Alternative fuel is one of the widely used fuel substitutions for both petrol and diesel in the field of internal combustion engine. The increase in the demand for alternative fuel is currently driven by the requirement of decreasing engine fuel consumption and fulfilling the stringent engine exhaust emissions pollutant regulations. In order to effectively tackle the aforementioned concerns, it appears that through engine experimental analysis alone for both engine performance and exhaust emissions is insufficient. Recently, the need for engine modelling based on statistical and machine learning methodologies through response surface and artificial neural network technique, respectively, are non-trivial to provide a better decision support analysis. Therefore, the present study reviews the extent to which the application of these methods in various alternative fuel in both spark and compression ignition engine to investigate their viability. The paper also describes herein the ways to determine the accuracy and the significance of model fitting for both methodologies. It was demonstrated from the review that most of the research yield favourable results of engine modelling prediction for both of the methods. It can be concluded the comparison between predicted and experimental results provided a high degree of determination coefficient indicating that the model could predict the model efficiency with reasonable accuracy.

A review on the application of response surface method and artificial neural network in engine performance and exhaust emissions characteristics in alternative fuel

Response Surface Methodology (RSM) Based Multi-Objective Optimization of Fusel Oil-Gasoline Blends at Different Water Content in SI Engine

Emissions of gaseous pollutant from motorcycle powered by ethanol–gasoline blend

Enhancing the performance of a thermo-electric generator through multi-objective optimisation of heat pipes-heat sink under natural convection

Optimizing the efficiency of anhydrous ethanol purification via regenerable molecular sieve

In view of energy shortage and air pollution, ethanol-gasoline blended fuel used for motorcycle engine was studied in this work. The emissions of carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOX) and engine performance of a 125 cc four-stroke motorcycle engine with original carburetor using ethanol-gasoline fuels were investigated. The model of three-variable Box Behnken design (BBD) was used for experimental design, the ethanol blend ratios were prepared at 0, 10, 20 vol%; the speeds of motorcycle were selected as 30, 45, 60 km/h; and the throttle positions were set at 30, 60, 90 %. Both engine performance and air pollutant emissions were then analyzed by response surface method (RSM) to yield optimum operation parameters for tolerable pollutant emissions and maximum engine performance. The RSM optimization analysis indicated that the most suitable ethanol-gasoline blended ratio was found at the range of 3.92–4.12 vol% to yield a comparable fuel conversion efficiency, while considerable reductions of exhaust p...

Optimization of suitable ethanol blend ratio for motorcycle engine using response surface method.

. The purpose of this study was to design a rice straw collection and transportation method. Four bale forms were designed for processing 75,474 tons of rice straw produced in Nantou County: large large-round bale, small large-round bale, large small-round bale, and small small-round bale. Nine trucks, individually weighing 2, 3, 3.49, 6.2, 7.5, 11, 15.5, 17, and 24 tons, were used for transportation analysis. This study proposed six hypothetical scenarios for rice straw collection and transportation. For each scenario, centralized and noncentralized transportation were implemented, in which centralized transport involves a route from various townships to neighboring farmers‘ associations to the final rice-straw treatment site, and noncentralized transport is direct delivery from various townships to the final treatment site. A geographic information system was consulted to construct a map for the locations of various townships and to assess the optimal routes for rice straw collection and transport. Considering the trucks of varying weights, the transportation costs of various rice straw delivery methods were calculated to determine the optimal collection and transportation locations. The results revealed that the optimal plant locations for rice straw processing and distribution are the rice straw production areas in Caotun Township, Nantou, Mingjian Township, and Jhushan Township. A centralized transportation of small large-round bale was the optimal method and form. The cost of rice straw collection and transportation is US$31.66 and US$20.7 per ton, respectively. A 3.49-ton truck was used for first-stage transportation, traveling an average distance of 15.9 km; a 15.5-ton truck was used for second-stage transportation, traveling an average distance of 24.9 km. Additionally, US$1.5776 million is required annually for collecting and delivering rice straws in Nantou County. In this study, a rice straw collection and transportation method was devised for Nantou County and plant establishment at the final sites for rice straw treatment was assessed. In the future, a decision-supporting system for rice straw collection and transportation can be further developed.

Planning the collection and transportation of rice straw in Nantou County, Taiwan.

Biodiesel is a renewable alternative fuel produced from a wide range of vegetable oils and animal fats for use in compression ignition engines. It is rapidly expanding around the world, making it imperative fully to understand the impacts of biodiesel on the diesel engine combustion process and pollutant formation. Biodiesel can blend with diesel in any ratio, and the air pollutant emissions decreased with biodiesel content in fuels. However, biodiesel blend fuel reduced the diesel engine power output. Blend fuels containing 10, 20, 30, and 40% by volume of soybean biodiesel were used. ECOM-AC gas analyzer was used to measure the concentrations of CO, CO2, and NOx in the exhaust gas. The sampling of exhaust gas was taken in extension section of the exhaust pipe without catalytic converter. The engine experimental results showed these exhaust emissions were reduced for biodiesel blended fuels. However, additive for biodiesel was a slight increase in oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emission. From these statistical models, there are influences of biodiesel blend ratio, engine speed and throttle position. Statistical optimization methodology was used to investigate the mutual interaction between the emissions and engine performance. In this study, the suitable biodiesel blend ratio was about 2 ~ 7 %, it was the balance between exhaust emissions and engine performance.

Jin-Ming Tsai

Papers

Optimization of suitable ethanol blend ratio for motorcycle engine using response surface method.

Planning the collection and transportation of rice straw in Nantou County, Taiwan.

Using Optimization Methodology to Identify Suitable Biodiesel Blend Ratio