Comparative Study of Performance and Combustion Characteristics of Conventional and Low Heat Rejection (Mullite Coated) Diesel Engines

Tests were performed on a single cylinder, four stroke, direct injection, diesel engine whose piston crown, cylinder head and valves were coated with a 0.5 mm thickness of 3Al₂O₃·2SiO₂ (mullite) (Al₂O₃ = 60%, SiO₂ = 40%) over a 150 μm thickness of NiCrAlY bond coat. The working conditions for the conventional engine (without coating) and LHR (mullite coated) engine were kept exactly same to ensure a comparison between the two configurations of the engine. This paper is intended to emphasis on performance and combustion characteristics of conventional and LHR (Mullite coated) diesel engines under identical conditions. Tests were carried out at same operational constraints i.e. air-fuel ratio and engine speed conditions for both conventional engine (without coating) and LHR (mullite coated) engines. The results showed that, there was as much as 1.8 % increasing on brake power for LHR (mullite coated) engine compared to conventional engine (without coating) at full load The average decrease in brake specific fuel consumption in the LHR engine compared with the conventional engine was 1.76 % for full engine load. However, there was increasing on cylinder gas pressure and net heat release rate for LHR engine compared to conventional engine. Also the results revealed that, there was as much as 22% increasing on exhaust gas temperature for LHR engine compared to conventional engine at full engine load.