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Comparative evaluation of various methodologies to account

for the effect of load variation during cylinder pressure


measurement of large scale two-stroke diesel engines
D.T. Hountalas
a,
, R.G. Papagiannakis
b
, G. Zovanos
a
, A. Antonopoulos
a
a
Internal Combustion Engines Laboratory, School of Mechanical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, 9 Heroon Polytechniou St., Zografou Campus,
157 80 Athens, Greece
b
Thermodynamic & Propulsion Systems Section, Department of Aeronautical Sciences, Hellenic Air Force Academy, Dekelia Air Force Base, 1010 Dekelia, Attiki, Greece
h i g h l i g h t s
v Use of cylinder pressure data for engine tuning leads to false results if load varies.
v Using two pressure sensors detects and accounts for the effect of load variation.
v Use of two pressure sensors is equivalent to simultaneous cylinder pressure measurement.
v Inlet pressure can be used to estimate load variation and correct engine performance data.
v A new computational method has been developed to account for load variation effect.
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:
Received 22 May 2013
Received in revised form 14 August 2013
Accepted 17 August 2013
Available online 12 September 2013
Keywords:
Diagnosis
Engine condition monitoring
Load variation
Electric power station
Diesel engine
a b s t r a c t
A signicant number of fault-detection and fault diagnosis methods are based on the use of the measured
cylinder pressure to estimate critical engine parameters i.e. cylinder brake power, fuel consumption,
compression condition, injection timing etc. But, the results derived from the application of these tech-
niques depend strongly on the quality of data used. A common problem which has been identied by
many researchers is load variation during cylinder pressure measurement. This for some applications
(marine) can become signicant and in some cases makes unusable utilization of cylinder pressure mea-
surement. According to the conventional measurement technique for eld applications, cylinder pressure
is measured sequentially instead of simultaneously due to issues related mainly to cost, applicability and
complexity. Because of this, the operating parameters that are estimated for each cylinder depend on
instantaneous engine load. Therefore when an operating problem or a mistuning is identied, the distinc-
tion for the actual cause (i.e. if it is attributed to a malfunction, mistuning or to engine load variation dur-
ing measurement), is difcult because cylinders are not measured simultaneously. For this reason, in the
present work, three methodologies that have been developed to account for the effect of load variation on
diagnosis results are presented and evaluated in an attempt to be offered an alternative against simulta-
neous cylinder pressure measurement. For this purpose, a well validated diagnostic technique, developed
by the present research group, is employed and modied accordingly. The aforementioned methodolo-
gies have been applied on a large-scale two-stroke diesel engine used for power generation in a Greek
island at two different operating conditions. From the application of each method, diagnosis and tuning
results are derived which are then compared against the respective ones obtained from the conventional
diagnosis technique which neglects the effect of load variation during measurement. The evaluation is
based on the comparison of vital engine performance data i.e. brake power output, cylinder fuel ow rate,
peak ring pressure, ignition angle and compression quality. From the comparison of the diagnosis
results it is revealed that the three methodologies provide adequate results while the one which is based
on the use of two cylinder pressure sensors provides a very competitive alternative against simultaneous
cylinder pressure measurement, offering the advantage of simplicity and low cost. Most important it is
demonstrated the potential for all three methods to propose the required engine tuning to guarantee uni-
form cylinder operation despite variation of load during measurement.
2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
0306-2619/$ - see front matter 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2013.08.036

