Search Results

A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) guided combustion system optimization was conducted for a heavy-duty compression-ignition engine with a gasoline-like fuel that has an anti-knock index (AKI) of 58. The primary goal was to design an optimized combustion system utilizing the high volatility and low sooting tendency of the fuel for improved fuel efficiency with minimal hardware modifications to the engine. The CFD model predictions were first validated against experimental results generated using the stock engine hardware. A comprehensive design of experiments (DoE) study was performed at different operating conditions on a world-leading supercomputer, MIRA at Argonne National Laboratory, to accelerate the development of an optimized fuel-efficiency focused design while maintaining the engine-out NOx and soot emissions levels of the baseline production engine.

Valve deactivation followed by multiple compression-expansion strokes was employed to remove intake-generated turbulence from the bulk gas in an internal combustion engine. The result was a nearly quiescent flowfield that retains the same time-varying geometry and, to a first approximation, thermodynamic conditions as a standard engine. Mass loss, and more significantly heat loss were found to contribute to a reduction in the peak cylinder pressure in the cycle following two compression-expansion strokes. The reduction of the turbulence was verified both computationally and by performing premixed combustion studies. Mixing studies of both liquid spray jets and gaseous jets were performed. Laser-induced fluorescence images of high spatial resolution and signal-to-noise ratio were acquired, allowing the calculation of the two in-plane components of the scalar dissipation rate.