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A general combustion model, in the context of large eddy simulations, was developed to simulate the full range of combustion in conventional diesel-type and HCCI-type diesels. The combustion model consisted of a Chemkin sub-model and an Extended Flamelet Time Scale (EFTS) sub-model. Specifically, Chemkin was used to simulate auto-ignition process. In the post-ignition phase, the combustion model was switched to EFTS. In the EFTS sub-model, combustion was assumed to be a combination of two elementary combustion modes: homogeneous combustion and flamelet combustion. The combustion index acted as a weighting factor blending the contributions from these two modes. The Chemkin sub-model neglected the subgrid scale turbulence-chemistry interactions whereas the EFTS model took them into account through a presumed PDF approach. The model was used to simulate an early injection mode of a Cummins DI diesel engine and a mode of a Caterpillar DI diesel engine.

As the issue of oil shortage and air pollution caused by automotive engine emissions become more and more serious day by day, researchers and engineers from all over the world are seeking for alternative fuels of lower pollution and renewable nature. This paper discusses in detail the feasibility of fueling gasoline engines with Butanol-gasoline blends. Besides the production, transportation, storage, physical and chemical properties of Butanol-gasoline blends, the combustion characteristics were analyzed as well. As the result Butanol was considered an excellent alternative fuel for gasoline engines, with many unique advantages superior to Natural Gas, LPG, Carbinol and Ethanol, the latter are widely studied at present time. In order to validate the above conclusions in engine application, engine dyno tests were conducted for a gasoline engine fueled with different concentrations of Butanol blend ranging from 10% to up to 35%.

This paper proposes a film dynamics model for liquid film resulting from fuel spray impinging on a wall surface. It is based on a thin film assumption and uses numerical particles to represent the film to be compatible with the particle spray models developed previously. The Lagrangian method is adopted to govern the transport of the film particles. A new, statistical treatment was introduced of the momentum exchange between the impinging spray and the wall film to account for the directional distribution of the impinging momentum. This model together with the previously published models for outgoing droplets constitutes a complete description of the spray wall impingement dynamics. For model validation, films resulting from impinging sprays on a flat surface with different impingement angles were calculated and the results were compared with the corresponding experimental measurements.

In the effort to improve combustion of a Light-load Stratified-Charge Direct-Injection (LSCDI) combustion system, CFD modeling, together with optical engine diagnostics and single cylinder engine testing, was applied to resolve some key technical issues. The issues associated with stratified-charge (SC) operation are combustion stability, smoke emission, and NOx emission. The challenges at homogeneous-charge operation include fuel-air mixing homogeneity at partial load operation, smoke emission and mixing homogeneity at low speed WOT, and engine knock tendency reduction at medium speed WOT operations. In SC operation, the fuel consumption is constrained with the acceptable smoke emission level and stability limit. With the optimization of piston design and injector specification, the smoke emission can be reduced. Concurrently, the combustion stability window and fuel consumption can be also significantly improved.

This paper describes the CFD modeling work conducted for the development and research of a Vortex Induced Stratification Combustion (VISC) system that demonstrated superior fuel economy benefits. The Ford in-house CFD code and simulation methodology were employed. In the VISC concept a vortex forms on the outside of the wide cone angle spray and transports fuel vapor from the spray to the spark plug gap. A spray model for an outward-opening pintle injector used in the engine was developed, tested, and implemented in the code. Modeling proved to be effective for design optimization and analysis. The CFD simulations revealed important physical phenomena associated with the spray-guided combustion system mixing preparation.

The sources of unburned hydrocarbon (UHC) emissions in direct injection stratified charge engines are presented. Whereas crevices in the combustion chamber are the primary sources of UHC emissions in homogeneous charge engines, lean quenching and liquid film layers dominate UHC emissions in stratified charge operation. Emissions data from a single cylinder engine, operating in stratified charge mode at a low speed / light load condition is summarized. This operating point is interesting in that liquid film formation, as evidenced by smoke emissions, is minimal, thus highlighting the lean quenching process. The effects of operating parameters on UHC emissions are demonstrated via sweeps of spark advance, injection timing, manifold pressure, and swirl level. The effects of EGR dilution are also discussed. Spark advance is shown to be the most significant factor in UHC emissions. A semi-empirical model for UHC emissions is presented based on the analysis of existing engine data.

Neural networks are useful tools for optimization studies since they are very fast, so that while capturing the accuracy of multi-dimensional CFD calculations or experimental data, they can be run numerous times as required by many optimization techniques. This paper describes how a set of neural networks trained on a multi-dimensional CFD code to predict pressure, temperature, heat flux, torque and emissions, have been used by a genetic algorithm in combination with a hill-climbing type algorithm to optimize operating parameters of a diesel engine over the entire speed-torque map of the engine. The optimized parameters are mass of fuel injected per cycle, shape of the injection profile for dual split injection, start of injection, EGR level and boost pressure. These have been optimized for minimum emissions. Another set of neural networks have been trained to predict the optimized parameters, based on the speed-torque point of the engine.

