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Mixture formation in an optically accessible hydrogen-fueled engine was investigated using Planar Laser-Induced Fluorescence (PLIF) of acetone as a fuel tracer. The engine was motored and fueled by direct high-pressure injection. This paper presents the evolution of the spatial distribution of the ensemble-mean equivalence ratio for six different combinations of nozzle design and injector geometry, each for three different injection timings after intake-valve closure. Asymmetric single-hole and 5-hole nozzles as well as symmetric 6-hole and 13-hole nozzles were used. For early injection, the low in-cylinder pressure and density allow the jet to preserve its momentum long enough to undergo extensive jet-wall and (for multi-hole nozzles) jet-jet interaction, but the final mixture is fairly homogeneous. Intermediately timed injection yields inhomogeneous mixtures with surprisingly similar features observed for all multi-hole injectors.

This paper first summarizes a new theoretical description that quantifies the effects of real-fluid thermodynamics on liquid fuel injection processes as a function of pressure at typical engine operating conditions. It then focuses on the implications this has on modeling such flows with emphasis on application of the Large Eddy Simulation (LES) technique. The theory explains and quantifies the major differences that occur in the jet dynamics compared to that described by classical spray theory in a manner consistent with experimental observations. In particular, the classical view of spray atomization as an appropriate model at some engine operating conditions is questionable. Instead, non-ideal real-fluid behavior must be taken into account using a multicomponent formulation that applies to hydrocarbon mixtures at high-pressure supercritical conditions.

A full understanding and characterization of the near-field of diesel sprays is daunting because the dense spray region inhibits most diagnostics. While x-ray diagnostics permit quantification of fuel mass along a line of sight, most laboratories necessarily use simple lighting to characterize the spray spreading angle, using it as an input for CFD modeling, for example. Questions arise as to what is meant by the “boundary” of the spray since liquid fuel concentration is not easily quantified in optical imaging. In this study we seek to establish a relationship between spray boundary obtained via optical diffused backlighting and the fuel concentration derived from tomographic reconstruction of x-ray radiography. Measurements are repeated in different facilities at the same specified operating conditions on the “Spray A” fuel injector of the Engine Combustion Network, which has a nozzle diameter of 90 μm.

Shock waves have been recently observed in high-pressure diesel sprays. In this paper, three-dimensional numerical simulations of supersonic diesel spray injection have been performed to investigate the underlying dynamics of the induced shock waves and their interactions with the spray. A Volume-of-Fluid based method in the CFD software (CONVERGE) is used to model this multiphase phenomena. An adaptive Mesh Refinement (AMR) scheme is employed to capture the front of the spray and the shock waves with high fidelity. Simulation results are compared to the available experimental observations to validate the numerical procedure. Parametric studies with different injection and ambient conditions are conducted to examine the effect of these factors on the generation of shock waves and their dynamics.

A detailed understanding of the various factors affecting the trends in gross-indicated thermal efficiency with changes in key operating parameters has been carried out, applied to a one-liter displacement single-cylinder boosted Low-Temperature Gasoline Combustion (LTGC) engine. This work systematically investigates how the supplied fuel energy splits into the following four energy pathways: gross-indicated thermal efficiency, combustion inefficiency, heat transfer and exhaust losses, and how this split changes with operating conditions. Additional analysis is performed to determine the influence of variations in the ratio of specific heat capacities (γ) and the effective expansion ratio, related to the combustion-phasing retard (CA50), on the energy split. Heat transfer and exhaust losses are computed using multiple standard cycle analysis techniques. The various methods are evaluated in order to validate the trends.

The 4th Workshop of the Engine Combustion Network (ECN) was held September 5-6, 2015 in Kyoto, Japan. This manuscript presents a summary of the progress in experiments and modeling among ECN contributors leading to a better understanding of soot formation under the ECN “Spray A” configuration and some parametric variants. Relevant published and unpublished work from prior ECN workshops is reviewed. Experiments measuring soot particle size and morphology, soot volume fraction (fv), and transient soot mass have been conducted at various international institutions providing target data for improvements to computational models. Multiple modeling contributions using both the Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) Equations approach and the Large-Eddy Simulation (LES) approach have been submitted. Among these, various chemical mechanisms, soot models, and turbulence-chemistry interaction (TCI) methodologies have been considered.

Developing an improved understanding of transient mixing and combustion processes inherent in diesel injection is an important element in the design of advanced engines. This paper provides a detailed analysis of these processes using an idealized benchmark configuration designed to facilitate precise comparisons between different models and numerical methods. The computational domain is similar to the Engine Combustion Network (www.sandia.gov/ECN) Spray-A injector with n-dodecane as the fuel. Quantified idealizations are made in the treatment of boundary conditions to eliminate ambiguities and unknowns associated with the actual injector(s) used in the experiment. These ambiguities hinder comparisons aimed at understanding the accuracy of different models and the coupled effects of potential numerical errors.

