Development of a Thermodynamic Method for Diagnosis and Tuning of Diesel Engines And its Application on Marine Engines

Abstract

In the present paper a method is proposed for fault diagnosis and correct tuning of diesel engines. It is based on a thermodynamic simulation model of the engine and its components: the fuel injection system, the turbocharger and the air cooler. The method requires the experimental cylinder and fuel injection system pressure diagrams and operational data of the various engine sub-systems, air cooler, turbocharger, etc. It is known that it is very difficult to measure the TDC (top dead centre) on commercial engines. In order to overcome this difficulty the TDC is determined via a thermodynamic method introduced and verified by the present research group. In this paper an application of the proposed method on a low-speed two-stroke marine diesel engine is presented. The results obtained reveal the present condition of the engine and its sub-systems while a comparison between calculated and experimental results reveals the accuracy of the simulation model used.