Evaluation of the Oxidation Reactivity and Behavior of Exhaust Soot Particles from Diesel Engines with Different Emission Levels

The aim of this study was to investigate the oxidation reactivity and behavior of exhaust particulate matter(PM)from diesel engines.PM samples from two diesel engines(1K,CY4102)with different emission levels were collected by a thermophoretic system and a quartz filter.The oxidation reactivity,oxidation behaviors,and physicochemical properties of the PM samples were analyzed using thermogravimetric analysis(TGA),high-resolution transmission electron microscopy(HRTEM),Fourier-transform infrared spectrometry(FTIR),and Raman spectroscopy.The results showed that there was a great difference in the oxidation reactivity of soot particles emitted by the two different diesel engines.A qualitative analysis of the factors influencing oxidation reactivity showed that the nanostructure,degree of graphitization,and relative concentration of aliphatic C—H functional groups were the most important factors,whereas no significant correlation was found between the primary particle size and activation energy of the diesel soot.Based on the oxidation behavior analysis,the diesel soot particles exhibited both internal and surface oxidation modes during the oxidation process.Surface oxidation was dominant during the initial stage,and as oxidation progressed,the mode gradually changed to internal oxidation.Internal oxidation mode of soot particles from the 1K engine was significantly higher than that of CY4102.

Performance, Combustion and Emission Characteristics of Oxygenated Diesel in DI Engines: A Critical Review

The transition from non-renewable to renewable energy sources is a significant challenge of our time. In the fuel industry, oxygenated additives such as butanol are transforming conventional fuels into renewable biofuels. This technology has been utilized in reciprocating engines for decades. This paper reviews the viability of using an n-butanol blend as a short-term replacement for diesel by analyzing its physical and chemical properties, combustion, performance, and emission characteristics in compression ignition (CI) engines under various conditions, including variable load, speed, acceleration, and both stationary and transient cycles. N-Butanol exhibits higher viscosity, better lubricity, higher heating value, improved blend stability, enhanced cold-flow properties, and higher density. These factors influence spray formation, injection timing, atomization, and combustion characteristics. Its higher oxygen content improves the diffusion combustion stage and efficiency. Adding 5% and 10% n-butanol to diesel increases pressure and apparent heat release rate, slightly reduces temperature, and improves thermal efficiency, with mixed effects on CO and THC emissions and a notable decrease in particulate matter emissions. Fuel consumption increases, while the impact on NOx emissions varies. A 10% butanol blend is considered optimal for enhancing performance and reducing particulate emissions without significantly affecting NOx emissions. Blending up to 40% butanol with diesel does not require engine modifications or ECU recalibrations in engines calibrated for pure diesel. Due to its advantageous properties and performance, n-butanol is recommended as a superior alcohol-diesel blend than ethanol for short-term diesel replacement.

Facet Engineering of Advanced Electrocatalysts Toward Hydrogen/Oxygen Evolution Reactions

The electrocatalytic water splitting technology can generate highpurity hydrogen without emitting carbon dioxide,which is in favor of relieving environmental pollution and energy crisis and achieving carbon neutrality.Electrocatalysts can effectively reduce the reaction energy barrier and increase the reaction efficiency.Facet engineering is considered as a promising strategy in controlling the ratio of desired crystal planes on the surface.Owing to the anisotropy,crystal planes with different orientations usually feature facet-dependent physical and chemical properties,leading to differences in the adsorption energies of oxygen or hydrogen intermediates,and thus exhibit varied electrocatalytic activity toward hydrogen evolution reaction(HER)and oxygen evolution reaction(OER).In this review,a brief introduction of the basic concepts,fundamental understanding of the reaction mechanisms as well as key evaluating parameters for both HER and OER are provided.The formation mechanisms of the crystal facets are comprehensively overviewed aiming to give scientific theory guides to realize dominant crystal planes.Subsequently,three strategies of selective capping agent,selective etching agent,and coordination modulation to tune crystal planes are comprehensively summarized.Then,we present an overview of significant contributions of facet-engineered catalysts toward HER,OER,and overall water splitting.In particular,we highlight that density functional theory calculations play an indispensable role in unveiling the structure–activity correlation between the crystal plane and catalytic activity.Finally,the remaining challenges in facet-engineered catalysts for HER and OER are provided and future prospects for designing advanced facet-engineered electrocatalysts are discussed.