One way to develop an understanding of soot formation and oxidation processes that occur during direct injection and combustion in an internal combustion engine is to image the natural luminosity from soot over time. Imaging is possible when there is optical access to the combustion chamber. After the images are acquired, the next challenge is to properly interpret the luminous distributions that have been captured on the images. A major focus of this paper is to provide guidance on interpretation of experimental images of soot luminosity by explaining how radiation from soot is predicted to change as it is transmitted through the combustion chamber and to the imaging. The interpretations are only limited by the scope of the models that have been developed for this purpose. The end-goal of imaging radiation from soot is to estimate the amount of soot that is present.

Minimizing heat-transfer (HT) losses is important for both improving engine efficiency and increasing exhaust energy for turbocharging and exhaust aftertreatment management, but engine combustion system design to minimize these losses is hindered by significant uncertainties in prediction. Empirical HT correlations such as the popular Woschni model have been developed and various attempts at improving predictions have been proposed since the 1960s, but due to variations in facilities and techniques among various studies, comparison and assessment of modelling approaches among multiple combustion modes is not straightforward. In this work, simultaneous cylinder-wall temperature and OH* chemiluminescence high-speed video are all recorded in a single heavy-duty optical engine operated under multiple combustion modes. OH* chemiluminescence images provide additional insights for identifying the causes of near-wall heat flux changes.

Understanding and prediction of flash-boiling spray behavior in gasoline direct-injection (GDI) engines remains a challenge. In this study, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations using the homogeneous relaxation model (HRM) for not only internal nozzle flow but also external spray were evaluated using CONVERGE software and compared to experimental data. High-speed extinction imaging experiments were carried out in a real-size axial-hole transparent nozzle installed at the tip of machined GDI injector fueled with n-pentane under various ambient pressure conditions (Pa/Ps = 0.07 - 1.39). The width of the spray during injection was assessed by means of projected liquid volume, but the structure and timing for boil-off of liquid within the sac of the injector were also assessed after the end of injection, including cases with different designed sac volumes.

An accurate prediction of internal nozzle flow in fuel injector offers the potential to improve predictions of spray computational fluid dynamics (CFD) in an engine, providing a coupled internal-external calculation or by defining better rate of injection (ROI) profile and spray angle information for Lagrangian parcel computations. Previous research has addressed experiments and computations in transparent nozzles, but less is known about realistic multi-hole diesel injectors compared to single axial-hole fuel injectors. In this study, the transient injector opening and closing is characterized using a transparent multi-hole diesel injector, and compared to that of a single axial hole nozzle (ECN Spray D shape). A real-size five-hole acrylic transparent nozzle was mounted in a high-pressure, constant-flow chamber. Internal nozzle phenomena such as cavitation and gas exchange were visualized by high-speed long-distance microscopy.

This paper investigates flow and combustion in a full-cycle simulation of a four-stroke, three-valve HCCI engine by visualizing the flow with pathlines. Pathlines trace massless particles in a transient flow field. In addition to visualization, pathlines are used here to trace the history, or evolution, of flow fields and species. In this study evolution is followed from the intake port through combustion. Pathline analysis follows packets of intake charge in time and space from induction through combustion. The local scalar fields traversed by the individual packets in terms of velocity magnitude, turbulence, species concentration and temperatures are extracted from the simulation results. The results show how the intake event establishes local chemical and thermal environments in-cylinder and how the species respond (chemically react) to the local field.

Particle image velocimetry (PIV) is used to investigate the structure and evolution of the mean velocity field in the swirl (r-θ) plane of a motored, optically accessible diesel engine with a typical production combustion chamber geometry under motoring conditions (no fuel injection). Instantaneous velocities were measured were made at three swirl-plane heights (3 mm, 10 mm and 18 mm below the firedeck) and three swirl ratios (2.2, 3.5 and 4.5) over a range of crank angles in the compression and expansion strokes. The data allow for a direct analysis of the structures within the ensemble mean flow field, the in-cylinder swirl ratio, and the radial profile of the tangential velocity. At all three swirl ratios, the ensemble mean velocity field contains a single dominant swirl flow structure that is tilted with respect to the cylinder axis. The axis of this structure precesses about the cylinder axis in a manner that is largely insensitive to swirl ratio.

Tracer-based PLIF temperature diagnostics have been used to study the distribution and evolution of naturally occurring thermal stratification (TS) in an HCCI engine under fired and motored operation. PLIF measurements, performed with two excitation wavelengths (277, 308 nm) and 3-pentanone as a tracer, allowed investigation of TS development under relevant fired conditions. Two-line PLIF measurements of temperature and composition were first performed to track the mixing of the fresh charge and hot residuals during intake and early compression strokes. Results showed that mixing occurs rapidly with no measureable mixture stratification remaining by early compression (220°CA aTDC), confirming that the residual mixing is not a leading cause of thermal stratification for low-residual (4-6%) engines with conventional valve timing.