Corresponding author. Tel.: +30 210 772 1259; fax: +30 210 772 3475.
E-mail addresses: dx1961@central.ntua.gr (D.T. Hountalas), r.papagiannakis@gmail.com (R.G. Papagiannakis).
Applied Energy 113 (2014) 10271042
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Applied Energy
j our nal homepage: www. el sevi er . com/ l ocat e/ apener gy
1. Introduction
The diesel engine remains the most efcient liquid fuel burning
unit yet devised and therefore it holds a dominant position in
many applications, i.e. marine propulsion, land transport both
road and rail, power generation etc. [13]. Thus the proper and ef-
cient operation of a diesel engine is a major objective, especially for
marine and stationary applications (i.e. power generation etc.)
[46]. For this reason, condition monitoring and fault diagnosis
techniques hold an important position in the eld especially for
the large-scale two-stroke diesel units due to their high power
output and fuel consumption [46]. The diagnosis procedure (i.e.
detection of the actual cause of a fault, engine mistuning etc.) is
usually very complicated, since engine performance is affected
from a large number of parameters, which are usually very difcult
to measure or estimate. Therefore the actual cause of a malfunction
cannot easily be determined using conventional methodologies. Up
to now, various diagnostic methods and techniques have been
proposed from researchers and manufacturers [710]. Most are
based on the processing of measurement data which are obtained
during engine operation [1113]. A number of these techniques
make use of the measured cylinder pressure trace to estimate
critical engine parameters such as brake power, fuel consumption,
ignition angle etc. [1416]. But for the acquired data to be reliable,
the measurement conditions must meet certain requirements
[7,1719]. One of these which, is the subject of the present work,
is engine load which should remain constant during cylinder
pressure measurement [2022]. According to the conventional
cylinder pressure measurement methodology, one pressure sensor
is used and cylinders are measured consequently one after the
other. The reason is that the simultaneous measurement requires
a great number of sensors, connections, sampling lines etc. that it
is not practical for eld applications and moreover that this results
to high cost. Thus, if load variation occurs during cylinder pressure
measurement and is not accounted for, inaccurate results may be
derived for cylinder condition [2022] and specically for cylinder
tuning if these are directly utilized to adjust per example the fuel
ow (rack position) of individual cylinders. This will most possibly
result to engine mistuning with negative impact on engine perfor-
mance. Therefore it is important to precisely record load variation
during measurement.
As already mentioned one methodology to avoid the effect of
load variation during measurement is the simultaneous pressure
measurement of all cylinders, but for practical eld applications,
it has various drawbacks. For this reason in the present work are
examined and evaluated three methodologies to detect record
and account for load variation during cylinder pressure measure-
ment. The rst is based on the conventional cylinder pressure mea-
surement technique (i.e. cylinders are measured consequently one
after the other) and the simultaneous estimation of the charge
pressure corresponding to compression initiation, which is obvi-
ously affected by uctuation of load. The second methodology is
based on the direct recording of the scavenging air pressure using
a fast response sensor with adequate accuracy, because the
Nomenclature
A area (m
2
)
CF correction factor ()
CQ cylinder compression quality (%)
CR compression ratio ()
c
r
radiation constant (W/m
2
K
4
)
D cylinder bore (m)
f number of cycles per second
h
c
heat transfer coefcient (W/m
2
K)
i cylinder number ()
l length (m)
L percentage of full engine load (%)
m mass (kg)
_ m mass ow rate (kg/s)
P pressure (N/m
2
)
P
e
cylinder brake power output (W)
P
ind
cylinder indicated power output (W)
Q heat (J)
t time (s)
T temperature (K)
V volume (m
3
)
X cylinders parameter ()
Y cylinder performance parameter ()
z number of cylinders
Greek letters
b matrix
b
o
matrix
D deviation (%)
d
r
equivalent cylinder ring clearance (m)
g efciency
h crank angle (deg)
k thermal conductivity (W/m/K)
Subscripts
bl blow-by
calc calculated
compr compression
cumul cumulative
curr current
eff effective
exp experimental
G electric generator
gros gross
g gas
hl heat loss
m mean
max maximum
meas measured
net net
ref reference
scav scavenge
w wall
Dimensionless group
Pr Prandtl number ()
Re Reynolds number ()
Abbreviations
CA crank angle
deg degrees
LHV lower heating value (kJ/kg)
rpm rotations per minute
SOI start of injection (deg CA)
TDC top dead center (abbreviations)
1028 D.T. Hountalas et al. / Applied Energy 113 (2014) 10271042
scavenging air pressure is obviously affected by load variation. The
last methodology, which is the most sophisticated one, is based on
the use of two cylinder pressure sensors, one of which is mounted
periodically on each cylinder as usual and the second is perma-
nently mounted on one cylinder (usually no. 1), called from here
on as the reference cylinder. According this methodology, the
comparison of all measured cylinder pressure traces to the refer-
ence provides the potential to detect load variation directly from
the reference cylinder power output.
Beyond load variation detection the purpose of these methodol-
ogies is to generate, if possible, results equivalent to the ones that
would have been derived if all cylinders were measured simulta-
neously. Measured cylinder pressure data are processed using an
existing diagnostic technique which has been applied up to now
on a great number of diesel engines the ability of which to estimate
engine operating condition and tuning has been veried by ex-
tended lab and eld tests [2326]. To evaluate the aforementioned
methodologies on the eld a detailed experimental investigation
has been conducted on a large-scale two-stroke diesel engine used
for power generation on a Greek island. The use of a stationary en-
gine for the present work is more favorable compared to marine
due to the controlled environment and the constant rotational
speed which guarantees variation of engine load alone. Another
advantage is the direct recording of engine power from the mea-
sured electric power, utilizing of the known generator efciency.
Cylinder pressure measurements have been obtained from the en-
gine together with various periphery engine parameters at two dif-
ferent engine operating points, corresponding to 50% and 100% of
full engine load at 143 rpm engine speed respectively (constant
due to the nature of the engine i.e. electric power generation).
The diagnostic procedure [2730] is applied at both load points
to derive cylinder power, cylinder fuel consumption, cylinder com-
pression quality etc., using the following methods:
(a) Sequential cylinder pressure measurement (conventional
methodology).
(b) Sequential cylinder pressure measurement and estimation
of charge pressure at compression initiation which for a 2-
stroke engine corresponds to the exhaust valve closure event
(rst methodology).
(c) Sequential cylinder pressure measurement and in parallel
precise measurement of scavenging air pressure using an
appropriate pressure sensor (i.e. second methodology).
(d) Use of two cylinder pressure sensors, one sensor mounted
periodically on each cylinder and a second permanently
installed on cylinder No.1, which is the reference cylinder
(i.e. third methodology).
The evaluation of all methodologies is based on the comparative
evaluation of the diagnosis results estimated at each operating
point examined. From the comparison it is revealed that the meth-
odology based on the use of two cylinder pressure sensors (i.e.
methodology [d]) is advantageous because it detects accurately
load variation during the measurement since it is always measured
in parallel the cylinder pressure of the same cylinder (reference).
From the analysis it is rst shown that with the use of the con-
ventional methodology (i.e. methodology [a]) improper conclu-
sions can be derived for cylinder loading or compression
condition. This is a common problem, especially for marine appli-
cations, where relatively high power uctuations can occur during
cylinder pressure measurement. Furthermore it is demonstrated
that utilization of the conventional diagnosis methodology to tune
the engines can nally result to cylinder power misbalancing and
deterioration of performance.
As shown the problem is overcame using the proposed method-
ologies. Results obtained from the application of methodology [d]
are the most promising and practically independent of engine load.
Satisfactory results are also obtained from methodology [c]. Final-
ly, acceptable results are obtained using the purely computational
methodology based on the estimation of the in-cylinder charge
pressure at compression initiation (i.e. methodology [b]). Despite
the promising results additional validation is necessary, especially
for marine engines. However, indications exist that the methodol-
ogy based on the use of two cylinder pressure sensors (i.e. method-
ology [d]) is a very promising alternative against simultaneous
cylinder pressure measurement. The remaining two methodologies
based on the instantaneous charge air pressure could offer an ade-
quate, low cost solution to detect and account for the effect of load
variation during measurement. Finally, methodology [c] is a good
alternative solution but it requires use of an additional high fre-
quency response scavenging air pressure sensor. On the other
hand, methodology [b] could offer an acceptable low cost and eas-
ily applicable solution even though its accuracy is relatively lower.
2. Brief description of the engine simulation model
The diagnosis technique used in the present work is based on
the processing of measured cylinder pressure data using an engine
simulation model. The simulation model is a phenomenological
one based mainly on thermodynamics and it is capable of describ-
ing a variety of engine congurations. For the compression stroke a
single zone model is used while a multi-zone one is used during
combustion and expansion. The use of a multi-zone combustion
model instead of a two-zone one, as in the past, expands model
prediction capability on different engine congurations and re-
duces the need for constant tuning with engine operating condi-
tions because a more realistic representation of the airfuel
mixing mechanism is used. The last is important for diagnosis
which is based on the comparison of current constants values
against the reference (derived from shop test data). Furthermore
it provides emission prediction capabilities for future use. An ana-
lytical description of the multi-zone simulation model has been
published by detail in the past [23,25,3136]. Since the basic scope
of the present work is not to describe the simulation code but its
use for estimation of cylinder brake power output, fuel consump-
tion and engine tuning, in the following paragraphs is given only
a general description of the diagnosis methodology with special
emphasis on the mechanisms (i.e. sub-models) related to the
determination of the TDC position and the heat release rate from
which the power output and fuel consumption are derived.
2.1. Brief description of the sub-models affecting estimation of brake
power, fuel consumption and compression quality
In the present diagnosis methodology TDC position is estimated
form a thermodynamic methodology developed in the past which
has been extensively tested and evaluated during both lab and eld
tests [37]. The method has been introduced to overcome practical
difculties since for eld applications, it is usually not possible to
install a TDC sensor and measure with the required accuracy. The
proposed TDC estimation methodology and thus all values derived
from its use are affected from the mechanisms which affect the
compression stroke [33,34]. For this reason in the following para-
graphs are summarized these mechanisms with special reference
to the constants values that are used for their calibration using
the measured cylinder pressure trace from compression initiation
up to ignition.
2.1.1. Heat transfer
An important parameter which affects TDC estimation and thus
cylinder power and heat release is heat transfer between the
D.T. Hountalas et al. / Applied Energy 113 (2014) 10271042 1029
cylinder charge and the surrounding walls. In the thermodynamic
simulation model a turbulent kinetic energy viscous dissipation
rate k-e approach is adopted to determine the characteristic veloc-
ity for the heat transfer calculations as proposed by Assanis and
Heywood [3840] and described by detail in references
[31,32,41]. The heat transfer coefcient is estimated from the fol-
lowing relation,
h
c
= c Re
0:8
Pr
0:33