Defect engineering of ternary Cu-In-Se quantum dots for boosting photoelectrochemical hydrogen generation

Heavy-metal-free ternary Cu–In–Se quantum dots(CISe QDs)are promising for solar fuel production because of their low toxicity,tunable band gap,and high light absorption coefficient.Although defects significantly affect the photophysical properties of QDs,the influence on photoelectrochemical hydrogen production is not well understood.Herein,we present the defect engineering of CISe QDs for efficient solar-energy conversion.Lewis acid–base reactions between metal halide–oleylamine complexes and oleylammonium selenocarbamate are modulated to achieve CISe QDs with the controlled amount of Cu vacancies without changing their morphology.Among them,CISe QDs with In/Cu=1.55 show the most outstanding photoelectrochemical hydrogen generation with excellent photocurrent density of up to 10.7 mA cm-2(at 0.6 VRHE),attributed to the suitable electronic band structures and enhanced carrier concentrations/lifetimes of the QDs.The proposed method,which can effectively control the defects in heavy-metal-free ternary QDs,offers a deeper understanding of the effects of the defects and provides a practical approach to enhance photoelectrochemical hydrogen generation.

Boosting the Performance Gain of Ru/C for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction Via Surface Engineering

The surface properties of catalysts determine the intrinsic activity and adaptability.Ruthenium is regarded as a potential candidate to substitute platinum for water electrolysis due to the low cost and analogous electronic structures while it suffers from severe dissolution and stability problems.Herein,the modification of Ru/C with atomically dispersed cobalt atoms is achieved via a simple thermal doping method.The newly formed amorphous shell with Ru-Co sites on the Ru/C catalyst improved the hydrogen evolution reaction activity and stability significantly.Impressively,the obtained Co1Ru@Ru/CN_(x)catalyst exhibited an overpotential as low as 30 mV at 10 mA cm^(-2)in an alkaline medium,which is among the best HER catalysts reported so far.The oxygen oxophile Co prevents the fast oxidation and dissolution of Ru species,ensuring outstanding long-term durability up to 70 h.Theoretical calculations reveal that the Ru-Co coordination acts as a more active site for water dissociation than the Ru-Ru.Meanwhile,the"Ru-Co shell/Ru core"structures show high adaptability for the reaction conditions.This simple doping strategy offers prospects for scalable preparation of highly active electrocatalysts.

Defect-engineered two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides towards electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction

Recently,two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides(TMDs)demonstrated their great potential as cost-effective catalysts in hydrogen evolution reaction.Herein,we systematically summarize the existing defect engineering strategies,including intrinsic defects(atomic vacancy and active edges)and extrinsic defects(metal doping,nonmetal doping,and hybrid doping),which have been utilized to obtain advanced TMD-based electrocatalysts.Based on theoretical simulations and experimental results,the electronic structure,intermediate adsorption/desorption energies and possible catalytic mechanisms are thoroughly discussed.Particular emphasis is given to the intrinsic relationship between various types of defects and electrocatalytic properties.Furthermore,current opportunities and challenges for mechanical investigations and applications of defective TMD-based catalysts are presented.The aim herein is to reveal the respective properties of various defective TMD catalysts and provide valuable insights for fabricating high-efficiency TMD-based electrocatalysts.

Analysis of the Emissions and Performance of a Diesel Engine Using Pumpkin Seed Oil Methyl Ester with Different Injection Pressures

Biodiesel fuel is a potential alternative energy source for diesel engines due to its physiochemical characteristics relatively similar to those of traditional diesel fuel.In this study,the performance,emission,and combustion features of a mono cylinder DI diesel engine are assessed using 20%Pumpkin seed methyl ester(PSOME20)and considering varying injection pressures(200,220,240,and 260 bar).The considered Pumpkin seed oil is converted into pumpkin biodiesel by transesterification and then used as fuel.The findings demonstrate that the Brake Thermal Efficiency(BTE)of PSOME20 can be raised by 1.68%,and the carbon monoxide(CO),hydrocarbon(HC),and smoke emanations can be lowered,while oxides of nitrogen(NOx)emissions are increased at an injection pressure(IP)of 240 bar compared to the standard IP of 200 bar.The cylinder pressure and the Heat Release Rate(HRR)become higher at 240 bar,whereas the ignition delay is shortened with respect to PSOME20 at a normal IP of 200 bar.

