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In this work a soot source term tabulation strategy for soot predictions under Diesel engine conditions within the zero-dimensional Direct Injection Stochastic Reactor Model (DI-SRM) framework is presented. The DI-SRM accounts for detailed chemistry, in-homogeneities in the combustion chamber and turbulence-chemistry interactions. The existing implementation [1] was extended with a framework facilitating the use of tabulated soot source terms. The implementation allows now for using soot source terms provided by an online chemistry calculation, and for the use of a pre-calculated flamelet soot source term library. Diesel engine calculations were performed using the same detailed kinetic soot model in both configurations. The chemical mechanism for n-heptane used in this work is taken from Zeuch et al. [2] and consists of 121 species and 973 reactions including PAH and thermal NO chemistry. The engine case presented in [1] is used also for this work.

The subject of this work is 3D numerical simulations of combustion and soot emissions for a passenger car diesel engine. The CFD code STAR-CD version 3.26 [1] is used to resolve the flowfield. Soot is modeled using a detailed kinetic soot model described by Mauss [2]. The model includes a detailed description of the formation of polyaromatic hydrocarbons. The coupling between the turbulent flowfield and the soot model is achieved through a flamelet library approach, with transport of the moments of the soot particle size distribution function as outlined by Wenzel et al. [3]. In this work we extended this approach by considering acetylene feedback between the soot model and the combustion model. The model was further improved by using new gas-phase kinetics and new fitting procedures for the flamelet soot library.

The three-way catalytic converter (TWC) is the most common catalyst for gasoline engine exhaust gas after treatment. The reduction of carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and unburned hydrocarbons (HC) is achieved via oxidation of carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons, and reduction of nitrogen oxides. These conversion effects were simulated in previous works using single-channel approaches and detailed kinetic models. In addition to the single-channel model multiple representative catalyst channels are used in this work to take heat transfer between the channels into account. Furthermore, inlet temperature distribution is considered. Each channel is split into a user given number of cells and each cell is treated like a perfectly stirred reactor (PSR). The simulation is validated against an experimental four-stroke engine setup with emission outputs fed into a TWC.

This paper focuses on the performance and efficiency of an HCCI (Homogenous Charge Compression Ignition) engine system running on natural gas or landfill gas for stationary applications. Zero dimensional modeling and simulation of the engine, turbo, inlet and exhaust manifolds and inlet air conditioner (intercooler/heater) are used to study the effect of compression ratio and exhaust turbine size on maximum mean effective pressure and efficiency. The extended Zeldovich mechanism is used to estimate NO-formation in order to determine operation limits. Detailed chemical kinetics is used to predict ignition timing. Simulation of the in-cylinder process gives a minimum λ-value of 2.4 for natural gas, regardless of compression ratio. This is restricted by the NO formation for richer mixtures. Lower compression ratios allow higher inlet pressure and hence higher load, but it also reduces indicated efficiency.

A self-calibrating model for Diesel engine simulations is presented. The overall model consists of a zero-dimensional direct injection stochastic reactor model (DI-SRM) for engine in-cylinder processes simulations and a package of optimization algorithms (OPAL) suitable for solving various optimization, automatization and search problems. In the DI-SRM, based on an extensive model parameters study, the mixing time history that affects the level of in-cylinder turbulence was selected as a main calibration parameter. As targets during calibration against the experimental data, in-cylinder pressure history and engine-out emissions, including nitrogen oxides and unburned hydrocarbons were chosen. The calibration task was solved using DI-SRM and OPAL working as an integrated tool. Within OPAL, genetic algorithms (GA) were used to determine model constants necessary for calibrating. Engine-out emissions in DI-SRM were calculated based on the reduced mechanism of n-heptane.

In contrast to the currently primarily used liquid fuels (diesel and gasoline), methane (CH4) as a fuel offers a high potential for a significant reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). This advantage can only be used if tailpipe CH4 emissions are reduced to a minimum, since the GHG impact of CH4 in the atmosphere is higher than that of carbon dioxide (CO2). Three-way catalysts (TWC - stoichiometric combustion) and methane oxidation catalysts (MOC - lean combustion) can be used for post-engine CH4 oxidation. Both technologies allow for a nearly complete CH4 conversion to CO2 and water at sufficiently high exhaust temperatures (above the light-off temperature of the catalysts). However, CH4 combustion is facing a huge challenge with the planned introduction of Euro VII emissions standard, where stricter CH4 emission limits and a decrease of the cold start starting temperatures are discussed.