k
l
car
(1)
while the instantaneous heat transfer rate is obtained from:
dQ
hl
dh
= A h
c
(T
g
T
w
) c
r
T
4
g
T
4
w
_ _ _ _
(2)
The mean gas temperature (T
g
) is derived taking into account the
specic heat capacity, the local temperature and the mass of each
zone. Moreover, after combustion initiation the overall estimated
heat exchange rate obtained from Eq. (2) is distributed among the
surrounding air and the jet zones according to their mass, temper-
ature and specic heat capacity [31,32,41]. For the compression
stroke the procedure is simpler due to the existence of only one
zone.
2.1.2. Cylinder blow-by
Blow-by affects all the processes of the closed cycle and thus
[34,3941] TDC estimation. The last affects also the heat release
rate, from which fuel consumption is determined, as described lat-
ter on. In the proposed methodology a simplied model, developed
by the authors in the past [34], is used instead of a detailed one
which requires the knowledge of engine data which are usually
not available during eld applications. According to this simplied
model approach, blow-by rate is estimated using an equivalent
blow-by area (A
eq
) between the cylinder rings and the cylinder
bore [23] as follows:
A
eq
= p D d
r
(3)
where (d
r
) is the equivalent cylinder-ring clearance that denes the
level of cylinder linerring wear. The corresponding mass ow
(blow by) rate is then calculated using standard isentropic com-
pressible ow relations [34,3941]. As long as the fresh air zone ex-
ists blow-by is abstracted from it assuming that this is mostly in the
vicinity of the combustion chamber walls. When the burning zone
(i.e. fuel jet) occupies the entire combustion chamber, blow-by
mass is distributed to each zone taking into account its mass and
the total instantaneous cylinder charge mass.
2.1.3. Inlet and exhaust system
In the present work the llingemptying method
[29,30,39,40,42] is used to estimate the pressuretemperature ver-
sus time history in the two manifolds (intakeexhaust). The mass
ow rate through the turbine nozzle is calculated using isentropic
ow relations and the effective turbine nozzle ow area. This is
adequate for the specic engine which is equipped with a constant
pressure turbo-charging system.
2.1.4. The scavenging model
Scavenging is an important process for a two-stroke turbo-
charged engine [29,30,39,40]. For this reason a two-zone scaveng-
ing model is used [29,30,39,40,42], which divides the combustion
chamber contents into two parts: one consisting only of fresh en-
trained air, and a second consisting of combustion products from
the previous cycle and freshly entrained air. With this approach,
part of the intake air escapes directly into the exhaust manifold
(short-circuiting) affecting the exhaust gas temperature. At the
end of scavenging (start of compression stroke), perfect mixing be-
tween the two zones is assumed resulting into a single zone which
is a mixture of fresh air and combustion products from the previ-
ous cycle.
2.2. Brief description of the constants determination methodology and
the diagnosis procedure
For diagnosis, use is made of both cylinder pressure and con-
ventional data (i.e. pressure, temperature of the engine subsys-
tems). But their values are inuenced from a number of
subsystems making the distinction of the actual cause for a fault
extremely difcult. For example, a low peak combustion pressure
may be the result of low fuel ow rate, a faulty injector, low SOI
advance, low boost pressure or increased blow-by, etc. Therefore,
it is necessary to develop a methodology to provide the actual
cause. This is achieved using a stepwise approach which manages
to distinguish the parameters affecting the compression stroke, the
combustion expansion stroke and the gas exchange. The method is
based on the determination of model constants that express the
quality/condition of subsystems or mechanisms. The simulation
model is initially auto-calibrated using shop test data (i.e. brake
power output, fuel ow rate, peak compression pressure, peak r-
ing pressure, etc.). From the aforementioned brief description of
sub-models it has been show that a number of constants are used
in the corresponding mathematical relations/correlations which
are generally unknown even though statistical values are available.
These constants are related to geometrical characteristics of the
engine (i.e. compression ratio, equivalent piston ring clearance
etc.) and other physical processes inside the combustion chamber
(i.e. heat transfer). The TDC position is also considered to be an un-
known constant which represents the angular phasing of the mea-
sured cylinder pressure [37]. The cylinder pressure trace is
obviously affected by various mechanisms and for this reason a
methodology is required to dene the effect of each one upon it.
For this reason it has been conducted a detailed sensitivity analysis
fromwhich the following important conclusions have been derived
[28,30]:
v Compression ratio has the strongest effect on the initial part of
the compression stroke.
v Constant (d
r
), which provides the degree of cylinder/ring wear,
affects mostly the part around TDC, shifting the peak compres-
sion pressure angle to the left relative to TDC.
v Cylinder wall temperature has a similar effect, as (d
r
), but less
pronounced.
v Constant (c) in Eq. (1) affects mainly the late part of compres-
sion and is obtained using the shop test data, because it is a
characteristic for a specic engine.
Utilizing these results it is derived the methodology for their
determination and also their relation to the condition of engine
components. Thus, constants value is considered to be an index
for the current condition of the various engine components or sub-
systems. The constants values for the compression part are esti-
mated so that the calculated cylinder compression pressure trace
(up to ignition) matches accurately the measured one using a spe-
cial constant determination procedure developed in the past
[24,2730]. The procedure is applied initially using the shop test
data providing a set of constants values that are the reference
and the corresponding engine simulator is referred to as the refer-
ence engine. A detailed description of the mathematical proce-
dure for the determination of model constants is provided in
[24,2730]. The procedure is then applied at the present operating
conditions and a new set of model constants is estimated. The cor-
responding engine simulator is now referred to as the current
engine. Matrix (b
oj
) lists models constants corresponding to the
reference engine while matrix (b
j
) lists the respective constants
1030 D.T. Hountalas et al. / Applied Energy 113 (2014) 10271042
corresponding to the current engine. The direct comparison, on a
percentage basis, of the aforementioned matrices provides an indi-
cation for the condition of the various engine subsystems. Taking
these into account, a fault or malfunction exists if the following cri-
terion is satised:
b
j
b
oj
b
oj

100% P3% (4)


The three percent error limit is used to account for measurement
error or inaccuracies. The condition of an engine component or
subsystem results from the estimation of the following parameter:
(b
j
/b
oj
) 100%.
3. Estimation of critical engine performance parameters
As already mentioned, the present work focuses on the effect of
load variation on cylinder pressure, cylinder loading and compres-
sion condition, which are parameters extremely important for en-
gine performance. For this reason it is of critical importance the
accurate estimation of these parameters. Results for cylinder load-
ing are more critical because an error can result to improper engine
tuning and thus deterioration of engine performance. Toward this
direction it is necessary to have an appropriate assessment of TDC
position and estimation of heat release rate including heat losses.
In the following paragraphs is given a brief description of the
methodology developed and adopted for the estimation of both
parameters.
3.1. Methodology for determination of TDC position
A signicant advantage of the proposed technique is that it re-
quires no measurement of TDC position. This is signicantly
important for eld applications especially on large scale two-
stroke diesel engines where it is extremely difcult, if not impossi-
ble, to use an angle encoder or other equivalent hardware. Further-
more even if this was the case there would still exist an uncertainty
between cylinder phasing due to torsional vibrations etc. For this
reason a new methodology has been employed to overcome this
difculty which has been developed by the authors in the past
[37]. This methodology allows the estimation of the TDC position
of each cylinder individually avoiding thus the effect of deections,
vibrations, oscillations etc. The method is based purely on thermo-
dynamics and is generally applicable on any type of reciprocating
engine. TDC estimation is based on the precise matching of the
compression part of the calculated cylinder pressure diagram
for which the TDC position is obviously known to the compres-
sion curve of the measured cylinder pressure diagram for which
no crank angle reference exists. This is achieved, as described by
detail in [37], considering TDC as an unknown constant together
with compression ratio, initial pressure, blow-by, heat transfer
etc. These are calculated using a multi-parameter optimization
technique the criteria of which is the least possible deviation be-
tween the calculated and the measured cylinder pressure traces.
The methodology has been extensively validated by both lab and
eld measurements. The error is in the range of 0.10.2 deg CA.
A basic criterion for the reliability of the proposed technique is
the accurate prediction of engine power output, because an error
of 1 deg CA for TDC position results to an error of about 810% in
indicated power output [37,43,44]. The last evaluation was
adopted in the present work because generated power was avail-
able and at the same time both engine mechanical efciency and
generator efciency were also known from the ofcial shop tests.
3.2. Estimation of cylinder brake power
Estimation of cylinder brake power output is based on the pos-
sessing of the measured cylinder pressure trace. Having deter-
mined TDC position the measured cylinder pressure crank
angle diagram is converted into a P V diagram from the integra-
tion of which is derived the indicated power as follows:
P
ind
=
_
PdV
_ _
f (5)
Using the mechanical efciency (g
m
) which is reported in the en-
gine shop test data and the efciency of the electric generator
(g
G
), the corresponding calculated electric power is derived, as
follows:
P
G
= g
G
g
m
z P
ind
(6)
3.3. Estimation of cylinder fuel ow rate
For a multi-cylinder engine operating on the eld, it is extre-
mely difcult if not impossible to measure the fuel ow rate of
each cylinder especially in cases where injection pressure mea-
surements are not available. For this reason, a computational
method has been developed in the past [30] to estimate cylinder
fuel ow rate which is based on the processing of the measured
cylinder pressure diagram. An estimate for the actual amount of
fuel mass burnt inside the combustion chamber is obtained from
the heat release rate analysis procedure as follows [39,40],
_ m
f
=
Q
g;cumul
LHV
(7)
where (LHV) is the lower heating value of the fuel and (Q
g,cumul
) rep-
resents the cumulative gross heat release obtained from the inte-
gration of the instantaneous gross heat release rate given from
the following relation:
dQ
gros
dh
=
dQ
net
dh

