Abstract
In this study, the authors investigated the effect of fuel properties on the combustion characteristics by employing methane, methanol, ethanol, and primary reference fuels (PRFs) as the main chamber fuel while using methane for the pre-chamber. Global excess air ratios (λ) from 1.6 to lean limit were tested, while 13% of total fuel energy supplied to the engine was delivered via the pre-chamber. The gaseous methane was injected into the pre-chamber at the gas exchange top-dead-center (TDC). Port fuel injection was tested with both open and closed inlet valves. The pre-chamber assembly was designed to fit into the diesel injector pocket of the base engine, which resulted in a narrow throat diameter of 3.3 mm. The combustion stability limit was set at 5% of the coefficient of variation of gross IMEP, and the knock intensity limit was set at 10 bar. GT-Power software was used to estimate the composition of pre-chamber species and was used in heat release analysis of the two chambers. It was found that the rich limit was controlled by engine knock. Hence a higher reactivity fuel (lower octane) had to be operated leaner. However, with the increasing reactivity, the lean limit was also extended, while the peak efficiency was also obtained with a leaner mixture. With PRF 90, the lean limit was at global-λ = 3.0, while the limit was 2.3 with methane. The alcohol fuels exhibited a different behavior from the methane and the PRFs. Ethanol has the same lean limit as PRF100, but methanol could be operated up to global-λ = 3.2. The pre-chamber combustion did not change much with the different fuels in the main chamber, so the combustion stability trends must be related to the transition from burning jets to ignition of the main chamber charge and its subsequent combustion.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | SAE World Congress Experience 2021 |
| Publisher | The Society of Automotive Engineers |
| State | Published - Apr 14 2021 |
Bibliographical note
KAUST Repository Item: Exported on 2021-01-23Acknowledgements: The paper is based upon the work supported by Saudi Aramco Research and Development Center FUELCOM3 program under Master Research Agreement Number 6600024505/01. FUELCOM (Fuel Combustion for Advanced Engines) is a collaborative research undertaking between Saudi Aramco and KAUST intended to address the fundamental aspects of hydrocarbon fuel combustion in engines, and develop fuel/engine design tools suitable for advanced combustion modes.
The authors would like to thank King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and the Clean Combustion Research Center (CCRC) for lab facilities and research support. Finally, the authors would like to convey gratitude towards the IC Engine Lab Safety Supervisor Adrian I. Ichim and the lab technician Riyad H. Jambi for their kind input and assistance in performing the experiments. The authors would like to express gratitude towards The Lee Company for providing the details and specifications of the check valve used in the pre-chamber studies.