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This study explores the feasibility of using a sustainable lignin-based fuel, consisting of 44 % lignin, 50 % ethanol, and 6 % water, in conventional compression ignition (CI) marine engines. Through experimental evaluations on a modified small-bore CI engine, we identified the primary challenges associated with lignin-based fuel, including engine startup and shutdown issues due to solvent evaporation and lignin solidification inside the fuel system, and deposit formation on cylinder walls leading to piston ring seizure. To address these issues, we developed a fuel switching system transitioning from lignin-based fuel to cleaning fuel with 85 vol% of acetone, 10 vol% of water and 5 vol% of ignition improving additive, effectively preventing system clogs.

The liquefied natural gas (LNG)-fueled ships were provisioned to meet the strict emission legislation in the marine application since 2000. However, the scientific approach of burning the low-emission natural gas in lean combustion uncovered that the engine suffers from high methane slip emission. Serious questions are raised about the quantity of methane slip during marine conditions when the load varies in multiple frequencies and amplitudes. Previous studies by these authors explained how methane slip increases during load oscillation. This paper examined several practical methods to reach stable combustion in transient conditions to reduce the methane slip. Employing Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controllers in a closed loop, implementing open-loop lookup tables, model predictive controller (MPC), and an innovated solenoid method are performed in a high-fidelity medium-speed natural gas spark-ignition (SI) engine model.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the existing chemical kinetic mechanism reduction techniques. From here, an appropriate reduction scheme was developed to create compact yet comprehensive surrogate models for both diesel and biodiesel fuels for diesel engine applications. The reduction techniques applied here were Directed Relation Graph (DRG), DRG with Error Propagation, DRG-aided Sensitivity Analysis, and DRG with Error Propagation and Sensitivity Analysis. Nonetheless, the reduced mechanisms generated via these techniques were not sufficiently small for application in multi-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) study. A new reduction scheme was therefore formulated. A 68-species mechanism for biodiesel surrogate and a 49-species mechanism for diesel surrogate were successfully derived from the respective detailed mechanisms.

Development of numerical tools for quantitatively assessing biofuel combustion in Internal Combustion Engines and facilitating the identification of optimum operating parameters and emission strategy are challenges of engine combustion research. Biofuels obtained through e.g. a Fischer-Tropsch process (FT) are complex mixtures of wide ranges of high molecular weight hydrocarbons in the diesel and naphtha boiling range dominated by C10-C18 hydrocarbons in n-alkane, iso-alkane, alkenes, aromatic and oxygenate classes. In this paper modeling of combustion in a rapid compression machine has been performed using model compounds from a given FT biofuel distribution as surrogate fuels. Furthermore, the detailed mechanism has been reduced by applying an automatic necessity analysis removing redundant species from the detailed model.

The paper describes the optimization of a 50 cc crankcase scavenged two-stroke diesel engine operating on dimethyl ether (DME). The optimization is primarily done with respect to engine efficiency. The underlying idea behind the work is that the low weight, low internal friction and low engine-out NOx of such an engine could make it ideal for future vehicles operating on second-generation biofuels. Data is presented for the performance and emissions at the current state of development of the engine. Brake efficiencies above 30% were obtained despite the small size of the engine. In addition, efficiencies near the maximum were found over a wide operating range of speeds and loads. Maximum bmep is 500 kPa. Results are shown for engine speeds ranging from 2000 to 5000 rpm and loads from idle to full load. At all speeds and loads NOx emissions are below 200 ppm and smokeless operation is achieved. Design improvements relative to an earlier prototype are described.

Seven shapes of piston crowns have been evaluated for their ability to reduce HCCI knock and transmission of combustion noise to the engine. The performance of each piston crown was evaluated with measurements of cylinder pressure, engine vibration and acoustic sound pressure measured one meter away from the engine. The experiments were conducted in a diesel engine that was run in HCCI combustion mode with a fixed quantity of DME as fuel. The results show that combustion knock is effectively suppressed by limiting the size of the volume in which the combustion occurs. Splitting the compression volume into four smaller volumes placed between the perimeter of the piston and the cylinder liner increased the noise to a higher level than that generated with a flat piston crown. This was due to resonance between the four volumes. Using eight volumes instead decreased the noise.

