500 rpm and 2500 rpm. It is found that PRF-MCH blend energy-exergy efficiencies are comparable to commercially available gasoline. It can also be concluded that engine testing in terms of energy-exergy analyses for proposed gasoline surrogates provides a qualitative and quantitative understanding of combustion behavior, emission characteristics, assessment of the effectiveness, and useful work potential gasoline surrogates.

Experimental Investigation on Multi Cylinder Spark Ignition Engine Fuelled With Waste Plastic Oil with Oxygenated Fuels

Abstract: In the current day situation, emissions associated with the exhaust of automobiles resulting in global warming are a major threat to the entire world and also harmful to health. In this perspective, waste plastic solid is presently getting renewed interest. Plastics have now become indispensable materials in the modern world and application in the industrial field is continuously increasing. As substitute, non-biodegradable, and renewable fuel, waste plastic oil is getting rising attention. An experimental investigation is conducted to evaluate the emission and performance characteristics of a multi-cylinder spark ignition engine fuelled with Plastic Petrol derived from waste plastic by the process of pyrolysis. Petrol is blended with waste plastic pyrolysis oil as 10%WPPO and 85% petrol as blend-I and 20%WPPO and 75% petrol as blend-II. The performance and emission characteristics are found for both the blends and compared with the characteristics of petrol. Some amounts of oxygenated fuels viz., ethanol and methanol are added in the concentration of 5% each to the both the blends and their characteristics are compared to the blends without oxygenate fuels and sole petrol. The tests are conducted using each of the Gasoline and Plastic Petrol with oxygenated fuel additives with the engine working at variable load of 0 to 7 kg for constant speed at 1500 rpm. The differences in the measured performance from the baseline operation of the engine with petrol, blends with addition of oxygenated fuels and without addition of oxygenated fuels are compared. It resulted that, by adding additives the brake thermal efficiency of the engine improved. The CO and HC emissions are reduced but NOX and CO2 emissions are increased for all the blends when compared to petrol.

Experimental Investigation of Frictional Power Apportionment of Moving Parts in a Hydrogen Fueled Multi-Cylinder Spark Ignition Engine

This study deals with the frictional power of each moving part in hydrogen fueled multi-cylinder spark ignition engine. The moving parts such as piston, rings, bearings, cam, and roller follower are considered for this study. The engine was run at a constant speed of 1500 rpm with different loads. The indicated power of the engine is calculated using the in-cylinder pressure data, and the brake power is measured with respect to different loads. The frictional power of each moving component is calcu-lated using the models available in the literature. The constants of the models are calibrated for the engine with the input of the measured experimental data. The frictional power of the components increases with an increase in the engine’s load. The friction between the piston and the ring with the liner is the highest among other components’ friction due to mainly gas pressure (in the piston rings) acting on the piston being the highest. The percentages of frictional power of each moving component at the power output of 15.1 kW are 30.8% (friction in piston rings due to gas pressure), 18.4% (piston skirt), 13.4 % (bearings), 8.5 % (cam), 6.9 % (piston ring tension) at applied engine load of 15.1 kW. This study results could be useful to find avenues for reducing the friction of the moving parts to enhance the fuel economy and endurance life of the engines.

One-dimensional numerical simulations of single-cylinder spark ignition engine fuelled H2O based emulsion fuel, methanol blends, and gasoline conventional

In this work, we have used two types of renewable fuels for testing in one-dimensional simulation software and comparing its performance and emission characteristics with 100% Gasoline fuel. For this work, we have used ethanol 20%-H2O 2%, and gasoline 90% based micro-emulsion fuel and blends of 20% Methanol in 80% Gasoline fuel as an Alternative fuel. This work is done computationally on one-dimensional licensed AVL Boost Simulation Software. The micro-emulsion fuel was prepared in the lab by adding ethanol as co-surfactant and H2O as an additive in the blended fuel. The other alternative fuel Methanol blended 20% with Gasoline 80% is also used to test the performance and emission characteristics of multi-cylinder Spark Ignition Engine. This is a novel based work done to improve the performance and Emissions of 3- Cylinder Spark Ignition Engine. The performance parameters like power, Torque, BSFC, BMEP, showed better results & emissions like CO, HC, & NOx showed significant decrease as compared to conventional 100% Gasoline fuel. Micro-emulsion fuel were better in emissions particularly NOx, which showed 25% decreases than Methanol fuel. Also showed slightly better power & Torque output by 10% than Methanol blend. Both the renewable fuel were compared with gasoline 100%.