dQ
hl
dh
(8)
In the net heat release rate
dQ
net
dh
are considered the losses due to
blow-by (derived from the procedure described in Section 2.1.2.)
and the enthalpy of the injected fuel, using an iterative procedure
until the net heat release rate converges. The instantaneous heat
losses (
dQ
hl
dh
) to the cylinder walls are estimated using Eq. (2), where
the instantaneous mean gas temperature (T
g
) is obtained from the
ideal gas state equation and the measured cylinder pressure as
follows,
T
g
=
P V
R m
(9)
The mass of the cylinder charge (m) is obtained from the simulation
model using the measured values of inlet pressure, temperature etc.
while constant (h
c
) in Eq. (1) and the corresponding cylinder wall
temperature are obtained from the constants determination proce-
dure. The specic methodology has been validated by laboratory
experiments and led tests [30] and its accuracy is in the region
of 1.5%.
4. Experimental setup and test cases examined
Each of the three methodologies used to account for load varia-
tion has been applied on a large-scale, two-stroke, seven-cylinder
diesel engine installed on a Greek island. The diesel engine was
coupled to an electric generator for electric power generation. In
Table 1 are given the main technical data of the engine while in
Fig. 1 is given a schematic layout of the setup. For cylinder pressure
measurement, an air cooled Kistler piezotron pressure sensor is
D.T. Hountalas et al. / Applied Energy 113 (2014) 10271042 1031
used which is mounted on the indicator valve of each cylinder.
Sensor signal is transferred to a high-speed sampling system (i.e.
USB/AD Card) and after transformation it is stored in the memory
of a portable personal computer (PC) where the diagnostic soft-
ware has been installed. Cylinder pressure data is recorded using
a sampling rate equivalent to 0.5 deg CA. For the present applica-
tion a number of -50 cycles have been recorded from each cylin-
der. From these, a mean cylinder pressure trace is estimated after
processing, which is the input for the diagnostic technique.
Measurements have been conducted at actual operating condi-
tions at two different load points as shown in Table 2. With refer-
ence to Table 2 it is made clear that measured power is electric
power and is obtained from the conventional instrumentation of
the station which has an accuracy of 1%. In the 5th column of
Table 2 is also given the net engine power, estimated from the
electric power and the generator efciency. As observed from
Table 2 engine speed is constant during all measurements since
the engine is used for electric power generation.
5. Description of the methodologies used to account for load
variation
With the conventional measurement methodology, the value of
each engine cylinder performance parameter (i.e. brake power, fuel
ow rate, peak ring pressure and compression condition) is deter-
mined from the diagnostic technique by processing both the corre-
sponding measured cylinder pressure trace and the mean value of
scavenge air pressure, temperature etc. But, this data may vary
during measurement due to load uctuation which will obviously
affect derived results resulting to improper conclusions concerning
compression condition, loading, start of injection etc. Thus, it is
necessary to develop a methodology to detect and account for
the effect of load variation during measurement. Towards this
direction, in the present paragraph, it is described the main philos-
ophy of the three methods that have been developed to detect and
account for load variation.
5.1. Conventional methodology: Sequential cylinder pressure
measurement
Using the conventional cylinder pressure measurement meth-
odology, engine cylinders are measured sequentially not simulta-
neously one after the other. For the diagnosis of each cylinder, it
is used the instantaneous measured cylinder pressure trace and
also the mean values of scavenge air pressure and other conven-
tional operating parameters which are taken during measurement.
For the current two-stroke seven-cylinder diesel engine, cylinders
are measured consequently one after the other which results to a
total of seven cylinder pressure measurements for each engine
operating point (Fig. 2).
Thus, the values of cylinders parameters derived from this pro-
cedure may deviate from reality if load uctuates during cylinder
pressure measurement. Their use may also result to engine
mistuning.
5.2. Methodologies based on the instantaneous value of the charge air
pressure
According to the literature [29,30], a basic operating parameter
related to engine load for turbocharged engines is the scavenging
air pressure which affects the pressure at compression initiation.
The variation of the last will obviously affect derived results for
both cylinder performance and condition. For this reason in the fol-
lowing sub-paragraphs is described the main philosophy of two
methodologies developed and adopted herein to account for scav-
enging air pressure variation due to load uctuation. The rst
(experimental) is based on the utilization of the measured instan-
taneous charge air pressure and the second (computational) on the
processing of the measured cylinder pressure trace.
Table 1
Technical data of the engine.
Engine type 2Stroke, T/C, 7K60MC_S
Cylinder bore 600 (mm)
Piston stroke 1650 (mm)
Connecting rod length 2280 (mm)
Number of cylinders 7
Number of exhaust valves 1 (per cylinder)
Reference engine speed 143 (rpm)
Turbochargers 2
Intercooler 1
Nominal brake power 11.2 (MW)
Fig. 1. Schematic layout of the test installation.
Table 2
Engine operating conditions at which measurements were conducted.
Test
case
Engine speed
(rpm)
Load
(%)
Electric power
(kW)
Engine power
(kW)
1 143 50 5770 6272
2 143 100 11,352 11467
Fig. 2. Schematic layout of the conventional measurement procedure.
1032 D.T. Hountalas et al. / Applied Energy 113 (2014) 10271042
5.2.1. Sequential cylinder pressure measurement and calculation of
instantaneous scavenging air pressure. (1st methodology)
A new technique has been developed to calculate the scaveng-
ing air pressure from the measured cylinder pressure trace. To
achieve this, the cylinder pressure at exhaust valve closure (com-
pression initiation for 2-stroke engines) is assumed to be an addi-
tional unknown constant in the constants determination
procedure, as described previously. The corresponding instanta-
neous calculated scavenging pressure (i.e. (P
scav
)
calc
) is then
calculated using an iterative procedure to provide the calculated
initial pressure at compression initiation. This value (i.e. (P
scav
)
calc
)
is then used to correct derived cylinder performance parameters,
following the methodology described in Section 5.2.3.
5.2.2. Sequential cylinder pressure measurement and parallel precise
measurement of instantaneous scavenging air pressure. (2nd
methodology)
The present methodology is similar to the previous but it is
based on the processing of both the cylinder pressure and the cor-
responding instantaneous scavenging air pressure obtained from
an accurate fast response boost pressure sensor. Both signals are
recorded simultaneously when measuring each cylinder. The mea-
sured scavenging air pressure (i.e. (P
scav
)
meas
) is then used to cor-
rect cylinder performance parameters as described in Section 5.2.3.
5.2.3. Load correction using the value of the scavenging air pressure
Having derived the diagnosis results, it is then possible to cor-
rect cylinder performance parameters (Y: brake power, fuel con-
sumption, peak pressure, compression pressure etc.), as follows:
Y
cor;i
= Y
meas;i
(CF)
i

DY
DL
_ _
i
(10)
where i denotes the measured cylinder, CF is the correction fac-
tor for load variation and (DY/DL)i is the sensitivity coefcient of
the specic cylinder performance parameter (Y) with load. The cor-
rection factor for load variation CF is the variation of engine load
and is estimated from the variation of scavenging air pressure as
shown below while the sensitivity coefcient represents the corre-
sponding effect of load variation on the specic cylinder perfor-
mance parameter (Y). According to the engine shop test data, the
variation of scavenging air pressure with load, which is depicted
in Fig. 3, for the present application is approximately linear and de-
scribed by the following relation:
P
scav
= a
1
L(%) b
1
(11)
where L(%) denotes the percentage of full engine load and a
1
, b
1
are constants which for the specic engine have been found to be
a
1
= 0.026 and b
1
= 0.33. Using the rst derivative of Eq. (11) with
respect to load (L), the correction factor for load variation is pro-
vided from the following formula:
D(P
scav
)
DL
= a
1
= (CF)
i
= a
1
D(P
scav
) = a
1

