Control of noise and exhaust emissions from dual fuel engines

An experimental investigation has been carried out to examine the effects of adding water vapor to the intake air of a dual fuel engine on the performance, combustion noise, and emission of CO, HC gases, and smoke opacity. Dual fuel engine is a diesel engine using a small amount (5%) of liquid diesel fuel as a pilot fuel and burns a liquefied petroleum gas as the main fuel. The addition of water vapor to the combustion chamber of a diesel engine has known effects on reducing the dangerous emission of nitrogen oxides. Yet it is not currently clear for the dual fuel engine how much the sacrifice is of engine performance, noise, and other exhaust emissions. Experimental procedures conducted using a Ricardo diesel version variable compression research engine are discussed. Results from testing dual fuel engine with varying the added water vapor to fuel ratios and other design and operating parameters are presented and discussed. The addition of water vapor to the intake air affected the performance, combustion noise, and exhaust emissions. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3596170]