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As emissions regulations become more and more stringent and conventional fuel sources rarefaction, new alternatives are emerging to address this situation. Dual fuel engines are among the promising solutions, offering both ecological and economic advantages. However, these engines often confront constraints linked to high levels of unburnt hydrocarbons (HC) at low loads and NOx emissions at high loads. To overcome these problems and guarantee high-efficiency overall operating loads, exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) is a potential solution. In the present experimental study, appropriate modifications have been carried out to a single-cylinder diesel engine to ensure dual fuel operation with EGR. Natural gas and diesel are used as the primary and pilot fuel, respectively. At low load operations, the EGR rate is increased up to 35% until the reduction of unburnt hydrocarbons. However, at high loads, the EGR rate is carefully adjusted, as the combustion efficiency easily deteriorates due to oxygen amount lack in the combustion chamber. Also, minimizing NOx emissions is prioritized in all load conditions while keeping thermal efficiency in sight. In addition, the variation in the amount of pilot fuel is studied for improving the combination of dual fuel engine operation with the EGR technique. This made it possible to determine the influence of load, EGR rate, and pilot fuel quantity on the engine in response to the triple challenges of reducing NOx and HC and improving thermal efficiency. The results show that an adequate EGR rate of 30%, depending on the operating conditions, can reduce HC emissions by >25% while increasing thermal efficiency by around 20%. This result is accompanied by a significant reduction, over 90%, in NOx emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper proposes a novel methodology of turbocharging automotive engines to reach targeted performance. The actual method is tested and validated against simulation test results of two turbocharged diesel engines; engine I, three cylinders, 1.5 L, and engine II, six cylinders, 5.9 L. The present procedure is subdivided into four key parts; namely, database construction, selection procedure, turbocharger preliminary design, and engine modeling. Based on geometric dimensions and aerodynamic parameters provided by the preliminary design procedure, 3D geometries of the turbine and compressor are generated for each studied engine. After integrating previous data into a constructed turbocharger database, two turbochargers are selected for the engine I, while only one turbocharger for the engine II. The findings show that, at the engine speed of 4000 rpm, engine I matched with the adequate turbocharger reached a target power about 2.7%, compared to the original turbocharger equipping engine I. Furthermore, engine II reached a rated power of 299.3 kW at 2500 rpm which is slightly under the original one by 2.64 kW. The superimposition of the engine operating area on compressor and turbine maps provided satisfactory results in terms of turbocharger-engine output performance, fuel consumption, secure functioning and engine thermal strength. Finally, the main advantage of the developed methodology consists of its ability to be applied at both earlier and last stages of the engine turbocharging process or to find new adequate turbochargers to replace the original one for economic, mechanical or for safety reasons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The waste derived syngas allows the recovering of its energy using conventional technologies of energy production like internal combustion engines. However, its major drawback is its low calorific value and low stoichiometric air fuel ratio leading to higher specific fuel consumption and difficulties when using injection mode due to the required long injection duration. Recently, many studies aimed to improve the calorific value of the syngas, either by enriching it with methane or by optimizing the production techniques and the used feedstock like the refused derived fuel (RDF). Syngas produced by the pyrolysis of RDF is a methane rich syngas (40-60%) with a relatively high calorific value and stoichiometric air fuel ratio. This work is an experimental study on the combustion, performance and emissions of this type of syngas in spark ignition engine taking into consideration its composition variability. Pure methane was also tested and is considered as a reference fuel for comparison. The results show a faster and smoother combustion of syngas, lower emissions of total hydrocarbons, and higher emissions of nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide. Beside, syngas improved the brake thermal efficiency while still maintaining higher brake specific fuel consumption with respect to methane. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]