Effect of Fuel- Air Mixture Motion on The working parametrs of spark ignition engines.(Dept.M)

The object of this work was to learn more about the effect of fuel-air mixture upon the performance of spark ignition engines, and to determine how variations in mixture velocity after leaving engine carburetor alter the combustion process. To provide effective means for producing and measuring the mixture velocity, all tests were made in a multi-cylinder spark ignition engine using a blade swiler. The effect of mixture motion on the volumetric efficiency, rate of pressure rise , brake thermal efficiency, and mixturedistribution were determined for wide range of engine speeds and loads. The results reveal that a mixture motion improve the mixture quality and quantity of the engine cylinders, this effect gives evenly gas pressure cycles. The engine Diane thermal efficiency depend upon tue type of swirler motion.

Experimental based comparative exergy analysis of a multi-cylinder spark ignition engine fuelled with different gaseous (CNG, HCNG, and hydrogen) fuels

The experimental investigation was carried out on a multi-cylinder spark ignition (SI) engine fuelled with compressed natural gas (CNG), hydrogen blended CNG (HCNG) and hydrogen with varying load at 1500 rpm in order to perform comparative exergy analysis. The exergy analysis indicates that work exergy, heat transfer exergy and exhaust exergy were the highest with hydrogen at all loads due to its high flame temperature, low quenching distance, and high flame speed. The engine's exergy efficiency was the highest with hydrogen (34.23%), and it was about 24.23% and 24.08% with CNG and HCNG respectively at high load (20.25 kW). This indicates a higher potential of hydrogen to convert chemical energy input of fuel into heat and then power output. The exergy destruction was observed minimum with hydrogen at all loads, and it was drastically reduced at high loads. The combustion irreversibility which was calculated using species present during combustion, was the main contributor to exergy destruction, and it decreased with hydrogen. The minimum combustion irreversibility was 11.75% with hydrogen, followed by HCNG and CNG with 16.46% and 18.88% respectively at high load. The high quality of heat due to high in-cylinder temperature and low entropy generation during combustion caused by less number of chemical species in hydrogen combustion are the main reasons for lower combustion irreversibility with hydrogen.

Control of backfire and NOx emission reduction in a hydrogen fueled multi-cylinder spark ignition engine using cooled EGR and water injection strategies

The experimental study was carried out on a constant speed multi-cylinder spark ignition engine fueled with hydrogen. Exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) and water injection techniques were adopted to control combustion anomalies (backfire and knocking) and reduce NOx emission at source level. The experimental tests were conducted on the engine with varied EGR rate (0%–28% by volume) and water to hydrogen ratio (WHR) (0–9.25) at 15 kW load. It was observed from the experiments that both the strategies can control backfire effectively, but water injection can effectively control backfire compared to EGR. The water injection and EGR reduce the probability of backfire occurrence and its propagation due to the increase in the requirement of minimum ignition energy (MIE) of the charge, caused mainly due to charge dilution effect, and reduction in flame speed respectively. The NOx emission was continuously reduced with increase in EGR rate and WHR, but at higher rates (of EGR and WHR), there was an issue of stability of engine operation. It was found from the experimental results that at 25% EGR, there was 57% reduction in NOx emission without drop in brake thermal efficiency whereas, with WHR of 7.5, the NOx emission was reduced by 97% without affecting the efficiency. The salient point emerging from the study is that water injection technique can control backfire with ultra-low (near zero) NOx emission without compromising the performance of the hydrogen fueled spark ignition engine.

Experimental investigation on effects of knocking on backfire and its control in a hydrogen fueled spark ignition engine

The experimental study was carried out on a multi-cylinder spark ignition engine fueled with hydrogen for analyzing the effect of knocking on backfire and its control by varying operating parameters. The experimental tests were conducted with constant speed at varied equivalence ratio. The equivalence ratio of 0.82 was identified as backfire occurring equivalence ratio (BOER). The backfire was identified by high pitched sound and rise in in-cylinder pressure during suction stroke. In order to analyze backfire at equivalence ratio of 0.82, the combustion analysis was carried out on cyclic basis. Based on the severity of in-cylinder pressure during suction stroke, the backfire can be divided into two categories namely low intensity backfire (LIB) and high intensity backfire (HIB). From this study, it is observed that there is frequent LIB in hydrogen fueled spark ignition engine during suction stroke, which promotes instable combustion and thus knocking at the end of compression stroke. This knocking creates high temperature sources in the combustion chamber and thus causes HIB to occur in the subsequent cycle. A notable salient point emerged from this study is that combustion with knocking can be linked with backfire as probability of backfire occurrence decreases with reduction in chances of knocking. Retarding spark timing and delaying injection timing of hydrogen were found to reduce the chances of backfire occurrence. The backfire limiting spark timing (BLST) and backfire limiting injection timing (BLIT) were found as 12 0bTDC and 40 0aTDC respectively.

