Effect of Ceramic Coated Pistons on the Performance of a Compressed Natural Gas Engine

An internal combustion (IC) engine with ceramic wall coating is usually utilized to reduce the heat losses and it is referred to as low heat rejection (LHR) engine. While high fuel price and environment hazard is of major concern for the modern world, LHR engine type is gaining huge importance due to its low emissions and efficient fuel consumption. In this article, the simulation study was conducted using commercial software AVL Boost to analyze the effect of thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) on the performance of a single cylinder, naturally aspirated, compressed natural gas (CNG) engine. The results were carried out on a conventional (uncoated) piston, as well as two different thermal barrier ceramic Titanium dioxide (TiO2) and Yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) insulated pistons, which were coated with thickness of 0.5 mm. The simulation results were validated against the experimental results. The insulated pistons results showed that better performance at all operating conditions over the uncoated piston. The maximum exhaust gas temperature was increased about 57.35 degrees C, improvement in indicated specific fuel consumption (ISFC) up to 9.1%, and maximum 9.78% improvement in indicated thermal efficiency (ITE) were predicted in the insulated pistons, as compared to the conventional piston.