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Low temperature combustion (LTC) modes for reciprocating engines have been demonstrated with relatively high thermal efficiencies. These new combustion modes involve various combinations of stratification, lean mixtures, high levels of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR), multiple injections, variable valve timings, two fuels, and other such features. LTC engines may be attractive in combination with low heat rejection (LHR) engine concepts. The current work is aimed at evaluating the thermodynamic advantages of such a LTC-LHR engine. A thermodynamic cycle simulation was used to evaluate the effect of cylinder wall temperature on the engine performance, emissions and second law characteristics. An automotive engine at 2000 rpm with a bmep of 900 kPa was considered. Both a conventional and a LTC design were compared. The LTC engine realized small gains in efficiency whereas the conventional engine did not realize any significant gains as the cylinder wall temperature was increased.

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) launched on August 12, 2005 and started aerobraking at Mars in March 2006. During the spacecraft's design phase, thermal models of the solar panels and instruments were developed to determine which components would be the most limiting thermally during aerobraking. Having determined the most limiting components, (from a temperature limit standpoint), thermal limits in terms of heat rate were established. Advanced thermal modeling techniques were developed utilizing Thermal Desktop and Patran Thermal. Heat transfer coefficients were calculated using a Direct Simulation Monte Carlo technique. Analysis established that the solar panels were the most limiting components during the aerobraking phase of the mission.

An engine cycle simulation which included the second law of thermodynamics was used to examine the engine performance and the thermodynamic characteristics of a spark ignition engine as functions of the oxygen inlet concentration. A wide range of oxygen inlet concentrations (12% to 40% by volume) was considered. For oxygen inlet concentrations less than 21%(v), EGR was used, and for oxygen inlet concentrations greater than 21%(v), oxygen enriched inlet air was used. Two EGR configurations were considered: (1) cooled and (2) adiabatic. In general, engine efficiencies decreased, heat transfer increased, nitric oxide emissions increased, and the destruction of availability (exergy) decreased as the oxygen concentration increased.

As emission standards become more stringent, many studies have been carried out to understand and reduce the emissions from diesel combustion engines, among which nitric oxide (NO) emissions and soot are known to have the trade-off relation during combustion processes. One aspect of this trade-off is manifested by the role radiation heat transfer plays on post-flame gas temperature, thus affecting NO formation. For example, a decrease in in-cylinder soot decreases radiation heat transfer causing an increase in post-flame gas temperature and partially contributing to the corresponding soot-NO relationship with an increase in NO formation. This topic has re-emerged with the increased use of biodiesel; a potential explanation for the so-called "biodiesel NOx penalty" is biodiesel's inherently reduced in-cylinder soot.

Research on dual-fuel engine systems is regaining interest as advances in combustion reveal enabling features for attaining high efficiencies. Although this movement is manifested by development of advanced modes of combustion (e.g., reactivity controlled compression ignition combustion, or RCCI), the possibility of gasoline / diesel conventional combustion exists, which is characterized by premixed gasoline and direct-injected diesel fuel at conventional diesel injection timing. This study evaluates the effects of operating parameter on fuel conversion efficiency for gasoline / diesel conventional combustion in a medium duty diesel engine. Through adjustment of gasoline ratio (mass basis), injection timing and rail pressure (with adjustments to diesel fuel quantity to hold torque constant), the combustion, performance and emissions are studied.

The objective of this work is to develop a computer-aided tool that enables the development, screening, modeling, analysis, and integration of physico-chemical and bio-regenerative components of Advanced Life Support System (ALS) system. The tool has the following four main components that are interrelated and automatically integrated: Process configuration. Particular emphasis is given to food production (e.g., syrup and flour from sweet potato, starch from sweet potato, breakfast cereal from sweet potato). Modeling and analysis for mass and energy tracking and budgeting System integration (both functional as well material and energy integration) Metrics evaluation (e.g., Equivalent System Mass (ESM)) Modeling and analysis is achieved by developing material- and energy-budgeting models. Various forms of mass and energy are tracked through fundamental as well as semi-empirical models. These models include kinetics, mass transfer, heat transfer, and fluid mechanics.

This paper investigates the effect of the cetane number (CN) of a diesel fuel on the energy balance between a light duty (1.9L) and medium duty (4.5L) diesel engine. The two engines have a similar stroke to bore (S/B) ratio, and all other control parameters including: geometric compression ratio, cylinder number, stroke, and combustion chamber, have been kept the same, meaning that only the displacement changes between the engine platforms. Two Coordinating Research Council (CRC) diesel fuels for advanced combustion engines (FACE) were studied. The two fuels were selected to have a similar distillation profile and aromatic content, but varying CN. The effects on the energy balance of the engines were considered at two operating conditions; a “low load” condition of 1500 rev/min (RPM) and nominally 1.88 bar brake mean effective pressure (BMEP), and a “medium load” condition of 1500 RPM and 5.65 BMEP.