IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v242y2022ics0360544221032503.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Identification and analysis on the variation sources of a dual-cylinder free piston engine generator and their influence on system operating characteristics

Author

Listed:
  • Zhang, Zhiyuan
  • Feng, Huihua
  • Jia, Boru
  • Zuo, Zhengxing
  • Yan, Xiaodong
  • Smallbone, Andrew
  • Roskilly, Anthony Paul

Abstract

Stable combustion is a huge challenge for dual-cylinder free-piston engine generator (FPEG). Combustion variations are easy to occur, because the piston movement is only affected by the forces acting on the moving parts, and there is no mechanical structure limit. This paper has investigated the sources of cyclic and cylinder-to-cylinder variations for dual-cylinder FPEGs, and further analysed their effect on the piston movement characteristics in operation and engine's performance by using an established working model. This study reveals that FPEG has specific anti-interference properties but is easily affected by external conditions and operating parameters. The operation of the FPEG system should be limited to a specific range rather than fixed at a fixed compression ratio like a traditional internal combustion engine. The simulation results showed that the FPEG system returns to a stable operating state within just a few cycles for one-time combustion variations if there are no misfires, regardless of whether they occur in one cylinder or two cylinders. The operating centre deviates from the geometric centre when continuous variations occur in just one cylinder. The compression ratios and operating frequency decrease when combustion variations occur, but the compression ratio decreases significantly in normal cylinders. When continuous variations occur in two cylinders, the compression ratio, operating frequency, and free-piston engine performance are significantly reduced.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhang, Zhiyuan & Feng, Huihua & Jia, Boru & Zuo, Zhengxing & Yan, Xiaodong & Smallbone, Andrew & Roskilly, Anthony Paul, 2022. "Identification and analysis on the variation sources of a dual-cylinder free piston engine generator and their influence on system operating characteristics," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 242(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:242:y:2022:i:c:s0360544221032503
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2021.123001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544221032503
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2021.123001?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mikalsen, R. & Roskilly, A.P., 2010. "The control of a free-piston engine generator. Part 1: Fundamental analyses," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(4), pages 1273-1280, April.
    2. Zhao, Zhenfeng & Wang, Shan & Zhang, Shuanlu & Zhang, Fujun, 2016. "Thermodynamic and energy saving benefits of hydraulic free-piston engines," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 650-659.
    3. Jia, Boru & Smallbone, Andrew & Mikalsen, Rikard & Feng, Huihua & Zuo, Zhengxing & Roskilly, Anthony Paul, 2017. "Disturbance analysis of a free-piston engine generator using a validated fast-response numerical model," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 185(P1), pages 440-451.
    4. Mikalsen, R. & Jones, E. & Roskilly, A.P., 2010. "Predictive piston motion control in a free-piston internal combustion engine," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(5), pages 1722-1728, May.
    5. Hung, Nguyen Ba & Lim, Ocktaeck, 2016. "A review of free-piston linear engines," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 78-97.
    6. Mikalsen, R. & Roskilly, A.P., 2010. "The control of a free-piston engine generator. Part 2: Engine dynamics and piston motion control," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(4), pages 1281-1287, April.
    7. Jia, Boru & Smallbone, Andrew & Feng, Huihua & Tian, Guohong & Zuo, Zhengxing & Roskilly, A.P., 2016. "A fast response free-piston engine generator numerical model for control applications," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 321-329.
    8. Jia, Boru & Tian, Guohong & Feng, Huihua & Zuo, Zhengxing & Roskilly, A.P., 2015. "An experimental investigation into the starting process of free-piston engine generator," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 798-804.
    9. Preetham, B.S. & Weiss, L., 2016. "Investigations of a new free piston expander engine cycle," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 535-545.
    10. Xiao, Jin & Li, Qingfeng & Huang, Zhen, 2010. "Motion characteristic of a free piston linear engine," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(4), pages 1288-1294, April.
    11. Mao, Jinlong & Zuo, Zhengxing & Li, Wen & Feng, Huihua, 2011. "Multi-dimensional scavenging analysis of a free-piston linear alternator based on numerical simulation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(4), pages 1140-1152, April.
    12. Jia, Boru & Mikalsen, Rikard & Smallbone, Andrew & Zuo, Zhengxing & Feng, Huihua & Roskilly, Anthony Paul, 2016. "Piston motion control of a free-piston engine generator: A new approach using cascade control," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 1166-1175.
    13. Jia, Boru & Zuo, Zhengxing & Feng, Huihua & Tian, Guohong & Smallbone, Andrew & Roskilly, A.P., 2016. "Effect of closed-loop controlled resonance based mechanism to start free piston engine generator: Simulation and test results," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 532-539.