During cold start of natural gas engines, increased methane and formaldehyde emissions can be released due to flame quenching on cold cylinder walls, misfiring and the catalyst not being fully active at low temperatures. Euro 6 legislation does not regulate methane and formaldehyde emissions. New limits for these two pollutants have been proposed by CLOVE consortium for Euro 7 scenarios. These proposals indicate tougher requirements for aftertreatment systems of natural gas engines. In the present study, a zero-dimensional model for real-time engine-out emission prediction for transient engine cold start is presented. The model incorporates the stochastic reactor model for spark ignition engines and tabulated chemistry. The tabulated chemistry approach allows to account for the physical and chemical properties of natural gas fuels in detail by using a-priori generated laminar flame speed and combustion chemistry look-up tables.

Methanol is today considered a viable green fuel for combustion engines because of its low soot emissions and the possibility of it being produced in a CO2-neutral manner. Methanol as a fuel for combustion engines have attracted interest throughout history and much research was conducted during the oil crisis in the seventies. In the beginning of the eighties the oil prices began to decrease and interest in methanol declined. This paper presents the emission potential of methanol. T-Φ maps were constructed using a 0-D reactor with constant pressure, temperature and equivalence ratio to show the emission characteristics of methanol. These maps were compared with equivalent maps for diesel fuel. The maps were then complemented with engine simulations using a stochastic reactor model (SRM), which predicts end-gas emissions. The SRM was validated using experimental results from a truck engine running in Partially Premixed Combustion (PPC) mode at medium loads.

Water injection is a promising technology to improve the fuel efficiency of turbocharged gasoline engines due to the possibility to suppress engine knock. Additionally, this technology is believed to enable the efficient operation of the three-way catalyst also at high-load conditions, through limiting the exhaust temperature. In this numerical study, we investigate the effect of water on the chemical and thermodynamic processes using 3D computational fluid dynamics (CFD) Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) with detailed chemistry. In the first step, the influence of different amounts of water vapor on ignition delay time, laminar flame speed, and heat capacity is investigated. In the second step, the impact of water vaporization is analyzed for port and direct injection. For this purpose, the water mass flow and the injection pressure are varied.

Calculations using homogeneous and stochastic reactor models were performed in order to find an explanation to observed properties of NOx HCCI engines. It was found that for moderate NOx levels, N2O reactions play an important role in the NOx formation. Further, the high proportions of NO2 found in from some HCCI engines is due to high temperature inhomogeneities, poor mixing and slow overall combustion. N2O is often emitted from HCCI combustion. The levels of NOx in the exhausts are highly sensitive to temperature; however N2O has a weak negative dependence on temperature. While fuel rich operation naturally leads to high temperatures and thus high NOx levels; once the temperature effects are decoupled the fuel rich conditions themselves has a favorable effect on low-NOx engine operation.

Operating the HCCI engine with dual fuels with a large difference in auto-ignition characteristics (octane number) is one way to control the HCCI operation. The effect of octane number on combustion, emissions and engine performance in a 6 cylinder SCANIA truck engine, fuelled with n-heptane and isooctane, and running in HCCI mode, are investigated numerically and compared with measurements taken from Olsson et al. [SAE 2000-01-2867]. To correctly simulate the HCCI engine operation, we implement a probability density function (PDF) based stochastic reactor model (including detailed chemical kinetics and accounting for inhomogeneities in composition and temperature) coupled with GT-POWER, a 1-D fluid dynamics based engine cycle simulator. Such a coupling proves to be ideal for the understanding of the combustion phenomenon as well as the gas dynamics processes intrinsic to the engine cycle.

The formation of exothermic centers was modeled with a Stochastic Reactor Model (SRM) to investigate their impact on HCCI combustion. By varying the exhaust valve temperature, and thus assigning more realistic wall temperatures, the formation of exothermic centers and the ignition timing was shifted in time. To be able to study the exothermic centers, their formation and their distribution, Scatter plots, standard deviation plots and Probability Density Function (PDF) plots were constructed on the basis of the data the SRM calculations provided. The standard deviation for the particle temperatures was found to be an useful indicator of the degree of homogeneity within the combustion chamber, and thus of how efficient the combustion process was. It was observed that when the standard deviation of the temperature was higher, the emissions of CO and of hydrocarbons present at the end of the closed cycle were higher.

The influence of variable air-fuel ratio inside a spark ignition engine is examined by the use of an ionization sensor. The measured ion currents are used for predicting the local air-fuel ratio in the vicinity of the spark plug. In order to support the results, a theoretical analysis has been made. An instationary chemical kinetic model burning a mixture of iso-octane and n-heptane is used for the calculations. The results are used to reconstruct the crank angle resolved ion current that has been measured in an engine. This technique has been developed in order to offer a supplementary low-cost facility of controlling the air-fuel ratio within the combustion chamber of an engine.

