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Small Engines as Bottoming Cycle Steam Expanders for Internal Combustion Engines

Profile image of Rohitha WeerasingheRohitha Weerasinghe
Sandra Hounsham

Journal of Combustion

https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/1742138
Cite this paper

MLAcontent_copy

Weerasinghe, Rohitha. “Small Engines as Bottoming Cycle Steam Expanders for Internal Combustion Engines.” Journal of Combustion, Hindawi Limited.

APAcontent_copy

Weerasinghe, R. Small Engines as Bottoming Cycle Steam Expanders for Internal Combustion Engines. Journal of Combustion. https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/1742138

Chicagocontent_copy

Weerasinghe, Rohitha. “Small Engines as Bottoming Cycle Steam Expanders for Internal Combustion Engines.” Journal of Combustion, n.d. doi:10.1155/2017/1742138.

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Weerasinghe R. Small Engines as Bottoming Cycle Steam Expanders for Internal Combustion Engines. Journal of Combustion. doi:10.1155/2017/1742138

Harvardcontent_copy

Weerasinghe, R. (no date) “Small Engines as Bottoming Cycle Steam Expanders for Internal Combustion Engines,” Journal of Combustion. Hindawi Limited. doi: 10.1155/2017/1742138.

Abstract

Heat recovery bottoming cycles for internal combustion engines have opened new avenues for research into small steam expanders (Stobart and Weerasinghe, 2006). Dependable data for small steam expanders will allow us to predict their suitability as bottoming cycle engines and the fuel economy achieved by using them as bottoming cycles. Present paper is based on results of experiments carried out on small scale Wankel and two-stroke reciprocating engines as air expanders and as steam expanders. A test facility developed at Sussex used for measurements is comprised of a torque, power and speed measurements, electronic actuation of valves, synchronized data acquisition of pressure, and temperatures of steam and inside of the engines for steam and internal combustion cycles. Results are presented for four engine modes, namely, reciprocating engine in uniflow steam expansion mode and air expansion mode and rotary Wankel engine in steam expansion mode and air expansion mode. The air tests ...

