Modification of an ignition quality tester and its use in characterizing middle distillate fuels

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dc.contributor.advisorFloweday, Garethen_ZA
dc.contributor.advisorSchaberg, Paulen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorEhrenreich, Aidan Lloyden_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2015-08-10T06:43:30Z
dc.date.available2015-08-10T06:43:30Z
dc.date.issued2015en_ZA
dc.description.abstractThe Ignition Quality Tester ( IQTTM ) is a constant volume combustion chamber based device which is used to determine the derived cetane number of diesel fuel oils when used in conjunction with ASTM D6890. During a test, the fuel sample is injected into heated, pressurised gas where it combusts. Suitable measurements are made during the combustion event to determine the ignition delay of the fuel and the latter is used with a correlation to determine the derived cetane number of the sample. The IQT offers improved repeatability and reproducibility when compared with the conventional method of determining cetane number, namely ASTM D613. Despite these advantages, the device features a fuel injection system not indicative of the state of the art, in terms of direct injection diesel components and associated fuel spray behavior. Therefore this project sought to make suitable mechanical, electrical and control modifications to incorporate a more technologically appropriate injector. It is believed that by improving the spray characteristics of the IQT along with the incorporation of a flexible control system, that it can be leveraged to a greater extent in a fuels research context. The modifications made to the system included the incorporation of a single hole common rail diesel injector along with a custom control system. The control system allowed flexible control of all variables considered to be significant to the study of auto-ignition delays. Additionally, an optical sensor was added to detect luminous emissions from the reacting fuels. The modified system was used to rate diesel fuels with varied composition including solvents, diesel primary reference fuels, crude derived as well as Low Temperature Fischer Tropsch (LTFT) products. These tests were performed at two temperatures and oxygen concentrations and the resulting data was used to redevelop correlations between the cetane number of the respective samples and their ignition delays in order to surmise the optimal operating conditions of the modified IQT.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationEhrenreich, A. L. (2015). <i>Modification of an ignition quality tester and its use in characterizing middle distillate fuels</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Engineering & the Built Environment ,Department of Mechanical Engineering. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13679en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationEhrenreich, Aidan Lloyd. <i>"Modification of an ignition quality tester and its use in characterizing middle distillate fuels."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Engineering & the Built Environment ,Department of Mechanical Engineering, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13679en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationEhrenreich, A. 2015. Modification of an ignition quality tester and its use in characterizing middle distillate fuels. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Ehrenreich, Aidan Lloyd AB - The Ignition Quality Tester ( IQTTM ) is a constant volume combustion chamber based device which is used to determine the derived cetane number of diesel fuel oils when used in conjunction with ASTM D6890. During a test, the fuel sample is injected into heated, pressurised gas where it combusts. Suitable measurements are made during the combustion event to determine the ignition delay of the fuel and the latter is used with a correlation to determine the derived cetane number of the sample. The IQT offers improved repeatability and reproducibility when compared with the conventional method of determining cetane number, namely ASTM D613. Despite these advantages, the device features a fuel injection system not indicative of the state of the art, in terms of direct injection diesel components and associated fuel spray behavior. Therefore this project sought to make suitable mechanical, electrical and control modifications to incorporate a more technologically appropriate injector. It is believed that by improving the spray characteristics of the IQT along with the incorporation of a flexible control system, that it can be leveraged to a greater extent in a fuels research context. The modifications made to the system included the incorporation of a single hole common rail diesel injector along with a custom control system. The control system allowed flexible control of all variables considered to be significant to the study of auto-ignition delays. Additionally, an optical sensor was added to detect luminous emissions from the reacting fuels. The modified system was used to rate diesel fuels with varied composition including solvents, diesel primary reference fuels, crude derived as well as Low Temperature Fischer Tropsch (LTFT) products. These tests were performed at two temperatures and oxygen concentrations and the resulting data was used to redevelop correlations between the cetane number of the respective samples and their ignition delays in order to surmise the optimal operating conditions of the modified IQT. DA - 2015 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2015 T1 - Modification of an ignition quality tester and its use in characterizing middle distillate fuels TI - Modification of an ignition quality tester and its use in characterizing middle distillate fuels UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13679 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/13679
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationEhrenreich AL. Modification of an ignition quality tester and its use in characterizing middle distillate fuels. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Engineering & the Built Environment ,Department of Mechanical Engineering, 2015 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13679en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Mechanical Engineeringen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Engineering and the Built Environment
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherMechanical Engineeringen_ZA
dc.titleModification of an ignition quality tester and its use in characterizing middle distillate fuelsen_ZA
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationnameMSc (Eng)en_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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