Keywords hydrogen, internal combustion engine, combustion, high pressure injection, zero CO2 emission
This report describes lessons learned in the establishment, execution and termination of a large, multi-institutional consortium, derived from the Co-Optimization of Fuels and Engines experience. The decision to form a consortium comes with benefits (in advancing challenging multidisciplinary research) and costs (in time and additional management funds). Once the decision is made, key elements to a strong start include establishing a shared vision and goals; engaging an experienced project manager early; instituting feedback and oversight mechanisms to ensure relevance, strong performance, and situational awareness. Once a consortium is up and running, DOE and leadership should strike the right balance between competition and collaboration; foster an environment that builds trust; and adjust the organizational structure as needed to maintain collaboration. Finally, DOE and the labs can plan effectively for a smooth transition as a consortium winds down. This report provides some additional lessons and details on these lessons that we hope future DOE and lab leaders will find useful as they contemplate standing up new consortia.
The introduction of new fuels into the market is a unique opportunity to take advantage of new fuel compositions to improve the efficiency and emissions of internal combustion reciprocating engines and alternative fuel feedstocks. However, there are numerous challenges that introductions of new fuels face before they can become first legal, then ubiquitous. This chapter reviews four different case studies related to changing fuel composition. In some circumstances, the fuel formulation was changed in seemingly minor ways, and resulted in the unanticipated consequences. In other cases, a fuel change was desired, but an unexpected barrier slowed the introduction of the fuel change. These case studies should be viewed as opportunities to understand the interdependencies that exist and factors that need to be considered when trying to change the fuel in the marketplace.
Results from an experimental profile loss study are presented of an additive manufactured linear turbine cascade placed in the test section of a closed-loop organic vapor wind tunnel. This test facility at Muenster University of Applied Sciences allows the investigation of high subsonic and transonic organic vapor flows under ORC turbine flow conditions at elevated pressure and temperature levels. An airfoil from the open literature was chosen for the cascade, and the organic vapor was Novec 649(TM). Pitot probes measured the flow field upstream and downstream of the cascade. The inflow turbulence level was 0.5%. The roughness parameters of the metal-printed blades were determined, and the first set of flow measurements was performed. Then, the blade surfaces were further finished, and the impact of roughness on profile losses was assessed in the second flow measurement set. Although the Reynolds number level was relatively high, further surface treatment reduces the profile loss noticeably in organic vapor flows through the printed cascade.
Results are presented of a theoretical and experimental study dealing with critical and choking Mach numbers of organic vapor flows through turbine cascades. A correlation was derived for predicting choking Mach numbers for organic vapor flows using an asymptotic series expansion valid for isentropic exponents close to unity. The theoretical prediction was tested employing a linear turbine cascade and a circular cylinder in a closed-loop organic vapor wind tunnel. The cascade was based on a classical transonic turbine airfoil for which perfect gas literature data were available. The cascade was manufactured by Selective Laser Melting (SLM), and a comparable low surface roughness level was established by subsequent surface finishing. Because the return of the closed-loop wind tunnel was equipped with an independent mass flow sensor and the test facility enabled stable long-term operation behavior, it was possible to obtain the choking Mach number with high accuracy. It was observed that non-perfect gas dynamics affect the critical Mach number locally, but the observed choking behavior of the turbine cascade was in good agreement with the asymptotic result for the considered dilute gas flow regime.
will provide concepts and approaches needed to prepare the reporting forms. This second volume of sector-specific guidance covers the transportation sector, the forestry sector, and the agricultural sector.