Influence of plastic oil with ethanol gasoline blending on multi cylinder spark ignition engine

Energy consumption is becoming the index of country development. Transportation sector is occupied the second position in total energy consumption. Traditional energy sources are obliterating out and leaving carbon foot prints on environment. Across the world plastic consumption and its disposal is increasing at exponential rate. The current research is aimed to utilize this plastic waste as an input for engine running in the form of plastic pyrolysis oil (PPO). Experiments are conducted with PPO on multi cylinder Maruti 800 petrol engine to evaluate the performance and emissions characteristics. The gasoline is blended with 15% PPO and with and without ethanol additive at 5%. The performance and emissions result of plastic oil blend is compared with pure petrol and ethanol added blend. The experimental outcomes clears, that the brake thermal efficiency of 15PPO is lower than that of pure petrol while the NOx emissions are substantially increased. Therefore, ethanol is added as an additive to control the NOx emissions, engine performance is improved compared to pure petrol and 15PPO. Emissions like CO, NOx are significantly controlled.

Temperature analysis of dynamic catalytic convertor system with pre-catalyst in a multi cylinder spark ignition engine to reduce light-off time

Temperature analysis of dynamic catalytic convertor system with pre-catalyst in a multi cylinder spark ignition engine to reduce light-off time

Effects of Waste Plastic Oil Blends on a Multi Cylinder Spark Ignition Engine

Existing fossil fuels are utilizing at their critical rate, leads to depletion of their reserves in a dramatic way. Generating alternative energy sources in a pragmatic way are necessitated, which demands the researchers to utilize the inherent energy of carbon based products as an energy source to the automobile sector. As a part of it, my research is focused on transforming and using the waste plastics as an alternative fuel in multi cylinder spark ignition engine. This paper aims to present the experimental investigations of performance and emission characteristics in an existing Maruti 800 petrol engine running with the blends of 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% of waste Plastic Pyrolysis Oil (PPO) with gasoline. From the results, it is noticed that hydrocarbon emissions are substantially reduced and oxides of nitrogen emissions are increased and petrol engine can operate with PPO blends up to 20% without any engine modifications.

An experimental investigation on performance and emission parameters of a multi-cylinder SI engine with gasoline–LPG dual fuel mode of operation

ABSTRACTThe present study deals with the performance and emission characteristics of a multi-point fuel injection (MPFI) spark ignition (SI) engine in gasoline–liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) dual fuel mode of operation. The LPG–gasoline ratio varied from 0 to 100% by controlling the injector signals at various speed and load conditions. Experiments show that the power output decreases with increase in speed and LPG content at lower load marginally due to lower volumetric efficiency. At higher load and lower speed conditions as the percentage of LPG increases there is not much difference in the power output. Results also reveal that 50% LPG flow gives maximum efficiency at full load condition and 4000 rpm due to lower fuel consumption. With 50% usage of LPG, the average increase in brake thermal efficiency (BTE) is 2% till the engine speed of 4000 rpm at full load (100%) and half load (50%) conditions. As the LPG ratio increases the engine will work in the lean region for all speed and load conditions. For all load and speed conditions, results reveal that 100% LPG will give minimum hydrocarbon (HC) and carbon monoxide (CO) emissions. Oxide of nitrogen (NOX) emissions are higher for 100% LPG. However 50% LPG flow gives good agreement of NOX, HC and CO emissions when compared with gasoline operation.

Efficiency improvement of a spark-ignition engine at full load conditions using exhaust gas recirculation and variable geometry turbocharger – Numerical study

The numerical analysis of performance of a four cylinder highly boosted spark-ignition engine at full load is described in this paper, with the research focused on introducing high pressure exhaust gas recirculation for control of engine limiting factors such as knock, turbine inlet temperature and cyclic variability. For this analysis the cycle-simulation model which includes modeling of the entire engine flow path, early flame kernel growth, mixture stratification, turbulent combustion, in-cylinder turbulence, knock and cyclic variability was applied. The cylinder sub-models such as ignition, turbulence and combustion were validated by using the experimental results of a naturally aspirated multi cylinder spark-ignition engine. The high load operation, which served as a benchmark value, was obtained by a standard procedure used in calibration of engines, i.e. operation with fuel enrichment and without exhaust gas recirculation. By introducing exhaust gas recirculation and by optimizing other engine operating parameters, the influence of exhaust gas recirculation on engine performance is obtained. The optimum operating parameters, such as spark advance, intake pressure, air to fuel ratio, were found to meet the imposed requirements in terms of fuel consumption, knock occurrence, exhaust gas temperature and variation of indicated mean effective pressure. By comparing the results of the base point with the results that used exhaust gas recirculation the improvement in fuel consumption of 8.7%, 11.2% and 1.5% at engine speeds of 2000rpm, 3500rpm and 5000rpm is obtained. Additionally, by using the presented numerical methodology the influence of the specific operating parameter on the overall behavior of the complex charging system was shown.

