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Performance and Emissions of Internal Combustion Engines Fuelled with Alternative Fuels for Sustainable Development

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "J: Thermal Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (7 February 2023) | Viewed by 3888

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Mechanical, Energy and Management Engineering, University of Calabria, Ponte Bucci, Cubo 44 C, 87036 Rende, Italy
Interests: internal combustion engine fuelled with alternative fuels; combustion processes; pollutant emissions; novel technologies for thermal management in internal combustion engines; oxy-MILD combustion technology; CHP/CCHP systems; computational fluid dynamics (CFD)
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Mechanical, Energy and Management Engineering, University of Calabria, Via P. Bucci, Cubo 44 C, I-87036 Arcavacata Di Rende, Italy
Interests: combined-cycle power plants; polygeneration systems; multi-source power generation systems; CHP/CCHP systems; optimization; ORC systems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Mechanical, Energy and Management Engineering, University of Calabria, Via P. Bucci, Cubo 44 C, 87036 Arcavacata Di Rende, Italy
Interests: spark ignition engines; control systems; thermal management; renewable energy; computational fluid dynamics (CFD)
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Internal combustion engines (ICEs) represent a reliable, well-established, and economically viable technology. ICEs are the most common power source for transport and are vitally important for electric generation, combined heat and power (CHP), and combined cooling, heat, and power (CCHP) applications. Furthermore, CHP/CCHP generations are considered key technical solutions to promote sustainable energy production and to overcome environmental concerns. However, fossil fuel depletion and increasingly severe emission regulations have encouraged the industry and the research community to study alternative fuels. To this purpose, increasing the use of alternative fuels and improving the performance output is of great importance in order to minimize both the greenhouse gas (GHG) and harmful emissions.

This Special Issue aims to publish high-quality research papers and review articles on internal combustion engines fuelled with alternative fuels for the transport sector and CHP/CCHP applications, with most emphasis on improvements in fuel conversion efficiency and reductions in pollutant emissions.

Topics of interest for this Special Issue may include, but are not limited to:

  • Performance of internal combustion engines fuelled with biofuels, e-fuels, hydrogen and other sustainable fuels;
  • Combustion processes, models and control strategies;
  • Pollutant formation processes and models;
  • Emission control strategy;
  • Techno-economic analysis and the optimization of alternative fuels fired ICEs for CHP and CCHP applications.

Dr. Diego Perrone
Prof. Dr. Pietropaolo Morrone
Dr. Teresa Castiglione
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • technologies for ICE efficiency improvements and CO2 reductions
  • clean ICE technology
  • alternative fuel
  • combustion processes
  • pollutant emissions
  • GHG emissions
  • energy performance
  • CHP/CCHP systems

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 4992 KiB  
Article
Application of Gas Dissolved in Fuel in the Aspect of a Hypocycloidal Pump Design
by Maciej Bajerlein, Wojciech Karpiuk and Rafał Smolec
Energies 2022, 15(23), 9163; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15239163 - 2 Dec 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1345
Abstract
The advancement of modern injection systems of diesel engines is related to a constant increase in the injection pressures generated by injection pumps. This translates into an improvement of the engine operation indexes, including the emission-related ones. Such an approach brings a series [...] Read more.
The advancement of modern injection systems of diesel engines is related to a constant increase in the injection pressures generated by injection pumps. This translates into an improvement of the engine operation indexes, including the emission-related ones. Such an approach brings a series of problems related to the design, construction and durability of the injection system. Therefore, the authors asked whether the current market trend in injection systems is the only appropriate path to be taken. When searching for the answer, the authors decided to propose an innovative concept consisting of dissolving exhaust gas in diesel fuel with the use of an injection pump. Such a saturated solution, when flowing out of the injection nozzle, begins the process of releasing the gas dissolved in the fuel. This has a positive impact on the atomization process, hence the process of combustion. The aim of this paper stems from the previously performed research. Due to the nature of the phenomenon, it was necessary to propose a new design for the injection pump. For correct selection of the dimensions of the pumping section, it was of key importance to determine the coefficient of solubility and the bulk modulus of the solution of diesel fuel and exhaust gas. Aside from the description of the applied method and the results of the direct measurements, this paper presents the yet undescribed results of the measurements of the coefficient of solubility of different concentrations of exhaust gas in diesel fuel. The authors also investigated the influence of the amount of exhaust gas dissolved in the fuel on the bulk modulus of the solution. The final part of the paper is a description of a proprietary design of a hypocycloidal injection pump. The application of the innovative drive allows a correct dissolution of exhaust gas in the fuel. Full article
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19 pages, 4152 KiB  
Article
Experimental Investigation and RSM Modeling of the Effects of Injection Timing on the Performance and NOx Emissions of a Micro-Cogeneration Unit Fueled with Biodiesel Blends
by Carlo Caligiuri, Marco Bietresato, Angelo Algieri, Marco Baratieri and Massimiliano Renzi
Energies 2022, 15(10), 3586; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15103586 - 13 May 2022
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 1848
Abstract
The (partial or total) substitution of petro-diesel with biodiesel in internal combustion engines (ICEs) could represent a crucial path towards the decarbonization of the energy sector. However, critical aspects are related to the controversial issue of the possible increase in Nitrogen Oxides (NO [...] Read more.
The (partial or total) substitution of petro-diesel with biodiesel in internal combustion engines (ICEs) could represent a crucial path towards the decarbonization of the energy sector. However, critical aspects are related to the controversial issue of the possible increase in Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) emissions. In such a framework, the proposed study aims at investigating the effects of biodiesel share and injection timing on the performance and NOx emissions of a diesel micro combined heat and power (CHP) system. An experimental campaign has been conducted considering the following operating conditions: (i) a reference standard injection timing (17.2° BTDC), an early injection timing (20.8° BTDC), and a late injection timing (12.2° BTDC); (ii) low (0.90 kW), partial (2.45 kW), and full (3.90 kW) output power load; and (iii) four fuel blends with different biodiesel (B) shares (B0, B15, B30, and B100). Experimental data were also elaborated on thanks to the response surface modelling (RSM) technique, aiming at (i) quantifying the influences of the above-listed variables and their trends on the responses, and (ii) obtaining a set of predictive numerical models that represent the basis for model-based design and optimization procedures. The results show: (i) an overall improvement of the engine performance due to the biodiesel presence in the fuel blend —in particular, B30 and B100 blends have shown peak values in both electrical (29%) and thermal efficiency (42%); (ii) the effective benefits of late SOI strategies on NOx emissions, quantified in an overall average NOx reduction of 27% for the early-to-late injection, and of 16% for the standard-to-late injection strategy. Moreover, it has emerged that the NOx-reduction capabilities of the late injection strategy decrease with higher biodiesel substitution rates; through the discussion of high-prediction-capable, parametric, data-driven models, an extensive RSM analysis has shown how the biodiesel share promotes an increase of NOx whenever it overcomes a calculated threshold that is proportional to the engine load (from about 66.5% to 85.7% of the biodiesel share). Full article
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