Thermodynamic Analysis of Power Recovery of Marine Diesel Engine under High Exhaust Backpressure by Additional Electrically Driven Compressor

Marine diesel engines can be exposed to high backpressure conditions, because various aftertreatment systems and waste heat recovery devices have been applied to reduce emissions and some exhaust outlets are below sea level. The engine performance deteriorates sharply under high backpressure. This paper aims to study power recovery method under high backpressure based on thermodynamic analysis. Firstly, thermodynamic model is established and validated by experimental data. Next, effects of turbocharger efficiency and turbine area on power recovery are studied. The results show that feasible turbine performance are limitations for power recovery. If energy of compressor can be increased without changing turbine area, limitations can be overcome. Thirdly, additional electrically driven compressor as a solution is proposed to recover engine power. A comparative study of different electrically driven compressor schemes is carried out. The most suitable scheme is the series scheme at low-pressure stage because operating points for original compressor and electrically driven compressor are within a reasonable range. Finally, research on power recovery is carried out on optimal electric compressor scheme. The results show that when backpressure is 0.65 bar, engine net power can be increased by 49.4% and exhaust temperature drops by about 77 K, which largely reduces turbine thermal load.