Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

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Materials Today: Proceedings

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/matpr

Performance and emission evaluation of HVOF sprayed zirconium

dioxide and aluminium oxide coated internal combustion engine by
incorporating injection timing retardation
Nirmal Kumar Israel Wilson a, P. Gopal a, S. Saravanan c,⇑, C. Ramesh Kumar b
a
Department of Automobile Engineering, University College of Engineering, Anna University, Tiruchirappalli 620 024, India
b
Department of Automotive Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore 632 014, India
c
Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sri Venkateswara College of Engineering, Sriperumbhudur - 602 117 , India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In recent times, enormous efforts are being made by researchers for the enhancement of the overall
Received 27 November 2020 efficiency of internal combustion engines. In this paper, an attempt has been made to evaluate the fluc-
Received in revised form 12 December 2020 tuations in performance and emission aspects of High Velocity Oxy Fuel (HVOF) thermal spray coated
Accepted 31 March 2021
internal combustion engine. The internal headlining of the piston was coated with Zirconium Dioxide
Available online xxxx
and Aluminium Oxide. Engine performance was evaluated at four different injection timing retardations
such as 22°CA, 20°CA, 18°CA and 16°CA and compared with baseline 23°CA injection timing. Using diesel,
Keywords:
the coated internal combustion engine was run and the fluctuations in performance, combustion and
Injection timing
IC Engine
emission characteristics were investigated. Out of the four retarded injection timing retardations, the
Coating engine registered 29.6% brake thermal efficiency, 0.213 kg/kW of specific fuel consumption, 203 °C
Performance exhaust gas temperature, 42.4 bar peak cylinder pressure and reduced emissions such as oxides of nitro-
Emissions gen, unburnt hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, smoke opacity at 18°CA.
Ó 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 3rd International Con-
ference on Materials, Manufacturing and Modelling.

1. Introduction friction coefficient upon changes in working temperature were

The present requirements in the automotive industries and the
growing stringent emission norms in the government have made
researchers investigate various Internal Combustion (IC) engine
modifications. Thermal coatings, fuel supply modifications and
design alternations are being done for the enhancement of engine
efficiency and the same time, reduce emissions. Many researchers
have conducted performance evaluation experiments in IC engines
with fuel modifications, coatings and design alterations [1,2].
Arbogast et al. conducted the performance analysis and non-
destructive evaluation of thermal sprayed coatings. Using image
processing techniques, the crankcase was observed optically for
fluctuations in thermal diffusivity [3]. He et al. conducted tribolog-
ical experiments to evaluate TiO2 based cermet coating on the
internal region of the engine. Using the internal plasma spray tech-
nique, the engine cylinder was coated and the fluctuations in
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: saravananms@svce.ac.in (S. Saravanan).
evaluated by using the 4D triboscopic mapping technique [5]. Par-
vathi et al. conducted performance evaluation experiments on
Thermal Barrier Coating (TBC) IC engines [10]. The fluctuations in
heat rejection were studied and the effectiveness of atmospheric
plasma sprayed TBC was evaluated. Simulation of heat flow
dynamics was evaluated by using ANSYS and the interactions
between in-cylinder pressure and particle velocity were evaluated.
Kozela et al. conducted performance evaluation experiments from
DLC coated IC Engines. The effect of surface texturing on enhance-
ment in engine efficiency was evaluated. A significant reduction in
frictional losses was observed upon using DLC coatings. The
increase in power due to surface texturing was observed [6].
Venkitaraj et al.conducted performance evaluation experiments
by using solid state phase change materials. Al2O3 Nano particle
reinforced penta erithritol was found to enhance the heat recovery
from exhaust gases. A significant increase in engine efficiency was
observed. Thermal degradation kinetics of the phase change
materials were also observed [12].

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2021.03.738
2214-7853/Ó 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 3rd International Conference on Materials, Manufacturing and Modelling.