Neural networks have been used for engine computations in the recent past. One reason for using neural networks is to capture the accuracy of multi-dimensional CFD calculations or experimental data while saving computational time, so that system simulations can be performed within a reasonable time frame. This paper describes three methods to improve upon neural network predictions. Improvement is demonstrated for in-cylinder pressure predictions in particular. The first method incorporates a physical combustion model within the transfer function of the neural network, so that the network predictions incorporate physical relationships as well as mathematical models to fit the data. The second method shows how partitioning the data into different regimes based on different physical processes, and training different networks for different regimes, improves the accuracy of predictions.

A modeling study has been conducted in order to characterize the heat transfer in an automotive diesel exhaust system. The exhaust system model, focusing on 2 exhaust pipes, has been created using a transient 1-D engine flow network simulation program. Model results are in excellent agreement with experimental data gathered before commencement of the modeling study. Predicted pipe exit stream temperatures are generally within one percent of experimental values. Sensitivity analysis of the model was the major focus of this study. Four separate variables were chosen for the sensitivity analysis. These being the external convective heat transfer coefficient, external emissivity, mass flow rate of exhaust gases, and amplitude of incoming pressure fluctuations. These variables were independently studied to determine their contribution to changes in exhaust gas stream temperature and system heat flux. There are two primary benefits obtained from conducting this analysis.

Many commercial fuels, including gasoline and diesel, are multicomponent hydrocarbons. During the fuel vaporization process, the volatile components evaporate first, which dominate the region near the nozzle exit. The lately evaporated vapor with high penetration has high molecular weight. Thus, ignition and combustion of multicomponent fuels are not only influenced by distribution of fuel vapor mass fraction, but also by distribution of the components. This paper presents a spark ignition and combustion model with consideration of such multicomponent effects for GDI engines. Ignition kernel growth due to flame front propagation is considered in the model to eliminate the sensitivity of the numerical mesh size on the results.

The present study investigated HCCI combustion in a heavy-duty diesel engine both experimentally and numerically. The engine was equipped with a hollow-cone pressure-swirl injector using gasoline direct injection. Characteristics of HCCI combustion were obtained by very early injection with a heated intake charge. Experimental results showed an increase in NOx emission and a decrease in UHC as the injection timing was retarded. It was also found that optimization can be achieved by controlling the intake temperature together with the start-of-injection timing. The experiments were modeled by using an engine CFD code with detailed chemistry. The CHEMKIN code was implemented into KIVA-3V such that the chemistry and flow solutions were coupled. The model predicted ignition timing, cylinder pressure, and heat release rates reasonably well. The NOx emissions were found to increase as the injection timing was retarded, in agreement with experimental results.

A CFD based design optimization methodology was developed and adopted to the development of a stratified-charge direct-injection spark ignition (DISI) combustion system. Two key important issues for homogeneous charge operation, volumetric efficiency and mixing homogeneity, are addressed. The intake port is optimized for improved volumetric efficiency with a CFD based numerical optimization tool. It is found that insufficient fuel-air mixing is the root cause for the low rated power of most DISI engines. The fuel-air mixing in-homogeneity is due to the interaction between intake flow and injected fuel spray. An injector mask design was proposed to alleviate such interaction, then to improve air-fuel mixture homogeneity. It was then confirmed with dynamometer testing that the optimized design improved engine output and at the same time had lower soot and CO emissions.

Artificial neural networks (ANN) have been recognized as universal approximators for nonlinear continuous functions and actively applied in engine research in recent years [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8]. This paper describes the methodology and results of using the ANN to model a turbocharged DI diesel engine. The engine was simulated using the CFD code (KIVA-ERC) over a wide range of operating conditions, and numerical simulation results were used to train the ANN. An efficient data collection methodology using the Design of Experiments (DOE) techniques was developed to select the most characteristic engine operating conditions and hence the most informative data to train the ANN. This approach minimizes the time and cost of collecting training data from either computational or experimental resources. The trained ANN was then used to predict engine parameters such as cylinder pressure, cylinder temperature, NOx and soot emissions, and cylinder heat transfer.

