Performance Of Internal Combustion Engines Research Articles

An Innovative Mechanical Approach to Mitigating Torque Fluctuations in IC Engines during Idle Operation

Internal combustion engines have been a major contributor to air pollution. Replacing these engines with electric propulsion systems presents significant challenges due to different countries’ needs and limitations. An active, purely mechanical solution to the problem of irregular torque production in an alternative internal combustion engine is proposed. This solution uses an actuator built on a camshaft and a spring, which stores and returns energy during the engine operating cycle, allowing torque production to be normalized, avoiding heavy flywheels. Designed for control throughout the engine’s duty cycle, this system incorporates a cam profile and a spring mechanism. The spring captures energy during the expansion stroke, which is then released to the engine during the intake and compression strokes. Simple, lightweight, and efficient, this system ensures smoother and more consistent engine operations. It presents a viable alternative to the heavy and problematic dual-mass flywheels that were introduced in the 1980s and are still in use. This innovative approach could significantly enhance the performance and reliability of alternative internal combustion engines without notable energy losses.

Constructing a Skeletal Iso-Propanol–Butanol–Ethanol (IBE)–Diesel Mechanism Using the Decoupling Method

In recent years, biofuels have gained considerable prominence in response to growing concerns about resource scarcity and environmental pollution. Previous investigations have revealed that the appropriate blending of iso-propanol–butanol–ethanol (IBE) into diesel significantly improves both the c combustion efficiency and emission performance of internal combustion engines (ICEs). However, the combustion mechanism of IBE–diesel for the numerical studies of engines has not reached maturity. In this study, a skeletal IBE–diesel multi-component mechanism, comprising 157 species and 603 reactions, was constructed using the decoupling method. It was formulated by amalgamating the reduced fuel-related sub-mechanisms derived from diesel surrogates (n-dodecane, iso-cetane, iso-octane, toluene, and decalin) and n-butanol, along with the detailed core sub-mechanisms of C1, C2, C3, CO, and H2. The constructed mechanism is capable of better matching the physical and chemical properties of actual diesel fuel. Extensive validation, including ignition delay, laminar flame speed, a premixed flame species profile, and engine experimental data, confirms the reliability of the mechanism in engine numerical studies. Subsequent investigations reveal that as the IBE blend ratio and EGR rate increase, the ignition delay exhibits an increase, while the combustion duration experiences a decrease. Blending IBE into diesel, along with a specific EGR rate, proves effective in simultaneously reducing NOx and soot emissions.

Techno-economic assessment of hydrogen as a fuel for internal combustion engines and proton exchange membrane fuel cells on long haul applications

Powertrain energy conversion and management are critical factors in providing affordable and robust solutions for transport decarbonization. Various powertrain technologies are being proposed to reduce the impacts of transportation-related carbon dioxide emissions, such as battery electric, fuel cell, and conventional vehicles running with lower carbon fuels. Specifically for the commercial sector, hydrogen internal combustion engines and fuel cells are being extensively discussed. In this sense, this investigation evaluates the benefits and areas of enhancement for hydrogen internal combustion engines and fuel cells from a techno-economic perspective. Power plant models were developed and validated in GT-Power, and detailed investigations on the energy loss pathways were performed. In addition, the powertrains are included in full longitudinal vehicle models and submitted to different driving cycles, representing homologation and real-world driving conditions, with the intent to understand the effect of the cycles from a global energy management perspective. Finally, the fuel consumption results are used as inputs for a total cost of ownership calculation to determine the economic viability of each powertrain. Overall, fuel cells offered efficient operation across the conditions assessed, with engine-powered powertrains showing reduced efficiencies ranging from 23 % to 63 % depending on the cycle and payload. The limited peak efficiency for the spark-ignited low-pressure hydrogen direct injection engine was a dominant factor for the reduced performance of this platform. Strategies for efficiency improvement are identified that could lead to improved internal combustion engine operation. Despite the limited efficiency benefits of hydrogen internal combustion engines, total cost of ownership calculations show hydrogen internal combustion engines being the most cost-effective solution in the near to medium-term scenario.

Stress mitigation of a thermal engine head block using the bioinspired BGM-FEM method

Structural optimization plays a pivotal role in the design and development of engine heads, as it directly affects the performance, efficiency, and durability of internal combustion engines. In this paper, we propose a novel approach for the thermo-structural optimization of the internal surfaces of the engine heads, using the Biological Growth Method (BGM). The BGM is a bio-inspired technique that mimics the growth patterns observed in some biological organisms, able to achieve superior structural efficiency thus generating optimal designs. The effectiveness of the BGM methodology, coupled with mesh morphing techniques based on Radial Basis Functions (RBF), is in this work demonstrated for several districts, effectively reducing material usage and enhancing structural performance.