Please cite this article as: N. Kumar Israel Wilson, P. Gopal, S. Saravanan et al., Performance and emission evaluation of HVOF sprayed zirconium dioxide
and aluminium oxide coated internal combustion engine by incorporating injection timing retardation, Materials Today: Proceedings, https://doi.org/
10.1016/j.matpr.2021.03.738
N. Kumar Israel Wilson, P. Gopal, S. Saravanan et al. Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

Muhsen et al. conducted combustion experiments in IC engines

by fluctuating the direct injection timing concerning spark timing.
The fluctuations of direct injection timing on the variations in per-
formance, combustion and emission characteristics of the spark
ignition engine were evaluated. Experiments were conducted
using ethanol dual injection modified spark IC engine, and the vari-
ations in engine efficiency was recorded [9]. Liu et al. conducted
combustion experiments in five valve high speed marine engine.
The marine S1 Engine was subjected to performance evaluation
by fluctuating the asynchronous valve timing. The inlet and
exhaust cam profiles were modified and redesigned to enhance
the overall performance of the engine [7]. Gnanasekaran et al. eval-
uated the performance, combustion and chemical characteristics of
fish oil bio diesel fueled DI Diesel Engine. By fluctuating the substi-
tution percentage of fish oil in diesel, the variations in the overall
efficiency of the engine were identified. It was found that, on vary-
ing the injection timings, a significant reduction in Oxides of Nitro-
gen (NOx), Unburnt hydrocarbons (HC) and Carbon monoxide (CO)
emissions were observed [4].
Mohammed et al. conducted a performance evaluation experi- Fig. 1. SEM micrograph of ZrO2 and Al2O3 coating.
ment on DI Engine by using hydrogen enriched CNG as fuel. The
injection timing was varied and the fluctuations in engine effi-
ciency were identified. The fluctuation in brake thermal efficiency, reduce emissions. Many researchers have conducted performance
heat release rate and engine emissions on fluctuating the injection evaluation experiments in IC Engines with fuel modifications, coat-
timings were identified [8]. Yao et al. theoretically formulated a ings and design alterations.
mathematical model for thermal barrier coating. The model was The thickness of ZrO2 coating and Al2O3 coating was made
developed keeping in account all the heat transfer losses for around 150 mm each. In this research, performance, combustion
enhancing the overall performance and efficiency of the engine. and emission characteristics of HVOF coated piston incorporated
The temperature distribution during the working of the thermal diesel fuelled internal combustion engine was conducted by using
barrier coated IC engine was evaluated [13]. From the literature injection timing retardation. The engine test rig was a vertical type,
review, it was understood that the study on injection timing retar- Kirloskar make, heavy duty type engine. The engine rig was fitted
dation on Zirconium Dioxide-Aluminium Oxide coated IC engine with a water coating system. It was a 4 s single cylinder engine
was not investigated. In this investigation, an attempt has been having 87.5 mm bore diameter, and 110 mm stroke length. The
made to enhance the performance aspects of the single cylinder compression ratio was 17.5:1 and rated speed was 1500 rpm, with
diesel engine by incorporating the injection timing retardation. a maximum power of 5.2 kW. It was fixed with an eddy current
type dynamometer with a direct injection pressure of 200 kgf/
cm2. The injection timing of the base diesel engine was 23°CA
2. Materials and methods before Top Dead Centre (bTDC). In this evaluation, the injection
timing was retarded to 22°CA, 20°CA, 18°CA and 16°CA. The
In this investigation, a single cylinder diesel engine test rig was retarded results are compared with baseline 23°CA. Eddy current
used as the internal combustion engine, with a piston head made dynamometer was used for loading, upon running the engine with
up of aluminium material. Zirconium Dioxide (ZrO2) and Alu- four retarded injection timings. The fuel tank was fitted with fuel
minium Oxide (Al2O3) were used for coating the piston head. Coat- control valves to accurately control the supply of fuel to the engine
ing of the aluminium piston head with ZrO2 and Al2O3 was done to using a burette, connected to the valve. The fluctuation in the rate
increase the temperature withstanding capacity, better coefficient of consumption of fuel per unit time was measured using thermo-
of expansion, increased thermal shock resistance, frictional reduc- couples and piezo-sensors attached to the diesel engine test setup
tion and overall weight reduction [13]. ZrO2 coatings enhance sur-
face toughness, insulation properties and increased coefficient of
expansion. Al2O3 coatings help in the reduction of functional wear
and damage reduction during combustion. HVOF thermal spray
coating technique was used for coating ZrO2 over the piston head
then, Al2O3 was sprayed. HVOF Thermal Spray technique consists
of a spraying gun, power setup, flow regulation unit and gas feed-
ing unit. For coating, the HVOF process parameters were fixed as
the oxygen flow rate of 212 l/min, fuel flow rate of 55 l/min, spray
distance of 210 mm, feeding rate of powder at 23 mm/min, 0.4 MPa
fuel pressure, 0.5 MPa oxygen pressure and 0.3 MPa air pressure.
The piston, over which the ZrO2 and Al2O3 coatings were done
and the SEM micrograph of the coated surface indicating HVOF
sprayed ZrO2 coating and Al2O3 coating has been indicated in
Fig. 1. The present requirements in the automotive industries and
the growing stringent emission norms in the government have
made researchers investigate into various internal combustion
engine modifications, internal combustion engine internal coat-
ings, fuel supply modifications and design alternations are being
done for the enhancement of engine efficiency and the same time, Fig. 2. Engine Test Rig used in the experiments.

