An experimental investigation on performance of converted CNG engine by varying piston bowl geometry: A case study

ABSTRACT

Using natural gas as an alternative fuel will be reduced exhaust emissions and dependence on petroleum. The practical solution for Vietnam’s conditions is to convert diesel engines into natural gas engines. Understanding the effect of piston geometry on the performance of converted CNG engines helps domestic manufacturers come up to spark ignition natural gas engines with high performance and low emission. In this work, three different types of combustion chamber were made from milling piston head and varying thickness of cylinder head gasket. The experiment results showed that torque and power of ε = 11.5 were more significant than ε = 12.5. During experiment processes, the stable operation state of the converted engine with ε = 12.5 was challenging to control, and the noise levels were intense. The results of mass fraction burned were presented the effect of squish gap on performance was more substantial than that of the squish area. It can be concluded that for modifying the original diesel engines to run on CNG fuel, the maximum compression ratio should be set to 12.5 and must be redesigned accordingly to use the natural results.

Implications: This manuscript shows the new technology to convert traditional engines into engines fueled by renewable energy. It contributes to reducing the fossil fuel crisis and environmental emissions.

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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

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Notes on contributors

Quoc Dang Tran

Quoc Dang Tran received Ph.D. in Engineering (Thermal and Fluid Engineering) from Sungkyunkwan University, Korea in 2013. I currently work as a lecturer at the Faculty of Vehicle and Energy Conversion Engineering, School of Mechanical Engineering, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Hanoi, Vietnam. Fields of interest: Alternative fuel for an internal combustion engine, Research and Development such as lean combustion system, internal combustion engine with gas fuels and Stirling engine.

Tam Thanh Tran

Tam Thanh Tran received a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education, Vietnam, in 2004. He received an M.s degree in mechanical and automotive engineering at Military Technical Academy, Vietnam, in 2006. Since January 2019, he has been a lecturer at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Nam Dinh University of Technology Education, Vietnam. Fields of interest: Alternative fuel for an internal combustion engine, Research and Development such as lean combustion system, internal combustion engine with gas fuels and Stirling engine

Vinh Nguyen Duy

Vinh Nguyen Duy received the B.S. and M.S. degrees in mechanical engineering from the Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Hanoi, Vietnam, in 2007 and 2011, respectively. He received a Ph.D. degree in mechanical and automotive engineering at Inje University, Gimhae, Republic of Korea, in 2016. From 2016 to 2018, Dr. Vinh worked as a Research Professor at the Power System & Sustainable Energy Lab, Inje University. Since January 2019, he has been a researcher in the Faculty of Vehicle and Energy Engineering, Phenikaa University, Hanoi, Vietnam. He has been the Team Leader of Sustainable Energy for Automobile Laboratory. His research interests include Internal combustion engines, power systems, fuel cells, electric vehicles, renewable energy and engine emissions, Kinetic energy harvesting, intelligent materials.