Internal combustion (IC) engines operating on fossil fuel oil provide about 25% of the world’s power (about 3000 out of 13,000 million tons oil equivalent per year—see Figure 1), and in doing so, they produce about 10% of the world’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (Figure 2). Reducing fuel consumption and emissions has been the goal of engine researchers and manufacturers for years, as can be seen in the two decades of ground-breaking peer-reviewed articles published in this International Journal of Engine Research (IJER). Indeed, major advances have been made, making today’s IC engine a technological marvel. However, recently, the reputation of IC engines has been dealt a severe blow by emission scandals that threaten the ability of this technology to make significant and further contributions to the reduction of transportation sector emissions. In response, there have been proposals to replace vehicle IC engines with electric-drives with the intended goals of further reducing fuel consumption and emissions, and to decrease vehicle GHG emissions. Indeed, some potential students and researchers are being dissuaded from seeking careers in IC engine research due to disparaging statements made in the popular press and elsewhere that disproportionately blame IC engines for increasing atmospheric GHGs. Without a continuous influx of enthusiastic, welltrained engineers into the profession, the potential further benefits that improved IC engines can still provide will not be realized. As responsible automotive engineers and as stewards of the environment for future generations, it is up to our community to make an honest assessment of the progress made in the development of IC engines over the past century, with their almost universal adoption to meet the world’s mobility and power generation needs. Considering that the maturity of IC engine technology is something that many other technologies/possibilities do not have, we also need to assess the potential for future progress, as well as to assess the benefits offered by competitor technologies, in order to make responsible recommendations for future directions. Factors impacting that future are discussed in this editorial and include the following:
Many research studies have focused on utilizing gasoline in modern compression ignition engines to reduce emissions and improve efficiency. Collectively, this combustion mode has become kn+own as gasoline compression ignition (GCI). One of the biggest challenges with GCI operation is maintaining control over the combustion process through the fuel injection strategy, such that the engine can be controlled on a cycle-by-cycle basis. Research studies have investigated a wide variety of GCI injection strategies (i.e., fuel stratification levels) to maintain control over the heat release rate while achieving low-temperature combustion (LTC). This work shows that at loads relevant to light-duty engines, partial fuel stratification (PFS) with gasoline provides very little controllability over the timing of combustion. On the contrary, heavy fuel stratification (HFS) provides very linear and pronounced control over the timing of combustion. However, the HFS strategy has challenges achieving LTC operation due to the air handling burdens associated with the high exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) rates that are required to reduce NOx emissions to near zero levels. In this work, a wide variety of gasoline fuel reactivities (octane numbers ranging from <40 to 87) were investigated to understand the engine performance and emissions of HFS-GCI operation on a multi-cylinder light-duty engine. The results indicate that over an EGR sweep at 4 bar brake mean effective pressure (BMEP), the gasoline fuels can achieve LTC operation with ultra-low NOx and soot emissions, while conventional diesel combustion (CDC) is unable to simultaneously achieve low NOx and soot. At 10 bar BMEP, all the gasoline fuels were compared to diesel, but using mixing controlled combustion and not LTC.
On behalf of the Vehicle Technologies Office of the U.S. Department of Energy, we are pleased to introduce the Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 Annual Progress Report for the Advanced Engine and Fuel Technologies Program. In support of the Vehicle Technology Office’s goal for future U.S. economic growth, the Program focuses on early-stage research and development to improve understanding of combustion processes, fuel properties, and emissions control technologies, generating knowledge and insight necessary for industry to cost-effectively develop the next generation of engines and fuels. One of the most promising and cost-effective approaches to improving the fuel economy of the U.S. vehicle fleet is to introduce the next generation of higher-efficiency, very-low-emission combustion engines that meet future federal emissions regulations into the passenger and commercial vehicle markets. Advanced fuel formulations that can incorporate non-petroleum-based blending agents could further enhance engine efficiency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and provide fuel diversification. Also, innovations in combustion, fuels, emissions control, air control, turbomachinery, and energy recovery could potentially increase fuel economy considerably compared to today’s vehicles. The expected national economic, environmental, and energy security benefits from these next-generation engines and fuels would be significant inasmuch as the majority of vehicles sold over the next several decades will still include an engine. The Program has set the following goals for passenger and commercial vehicle fuel economy improvements. By 2030, increase light-duty engine efficiency to demonstrate 35% improvement in passenger vehicle fuel economy (25% improvement from engine efficiency and 10% from fuel co-optimization) relative to a 2015 baseline vehicle, while meeting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Tier 3 Emission and Fuel Standards. By 2030, improve heavy-duty engine efficiency by 35% relative to a 2009 baseline vehicle and identify cost-effective high-performance fuels that can further increase efficiency up to an additional 4%, while meeting prevailing U.S. Environmental Protection Agency emissions standards. The Program utilized advanced combustion processes to increase engine efficiency, resulting in a modeled passenger vehicle fuel economy improvement of 19.4% (over a Model Year 2015 baseline) in FY 2019. This report highlights progress achieved by the Advanced Engine and Fuel Technologies Program during FY 2019. The nature, current focus, and recent progress of the Program are described together with summaries of National Laboratory, industry, and university projects that provide an overview of the exciting work being conducted to address critical technical barriers and challenges to commercializing the next generation of higher-efficiency engine, emissions control, and fuel technologies for passenger and commercial vehicles.
