Investigation of Fossil Fuel and Liquid Biofuel Blend Properties Using Artificial Neural Network

Gasoline fuel is the baseline fuel in this research, to which bioethanol, biodiesel and diesel are additives. The fuel blends were prepared based on different volumes and following which, ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) test methods analysed some of the important properties of the blends, such as: density, dynamic viscosity, kinematic viscosity and water and sediment. Experimental data were analysed by means of Matlab software. The results obtained from artificial neural network analysis of the data showed that the network with feed forward back propagation of the Levenberg-Marquardt train LM function with 10 neurons in the hidden layer was the best for predicting the parameters, including: Water and sediment (W), dynamic viscosity (DV), kinematic viscosity (KV) and density (De). The experimental data had a good correlation with ANN-predicted values according to 0.96448 for regression

Short communication: Monogenean species from freshwater fishes of Zanjan province, Iran

This parasitological research was conducted from September 2002 to August 2003 on the freshwater fishes in Zanjan province. Totally 155 fishes including Capoeta capoeta idellaI (91), Carassius auratus (8), Leuciscus cephalus (18), Ctenopharyngodon idella (10), Barbus lacerta (8), Allburnoides bipunctatus (10) and Alburnus filippi (10), were seined from five different stations. The fishes were transferred to Laboratory of Aquatic Organisms Research in Science Faculty of Shahid Beheshti University. The skin and gills of fishes were studied under light and stereomicroscope. The identified monogenean parasites included seven Dactylogyrus species as: D. chramuli, D. gracilis, D. Lenkorani and D. pulcher from Capoeta capoeta gracilis; D. lamellatus from Ctenopharyngodon idella; D. goktschaicus from Barbus lacerta and D. vistulae from Albunoides bipunctatus and Alburnus filippi. Various Gyrodactylus spp. from skin and gills of different fish specimens and one Paradiplozoon sp. from gill of Alburnoides bipunctatus were observed. This is the first parasitological investigation that has been done on the freshwater fishes of Zanjan province

An experimental investigation of the effective parameters on wet washing of biodiesel purification

The purity level of biodiesel has a strong effect on fuel properties and on engine life. Therefore, a purification step is necessary. Generally, there are two accepted methods for purifying biodiesel: wet washing and dry washing. In this research, the effective parameters on wet purification of biodiesel were investigated. Three types of biodiesel wash water (tap water, distilled water and water with 3% phosphoric acid), three wet washing temperatures (30, 45 and 60°C), and three levels of water to biodiesel ratios (0.5, 1 and 1.5 v/v) were used. In order to perform the wet washing of biodiesel, a bubble washing technique was used. The catalyst, soap and water residue were considered as the criteria to choose the optimum water washing condition and were measured after the wet washing of crude biodiesel. The results showed that the best condition for catalyst and soap removal from biodiesel are acidified water, a temperature of 60°C and a water to biodiesel ratio of 1.5 (v/v). Also, the least amount of water residue in the final purified biodiesel was observed when using tap water at a temperature of 60°C and a water to biodiesel ratio of 0.5 (v/v)

Performance and Emission Parameters of Single Cylinder Diesel Engine Using Castor Oil Bio-Diesel Blended Fuels

The purpose of this study is to investigate the performance and emission parameters of a CI single cylinder diesel engine operating on biodiesel-diesel blends (B0, B5, B10, B15 and E20: 20% biodiesel and 80% diesel by volume). A reactor was designed, fabricated and evaluated for biodiesel production. The results showed that increasing the biodiesel content in the blend fuel will increase the performance parameters and decrease the emission parameters. Maximum power was detected for B0 at 2650 rpm and maximum torque was belonged to B20 at 1600 rpm. The experimental results revealed that using biodiesel-diesel blended fuels increased the power and torque output of the engine. For biodiesel blends it was found that the specific fuel consumption (sfc) was decreased. B10 had the minimum amount for sfc. The concentration of CO2 and HC emissions in the exhaust pipe were measured and found to be decreased when biodiesel blends were introduced. This was due to the high oxygen percentage in the biodiesel compared to the net diesel fuel. In contrast, the concentration of CO and NOx was found to be increased when biodiesel is introduced

An innovative design of actuation mechanism for active seat suspension of an off-road vehicle