Key takeaways
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  1. Small steam engines can serve effectively as bottoming cycle expanders in internal combustion engines.
  2. Experiments confirm that small engines, particularly Wankel and reciprocating types, can operate efficiently with steam.
  3. The optimum supply pressure for maximum efficiency in steam expansion is approximately 30 bars.
  4. The study establishes a baseline for future research on small steam engine performance and reliability.
  5. Engine simulations will complement experimental data, supporting the development of medium-scale steam engines.
Research Article Small Engines as Bottoming Cycle Steam Expanders for Internal Combustion Engines Rohitha Weerasinghe and Sandra Hounsham Department of Engineering, Design and Mathematics, University of the West of England, Coldharbour Lane, Bristol BS16 1QY, UK Correspondence should be addressed to Rohitha Weerasinghe; sujithrohitha@yahoo.com Received 16 January 2017; Revised 4 April 2017; Accepted 20 April 2017; Published 31 May 2017 Academic Editor: Paul Hellier Copyright © 2017 Rohitha Weerasinghe and Sandra Hounsham. Tis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Heat recovery bottoming cycles for internal combustion engines have opened new avenues for research into small steam expanders (Stobart and Weerasinghe, 2006). Dependable data for small steam expanders will allow us to predict their suitability as bottoming cycle engines and the fuel economy achieved by using them as bottoming cycles. Present paper is based on results of experiments carried out on small scale Wankel and two-stroke reciprocating engines as air expanders and as steam expanders. A test facility developed at Sussex used for measurements is comprised of a torque, power and speed measurements, electronic actuation of valves, synchronized data acquisition of pressure, and temperatures of steam and inside of the engines for steam and internal combustion cycles. Results are presented for four engine modes, namely, reciprocating engine in unifow steam expansion mode and air expansion mode and rotary Wankel engine in steam expansion mode and air expansion mode. Te air tests will provide base data for friction and motoring efects whereas steam tests will tell how efective the engines will be in this mode. Results for power, torque, and -diagrams are compared to determine the change in performance from air expansion mode to steam expansion mode. 1. Introduction and Motivation Finding a suitable bottoming cycle for recovery of low grade heat recovered from an internal combustion engine is based on the temperature range of operation and the expected efciency. Termoelectric heat recovery provides a relatively cleaner less complicated option, but with very low efciency. Steam on the other hand has been proven to work in heat recovery cycles with a decent efciency range. Tomas New- comen’s atmospheric engine, today referred to as the New- comen engine, was the frst practical device that harnessed power of steam to produce mechanical work. James Watt developed it further and steam reciprocating engines have been in use for the last 200 years [1]. Te use of steam engines has diminished in the advent of the internal combustion engine and the electric motor. However, steam engines are still being used in various engineering applications, especially in the power generation industry. Small steam expansion engines are in limited use [2]; this is usually because a steam generating system is also required which makes them uneco- nomical. Tere have been attempts to use steam expanders as primary power plant of an automobile [3]; however the present work is based on steam small engines as bottoming cycle expanders. Tere has not been much research done in this area. Particularly, there are no data available on perfor- mance of these engines. Te work is intended to provide a platform for the development of small steam engines that can be used as bottoming cycle heat expanders. Tere are various options as steam expanders, for example, vane rotors and microturbines. However, reciprocating expanders and Wankel engines are readily available as small engines that can be converted into steam expanders. Te range of the engines in the study has been limited by the size and power that can be mounted on the test apparatus, a table-top dynamometer. Essentially, the rage has been restricted to less than 20 cc cylinder capacity. Te primary parameters of the two engines that have been used in the study are listed in Table 1. 1.1. Te Rankine Cycle. Te steam engine generally operates on the Rankine thermodynamic cycle. Rankine cycles [4] have been widely used in both prime movers and bottoming Hindawi Journal of Combustion Volume 2017, Article ID 1742138, 8 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/1742138
2 Journal of Combustion Table 1: Engine data. Engine Four stroke reciprocating engine Wankel rotary engine Model OS 32 SX OS 49 PI Bore (mm) 19.5 N/A Stroke (mm) 17.5 N/A Capacity (cc) 5.23 4.97 Compression ratio 10 : 1 7 : 1 (approx.) p BDC TDC Swept volume 1 2 3 4 5 4 Condenser pressure Clearance volume Exhaust port opens Steam cutoff Steam chest pressure Figure 1: Rankine cycle reciprocating expander -diagram. cycle expanders. Te reciprocating Rankine cycle has been used in locomotives, ships, and stationary engines. Rotary expanders, primarily, steam turbines, are used in power generation. Te use of rotary engine has been restricted by the optimum operating range it ofers in comparison to the wide range ofered by the reciprocating engine. Te use of the steam expander used in this study is mainly aimed as a directly coupled engine that can operate in sync with an internal combustion engine. A reciprocating engine ofers similar torques power characteristics to an IC engine. Te other main advantage is the availability of small engines that can be converted into steam expanders. 