Influence of Urea Uneven Injection on the Performances of a Diesel Engine

The influence of heterogeneous flow injection of urea at different velocities and temperatures on NO x conversion efficiency,ammonia storage and ammonia leakage is investigated experimentally.A diesel engine employing a selective catalytic reduction(SCR)technology is considered.It is found that for a fixed injection velocity,the degree of ammonia leakage changes depending on the temperature.The higher the temperature,the faster the catalytic reduction reaction and the smaller the degree of ammonia leakage.The temperature has a great influence on the catalytic reduction reaction rate.At an injection velocity of 10000/h,the average reaction rate at 420℃ is 12 times higher than that at 180℃.The injection velocity has a weak influence on the reaction rate.When the injection velocity changes from 10000/h to 40000/h at the same temperature,the average reaction rate does not change appreciably.However,increasing the space velocity can accelerate the leakage of ammonia,thereby miti-gating the benefits associated with the NO_(x) conversion.

A Strategy to Control the Turbocharger Energy of a Diesel Engine at Different Altitudes

Power deterioration is a major problem for diesel engines operating at high altitudes.This problem stems from the limited availability of turbocharger energy,which is not enough to increase the boost pressure to the required level.In this study,a control strategy is introduced in order to achieve engine power recovery at different altitudes.It is shown that as the altitude increases from 0 to 4500 m,the required boost pressure ratio increases from 2.4 to 4.3.The needed turbocharger energy should be increased accordingly by 240%,and the TCC(turbine characterization coefficient)should be adjusted within wide ranges.A 12%decrease in the TCC can lead to a rise of the intake air pressure,which can compensate the pressure decrease due to a 1000 m altitude increase.The fluctuation range of boost pressure was within 14.5 kPa for variations in altitude from 0 to 4500 m.

Strain engineering and hydrogen effect for two-dimensional ferroelectricity in monolayer group-Ⅳmonochalcogenides MX(M=Sn,Ge;X=Se,Te,S)

Two-dimensional(2D)ferroelectric compounds are a special class of materials that meet the need for devices miniaturization,which can lead to a wide range of applications.Here,we investigate ferroelectric properties of monolayer group-IV monochalcogenides MX(M=Sn,Ge;X=Se,Te,S)via strain engineering,and their effects with contaminated hydrogen are also discussed.GeSe,GeTe,and GeS do not go through transition up to the compressive strain of-5%,and consequently have good ferroelectric parameters for device applications that can be further improved by applying strain.According to the calculated ferroelectric properties and the band gaps of these materials,we find that their band gap can be adjusted by strain for excellent photovoltaic applications.In addition,we have determined the most stable hydrogen occupancy location in the monolayer SnS and SnTe.It reveals that H prefers to absorb on SnS and SnTe monolayers as molecules rather than atomic H.As a result,hydrogen molecules have little effect on the polarization and electronic structure of monolayer SnTe and SnS.

Investigating the Effects of Eichhornia Crassipes Biodiesel and Liquefied Petroleum Gas on the Performance and Emissions of a Dual-Fuel Engine

