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Although in the latest years the use of compression ignition engines has been a thread of discussion in the automotive field, it is possible to affirm that it still will be a fundamental producer of mechanical power in other sectors, such as naval and off-road applications. However, the necessity of reducing emissions requires to keep on studying new solutions for this kind of engine. Dual fuel combustion concept with methane has demonstrated to be effective in preserving the performance of the original engine and reducing soot, but issues related to the low flame speed forced researcher to find an alternative fuel at low impact of CO2. Hydrogen, thanks to its chemical and physical properties, can be a perfect candidate to ensure a good level of combustion efficiency; however, this is possible only with a proper management of the in-cylinder mixture ignition by means of a pilot injection, preventing uncontrolled autoignition events as well.

Nowadays, the stricter regulations in terms of emissions have limited the use of diesel engines on urban roads. On the contrary, for marine and off-road applications the diesel engine still represents the most feasible solution for work production. In the last decades, dual fuel operation with methane supply has been widely investigated. Starting from previous studies on a research engine, where diesel-methane dual fuel combustion has been deepened both experimentally and numerically with the aid of a CFD code, the authors implemented and tested a kinetic mechanism. It is obtained from the combination of the well-established GRIMECH 3.0 and a detailed scheme for a diesel surrogate oxidation. Moreover, the Autoignition-Induced Flame Propagation model, included in the ANSYS Forte® software, is applied because it can be considered the most appropriate model to describe dual fuel combustion.

Methane supply in diesel engines operating in dual fuel mode has demonstrated to be effective for the reduction of particulate matter and nitric oxides emissions from this type of engine. In particular, methane is injected into the intake manifold to form a premixed charge with air, while a reduced amount of diesel oil is still directly injected to ignite the mixture inside the cylinder. As a matter of fact, the liquid fuel burns following the usual diffusive combustion, so activating the gaseous fuel oxidation in a premixed flame. Clearly, the whole combustion process appears to be more complex to be described in a CFD simulation, mainly because it is not always possible to select in the 3-dimensional codes a different combustion model for each fuel and, also, because other issues arise from the interaction of the two fuels.

Engine downsizing has established itself as one of the most successful strategies to reduce fuel consumption and pollutant emissions in the automotive field. To this regard, a major role is played by turbocharging, which allows an increase in engine power density, so reducing engine size and weight. However, the need for turbocharging imposes some issues to be solved. In the attempt of mitigating turbo lag and poor low-end torque, many solutions have been presented in the open literature so far, such as: low inertia turbine wheels and variable geometry turbines; or even more complex concepts such as twin turbo and electrically assisted turbochargers. None of them appears as definitive, though. As a possible way of reducing turbine rotor inertia, and so the turbo lag, also the change of turbine layout has been investigated, and it revealed itself to be a viable option, leading to the use of mixed-flow turbines.

This paper deals with the experimental and numerical investigation of a 2.0 litre single cylinder Heavy Duty Diesel Engine fuelled by natural gas and diesel oil in Dual Fuel mode. Due to the gaseous nature of the main fuel and to the high compression ratio of the diesel engine, reduced emissions can be obtained. An experimental study has been carried out at three different load level (25%, 50% and 75% of full engine load). Basing on experimental data, the authors recreated a 45° mesh sector of the engine cylinder and performed CFD simulations for the cases at 50% and 75% load levels. Numerical simulations were carried out on the 3D code Ansys FORTE. The aim of this work is to study combustion phenomena and, in particular, the interaction between natural gas and diesel oil, respectively represented by methane and n-dodecane. A reduced kinetic scheme for methane auto-ignition was implemented while for n-dodecane two set of reactions were utilised.

Dual-fuel technology has the potential to offer significant improvements in the emissions of carbon dioxide from light-duty compression ignition engines. The dual-fuel (diesel/natural gas) concept represents a possible solution to reduce emissions from diesel engines by using natural gas (methane) as an alternative fuel. Methane was injected in the intake manifold while the diesel oil was injected directly into the engine. The present work describes the results of a numerical study on combustion process of a common rail diesel engine supplied with natural gas and diesel oil. In particular, the aim is to study the effect of increasing methane concentration at constant injected diesel amount on both pollutant emissions and combustion evolution. The study of dual-fuel engines that is carried out in this paper aims at the evaluation of the CFD potential, by a 3-dimensional code, to predict the main features of this technology.

The modern automotive industry is under strict regulations to reduce emissions to comply with the Kyoto Protocol, a universally acknowledged treaty aiming at reducing exhaust gas emissions. In order to achieve the required future emission reduction targets, further developments on gasoline engines are required. One of the main methods to achieve this goal is the application of engine downsizing. Turbocharging is a cost-effective method of downsizing an engine whilst reducing exhaust gas emissions, reducing fuel consumption and maintaining prior performance outputs. For these reasons, the turbocharging is becoming the most widely adopted technology in the automotive markets. In 2012, 32% of passenger and commercial vehicles sold had a turbocharger installed, and is predicted to be 40% of 2017 [1]. Even if the engine turbocharging is a widespread technology, there are still drawbacks present in current turbocharging systems.