(P
scav
)
i
(P
scav
)
m
(P
scav
)
m
(12)
where for the specic application a
1
= 0.026, i denotes the mea-
sured cylinder and m the mean value during the measurement.
Furthermore, according to the shop test data depicted in Fig. 4,
it is revealed that two other critical performance parameters i.e.
fuel consumption and compression pressure also correlate -line-
arly with engine load which is described mathematically as
follows:
_ m
fuel
= a
2
L(%) b
2
(13a)
P
compr
= a
3
L(%) b
3
(13b)
where a
2
to b
3
are constants which for the specic engine are
a
2
= 24.9, b
2
= 302.8, a
3
= 1.07 and b
3
= 27.25. On the other hand,
from Fig. 4 it is revealed that the variation of the peak cylinder pres-
sure with load is approximately a second order polynomial function
as follows:
P
max
= a
4
b
4
L(%) c
4
[L(%)[
2
(13c)
where, for the specic engine the aforementioned constants take
the following values: a
4
= 29.71, b
4
= 1.66 and c
4
= 0.0054.
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Engine Load (%)
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
S
c
a
v
e
n
g
e

a
i
r

P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

(
b
a
r
)
Engine Shop Tests
Engine speed : 143 rpm
Fig. 3. Engine shop test data: Variation of scavenge air pressure as a function of
engine load.
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Engine Load (%)
800
1200
1600
2000
2400
2800
3200
F
u
e
l

C
o
n
s
u
m
t
i
o
n

(
k
g
/
h
)
Engine Shop Tests
Engine Speed : 143 rpm
60
80
100
120
140
160
P
e
a
k

P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

(
b
a
r
)
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
C
o
m
p
r
.

P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

(
b
a
r
)
Fig. 4. Engine shop test data: variation of (i) compression pressure, (ii) fuel
consumption and (iii) peak pressure with engine load.
D.T. Hountalas et al. / Applied Energy 113 (2014) 10271042 1033
The sensitivity coefcient of each parameter with load, i.e. (DY/
DL)
i
is estimated by derivation of Eqs. (13a)(13c). Eq. (10) is used
for all engine performance parameters examined i.e. brake power
output, fuel consumption, peak ring pressure and compression
pressure. Obviously for brake power correction the sensitivity coef-
cient with load is unity.
5.3. Methodology based on the use of two cylinder pressure sensors.
(3rd methodology)
5.3.1. Brief description of the measurement procedure
In an effort to overcome the problem of load variation during
measurement and generate results equivalent to the ones obtained
using simultaneous cylinder pressure measurement, a new mea-
surement technique is proposed herein. It is based on the use of
two pressure sensors to acquire simultaneously measurements
from two engine cylinders each time, one of which is always the
same and is called the reference cylinder. In Fig. 5 are presented
the measurement steps that constitute the new measurement
methodology. According to Fig. 5, during cylinder pressure mea-
surement, one pressure sensor (i.e. reference one) is permanently
mounted on the indicator valve of the reference cylinder which
for the present application is cylinder No. 1, while the second pres-
sure sensor is periodically mounted, as usual, on each of the
remaining cylinders until all are measured i.e. the measurement
sequence is (Nos. 12), (Nos. 13). . .(Nos. 17), i.e. in total 6 mea-
surements. In Fig. 6 are given the results for cylinder brake power.
In this gure are shown the brake power output of the reference
cylinder (No. 1) and the remaining cylinders at 100% load and
143 rpm engine speed. The rst two power values for Cyl. 1 are
the same since they refer to the same measurement i.e. Cyls. 12.
Observing Fig. 6, it results that there exist signicant differences
between cylinder power output, while at the same time it is also
observed a uctuation of reference cylinder power output. This is
a clear indication of brake power uctuation during measurement,
which affects the acquired individual pressure cylinder data.
Therefore the estimated brake power output of each cylinder, using
the conventional technique, is affected from the power uctuation
of the engine and does not represent the actual case. To obtain the
actual brake power output of each cylinder i.e. the one to be ex-
pected if no power uctuation exists during cylinder pressure mea-
surement, the effect of engine load variation has to be nullied. A
signicant advantage of the specic methodology is that the
instantaneous load variation during the measurement procedure
is directly noticeable and accurately detected from the variation
of the reference cylinder power output. This gives the potentiality
of accurate identication of load variation effect on engine perfor-
mance, enabling thus the proper tuning of all engine cylinders to
guarantee, after adjustment, uniform cylinder loading and
operation.
5.3.2. Load correction method using two cylinder pressure sensors
As already described, cylinder performance parameters are esti-
mated from the diagnostic technique by processing the measured
cylinder pressure traces. Having processed the measured data of
both cylinders i.e. the current and the reference, it is then possible
to correct the derived cylinder performance parameter (Y) directly
as follows:
Y
cor;i
= Y
meas;i
(CF)
i
Y
meas;i
(14)
where i denotes the measured cylinder and (CF) represents the
load correction factor of the examined parameter which is derived
from the following formula:
(CF)
i
=
Y
ref;i=1
Y
ref;i
Y
ref;i
(15)
where Y
ref
represents the value of the reference cylinder perfor-
mance parameter. Obviously for the rst measurement, i.e. mea-
surement No. 1 (i = 1), no load variation exists and thus the load
correction factor is zero.
6. Results and discussion
6.1. Effect of load uctuation on the measured cylinder pressure trace
In Fig. 7a and b are given the raw measured cylinder pressure
traces at the two operating points examined i.e. at 50% load and
143 rpm and at 100% load and 143 rpm engine speed, respectively.
The diagrams depict the mean cycle for each cylinder, without
crank angle reference. These diagrams provide only a rst indica-
tion for cylinder performance and possibly condition. From these
gures are obvious the differences exist between engine cylinders.
Fig. 5. Schematic layout of measurement procedure based on the use of two
cylinder pressure sensors.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Cylinder Number
1550
1600
1650
1700
1750
1800
1850
1900
B
r
a
k
e

P
o
w
e
r

(
k
W
)
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Measurement number for Ref. Cylinder
100% Load
Reference cylinder
measured cylinder
Fig. 6. Estimated brake power output (i) for the reference cylinder and (ii) for each
one of the remaining cylinders, at 143 rpm and 100% load.
1034 D.T. Hountalas et al. / Applied Energy 113 (2014) 10271042
However, these can be attributed to cylinder condition (i.e. com-
pression quality, injector condition etc.), tuning (i.e. cylinder ow
rate, injection advance etc.) or/and load variation during the mea-
surement. To identify the possibility for load variation and dene
its effect the measurements of the reference cylinder are utilized,
as already mentioned.
During the measurement procedure, six (6) measurements
were taken for the reference cylinder at each load point. In
Fig. 8a and b are displayed the corresponding pressure diagrams
of the reference cylinder (i.e. Cylinder No. 1) vs crank angle, for
each measurement conducted and for both operating points exam-
ined (i.e. 50% load and 143 rpm and 100% load and 143 rpm engine
speed). The aforementioned pressure-crank angle diagrams have
been obtained after processing the measured raw cylinder pressure
data using the diagnostic technique. From these graphs it is
obvious that the pressure of the reference cylinder uctuates.
The differences become more evident during the last stages of
compression and the initial stages of combustion. This is an
indication that the deviation of reference cylinder pressure history
is most possibly attributed to load uctuation during the
measurement.
6.2. Effect of load variation on cylinder performance parameters
As already mentioned, the present work focuses on the effect of
load variation during measurement on cylinder brake power, fuel
consumption compression quality and ignition angle which are
critical engine operating parameters. For this purpose, in the fol-
lowing paragraphs are provided results for the aforementioned
parameters having accounted and corrected for the effect of load.
The evaluation is conducted by compassion to the results of the
conventional methodology (i.e. sequential cylinder pressure
measurement).
6.2.1. Estimated cylinder power output
In Fig. 9ab is given the brake power output of the reference
cylinder, the actually measured cylinder power and the corrected
(i.e. estimated with 1st, 2nd or 3rd methodology) brake power out-
put of each cylinder, for 50% and 100% of full engine load at
143 rpm engine speed. Measured cylinder power is the one derived
from the application of the conventional diagnosis technique
which does not account for load variation (i.e. conventional brake
power). On the other hand, cylinder corrected power is the one de-
rived from the application of the three methodologies that are used
to account for the effect of load variation. Observing reference cyl-
inder brake power during measurement, it is revealed that for both
loads examined, a considerable uctuation exists. This is an indica-
tion for engine load variation during the measurement. For this
reason, the measured cylinder power (i.e. the one derived through
the conventional methodology) has to be corrected properly, as al-
ready described, in order the corrected power of each cylinder to
represent the actual power value, i.e. the one which would be re-
corded if engine load was kept constant during measurement.
Observing the corrected cylinder brake power output, esti-
mated from the rst methodology, based on the variation of the
calculated cylinder charge pressure, it is shown that both the cor-
rected and the conventional brake power values follow a similar
variation trend among the cylinders. This becomes more evident
at full load condition. On the other hand, observing the corrected
cylinder brake power output estimated from the other two
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
C
y
l
i
n
d
e
r

