Applied Energy 175 (2016) 9199

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Applied Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apenergy

ANN-based modeling and reducing dual-fuel engines challenging

emissions by multi-objective evolutionary algorithm NSGA-II
S. Lotfan, R. Akbarpour Ghiasi, M. Fallah , M.H. Sadeghi
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran

h i g h l i g h t s

A turbocharged heavy duty 4 stroke direct injection dual-fuel engine is considered.

CO and NOx are predicted with training correlation factors of 0.9969 and 0.9953.

The Pareto-optimal CO and NOx reduction shows their negatively correlated nature.

The optimum percentage of the gaseous fuel reduces the CO and NOx, simultaneously.

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

Article history: In this study, the combination of artificial neural network (ANN) and non-dominated sorting genetic algo-
Received 5 February 2016 rithm II (NSGA-II) has been implemented for modeling and reducing CO and NOx emissions from a direct
Received in revised form 3 April 2016 injection dual-fuel engine. A multi-layer perceptron (MLP) network is developed to predict the values of
Accepted 24 April 2016
the emissions based on experimental data. The controllable variables such as engine speed, output power,
intake temperature, mass flow rate of diesel fuel, and mass flow rate of the gaseous fuel are considered as
input parameters. In order to identify the uncertainties due to the experiments and the ANN-based
Keywords:
model, uncertainty analysis is carried out. Finally, optimum values of intake temperature, mass flow rate
Artificial neural networks
Non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm
of diesel and gaseous fuels are obtained for a desired output power and engine speed via NSGA-II. The use
Dual-fuel engine of the developed evolutionary optimization algorithm allows the calculation of the Pareto-optimal set of
Emission reduction designs under any combination of engine speed and output power, defined in the range of the
experiments.
2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction and unburned hydrocarbon (HC) increase significantly in the pres-

In the last decades, researchers have tried to replace the diesel
fuel in compression-ignition (CI) engines with some other alterna-
tive fuels to reduce polluting emissions. The alternatives such as
compressed natural gas (CNG), with abundant availability and cost
advantage, which has both environmental and economic justifica-
tion may be used [13]. Therefore, commercial dual-fuel (diesel-
CNG) engines are developing in the real market due to the fact that
they can work with high compression ratios and do not experience
the knock phenomenon. The other motivation is the clean nature of
combustion in this type of engine [4,5].
Although using gaseous fuel as a partial supplement for liquid
diesel fuel may reduce the emissions especially soot and nitrogen
oxides (NOx), however, emissions such as carbon monoxide (CO)
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: mfallah@tabrizu.ac.ir (M. Fallah).
ence of gaseous fuel [6,7]. Therefore, considering stringent exhaust
emission legislations, the engine designer should optimize the pos-
sible controllable values of the engine to reduce the emissions in
different loads. For this purpose, modeling and simulation of the
engine is necessary at the first step, which may be carried out by
different methods available in the literature. As known, two major
groups of simulation approaches including phenomenological and
dimensional models may be implemented [8]. However, due to the
heterogeneous nature of the combustion in diesel and dual-fuel
engines, aforementioned models are time consuming in most
cases. Accordingly, modeling and prediction of performance and
emissions of engines may be carried out by artificial intelligence
(AI) based on experimental data. Methods based on artificial intel-
ligence such as fuzzy logic, artificial neural network (ANN), and
support vector machine (SVM) can be used in modeling and char-
acteristic prediction of systems in different branches of the science
and engineering [812].

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.04.099
0306-2619/ 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
92 S. Lotfan et al. / Applied Energy 175 (2016) 9199