    14. Yuan, Chenheng & Feng, Huihua & He, Yituan & Xu, Jing, 2016. "Combustion characteristics analysis of a free-piston engine generator coupling with dynamic and scavenging," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 637-649.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zhang, Yan & Yang, Binbin & Ji, Deliang & Hou, Xiaochen & Zhao, Bo & Zhang, Tiezhu, 2023. "Integrated simulation and performance analysis of Confined Piston Linear Generator (CPLG)," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    2. Zhang, Zhiyuan & Feng, Huihua & He, Hongwen & Jia, Boru & Zuo, Zhengxing & Liu, Chang & Smallbone, Andrew & Roskilly, Anthony Paul, 2023. "Demonstration of a single/dual cylinder free-piston engine generator prototype: Milestone achieved on system stability," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 278(PA).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Guo, Chendong & Zuo, Zhengxing & Feng, Huihua & Jia, Boru & Roskilly, Tony, 2020. "Review of recent advances of free-piston internal combustion engine linear generator," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 269(C).
    2. Wang, Yaodong & Chen, Lin & Jia, Boru & Roskilly, Anthony Paul, 2017. "Experimental study of the operation characteristics of an air-driven free-piston linear expander," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 195(C), pages 93-99.
    3. Peng Sun & Chi Zhang & Jinhua Chen & Fei Zhao & Youyong Liao & Guilin Yang & Chinyin Chen, 2016. "Decoupling Design and Verification of a Free-Piston Linear Generator," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-23, December.
    4. Hung, Nguyen Ba & Lim, Ocktaeck, 2016. "A review of free-piston linear engines," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 78-97.
    5. Jia, Boru & Smallbone, Andrew & Mikalsen, Rikard & Feng, Huihua & Zuo, Zhengxing & Roskilly, Anthony Paul, 2017. "Disturbance analysis of a free-piston engine generator using a validated fast-response numerical model," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 185(P1), pages 440-451.
    6. Xuezhen Wang & Feixue Chen & Renfeng Zhu & Guilin Yang & Chi Zhang, 2018. "A Review of the Design and Control of Free-Piston Linear Generator," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-21, August.
    7. Ziwei Zhang & Huihua Feng & Zhengxing Zuo, 2020. "Numerical Investigation of a Free-Piston Hydrogen-Gasoline Engine Linear Generator," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-16, September.
    8. Hou, Xiaochen & Zhang, Hongguang & Xu, Yonghong & Yu, Fei & Zhao, Tenglong & Tian, Yaming & Yang, Yuxin & Zhao, Rui, 2018. "External load resistance effect on the free piston expander-linear generator for organic Rankine cycle waste heat recovery system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 1252-1261.
    9. Peng Sun & Chi Zhang & Jinhua Chen & Fei Zhao & Youyong Liao & Guilin Yang & Chinyin Chen, 2017. "Hybrid System Modeling and Full Cycle Operation Analysis of a Two-Stroke Free-Piston Linear Generator," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-23, February.
    10. Jia, Boru & Mikalsen, Rikard & Smallbone, Andrew & Zuo, Zhengxing & Feng, Huihua & Roskilly, Anthony Paul, 2016. "Piston motion control of a free-piston engine generator: A new approach using cascade control," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 1166-1175.
    11. Mao, Jinlong & Zuo, Zhengxing & Feng, Huihua, 2011. "Parameters coupling designation of diesel free-piston linear alternator," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(12), pages 4577-4589.
    12. Jia, Boru & Tian, Guohong & Feng, Huihua & Zuo, Zhengxing & Roskilly, A.P., 2015. "An experimental investigation into the starting process of free-piston engine generator," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 798-804.
    13. Li, Jian & Zuo, Zhengxing & Liu, Wenzhen & Jia, Boru & Feng, Huihua & Wang, Wei & Smallbone, Andrew & Roskilly, Anthony Paul, 2023. "Generating performance of a tubular permanent magnet linear generator for application on free-piston engine generator prototype with wide-ranging operating parameters," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 278(C).
    14. Zhang, Zhiyuan & Feng, Huihua & He, Hongwen & Jia, Boru & Zuo, Zhengxing & Liu, Chang & Smallbone, Andrew & Roskilly, Anthony Paul, 2023. "Demonstration of a single/dual cylinder free-piston engine generator prototype: Milestone achieved on system stability," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 278(PA).
    15. Fukang Ma & Shuanlu Zhang & Zhenfeng Zhao & Yifang Wang, 2021. "Research on the Operating Characteristics of Hydraulic Free-Piston Engines: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-23, June.
    16. Zhao, Xiaohuan & Liu, Fang & Wang, Chunhua, 2022. "Effects of different piston combustion chamber heights on heat transfer and energy conversion performance enhancement of a heavy-duty truck diesel engine," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 249(C).
    17. Geng, Heming & Wang, Yang & Zhen, Xudong & Liu, Yu & Li, Zhiyong, 2018. "Study on adaptive behavior and mechanism of compression ratio (or piston motion profile) for combustion parameters in hydraulic free piston engine," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 211(C), pages 921-928.
    18. Huihua Feng & Yuyao Guo & Yu Song & Chendong Guo & Zhengxing Zuo, 2016. "Study of the Injection Control Strategies of a Compression Ignition Free Piston Engine Linear Generator in a One-Stroke Starting Process," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(6), pages 1-19, June.
    19. Xu, Yonghong & Tong, Liang & Zhang, Hongguang & Hou, Xiaochen & Yang, Fubin & Yu, Fei & Yang, Yuxin & Liu, Rong & Tian, Yaming & Zhao, Tenglong, 2018. "Experimental and simulation study of a free piston expander–linear generator for small-scale organic Rankine cycle," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 776-791.
    20. Yuxi Miao & Zhengxing Zuo & Huihua Feng & Chendong Guo & Yu Song & Boru Jia & Yuyao Guo, 2016. "Research on the Combustion Characteristics of a Free-Piston Gasoline Engine Linear Generator during the Stable Generating Process," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-19, August.

    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:eee:energy:v:242:y:2022:i:c:s0360544221032503. 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.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy .

    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.