Creating a neural network-based model to predict the exhaust gas temperature of the internal combustion engine

The regulation and improvement of the performance of internal combustion engines is a continual primary focus of research and development activities conducted within the automobile industry and other relevant sectors. To succeed in reaching this objective, it is necessary to have an accurate and complete model of these engines. However, due to internal combustion engines' complex and nonlinear nature, accurately replicating their behavior may be challenging and time-consuming. Neural networks are a potentially useful strategy for simulating these engines successfully since they offer a solution that strikes a healthy balance between speed and precision. This research investigates the process of building a model of an internal combustion engine by using not one but two separate kinds of neural networks: multilayer perceptrons and radial basis functions. These neural networks aim to simulate and make predictions about the temperature of the engine's exhaust gas. They are especially useful for modeling nonlinear systems because of their incredible convergence speed and excellent accuracy levels.

Determining the influence of synthesis gas additives on the environmental performance of internal combustion engine

The object of research is the environmental parameters of a reciprocating engine when using a synthesis gas additive to the main fuel. The research is aimed at solving the problem of reducing the concentration of harmful components in the exhaust gases of an internal combustion engine by adding synthesis gas to the main fuel. Experimentally, the dependences of the effect of the addition of synthesis gas to ethanol on the change in the environmental performance of a piston engine with spark ignition were obtained. The positive effect of the addition of synthesis gas obtained by thermochemical conversion to ethanol in an amount of up to 5 % by weight on the environmental performance of a spark-ignition piston engine was established. Provided that the engine achieves the same effective power, the use of a synthesis gas additive to the main fuel made it possible to reduce the concentration of CO by 61.5 % and CH by 51.3 % in the exhaust gases. no more than 25–30 words The addition of synthesis gas contributed to the formation of radicals that activate oxidation chain reactions, and also made it possible to increase the normal combustion rate of the fuel-air mixture by 6.25 %. This ensures normal engine operation on a leaner fuel-air mixture (α=1.21) without deterioration of environmental, energy and economic performance. no more than 25-30 words The simultaneous reduction of the concentration of harmful components in the exhaust gases and engine efficiency can be achieved by using fuels with a wide concentration limit of ignition and high combustion rate in a lean mixture. The experimental data obtained can be used in the design or modernization of transport and stationary power plants with internal combustion engines as an approach to meet ever-increasing environmental standards

Comparative Study of the Life Prediction and Failure Analysis of Metal Powder (Vanadium-V) Coated on Crankshaft

The crankshaft plays a crucial role in the efficient operation of internal combustion engines, converting piston reciprocating motion into rotary motion. This study aims at the life prediction and failure analysis of metal powder (Vanadium-V) coated on crankshaft using numerical method. It was modelled with SOLIDWORDS version 2019 and imported to ANSYS 2020 RI environment for static structural analysis. Numerical results of total deformations obtained from ANSYS are shown with the minimum value and maximum for propose material 7.3172e-5 and 0.00065855 respectively, and for the existing material value having 0.00014795 and 0.0013316 as well. Maximum and minimum values are 0.018841 and 2.9158e-7 in crankshaft equivalent elastic strain distributions in the existing material respectively. Results also show that maximum equivalent elastic strain is observed in propose with 0.097538 and minimum 3.1017e-7. The maximum value is 1.3933e9 and minimum value is 26418 of the stress found around the crankshaft of the propose and is stretched where there is concentration of pressure. The maximum stress intensity is observed in existing material with 1.5139e9 with minimum value of 30833. Results reveal significant improvements in total deformations, elastic strain distributions, and stress values for the proposed vanadium-coated material compared to the existing one. Despite a mere 0.0003mm thickness, the vanadium coating offers cost-effectiveness, better performance with cheaper lubricants, reduced friction, and enhanced dimensional tolerance at higher pressures. Results therefore proposed vanadium incorporated to inhibit grain growth to enhance strength and toughness of hardened steel.