This study considers the effect of Eichhornia Crassipes Biodiesel(ECB)blends on the performances,combustion,and emission characteristics of a direct injection compression ignition engine operated in a dual-fuel mode(DFM)and equipped with an Exhaust gas recirculation technique(EGR).In particular,a single-cylinder,four-stroke,water-cooled diesel engine was utilized and four modes of fuel operation were considered:mode I,the engine operated with an ordinary diesel fuel;mode II,the engine operated with the addition of 2.4 L/min of lique-fied petroleum gas(LPG)and 20%EGR;mode III,20%ECB with 2.4 L/min LPG and 20%EGR;mode IV,40%ECB with 2.4 L/min LPG and 20%EGR.The operation conditions were constant engine speed(1500 rpm),var-iation of load(25%,50%,75%,and 100%),full load,with a compression ratio of 18,and a time injection of 23°BTDC(Before top died center).With regard to engine emissions,carbon dioxide(CO_(2)),carbon monoxide(CO),hydrocarbons(UHC),and nitrogen oxide(NOX)were measured using a gas analyzer.The smoke opacity was measured using an OPABOX smoke meter.By comparing the results related to the different modes with mode I at full load,the BTE(Brake thermal efficiency)increased by 20.17%,11.45%,and 12.66%with modes II,III,and IV,respectively.In comparison to the results for mode II,the BTE decreased due to the combustion of ECB blends by 7.26%and 6.24%for mode III and mode IV,respectively,at full load.In comparison to mode II,the Brake specific energy consumption(BSEC)increased with the ECB substitution.With ECB blends,there is a noticeable decrease in the CO,CO_(2),and UHC emissions at a partial load.Furthermore,the 20%ECB has no effect on CO emissions at full load.For modes II and IV,the CO_(2)increased by 33.33%and 19%,respectively,while the UHC emissions were reduced by 14.49%for mode III and 26.08%for mode IV.The smoke of mode III was lower by 7.21%,but for mode IV,it was higher by 12.37%.In addition,with mode III and mode IV,the NOx emissions increased by 30.50%and 18.80%,respectively.

Test Research on the Knock of a Common-Rail Diesel Engine Fueled with Diesel-Methanol Dual-Fuel

Experiments were conducted on a diesel-methanol dual-fuel(DMDF)engine modified by a six-cylinder,turbocharged,inter-cooled diesel engine.According to the number of diesel injection,the experiments are divided to two parts:the single injectionmode and double injectionmode.The results show that,at the double injectionmode,themaximumof pressure rise rate is small and the engine runs smoothly,however,knock still occurswhen the cocombustion ratio(CCR)is big enough.Under knock status,the power density of the block vibration concentrating at some special frequencies rises dramatically,and the special frequency of single injection mode(about 4.1 kHz)is lower than that of double injection mode(7–9 kHz).The cylinder pressure oscillations of knock status are very different fromthe non-knock status.Under knock status,cylinder pressure oscillations become more concentrated and fiercer at some special frequencies,and the same as the block vibration.The special frequency of single injection mode(3–6 kHz)is lower than that of double injection mode(above 9 kHz).

Experiment Study on the Exhaust-Gas Heat Exchanger for Small and Medium-Sized Marine Diesel Engine

This paper aims to design a special exchanger to recover the exhaust gas heat of marine diesel engines used in small and medium-sized fishing vessels,which can then be used to heat water up to 55°C–85°C for membrane desalination devices to produce fresh water.A new exhaust-gas heat exchanger of fins and tube,with a reinforced heat transfer tube section,unequal spacing fins,a mixing zone between the fin groups and four routes tube bundle,was designed.Numerical simulations were also used to provide reference information for structural design.Experiments were carried out for exhaust gas waste heat recovery from a marine diesel engine in an engine test bench utilizing the heat exchanger.The experimental results show that the difference between heat absorption by water and heat reduction of exhaust gas is less than 6.5%.After the water flow rate was adjusted,the exhaust gas waste heat recovery efficiency was higher than 70%,and the exhaust-gas heat exchanger’s outlet water temperature was 55°C–85°C at different engine loads.This means that the heat recovery from the exhaust gas of a marine diesel engine meets the requirement to drive a membrane desalination device to produce fresh water for fishers working in small and medium-sized fishing vessels.

Effect of Palm Oil Biodiesel Blends on Engine Emission and Performance Characteristics in an Internal Combustion Engine