2
N. Kumar Israel Wilson, P. Gopal, S. Saravanan et al. Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

at salient points. The fluctuations in loads, temperatures and speed

were accurately observed. Using the thermocouple and sensors,
the pressure, flow and temperature of cooling water, hot outlet
water and exhaust gases were identified. The HVOF sprayed ZrO2
and Al2O3 coated DI engine setup has been indicated in Fig. 2.
Emission analysis equipment was connected to the exhaust for
evaluation of the constituents of the exhaust smoke. AVI Digas
444 N evaluation kit was used for evaluation of CO emission, using
Non-Dispersive Infrared Detector (NDIR) technique, HC emissions
using Flame Ionization Detection (FID) technique and NOx emis-
sion using Chemi-luminescence Detection (CLD) technique. Using
AVL 473C Smoke meter, the smoke in the exhaust gas was evalu-
ated by using the Nondispersive Infrared Detector (NDIR) tech-
nique. Initially, the diesel engine test rig was allowed to run with
diesel for half an hour, by fluctuating the loads. At various loading Fig. 4. SFC variations with respect to Injection Timing retardation.
conditions, the measurement was taken for the injection pressure
of 200 bar and standard injection timing of 23° bTDC. Using digital
acquisition system, the fluctuations in performance aspects, com- injection timing from 22°CA (23.1% BTE) to 18°CA (29.6% BTE).
bustion aspects and emission aspects were analysed. After evalua- On further retardation to 16°CA, a reduction in BTE was observed
tion at standard condition, a similar methodology was adopted for from 29.6% to 27.2% [14,15].
finding the performance, combustion and emission aspects at var- The variations in Specific Fuel Consumption (SFC) upon retard-
ious retarded injection timings. For all injection timing retarda- ing the injection timing during ZrO2 and Al2O3 coated diesel engine
tions, the injection pressure was maintained at 200 bar. combustion has been indicated in Fig. 4. For all injection timing
retardations, on increasing the load till 75% SFC was found to
decrease. On increasing the loading from 75% to 100%, an undesir-
3. Results and discussions
able increase in SFC was observed. At retardation at 18°CA bTDC,
the least SFC of 0.213 kg/kW was observed at 75% loading
The fluctuations and improvement in the ZrO2 and Al2O3 coated
conditions.
diesel engine combustion characteristics, performance and emis-
The variations in Exhaust Gas Temperature (EGT) upon injection
sion aspects were identified by incorporating injection timing
timing retardation has been indicated in Fig. 5. For all injection
retardation. For all experiments, the time taken for the consump-
timing retardation, on increasing load till 75%, a significant
tion of 10 cc diesel was varied between 60 and 85 s.
increase in EGT was found and beyond 75% loading, a reduction
in EGT was observed. The retarded injection timing of 18°CA was
3.1. Performance characteristics found to exhibit the highest EGT of 203 °C at 75% loading.