There are many publications in the literature, which success- noted that, the main reason of choosing NOx and CO to be opti-
fully simulate and predict the engine parameters by using ANNs. mized is their high volume percentage.
For example, Togun and Baysec [13] developed an ANN with a total The sections of the paper are organized as follows. In Section 2
of 81 experimental data points to predict torque and brake specific system description and the experimental setup is explained. Sec-
fuel consumption of a gasoline engine in terms of spark advance, tion 3 includes modeling the emissions by implementing artificial
throttle position and engine speed. Pai and Rao [14] used an ANN neural network. In order to study the errors and uncertainties due
to predict the performance and emission characteristics of a CI to the experiments and the ANN model, uncertainty analysis is car-
engine using waste cooking oil. He and Rutland [15] attempted ried out in Section 4. Finally in Section 5, the optimization process
to predict the values of NOx and soot emissions in a diesel engine of the engine controlling parameters is discussed, which is fol-
considering the engine speed, fuel mass injected, boost pressure lowed by the conclusions in Section 6.
and engine load as controlling parameters. They trained an ANN
to approximate the computational fluid dynamics simulation
2. System description
results based on 71 operating conditions. Likewise, the ANN model
formulated by Yusaf et al. [16] was able to predict the brake power,
The system considered in the current study is a turbocharged
output torque, brake specific fuel consumption and exhaust emis-
heavy duty four stroke direct injection dual-fuel engine and its
sions of a diesel engine modified to operate using a combination of
commercial name is OM355 Mercedes Benz, which can also be
CNG and diesel fuel. Recently, Sharma et al. [17] predicted the per-
found in [22]. The technical specifications and operating conditions
formance parameters and exhaust emissions of a single cylinder 4-
of the engine are presented in Table 1. Also, a schematic diagram of
stroke diesel engine at different injection timings and engine load
the experimental setup is shown in Fig. 1. As depicted in this figure,
using blended mixture of Polanga biodiesel. They used 100 exper-
the characteristic parameters of the engine are monitored simulta-
imental data to train and test the ANN modeling the engine. Many
neously by the data acquisition system. It should be mentioned
other related works on engine modeling using AI can be found in
that the ST10 sensor, a dynamometer of model E400 (Pmid com-
the current literature [1820].
pany) and a tachometer connected to the engine output shaft are
For optimizing the controllable parameters of an engine in a
used to measure the mass flow rate of the pilot diesel fuel, output
desired load condition, a complex multi-objective problem
power and engine speed, respectively. The emissions are also mea-
(MOP) should be solved. Different approaches, such as strength
sured by an AVL DiCom4000 gas analyzer using non-dispersive
Pareto evolutionary algorithm (SPEA), non-dominated sorting
infrared gas analysis (NDIR). Furthermore, other required parame-
genetic algorithm (NSGA), ant colony, and particle swarm opti-
ters of the system such as airfuel ratio and intake temperature are
mization (PSO) have been used to solve MOPs [2124]. Etghani
recorded by the sensors and digital instruments attached on the
et al. [23] optimized the performance and emissions of a diesel
appropriate places.
engine using NSGA-II algorithm. They modeled the engine by
The experimental data is collected based on the performance
developing an ANN based on 42 set of experiments and then tried
and 13-mode emission tests. These experiments are conducted at
to maximize the output power and reduce the polluting emis-
different engine speeds and loads, therefore, each pair of the
sions. Mohammadhassani et al. [22] utilized the combination of
engine speed and power in every test case corresponds to the dis-
artificial neural network and ant colony optimization (ACO) algo-
tinct values of pilot fuel mass flow rate, gaseous fuel mass flow
rithm for modeling and reducing NOx and soot emissions from a
rate, intake temperature value and other recorded parameters.
direct injection diesel engine. They used 294 set of test data to
Before each test, the engine is warmed up for about ten minutes
train and test the ANN, and then tried to find the optimum values
until the cooling water temperature becomes stable and steady-
of mass flow rate of fuel and intake air temperature to reduce the
state condition is reached. Each recorded value for a given test case
emissions. Hiroyasu et al. [25] developed a computer code to
is the average value of three repeated observations over a sampling
optimize diesel engine emissions and fuel economy, based on
span of one minute. All three observations of some of the recorded
neighborhood cultivation genetic algorithm (NCGA). The same
parameters including engine speed, N, output power, P, intake tem-
problem was studied by Karra and Kong [26] to achieve low
perature, Tin, mass flow rate of diesel fuel, m _ d , mass flow rate of
emissions by implementing PSO method as the optimization algo-
gaseous fuel, m _ g , CO, and NOx emissions, are given in Table 2 for
rithm. Moreover, the combination of ANN model and genetic
algorithm was employed by Alonso et al. [27] to predict and four sample test cases.
reduce the emissions from a diesel engine.
As discussed above, Papagiannakis and Hountalas [7] showed 3. ANN-based model
that at high engine load, beyond a certain value of gaseous fuel
mass flow rate, CO emissions start to decrease as a result of the Interacting with a system, one needs to understand how its
gaseous fuel high temperature. This fact indicates that regulating variables are related to each other. The assumed relationship
controllable variables and finding their optimum values may among the variables is called a model of the system, which has to
decrease both of the negatively correlated emissions. To the best
of our knowledge, evolutionary algorithms for emission reduction
of diesel-CNG engines have not been used so far, however, this Table 1
Technical specifications of the OM355 engine.
problem is of high importance due to the fact that using gaseous
fuel may considerably increase emissions like CO, in spite of Engine specification Value Engine specification Value
decreasing soot and NOx. For this purpose, predicting and optimiz- Cylinder bore 0.128 m Injection duration 18 CA
ing the negatively correlated emissions, i.e. NOx and CO, in a dual- Connecting rod 0.28 m Inlet valve closing 120 CA-BTDC
fuel engine is investigated in this study. To this end, a direct injec- Compression ratio 16.1 Exhaust valve opening 118 CA-
tion diesel-CNG engine was tested to obtain the experimental data ATDC
Number of cylinders 6 Maximum power 240 hp
to be used in predicting the NOx and CO emissions. 400 set of Cylinder stroke 0.15 m Maximum power speed 2200 rpm
experimental data has been used to train a multi-layer perceptron Nozzle hole diameter 0.31 mm Maximum torque 820 N.m
(MLP) network to predict these values. NSGA-II algorithm has been Nozzle holes number 4 Maximum torque speed 1400 rpm
utilized to optimize the controlling parameters such as intake tem- Injection pressure 195 bar Total piston 11580 lit
displacement
perature, mass flow rate of diesel and gaseous fuels. It should be
 S. Lotfan et al. / Applied Energy 175 (2016) 9199 93