Increasing global environmental issues and depleting fossil fuel reserves has necessitated the need for alternative and sustainable fuel. In this paper, the effects of biodiesel and its blend on engine emission and performance characteristics in an internal combustion engine were analyzed. Biodiesel derived from the transesterification of raw palm oil was blended with diesel fuel at different proportions designated as PO5 (5% Biodiesel and 95% Diesel), PO10 (10% Biodiesel and 90% Diesel), PO15 (15% Biodiesel and 85% Diesel), PO20 (20% Biodiesel and 80% Diesel), PO50 (50% Biodiesel and 50% Diesel), PO85 (85% Biodiesel and 15% Diesel), and PO100 (100% Biodiesel). A Lombardini 2-cylinder, four-stroke direct injection diesel engine with a compression ratio of 22.8 was developed using Ricardo Wave software in which diesel, palm oil biodiesel blends and pure biodiesel are used in the model, and the obtained results were analysed and presented. The simulation was done under varying engine speeds of 1200 rpm to 3200 rpm at full load condition. Biodiesel and its blends are more environment-friendly and non-toxic when compared to diesel fuel;it also improves the mechanical efficiency of the engines, and above all can also lead to a reduction in poverty among rural dwellers. The obtained results showed that brake specific fuel consumption and brake thermal efficiency increased with palm oil biodiesel blends as compared to diesel fuel which might be a result of biodiesel’s lower heating value, and the increase in thermal energy may be a result of the oxygenation of the biodiesel blend as compared to pure diesel. In terms of brake torque, palm oil biodiesel blends were lesser than diesel fuel. The CO, HC, and NOx emissions of palm oil biodiesel blends decreased significantly compared to that of pure diesel. From this study, palm oil biodiesel emits lesser emissions than diesel fuel and its performance characteristics are similar to diesel fuel. Therefore, palm oil biodiesel can be used without any modifications directly in a diesel engine. In addition, it can also be used as blends as an alternative and sustainable fuel, decreasing air pollution, and increasing environmental sustainability.

Effects of Hydrogen Addition on Power and Emissions Outputs from Diesel Engines

Energy efficiency and environmental impact have become dominant topics in internal combustion engines development. Among many strategies to improve power and emissions outputs from diesel engines is the partial mix of hydrogen and air as fresh charge components to form extremely lean and homogenous mixture, which resist the spontaneous combustion, while diesel fuel is injected directly inside combustion chamber using the conventional fuel injection systems. This contribution presents an analytical and experimental investigation for the effects of adding hydrogen on diesel engines power output and the reduction of emissions. Parametric analysis is used based on lamped parameters modeling of intake manifold to estimate in cylinder trapped charge. The fuel energy flow to engine cylinders is compared for a range of loads and concentrations to simulate relevant case studies. Diesel fuel reduction for significant range of part-load operation can be achieved by introducing hydrogen, along with power improvement emission reductions are affected positively as well. This is achievable without compromising the engine maximum efficiency, given that most engines are operated at small and part-load during normal driving conditions, which allow for introducing more hydrogen instead of large quantities of excess air during such operation conditions that also can be further improved by charge boosting.

Excavator Energy-saving Efficiency Based on Diesel Engine Cylinder Deactivation Technology

The hydraulic excavator energy-saving research mainly embodies the following three measures： to improve the performance of diesel engine and hydraulic component, to improve the hydraulic system, and to improve the power matching of diesel-hydraulic system-actuator. Although the above measures have certain energy-saving effect, but because the hydraulic excavator load changes frequently and fluctuates dramatically, so the diesel engine often works in high-speed and light load condition, and the fuel consumption is higher. Therefore, in order to improve the economy of diesel engine in light load, and reduce the fuel consumption of hydraulic excavator, energy management concept is proposed based on diesel engine cylinder deactivation technology. By comparing the universal characteristic under diesel normal and deactivated cylinder condition, the mechanism that fuel consumption can be reduced significantly by adopting cylinder deactivation technology under part of loads condition can be clarified. The simulation models for hydraulic system and diesel engine are established by using AMESim software, and fuel combustion consumption by using cylinder-deactivation-technology is studied through digital simulation approach. In this way, the zone of cylinder deactivation is specified. The testing system for the excavator with this technology is set up based on simulated results, and the results show that the diesel engine can still work at high efficiency with part of loads after adopting this technology; fuel consumption is dropped down to 11% and 13% under economic and heavy-load mode respectively under the condition of driving requirements. The research provides references to the energy-saving study of the hydraulic excavators.

Compacted graphite iron-A material solution for modern diesel engine cylinder blocks and heads

The demands for improved fuel economy,performance and emissions continue to pose challenges for engine designers and the materials they choose. This is particularly true for modern diesel engines,where the primary path to achieving improved engine performance and emissions is to increase the Peak Firing Pressure in the combustion chamber. The resulting increase in thermal and mechanical loading has required a change from conventional grey cast iron to Compacted Graphite Iron (CGI) in order to satisfy durability requirements without increasing the size or the weight of the engines. With at least 75% higher tensile strength,45% higher stiffness and approximately double the fatigue strength of conventional grey cast iron,CGI satisfies durability requirements and also provides the dimensional stability required to meet emissions legislation throughout the life of the engine. Currently,there are no CGI diesel engines running on the roads in North America. This is set to change considerably as new commercial vehicle and pick-up SUV diesel engines are launched with CGI cylinder blocks in 2008 and 2009. These initial programs will provide over 2 million CGI diesel engines when ramped to mature volume,potentially accounting for 10%-15% of the North American passenger vehicle fleet within the next four years.

