Search Results

A multi-dimensional combustion code implementing the Conditional Moment Closure turbulent combustion model interfaced with a well-established RANS two-phase flow field solver has been employed to study a broad range of operating conditions for a heavy duty direct-injection common-rail Diesel engine. These conditions include different loads (25%, 50%, 75% and full load) and engine speeds (1250 and 1830 RPM) and, with respect to the fuel path, different injection timings and rail pressures. A total of nine cases have been simulated. Excellent agreement with experimental data has been found for the pressure traces and the heat release rates, without adjusting any model constants. The chemical mechanism used contains a detailed NOx sub-mechanism. The predicted emissions agree reasonably well with the experimental data considering the range of operating points and given no adjustments of any rate constants have been employed.

The presented concept in this study consists of a state of the art passenger car natural-gas engine fired by different hydrogen (H2) and compressed-natural-gas (CNG) fuel blends. The hydrogen content in the fuel was varied among 5 and 15vol% corresponding to 0.6-2.1 mass%, while comparisons include also engine operation on pure CNG. Increasing hydrogen content of the fuel accelerated combustion leading to modest efficiency improvements. Combustion analysis showed that the increasing burning rates mainly affected the initial combustion phase (duration for 5% mass fraction burned). With optimal combinations of spark timing and EGR rate the achievements are additional efficiency increase with substantially lower engine-out NOx while total unburned hydrocarbons or CO-engine-out emissions are not affected. Investigations using Design of Experiments (DoE) algorithms provided a comprehensive picture of the entire parameter space.

Numerical and experimental investigations are presented with regard to homogeneous-charge-compression-ignition for two different fuels. N-heptane and n-butane are considered for covering an appropriate range of ignition behaviour typical for higher hydrocarbons. One fuel is closer to diesel (n-heptane), the other closer to gasoline ignition properties (n-butane). Butane in particular, being gaseous under atmospheric conditions, is used to also guarantee perfectly homogenous mixture composition in the combustion chamber. Starting from detailed chemical mechanisms for both fuels, reaction path analysis is used to derive reduced mechanisms, which are validated in homogeneous reactors. After reduction, reaction kinetics is coupled with multi zone modeling and 3D-CFD through the Conditional Moment Closure (CMC) approach in order to predict autoignition and heat release rates in an I.C. engine. Multi zone modeling is used to simulate port injection HCCI technology with n-butane.