Fig. 1. Schematic of the experimental setup.

Table 2 Table 3
Four experimental results, and their corresponding three observations. Range of input parameters in this study.

Test N P Tin m_d m_g CO NOx Input parameter Unit Range

number (rpm) (kW) (C) (g/s) (g/s) (g/kW-h) (g/kW-h)
Speed rpm [999, 2218]
1 2190 156.1 27.3 1.1 10.21 11.756 2.107 Power kW [25.8, 172]
2187 154.4 27.3 1.09 10.21 11.786 2.072 Intake temperature C [17.8, 52.3]
2189 155.2 27.3 1.1 10.21 11.776 2.092 Mass flow rate of diesel g/s [0.4, 1.21]
Mass flow rate of natural gas g/s [1.7, 9.52]
2 1800 136.7 44.3 0.85 7.07 2.392 7.616
1801 137.5 44.3 0.84 7.06 2.348 7.665
1800 136.8 44.3 0.85 7.06 2.381 7.645
3 1213 90.1 38.3 0.49 4.55 2.337 8.999
1214 89.8 37.8 0.49 4.53 2.340 8.922 build up the model exclusively from the experimental observa-
1214 90.0 38.1 0.48 4.53 2.338 8.955 tions. The architecture of the MLP is a layered feed-forward
4 1599 120.4 39.9 0.66 6.24 1.700 12.387 network, in which the neurons are arranged in successive layers,
1602 120.5 39.6 0.64 6.22 1.699 12.385 and the information flows in a unidirectional manner from the
1604 121.7 39.6 0.65 6.22 1.691 12.309 input layer to the hidden layer(s) and then to the output layer.
Typically, the sth neuron in a layer of an MLP has n individual
be constructed based on observed data [28]. In this study, the black inputs, x1, x2, . . . , xn, each of which are weighted by corresponding
box model of the considered dual-fuel engine is developed via arti- elements ws,i (i = 1, 2, . . . , n). The bias bs is then summed with the
ficial neural networks based on experimental results. Prediction of weighted inputs to form the net input, us, and finally the sth neu-
the system outputs based on ANNs is more reliable due to their ron output, f(us), is calculated by using the transfer function f [33].
high potentials in modeling the nonlinear complicated relations The transfer function may be a linear or nonlinear function of the
between the multi-component input and output variables [29]. In net input, for example hardlim, satlins, logsig, etc. However, it is
addition, ANNs are faster than the other approaches such as con- has been proved that the multilayer feed-forward networks, under
ventional computational fluid dynamics, which makes them more very general conditions of the hidden layer transfer function, are
advantageous particularly in optimization applications [27]. Since universal approximators provided that sufficiently enough hidden
the main purpose of optimizing the current system is reducing layers are available [34].
the challenging emissions of the engine, CO and NOx values in Empirical applications in several studies have also proved that
the exhaust emissions are considered as the output parameters. the multi-layer perceptron having one hidden layer is one of the
There are a large number of factors affecting the pollutants in simplest and most efficient networks, which can be used in many
the output, however, based on previous similar studies [3032] complex systems because it involves few controlling parameters
and feasibility of onsite measurement of the variables, parameters to be adjusted [22]. Therefore, in this study two independent but
such as engine speed, power, intake temperature, mass flow rate of identical three-layer networks are constructed to predict the values
diesel, and gaseous fuels are chosen as input variables of the of CO and NOx, respectively. The number of neurons used in the
model. The range of the input parameters used in the experiments input and output layers, correspond to the number of input and
is given in Table 3. output parameters, respectively. So, both of the networks include
five neurons in the input layer and one neuron in the output layer.
3.1. The ANN structure The simple architecture of the used ANN is depicted in Fig. 2.
The number of neurons in the hidden layer is of high impor-
In this study, a multi-layer perceptron which is capable of mod- tance for the performance of the ANN. Small number of neurons
eling complex relationships between variables is developed to in the hidden layer leads to weak mapping between inputs and
94 S. Lotfan et al. / Applied Energy 175 (2016) 9199
outputs, and neurons of a larger number tend to blur the physical
relation between inputs and outputs since a significant number of
nonphysical unknowns must be determined, which is often diffi-
cult with limited test cases. In this study, an optimum number of
neurons is determined based on the minimum value of mean
square error (MSE) in the network [35].
The logsig function is employed for both the input and hidden
layers to create a smooth convergence. This function has been
commonly used because it is differentiable, continuous and nonlin-
ear function which provides a self-limiting behavior in a way that
its output cannot grow considerably large or small [36,37]. For the
output layer purelin function is employed to map the output values
to any required range. The transfer function of the ith layer is given
by
( i1 t i  oi
1
1ex
; i 1; 2
