Fundamental Study on Dual-fuel Engine Combustion Based on Fuel Design Concept

• Applicant: Professor Dr.-Ing. Michael Wensing
• Subject Area: Hydraulic and Turbo Engines and Piston Engines ; Technical Thermodynamics
• Term: from 2019 to 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 410541747

Diesel engines are widely used as power devices in commercial vehicles, engineering and agricultural machineries. However, recent social trends as well as the stringent emissions legislations referring to diesel engines are able to precipitate legislative actions for the partial substitution of diesel by cleaner fuels in the imminent future. China and Germany are both the primary countries of automobile production and sales, and have both joined the Paris Agreement to cope with the global climate change. Therefore, both countries have the same demand in energy saving and emissions reduction in the transportation field, and the development of high efficiency and clean diesel engine combustion concepts, e.g. dual-fuel compression ignition engines, is in line with their national strategies. The combustion process in the so called dual-fuel engines refers to the compression ignition of the directly injected fuel in a premixed gaseous or liquid fuel/air environment. The underlying cause is that in a dual-fuel combustion, most of the directly injected fuel is burned in the premixed combustion regime and soot formation from the diffusive burn could be significantly reduced. Furthermore, depending on the carbon content of the premixed and directly injected fuel, the dual-fuel operation mode can lead to significant decrease in carbon dioxide emission. The proposed joint research in this project will exploit the complementary facilities and expertise of Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) and Friedrich-Alexander-University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU) for the development and optimization of dual-fuel engines with low-carbon fuels such as natural gas, methanol, dimethyl ether and polyoxymethylene dimethyl ethers. Based on the scientific problems to be addressed and techniques to be used, FAU will focus on the characterization of the fuel injection, mixing and ignition processes in the dual-fuel regime using an in-house designed constant volume vessels which is able to provide an ultra-high temperature and pressure environment. The findings will provide scientific and technical guidance for the development of controllable ignition and highly efficient, low emissions combustion strategies for dual-fuel engines, which will be conducted by the SJTU team. Additionally, the collaboration between SJTU and FAU will offer a unique training platform for PhD students and early career researchers from both sides. This unique training experience will equip them with skills, knowledge and international vision, contributing to their future careers and also enabling them to propose possible solutions to global problems in the future.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: China
• Partner Organisation: National Natural Science Foundation of China
• Cooperation Partners: Professor Dr. Dong Han; Professor Dr. Zhen Huang