This doctoral thesis is about controlling the combustion timing of the combustion concept Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition, HCCI, by means of variable valve timings. The HCCI research usually is regarded to have started in Japan during the later part of the 1970´s. The world of HCCI has since grown and HCCI is of today researched worldwide. Of particular interest from a Swedish point of view is that Lund Institute of Technology has emerged as one of the world leading HCCI laboratories. The idea with HCCI is to combine the Otto and Diesel engine. As in an Otto engine the charge is premixed but as in a Diesel engine the operation is unthrottled and the compression heat causes the ignition. The combustion that follows the ignition takes place homogeneously and overall lean. The result is ultra low NOx and particulate emissions combined with high total efficiency. A difficulty with the HCCI-concept is that it only works in a narrow area and that there is no direct way to control the Start Of Combustion, SOC. Out of this follows that timing/phasing of the combustion is one of the main difficulties with HCCI combustion concepts. This is particularly emphasized during transient operation and calls for feedback control of the combustion timing. This work investigates one method, the variable valve timing, to achieve feedback control of the combustion phasing. From the work it can be concluded that the variable valve timing can control the combustion phasing during engine transients. In order to improve the performance a non-linear compensation from ignition delay to valve timings has been suggested, incorporated in a control structure and tested in engine test. The engine test has been performed in a single cylinder engine based on a Scania truck engine. The speed range from 500 to 1750 rpm and the load range 1.26 and 10.5 bar of netIMEP has been covered with fair transient performance. / QC 20100629

Actuellement, les principaux thèmes pour le secteur de transport sont le réchauffement global et la crise énergétique, ce qui encourage les chercheurs à développer des technologies alternatives et efficaces. Le concept ‘HCCI’ (combustion d’une charge homogène, allumée par compression) est l’une des solutions pour le moteur de véhicules. Ce mode de combustion, indépendant d’une notion de propagation de flamme, permet de réduire fortement les émissions critiques de NOX et de suies dans les gaz d'échappement. Cette combustion de type HCCI du carburant diesel se caractérise par une combustion à deux étapes. Parallèlement, l’apparition de nouveaux carburants, comme le bio-alcool, est une autre voie de recherche. Les bio-alcools ont un nombre d’indice d'octane élevé qui peut se mélanger avec du carburant diesel pour optimiser la combustion de HCCI des carburants diesel. L’objectif de cette thèse est donc de caractériser les deux étapes de la combustion HCCI en étudiant l’influence de l’impact de l’ajout d’une fraction d’alcools dans diesel. La comparaison avec un mélange d’iso-octane, hydrocarbure à indice d'octane élevé de paraffine et des mélanges dilués via les gaz d’échappement est aussi analysée en tant que verrous potentiels pour améliorer la combustion de type HCCI. Dans cette thèse, le n-heptane est choisi comme composé principal représentatif du diesel, l'éthanol et 1-butanol sont choisis comme bio-alcools. L’analyse présentée ici se repose sur trois approches différentes : l’analyse expérimentale de la pression cylindre, l'analyse d'images de chimiluminescence spontanée de certaines espèces et les résultats issus de la modélisation cinétique de la combustion. / Currently, the major issues for the transportation sector are the global warming and energy crisis which encourage researchers to develop an alternative green efficient technology. The homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) can be one of solutions for the automotive engine. This combustion concept is independent on the high temperature flame propagation which releases lowest critical emissions (NOX and PM) in the exhaust gas. HCCI combustion of diesel fuel presents specific characteristic of two-stage ignition that over-advances the main heat release. As the importance of bio-alcohol fuels increases, it is interesting to evaluate the potential of the fuels, to optimize the HCCI combustion of diesel fuels. This is the objective of this phD thesis. The two-stage ignition characteristic of the diesel hydrocarbon is described and the influence of alcohol fuel fraction in diesel blends is investigated in comparison with high octane paraffin hydrocarbon diesel blends and EGR addition. All potentials are concluded to the potential for HCCI combustion improvement. In this thesis, n-heptane was selected as the major diesel representative component and ethanol and 1-butanol as the considered alcohol fuels. Three approaches were used based on experimental cylinder pressure analysis, the chemiluminescence emissions image analysis and the chemical kinetic analysis results from the engine modeling. A detailed chemical kinetic scheme was specifically developed from sub-scheme of all considered fuel.