f i x
x; i3
The detailed structure of the used ANN in abbreviated notation
is shown in Fig. 3. In this figure, X is the input vector of the ANN,
Wi, bi, ui, and ai are the ith layers weight, bias, net input and out-
put matrices, respectively, and s denotes the number of neurons in
the hidden layer.
3.2. Training and testing the model
For training the ANN based on the observed data, a set of input-
target pattern pairs is used. There are 400 experimental patterns in
this study, 70% (280 patterns) of which is chosen randomly and
used for training the neural network, 15% (60 patterns) for the net-
works cross-validation (to avoid over-fitting) and the remaining
15% (60 patterns) is used for testing the performance of the trained
network. The training process is based on the backpropagation (BP)
learning scheme which is an error minimization algorithm based
on gradient decent approach to optimize the network performance
and obtain the optimum values of the weights and biases [33].
There are several backpropagation-based training strategies such
as LevenbergMarquardt, Bayesian regulation, conjugate gradient,
etc., which provide faster solutions because of the incorporation of
an extra second derivative of error and automatic internal modifi-
cations that are made to the learning parameters [38]. In this
study, LevenbergMarquardt backpropagation algorithm which is
popular and more effective is implemented.
The first step in the training process is determining the opti-
mum number of neurons in the hidden layer based on minimum
value of MSE. For this purpose, the ANN is trained by using varying
neuron number in the range 120 to obtain an optimum value for
s. Fig. 4 shows the relationship between the number of neurons
Fig. 2. Simple architecture of the used ANN.
and MSE for prediction of emissions CO and NOx. For one neuron,
the value of mean square error for predicting CO and NOx is
2.287, and 1.849, respectively. These values decrease and reach
optimum values as the number of neurons increases. According
to this figure, the number of neurons in the hidden layer of the
ANN predicting CO and NOx is chosen to be 13 and 14, respectively.
Once the network is trained, its performance should be checked
by four standard criteria including the correlation coefficient, R,
mean absolute error (MAE), root mean square error (RMSE), and
mean absolute percentage error (MAPE). These criteria are respec-
tively given by Li and Shi [39]:
Pp !1=2
2
R 1 Pp 2 2
i1 oi
1
1X
p
MAE jti  oi j 3
p i1
!1=2
1X
p
RMSE ti  oi 2 4
p i1
p  
1 Xt i  oi 
MAPE 5
p i1  t i 
where t is the target, o is the ANN output and p is the number of
patterns. The goal is to maximize correlation coefficient and
minimize the error parameters to obtain a network with the best
generalization. MAE is a linear score that measures the average
error in a set of forecasts and all the individual differences are
weighted equally. RMSE is a quadratic scoring rule which measures
the average squared error and gives a relatively high weight to large
errors. This means that RMSE is most useful when large errors are
particularly undesirable. It should be mentioned that both values
of MAE and RMSE are absolute and their values may be in any range
based on the range of the target values. However, MAPE is a better
measure of accuracy in prediction results since its relativity pro-
vides a general criteria for performance of the ANN. For large num-
ber of observed patterns, MAPE value of 20% may be a limit for the
performance of an ANN [39].
The results of training the ANN predicting CO values, with neu-
ron architecture 5-13-1, are depicted in Fig. 5. The comparison
between network outputs and targets for both the train and test
data are shown in Fig. 5a, and the linear regression which describes
the relationship between the experiment outputs and the model is
also depicted in Fig. 5b. The same quantitative description for the
ANN predicting NOx values, with neuron architecture 5-14-1, is
presented in Fig. 6.
For further evaluation of the trained ANNs performances, the
four aforementioned standard criteria are given in Table 4. As dis-
cussed above, MAPE value is a more general criterion in evaluating
the ANN accuracy. According to the results, this criterion is less
than the limit 0.2 for all data, which indicates a good performance
of the ANN.
As shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the measured CO and NOx are in
ranges [1.760, 47.249] and [1.166, 11.737] respectively. About 39%
of the CO and 65% of the NOx values lie above the EURO III stan-
dard, i.e. 5.45 g/kW-h for CO and 5.0 g/kW-h for NOx, and only
47% of the CO and 15% of the NOx values lie under the EURO IV
standard line, i.e. 4.0 g/kW-h for CO and 3.5 g/kW-h for NOx. So
the cases above the desired EURO line have to be optimized, which
is the main objective of the present investigation. In the following,
uncertainty analysis is carried out and then the multi-objective
optimization is performed to reduce the polluting emissions.
 S. Lotfan et al. / Applied Energy 175 (2016) 9199 95

