• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.45-53
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• 2022

In order to improve the emission of diesel engines, natural gas-diesel dual fuel combustion compression ignition engines are in the spotlight. In particular, a reactivity controlled compression ignition (RCCI) combustion strategy is investigated comprehensively due to its possibility to improve both efficiency and emissions. With advanced diesel direct injection timing earlier than TDC, it achieves spontaneous reaction with overall lean mixture from a homogeneous mixture in the entire cylinder area, reducing nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter (PM) and improving braking heat efficiency at the same time. However, there is a disadvantage in that the amount of incomplete combustion increases in a low load region with a relatively small amount of fuel-air. To solve this, sensitive control according to the diesel injection timing and fuel ratio is required. In this study, experiments were conducted to improve efficiency and exhaust emissions of the natural gas-diesel dual fuel engine at low load, and evaluate combustion stability according to the diesel injection timing at the operation point for power generation. A 6 L-class commercial diesel engine was used for the experiment which was conducted under a 50% load range (~50 kW) at 1,800 rpm. Two injectors with different spray patterns were applied to the experiment, and the fraction of natural gas and diesel injection timing were selected as main parameters. Based on the experimental results, it was confirmed that the brake thermal efficiency increased by up to 1.3%p in the modified injector with the narrow-angle injection added. In addition, the spray pattern of the modified injector was suitable for premixed combustion, increasing operable range in consideration of combustion instability, torque reduction, and emissions level under Tier-V level (0.4 g/kWh for NOx).

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.69-80
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• 1998

This research was designed to investigate how the exercise program affects paraplegic standing and walking employing functional electrical stimulation(FES). Emphasis was also given to fatigue of major lower extremity muscles induced by different types of electrical stimulation. We applied continuous and intermittent rectangular pulse trains to quadriceps of 10 normal subjects and 4 complete paraplegic patients. The frequencies were 20Hz and 80Hz, and the knee angle was fixed at 90$^{\circ}$and 150$^{\circ}$to investigate how muscle fatigue is related to muscle length. The knee extensor torque was measured and monitored. We have been training quadriceps and gastrocnemius of a male paraplegic patient by means of electrical stimulation for the past two year. FES standing was initiated when the knee extensors became strong enough to support the body weight, and then the patient started FES walking utilizing parallel bars and a walker. We used an 8-channel constant-voltage stimulator and surface electrodes. The experimental results indicated that paralyzed muscles fatigued rapidly around the optimal length contrary to normal muscles and confirmed that low frequency and intermittent stimulation delayed fatigue. Our exercise program increased muscle force by approximately 10 folds and decreased the fatigue index to half of the initial value. In addition, the exercise enabled the patient to voluntarily lift each leg up to 10cm, which was of great help to the swing phase of FES walking. Both muscle force and resistance to fatigue were significantly enhanced right after the exercise was applied every day instead of 6 days a week. Up to date, the patient can walk for more than two and half minutes at 10m/min while controlling the on/off time of the stimulator by pushing the toggle switch attached to the walker handle.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.90-96
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• 2019

Natural gas has been regarded as one of major alternative fuels, because of the increment of mining shale gas and supplying PNG(Pipeline Natural Gas) from Russia. Thus, it needs to broaden the usage of natural gas as the increasing its supplement. In this situation, application of natural gas on the transport area is a good suggestion to reduce exhaust emissions such as CO₂(carbon dioxides) and soot from vehicles. For this reason, natural gas can be applied to SI(spark ignition) engines due to its anti-knocking and low auto-ignitibility characteristics. Recently, since turbocharged SI engine has been widely used, it needs to apply natural gas on the turbocharged SI engine. However, there is a major challenge for using natural gas on turbocharged SI engine, because it is hard to make natural gas direct injection in the cylinder, while gasoline is possible. As a result, there is a loss of fresh air when natural gas is injected by MPI (multi-point injection) method under the same intake pressure with gasoline-fueled condition. It brings the power reduction. Therefore, in this research, intake pressure was increased by controling the turbocharger system under natural gas-fueled condition to improve power output. The goal of improved power is the same level with that of gasoline-fueled condition under the maximum torque condition of each engine speed. As a result, the maximum power levels, which are the same with those of gasoline-fueled conditions, with improved brake thermal efficiency could be achieved for each engine speed (from 2,000 to 6,000 rpm) by increasing intake pressure 5-27 % compared to those of gasoline-fueled conditions.