Thermal insulation of the combustion chamber in a light duty diesel engine

Abstract: Reduction of heat loss from the combustion chamber in an engine has great potential to decrease fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. Research on thermal barrier coatings (TBC) has been performed since the early eighties to address this potential. However, reported results for engine efficiency improvements with insulation show a large spread and there is no consensus on the actual benefits of TBCs. The purpose of this PhD project was to make an accurate assessment of state-of-the-art TBCs and establish what coating properties are required to improve indicated engine efficiency. Cylinder pressure data and measured heat losses to the piston cooling oil in a light duty single cylinder engine formed the basis for the experimental research. A robust and automated measurement method was developed and combined with statistical modeling of the data. Plasma sprayed yttria stabilized zirconia and anodized alumina were selected to establish the effectiveness of state-of-the-art TBCs. These coatings, applied on the piston top, did not improve indicated efficiency. The high surface roughness of the coatings was an important contributor to the poor performance. Experiments with a novel coating technology: suspension plasma spraying and a new material gadolinium-zirconate, led to a slightly improved indicated efficiency. Details in the heat release analysis indicated that the high open porosity in this coating might lead to increased heat losses and fuel entrainment. An investigation of possible charge entrainment effects in a standard plasma sprayed zirconia thermal barrier coating was performed, using a combination of engine experiments, CFD simulations and a 0D crevice model. The crevice model predicted the observed deviations of the apparent rate of heat release surprisingly well, which is strong evidence for the existance and significance of this crevice effect. To significantly increase engine efficiency with thermal insulation, materials with further reduced thermal conductivity and volumetric heat capacity are needed, while negative effects such as high surface roughness and crevice effects from permeable porosity should be minimized.