Performance and emission studies on the effect of injection timing and diesel replacement on a 4-S LPG-Diesel Dual-Fuel Engine

Abstract

Reducing the emissions and fuel consumption are no longer future goals; instead they are the demands of the day. People are concerned about rising fuel costs and effects of emissions on the environment. Diesel engines are the major contributors to the increased levels of pollutants. In the present work an attempt is made for effective utilization of diesel engine with reduced fuel consumption, smoke density and NOx emissions. This is achieved by some minor modifications in diesel engine so as to run it as LPG-Diesel Dual-fuel engine with LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) (70% Butane + 30% Propane) induction at air intake. The important aspect of LPG-Diesel dual-fuel engine is that, it shows significant reduction in smoke density, NOx emission and improved brake thermal efficiency with reduced energy consumption. An existing 4-S, single cylinder, naturally aspirated, water-cooled, direct injection, C.I. engine test rig was used for the experimental purpose. With proper instrumentation the tests were conducted under various LPG flow rates, loads, and injection timings. The influence of the diesel replacement by LPG on smoke density, brake specific energy consumption and brake thermal efficiency was studied. The optimal diesel replacement pertaining to the maximum allowable LPG flow limits could be assessed with these experiments. The influence of the injection timing variation on the engine performance and smoke density was analyzed form the experimental results. It was observed that beyond half load operation of the dual-fuel engine, thermal efficiency increased with diesel replacement, and at full load up to 4% improvement was observed compared to full diesel operation. There was drastic reduction in NOx emissions (up to40- 60 %) for the entire load range, except near full load where NOx increased (by38%) beyond full diesel value at normal injection timing. At full load reduction in smoke density up to 40% to 60% was observed compared to full diesel operation. At advance injection timing of 30�btdc the performance of the dual fuel engine was better with lower smoke density, while the NOx emission was found to be higher. Copyright � 2003 SAE International.