RNG k-ε closure turbulence dissipation equations are evaluated employing the CFD code KIVA-3V Release 2. The numerical evaluations start by considering simple jet flows, including incompressible air jets and compressible helium jets. The results show that the RNG closure turbulence model predicts lower jet tip penetration than the "standard" k-ε model, as well as being lower than experimental data. The reason is found to be that the turbulence kinetic energy is dissipated too slowly in the downstream region near the jet nozzle exit. In this case, the over-predicted R term in RNG model becomes a sink of dissipation in the ε-equation. As a second step, the RNG turbulence closure dissipation models are further tested in complex engine flows to compare against the measured evolution of turbulence kinetic energy, and an estimate of its dissipation rate, during both the compression and expansion processes.

DPF regenerations involve a trade-off between fuel economy and DPF durability. High temperature regenerations of DPFs have fewer fuel penalties but simultaneously tend to give higher substrate temperatures, which can reduce thermal reliability. In order to weaken the trade-off, the integrated system-level model [1,2,3,4] is used to conduct optimization studies and explore novel regeneration strategies for DPF aftertreatment devices. The integrated model developed in the Engine Research Center (ERC) includes sub-models for engines, emissions, aftertreatment devices and controllers. Based on the engine and regeneration fuel economy, multiple and single cycle regeneration tests are performed and analyzed. The optimal soot loadings to initiate and terminate regenerations are discussed. A pulsed regeneration strategy, which is characterized by injecting multiple pulses of fuel (upstream of a DOC) during regenerations, is investigated.

A generalized re-normalization group (RNG) turbulence model based on the local "dimensionality" of the flow field is proposed. In this modeling approach the model coefficients C₁, C₂, and C₃ are all constructed as functions of flow strain rate. In order to further validate the proposed turbulence model, the generalized RNG closure model was applied to model the backward facing step flow (a classic test case for turbulence models). The results indicated that the modeling of C₂ in the generalized RNG closure model is reasonable, and furthermore, the predictions of the generalized RNG model were in better agreement with experimental data than the standard RNG turbulence model. As a second step, the performance of the generalized RNG closure was investigated for a complex engine flow.

Large Eddy Simulation (LES) with a flamelet time scale combustion model is used to simulate diesel combustion. The flamelet time scale model uses a steady-state flamelet library for n-heptane indexed by mean mixture fraction, mixture fraction variance, and mean scalar dissipation rate. In the combustion model, reactions proceed towards the flamelet library solution at a time scale associated with the slowest reaction. This combination of a flamelet solution and a chemical time scale helps to account for unsteady mixing effects. The turbulent sub-grid stresses are simulated using a one-equation, non-viscosity LES model called the dynamic structure model. The model uses a tensor coefficient determined by the dynamic procedure and the subgrid kinetic energy. The model has been expanded to include scalar mixing and scalar dissipation. A new model for the conditional scalar dissipation has been developed to better predict local extinction.

To help account for fuel distribution during combustion in diesel engines, a fuel film model has been developed and implemented into the KIVA-II code [1]. Spray-wall interaction and spray-film interaction are also incorporated into the model. Modified wall functions for evaporating, wavy films are developed and tested. The model simulates thin fuel film flow on solid surfaces of arbitrary configuration. This is achieved by solving the continuity, momentum and energy equations for the two dimensional film that flows over a three dimensional surface. The major physical effects considered in the model include mass and momentum contributions to the film due to spray drop impingement, splashing effects, various shear forces, piston acceleration, dynamic pressure effects, and convective heat and mass transfer.

In this work, the influences of various real-timely available energy management strategies on vehicle fuel consumption (VFC) and energy flow of a range-extender electric vehicle were studied The strategies include single-point, multi-point, speed-following, and equivalent consumption minimization strategy. In addition, the dynamic programming method which cannot be used in real time, but can provide the optimal solution for a known drive situation was used for comparison. VFCs and energy flow characteristics with different strategies under Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicles Test Cycle (WLTC) were obtained through computer modeling, and the results were verified experimentally on a range-extender test bench. The experimental results are consistent with the modeled ones in general with a maximum deviation of 4.11%, which verifies the accuracy of the simulation models.

The three-dimensional CFD codes KIVA-II and KIVA-3 have been used together to study the effects of intake generated in-cylinder flow structure on fuel-air mixing and combustion in a direct injected (DI) Diesel engine. In order to more accurately account for the effect of intake flow on in-cylinder processes, the KIVA-II code has been modified to allow for the use of data from other CFD codes as initial conditions. Simulation of the intake and compression strokes in a heavy-duty four-stroke DI Diesel engine has been carried out using KIVA-3. Flow quantities and thermodynamic field information were then mapped into a computational grid in KIVA-II for use in the study of mixing and combustion. A laminar and turbulent timescale combustion model, as well as advanced spray models, including wave breakup atomization, dynamic drop drag, and spray-wall interaction has been used in KIVA-II.