A Comparison of Methanol and Dissociated Methanol Illustrating Effects of Fuel Properties on Engine Efficiency—Experiments and Thermodynamic Analyses

Brinkman, Norman D.; Stebar, Russell F.

doi:10.4271/850217

Cited by 16 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…Chemical storage of hydrogen in liquid fuels is considered to be one of the most advantageous for the fuel cell applications . Fuel cells produce electric power through an electrochemical process, in which hydrogen energy is converted to electricity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The schematic layout of a typical onboard alcohol steam reforming system is known and based on the previous studies that considered the concept of ICE fueled by methanol decomposition products (MDPs). The typical scheme is shown in Figure .…”

Section: System Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to this scheme, the exhaust heat that would have been wasted is used for heating and decomposition of liquid methanol. It was shown that the MDP fuel has about 20 and 14% higher heating value than liquid methanol and methanol vapor, respectively . Unfortunately, an onboard reformer cannot work efficiently in a wide range of engine operation regimes typical for a conventional road vehicle, especially at transient modes and cold‐start conditions.…”

Section: System Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Energy analysis of ethanol steam reforming for hybrid electric vehicle

Tartakovsky

Mosyak

Zvirin

2011

Int. J. Energy Res.

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SUMMARY Thermodynamic equilibrium of ethanol steam reforming is studied using the Gibbs free energy minimization method. The reaction paths of ethanol steam reforming are simulated using Chem‐CAD software. Appropriate optimization of reactants ratio and reaction conditions is performed, to achieve the composition of ethanol steam reforming products, which will be favorable as an internal combustion engine (ICE) fuel. The effects of process variables, such as temperature and water : ethanol molar ratio are discussed. Numerical investigations are conducted to analyze energy performance of steam reforming of ethanol for ICE. Realization of ethanol steam reforming at high temperature leads to an increase in efficiency of the process. The optimal conditions are obtained as follows: 1100 K, water : ethanol molar ratio of 1.2. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: System Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: System Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Energy analysis of ethanol steam reforming for hybrid electric vehicle

Tartakovsky

Mosyak

Zvirin

2011

Int. J. Energy Res.

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“…In practice, the engine is obviously not able to operate at that EGR ratio, meaning the improvement in engine efficiency with the R-EGR concept is limited. The change in the MER explained for a small improvement in engine efficiency with the dissociated methanol compared to the neat methanol at λ close to 1 [19]. A bigger difference in the efficiency can be seen at a highly diluted condition (lean burn or EGR dilution), as in [20,21].…”

Section: Idealized Efficiencymentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Methanol During the 1980s, several tests with dissociated/decomposed methanol on SI engines were performed and a large relative improvement in engine efficiency versus gasoline was found [16,17,18]. However, the enhancement was small (3-7%) if it was compared to the efficiency that could be obtained with an engine operated on pure methanol, which itself is smaller than the change in LHV of dissociated methanol [19]. Work was also done on decomposed methanol at lean conditions, and showed a significant improvement in efficiency compared to neat methanol [20,21].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the potential of reformed-exhaust gas recirculation (R-EGR) for increased efficiency of methanol fueled SI engines

Nguyen

Sileghem

Verhelst

2019

Fuel

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Methanol is a promising fuel for spark ignition engines because of its high octane number, high octane sensitivity, high heat of vaporization and high laminar flame speed. To further boost the efficiency of methanol engines, the use of waste heat for driving fuel reforming was considered. This study explores the possibility of the reformed-exhaust gas recirculation (R-EGR) concept for increased efficiency of methanol engines. A simple Otto cycle calculation and a more detailed gas dynamic engine simulation are used to evaluate that potential. Both methodologies point to an enhancement in engine efficiency with fuel reforming compared to conventional EGR but not as much as the increase in lower heating value of the reforming product would suggest. A gas dynamic engine simulation shows a shortening of the flame development period and the combustion duration in line with the expected behavior with the hydrogen-rich reformer product gas. However, the heat loss increases with the presence of hydrogen in the reactants. The improvement of brake thermal efficiency is mainly attributed to the reduction of pumping work. The R-EGR concept is also evaluated for ethanol and iso-octane. As the reforming fraction increases, the efficiency of ethanol and iso-octane fueled engines rises faster than for the methanol engines due to a higher enhancement of exergy in their reforming products.

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