P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

(
b
a
r
)
50% Load
Mean Cycle
No1No2 No3 No4 No5 No6 No7
(a)
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
C
y
l
i
n
d
e
r

P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

(
b
a
r
)
100% Load
Mean Cycle
No1 No2 No3 No4 No5 No6
No7
(b)
Fig. 7. Mean cylinder pressure diagrams at (a) 50% load and 143 rpm engine speed and (b) 100% load and 143 rpm engine speed.
Crank Angle (deg)
80
82
84
86
88
90
92
94
96
98
C
y
l
i
n
d
e
r

P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

(
b
a
r
)
1st measurement
2nd measurement
3rd measurement
4th measurement
5th measurement
6th measurement
50% Load
Ref. cylinder
(a)
176 180 184 188 192 196
Crank Angle (deg)
120
122
124
126
128
130
132
134
136
138
C
y
l
i
n
d
e
r

P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

(
b
a
r
)
1st measurement
2nd measurement
3rd measurement
4th measurement
5th measurement
6th measurement
100% Load
Ref. cylinder
(b)
176 180 184 188 192 196
Fig. 8. Cylinder pressure versus crank angle diagrams of the reference cylinder at (a) 50% load and 143 rpm engine speed and (b) 100% load and 143 rpm engine speed.
D.T. Hountalas et al. / Applied Energy 113 (2014) 10271042 1035
methodologies, based on the variation of the measured scavenging
pressure and the use of two cylinder pressure sensors, it is revealed
that both corrected brake power values follow an almost similar
variation trend among the cylinders but it is different compared
to the one of the rst methodology. The difference is more obvious
at full engine load.
Using the cylinder brake power values reported in the previous
graphs are generated Fig. 10ac, which provide the patterns of cyl-
inder power deviation around the mean value, for each methodol-
ogy at the two loading points examined. Power deviation of each
cylinder, on percentage basis, is estimated as follows:
DP
e;i
(%); =
P
e;i
P
e;m
_ _
1
_ _
100 (16)
where (P
e,i
) represents the corrected brake power of the (ith) cylin-
der and (P
e,m
) represents the mean value. Observing Fig. 10a, it re-
sults that, for the two load points examined, the power deviation
of each cylinder, derived from the rst methodology is qualitatively
similar only for cylinders Nos. 13 and 5. On the other hand, this is
not the case for the remaining cylinders. Since the power deviation
pattern for all cylinders should remain qualitatively the same with
Cylinder Number
850
900
950
1000
B
r
a
k
e

P
o
w
e
r

(
k
W
)
Measurement Number for Ref. Cylinder
50% Load
Ref. cylinder
conv. method
1st method
2nd method
3rd method
(a)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Cylinder Number
1550
1600
1650
1700
1750
1800
1850
B
r
a
k
e

P
o
w
e
r

(
k
W
)
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Measurement Number for Ref. Cylinder
100% Load
Ref. cylinder
Conv. method
1st method
2nd method
3rd method
(b)
Fig. 9. The actual and the estimated brake power output for each cylinder at (a) 50% load and 143 rpm engine speed and (b) 100% load and 143 rpm engine speed.
Cylinder Number
-6
-4
-2
0
2
4
6

(
b
r
a
k
e

p
o
w
e
r
)
,

(
%
)
1st method
50 % Load
100 % Load
(a)
Cylinder Number
-6
-4
-2
0
2
4
6
2nd method
50 % Load
100 % Load
(b)
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Cylinder Number
-6
-4
-2
0
2
4
6
3rd method
50 % Load
100 % Load
(c)

(
b
r
a
k
e

p
o
w
e
r
)
,

(
%
)

(
b
r
a
k
e

p
o
w
e
r
)
,

(
%
)
Fig. 10. Comparison of the dimensionless brake power output variation among the cylinders for 50% and 100% of full engine load, by using (a) the 1st diagnosis methodology,
(b) the 2nd diagnosis methodology and (c) the 3rd diagnosis methodology.
1036 D.T. Hountalas et al. / Applied Energy 113 (2014) 10271042
engine load, this is an indication that the rst methodology does not
totally detect and account for the effect of engine load variation.
Observing the results of the second methodology it is revealed
that cylinder power deviation pattern for cylinders Nos. 15 and
7 is similar for the two load points examined, while for No. 6 a dif-
ferent pattern is observed which could be attributed to a random
error during measurement. Moreover, comparing the absolute val-
ues of the power deviation of each cylinder for the two loading
points it is revealed that these are similar since only small differ-
ences exist.
Finally using the third methodology where load variation is di-
rectly detected form the power variation of the reference cylinder,
the patterns of power deviation all of cylinders appear to be similar
for both engine loading points examined, despite the small differ-
ences of absolute values attributed most possibly to measurement
error (normal).
Considering the previous, it is made obvious that the last two
methodologies adequately detect and account for the effect of en-
gine load variation on the cylinder pressure measurement and the
derived diagnosis results. Therefore, their advantage to properly
correct individual cylinder power considering for the effect of load
variation, is clearly demonstrated. However, it is to be noted that
the results of the rst methodology can also be considered up to
a certain point as satisfying since the corrected results are close
to the reality. This is important because the specic methodology
is completely computational requiring not additional equipment
or measurement effort creating a strong motivation for further
investigation and improvement.
6.2.2. Cylinder tuning
Based on experience, cylinder power deviations in the range of
(3%) are considered acceptable for the specic engine type. Differ-
ences above this range generate the necessity to adjust cylinder
power through fuel rack position adjustment. Considering the pre-
vious results two possibilities exist for cylinder tuning i.e. fuel rack
adjustment: Use of the primary measured cylinder brake power
(i.e. conventional brake power) and use of the corrected one which
estimated from the three methodologies examined in the present
work. As known in practice, the standard methodology is to use
the measured cylinder brake power output to analyze cylinder per-
formance. But, in the case of an engine load variation, as in the
present, there exists the risk for mistuning. For this reason in
Fig. 11ab are given the estimates for cylinder brake power output
after having adjusted cylinder fuel racks using the corrected and
un-corrected vales of cylinder power output. It is evident that
the use of the uncorrected cylinder brake power output results to
signicant distortion of engine operation in the case of a load
variation during the measurement. As shown, the rst methodol-
ogy, based on the calculated of the cylinder charge pressure at
compression initiation would lead to a slight improvement, espe-
cially at low load but cannot guarantee uniform cylinder operation.
On the other hand the second methodology based on the measure-
ment of the instantaneous scavenging air pressure, results to
considerable improvement for both load points examined. How-
ever, the third methodology (i.e. the engine load variation is de-
tected through the brake power variation of the reference
cylinder) leads to uniform distribution of the brake power output
among the cylinders, clearly indicating that its advantageous and
capable to detect properly and eliminate accurately the effect of
engine load uctuation during cylinder pressure measurement.
Consequently, considering the results provided in Fig. 11a and
b, it is obvious that the diagnosis technique should consider for
load variation during measurement, otherwise there is a risk for
engine mistuning. Finally, comparing the results it is revealed the
superiority of the third methodology for a correct cylinder power
tuning in the case of varying load during measurement.
6.2.3. Cylinder fuel ow rate
In Fig. 12a and b are given the corresponding values, corrected
and uncorrected, for each cylinder at 50% and 100% of full engine
load at 143 rpm engine speed. Cylinder fuel ow rate has been esti-
mated by applying the methodology described in Section 3.3 of the
present work. Since engine power is almost directly related to fuel
consumption, it is possible to correct cylinder fuel ow to account
for the effect of load variation using the three methodologies de-
scribed in the present work. Thus, in Fig. 12a and b is given the va-
lue for the corrected fuel ow rate of each cylinder which
corresponds to the value that would be observed if load had been
kept constant during measurement. The use of the conventional
cylinder fuel ow rate, without considering the load variation ef-
fect, for fuel rack adjustment will result to improper cylinder tun-
ing and most possibly to deterioration of engine performance.
Observing Fig. 12ab it is revealed that for both loading points
examined, the comparison of the absolute values for the conven-
tional and corrected cylinder fuel consumption reveals that the
rst methodology does not manage to account adequately for the
effect of load variation, since the results appear to be quite similar.
Moreover, the corrected fuel consumption, derived from the rst
methodology, appears to follow a trend which is quite similar to
the respective one of the conventional methodology revealing its
difculty to properly account for the effect of load variation.
On the other hand comparing the corrected fuel consumptions
of the remaining two methodologies, the results appear to be
rather similar. Both methodologies properly account for the effect
Cylinder Number
840
860
880
900
920
940
B
r
a
k
e