This thesis is about modelling of the combustion and emissions of dual fuel HCCI engines for design of “engine combustion system”. For modelling the combustion first the laminar flamelet model and a hybrid Lagrangian / Eulerian method are developed and implemented to provide a framework for incorporating detailed chemical kinetics. This model can be applied to an engine for the validation of the chemical kinetic mechanism. The chemical kinetics, reaction rates and their equations lead to a certain formula for which the coefficients can be obtained from different sources, such as NASA polynomials [1]. This is followed by study of the simulation results and significant findings. Finally, for investigation of the knock phenomenon some characteristics such as compression ratio, fuel equivalence ratio, spark timing and their effects on the performance of an engine are examined and discussed. The OH radical concentration (which is the main factor for production of knock) is evaluated with regard to adjustment of the above mentioned characteristic parameters. In the second part of this work the specification of the sample engine is given and the results obtained from simulation are compared with experimental results for this sample engine, in order to validate the method applied in AVL Fire software. This method is used to investigate and optimize the effects of parameters such as inlet temperature, fuels ratio, diesel fuel injection timing, engine RPM and EGR on combustion in a dual fuel HCCI engine. For modelling the dual fuel HCCI engine AVL FIRE software is applied to simulate the combustion and study the optimization of a combustion chamber design. The findings for the dual fuel HCCI engine show that the mixture of methane and diesel fuel has a great influence on an engine's power and emissions. Inlet air temperature has also a significant role in the start of combustion so that inlet temperature is a factor in auto-ignition. With an increase of methane fuel, the burning process will be more rapid and oxidation becomes more complete. As a result, the amounts of CO and HC emissions decrease remarkably. With an increase of premixed ratio beyond a certain amount, NOX emissions decrease. With pressure increases markedly and at high RPM, knock phenomenon is observed in HCCI combustion.

No description available.

No / This paper presents the development and implementation of an Analytical Target Cascading (ATC) Multi-disciplinary Design Optimisation (MDO) framework for the steady state engine calibration optimisation problem. The case is made that the ATC offers a convenient framework for the engine calibration optimisation problem based on steady state engine test data collected at specified engine speed / load points, which is naturally structured on 2 hierarchical levels: the ‘Global’ level, associated with performance over a drive cycle, and ‘Local’ level, relating to engine operation at each speed / load point. The case study of a diesel engine was considered to study the application of the ATC framework to a calibration optimisation problem. The paper describes the analysis and mathematical formulation of the diesel engine calibration optimisation as an ATC framework, and its Matlab implementation with gradient based and evolutionary optimisation algorithms. The results and performance of the ATC are discussed comparatively with the benchmark steady state solution for the engineering calibration of the diesel engine. The main conclusion from this research is that ATC optimisation framework offers an effective approach for engine calibration, with a potential to deliver significant fuel economy benefits. Further advantages of the ATC framework is that it is flexible and scalable to the complexity of the calibration problem, and enables calibrator preference to be incorporated a priori in the optimisation problem formulation, delivering important time saving for the overall calibration development process.

[pt] Uma tecnologia desenvolvida na Universidade de Wisconsin-Madison denominada de Reactivity Controlled Compression Ignition (RCCI) usa dois injetores, por cilindro, para misturar combustível de baixa-reação (gasolina) com combustível de alta-reação (diesel) em um motor de ignição por compressão (ICO). Esta técnica possibilitou maior controle do processo de combustão, diminuição do consumo de combustível e dos gases de exaustão prejudiciais ao meio ambiente.Neste trabalho foi utilizado um motor ICO monocilíndrico, modificado para operar com tecnologia RCCI, injetando diesel e etanol diretamente na câmara de combustão. O objetivo era alcançar a maior taxa de substituição de diesel por etanol, utilizando estratégias de dupla e tripla injeção de combustível. Os resultados dos testes mostram que, operando com a estratégia de dupla injeção de combustível (etanol à -170 graus PMS e diesel a -8 graus PMS), a eficiência do motor modificado melhorou, mas surgiram pontos de alta pressão no interior do cilindro capazes de danificar o motor. Utilizando outra estratégia de dupla injeção de combustível (diesel a -8 graus PMS e etanol à +4 graus PMS) não foram constatados pontos de alta pressão no interior do cilindro, mas ocorreu um decréscimo na eficiência. Os resultados mais promissores foram obtidos empregando a estratégia de tripla injeção de combustível (etanol à -170 graus PMS, diesel a -8 graus PMS e etanol à + 4graus PMS): a eficiência aumentou e foi alcançada a maior taxa de substituição de diesel por etanol (74,6 por cento). / [en] A technology developed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison called Reactivity Controlled Compression Ignition (RCCI) uses two injectors, per cylinder, to mix low-reaction fuel (gasoline) with high-reaction (diesel) fuel ignition (ICO). This technique allowed greater control of the combustion process, reduction of fuel consumption and exhaust gases harmful to the environment. In this work was used a single-cylinder compression ignition (IC) engine, modified to operate with RCCI technology, injecting diesel and ethanol directly into the combustion chamber. The objective was to achieve the highest rate of substitution of diesel by ethanol, using double and triple fuel injection strategies. Test results show that modified engine efficiency improved when the dual fuel injection strategy (ethanol at -170 degrees PMS and diesel at -8 degrees PMS) was used, but high pressure points appeared inside the cylinder that could damage the engine. Using another dual fuel injection strategy (diesel at -8 degrees PMS and ethanol at + 4 degrees PMS) no pressure peaks were detected inside the cylinder, but a decrease in efficiency occurred. The most promising results were obtained using the triple fuel injection strategy (ethanol at -170 degrees PMS, diesel at -8 degrees PMS and ethanol at + 4 degrees PMS): efficiency increased and the highest diesel substitution rate by ethanol was achieve (74,6 percent).

