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The preparation of the air-fuel mixture represents one of the most critical tasks in the definition of a clean and efficient SI engine. Therefore it becomes necessary to consolidate the numerical methods which are able to describe such a complex physical process. Within this context, the authors developed a CFD methodology into an open-source code to investigate the air-fuel mixture formation process in PFI engines. Attention is focused on moving mesh algorithms, Lagrangian spray modeling and spray-wall interaction modeling. Since moving grids are involved and the mesh quality during motion strongly influences the computed in-cylinder flow-field, a FEM-based automatic mesh motion solver combined with topological changes was adopted to preserve the grid quality in presence of high boundary deformations like the interaction between the piston bowl and the valves during the valve-overlap period.

A numerical methodology to simulate the high pressure spray evolution and the fuel-air mixing in diesel engines is presented. Attention is focused on the employed atomization model, a modified version of the Huh and Gosman, on the definition of a turbulence length scale limiter and of an adaptive local mesh refinement technique to minimize the result grid dependency. All the discussed models were implemented into Lib-ICE, which is a set of libraries and solvers, specifically tailored for engine simulations, which runs under the open-source CFD technology OpenFOAM®. To provide a comprehensive assessment of the proposed methodology, the validation procedure consisted into simulating, with a unique and coherent setup of all models, two different sets of experiments: a non-evaporating diesel fuel spray in a constant-volume vessel with optical access and an evaporating non-reacting diesel fuel spray in an optical engine.

Alternative and oxygenated fuels are nowadays being studied in order to increase engine efficiency and reduce exhaust emissions and also to limit the automotive industry's economical dependency from crude oil. These fuels are considered more ecological compared to hydrocarbons because they are obtained using renewable sources. Fuels like anhydrous/hydrous ethanol, methanol or alcohol/gasoline blends which are injected in liquid form must vaporize quickly, especially in direct injection engines, therefore their volatility is a very important factor and strongly depends on thermodynamic conditions and chemical properties. When a multi-component fuel blend is injected into a low pressure environment below its saturation pressure, a rapid boiling of the most volatile component triggers a thermodynamic atomization mechanism. These kinds of sprays show smaller droplets and lower penetration compared to mechanical break up.