A Study of the Theoretical Potential of Thermochemical Exhaust Heat Recuperation for Internal Combustion Engines
- ORNL
We present a detailed thermodynamic analysis of thermochemical recuperation (TCR) applied to an idealized internal combustion engine with single-stage work extraction. Results for several different fuels are included. For a stoichiometric mixture of methanol and air, TCR can increase the estimated ideal engine Second Law efficiency by about 3% for constant pressure reforming and over 5% for constant volume reforming. For ethanol and isooctane the estimated Second Law efficiency increases for constant volume reforming are 9% and 11%, respectively. The Second Law efficiency improvements from TCR result primarily from the higher intrinsic exergy of the reformed fuel and pressure boost associated with gas mole increase. Reduced combustion irreversibility may also yield benefits for future implementations of combined cycle work extraction.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Fuels, Engines and Emissions Research Center (FEERC); Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). National Transportation Research Center (NTRC)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC05-00OR22725
- OSTI ID:
- 982123
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: The 2010 Technical Meeting of the Central States Section of the Combustion Institute, Champaign, IL, USA, 20100321, 20100323
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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