Misfire Detection of Spark Ignition Engines Using a New Technique Based on Mean Output Power

Control and detection of misfire are an essential part of on-board diagnosis (OBD) of modern spark ignition (SI) engines. This study proposes a novel model-based technique for misfire detection for a multicylinder SI engine. The new technique uses a dynamic engine model to determine mean output power, which is then used to calculate a new parameter for misfire detection. The new parameter directly relates to combustion period and is sensitive to engine speed fluctuations caused by misfire. The new technique requires only measured engine speed data and is computationally viable for use in a typical engine control unit (ECU). The new technique is evaluated experimentally on a four-cylinder 1.6-l SI engine. Three types of misfire are studied including single, continuous, and multiple-event. The steady-state and transient experiments were done for a wide range of engine speeds and engine loads, using a vehicle chassis dynamometer and on-road vehicle testing. The validation results show that the new technique is able to detect all three types of misfire with up to 94% accuracy during steady-state conditions. The new technique is augmented with a compensation factor to improve the accuracy of the technique for transient operations. The resulting technique is shown to be capable of detecting misfire during both transient and steady-state engine conditions.

Invited Review: Development of a one-dimensional computational fluid dynamics modeling approach to predict cycle-to-cycle variability in spark-ignition engines based on physical understanding acquired from large-eddy simulation

In order to satisfy emission standards and CO2 targets, spark-ignition engines are designed to operate with high dilution rates, compression ratios and boost levels, thus increasing the propensity for unstable combustion. Therefore it is important to address cycle-to-cycle variability (CCV) in complete engine simulators in order to support the design of viable architectures and control strategies. This work concerns the development, validation and application to a multi-cylinder spark-ignition engine of a physics-based one-dimensional combustion model able to render CCV. Its basis relies on the analysis of Large-Eddy Simulation (LES) of flow in a single-cylinder engine used to extract information relating physics to cyclic fluctuations. A one-dimensional CCV model is derived, accounting for variability related to in-cylinder aerodynamics, turbulence and mixture composition. A detailed spark-ignition model is developed, and the resulting model captures the strongly non-linear interactions between flow and combustion, starting from spark ignition and covering laminar/turbulent transition and wrinkling of the flame surface. A first validation is presented against dedicated experimental data from a single-cylinder engine. Detailed comparisons between measurements and predictions are reported on a set of parametric variations around a reference point to assess the physical bases of the model. The resulting model is applied to the simulation of the operating map of a multi-cylinder turbocharged engine. It is found able to reproduce CCV without the need to perform specific LES of that engine, highlighting a certain level of generality of the developed model.

Emission Reduction on Ethanol–Gasoline Blend Using Fuel Additives for an SI Engine

In this study, the effect of ethanol–gasoline blend with additives on a multi-cylinder spark ignition engine was investigated. The performance and emission tests were conducted in a multi-cylinder petrol engine. The test fuels were prepared using 99.9% pure ethanol and gasoline with additives blend, in the ratio of E50 + 5 additives, E60 + 10 additives, and the rest gasoline. Oxygen containing additives is usually used to improve gasoline's performance, reduce the exhaust emissions, and to increase fuel consumption as a result of the heating value of the blended fuels being lower than that of the gasoline. Similarly, octane improver additives and anti-knock additives are used. The aim of this investigation is to reformulate the fuel in order to enhance the fuel performance and reduce emissions from the engine. The fuel additive for internal combustion engines contains a mixture of toluene, methanol, isopropyl alcohol, acetone, and xylene. The fuel additives are added to the fuel so as to enhance the operation of the engine, and reduce the quantum of pollutants released by the engine. The fuel is prepared by mixing ethanol–gasoline with fuel additives blend. The fuel additives were added by weight: toluene (50%), methanol (15%), isopropyl alcohol (15%), acetone (10%), and xylene (10%). The experimental results revealed the increase in brake thermal efficiency on the use of blends when compared to that of the sole fuel. In this investigation, the emission tests were conducted with the help of AVL Di Gas analyzer, in which CO, CO2, HC, and NOx are appreciably reduced and O2 is increased for all the blends when compared to gasoline as the sole fuel.