The effect of four different injection timing retardations such as
22°CA, 20°CA, 18°CA and 16°CA on ZrO2 and Al2O3 coated diesel
engine performance parameters such as brake thermal efficiency,
specific fuel consumption and exhaust gas temperature were
observed. At four retarded injection timings, the experiments were
conducted and the loading was varied from part to full load condi-
tions. The fluctuations in brake thermal efficiency on injection tim-
ing retardation has been indicated in Fig. 3.
A significant increase in Brake Thermal Efficiency (BTE) was
observed on increasing the load from 0% to 75%. Then, for all injec-
tion timing retardations, a dip in thermal efficiency was observed.
The highest BTE of 29.6% was observed on running the engine at
18°CA. A gradual increase in BTE was observed on retarding the
3.2. Combustion characteristics
The important combustion characteristics of the ZrO2 and Al2O3
coated engine such as variations in-cylinder pressure with load
variation and crank angle, heat release rate and cumulative heat
release rate upon retardation of injection timing has been evalu-
ated. The fluctuation in peak cylinder pressure on retardation of
injection timing has been indicated in Fig. 6. For all Injection tim-
ing retardations, on increasing the loading to 75%, a significant
increase in peak cylinder pressure was observed, when the loading
was increased beyond 75%, a reduction in peak cylinder pressure
was observed. The highest cylinder pressure of 42.4 bar was
obtained on running the engine at 75% loading and 18°CA bTDC
injection timing retardation.

Fig. 3. Brake Thermal Efficiency Variations with respect to retarding Injection

Timing. Fig. 5. EGT fluctuations with respect to Injection timing retardation.

3
N. Kumar Israel Wilson, P. Gopal, S. Saravanan et al.
Fig. 6. Peak cylinder pressure variations with respect to Injection Timing
retardation.
Fig. 7. Variation of Cylinder pressure at full load with respect to retarding Injection
Timing.
The fluctuation in the cylinder pressure at full load condition for
various crank angles was evaluated for the ZrO2 and Al2O3 coated
diesel engine test rig running under different injection timing
retardations. The variations in-cylinder pressure for different injec-
tion timing retardations has been indicated in Fig. 7.
On varying the crank angle from 20°CA till 0°CA, a quantifiable
increase in the cylinder pressure was observed for all injection tim-
ing retardations. Beyond 20°CA, a reduction in the pressure inside
the cylinder was observed, which was attributed to the variations
in combustion stability. Upon all injection timing retardations,
18°CA bTDC was found to exhibit better in-cylinder pressure from
0°CA to 15°CA.
Fig. 8. Heat Release Rate fluctuations with respect to Injection Timing retardation.
4
Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx
Fig. 9. Cumulative Heat Release Rate with respect to Injection Timing retardation.
The fluctuations in heat release rate upon the incorporation of
injection timing retardation has been indicated in Fig. 8. On vary-
ing the crank angle from 20°CA to 5°CA, for all injection timing
retardations no measurable heat release rate was observed. From
5°CA to 0°CA, a huge rise in heat release rate was observed and
from 0°CA to + 5°CA, a huge fall in heat release rate was observed.
The maximum heat release rate during combustion was observed
to be 91 J/°CA for 18°CA bTDC injection timing retardation.
The variations in cumulative heat release rate upon retarding
injection timing for various crank angles have been indicated in
Fig. 9. On varying the crank angle from 30°CA to 5°CA, a very
minimal fluctuation in cumulative heat release rate was observed,
for all injection timing retardations. From 5°CA to + 30°CA, a sig-
nificant increase in the cumulative heat release rate was observed.
Beyond 30°CA, the cumulative heat release rate was found to
reduce gradually. The cumulative heat release rate was found to
be a maximum of 0.96 J/°CA at 45°CA for ZrO2 and Al2O3 coated
engine running with 18°CA bTDC injection timing retardation.
3.3. Emission characteristics
The fluctuations in emission aspects such as NOx, HC, CO, CO2
and smoke opacity were identified upon retardation of injection
timing. The variations in NOx emissions upon retarding the injec-
tion timing from 23°CA bTDC to 16°CA bTDC at various loads have
been indicated in Fig. 10. For all Injection timing retardations, upon
increasing the load, the NOx emissions were found to increase. On
incorporating injection timing retardation, for all loads, the NOx
emissions were found to reduce to a certain extent. NOx emissions
at 18°CA bTDC were found to produce lower NOx emissions. On
retarding the injection timing further to 16°CA, an undesirable
increase in NOx was observed [1315].
Fig. 10. NOx emissions with respect to Injection Timing retardation.
N. Kumar Israel Wilson, P. Gopal, S. Saravanan et al. Materials Today: Proceedings xxx (xxxx) xxx