This paper1 explores some of the important considerations in devising a practical and consistent framework and methodology for working with experiments and experimental data in connection with modeling and prediction. The paper outlines a pragmatic and versatile “real-space” approach within which experimental and modeling uncertainties (correlated and uncorrelated, systematic and random, aleatory and epistemic) are treated to mitigate risk in modeling and prediction. The elements of data conditioning, model conditioning, model validation, hierarchical modeling, and extrapolative prediction under uncertainty are examined. An appreciation can be gained for the constraints and difficulties at play in devising a viable end-to-end methodology. The considerations and options are many, and a large variety of viewpoints and precedents exist in the literature, as surveyed here. Rationale is given for the various choices taken in assembling the novel real-space end-to-end framework.

This paper describes the validation of a CFD code for mixture preparation in a direct injection hydrogen-fueled engine. The cylinder geometry is typical of passenger-car sized spark-ignited engines, with a centrally located injector. A single-hole and a 13-hole nozzle are used at about 100 bar and 25 bar injection pressure. Numerical results from the commercial code Fluent (v6.3.35) are compared to measurements in an optically accessible engine. Quantitative planar laser-induced fluorescence provides phase-locked images of the fuel mole-fraction, while single-cycle visualization of the early jet penetration is achieved by a high-speed schlieren technique. The characteristics of the computational grids are discussed, especially for the near-nozzle region, where the jets are under-expanded. Simulation of injection from the single-hole nozzle yields good agreement between numerical and optical results in terms of jet penetration and overall evolution.

This study systematically investigates the effects of various engine operating parameters on the thermal efficiency of a boosted HCCI engine, and the potential of E10 to extend the high-load limit beyond that obtained with conventional gasoline. Understanding how these parameters can be adjusted and the trade-offs involved is critical for optimizing engine operation and for determining the highest efficiencies for a given engine geometry. Data were acquired in a 0.98 liter, single-cylinder HCCI research engine with a compression-ratio of 14:1, and the engine facility was configured to allow precise control over the relevant operating parameters. The study focuses on boosted operation with intake pressures (Pin) ≥ 2 bar, but some data for Pin < 2 bar are also presented. Two fuels are considered: 1) an 87-octane gasoline, and 2) E10 (10% ethanol in this same gasoline) which has a lower autoignition reactivity for boosted operation.

In a recent experimental study the in-cylinder spatial distribution of mixture equivalence ratio was quantified under non-combusting conditions by planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) of a fuel tracer (toluene). The measurements were made in a single-cylinder, direct-injection, light-duty diesel engine at conditions matched to an early-injection low-temperature combustion mode. A fuel amount corresponding to a low load (3.0 bar indicated mean effective pressure) operating condition was introduced with a single injection at -23.6° ATDC. The data were acquired during the mixture preparation period from near the start of injection (-22.5° ATDC) until the crank angle where the start of high-temperature heat release normally occurs (-5° ATDC). In the present study the measured in-cylinder images are compared with a fully resolved three-dimensional CFD model, namely KIVA3V-RANS simulations.

This work is a technical review of past research and a synthesis of current understanding of post injections for soot reduction in diesel engines. A post injection, which is a short injection after a longer main injection, is an in-cylinder tool to reduce engine-out soot to meet pollutant emissions standards while maintaining efficiency, and potentially to reduce or eliminate exhaust aftertreatment. A sprawling literature on post injections documents the effects of post injections on engine-out soot with variations in many engine operational parameters. Explanations of how post injections lead to engine-out soot reduction vary and are sometimes inconsistent or contradictory, in part because supporting fundamental experimental or modeling data are often not available. In this paper, we review the available data describing the efficacy of post-injections and highlight several candidate in-cylinder mechanisms that may control their efficacy.

This paper presents a study of the turbulence field in an optical diesel engine operated under motored conditions using both large eddy simulation (LES) and Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV). The study was performed in a laboratory optical diesel engine based on a recent production engine from VOLVO Car. PIV is used to study the flow field in the cylinder, particularly inside the piston bowl that is also optical accessible. LES is used to investigate in detail the structure of the turbulence, the vortex cores, and the temperature field in the entire engine, all within a single engine cycle. The LES results are compared with the PIV measurements in a 40 × 28 mm domain ranging from the nozzle tip to the cylinder wall. The LES grid consists of 1283 cells. The grid dynamically adjusts itself as the piston moves in the cylinder so that the engine cylinder, including the piston bowl, is described by the grid.