The friction of surface textured cylinder liner segments modified by Direct Laser Writing and Direct Laser Interference Patterning processes

Direct Laser Writing (DLW) using ultrashort pulsed lasers and galvanometer scanning, has become an established process for surface texturing, allowing an extensive variety of feature geometries and texture designs to be produced. The minimum feature sizes that can be generated are however limited by factors such as the laser output power, beam diameter, beam wavelength and associated optics. To address the need to produce even smaller texture features, Direct Laser Interference Patterning (DLIP) has been developed, which utilises bespoke beam splitting and converging optics to produce periodic interference fringing and enabling surface textures in the micrometric size range to be produced.In this study, the texturing of cast iron cylinder liner segments using DLW and DLIP processes is explored, to assess their tribological performance in high efficiency internal combustion engines, such as for hybrid applications. To facilitate the designs of textures and to capture high resolution data on surface interactions at specific points in the combustion cycle, the segmentation of cylinder lines and piston rings is undertaken. The results of tribology tests covering combinations of high and low speeds and contact pressures, have shown that the mechanical honing of cylinder liners could potentially be replaced with the cleaner DLIP texturing as an alternative.Optimised texture designs using the DLW process achieved up to a 54 % reduction in kinematic friction between the piston ring and textured cylinder liner surfaces, compared with mechanically honed cylinder liner segments. These results have indicated that DLW texturing offers the best improvement in friction performance in the boundary and mixed lubrication regimes at higher contact pressures, at both lower and higher sliding speeds. The results also provide useful comparative data on the performance of meso and micrometric scale textures and how they can be best applied to cylinder liners.

The Corrosive Effects of Aftermarket Oil Additives on High-Leaded Tin Bronze Alloy.

Aftermarket additives are used to enhance the performance of internal combustion engines in specific aspects such as reducing wear, increasing power, and improving fuel economy. Despite their advantages, they can sometimes cause corrosion-related problems. This research evaluated the corrosiveness of four aftermarket additives on the corrosion of a high-leaded tin bronze alloy over 28 days at 80 °C in immersion tests. Among the evaluated products, three showed corrosive effects ranging from intermediate to severe. Notably, the visual appearance of the surfaces often did not indicate the underlying corrosive damage. Therefore, the assessment of corrosiveness was based on chemical characterizations conducted on both the drained oils and the bronze surfaces. The study found minimal oil degradation under the testing conditions, indicating that the primary cause of corrosion was the interaction between the specific additives and the metal elements of the alloy, rather than oil degradation itself. A direct correlation was observed between the dissolution of lead and copper and the adsorption of S and Cl-containing additives on the surfaces, respectively. The corrosive impact of Cl-containing additives in aftermarket formulations was significantly reduced when mixed with engine oil SAE 10W-30 (at a 25:1 ratio), suggesting a mitigated effect in combined formulations, which is the recommended usage for engines.

Experimental Investigations of the Hydrogen Injectors on the Combustion Characteristics and Performance of a Hydrogen Internal Combustion Engine

Hydrogen is regarded as an ideal zero-carbon fuel for an internal combustion engine. However, the low mass flow rate of the hydrogen injector and the low volume heat value of the hydrogen strongly restrict the enhancement of the hydrogen engine performance. This experimental study compared the effects of single-injectors and double-injectors on the engine performance, combustion pressure, heat release rate, and the coefficient of variation (CoVIMEP) based on a single-cylinder 0.5 L port fuel injection hydrogen engine. The results indicated that the number of hydrogen injectors significantly influences the engine performance. The maximum brake power is improved from 4.3 kW to 6.12 kW when adding the injector. The test demonstrates that the utilization of the double-injector leads to a reduction in hydrogen obstruction in the intake manifold, consequently minimizing the pumping losses. The pump mean effective pressure decreased from −0.049 MPa in the single-injector condition to −0.029 MPa in the double-injector condition with the medium loads. Furthermore, the double-injector exhibits excellent performance in reducing the coefficient of variation. The maximum CoVIMEP decreased from 2.18% in the single-injector configuration to 1.92% in the double-injector configuration. This result provides new insights for optimizing hydrogen engine injector design and optimizing the combustion process.

Modelling and cycle‐by‐cycle control of an electromechanical engine valve actuator with impact speed limiter based on hydraulic damper

AbstractVariable valve actuation (VVA) systems based on electromechanical valve actuators (EMVAs) enable a flexible operation and management of internal combustion engines that results in a reduction of pollutant emission and fuel consumption while improving engine power and efficiency. However, to achieve the benefits promised by EMVAs, it is of utmost importance to guarantee the catch of the valve by the system magnets with an acceptable impact speed of the valve at the end‐strokes. Valve catching failures can severely damage engine valves while high impact speeds induce mechanical wear and unacceptable noise. The soft landing control of the valve at the end‐strokes is challenging because of system nonlinearities, parameter uncertainties, and external disturbances. The complexity of the control design increases further when industrial cost‐effective solutions are sought. This paper presents a novel solution for reducing the impact speed of the valve without the use of costly position valve sensors. The proposed solution leverages on a small hydraulic damper (HD) embedded into the EMVA and a feedback cycle‐by‐cycle controller. The passive element reduces the impact speed while the controller adjusts at every engine cycle the EMVA coil currents based on pressure peaks detected in the HD to guarantee valve catching while steering the impact speed toward its minimum. The design of the controller exploits a physics‐based model that maps the pressure peak in the HD onto the impact speed and a gradient descent algorithm is adopted searching the minimum. The closed‐loop permanence is assessed in simulation by using an experimentally validated EMVA model and considering detailed dynamics of the HD. Numerical results show the ability of the proposed control architecture to reduce the impact speed and its robustness to parameters variations (oil temperature) and external disturbances (gas pressure forces).