[pt] Há algum tempo biocombustíveis renováveis são potenciais soluções sugeridas às questões de emissão de poluentes e dependência da sociedade aos derivados fósseis. Biodiesel e etanol são combustíveis comerciais renováveis candidatos à substituição das fontes fósseis, especialmente, em motores de ignição por compressão, os quais são tipicamente mais eficientes do que aqueles de ignição por centelha. Misturas ternárias de diesel, biodiesel e etanol formam estratégias de substituição parcial do diesel aplicáveis em motores de ignição por compressão sem a necessidade de grandes adaptações. Nesta dissertação realizaram-se avaliações experimentais em um motor multi-cilíndrico de ignição por compressão (MWM 4.10 TCA), abastecido com misturas de diesel, biodiesel (até 15 por cento em teor volumétrico) e etanol anidro (até 20 por cento em teor volumétrico). Cada mistura ternária é composta por diferentes proporções do álcool e sempre com a concentração volumétrica de 1 por cento de um aditivo estabilizador da mistura. Portanto, os testes associam substituições parciais do diesel por biocombustíveis a avaliações de desempenho do motor e da combustão das misturas, sob algumas condições de carga, regimes de rotação e instantes de injeção de combustível. Os testes realizados indicam que misturas com 20 por cento em volume de concentração de etanol experimentam inícios de combustão até 4,7 graus CA mais atrasados. Porém, a busca de instantes otimizados na injeção de combustível trouxe melhorias ao desempenho do motor, permitiu conversões energéticas mais vantajosas do etanol na ignição por compressão frente à ignição por centelha, além de minimizar efeitos do etanol em retardar o início da combustão. / [en] Renewable biofuels have been proposed for a long time as an alternative to the issues concerned to pollutants emission and also society s liability to fossil fuels. Biodiesel and ethanol are renewable commercial fuel candidates for fossil fuels substitution, especially, in compression ignition engines, which are typically more efficient than the spark ignition ones. Diesel s partial replacement, such as the substitution by ternary blends formed by diesel, biodiesel and ethanol, is a strategy applicable to compression ignition engines without the need of further modifications. In this dissertation tests were run in a multi-cylinder compression ignition engine (MWM 4.10 TCA), fueled with diesel, biodiesel (up to 15 percent in volumetric content) and anhydrous ethanol (up to 20 percent in volumetric content) blends. Each mixture should be composed by different alcohol s proportions and always containing a 1 percent volumetric concentration of additive in order to ensure ternary s blend stability. Therefore, tests try to ally diesel s partial replacement by biofuels with engine performance and blends combustion assessment, under some combinations of load, engine speed and injection timing conditions. The tests performed indicate that the start of the combustion experienced up to 4.7 degrees CA postponements, when fueled with a 20 percent ethanol volumetric concentration blend. Still, optimized injection timing investigation brought improvements to engine performance, allowed better ethanol energetic conversions through compression ignition when compared to spark ignition and could also minimize delays caused by ethanol s presence in the beginning of the combustion.

