A numerical investigation of fuel composition effects on spray combustions is presented. A new discrete multicomponent (DMC) fuel model was used to represent the properties and composition of multi-component fuels. A multi-dimensional CFD code, KIVA-ERC-Chemkin, that is coupled with improved sub-models and the Chemkin library, was employed for the simulations. A large-bore, optically accessible...

The innovation in software analysis and various available programming facilities have urged the designers at various levels to do indispensable calculations for engine flows. Presently, the 3-D analysis approach is under practice to do simulations for various parameters involving engine operations using various softwares, “Fluent” being the trendiest at the moment for CFD modeling. The present ...

A membrane-based gas humidification apparatus was employed to actively manage the amount of water vapor entrained in the reactant gas supplied to a fuel cell stack. The humidification system utilizes a gas bypass and a series of heaters to achieve accurate and fast humidity and temperature control. A change in fuel cell load induces a reactant mass flow rate disturbance to this humidification s...

Experimental observations of the evaporation characteristics of water-in-fuel emulsion droplets in film boiling on a hot horizontal surface are reported. Detailed measurements of the temporal variation of equivalent droplet diameter for water-in-heptane and water-in-decane emulsions are made at surface temperatures of 565,620 and 680 K. Experiments are performed at atmospheric pressure and init...

The increasing use of fuels derived from oil, deepens concern about the fact that non-fossil fuels have to be considered as the fuels of the future. Among the alternatives, hydrogen produced from the abundant sources of water, seems to be one of the best, but it suffers drawbacks with regard to combustion, storage and transportation. The other alternatives are ammonia, produced from unlimited s...

The purpose of this project was to investigate fuel vapor suppression by aqueous film and foam layers. Immediately after application, aqueous film and foam layers have the effect of suppressing fuel evaporation, however this suppression is not constant over time. If enough time elapses, the fuel vapor concentration above the film and foam layers can reach levels characteristic of an uncovered f...

Different optical techniques were applied to describe the thermal and chemical processes that occur in a SI small engine from the ported fuel injection and in-cylinder mixture formation to the combustion process and the exhaust emission. In PFI SI engines, the atomized fuel is sprayed towards the intake valves, where it may evaporate, puddle or rebound. Furthermore, a portion of the fuel may fl...

We tested the value of ethanol fuel as a killing solution in terms of sampling efficiency (species richness and accumulated abundance) and DNA preservation of Ensifera ground-dwelling specimens. Sampling efficiency was evaluated comparing abundance and species richness of pitfall sampling using 100% ethanol fuel, with two alternative killing solutions. We evaluated the DNA preservation efficien...