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Currently, one of the major trends in the research of contemporary combustion engines involves the potential use of alternative fuels. Considerable attention has been devoted to methane, which is the main component of Natural Gas (NG) and can also be obtained by purification of biogas. In compression-ignition engines fired with methane or Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), it is necessary to apply a dual-fuel feeding system. This paper presents the effect of the proportion of CNG in a fuel dose on the process of combustion. The recorded time series of pressure in a combustion chamber was used to determine the repeatability of the combustion process and the change of fuel compression-ignition delay in the combustion chamber. It has been showed that NG does not burn completely in a dual-fuel engine. The best conditions for combustion are ensured with higher concentrations of gaseous fuel. NG ignition does not take place simultaneously with diesel oil ignition. Moreover, if a divided dose of diesel is injected, NG ignition probably takes place at two points, as diesel oil.

This paper presents the results of distance measurements performed with an AT86RF233 chip. It uses a combination of time of flight and phase shift measurements to perform ranging. The statistical parameters describing the ranging results are presented and an algorithm to process raw measurement data is proposed. The results show significant improvement in ranging accuracy.2. ZigBee. 3. Phase shift measurement.

The market demand for vehicles with reduced energy consumption, as well as increasingly stringent standards limiting CO2 emissions, are the focus of a large number of research works undertaken in the analysis of the energy consumption of cars in real operating conditions. Taking into account the growing share of hybrid drive units on the automotive market, the aim of the article is to analyse the total unit energy consumption of a car operating in real road conditions, equipped with an advanced hybrid drive system of the PHEV (plug-in hybrid electric vehicles) type. In this paper, special attention has been paid to the total unit energy consumption of a car resulting from the cooperation of the two independent power units, internal combustion and electric. The results obtained for the individual drive units were presented in the form of a new unit index of the car, which allows us to compare the consumption of energy obtained from fuel with the use of electricity supported from the car’s batteries, during journeys in real road conditions. The presented research results indicate a several-fold increase in the total unit energy consumption of a car powered by an internal combustion engine compared to an electric car. The values of the total unit energy consumption of the car in real road conditions for the internal combustion drive are within the range 1.25–2.95 (J/(kg · m)) in relation to the electric drive 0.27–1.1 (J/(kg · m)) in terms of instantaneous values. In terms of average values, the appropriate values for only the combustion engine are 1.54 (J/(kg · m)) and for the electric drive only are 0.45 (J/(kg · m)) which results in the internal combustion engine values being 3.4 times higher than the electric values. It is the combustion of fuel that causes the greatest increase in energy supplied from the drive unit to the car’s propulsion system in the TTW (tank to wheels) system. At the same time this component is responsible for energy losses and CO2 emissions to the environment. The results were analysed to identify the differences between the actual life cycle energy consumption of the hybrid powertrain and the WLTP (Worldwide Harmonized Light-Duty Test Procedure) homologation cycle.

On the basis of road tests, the authors assessed the feasibility of the vehicle body acceleration values for the purposes of assessing road surface characteristics in terms of its roughness. Short-term Fourier Transform (STFT) was used for the analysis of the recorded signal. The spectra obtained in successive frequency bands demonstrate the amplitudes originating from the natural vibrations of the rolling wheel and forces resulting from the interaction with the road roughness. The article focuses on the relationships between the road roughness and the ratios of individual amplitudes in a specific frequency band of the vehicle body acceleration values. Amplitude values derived on the basis of successive windows were averaged for analogous, arbitrarily assumed local frequency bands. The value characterizing the road surface condition provided the information regarding the mean amplitude value in specific frequency ranges depending on the instantaneous velocity of the car body and the condition of the road surface on which it was moving. In cases where the road was free of any visible roughness, the obtained mean amplitude value in the analyzed spectrum window, for the adopted vehicle velocity range from 50 km h to 100 km/h, did not exceed 0.02 m/s2. It was also demonstrated that the road surface roughness leads to an increase in the mean amplitude value from 0.07 m/s2 to 0.16 m/s2.