Mechanical Engineering Senior Design Project:

Most recent and notable is my Mechanical Engineering Senior Design project. My Senior Design project was to evaluate the performance and emissions characteristics of a John Deere CI engine running S.V.O. (Straight Vegetable Oil). The engine used was a Tier II 4045H engine. The 4045H is the 4 cylinder version of the John Deere 6068 engine. The 4045H is a high output, 4.5 Liter, Common Rail, Direct Injection, Turbocharged engine.

Fuel:
The fuels used during this testing were #2 dyed diesel, and Canola SVO. The Canola was provided by Cargill oils with Oleic Acid composing about 78% of the total.

Testing:
The 4045H engine was coupled to a water cooled eddy current dynamometer. The gaseous emissions were measured with a 5 gas emissions measurement system. Particulate emissions were measured with a dilution tunnel and quartz filters. Filters were weighed before and after testing to determine particulate emissions. Labview was used to monitor various sensors, record data and operate the dynamometer and engine coolant systems.

ISO8178 8 mode emissions testing was performed. A baseline emissions profile running #2 dyed diesel was taken, then compared to a baseline SVO emissions profile. A timing sweep was then performed from 10 degrees bTDC to -5 degrees bTDC(5 degrees aTDC). From the baseline emissions test and the timing sweep several points were selected where emissions were notably higher. From knowledge gained from the timing sweeps and the baseline emissions test several points were selected and the calibration for those modes was changed. The new calibration was then tested and new weighted emissions calculated.

Project Conclusions:
As shown in the slide below after the changes were made to the SVO calibration the engine was able to meet Tier 2 emissions standards while running SVO!


For a complete summary of my year long project please view the powerpoint presentation available here:
John Deere Waterloo Iowa Presentation

A five minute video overview showing the engine, test cell, dynamometer etc is available on YouTube here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8EfYTz8ETA

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