p
o
w
e
r

a
f
t
e
r

t
u
n
n
i
n
g

(
k
W
)
1st method
2nd method
3rd method
50% Load
(a)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Cylinder Number
1620
1640
1660
1680
1700
1720
1740
B
r
a
k
e

p
o
w
e
r

a
f
t
e
r

t
u
n
n
i
n
g

(
k
W
)
1st method
2nd method
3rd method
100% Load
(b)
Fig. 11. Actual cylinder brake power versus estimated one after tuning using each one of the three methodologies, at (a) 50% load and 143 rpm engine speed and (b) 100%
load and 143 rpm engine speed.
D.T. Hountalas et al. / Applied Energy 113 (2014) 10271042 1037
of load variation which is revealed from the fact that the corrected
fuel ow rates follow an almost similar variation trend among the
cylinders, which however is slightly different compared to the one
of the rst methodology. The difference is more obvious at full en-
gine load.
Applying Eq. (16) for the corrected cylinder fuel consumption
are derived the graphs shown in Fig. 13ac, which provide the cyl-
inder fuel consumption deviation around the mean value for both
load points examined.
Observing Fig. 13a, it results that, for both load points, the fuel
consumption deviation of each cylinder, derived from the rst
methodology is qualitatively similar only for cylinders Nos. 1, 3,
5 and 7. Furthermore, for both loads examined, the results ob-
tained from the second methodology provide the same pattern
for all cylinders except for the cylinder No. 6 where a slight differ-
ent pattern is observed. On the other hand, for both engine load
points, the pattern of the results obtained from the third method-
ology followthe same trend among all cylinders. Furthermore, very
small differences are observed between absolute values. The differ-
ence is almost the same for all cylinders revealing thus that it could
be attributed to experimental procedure.
Consequently, the second and third methodologies, based on
the use of the measured scavenging air pressure and the use of
two cylinder pressure sensors respectively, enable more accurate
estimation of the fuel ow rate to each cylinder compensating
for the effect of load variation during the measurement. This is
Cylinder Number
160
165
170
175
180
F
u
e
l

C
o
n
s
u
m
p
t
i
o
n

(
k
g
/
h
)
Conv. method
1st method
2nd method
3rd method
50% Load
(a)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Cylinder Number
275
285
295
305
315
F
u
e
l

C
o
n
s
u
m
p
t
i
o
n

(
k
g
/
h
)
Conv. method
1st method
2nd method
3rd method
100% Load
(b)
Fig. 12. The actual and the estimated fuel consumption for each cylinder at (a) 50% load and 143 rpm engine speed and (b) 100% load and 143 rpm engine speed.
Cylinder Number
-6
-4
-2
0
2
4
6
1st method
50 % Load
100 % Load
(a)
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Cylinder Number
-6
-4
-2
0
2
4
6
(
f
u
e
l

c
o
n
s
u
m
p
t
i
o
n
)
,

(
%
)
2nd method
50 % Load
100 % Load
(b)
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Cylinder Number
-6
-4
-2
0
2
4
6
3rd method
50 % Load
100 % Load
(c)
(
f
u
e
l

c
o
n
s
u
m
p
t
i
o
n
)
,

(
%
)
(
f
u
e
l

c
o
n
s
u
m
p
t
i
o
n
)
,

(
%
)
Fig. 13. Comparison of the dimensionless fuel consumption variation among the cylinders for 50% and 100% of full engine load, by using (a) the 1st diagnosis methodology,
(b) the 2nd diagnosis methodology and (c) the 3rd diagnosis methodology.
1038 D.T. Hountalas et al. / Applied Energy 113 (2014) 10271042
most important for tuning and cylinder power balancing because
fuel rack adjustment is made possible despite load variation during
the measurement.
6.2.4. Peak cylinder pressure
In Fig. 14a and b is given the peak cylinder pressure of the con-
ventional methodology and the corresponding corrected (i.e. esti-
mated with 1st, 2nd or 3rd methodology) values, which have
been derived from the application of all methodologies, for 50%
and 100% of full engine load at 143 rpm engine speed. From
Fig. 14a and b it results that, for both loads examined, the values
of corrected and un-corrected peak ring pressure follow the same
trend for all cylinders. Furthermore, comparing the absolute values
it results that the corrected ones derived from the rst methodol-
ogy are almost the same to the ones of the conventional one. The
same conclusion is observed for the third methodology, except
for 50% of full load, where the corrected values for cylinders Nos.
35 and 7 appear to be slightly higher compared to the conven-
tional one. However, this could also be attributed to improper tun-
ing or to the function of the fuel injection system. On the other
hand it is revealed that, for both load conditions examined and
for all cylinders, the corrected values derived from the second
methodology are slightly lower compared to those of the other
two and the conventional methodology. However, it should be
Cylinder Number
90
94
98
102
106
P
e
a
k

P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

(
b
a
r
)
Conv. method
1st method
2nd method
3rd method
50% Load
(a)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Cylinder Number
130
134
138
142
146
150
P
e
a
k

P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

(
b
a
r
)
Conv. method
1st method
2nd method
3rd method
100% Load
(b)
Fig. 14. The actual and the estimated peak ring pressure for each cylinder at (a) 50% load and 143 rpm engine speed and (b) 100% load and 143 rpm engine speed.
Cylinder Number
-6
-4
-2
0
2
4
6
(
p
e
a
k

p
r
e
s
s
u
r
e
)
,

(
%
)
1st method
50 % Load
100 % Load
(a)
Cylinder Number
-6
-4
-2
0
2
4
6
2nd method
50 % Load
100 % Load
(b)
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Cylinder Number
-6
-4
-2
0
2
4
6
3rd method
50 % Load
100 % Load
(c)
(
p
e
a
k