A novel thermal measurement approach is presented for the determination of fan efficiencies. This approach is not resting on a simple direct measurement of the occurring temperature difference but on a system identification based on the transient time signal of the involved temperature measurement device. The values of the system parameters can be identified after recording the transient response of the system to a step input, i. e. the fan is suddenly turned on. By means of a representative case study considering a centrifugal fan, the system identification and its relation to fan efficiency are presented. The outcome of the new thermal approach is compared with results of standardized fan performance tests and with results obtained by the direct temperature measurement method without system identification. It is shown that the direct temperature measurement provides typically poor data whereas the novel thermal approach leads to results which are well comparable with these obtained by standard performance test at the design point.
The present contribution presents a test facility for fans working with organic vapors where non-ideal gas effects are relevant. In contrast to conventional testing of atmospheric fans a thermodynamic approach based on very precise temperature measurements is employed for obtaining the performance curves. The experimental data are used for validation of three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of the organic vapor flows within the turbomachinery including real gas effects. The combined experimental and numerical analysis approach enables the assessment of conventional design rules and correlations. It is found that the influence of the Mach number on efficiency is dominant, and the expected Reynolds number scaling is fully compensated by compressibility effects in the case of an organic vapor with its low speed of sound.
We have studied cyclic heat release variability in a spark-ignition engine under exhaust gas recirculation (EGR), using nitrogen to simulate EGR. Five EGR levels are examined. We used wavelet analysis to identify the dominant modes of fluctuation and how these modes vary in time. It is found that at a low EGR level, the heat release variations exhibit high-frequency intermittent oscillations. As the EGR level increases, the high-frequency oscillations tend to become more persistent, occurring continuously over many cycles. When the EGR level is sufficiently high, intermittent oscillations are observed at both high and low frequencies. In addition, persistent low-frequency fluctuations are present at the high EGR level. We have fitted theoretical probability models to the empirical heat release distributions. Depending on the EGR level, a three-parameter probability density function such as the generalized logistic distribution, a four-parameter distribution such as Johnson SB, or the five-parameter Wakeby distribution is found to provide a good fit. The goodness of fit of the theoretical distributions is assessed by the Kolmogorov-Smirnov (KS) test statistics. A good understanding of cyclic variability is essential to develop effective control strategies for efficient combustion.
Efficient processes with organic fluids are becoming increasingly important. The high tech fluid Novec (TM) is such an organic fluid and is used, for example, as a coolant for high-performance electronics, low-temperature heat transfer applications, cooling of automotive batteries, just to mention a few. Thus, efficient designed fans for the transport of organic fluids are becoming more and more important in the process engineering. CFD-simulations are nowadays integral part of the design and optimization process of fans. For air at the most usual application conditions, i.e. no extreme temperatures or pressures, the ideal gas model is in good agreement with the real gas approach. In the present study, this real gas approach for organic fluids have been investigated with CFD methods and, the deviation from the ideal gas model has been analyzed. For this purpose, a simulation model of a centrifugal fan with volute has been designed as a test case. First, the ideal gas model approach has been compared with the real gas approach model of Peng-Robinson for air using the commercial solver ANSYS CFX. Thereafter, the same comparison has been performed using the organic fluid Novec (TM) After a detailed grid study, the entire fan characteristics, i.e. the design point and the off-design points, have been simulated and evaluated for each fluid (air and Novec (TM)) and gas model (ideal gas and Peng-Robinson real gas). The steady state simulations of the centrifugal fan have been performed using the Frozen Rotor model. The simulation results have been compared, discussed and presented in detail.