The Performance and Emissions Analysis of a Multi Cylinder Spark Ignition Engine with Gasoline LPG & CNG

The introduction of alternative fuels is beneficial to overcome the fuel shortage and reduce engine exhaust emissions. LPG and CNG are relatively clean fuel and considered as most promising alternative automotive fuels worldwide because of its emission reduction potential and lower fuel price compared to gasoline. Now a day’s adaptation of dual fuel approach is the growing as common trend. The two fuels can be successfully implemented with existing gasoline engine with little modification. The present study was done to analyze the performance and emissions analysis of a multi cylinder spark ignition engine fuelled with the benefits of CNG and LPG aseffective alternate automotive fuels by simply using them in an unmodified petrol engine. The test results indicate, the energy content of CNG and LPG is the most limiting factor in acceptance for fuel economy and performance reasons. Thermal efficiency was high for CNG lowest for gasoline and LPG between the two. BSFC, CO and HC were low and NOx was high for CNG and low for gasoline, LPG lies between the two.

Cylinder pressure, performance parameters, heat release, specific heats ratio and duration of combustion for spark ignition engine

An experimental work were conducted for investigating cylinder pressure, performance parameters, heat release, specific heat ratio and duration of combustion for multi cylinder spark ignition engine (SIE). Ccylinder pressure was measured for gasoline, kerosene and Liquefied Petroleum Gases (LPG) separately as a fuel for SIE. Fast Fourier Transformations (FFT) was used to cylinder pressure data transform from time domain into frequency domain to develop empirical correlation for calculating cylinder pressures at different engine speeds and different fuels. In addition, Inverse Fast Fourier Transformations (IFFT) was used to cylinder pressure reconstruct into time domain. The results gave good agreement between the measured cylinder pressure and the reconstructed cylinder pressure in time domain with different engine speeds and different fuels. The measured cylinder pressure and hydraulic dynamotor were the sours of data for calculating engine performance parameters. First law of thermodynamics and single zone heat release model with temperature dependant specific heat ratio γ(T) were the main tools for calculating heat release and heat transfer to cylinder walls. Third order empirical correlation for calculating γ(T) was one of the main gains of the present study. The correlation gave good agreement with other researchers with wide temperatures range. For kerosene, cylinder pressure is higher than for gasoline and LPG due to high volumetric efficiency where kerosene density (mass/volume ratio) is higher than gasoline and LPG. In addition, kerosene heating value is higher than gasoline that contributes in heat release rate and pressure increases. Duration of combustion for different engine speeds was determined using four different methods: (I) Mass fuel burnt, (II) Entropy change, (III) Temperature dependant specific heat ratio γ(T), and (IV) Logarithmic scale of (P&V). The duration of combustion for kerosene is smaller than for gasoline and LPG due to high heat release rate. Cylinder pressure measuring technique is a useful tool for understanding and analyzing the combustion characteristics and determining reliable statistical data that cannot measure directly. The present work contributes in determining combustion characteristics, development and optimal operating conditions of SIE for different fuels.

Integrated gas dynamic computational modelling and thermodynamic combustion diagnostics of multicylinder four-stroke spark ignition engine using compressed natural gas as a fuel

A comprehensive computational simulation model has been developed to describe the performance, efficiency and emission characteristics of the four-stroke multi-cylinder spark ignition engine which uses compressed natural gas as a fuel. This model performs an integrated simulation of thermodynamic, gas dynamic, and chemical kinetics of the whole engine system coupling with intake and exhaust manifolds. The thermodynamic combustion process is modelled by using the turbulent flame propagation process with a two-zone chamber (burned and unburned). Gas dynamics in the manifold system are modelled by using unsteady compressible hyperbolic partial differential equations. These equations contain heat transfer, friction, area change in pipe and empirical constants, which are used to determine boundary conditions at pipe junctions, valves and open ends. These equations are transferred into a set of ordinary differential equations by applying the method of characteristics and are solved by the finite difference method. Regarding exhaust emissions, nitric oxide concentrations have been predicted by using the rate kinetic model in the power cycle and along the exhaust pipes. Carbon monoxide is computed under the chemical equilibrium condition and then the empirical adjustment is made for kinetic behaviours based upon experimental results. Finally, predicted results of this model have been compared with experimental results and are found to be compatible. The parametric studies have been conducted with the equivalence ratio and the engine RPM, to predict engine performance. Also, the variations of pressure, temperature, and gas compositions in the exhaust system have been studied.