Ways to improve the efficiency of diesel engines
Tractors, automobiles and combines used in agriculture are equipped with diesel internal combustion engines. Tractor engines operate in wide load ranges, of which up to 20 % of the time falls on low load and idle modes, where economic performance deteriorates significantly. An effective method of increasing their performance in these modes is the sequential disconnection of the cylinders. Turning off the cylinders only by stopping the fuel supply is impractical, since their mechanisms continue to work, taking away energy to their drive. At the same time, the efficiency of the engine decreases and it can be increased by reducing energy losses in the disabled cylinders. Experimental studies were carried out on a 2Ch10.5 / 12.0 two-cylinder diesel engine with air cooling. One of the cylinders was turned off by stopping the fuel supply to it and its valves of the gas distribution mechanism were deactivated (fixed in closed positions). It was found that the compression ratio has a greater effect on energy losses in units with moving parts in disabled cylinders. It was changed by increasing the volume of the combustion chamber and removing the cylinder head. The engine was tested with a reduced performance of the cooling fan. The highest economic performance of the engine is established when the fan performance decreases and the head is removed from the disabled cylinder. At the same time, the specific fuel consumption at a mode equal to 2 kW decreased by 362 g/(kW·h). The method of shutting down the cylinders can be considered one of the most effective for further increasing the fuel efficiency of tractor engines.