Superheated fuel sprays : A comparative study of flash boiling ammonia fuel sprays with methanol, ethanol, and gasoline for multi-hole fuel injection

Muhammad Saad Akram*, Qiang Cheng, Ossi Kaario, Martti Larmi

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

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Abstract

The rising energy demand creates a huge need to explore and implement sustainable alternative fuels e.g., ammonia, hydrogen, methanol, ethanol, etc. to mitigate emission challenges and significantly lower CO2 emissions. Ammonia has gained much attention as promising alternative fuels for internal combustion engines due to its carbon-neutral nature, which can reduce the carbon footprint in transportation. The advantages of ammonia as a fuel includes carbon-free nature, high volumetric energy density compared to hydrogen, and renewable resource-based production. However, there is lack of the deep understanding of the ammonia spray characteristics and fuel-air mixing process, in particular, the superheated spray, which potentially improve the vaporization and fuel-air mixing. This study focused on investigating the impact of superheating on ammonia, methanol, ethanol, and gasoline fuel sprays by heating the fuel injector tip from non-evaporating to flash boiling temperatures. The fundamental spray parameters were investigated in a constant volume spray chamber using a multihole solenoid driven injector for 150 bar constant injection pressure under 10 bar and 30 bar chamber pressure conditions. To observe flash boiling and the dual-phase flow, a Z-type Schlieren imaging technique, known for its sensitivity to density gradients, was used. The experimental results indicated that ammonia spray behavior significantly differed from other tested fuels for both under cold and superheated conditions. The effect of superheating on methanol, ethanol, and gasoline sprays was very similar, resulting in the shrinkage of spray width and the merging of adjacent plumes into a single thick cloud of spray for elevated tip temperatures. However, ammonia sprays exhibited considerable differences in evaporative conditions, developing a more significant dual phase flow than other fuels upon increment in tip temperature. Overall, the results showed that the spray tip penetration and area for all tested fuels reduced upon heating.

Original languageEnglish
Article number105110
Number of pages19
JournalCase Studies in Thermal Engineering
Volume61
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sept 2024
MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

Keywords

  • CO emissions
  • Dual phase flow
  • Flash boiling
  • Fuel-air mixing
  • Super-heated spray
  • Superheat degree

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  • ZeroC: Carbon-Free Combustion with Ammonia and Hydrogen

    Kaario, O. (Principal investigator), Akram, M. (Project Member), Ahmad, Z. (Project Member), Cheng, Q. (Project Member), Yeganeh, M. (Project Member) & Laitinen, A. (Project Member)

    01/05/202130/06/2023

    Project: Business Finland: Strategic centres for science, technology and innovation (SHOK)

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