Fig. 3. Detailed structure of the used ANN.

study, the data is collected continuously for 20 s to reduce experi-

CO Prediction
2.2 mental instability. Each test is performed three times and finally,
NO x Prediction
2 the average value is used. The results of the three tests may not
exactly agree with each other. This fact results in the second uncer-
1.8
tainty in the experiments, dexp2, which is calculated by the relative
1.6 range of three samples based on the approach described by Roy
MSE

1.4 et al. [37]. Once these uncertainties are calculated, the total uncer-
1.2
tainty can be obtained by:

1
q
2  2
d dexp 1 dexp 2 6
0.8

0.6 In addition, the standard deviation of three samples is calcu-

lated for each test case. The smaller the standard deviations, the
0.4
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 less the uncertainty due to the experiment. The average total sam-
Number of Hidden Neurons pling uncertainty (ATSU) and the average standard deviation (ASD)
over the entire number of tests for the model outputs CO and NOx
Fig. 4. Relationship between the number of neurons in the hidden layer and MSE. are reported in Table 5. It can be seen that the CO values are more
certain during the experiment.

4. Uncertainty analysis
4.2. Neural network model uncertainty
Practically, a system under analysis often cannot be modeled
exactly and the information about the system parameters may be The uncertainty caused by the approximation in the model may
imperfect. This leads to uncertainties in both model parameters be measured by Theil parameter, UII, which has been utilized as
and output values. Therefore in the present study, an uncertainty forecast quality in several works [37,40]. The Theil uncertainty is
analysis is carried out to identify and calculate the resultant errors a standard criterion which is the most appropriate measure to
due to the uncertainties formed by the causes such as the used evaluate the validity of the models under study. This parameter
instrumentations, the process of experiment, and the neural net- is given by
work model.
P 1=2
p
 oi 2
i1 t i
UII Pp 2 1=2 7
4.1. Experimental uncertainty
i1 t i

The first uncertainty in the experiments, dexp1, is due to the UII reaches its lower boundary zero at perfect forecasts and
experimental apparatuses accuracies, values of which are basically lower values indicate better results for a reliable model
informed by their respective manufacturers. Moreover, in this [41]. The corresponding values of UII based on all data for ANN

50
50 Train Target (a) Train Data (b)
Train Output Test Data
Test Target 40
Test Output
40
Network Outputs
CO (gr/kW-hr)

30
30

20
20

10 10

0 0
1 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 0 10 20 30 40 50
Experiment Cases Experiment Outputs

Fig. 5. (a) The comparison between prediction of CO values and targets for both the train and test data, and (b) the regression plot of experiment outputs and CO predictions.
96 S. Lotfan et al. / Applied Energy 175 (2016) 9199

18 14

16
Train Target (a) Train Data (b)
Train Output 12 Test Data
Test Target
14
Test Output
10
12

Network Outputs
NO x (gr/kW-hr)
10 8

8 6

6
4
4
2
2

0 0
1 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Experiment Cases Experiment Outputs

Fig. 6. (a) The comparison between prediction of NOx values and targets for both the train and test data, and (b) the regression plot of experiment outputs and NOx
predictions.

Table 4
Four standard performance criteria based on the trained ANNs.

