Towards sustainable combustion: A comprehensive exergoeconomic and exergoenvironmental analysis with LCA integration for an RCCI engine

Abstract

This research focuses on the environmental and economic investigation of different intake air temperatures (IATs), engine speeds and amount of injected fuel in an internal combustion engine (ICE) operating with RCCI combustion mode. These exergoenvironmental and exergoeconomic analyses were carried out using data from energy and exergy analyses for an RCCI engine fueled with n-heptane and isopropanol. The study aims to evaluate the economic and environmental effects of the engine in detail. The cost of power from the engine shaft was calculated as $7.02/MJ, $6.13/MJ and $5.85/MJ at IATs of 30 degrees C, 50 degrees C and 70 degrees C, respectively, at an engine speed of 1000 rpm and 14 mg/cycle fuel injection conditions. Moreover, the environmental impact of the power from the engine shaft under the same conditions was calculated as 82.59 mPts/GJ, 64.95 mPts/GJ and 60.17 mPts/GJ, respectively. In the study, the cost of the highest exergy losses was determined as $67.12/h at engine speed of 2500 rpm, IAT of 30 degrees C and a total amount of fuel injected of 20 mg/cycle. The environmental impact of exergy losses was calculated as 266.88 mPts/GJ based on these parameters. The results show that the optimum values for the cost and environmental impact of power from the engine shaft were obtained at an engine speed of 2000 rpm. These findings highlight the importance of optimizing air temperatures and fuel injection parameters to improve both economic and environmental performance. The assessment of economic and environmental impacts under different operating conditions is an innovative aspect of the study.