Improved Engine Data Acquisition System and Interface to Enable Experimentation With Emerging Alternative Fuels in a Spark-Ignited Cooperative Fuel Research Engine

Abstract

In the face of new engine research challenges, legacy hardware and once state-of-the-art assumptions may become less relevant, especially those made due to the computational limitations of the hardware at the time of initial development. Such legacy elements can potentially limit the effectiveness of accurately describing key parameters or metrics during experimentation or postprocessing. As the behavior of novel fuels is also not always fully understood, this highlights the need for tools to guide the experimental design to avoid unexpected and potentially dangerous outcomes. This paper details the conversion of an existing data acquisition system for a spark-ignited single-cylinder cooperative fuel research (CFR) engine to handle a variety of different emerging alternative fuels. Modifications to the in-house legacy LabVIEW program and data acquisition system are detailed, with emphasis on providing additional tools to aid in the experimentation expediency and safety. The existing CFR testing facility is converted from a single liquid or single gaseous fuel capable system to a multifuel compatible system, complete with on-the-fly calculations of mass, energy, and volume fractions of existing fuel blends, increased low-speed sampling rates, and a calculating tool to command fuel flow set-points for a given blend fraction, equivalence ratio and airflow set-point. Additional factors, such as sensor selection and communication, are discussed with an emphasis on reducing experimental uncertainty. Overall, this work provides insights into possible adjustments and considerations when upgrading existing experimental setups to accommodate emerging alternative fuel use.