The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Co-Optimization of Fuels & Engines (Co-Optima) initiative is conducting the early-stage research needed to accelerate the market introduction of advanced fuel and engine technologies. The research includes both spark-ignition (SI) and compression-ignition (CI) combustion approaches, targeting applications that impact the entire on-road fleet (light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicles). The initiative's major goals include significant improvements in vehicle fuel economy, lower-cost pathways to reduce emissions, and leveraging diverse U.S. fuel resources. A key objective of Co-Optima's research is to identify new blendstocks that enhance current petroleum blending components, increase blendstock diversity, and provide refiners with increased flexibility to blend fuels with the key properties required to optimize advanced internal combustion engines. This report identifies eight representative blendstocks from five chemical families that have demonstrated the potential to increase boosted SI engine efficiency, meet key fuel quality requirements, and be viable for production at commercial scale by 2025-2030.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Co-Optima initiative is accelerating the introduction of efficient, clean, affordable, and scalable high-performance fuels and engines. This effort is simultaneously tackling fuel and engine research and development (R&D) to maximize light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicle fuel economy and performance, while mapping lower-cost pathways to reduce emissions, leveraging diverse domestic fuel resources, boosting U.S. economic productivity, and enhancing national energy security. Co-Optima brings together DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (EERE), nine national laboratories, 13 universities, and numerous industry and government stakeholders in a collaboration exploring solutions with potential for near-term improvements to the types of fuels and engines found in most vehicles currently on the road, as well as to the development of revolutionary new combustion technologies. This report is an overview of the research activities and accomplishments of the Co-Optima initiative during the 2017 Fiscal Year.
A detailed convective heat transfer study was conducted for a square cylinder subjected to uniform air and water streams at various inclination angles using a wind tunnel and a towing tank approach, respectively. Since the same test object was considered for both fluids, the comparison of the air and water heat transfer data enabled an assessment of the influence of the Prandtl number on the convective heat transfer. The reliability of the test apparatus was checked by means of mean heat transfer results obtained for air for which accurate literature data were available. The new results of the present experimental study demonstrated that the classical assumption m = 1/3 for the Prandtl number exponent in heat transfer correlations was only valid in cases where a two-dimensional boundary layer flow governed the convective heat transfer. The classical Prandtl number exponent assumption failed in the case of flow regimes dominated by separation and reattachment. The new experimental data indicated that for such threedimensional flows virtually higher values should be used for the Prandtl number exponent. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Additive Manufacturing Integrated Energy (AMIE) demonstration project leverages rapid innovation through additive manufacturing to connect a natural-gas powered hybrid electric vehicle to a high-performance building designed to produce, consume, and store renewable energy. The AMIE demonstration project consists of a building and vehicle that were additively manufactured (3D-printed) using the laboratory's big area additive manufacturing (BAAM) capabilities and an integrated energy system with smart controls that connects the two via wireless power transfer. The printed utility vehicle features a hybrid electric powertrain with onboard power generation from a natural gas fueled auxiliary power unit (APU). The APU extends vehicle range through a series hybrid powertrain configuration that recharges the vehicle's lithium-ion energy storage system and acts as a mobile power generation system for the printed building. The development of the powertrain used for the printed range-extended electric vehicle was completed using a powertrain-in-the-loop development process and the vehicle prototype implementation was accelerated using BAAM. A flexible 3.2 kW solar photovoltaic system paired with electric vehicle batteries will provide renewable power generation and storage. Energy flows back and forth between the car and house using fast, efficient bidirectional wireless power transfer. The AMIE project marked the first demonstration of bidirectional level 2 charging through wireless power transfer. The accelerated creation and printing of the car and house will further demonstrate the program's function as an applied science tool to get products to market more quickly than what currently is possible with traditional manufacturing. This paper presents a case study that summarizes the efforts and technical details for using the printed research platforms. This paper explores the focuses on printing of the vehicle, powertrain integration, and possibilities for vehicles providing power to buildings in different scenarios. The ability for BAAM to accelerate the prototype development for the integrated energy system process is explored. Details of how this was successfully accomplished in 9 months with more than 20 industry partners are discussed.