Investigation on Ammonia-Biodiesel Fueled RCCI Combustion Engine Using a Split Injection Strategy

Elumalai Ramachandran; Ravi Krishnaiah; Elumalai Perumal Venkatesan; Chanduveetil Ahamed Saleel; Saboor Shaik

doi:10.1021/acsomega.3c02641

Investigation on Ammonia-Biodiesel Fueled RCCI Combustion Engine Using a Split Injection Strategy

ACS Omega. 2023 Aug 19;8(34):30990-31001. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.3c02641. eCollection 2023 Aug 29.

Authors

Elumalai Ramachandran¹, Ravi Krishnaiah¹, Elumalai Perumal Venkatesan², Chanduveetil Ahamed Saleel³, Saboor Shaik¹

Affiliations

¹ School of Mechanical Engineering, VIT University, Vellore 632014, India.
² Department of Mechanical Engineering, Aditya Engineering College, Surampalem 533437, India.
³ Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, King Khalid University, PO Box 394, Abha 61421, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

Advanced combustion concepts in compression ignition are emerging as one of the most promising solutions to reduce nitrogen oxides (NO_x) and particle emissions without sacrificing fuel efficiency. Among many advanced combustion concepts, reactive controlled compression ignition (RCCI) can achieve a wider working range. In this study, to implement RCCI operation, ammonia gas is introduced through the manifold as a low-reactive fuel, and biodiesel is injected directly as a high-reactivity fuel with a 40:60 energy ratio. The effect of biodiesel split ratio in a split injection strategy (pre- and main injections) is examined under varied load conditions, and the results are compared with ammonia/biodiesel single injection. Results indicate that the use of the 45% biodiesel split ratio at full load boosts the peak in-cylinder pressure and heat release rate and shifts the peak occurrence toward the top dead center (TDC). An increase in brake thermal efficiency (BTE) to 36.22% and reduced brake specific energy consumption (BSEC) to 8.75 MJ/kWh are 12.33% higher and 19.31% lower than ammonia/biodiesel single injection. Emissions of HC, CO, and smoke opacity were reduced to 50 ppm, 0.098% vol, and 15.6%, which are 34.21, 39.13, and 33.89% lower, while the emission of NO_x was increased to 615 ppm, which is 36.06% higher than the single-injection ammonia/biodiesel RCCI combustion.