Search Results

Ethylene, propylene, n-butane, and 1-butene, which make up a large portion of the photochemically reactive hydrocarbons in automobile exhaust, were reacted individually and as a mixture in a turbulent flow, heated reaction tube made of mild steel. Methods of predicting the total hydrocarbon disappearance by use of a general empirical equation are presented. Techniques for using hydrocarbon composition and carbon monoxide data to predict exhaust photochemical reactivity and CO concentration from total hydrocarbon disappearance correlations are suggested. Results show that total hydrocarbon reaction was generally strongly dependent on temperature and on oxygen concentration between 1% and 5%, and was less dependent on initial hydrocarbon concentration. Gas Chromatograph data showed that during certain individual hydrocarbon reactions, the formation of other photochemically reactive hydrocarbons could increase smog-forming potential despite a decreasing total hydrocarbon concentration.

Effects of engine parameters on performance can be investigated by using a mathematical model of the engine cycle, and the computed results may be used to optimize performance. The following design parameters were varied: crankcase clearance volume, exhaust and transfer port timings, exhaust and transfer port areas and bore/stroke ratio. Studies assumed both constant and variable exhaust pressures.

FLAME-temperature data obtained with the electro-optical pyrometer developed by the University of Wisconsin are presented for diesel fuels of selected composition, together with reproducibility data for the test engine and equipment. Although insufficient data are available for a valid correlation of combustion performance with fuel characteristics, a few correlation procedures are suggested.

This paper indicates why certain exhaust constituents from automotive vehicles are considered pollutants, describes the formation of these pollutants in automotive operation, and details techniques being used and considered to control these pollutants. The formation of pollutants-carbon monoxide, nitric oxide, hydrocarbons, particulates, and odor-in a variety of engine types and under a variety of conditions is described in detail. Vehicle emissions are also analyzed for real motor vehicle operation.

An instrument was developed to measure absolute monochromatic infrared emission rates within an operating diesel engine. The instrument and data reduction system were developed for use in obtaining potential instantaneous rates of radiant heat transfer within an operating engine. Data are presented for variations of: engine speed, fuel-air ratio, fuel injection timing, intake air pressure, fuel injector nozzle spray patterns, fuel cetane numbers, fuel family, and fuel additives (tetraeythl lead and amyl nitrate). Also presented is an empirical correlation for instantaneous radiant heat transfer rates and some conclusions regarding radiant emission sources within the engine and their relationships to combustion processes.

Instantaneous heat transfer rates at the interface of the working gas and the walls of a motored engine were studied. This paper details the influence on heat fluxes of engine speed, compression ratio, intake pressure, swirl ratio, location on the cylinder head surface, and the shape of the piston top. Equations are given to show the method of calculation used in deriving the data on heat transfer rates.

A NEW electronic circuit arrangement added to the electro-optical pyrometer developed at the University of Wisconsin indicates instantaneously the temperature in the combustion chamber of a diesel engine. The electronic device, which is described in this paper, solves an equation relating true temperature to intensity and wave length of monochromatic radiation from a luminous flame. True flame temperature is charted on an oscillograph as a function of such abscissas as time or crank angle. Several circuits are reviewed which were found unsuited for use with the pyrometer but which may be useful for other applications.

This paper describes a new application of Karman vortex shedding frequency as a velocity sensor in a motored internal combustion engine cylinder. The probe design, experimental setup and data reduction procedures are described. The quality of data obtained depends strongly on the relative frequency distribution of the free-stream turbulence and of the vortex shedding induced by the vortex generator. The instrument was evaluated on a CFR engine equipped with a shrouded intake valve. The results are presented in terms of the airswirl ratio at several selected crank angle degrees versus engine speed. The limitations of the device were also demonstrated in L-head engine tests.

Various homogeneous charge and stratified charge engine configurations were studied at wide-open throttle conditions, using simplified computer models. An order-of-magnitude parametric study was performed to find those combinations of variables which predicted a low nitric oxide level. Extreme values of variables were studied for a homogeneous charge engine configuration, which could be difficult to do in a real engine. As expected, these calculations indicated that for practical engine operation the equivalence ratio of the mixture must either be very rich or very lean for a resultant low nitric oxide level. Two extremes of stratified charge engine operation were investigated analytically, in other words, immediate mixing of newly formed products of rich combustion with excess air (instantaneous mixing) and a period of rich combustion followed by air addition to the rich products (delayed mixing). Comparisons of power, efficiency, and specific NOx are presented.