Predicted parameter R MAE RMSE MAPE

Train Test Train Test Train Test Train Test
CO 0.9969 0.9935 0.5446 0.8949 0.9118 1.5670 0.0945 0.1021
NOx 0.9953 0.9844 0.4162 0.7886 0.5909 1.1066 0.0767 0.1338

Table 5
Total Experimental uncertainty and standard deviation of samples.
Model output ATSU (%)
CO 0.3135
NOx 0.5955
models predicting the CO and NOx values are 0.0784 and 0.0959,
respectively. These values also confirm that the CO prediction is
more stable than the NOx prediction.
5. Multi-objective optimization
Multi-objective optimization is a process to find a vector of
decision variables satisfying constraints to give suitable values to
all objective functions [42]. Technically, such problems give rise
to a set of optimal solutions known as Pareto-optimal set, instead
of a single solution. The multi-objective problem can be formulated
as follows [43]
(
T
min Gx fg 1 x; g 2 x; . . . ; g n xg
x2S
in which G is the vector of objective functions and S is the set of
equality and inequality constraints. The vector x satisfying all con-
straints is a Pareto-optimal solution if all other vectors have a
higher value for at least one of the objective functions, gi(x). As dis-
cussed in Section 3, the engine model with five input variables is
developed based on neural networks. This model is faster than con-
ventional computational fluid dynamics and is more suitable to
carry out the optimization procedure. In this investigation, for a
desired pair of engine speed and power, the other three input
parameters, i.e. intake temperature, mass flow rate of diesel and
gaseous fuels, are assumed as decision variables and the objective
functions are the ANNs outputs, CO and NOx values. Since, the neu-
ral network has been trained in the range of data observed in the
experiments, the following constraint for the ith input parameter,
xi, of the model is assumed:
ASD
xi min 6 xi 6 xi max 9
0.0148
0.0396 where, the values of xmin and xmax associated with each variable are
given in Table 3. The constraint (9) is assumed mainly because of
the fact that, as the input variables of an ANN deviate largely from
the training range, the reliability and certainty of the ANN results
decrease.
The main aim of a multi-objective optimization problem is
finding vector x. In general, it is impossible to find an analytical
solution to such problems. The normal procedure to generate the
Pareto-optimal solution is to compute the feasible points x, and
their corresponding objective values G(x). When there is an ade-
quate number of these, it is then possible to determine the
Pareto-optimal solution based on assessing the objective values
[44]. In this study, Non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II is
implemented to find these solutions. General consideration on this
method is given in the following section.
5.1. Non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II
8 The NSGA-II proposed by Deb et al. [45] is a fast and elitist ver-
sion of non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm, which is an evo-
lutionary approach to find the optimal solutions of complex multi
criteria optimization problems. The following definitions are given
in preparation for describing the whole process of this algorithm
[4648]:
Definition 5.1 (Domination). A decision vector x1 dominates a
decision vector x2, i.e. x1  x2 , if and only if x1 is not worse than x2
in all objectives and x1 is strictly better than x2 in at least one
objective function.
Definition 5.2 (Pareto-optimal). A decision/objective vector is
Pareto-optimal if there does not exist another decision/objective
vector that dominates it.
 S. Lotfan et al. / Applied Energy 175 (2016) 9199
Definition 5.3 (Pareto-optimal set). The set of all Pareto-optimal
decision vectors.
Definition 5.4 (Pareto-optimal front). The set of all Pareto-optimal
objective vectors.
Definition 5.5 (Crossover). An operator in genetic algorithm, also
referred to as recombination, by which a point is randomly chosen
between two bits of two randomly selected individuals and divides
them into left and right sections. Then, the left (or the right) sec-
tion of the two individuals are exchanged and new individuals
are created.
Definition 5.6 (Mutation). An operator in genetic algorithm by
which certain bits of an individual are chosen randomly and
flipped within the current population to create a new individual.
Definition 5.7 (Crowding distance). The quantity estimating the
size of the largest cuboid enclosing the point i without including
any other point in the population.
Definition 5.8 (Crowded comparison). Decision vector x1 domi-
nates all members in its own Pareto-optimal set, if and only if x1
has the largest crowding distance. (The size of the cuboid inclosing
it, is larger).
In order to find the Pareto-optimal set and front by using NSGA-
II, initially, a random parent population, P0, of size np is created. For
each solution in the population, the domination analysis is carried
out. The number of solutions, mi, which dominate the solution i,
and a set of solutions, Si, which the solution i dominates are calcu-
lated. All those members in P0 which have mi = 0 are listed in front
F1. Then, for each solution in F1, the value of mj associated with the
jth member in corresponding Si is reduced by one. In doing so, if for
any member j the value of mj becomes zero, it is put in a separate
list H. When all members of F1 front have been checked, the mem-
bers in the list F1 are considered as members of the first front. By