Fig. 11. Carbon monoxide emissions with respect to Injection Timing retardation.
Fig. 14. Smoke opacity fluctuations with respect to Injection Timing retardation.

The fluctuations in CO emissions upon injection timing retarda-

limit, the HC emissions reduced, for all loading conditions, i.e.,
tion has been indicated in Fig. 11. An initial increase in loading till
from 23°CA till 18°CA [4]. On further retarding the injection timing,
50% caused a decrease in CO emissions for all injection timing
an undesirable increase in HC emissions were observed. The varia-
retardations. On increasing the loading beyond 50% till full load
tions in carbon dioxide emissions upon injection timing retarda-
conditions, a significant increase in CO was recorded. On running
tion have been indicated in Fig. 13. For all injection timing
the engine with 18°CA injection timing retardation, CO emissions
retardation, CO2 emissions were found to increase upon increasing
were found to be low for all load variations. At 75% loading condi-
the load. Upon retarding the till 18°CA bTDC, for all loads, CO2
tions, 0.039 vol% of CO emissions was observed on running the
emission was found to decrease.
engine at 18°CA bTDC.
On further retardation to 16°CA bTDC, a slight increase in CO2
The fluctuations in Unburnt Hydro Carbon emissions upon
emissions were observed. The fluctuations in smoke opacity of
Injection timing retardation has been indicated in Fig. 12. From
injection timing retardations has been indicated in Fig. 14. For all
no-load condition to full load conditions, a significant increase in
injection timing retardations, an increase in loading caused an
HC was observed. Upon retarding the injection timing to a certain
increase in smoke opacity. From 23°CA bTDC to 18°CA bTDC injec-
tion timing retardation, for each loading, the smoke opacity was
found to reduce and beyond 18°CA bTDC injection timing retarda-
tion, an undesirable increase was observed [4].
During injection timing retardation from 23°CA bTDC to 18°CA
bTDC the delay in fuel combustion helped to reduce NOx, CO, CO2,
HC and Smoke Opacity as the combustion was cleaner. As the
exhaust gas temperature improved upon injection timing retarda-
tion, the particle mixing during combustion was better in the
coated cylinder. The rate of reduction in friction due to Al2O3 coat
over ZrO2 coating was responsible for the enhancement of the per-
formance and combustion characteristics and also reduce emis-
sions to a particular extent. Reduction in injection timing beyond
18°CA resulted in inappropriate combustion owing to reduced
engine performance.

4. Conclusions
Fig. 12. Hydrocarbon emission variations with respect to injection timing
retardation.
i. Thus in this paper, an attempt has been made to enhance the
combustion, performance characteristics and reduce emis-
sions of ZrO2 and Al2O3 coated diesel engine test rig.
ii. Experiments were conducted by incorporating injection tim-
ing retardation and the variations in performance, combus-
tion and emission characteristics were observed.
iii. A desirable increase in brake thermal efficiency, exhaust gas
temperature and a significant reduction in specific fuel con-
sumption was observed on running the engine at 18°CA
bTDC injection timing retardation.
iv. On running the engine at 18°CA bTDC injection timing
retarded condition, highest cylinder pressure of 42.4 bar,
maximum Heat Release Rate of 91 J/°CA and maximum
cumulative heat release rate of 0.96 J/°CA were observed at
75% load conditions.
v. Emissions were found to decrease on retarding the injection
timing from 23°CA to 18°CA.
Fig. 13. Carbon dioxide fluctuations with respect to Injection Timing retardation.

5
N. Kumar Israel Wilson, P. Gopal, S. Saravanan et al.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
to influence the work reported in this paper.
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