US EPA

1114514 

Journal Article 

A cold-start method and analysis for internal combustion engines particularly using a renewable fuel 

Cao, YD; Chen, DQ 

2011 

Yes 

International Journal of Energy Research
ISSN: 0363-907X
EISSN: 1099-114X 

Wiley-Blackwell, 111 River Street Hoboken NJ 07030-5774 United States 

35 

4 

358-364 

A new cold-start approach for internal combustion engines is described, which may be particularly suitable for an engine using an alternative fuel, such as ethanol or methanol. One of the cylinders in the engine may be equipped with a holding chamber in the cylinder head for the cold-start purpose. The holding chamber may be opened or closed by a holding chamber valve to establish or block the fluid flow between the holding chamber and the cylinder space. The cold-start procedure includes an intake stroke and a compression stroke, an expansion stroke that conserves the energy content of the earlier compressed charge without returning the compression work to the piston, and a subsequent recompression stroke to compress the charge to a much higher temperature. A thermodynamic analysis on the cold-start process of a homogeneous charge internal combustion engine is undertaken, which includes the effect of fuel vaporization on the temperature change of the charge during the first compression stroke. It is found that the charge could be compressed effectively to a sufficiently higher temperature for ignition with pure ethanol as fuel. 

engine cold start; ethanol and gasoline fuels; modified prechamber