The effects of methanol and EGR on HCCI combustion of dimethyl ether have been tested separately in a diesel engine. The engine was equipped with a common rail injection system which allowed for random injection of DME. The engine could therefore be operated either as a normal DI CI engine or, by advancing the injection timing 360 CAD, as an HCCI engine. The compression ratio of the engine was reduced to 14.5 by enlarging the piston bowls. The engine was operated in HCCI mode with DME at an equivalence ratio of 0.25. To retard the combustion timing, methanol was port fuel injected and the optimum quantity required was determined. The added methanol increased the BMEP by increasing the total heat release and retarding the combustion to after TDC. Engine knock was reduced with increasing quantities of methanol. The highest BMEP was achieved when the equivalence ratio of methanol was around 0.12 at 1000 RPM, and around 0.76 at 1800 RPM. EGR was also used to retarding the timing.

The low auto-ignition temperature, rapid evaporation and high cetane number of dimethyl ether (DME) enables the use of low-pressure direct injection in compression ignition engines, thus potentially bringing the cost of the injection system down. This in turn holds the promise of bringing CI efficiency to even the smallest engines. A 50cc crankcase scavenged two-stroke CI engine was built based on moped parts. The major alterations were a new cylinder head and a 100 bar DI system using a GDI-type injector. Power is limited by carbon monoxide emission but smoke-free operation and NOx < 200ppm is achieved at all points of operation.

An experimental study has been carried out on the homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) combustion of Dimethyl Ether (DME). The study was performed as a parameter variation of engine speed and compression ratio on excess air ratios of approximately 2.5, 3 and 4. The compression ratio was adjusted in steps to find suitable regions of operation, and the effect of engine speed was studied at 1000, 2000 and 3000 RPM. It was found that leaner excess air ratios require higher compression ratios to achieve satisfactory combustion. Engine speed also affects operation significantly.

About 2000 hours of gas engine operation with producer gas from biomass as fuel has been conducted on the gasification combined heat and power (CHP) demonstration and research plant, named “Viking” at the Technical University of Denmark. The plant and engine have been operated continuously and unmanned for five test periods of approximately 400 hours each. Two different control approaches have been applied and investigated: one where the flow rate of the producer gas is fixed and the engine operates with varying excess of air due to variation in gas composition and a second where the excess of air in the exhaust gas is fixed and the flow rate of produced gas from the gasifier is varying. It was seen that the optimal control approach regarding the gasifier operation resulted in engine operation with significant variation of the NOx emissions Producer gas properties and contaminations have been investigated.

The IEA Advanced Motor Fuels Agreement has initiated this project concerning the application of biodegradable lubricants to diesel and gasoline type vehicles. Emission measurements on a chassis dynamometer were carried out. The purpose of these measurements was to compare the emissions of CO, CO2, NOx, THC, PM, lubricant-SOF and PAH from diesel and gasoline type vehicles using biodegradable lubricants and conventional lubricants. This paper describes the results of the experiments with the gasoline type vehicles only - two FFV's (Flexible Fuel Vehicles). The results from the measurements on the diesel type vehicles are described in an earlier SAE paper [1]. Lubricant consumption and fuel consumption are other important parameters that have been evaluated during the experiments. Both vehicle types were operated on conventional crude oil based fuels and alternative fuels.

The IEA Advanced Motor Fuels Agreement has initiated this project concerning the application of biodegradable lubricants to diesel and gasoline type vehicles. Emission measurements on a chassis dynamometer were carried out. The purpose of these measurements was to compare the emissions of CO, CO2, NOx, THC, PM, lubricant-SOF and PAH from one diesel and one gasoline type vehicle using biodegradable lubricants and conventional lubricants. This paper describes the results of the experiments with the diesel type vehicle only. Lubricant consumption and fuel consumption are other important parameters that have been evaluated during the experiments. Both vehicle types were operated on conventional crude oil based fuels and alternative fuels. The diesel vehicle was operated on conventional diesel fuel from a Danish fuel station, low sulfur diesel from Sweden and biodiesel, which was bought at a fuel station in Germany.

The utilisation of producer gas - from thermal gasification of biomass - as a fuel for spark ignition gas engines is of vital importance to the ongoing effort of making biomass gasification a commercially feasible technology. Tests have been carried out with a 1.1 litre four-cylinder natural aspirated SI engine in conjunction with a two-stage gasifier with a nominal thermal input of 100 kW. The fuel-gas is produced from wood chips in order to get a CO2 neutral fuel for combined heat and power production. The producer gas has a very low tar and particulate content and high hydrogen content. As the gasifier was operated with varying fuel properties, engine tests were made with different fuel-gas compositions. The engine tests showed that producer gas has a power and efficiency advantage compared to natural gas when operating the engine at lean burn conditions. The engine was operated at air/fuel ratios varying from stoichiometric to extremely lean burn (λ>3).