The present study deals with the simulation of a Diesel engine fuelled by natural gas/diesel in dual fuel mode to optimize the engine behaviour in terms of performance and emissions. In dual fuel mode, the natural gas is introduced into the engine’s intake system. Near the end of the compression stroke, diesel fuel is injected and ignites, causing the natural gas to burn. The engine itself is virtually unaltered, but for the addition of a gas injection system. The CO2 emissions are considerably reduced because of the lower carbon content of the fuel. Furthermore, potential advantages of dual-fuel engines include diesel-like efficiency and brake mean effective pressure with much lower emissions of oxides of nitrogen and particulate matter. In previous papers, the authors have presented some CFD results obtained by two 3D codes by varying the diesel/NG ratio and the diesel pilot injection timing at different loads.

The dual-fuel (diesel/natural gas, NG) concept represents a solution to reduce emissions from diesel engines by using natural gas as an alternative fuel. As well known, the dual-fuel technology has the potential to offer significant improvements in the emissions of carbon dioxide from light-duty compression ignition engines. A further important requirement of the DF operation in automotive engines is a satisfactory response in a wide range of load levels. In particular, the part-load levels could present more challenging conditions for an efficient combustion development, due to the poor fuel/air ratio. Basing on the above assumptions, the authors discuss in this article the results of a combined numerical and experimental study on the effect of different injection timings on performance and pollutant fractions of a common rail diesel engine supplied with natural gas and diesel oil.

Following their recent experiences in the fields of experimental analysis and numerical simulation of turbocharged engines, the authors present, in this paper, an integrated procedure for studying the behaviour of a light-duty turbocharged D.I. diesel engine, equipped with a variable geometry turbine, an intercooler and an EGR system for NOx control. Experimental activities consist of a complete investigation of the engine operating conditions under different rotational speeds and fuel deliveries. Experimental data provide the basis for numerical investigations. Numerical simulation is carried out through different level of approach, characterised by an increasing level of complexity. A simplified approach of the filling and emptying type is employed for a preliminary determination of matching conditions among the components. Next, a 1-D flow model allows a more correct evaluation of wave propagation phenomena through external ducts.

Research activities concerning the development and set up of a theoretical model for the analysis of spark-ignition two-stroke engines are reported. The engine system is identified by the definition of both zero-dimensional time-varying control volumes (i.e., cylinders or crankcases) and one-dimensional devices (i.e., intake or exhaust manifolds, transfer ducts, etc.). Fundamental processes such as combustion, fluid dynamics and scavenging, are modelled using up-to-date approaches. In particular, a fractal sub-model is adopted for the evaluation of flame area and burning rate; a high resolution upwind TVD scheme is utilized for the prediction of wave propagation within ducts. The overall prediction level is estimated through the comparison with experimental data measured on a small-size engine under both motored and firing conditions.

The authors present a methodology to establish correlation, derived from experimental activities, for both heat release law and mechanical loss components in a turbocharged four-cylinder diesel engine. The introduction of the resulting parameters in a fully theoretical model leads to an improvement in its predictive level, as demonstrated by the result presented in terms of both thermodynamic and mechanical engine features. The most interesting characteristic of the model is represented by the comprehensive description of the engine dynamics under transient conditions.

In this paper the turbocharged diesel engine operation is analyzed by means of a second law based method. The instantaneous release and storage of availability inside the several components (cylinders, manifolds, compressor and turbine) are evaluated by following a theoretical-experimental methodology that has been recently proposed by the authors. Examples of availability balances are compared for different values of some parameters which influence the combustion and the exhaust process, or for several arrangements of the engine and turbomachine system. The availability analysis of the engine transient development will show the amounts of mechanical energy employed for both in-cylinder storage and turbocharger acceleration and of those available for conversion into external output. These amounts will be compared with the fuel availability and with those destroyed during the several processes (i.e. combustion, gas exchange, turbocharger operation).

The authors present a method for turbocharged I.C.E. analysis, based upon an unsteady non-dimensional flow-model, whose accuracy level has been improved by means of experimental investigations. Experimental activities allowed a higher prediction level to be reached for both engine cycles and turbocharger operation. The results are also compared with those of an experimental methodology recently proposed by the authors, based upon one-dimensional unsteady flow models and fast pressure data acquisition. The method is mainly utilized, in this paper, as to compare the effects of two different turbochargers on engine performance and turbomachinery operating conditions. The engine and turbocharger matching is considered under both steady and transient conditions.

According to a methodology that has been proposed by the authors in previous papers, measurements of instantaneous mass flow rate supplying a turbocharged engine were carried out by means of time-varying pressure data recording and of a numerical flow model: this methodology allows unsteady phenomena upstream of the inlet manifold to be followed, so that it seems particularly suitable also to the analysis of engine transient behaviour. The paper presents improvements in the method, since, until now, it has been tested only in the case of a naturally aspirated engine; hence, particular problems arising in unsteady flow analysis of turbocharged engines had to be overcome, owing to the disturbance induced by compressor motion and intake valves closing on the pressure signals. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of unsteady behaviour of the supercharging compressor that may be performed by employing the experimental-theoretical inlet flow model.

The aim of this paper is the theoretical evaluation of the performances of spark-ignition internal combustion engines equipped with a device - proposed by the Authors - made up essentially of homogeneous reactor inserted upstream a conventional engine turbocharger. After a description of the operation of the device, the Authors examine the possible advantages which may the obtained both in terms of engine emissions and of fuel consumption in comparison with engines simply equipped with turbochargers or with homogeneous reactors.