In recent years human-machine interaction attracts scientific community attention because of human quality and health issues. Driver seat should be designed so that it would ensure occupational health as well as increase work efficiency. The aim of this research is to maintain seat height at constant level with regard to chassis excitation at different levels of frequency and amplitude by means of new design of pneumatic actuation circuit. Sinusoidal function was used for base vibration since almost all of excitation functions can be derived from it. System response shows in low frequency/high amplitude and high frequency/low amplitude chassis vibration, transmissibility decreased about 60% and 40% compared to solid suspension respectivel

Vibration analysis of a small diesel engine using diesel-biodiesel fuel blends

Biodiesel as an environmentally friendly fuel has the potential to provide comparable engine performance results.  Biodiesel is a renewable fuel produced from vegetable and seed oils, animal fats or waste edible oils.  Sound and vibration caused by the combustion process in the engine might have direct effects on users.   One of the important characteristics of diesel fuels is high noise and vibration.  The present study was carried out to examine the vibration of different diesel-biodiesel fuel blends in power tiller engine.  The main goal was to present fuels with the minimum vibration.  So, the time domain signals were analyzed in five levels of engine speed, three axes and six fuel blends on the engine.  The signal processing and statistical approach were applied for data analysis.  The results showed that in all engine speeds, the dominant frequency is matched to the piston stroke frequency of the engine, as well as the frequency of vibration with the increase of engine speed.  The experiments indicated that the magnitude of vibration in the power tiller engine depends on the axis of measurement, engine speed and the fuel blends.  Vibration acceleration is significantly affected by engine speed and the increase in forward speed due to the increase in vibration acceleration rms.  The results of the experiments revealed that vibration acceleration is significantly affected by the axis of measurement.  The magnitude of vibration acceleration in vertical axis was more than that in the other two axes and magnitude of vibration acceleration in the longitudinal axis was more than that in the lateral axis.  Fuel blends had significant effect on the vibration.  It demonstrated that B100, B5 and B20 have the lowest vibration.  On the contrary, B15 and B10 have the highest vibration.   Keywords: vibration analysis, power tiller, time domain, frequency domain, diesel-biodiesel fuel blend

Design, Fabrication and Evaluation of Gamma-Type Stirling Engine to Produce Electricity from Biomass for the Micro-CHP System

With consideration of the biomass energy potential, a gamma type Stirling engine with 220cc swept volume and 580cc total volume was designed, optimized and manufactured. The engine was tested with helium. Working characteristics of the engine were obtained within the range of heat source temperature 370- 410˚C and charge pressure 10 bar for biomass resources and heat source temperature 540- 560 ˚C and range of charge pressure 1-12 bar with 1 bar increments at each stage for gases. By using of thermodynamic and heat transfer design methods, the key parameters of the designed Stirling engine like required surfaces for heat transfer were calculated (hot side 307 and the cold side 243 squares of centimeters). For analysis of fluid flow, two-dimensional flow analysis method was performed by the software CFD methods. The principles of thermodynamics as well as Schmidt theory were adapted to use for modeling the engine and then pressure - volume diagrams of the thermodynamic and Schmidt analysis were compared. During the test, the temperature is monitored by thermocouples and the pressure of the working fluid helium is monitored by pressure sensors. Indicated power, friction power and brake power were measured and maximum brake power output was obtained with helium at 550˚C heat source temperature and 10 bar charge pressure at 700 rpm as 96.7 W. Electrical energy produced from biomass sources.Sugarcane bagasse, wood, wheat straw, poplar wood and sawdust as fuel system were selected. Most power be obtained from the sawdust (46 watt) and pruning of trees for wood for low power (21 watts), respectively. Minimum ignition time of the Sawdust (4 min) and the most time flammable wood from pruned trees (10 min) was measured. At maximum power, the internal thermal efficiency of the engine was measured as 16%. The test results confirm the fact that Stirling engines driven by temperature of biomass gases are able to achieve a valuable output power. Results of the present work encouraged initiating design of a single cylinder, gamma type Stirling engine of 1 kWe capacity for rural electrification

