Combustion and Emission Enhancement of a Spark Ignition Two-Stroke Cycle Engine Utilizing Internal and External EGR Approach at Low-Load Operation

Two-stroke cycle engines have always been prominent due to their distinctive advantage incorporating high power-to-weight ratio, however the drawbacks are poor combustion efficiency, fuel short-circuiting and excessive emission of uHC and CO. These problems are apparent at low-load and speed regions and are the major obstacle to their global acceptance. The deficiencies can be addressed by increasing the in-cylinder average charge temperature employing Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR). An experimental study is conducted to investigate the influence of utilizing EGR techniques, including Internal and External EGR, on combustion misfiring occurrence, combustion stability and exhaust emissions using a single cylinder two-stroke SI engine at idling, low and mid-load conditions. From the results, it is observed since the average in-cylinder charge temperature is increased, due to utilizing EGRs, engine’s low and mid-load irregular combustions (misfire) and exhaust emissions are remarkably supressed and almost all of misfire cycles eliminated depending on the percentage of EGRs. In terms of combustion stability, it is agreed in general the application of EGRs improves the cyclic variation of IMEP, Pmax and CA10 compared to conventional operation. However, applying Ex-EGR compared to In-EGR will deteriorate cyclic variability of IMEP and CA10.The authors would like to acknowledge the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) for financial support under the research university grant Q.J130000.3509.06G97

On the complexity of computing the kk-restricted edge-connectivity of a graph

The \emph{$k$-restricted edge-connectivity} of a graph $G$, denoted by $\lambda_k(G)$, is defined as the minimum size of an edge set whose removal leaves exactly two connected components each containing at least $k$ vertices. This graph invariant, which can be seen as a generalization of a minimum edge-cut, has been extensively studied from a combinatorial point of view. However, very little is known about the complexity of computing $\lambda_k(G)$. Very recently, in the parameterized complexity community the notion of \emph{good edge separation} of a graph has been defined, which happens to be essentially the same as the $k$-restricted edge-connectivity. Motivated by the relevance of this invariant from both combinatorial and algorithmic points of view, in this article we initiate a systematic study of its computational complexity, with special emphasis on its parameterized complexity for several choices of the parameters. We provide a number of NP-hardness and W[1]-hardness results, as well as FPT-algorithms.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figure

Effect of internal and external EGR on cyclic variability and emissions of a spark ignition two-stroke cycle gasoline engine

Conventional two-stroke cycle engine suffers from typical drawbacks including lower combustion efficiency and excessive emissions of uHC and CO which are largely due to low in-cylinder average charge temperature at low load and speed regions of engine operating conditions. Utilising the hot burned Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) technique can boost the in-cylinder average charge temperature of the engine. The influence of hot burned gases applied by means of both Internal EGR and External EGR strategies on the combustion stability and exhaust gas emission of a single-cylinder two-stroke cycle engine running at low-load and mid-load of operating conditions was investigated experimentally along with simulation works using 1-D engine simulation code. The results indicated that both In-EGR and Ex-EGR improved the combustion stability (lower misfire cycle) and decreased the concentrations of uHC and CO emissions, specifically at low speed region; however, NOx concentration was increased. At Internal EGR setting of 30%, the Coefficient of Variation for maximum in-cylinder pressure (COVPmax) reached the minimum by 5.64 while when External EGR percentage was 25%, COVPmax approached about 6.67 at the mid-speed (2000 rpm) of engine operating condition

Molecular tools enabling pennycress (\u3ci\u3eThlaspi arvense\u3c/i\u3e) as a model plant and oilseed cash cover crop

Thlapsi arvense L. (pennycress) is being developed as a profitable oilseed cover crop for the winter fallow period throughout the temperate regions of the world, controlling soil erosion and nutrients run-off on otherwise barren farmland. We demonstrate that pennycress can serve as a user-friendly model system akin to Arabidopsis that is well-suited for both laboratory and field experimentation. We sequenced the diploid genome of the spring-type Spring 32-10 inbred line (1C DNA content of 539 Mb; 2n = 14), identifying variation that may explain phenotypic differences with winter-type pennycress, as well as predominantly a one-to-one correspondence with Arabidopsis genes, which makes translational research straightforward. We developed an Agrobacterium-mediated floral dip transformation method (0.5% transformation efficiency) and introduced CRISPR-Cas9 constructs to produce indel mutations in the putative FATTY ACID ELONGATION1 (FAE1) gene, thereby abolishing erucic acid production and creating an edible seed oil comparable to that of canola. We also stably transformed pennycress with the Euonymus alatus diacylglycerol acetyltransferase (EaDAcT) gene, producing low-viscosity acetyltriacylglycerol- containing seed oil suitable as a diesel-engine drop-in fuel. Adoption of pennycress as a model system will accelerate oilseed-crop translational research and facilitate pennycress’ rapid domestication to meet the growing sustainable food and fuel demands

A tool for predicting the thermal performance of a diesel engine

This paper presents a thermal network model for the simulation of the transient response of diesel engines. The model was adjusted by using experimental data from a completely instrumented engine run under steady-state and transient conditions. Comparisons between measured and predicted material temperatures over a wide range of engine running conditions show a mean error of 7◦C. The model was then used to predict the thermal behavior of a different engine. Model results were checked against oil and coolant temperatures measured during engine warm-up at constant speed and load, and on a New European Driving Cycle. Results show that the model predicts these temperatures with a maximum error of 3◦C.Torregrosa, AJ.; Olmeda González, PC.; Martín Díaz, J.; Romero Piedrahita, CA. (2011). A tool for predicting the thermal performance of a diesel engine. Heat Transfer Engineering. 32(10):891-904. doi:10.1080/01457632.2011.548639S891904321

Effective K-Vertex connected component detection in large-scale networks

National Research Foundation (NRF) Singapore under International Research Centres in Singapore Funding Initiativ