Recently, the 2016 China Machinery Industry Science and Technology Award published 344 prizes: one Grand Prize, 35 first prizes, and 119 second prizes. The project, "Diesel Methanol Compound Combustion Technology" was completed by the team of Professor Yao Chunde from Tianjin University’s School of Mechanical Engineering and was awarded first prize.
With the growth and development of the economy and construction, the demand for fuel oil in our country is continuously increasing. However, our country's energy resources are characterized as “meager in oil, little gas, relatively rich in coal". On the one hand, the increasing dependence on foreign oil imports is due to the vast demand for oil. On the other hand, although China's methanol production capacity ranks first in the world, there is a large surplus of methanol production resulting in an unreasonable situation. The raw materials of methanol are rich: coal, natural gas, coke-oven gas, even carbon dioxide. In industry, low quality coal can be used to produce methanol, therefore, the ability to replace oil with methanol in the internal combustion engine has an important strategic significance for the full use of coal resources and the improvement of China's energy security.
The Yao' team proposal was "Diesel Methanol Compound Combustion Technology" based on the replacement for diesel oil with methanol in diesel engines. This technology, through the self-monitoring electronic control system, needs diesel to start, and then the methanol is mixed with air, after a certain temperature is reached to form a gas mixture, finally allowing co-combustion with diesel, breaking the barrier of using methanol combustion.
It means that the technology can be used in a vehicle to replace 30% of the diesel oil with methanol, and the methanol can replace an equal volume diesel by more than 30% compared to the theoretical value. This method of "diesel-methanol compound combustion" wipes off the resulting nitrogen oxide or soot, and therefore meeting National IV and V Standards.
This application of the technology to diesel engines is totally compatible with the present engine system making for easy operation and high reliability. Heavy trucks with this technology have been approved by the Department of National Vehicle Inspection and included in the national bulletin. Two vehicle production lines using dual methanol-diesel fuel heavy duty diesel engines have been established in domestic enterprises and trucks with methanol-diesel dual fuel heavy duty diesel engines have been put into operation in a pilot study. The R&D team has developed a complete set of key components for the methanol injection system and established a complete independent development system.
The technology was identified by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and recognized at the international level. The wide application of "Diesel Methanol Compound Combustion Technology" contributes to high efficiency and clean combustion of diesel engines, national energy comprehensive utilization, the promotion of the innovation and development of the new combustion models of internal combustion engines, the enrichment of internal combustion engine combustion theory and the upgrading of internal combustion engine technology.
Background information: the China Machinery Industry Science and Technology Award involves basic theory and inventive creativity in the field of mechanical industry, practical S&T achievements through research, development, experiment and application to improve productivity levels. The award is the only one approved by the State in the domestic machinery industry.