Exergy of a hybrid solar-wind reverse osmosis-MSF desalination system

A novel hybrid solar-wind reverse-osmosis (RO) multistage flash (MSF) distillation desalination system was manufac-tured and tested in actual conditions in Iran. Solar energy was used to provide both thermal and electrical power and wind energy was used to provide electrical power. Exergy analysis can be used to design more efficient energy systems by reducing inefficien-cies, and indicates opportunities for improving performance in existing systems. The exergy involved in the hybrid solar-wind RO-MSF desalination system is analyzed below using data obtained from theoretical and experimental studies. The RO and MSF systems, powered by wind and solar energy, achieved increases in the reliability and flexibility of the system and in the quality of the resulting drinking water. According to the exergy analysis, the irreversible losses from the hybrid solar-wind RO-MSF plant are concentrated in the solar collector and the multistage flash chamber. These exergy losses can be reduced by isolating the col-lector, coating the pipes and MSF walls, selecting the parameters for the vapor compressor and RO membrane and pumps, and improving the flash process. By optimizing the performance of the hybrid solar-wind RO-MSF system, the amount of water re-covery should increase, and the energy consumption should decrease, which should improve the overall efficiency of the system. Новая гибридная система многостадийной опреснительной (MSF) ректификационной опреснительной установки с использованием солнечного ветра (RO) была изготовлена ??и испытана в реальных условиях в Иране. Энергия ветра была необходима для обеспечения электрической энергии. Эксергетический анализ может быть использован для разработки более эффективных энергетических систем. Эксергия, задействованная в гибридной системе опреснения RO-MSF солнечного ветра, проанализирована ниже с использованием данных, полученных в результате теоретических и экспериментальных исследований.Системы RO и MSF, работающие от энергии ветра и солнца, гарантируют повышение надежности и гибкости системы. Согласно эксергетическому анализу, необратимые потери от гибридной установки RO-MSF с солнечным ветром сосредоточены в солнечном коллекторе и многоступенчатой ??испарительной камере. Эти параметры могут быть уменьшены за счет изоляции коллектора, покрытия труб и стен MSF, а также улучшения процесса вспышки. Оптимизирующая производительность гибридной системы RO-MSF мощность солнечного ветра должна увеличиваться, а потребление энергии должно снизиться, что должно повысить общую эффективность системы. и улучшение процесса прошивки.Оптимизирующая производительность гибридной системы RO-MSF мощность солнечного ветра должна увеличиваться, а потребление энергии должно снизиться, что должно повысить общую эффективность системы. и улучшение процесса прошивки. Оптимизирующая производительность гибридной системы RO-MSF мощность солнечного ветра должна увеличиваться, а потребление энергии должно снизиться, что должно повысить общую эффективность системы

Modeling the effects of biodiesel-diesel fuel blends on CO2 emission of a diesel engine by response surface methodology

Nowadays biodiesel is receiving more attention as a most important renewable energy for using in diesel engines. Inthis research, the application of Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was highlighted to investigate the effects of biodiesel-diesel blends (B0, B20, B50 and B100), engine operating parameters (engine load and speed) on CO2 emission of a diesel engine. The experiments were conducted on a four cylinder direct-injection diesel engine based on three-factor five-level central composite rotatable design. The developed mathematical models were helpful to predict the response parameters and further to identify the significant interactions between the input factors and the responses. The use of biodiesel resulted in higher emission of CO2. The results also showed that an increase in engine speed leads to an increase in the emission of CO2.On the other hand,CO2 emission is higher at low engine loads,while is lower at high engine loads

Computational fluid dynamic modelling of NOx formation in diesel engine

The purpose of this study is offering a numerical model to predict the NOx formation of a diesel engine. For this purpose, simulation of combustion and emissions of a diesel engine was performed using CFD FIRE commercial software. The simulation was performed for the condition of 900 rpm for engine speed, 200 bar cylinder pressure, and injection timing (15° CA BTDC). The difference between the experimental and numerical results was reported by about 3.2%. The result of the numerical simulation shown due to the non-homogeneous mixture of air and fuel in a diesel engine, the temperature distribution is not uniform and the temperature in some places reaches 2500 K. In areas with an equilibrium ratio (stoichiometry) and temperatures above 2000 K, nitrogen oxide is the highest. Also, the result shown areas with a temperature range between 1500 and 1900 K are more favorable areas for the formation of soot pollutant