On March 18th 2010 the Greek Section held the 8th
technical session of the season at the Maran Auditorium. The audience was
dominated by young students/engineers who came to cast their vote at the local
student section elections. The topic of
the technical presentation was related to the work at the National Technical
University of Athens on Emission control and reduction. The speaker Dr.
Chryssakis presented his research work on the analysis of various alternatives
to reduce the emission of nitrogen oxides and satisfy the large reductions
dictated by the MARPOL Annex VI, Tier III regulations. He explained that it is
far cheaper and faster to perform analytical computations than the full
experimental investigation. This way, various parameters influencing the
content of exhaust gases in nitrogen oxides can be investigated and pinpoint
what is needed towards reduction without the expense of increasing the fuel
consumption.
Dr. Chryssakis specifically presented his work on the effects of
advanced injection strategies, direct and indirect water injection into the
combusting media, exhaust gas recirculation, and valve timing. Utilization of
advanced numerical analysis tools such as the CFD code KIVA-3 and genetic
algorithms is necessary to complete the complex computational cluster in the
theoretical investigation. Optimization of the fuel injection timing resulted
in drastic NOx reduction without significant increase in the specific fuel
consumption. The final conclusion of the presentation was that a combination/cocktail
of techniques is needed in order to achieve the highest possible effect on the
nitrogen oxide reduction.
Following a lively question and answer session, the
evening ended with the relaxing social hour with refreshments and finger food.
( from left to right ):
N. Dionissopoulos, Membership Chair; John Kokarakis, Vice Chair;
C. Chryssakis, Author; P. Lalangas, Chair.