Abstract

Wankel rotary engines have gained new interest from research groups, automotive and aerospace manufacturers due to their suitability for use as range extenders in hybrid-electric vehicles or as a prime mover for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). This type of engine offers favourable power density, power-to-weight ratio, and significantly reduced noise, vibration, and harshness and complexity due to the absence of reciprocating parts. The Advanced Vehicle Propulsion  Laboratory research group at KAUST, have carried out additional and complementary research in order to answer open questions on the Wankel engine and to further investigate its potential with innovative and renewable fuels. In this presentation, a summary of different investigations carried on the Advanced Innovative Engineering 225CS engine will be reported. First, and in line with current research trends, the suitability of hydrogen direct injection as a means of fuelling the engine has been studied, including an optimisation on the injector position with the aim of reducing fuel leakage between the chambers and to the inlet and outlet ports. Given the high temperatures reached during the combustion process when using both conventional and innovative fuels, a specific study evaluating heat loss and the effects of the surface area-to-volume ratio was conducted. The performance and reportable emissions of the 225CS engine was also evaluated when applied to the BMW i3 range-extended hybrid vehicle. Finally, an overview of current and future research on this peculiar thermal machine will be provided.

Biography

Dr. Giovanni Vorraro is a Research Scientist at the Clean Energy Research Platform within the Advanced Vehicle Propulsion Laboratory group at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). Dr Vorraro is interested and leads research on innovative internal combustion engine architectures, hybrid vehicles, alternative fuels and fuel cells applications in the automotive field. His research is based on developing both experimental and numerical activities. He holds a PhD from the University of Naples “Federico II” where his research was focused on the experimental and numerical assessment of the performance of automotive turbochargers. Before joining KAUST, Dr Vorraro was a lecturer at the University of Bath in the Mechanical Engineering Department and IAAPS, where he taught Thermodynamics, Internal Combustion Engines and Vehicle Modelling courses. He is certified as a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and he is a member for reviewing and organising committees for several international journals and conferences.