Cycle-resolved end-gas temperatures were measured using dual-broadband rotational CARS in a single-cylinder spark-ignition engine. Simultaneous cylinder pressure measurements were used as an indicator for knock and as input data to numerical calculations. The chemical processes in the end-gas have been analysed with a detailed kinetic mechanism for mixtures of iso-octane and n-heptane at different Research Octane Numbers (RON'S). The end-gas is modelled as a homogeneous reactor that is compressed or expanded by the piston movement and the flame propagation in the cylinder. The calculated temperatures are in agreement with the temperatures evaluated from CARS measurements. It is found that calculations with different RON'S of the fuel lead to different levels of radical concentrations in the end-gas. The apperance of the first stage of the autoignition process is marginally influenced by the RON, while the ignition delay of the second stage is increased with increasing RON.

A detailed analysis of the end-gas temperature and pressure in gasoline engines has been performed. This analysis leads to a simplified zero-dimensional model, that considers both, the compression and the expansion of the end-gas by the piston movement, and the compression by the flame front. If autoignition occurs in the end-gas the sudden rise of the pressure and the heat release is calculated. The rate form of the first law of thermodynamics for a control volume combined with the mass conservation equation for an unsteady and a uniform-flow process are applied. The heat of formation in the end-gas due to the chemical activity has been taken into account. In addition, a chemical kinetic model has been applied in order to study the occurrence of autoignition and prediction of knock.

Large two-stroke marine Diesel engines have special injector geometries, which differ substantially from the configurations used in most other Diesel engine applications. One of the major differences is that injector orifices are distributed in a highly non-symmetric fashion affecting the spray characteristics. Earlier investigations demonstrated the dependency of the spray morphology on the location of the spray orifice and therefore on the resulting flow conditions at the nozzle tip. Thus, spray structure is directly influenced by the flow formation within the orifice. Following recent Large Eddy Simulation resolved spray primary breakup studies, the present paper focuses on spray secondary breakup modelling of asymmetric spray structures in Euler-Lagrangian framework based on previously obtained droplet distributions of primary breakup.

A model based on an ionization equilibrium analysis, that can relate the ion current to the state of the gas inside the combustion volume, has been presented earlier. This paper introduces several additional models, that together with the previous model have the purpose of improving the pressure predictions. One of the models is a chemistry model that enables us to realistically consider the current contribution from the most relevant species. A second model can predict the crank angle of the peak pressure and thereby substantially increase the accuracy of the pressure predictions. Several other additions and improvements have been introduced, including support for part load engine conditions.

SI Engine knock is caused by autoignition in the unburnt part of the mixture (end-gas) ahead of the propagating flame. Autoignition of the end-gas occurs when the temperature and pressure exceeds a critical limit when comparatively slow reactions-releasing moderate amounts of heat-transform into ignition and rapid heat release. In this paper the difference in the heat released in the end-gas-by low temperature chemistry-between lean, rich, stochiometric, and stoichiometric mixtures diluted with cooled EGR was examined by measuring the temperature in the end-gas with Dual Broadband Rotational CARS. The measured temperature history was compared with an isentropic temperature calculated from the cylinder pressure trace. The experimentally obtained values for knock onset were compared with results from a two-zone thermodynamic model including detailed chemistry modeling of the end-gas reactions.

We present a computational tool to develop an exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) - air-fuel ratio (AFR) operating range for homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engines. A single cylinder Ricardo E-6 engine running in HCCI mode, with external EGR is simulated using an improved probability density function (PDF) based engine cycle model. For a base case, the in-cylinder temperature and unburned hydrocarbon emissions predicted by the model show a satisfactory agreement with measurements [Oakley et al., SAE Paper 2001-01-3606]. Furthermore, the model is applied to develop the operating range for various combustion parameters, emissions and engine parameters with respect to the air-fuel ratio and the amount of EGR used. The model predictions agree reasonably well with the experimental results for various parameters over the entire EGR-AFR operating range thus proving the robustness of the PDF based model.

This paper reports an one–dimensional modeling procedure of the hot spot autoignition with a detailed chemistry and multi–species transport in the end gas in an SI engine. The governing equations for continuity of mass, momentum, energy and species for an one–dimensional, unsteady, compressible, laminar, reacting flow and thermal fields are discretized and solved by a fully implicit method. A chemical kinetic mechanism is used for the primary reference fuels n–heptane and iso–octane. This mechanism contains 510 chemical reactions and 75 species. The change of the cylinder pressure is calculated from both flame propagation and piston movement. The turbulent velocity of the propagating flame is modeled by the Wiebe function. Adiabatic conditions, calculated by minimizing Gibb's free energy at each time step, are assumed behind the flame front in the burned gas.