Diesel Engine Valve Clearance Fault Diagnosis Based on Features Extraction Techniques and FastICA-SVM

Numerous vibration-based techniques are rarely used in diesel engines fault diagnosis in a direct way, due to the surface vibration signals of diesel engines with the complex non-stationary and nonlinear time-varying fea- tures. To investigate the fault diagnosis of diesel engines, fractal correlation dimension, wavelet energy and entropy as features reflecting the diesel engine fault fractal and energy characteristics are extracted from the decomposed signals through analyzing vibration acceleration signals derived from the cylinder head in seven different states of valve train. An intelligent fault detector FastICA-SVM is applied for diesel engine fault diagnosis and classification. The results demonstrate that FastlCA-SVM achieves higher classification accuracy and makes better general- ization performance in small samples recognition. Besides, the fractal correlation dimension and wavelet energy and entropy as the special features of diesel engine vibration signal are considered as input vectors of classifier FastlCA- SVM and could produce the excellent classification results. The proposed methodology improves the accuracy of fea- ture extraction and the fault diagnosis of diesel engines.

Combination of biodiesel-ethanol-diesel fuel blend and SCR catalyst assembly to reduce emissions from a heavy-duty diesel engine

In this study, the efforts to reduce NOx and particulate matter （PM） emissions from a diesel engine using both ethanol-selective catalytic reduction （SCR） of NOx over an Ag/Al2O3 catalyst and a biodiesel-ethanol-diesel fuel blend （BE-diesel） on an engine bench test are discussed. Compared with diesel fuel, use of BE-diesel increased PM emissions by 14% due to the increase in the soluble organic fraction （SOF） of PM, but it greatly reduced the Bosch smoke number by 60%-80% according to the results from 13-mode test of European Stationary Cycle （ESC） test. The SCR catalyst was effective in NOx reduction by ethanol, and the NOx conversion was approximately 73%. Total hydrocarbons （THC） and CO emissions increased significantly during the SCR of NOx process. Two diesel oxidation catalyst （DOC） assemblies were used after Ag/Al2O3 converter to remove CO and HC. Different oxidation catalyst showed opposite effect on PM emission. The PM composition analysis revealed that the net effect of oxidation catalyst on total PM was an integrative effect on SOF reduction and sulfate formation of PM. The engine bench test results indicated that the combination of BE-diesel and a SCR catalyst assembly could provide benefits for NOx and PM emissions control even without using diesel particle filters （DPFs）.

Engineering property test of kaolin clay contaminated by diesel oil

Engineering property of kaolin clay contaminated by diesel oil was studied through a series of laboratory experiments.Oil contents(mass fraction) of 4%,8%,12%,16% and 20% were selected to represent different contamination degrees,and the soil specimens were manually prepared through mixing and static compaction method.Initial water content and dry density of the test kaolin clay were controlled at 10% and 1.58 g/cm^3,respectively.Test results indicate that since part of the diesel oil will be released from soil by evaporation,the real water content should be derived through calibration of the quasi water content obtained by traditional test method.As contamination degree of the kaolin clay increases,both liquid limit and plastic limit decrease,but there's only a slight increase for plasticity index.Swelling pressure of contaminated kaolin clay under confined condition will be lowered when oil-content gets higher.Unconfined compressive strength(UCS) of the oil-contaminated kaolin clay is influenced by not only oil content but also curing period.Increase of contamination degree will continually lower UCS of the kaolin clay specimen.In addition,electrical resistivity of the contaminated kaolin clay with given water content decreases with the increase of oil content.However,soil resistivity is in good relationship with oil content and UCS.Finally,oil content of 8% is found to be a critical value for engineering property of kaolin clay to transit from water-dominated towards oil-dominated characteristics.