p
r
e
s
s
u
r
e
)
,

(
%
)
(
p
e
a
k

p
r
e
s
s
u
r
e
)
,

(
%
)
Fig. 15. Comparison of the dimensionless peak ring pressure among the cylinders for 50% and 100% of full engine load, by using (a) the 1st diagnosis methodology, (b) the
2nd diagnosis methodology and (c) the 3rd diagnosis methodology.
D.T. Hountalas et al. / Applied Energy 113 (2014) 10271042 1039
noted that, for both engine operating points examined, all three
methodologies provide qualitatively similar trends since absolute
differences are quite small.
Applying Eq. (16) for the corrected peak ring pressure are de-
rived the graphs shown in Fig. 15ac, which provide the peak ring
pressure deviation around the mean value for both load points
examined.
Observing Fig. 15ac it results that for all methodologies cylin-
der peak ring pressure deviation is practically the same for both
load points examined. Moreover, it is noted that the resulting error
when neglecting the effect of load variation is considerably lower
compared to the one of cylinder power. Therefore, as demon-
strated, the observed differences of peak ring pressure between
cylinders are not mostly attributed to load variation but mainly
to differences in tuning or component condition. The previous is
most important for engine tuning because the use of the corrected
cylinder ring pressure eliminates the possibility to exceed maxi-
mum permissible ring pressure.
6.2.5. Cylinder compression condition
The estimation of cylinder compression condition is based on
the evaluation of the measured cylinder compression curve i.e.
from exhaust valve closure up to ignition. To estimate it properly,
account should be taken for the effect of cylinder pressure at ex-
haust valve closure, geometrical compression ratio, heat exchange
and mass leakage due to blow-by. This is achieved by the diagnos-
tic software [28,30]. Having determined all constant values, com-
pression quality is estimated from the comparison of the
effective compression ratio to the reference one (estimated from
the calibration procedure), as follows:
CQ(%) =
CR
eff;cur
CR
eff;ref
100 (17)
where the effective compression ratio (CR
eff
) is the one dened from
the relation:
CR
eff
=
P
com
P
o
_ _1
g
(18)
where P
com
is the peak compression pressure estimated from the
diagnostic technique corresponding to the value if fuel ow was
instantaneously interrupted, P
o
is the cylinder charge pressure
at initiation of compression process, estimated from the diagnosis
procedure and g is the polytropic exponent. The reference effec-
tive compression ratio is obtained from the shop test data. In
Fig. 16a and b is given the compression quality derived from the
application of the conventional cylinder pressure measurement
and the corrected values for each cylinder, for 50% and 100% of full
engine load at 143 rpm engine speed using the three methodolo-
gies. For constant load compression quality should remain almost
constant allowing only for the effect of load on blow-by since en-
gine speed is kept constant.
Observing the corrected values depicted in Fig. 16a and b it is
concluded that the rst two methodologies, based on the estima-
tion or measurement of the instantaneous charge air pressure pro-
vide similar results for both load points examined. On the other
hand the third methodology provides results similar to the ones
Cylinder Number
80
84
88
92
96
100
C
o
m
p
r
e
s
s
i
o
n

Q
u
a
l
i
t
y

(
%
)
Conv. method
1st method
2nd method
3rd method
50% Load
(a)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Cylinder Number
80
84
88
92
96
100
C
o
m
p
r
e
s
s
i
o
n

Q
u
a
l
i
t
y

(
%
)
Conv. method
1st method
2nd method
3rd method
100% Load
(b)
Fig. 16. The actual and the estimated compression quality for each cylinder at (a) 50% load and 143 rpm engine speed and (b) 100% load and 143 rpm engine speed.
Cylinder Number
-0.8
-0.4
0.0
0.4
0.8
1.2
1.6
2.0
2.4
I
g
n
i
t
i
o
n

A
n
g
l
e

(
d
e
g

C
A

A
T
D
C
)
Conv. method
1st method
2nd method
3rd method
50% Load
(a)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Cylinder Number
-0.8
-0.4
0.0
0.4
0.8
1.2
1.6
2.0
2.4
I
g
n
i
t
i
o
n

A
n
g
l
e

(
d
e
g

C
A

A
T
D
C
)
Conv. method
1st method
2nd method
3rd method
100% Load
(b)
Fig. 17. The actual and the estimated ignition angle for each cylinder at (a) 50% load and 143 rpm engine speed and (b) 100% load and 143 rpm engine speed.
1040 D.T. Hountalas et al. / Applied Energy 113 (2014) 10271042
of the conventional methodology since it is based on the process-
ing of the actually measured cylinder pressure and no additional
direct correction.
6.2.6. Ignition angle
The ignition angle is dened as the crank angle relative to TDC
position, where combustion initiates. Thus, the proper estimation
of ignition angle depends on the accurate determination of TDC po-
sition [37,39,43]. According to its estimation methodology, TDC
position depends signicantly on cylinder charge pressure at com-
pression initiation [37], which is obviously affected from engine
load. Therefore, the main purpose of the present paragraph is to
make a comparative evaluation of the ignition angle derived from
the three methodologies. In Fig. 17a and b is given the ignition an-
gle for each cylinder estimated from the conventional measure-
ment and the values derived from the three methodologies, for
50% and 100% of full engine load at 143 rpm engine speed. Observ-
ing the results depicted in Fig. 17a and b it is shown that, for both
load points, the results derived from the conventional and the
three methodologies are almost the same. Thus, it is revealed that
load variation, in the magnitude experienced, does not affect the
derived results as far as ignition angle is concerned which is impor-
tant for engine tuning.
7. Conclusions
As widely recognized, the cylinder pressure trace is of signi-
cant importance for diagnosis and performance analysis of heavy
duty DI diesel engines used in marine and power generation appli-
cations. But, cylinder pressure is affected by engine load and so is
the results derived from its processing. For this reason engine load
should be kept constant during cylinder pressure measurement
which is not always possible for eld applications, especially mar-
ine. The only method to overcome the problem is simultaneous
cylinder pressure measurement which for a multi-cylinder engine
operating on the eld results to high complexity concerning both
measurement hardware and cost. For this reason the conventional
measurement methodology is adopted which is based on the use of
only cylinder pressure sensor and sequential cylinder measure-
ment. But as demonstrated in the present work this method is sub-
ject to errors if load variation during measurement occurs. In an
effort to provide a solution three alternative methodologies have
been proposed and evaluated herein. The criteria for their develop-
ment have been cost reduction, simplicity and accuracy. The rst
two are based on the effect of load on the cylinder charge air pres-
sure corresponding at compression initiation. In the rst method
this is calculated from the constants determination procedure
accounting thus for the effect of load variation while in the second
it is monitored using a precise fast response pressure sensor. The
third methodology makes use of two cylinder pressure sensors,
one of which is mounted periodically on each cylinder and a sec-
ond one which is permanently mounted on a specic cylinder
called the reference cylinder.
The validation of the methodologies is based on their capability
to detect and account for the effect of load variation during mea-
surement. For this purpose, a detailed investigation has been con-
ducted on a large-scale, two-stroke, seven cylinder diesel engine
used for electric power generation at two different load points.
For the evaluation it has been used a well validated diagnostic
technique, properly modied to make use of the two simultaneous
cylinder pressure signals and the instantaneous value of charge air
pressure (2nd methodology).
From the results derived it has been clearly demonstrated that,
in the case of load variation during measurement, the results de-
rived from the conventional cylinder pressure measurement, i.e.
brake power output, fuel consumption, peak pressure, compression
quality and ignition angle are misleading and may nally result to
engine mistuning. It is also demonstrated that derived diagnosis
results may lead to improper conclusions as far as cylinder com-
pression condition and tuning (ignition angle, power density) is
concerned. The rst methodology which is purely computational
and requires no additional effort and hardware manages to account
for the effect of load variation on individual cylinder loading and
compression condition even though the results obtained are less
accurate compared to the other two methods. The second method-
ology provides quite satisfactory results for performance and com-
pression condition managing to detect and account for load
variation during measurement. But the requirement for an addi-
tional precise fast response pressure to monitor scavenging air
pressure is a serious disadvantage.
Finally the third methodology, based on the use of two cylinder
pressure sensors, is the most advantageous and practically equiva-
lent to simultaneous cylinder pressure measurement. This results
from the fact that it can directly identify engine load variation dur-
ing measurement from the uctuation of reference cylinder power
output and account for its effect on derived diagnosis results. On
the other hand, as far as ignition angle is concerned, all three meth-
odologies provide equivalent results, in the range of load variation
examined, which are similar to the ones derived from the conven-
tional methodology.
It is most encouraging that the methodologies examined are
capable to adequately correct cylinder power output and fuel con-
sumption contributing to proper engine tuning in the case of load
variation, while the third being more advantageous. However, de-
spite the positive results, further evaluation is required before
deriving general conclusions. This necessity becomes more pro-
nounced in the case of marine engine applications where power
uctuation is usually higher and the engine rotational speed varies
more frequently.
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