1.1.1. Rankine Cycle with a Reciprocating Expander. A recip- rocating Rankine cycle shown in Figure 1 is explained by the following steps: (1-2) Admission of steam at steam chest pressure. (2-3) Expansion of steam until the exhaust port is open. (3-4 ) Blow down of the steam to condenser pressure. (4-5) Exhaust of steam until the exhaust port is closed. (5-1) Compression of steam lef in the cylinder. Te work and heat for the cycle can be found done by obtaining the specifc enthalpies , where refers to steps in Figure 1. Te theoretical work by the cycle is given by 2 3 and the heat supplied is given by 2 −ℎ 1 . Te efciency is given by = (ℎ 2 −ℎ 3 ) (ℎ 2 −ℎ 1 ) . (1) Te pump work is neglected as it is small compared to the heat in. Reciprocating steam expanders were the most common type of expanders, known for their high torque and simple operation. Tese are mostly used as marine and old locomotive prime movers. Te speed achievable from large steam engines is limited. Unifow and counter-fow arrangements are possible with reciprocating expanders [1]. However, the valve arrangements become more complex with counter-fow arrangement [5]. Reciprocating engines are perceived to be easier to implement than Wankel engines [6]. 1.1.2. Rotary Steam Engines. Steam turbines are efcient devices, but the range of operation is limited, hence not very suitable for automotive applications. Te major attraction of the turbine cycle is the high overall efciency in operation. However the fexibility of operation outweighs the efciency factor and makes the reciprocating Rankine cycle more practical. In addition, the ability to cater to fuctuating torque and velocity conditions of the reciprocating cycle makes it the preferred device for automotive applications. Nevertheless, if the energy developed in a turbine is converted into electricity and used to drive an electric motor it leads to a practical solution for hybrid vehicles [7]. An intermediate solution is the Wankel rotary expander [8]. Wankel engine ofers some advantages of both the turbine cycle and the fexibility of the reciprocating engine [9, 10]. Micro-Wankel engines can be fabricated with improved fabrication technology [11]. Attempts have been made to correctly emulate the operation of the Wankel engine [12], but the current application is using steam as the working fuid without internal combustion. Figure 2 shows the theoretical Rankine cycle and the pressure volume diagram of a Rankine cycle. 1.2. Waste Heat Recovery. Te major attraction of Rankine cycle [13] today is its applicability in the waste heat recovery systems [12]. In power generation, Rankine turbines are driven by steam generated through waste heat recovery. Use of reciprocating engines in waste heat recovery systems is seldom. On the other hand, use of rotary steam engines in small scale applications is not common. Ability of Rankine cycle to operate on low grade heat sources such as steam makes it attractive to employ in a bottoming cycle [14]. Two main types of expanders have been applied in Rankine cycle applications that are of two types: frst one is the velocity type, such as axial turbines and radial-fow turbines; the other is positive displacement type, such as scroll expanders, screw expanders, piston expanders, and rotary vane expanders [15]. Tese expanders feed of a steam reservoir courtesy of heat recovery in a bottoming cycle [16, 17].
Journal of Combustion 3 T W in Q out Q out W out 4 1 2 3 Actual cycle Idealcycle S W in Q in Q in W out 4 1 2 3 Expander pump Condenser Steam accumulator 1 2 3 4 Chest pressure Exhaust pressure p Figure 2: A simple Rankine cycle and Wankel Rankine expander -diagram. 2. Experimental Setup Te experimental setup consists of a dynamometer, a data acquisition system controlled by LabVIEW sofware, a steam/air supply, and a condenser unit. Te sensor inputs are fed to the system through a multichannel data acquisition card. Figure 3 shows the components of the system and how they are linked. 2.1. Te Dynamometer. Testing of small scale engines ofer the advantages of portability, less instrumentation, low space costs, and fexibility. However there are no readily available dynamometer setups for testing small engines. Hence, a small scale dynamometer facility pictured in Figure 4 had to be developed to mount the small engines for testing. Te dynamometer was derived from a model makers’ lathe and the drive train was modifed to absorb power and to motor when necessary. Te engine output shaf is mounted inline with the lathe shaf. Torque transducer arrangement connects the engine output shaf and the lathe shaf. A 400 W DC motor drives the main shaf that can also absorb power. Te end of the drive shaf is ftted to a pulse encoder that generates three pulse streams, namely, (i) pulse per revolution (ppr), (ii) pulse per revolution 90 (directional indicator), and (iii) pulse per crank angle degree (pcd). Te engines used were modifed model hobby engines manufactured by OS (Japan). Te following data are available of the engines used. For the use as steam expanders, the inlets and exhausts had to be modifed to induct and exhaust steam. Te engine heads were modifed to accommodate for steam connections. Figure 4 shows a schematic of how the steam induction and exhaust connections and valves are confgured. Te picture shows the confguration of the ports controls and steam in and out. Te arrangement is the same for the rotary engine except for the fact that the rotary engine has two inlet valves and two exhaust valves. Te opening and closing of the rotary engine valves take place without electronic control. 2.2. Steam Expanders. Steam expanders are available in the form of reciprocating expanders and rotary expanders. In the Control soſtware (LabVIEW) Computer Motor controller Data acquisition card (NI) Temperature and pressure sensors Optical encoder Torque transducer Steam Engine Reheater Motor Condenser Scale Figure 3: Te experimental setup. present context unifow reciprocating expander and a rotary Wankel engine are tested. 2.2.1. Reciprocating Steam Engine. A two-stroke internal combustion engine has been modifed to accommodate steam admission through an electrically operated overhead valve. An automotive fuel injection valve has been modifed for the purpose. Te steam enters through an electrically

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FAQs

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When comparing reciprocating and Wankel engines, which is more suitable for heat recovery?add

The results indicate that the Wankel engine shows superior power and torque characteristics as a steam expander, outperforming the reciprocating engine in this specific application.

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