CM11 - Engine Teaching System

We have added the CM11 four-cylinder gasoline engine teaching system to our range.

It is based on the one-litre engine used in small Volkswagen cars with electronic engine management of ignition and fuel injection settings.

An eddy current dynamometer provides a variable load on the engine, allowing the characteristic power and torque curves to be reproduced in the laboratory.

The system comes complete with extensive instrumentation, including rpm measurement, torque (from which power can be calculated), plus various temperatures, pressures and flows.

It can be linked to a computer using the software provided which gives real time monitoring of the various sensors, with a wide range of data logging and graphical display options.

The dynamometer and throttle can both be controlled electronically from the software, which makes installation into a closed test cell very straightforward, and allows for remote computer operation.

The interfaces are compatible with packages such as LabView and MatLab for users who wish to provide their own control and monitoring software. A further advantage of the computer control is that stable rpm readings can be easily achieved using the closed loop control function on the dynamometer drive.

A closed loop primary water-cooling system is incorporated, complete with a heat exchanger for connecting into a secondary cold water supply.

Also included is the Volkswagen diagnostic software which connects to a PC, and gives the user direct access to the current parameters used by the engine control unit (ECU) such as ignition timing and injector opening
times. In particular the injector opening times can be used to calculate an accurate fuel consumption figure for the engine.

This system joins the CM2 diesel engine and the CM4 axial flow gas turbine engine already used by many institutions as a teaching aid.

LPG can be used as an alternative fuel (optional). Options are also available to produce real time p-v diagrams, and to allow the timing and fuel injection characteristics to be varied.

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Chromatography in the Classroom

The Armfield BE2 Chromatography Unit allows students to learn about one of the most widely used techniques in chemical and biochemical engineering.
It demonstrates the industrially important low pressure liquid chromatography including ion exchange, size exclusion, hydrophobic interaction and affinity chromatography.

Students can study liquid chromatography (including column packing, sample application, column development and analysis and fraction collection) the factors affecting separation performance and protein concentration measurement through UV assays.

It comes with educational software and data logging facility and a comprehensive instruction manual.

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Fuel cell technology for students

Armfield in association with fuel cell specialists TVN Systems Inc now offer, outside the USA, the CEF Fuel Cell System and the CEFC Computer Controlled Fuel Cell System specifically developed for higher education, to give engineering students a thorough understanding of this exciting, newly evolving technology.

Fuel cells are increasingly used as an environmentally friendly method of generating electricity directly from hydrogen gas with many application areas such as automotive engineering and power generation systems.

The CEF includes a stack of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells, plus all the services and instrumentation to perform a range of experiments and investigations.

The flexibility of the system also makes it suitable for research purposes.

Two options are available, a manually controlled system and a computer controlled system, both systems include computer data logging as standard.

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