Project Details
Projekt
Chemical conversion in an internal combustion engine running in unusual operating points
Applicant
Professor Dr. Sebastian Kaiser
Subject Area
Energy Process Engineering
Technical Thermodynamics
Technical Thermodynamics
Term
from 2013 to 2023
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 229243862
Within the research unit FOR 1993, it is the goal of this sub-project MM2 to experimentally validate and optimize methods for the flexible production of chemicals, heat, and power in internal combustion engines. The experiments in the research unit FOR 1993 in plug-flow reactors, shock tubes, rapid compression machines, and internal combustion engines constitute a contiguous span, with the engine experiments at its applied end. Here, the models of the theoretically oriented projects are applied, the significance of the more fundamental experiments is extended, and the practical applicability of these polygeneration processes is evaluated. In our previous work in this project, we quantified the positive influence of carbon-based additives on homogeneous-charge compression-ignition (HCCI) engine operation with very fuel-rich methane/air mixtures. In addition, preliminary experiments showed that ozone enabled ignition in much smaller amounts than needed with small ethers. Thus, the third period of the project will focus on ozone as an additive. It can be produced directly from air by relatively simple apparatus with low power demand, and as opposed to other additives, it does not compete with the fuel for the available oxygen. However, there are nearly no investigations on the influence of ozone on fuel-rich mixtures. Therefore, the goal is to quantify the influence of ozone on the fuel-rich operation, operating limits, and products of HCCI engines. To this end, ozone is ad-mixed by itself as well as in combination with other, carbon-based additives, while the fuels will be methane and oxygenated species like alcohols and ethers.The investigations in the third project period utilize the methods and collaborations that were successfully established in the previous two periods. In the engine experiments, sensors capture data to calculate the heat and mass flows relevant to the balances of energy and exergy, as well as the crank-angle resolved in-cylinder pressure. Approximate characterization of the product gas stream is performed continuously by standard gas analyzers, augmented by detailed offline speciation of product-gas samples via gas chromatography, the latter in collaboration within the research unit. Investigations in an optically accessible engine visualize location and timing of ignition and possible soot formation. Laser-based imaging shows formaldehyde, a combustion intermediate that is of particular relevance in the context of ozone reactions. The analysis of all experimental data is performed in close collaboration with the theoretically oriented projects in the research unit. The overall goal of this project is to understand the practical usability of ozone in fuel-rich HCCI engine operation in terms of amounts needed and products formed and the polygeneration-plant energy balance.
DFG Programme
Research Units
Co-Investigator
Professor Dr. Christof Schulz
