IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v17y2024i6p1362-d1355687.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Pressure-Oscillation-Based RON Estimation Method for Spark Ignition Fuels beyond RON 100

Author

Listed:
  • Tom Robeyn

    (Department of Electromechanical, Systems and Metal Engineering, Ghent University, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 41, 9000 Ghent, Belgium)

  • Victor Sileghem

    (Department of Electromechanical, Systems and Metal Engineering, Ghent University, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 41, 9000 Ghent, Belgium)

  • Tara Larsson

    (Department of Electromechanical, Systems and Metal Engineering, Ghent University, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 41, 9000 Ghent, Belgium)

  • Sebastian Verhelst

    (Department of Electromechanical, Systems and Metal Engineering, Ghent University, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 41, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
    Department of Energy Sciences, Lund University, Box 117, SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden)

Abstract

Knock in spark ignition (SI) engines occurs when the air–fuel mixture in the combustion chamber ignites spontaneously ahead of the flame front, reducing combustion efficiency and possibly leading to engine damage if left unattended. The use of knock sensors to prevent it is common practice in modern engines. Another measure to mitigate knock is the use of higher-octane fuels. The American Society for Testing and Materials’ (ASTM) determination of the Research Octane Number (RON) and Motor Octane Number (MON) of spark ignition fuels has been based on measuring cylinder pressure rise at the onset of knock since its inception in the 1930s. This is achieved through a low-pass filtered pressure signal. Knock detection in contemporary engines, however, relies on measuring engine vibrations caused by high-frequency pressure oscillations during knock. The difference between conditions in which fuels are evaluated for their octane rating and the conditions that generate a knock intensity signal from the knock sensor suggests a potential difference between octane rating and the knock limit typically identified by a contemporary knock sensor. To address this disparity, a modified RON measurement method has been developed, incorporating pressure oscillation measurements. This test method addresses the historical lack of correlation between RON and high-frequency pressure oscillation intensity during knock. Using toluene standardization fuels (TSFs) as a reference, the obtained results demonstrate excellent high-frequency knock intensity-based RON estimations for gasoline. The method is able to differentiate between two fuels that share the same ASTM RON, associating them with a RON-like metric that is more aligned with their performance in a modern SI engine. This alternative method could potentially serve as a template for an upgrade to the existing ASTM RON method without significantly disrupting the current approach. Additionally, its capability to evaluate fuels beyond RON 100 opens the door to assessing a wider range of fuels for antiknock properties and the intensity of fuel oscillations during knocking combustion.

Suggested Citation

  • Tom Robeyn & Victor Sileghem & Tara Larsson & Sebastian Verhelst, 2024. "A Pressure-Oscillation-Based RON Estimation Method for Spark Ignition Fuels beyond RON 100," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(6), pages 1-15, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:6:p:1362-:d:1355687
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/6/1362/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/6/1362/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:6:p:1362-:d:1355687. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.