repeating this survey for all members in the population, each solu-
tion is assigned a fitness equal to its non-domination level. Once
the process is initialized, children population C0 of size nc is created
using crossover and mutation operators. The implemented cross-
over is an arithmetic crossover operator that defines a linear com-
bination of two individuals [49]. The randomly chosen individuals,
x1 and x2 produce two new individuals, x1,n and x2,n, each of which
is a linear combination of the parents i.e.
 mixture which will decrease the maximum temperature of the
x1;n ax1 1  ax2
10
x2;n ax2 1  ax1
where a is a random number in range [0, 1]. In the case of mutation
operator, a random real value is used to make a random change in
the mth element of the selected individual and create a new one
[50].
From the first generation on, the procedure is different. For the
S
tth generation (t > 1), a combined population Rt = Pt Ct is
constructed. Then, the population Rt is sorted according to the
non-domination process described above. The new parent popula-
tion Pt+1 is formed by adding solutions from the first front till the
size exceeds np. Thereafter, the solutions of the last accepted front
are sorted according to the crowded comparison operator, and
then, the first np points are picked. This is how the population
Pt+1 is formed. It should be mentioned that using the crowded com-
parison selection process at the various stages of the algorithm
leads to a uniformly spread out Pareto-optimal front. More specific
97
pseudo-code of this procedure is beyond the scope of this paper,
however, one may find the thorough clarifications in Ref. [45].
5.2. Optimization results and discussion
In this study, in order to find the optimal decision variables, i.e.
intake temperature, mass flow rate of pilot diesel fuel, and mass flow
rate of gaseous fuel, reducing the challenging emissions of the
engine based on NSGA-II, a crossover probability of 0.7, and a muta-
tion probability of 0.4 are used. Population size of 50 is assumed and
200 generations have been searched. Fig. 7a and b illustrate the
objective vectors and the Pareto-optimal front for two different
pairs of desired engine speed and output power. Fig. 7a shows the
objective vectors for the engine speed of 2200 rpm and output
power of 120 kW, and Fig. 7b results from the system with the
engine speed of 1400 rpm and output power of 56 kW. For regulat-
ing the decision variables of the engine, lower CO and NOx emissions
are desired and accordingly better choices are those that have smal-
ler values along both the abscissa and the ordinate. Moreover,
according to the Pareto-optimal fronts shown in these figures, the
negatively correlated nature of NOx and CO is confirmed.
Each individual in the Pareto-optimal front corresponds to a
unique set of decision variables, i.e. an individual vector in the
Pareto-optimal set. Corresponding three Pareto-optimal decision
vectors of the fronts shown in Fig. 7, are illustrated in Fig. 8. The
original values of the decision variables and objectives of the test
case in Fig. 8a, before optimization are Tin = 30 C, m _ d = 1 g/s,
m_ g = 7.14 g/s, CO = 5.56 g/kW-h, and NOx = 4.71 g/kW-h. The
increase of intake temperature, approximately about 12 C after
optimization, will accelerate the reaction rates of the mixture
and widen the flammability limits [51]. This fact causes a remark-
able improvement in efficiency, in a way that the desired output
power is achieved, even by 25% decrease in the injected fuel. On
the other hand, decrease of the mass flow of the diesel fuel causes
reduction in both of the polluting emissions. In the case of the test
shown in Fig. 8b, the original values of the decision variables and
objectives are Tin = 45 C, m_ d = 0.63 g/s, _ g = 3.27 g/s,
m
CO = 7.868 g/kW-h, and NOx = 4.48 g/kW-h. Here, two different
categories of optimum points on the Pareto-optimal front exist.
The points with higher temperature, e.g. Tin = 41.40 C, and lower
mass flow rates of diesel fuel, i.e. m _ d = 0.56 g/s, have the same
effect on the efficiency and emissions of the engine, as in the
results discussed in Fig. 8a. However, the second category of results
includes reduction in intake temperature and increment in the
mass flow rate of diesel fuel. In this case, considerable reduction
in the intake temperature, increases the amount of oxygen in the
combustion process and consequently reduce the amount of NOx
emissions.
The interesting result inferred from Fig. 8a and b is the consid-
erable reduction in CO emissions. As discussed by Papagiannakis
and Hountalas [6,7], gaseous fuel increase the value of CO emis-
sions, however, at some certain percentage of gaseous fuel, i.e.
m_ g =m
_ g m _ d , CO emissions may decrease. This fact indicates that
the main reason of decreasing CO is regulating the percentage to an
optimum value, and considering the changes in the intake temper-
ature as well.
Table 6 shows the values of engine operating parameters after
(before) the optimization for some of the test cases. It can be seen
that the optimum values of the controlling parameters, i.e. intake
temperature, mass flow rate of diesel, and mass flow rate of gas,
can reduce both values of the CO and NOx emissions considerably.
It should be mentioned that the values of the optimum solutions
reported in Table 6 are randomly selected vectors from the
Pareto-optimal set.
98 S. Lotfan et al. / Applied Energy 175 (2016) 9199