Biodiesel Production Processes with Yeast: A Sustainable Approach

In recent years, renewable sources of energy have been sought due to the environmental impacts associated with fossil fuels, such as greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. A promising alternative is biodiesel, particularly when obtained using yeast, as they offer certain advantages over other microorganisms due to their resilience to grow in various conditions, short reproduction times, and lower susceptibility to bacterial infections because they thrive at lower pH levels and have the ability to utilize a wide variety of substrates. Furthermore, biodiesel produced with yeast is composed of methyl ester fatty acids (FAME), providing it with good quality and performance in internal combustion engines, resulting in reduced greenhouse gas emissions compared to conventional diesel. The production of biodiesel using yeast involves six general stages, which offer various methodological alternatives with different degrees of sustainability. The objective of this review is to assess the sustainability degree of various methodologies employed in each of the stages of yeast-based biodiesel production through environmental and economic sustainability indicators.

Experimental study on the factors influencing performance and emissions of hydrogen internal combustion engines

Hydrogen internal combustion engines (H2-ICEs) have advantages such as clean combustion and zero carbon emissions, and have become one of the important technical routes for decarbonization in the internal combustion engine industry. In this paper, several key factors affecting the performance and emissions of hydrogen internal combustion engines, such as ignition timing, excess air coefficient, and hydrogen injection timing, were systematically studied on a spark ignition multi-point injection (MPI) hydrogen internal combustion engine bench. The experimental results indicate that the ignition timing controls the combustion phase of hydrogen. Moderate early ignition can improve the brake thermal efficiency (BTE) while having little impact on the NOX emissions. Excess air coefficient(λ) can significantly affect the performance and emissions of H2-ICE. Along with the increase of the λ, the NOX emissions first increases and then continues to decline. When the λ reaching 2.1 or above, near zero emissions of NOX can be achieved. The advance of hydrogen injection timing will slightly increase the peak of cylinder pressure and instantaneous heat release rate. However, overall, the impact of hydrogen injection timing on BTE and NOX emissions is not significant on MPI H2-ICE.

Development of a device for the utilization of drilling rig heat

Drilling wells is an energy-intensive process. Due to the specifics of drilling operations, the distance from industrial centers and their power systems, and the mobility of equipment, energy supply experience does not always allow its application to other industries. When drilling, along with electricity, large quantities of thermal energy are also consumed. This article presents the results of practical research on improving the operation of internal combustion engines of drilling equipment and heat recovery systems of mobile diesel power plants, as well as increasing the efficiency of diesel power plants by improving their design and optimizing operating parameters.

INVESTIGATION OF THE EFFECT OF DEAD-STATE TEMPERATURE ON THE PERFORMANCE OF BORON-ADDED FUELS AND DIFFERENT FUELS USED IN AN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE

This study aimed to investigate the exergy variations of five different fuels developed for internal combustion engines. Two of these fuels, i.e., boron-added fuels, were newly developed. In many previous studies, only one dead-state temperature was considered for exergy calculations. However, it is important to note that the dead-state temperature can vary. Therefore, the impact of changing the dead-state temperature on the exergy of the internal combustion engine becomes crucial. In this particular study, the exergy variations of the newly developed boron-added fuels ES12.5 and MS12.5, as well as gasoline blended with ethanol (E12.5), gasoline blended with methane (M12.5), and pure gasoline (B100) were examined. These variations were analyzed at different dead-state temperatures ranging from 273 K to 298 K. This study focused on examining the detailed changes in the exergy of exhaust gases emitted from the combustion process, specifically at the exhaust outlet, with respect to variations in the dead-state temperature. Furthermore, the impact of the dead-state temperature on various parameters commonly used in thermodynamic analyses, including improvement potential, productivity lack, and fuel depletion ratio were investigated. Through analysis, the study revealed significant variations in the exergy of internal combustion engines when the dead-state temperature was altered. These findings emphasized the importance of considering the dead-state temperature as a critical factor in understanding and optimizing the exergic performance of internal combustion engines.

