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This study investigated the effect of some pilot fuel injection parameters, like injection timing, injection pressure and injection quantity on engine performance and exhaust emissions of a supercharged producer gas-diesel dual fuel engine. The engine has been tested to be used as a co-generation engine and its power output is an important matter. Experiments have been done to optimize the injection timing, injection pressure and injection quantity for the maximization of engine power. At constant injection pressures, there is an optimum amount of pilot injection quantity for that maximum engine power is developed without knocking and within the limit of maximum cylinder pressure. Above or below of that amount engine power is decreased. Higher injection pressures generally show better results than lower ones. However, good results can also be obtained with lower injection pressure, if maximum power timings can be selected.

This study investigated the effect of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) on combustion and odorous emissions in a direct injection (DI) diesel engine. EGR up to 60% was examined in the engine start-up conditions as well as once the engine was stabilized. In emissions, exhaust odor, irritation, formaldehyde (HCHO) and total hydrocarbon (THC) are compared without or with different EGR rates. After engine warm-up, reduced exhaust odor and eye irritation are obtained at 30% and 60% EGR rates than no EGR in the outdoor assessment environment, although HCHO emission at 60% EGR rate is 50% higher than at 30% EGR rate or non EGR. Early in the engine start-up time, 60% EGR rate shows very high emissions of HCHO and THC. Combustion analysis is performed by taking cylinder pressures during combustion and analyzing heat release rates. Cylinder pressures at 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 and 32 minutes after engine start for different EGR rates are taken.

This study investigated the effects of injection pressure and split injection on exhaust odor and engine noise in DI diesel engines. At idle, an injection pressure of 60 to 80 MPa resulted in the minimum exhaust odor with the least aldehyde and minimum THC formation. This is because of decreases in fuel adhering to the combustion chamber walls due to the shortest ignition delay and improved mixture formation at this pressure range. However, above 60 MPa there is no further shortening of the ignition delay and overleaning of the local mixture dominates at injection pressures above 100 MPa, where the exhaust odor increases again. The higher injection pressure of 60 to 80 MPa is favorable for emission reductions, but there are increases in engine noise and engine instability at idle. To reduce engine noise, further experiments with split injection were attempted.

This study investigated the odorous components in the exhaust of DI diesel engines. The complete products of combustion are H2O and CO2, which have no odor. Therefore, other products of incomplete combustion like unburned fuel components, partially burned components, cracked products from thermal cracking and others are thought to be responsible for exhaust odor. The THC in the exhaust is the result of incomplete combustion. This study measured THC in the exhaust, and a good correlation was found between THC and exhaust odor at different engine conditions. The low boiling point hydrocarbon components, especially CH4 in diesel exhaust were found to show a good correlation with exhaust odor. Aldehydes in exhaust gases correlate with exhaust odor very well and among the aldehydes, formaldehyde is found to be the most important component in causing irritating odor. The other part of this study is devoted to the improvement in the odor assessment used for DI diesel engines.

This study investigated the effect of ignition delay and exhaust gas speed on exhaust odor in DI diesel engines. From the investigation of many engine parameters like injection timing and injection pressure, it has been found that the optimum ignition start position is more important than the shorter ignition delay, but the optimum ignition start position along with the shorter ignition delay is the best scenario for minimum odor. Further, it has been found that good mixture formation is more important than shorter ignition delay in reducing odor, but the optimum mixture formation together with shorter ignition delay results in the lowest odorous emissions. From the investigation of various fuels in the diesel engine, it seems that the combustion pattern and the raw odor of fuel are more important than ignition delay. A fuel with low raw odor and high cetane number with optimum boiling point significantly improves the exhaust odor.

This study investigated the influence of aldehyde and hydrocarbon components (HC components) on exhaust odor in DI diesel engines. Aldehyde is an important odorous group in exhaust, and it correlates well with exhaust odor at any engine condition. Formaldehyde (HCHO) in the exhaust has been identified as an important component causing irritating odor. Water-washing of exhaust gases does not trap HC components, while most of the odorous components are trapped with remarkable odor reductions. This indicates that the HC components in the exhaust have no direct effect on exhaust odor. However, the exhaust odor increases with increases in the concentration of the low boiling point HC components. This maybe due to the increase in intermediate odorous compounds like aldehydes, organic acids, or other oxygenated compounds in the combustion condition where the low boiling point HC components increase.

Direct injection diesel engines emit a far more disagreeable exhaust odor at idling than gasoline engines, and with increasing numbers of DI diesel engines in passenger cars, it is important to promote the odor reduction research. High pressure injection in DI diesel engines promotes combustion and decreases particulate matter (PM) emissions, but injection pressures at idling and warm up are limited to 30∼40 MPa considering engine noise and vibration. In this pressure range, a part of the fuel adheres on the relatively cool combustion chamber walls and causes incomplete combustion, producing higher concentration of unburned HC and intermediate combustion components (aldehydes, other oxygenated compounds, etc.) with objectionable exhaust odors. To reduce the exhaust odor, oxidation catalysts are effective, but catalyst activity is poor at idling, when the exhaust gas temperature is low (about 100°C).

This study investigated the effect of high pressure injection and an oxidation catalyst on the exhaust odor of DI diesel engines. At idling an injection pressure of 60∼80 MPa resulted in the minimum exhaust odor, with the least aldehyde and minimum total hydrocarbon (THC). This is because of decreases in fuel adhering to the combustion chamber walls due to the shortest ignition delay at this pressure range. However, above 60 MPa there is no further shortening of the ignition delay and overleaning of the local mixture dominates at injection pressures above 100 MPa, where the exhaust odor increases again. The odor reduction at the optimum injection pressure and injection timing is not significant, and further experiments with an oxidation catalyst were performed. The oxidation catalyst was found less effective to reduce exhaust odor at long idling where the maximum catalyst temperature is only about 120°C.

Exhaust odor of DI diesel engines is worse than that of gasoline engines, especially at low temperatures and at idling. As the number of passenger cars with DI diesel engines is increasing worldwide because of their low CO2 emissions, odor reduction research of DI diesel engines is important. Incomplete combustion is a major cause of exhaust odor. Generally, odor worsens due to overleaning of the mixture in the cylinder and due to fuel adhering on the combustion chamber walls. To confirm this, the influences of different engine running conditions and fuel properties were investigated. The reason for the changes in exhaust odor with injection timing is evaluated by considerations of optimum positions of the maximum heat release. With n-heptane, a low boiling point fuel, odorous emissions increase because of overleaning of the mixture.