Obtaining and maintaining a stratified charge in a practical engine is a difficult problem. Consequently, many approaches have been proposed and reported in the scientific and patent literature. In attempting to assess the most profitable approach for future development work, it is important to group together similar approaches so that one can study their performance as a group. Making such a classification has the additional advantage of helping to standardize terminology used by different investigators. With this thought in mind, a literature study was made and a proposed classification chart prepared for the different engine combustion systems reported in the literature. For the sake of completeness, the finally proposed classification chart includes homogeneous combustion engines as well as heterogeneous combustion engines. Because of their similarity of combustion, rotary engines such as the Wankel engine are considered as “reciprocating” although gas turbines are not included.

Gas concentrations, under different engine operating conditions, different locations relative to the fuel spray are presented. The gas that is sampled is “snatched” from a continuous flow sampling probe. The time of snatching is controlled. The concentrations of CO, CO2, NOx, and O2 are plotted against, crank position. The sampled gases were analyzed for concentration in the as taken state and after the sampled gas had passed through a heated catalytic oxidation converter. Analysis have been performed and plots are presented of the findings. The analytic procedure developed for the data analysis are presented in detail.

DATA presented in this paper show temperature-time diagrams obtained from mufflers mounted on trucks which were traveling over their regular routes. Using these temperature data, specimens made of possible muffler materials were subjected to laboratory tests. A wide range of possible muffler materials and gas composition were covered in these tests. Results of the tests indicate that under long-run heavy-duty truck service, muffler failure occurs primarily because of high metal temperatures and that coated mild steel showed the most promise of longer muffler life.

An investigation into effects of multiple fuel introduction on isfc, rate-of-pressure rise, ignition delay, and smoothness of P-T diagram was conducted. Work, including pilot and manifold injection and the Vigom process, was conducted in a prechamber, an open chamber, and a Ricardo Comet chamber, all mounted on a CFR crankcase. Results show marked smoothening of the P-T diagram, with slight loss in fuel economy, particularly in the open chamber, and decrease in ignition delay for both high and low cetane fuels, especially at lower engine speeds. Data show that the quantity of preliminary fuel required for best performance changes considerably with cetane number of the fuel and with combustion chamber.

An evaluation of the many new devices proposed, in recent years, for power production. Among these are fuel cells, thermoelectric generators, thermionic generators, and solar cells. Comparisons of these energy converting devices are based on ultimate efficiency (thermodynamic principles), weight, size, and cost, when possible.

To meet future world energy demands, the engineer’s task will be to develop, through research, means of supplying new sources of energy. Though nuclear processes and solar energy will provide future energy, they are not readily adaptable to portable power systems due to inherent shortcomings. Energy can be supplied to portable power systems by energy storage systems using chemical, mechanical, or electrical forms, or it may be supplied through energy-in-transit systems. Technical discussion of various systems is presented. To develop suitable energy storage systems, thought must be given to problems of construction, operation, maintenance, and economics. Research is necessary to determine which chemical fuels are most adaptable for internal combustion engines.

The purpose of the tests conducted on a single-cylinder laboratory engine was to determine the mechanism of combustion that affect exhaust emissions and the relationship of those mechanisms to engine design and operating variables. For the engine used in this study, the exhaust emissions were found to have the following dependence on various engine variables. Hydrocarbon emission was reduced by lean operation, increased manifold pressure, retarded spark, increased exhaust temperature, increased coolant temperature, increased exhaust back pressure, and decreased compression ratio. Carbon monoxide emission was affected by air-fuel ratio and premixing the charge. Oxides of nitrogen (NO + NO2 is called NOx) emission is primarily a function of the O2 available and the peak temperature attained during the cycle. Decreased manifold pressure and retarded spark decrease NOx emission. Hydrocarbons were found to react to some extent in the exhaust port and exhaust system.

The infrared radiation method of compression and end-gas temperature measurement was applied to the problem of measuring gas temperatures up to the time of knock. Pressure data were taken for each run on a CFR engine with mixtures of isooctane and n-heptane under both knocking and nonknocking conditions. Main engine parameters studied were the intake pressure, intake temperature, and engine speed. The rate and extent of chemical energy release were calculated from the temperature and pressure histories using an energy balance. The computed rates of chemical energy release were correlated to a chain-type kinetic model

Cylinder pressure change caused by preliminary introduction of fuel in a CI engine, including introduction during the intake stroke, is measured in both a prechamber and an open chamber engine. Values of ΔP and ΔUF obtained are presented for variation of engine operating conditions such as engine speed, intake temperature, intake pressure, and compression ratio. Cetane number, voltaility, and quantity of preliminary fuel were also varied. The results show that if the preliminary fuel is injected sufficiently early it passes through two distinct stages of exothermic reactions separated by an induction period during which the reaction rate is low. The preliminary fuel, by virtue of its longer residence time, completes the required sequence of physical and chemical transformations during the compression stroke.