PERFORMANCE CHARACTERIZATION, PRICE EVALUATION, AND ESTIMATION OF EMISSIONS OF INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES WITH FUEL ADDITIVES

Fuel prices have been escalating day by day due to resources being limited. The key focus of this research is to evaluate the performance of internal combustion engines by the inverse correlation between fuel prices and engine efficiency and to encourage future advancements in the development of efficient fuels for automobiles. Investigations indicate the impact of various fuel additives, such as butane, ethane, propane, cracking liquid (0X11257), and XAG 818, on the fuel's characteristics. This work attempts to analyze existing data on fuel prices using mathematical tools like MATLAB and the various factors affecting them over the years. The analysis shows that there is about a 14% increase in values of engine parameters, such as brake thermal efficiency. The heat energy generated with suitable fuel additives was 12.69% more than low-quality fuel additives. Therefore, using excellent high-quality fuel additives benefits engine health and performance.

Revisitando e comparando o Ciclo de Carnot e o Ciclo Otto

The reversibility of the Carnot Cycle makes it the most efficient thermodynamic cycle to convert energy as heat into work operating between two thermal reservoirs at different temperatures. The Otto cycle represents an idealization of the processes in the spark-ignition 4-stroke internal combustion engine operation. Some aspects of these two crucial thermodynamic cycles will be presented here in a comparative manner. This highlights why the Carnot Cycle does not offer advantages over the Otto Cycle in the operation of real thermal engines when we consider the efficiency and work done per cycle dependent on the compression ratio of the cycles.

Integrating Machine Learning for Predicting Internal Combustion Engine Performance and Segment-Based CO2 Emissions Across Urban and Rural Settings

Integrating Machine Learning for Predicting Internal Combustion Engine Performance and Segment-Based CO₂ Emissions Across Urban and Rural Settings

A lightweight deep learning-based method for health diagnosis of internal combustion engines on an internet of vehicles platform

The health status diagnosis method for internal combustion engines based on deep learning mainly focuses on the research of vibration signals, but the hardware cost required for vibration signal monitoring is expensive, and the model is also complex, which is not suitable for vehicle internal combustion engines. The Internet of Vehicle (IoV) platform provides a lot of thermal parameter data that can reflect the status and performance of internal combustion engines. However, there is currently insufficient study on thermal parameters, and the in-depth fusion analysis of multiple parameter associations has not been realized. At the same time, considering the numerous thermal parameters of internal combustion engines and the complex relationship between them. This article proposes a deep learning lightweight diagnosis method based on thermal parameters to explore the important value of thermal parameters in the health diagnosis of internal combustion engines. Firstly, a parameter grouping model based on Mutual information is proposed to realize the automatic grouping of parameters, reduce the complexity of the model, and realize lightweight processing. Then, based on grouping, a deep learning health status diagnosis model based on denoising autoencoder-attention mechanism-bidirectional gated recurrent unit (DAE-AM-BiGRU) is proposed to achieve the purpose of data dimensionality reduction, noise reduction, and obtaining key features and timing relations. Finally, a simulation model of an internal combustion engine was constructed using GT-POWER simulation software to obtain simulation data of thermal parameters, verifying the effectiveness of the proposed method.

A comparative study of the impact on combustion and emission characteristics of nanoparticle‐based fuel additives in the internal combustion engine

AbstractThe search for an effective solution to improve performance and emission characteristics of internal combustion (IC) engines used in the commercial sector is regarded as one of the most important and essential issues in recent years due to increasing levels of pollution. Nanoparticles with their additive ability to increase fuel reactivity and atomization, due to their large surface area and high heat transfer coefficient, can improve the performance and emission characteristics of a fuel. This review highlights the use of nanoparticles as fuel additives to enhance the emission and performance characteristics of IC engines. Detailed comparisons of performance, emission, and combustion characteristics of IC engines using fuels blended with nanoparticles have been done. Nanoparticles were observed to be an oxygen buffer for fuel combustion and boost fuel atomization, thus enhancing engine performance. While alumina exhibited a decrease in levels of HC and CO but a considerable increase in NOx, graphene nanoparticles and ceria were found to be particularly effective in enhancing engine performance. Detailed study has been done on other nanoparticles, including metal‐oxide, nonmetal‐oxide as well as carbon nanoparticles. Overall, the use of nanoparticles can enhance the thermophysical characteristics of fuels, improving the emission and performance characteristics of engines. The review suggests that selecting the right dosage and variety of nanoparticles is crucial for optimizing engine performance, and thus directly helps in tackling the ongoing pollution problem.