1.4 3
(a) (b)
1.35
2.5

NO x (gr/kW-hr) 1.3

NO x (gr/kW-hr)
2
1.25

1.2
1.5

1.15 Non-optimal solutions

Pareto-optimal front
1
1.6 1.8 2 2.2 2.4 1.5 2 2.5 3
CO (gr/kW-hr) CO (gr/kW-hr)

Fig. 7. Objective vectors and Pareto-optimal front for: (a) N = 2200 rpm, P = 120 kW, and (b) N = 1400 rpm, P = 56 kW.

1.4 3
(a) (b)
41.40
1.35
0.56
2.5 2.87

42.08
NO x (gr/kW-hr)

1.3 27.10
NO x (gr/kW-hr)

0.74
0.81
7.19
2.15
42.08 2
1.25 0.74
7.18

26.54
42.08
1.2 0.82
0.75
7.18
1.5 2.17

1.15

1
1.6 1.8 2 2.2 2.4 1.5 2 2.5 3
CO (gr/kW-hr) CO (gr/kW-hr)

Fig. 8. Pareto-optimal front for: (a) N = 2200 rpm, P = 120 kW, and (b) N = 1400 rpm, P = 56 kW.

Table 6
Engine operating parameters after (before) the optimization.

Parameters Test number

35 77 171 229 334 400
N (rpm) 1525 2001 1401 2188 1806 1202
P (kW) 28.2 143.8 110.7 27 142.6 89.9
Tin (C) 41.5 (17.9) 29.9 (22.2) 41.4 (46.7) 28.8 (50.4) 45.3 (47.6) 23.5 (33.8)
m_ d (g/s) 0.83 (0.67) 0.62 (0.71) 0.48 (0.60) 0.65 (1.14) 0.36 (0.83) 0.58 (0.50)
m_ g (g/s) 2.15 (2.85) 8.82 (8.02) 6.24 (5.93) 4.15 (3.41) 7.56 (7.04) 5.71 (4.49)
CO (g/kW-h) 7.65 (32.15) 1.71 (2.72) 1.71 (2.76) 9.63 (30.29) 1.92 (2.30) 1.71 (2.45)
NOx (g/kW-h) 1.16 (1.73) 2.10 (8.29) 2.84 (8.77) 1.24 (2.94) 1.92 (6.05) 3.26 (9.81)

6. Conclusion emissions were considered as output parameters. The results

revealed that the ANN could model the emissions in the considered
In this study, ANN-based modeling and reducing the CO and range of system variables with a good accuracy and mean absolute
NOx emissions from a dual fuel diesel engine was performed. 400 percentage error of less than 0.2 for all set of data. The training cor-
set of experimental data was used to construct a black box model relation factors of 0.9969 and 0.9953 were achieved for predicting
of the engine based on a multi-layer perceptron network. Once the the CO and NOx, respectively.
model was built, uncertainty analysis was carried out to calculate The Pareto-optimal fronts for reducing the CO and NOx emis-
the errors resulting from the uncertainties in the experiments sions were extracted for a desired value of engine speed in a speci-
and the model. Then, non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm fic output power. The obtained control value vectors might be used
was used to optimize the engine and reduce the emissions. Con- by designers for getting a better environmental performance. In
trolling parameters considered for modeling the system were the previous studies, it was shown that using of the gaseous fuel
engine speed, intake temperature, mass flow rate of diesel, mass increases CO and decreases NOx emission. However, the findings
flow rate of natural gas, and engine power, and also CO and NOx in this research prove that a precise amount of CNG and diesel fuel
 S. Lotfan et al. / Applied Energy 175 (2016) 9199
can lead to an optimum percentage of gaseous fuel, in a way that
both CO and NOx emissions decrease considerably.
Finally, it should be noted that for an environmentally friendly
performance of an engine, one should optimize all the emissions
from the engine at the same time. However, in this investigation,
the main purpose was studying the behavior of two negatively cor-
related emissions, and the optimization of all the emissions may be
considered in future works. In addition, the application of the pre-
sent work to online system modeling and online emission control
can be explored in the future.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to write in memoriam of a dedicated
mentor, Professor Vahab Pirouzpanah at University of Tabriz,
who devoted his life to enlightening a myriad of students as well
as making noteworthy contributions to several aspects of internal
combustion engines. In addition, the authors wish to thank grate-
fully the Iranian Diesel Engine Manufacturing company (IDEM Co.,
Tabriz, Iran), for their supports on the experiments.
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