Wastes have a real potential as being players in the energy mix of tomorrow. They can have a high heating value depending on their composition, which makes them good candidates to be converted into liquid fuel via pyrolysis. Among the different types of wastes, automotive residues are expected to rocket due to the increasing number of cars and the tendency to build cars with more and more polymers. Moreover, the existing regulations concerning the recycling of end-of-life vehicles become more and more stringent. Unconventional fuels such as those derived from automotive shredder residues (ASR) have a particular composition which tends to increase the amount of pollutants comparing with conventional fuels. Relying on alternative combustion modes, such as reactivity controlled compression ignition (RCCI), is a solution to cope with these pollutants. In RCCI, two types of fuels are burned simultaneously, namely a light fraction with a low reactivity, and a heavy fraction with a high reactivity. The heavy fraction governs the ignition as it is injected directly in the cylinder close to the end of compression. A variation of its ignition delay could impact the quality of the combustion. Nevertheless, this issue can be tackled by adjusting the injection timing. As long as the low reactivity fuel is concerned, such a solution cannot be adopted as its reactivity depends on the initial parameters (equivalence ratio, inlet temperature, exhaust gas recirculation ratio). However, if the fuel is too reactive, it could create knock that have a dramatic impact on the engine, leading to damages. Thus, being able to predict its features is a key aspect for a safe usage. Predicting methods exist but had never been tested yet with fuels derived from automotive residues. With petroleum products, usual prediction methods stand at three different levels: the chemical composition, the properties, and the reactivity in an appliance. The fuel is studied at these three levels. First, the structure gives a good overview of the fuel auto-ignition. For instance, aromatics tend to have higher ignition delay time (IDT) than paraffins. Second, the octane numbers are good indicators of the fuel IDT and of the resistance toward knock. Precisely, the octane numbers depict the resistance of a fuel towards an end-gas auto-ignition. Last, the IDT was studied in a rapid compression machine and a surrogate fuel was formulated. Surrogate fuels substitute real fuels during simulations because real fuels cannot be modelled by kinetic mechanisms due to their complexity.The existing methods to estimate the composition were updated to predict the n-paraffin, iso-paraffin, olefin, napthene, aromatic and oxygenate(PIONAOx) fractions. A good accuracy was achieved compared with the literature. This new method requires the measurement of the specific gravity, of the distillation cut points, of the CHO atom fractions, of the kinematic viscosity and of the refractive index.Two methods to predict the octane numbers were developed based on Bayesian inference, principal component analysis (PCA) and artificial neural network (ANN). The first is a Bayesian method which modifies the pseudocomponent (PC) method. It introduces a correcting factor which corrects the existing formulation of the PC method to increase its accuracy. A precision of more than 2% is achieved. The second method is based on PCA and ANN. 41 properties are studied among which reduced set of principal variables are selected to predict the octane numbers. 10 properties calculated only with the distillation cut points, the CHO atom fraction and the specific gravity were selected to accurately predict the octane numbers.Measurements of the IDT in a rapid compression machine (RCM) of a fuel produced from ASR were realized. They are the first measurements insuch a machine ever made. This provide experimental data to the literature. Moreover, these experimental data were used to formulate a surrogate fuel. Surrogate fuels can be used to realize simulations under specific conditions. The current thesis investigates fuels derived from ASR. It was showed that this fuel can be burnt in engines as long as their properties are carefully monitored. Among others, the IDT is particularly important. Nevertheless, additional experimental campaigns and simulations in engine are required in order to correctly assess all of the combustion features of such a fuel in an engine. / Doctorat en Sciences de l'ingénieur et technologie / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

No description available.

Currently extensive research on alternative fuels is being conducted due to their increasing demand to reduce greenhouse emissions. One renewable fuel studied in this work is dimethyl ether (DME) blended with propane(C3H8) as a potential mixture for heavy-duty engines used in semi-trucks. The blend has the potential to drastically reduce particulate and greenhouse gas emissions compared to a conventional diesel engine operating under similar conditions. To develop the use of mixture, one must conduct detailed conceptual and simulation studies before progressing to detail studies in CFD, engine modifications, and live testing. For simulations, accurate high-fidelity chemical kinetic models are necessary. However, the validity of the chemical kinetic mechanism for operating conditions of a heavy-duty mixing-controlled compression (MCCI) engine was widely unknown until recent work presented here and published. In this work, we studied the ignition of DME and propane blends in a shock tube under MCCI engine conditions. Ignition delay time (IDT) gathered behind the reflected shock for DME-propane mixtures for heavy-duty compression ignition (CI) engine parameters. Testing was conducted for undiluted varieties spanning from temperatures of 700 to 1100 K at pressures ranging from 55 to 84 bar for various blends (100% CH3OCH3, 100% C3H8, 60% CH3OCH3/ 40% C3H8) of DME and propane were combusted in synthetic air (21% O2/ 79% N2). Several experiments were conducted at higher pressures (90-120 bar) to improve the model performance and accuracy. The ignition delay times (IDTs) were compared to recent mechanisms, including Aramco3.0, NUIG, and Dames et al. A common trend among the mechanisms was overpredicted experimental IDTs. Further studies were conducted by a sensitivity analysis using the Dames et al. model, and critical reactions sensitive to IDTs of DME-propane mixture near 60 bar are outlined. Chemical analysis was conducted on the NTC region to explain chemical kinetics which is critical for developing MCCI heavy duty engines.