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Transient engine operations are modeled and simulated with a 1-D code (GT Power) using heat release and emission data computed by a 3-D CFD code (Kiva3). During each iteration step of a transient engine simulation, the 1-D code utilizes the 3-D data to interpolate the values for heat release and emissions. The 3-D CFD computations were performed for the compression and combustion stroke of strategically chosen engine operating points considering engine speed, torque and excess air. The 3-D inlet conditions were obtained from the 1-D code, which utilized 3-D heat release data from the previous 1-D unsteady computations. In most cases, only two different sets of 3-D input data are needed to interpolate the transient phase between two engine operating points. This keeps the computation time at a reasonable level. The results are demonstrated on the load response of a generator which is driven by a medium-speed diesel engine.

In a recent study, quantitative measurements were presented of in-cylinder spatial distributions of mixture equivalence ratio in a single-cylinder light-duty optical diesel engine, operated with a non-reactive mixture at conditions similar to an early injection low-temperature combustion mode. In the experiments a planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) methodology was used to obtain local mixture equivalence ratio values based on a diesel fuel surrogate (75% n-heptane, 25% iso-octane), with a small fraction of toluene as fluorescing tracer (0.5% by mass). Significant changes in the mixture's structure and composition at the walls were observed due to increased charge motion at high swirl and injection pressure levels. This suggested a non-negligible impact on wall heat transfer and, ultimately, on efficiency and engine-out emissions.

A procedure has been developed to build system level predictive models that incorporate physical laws as well as information derived from experimental data. In particular a soot model was developed, trained and tested using experimental data. It was seen that the model could fit available experimental data given sufficient training time. Future accuracy on data points not encountered during training was estimated and seen to be good. The approach relies on the physical phenomena predicted by an existing system level phenomenological soot model coupled with ‘weights’ which use experimental data to adjust the predicted physical sub-model parameters to fit the data. This approach has developed from attempts at incorporating physical phenomena into neural networks for predicting emissions. Model training uses neural network training concepts.

A droplet vaporization model has been developed for use in high pressure spray modeling. The model is a modification of the common Spalding vaporization model that accounts for the effects of high pressure on phase equilibrium, transport properties, and surface tension. The new model allows for a nonuniform temperature within the liquid by using a simple 2-zone model for the droplet. The effects of the different modifications are tested both for the case of a single vaporizing droplet in a quiescent environment as well as for a high pressure spray using the KIVA II code. Comparisons with vaporizing spray experiments show somewhat improved spray penetration predictions. Also, the effect of the vaporization model on diesel combustion predictions was studied by applying the models to simulate the combustion process in a heavy duty diesel engine. In this case the standard and High Pressure vaporization models were found to give similar heat release and emissions results.

This Paper introduces a modular, flexible and user-friendly dynamic powertrain model of the US Army's High Mobility Multi-Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV). It includes the DDC 6.5L diesel engine, Hydra-matic 4L80-E automatic transmission, Torsen differentials, transfer case, and flexible drive and axle shafts. This model is used in a case study on transmission optimization design to demonstrate an application of the model. This study shows how combined optimization of the transmission hardware (clutch capacity) and control strategy (shift time) can be explored, and how the models can help the designer understand dynamic interactions as well as provide useful design guidance early in the system design phase.

A turbulent combustion model based on the coherent flamelet model was developed in this study and applied to diesel engines. The combustion was modeled in three distinct but overlapping phases: low temperature ignition kinetics using the Shell ignition model, high temperature premixed burn using a single step Arrhenius equation, and the flamelet based diffusion burn. Two criteria for transitions based on temperature, heat release rate, and the local Damköhler number were developed for the progression of combustion between each of these phases. The model was implemented into the computational computer code KIVA-II. Previous experiments on a Caterpillar model E 300, # 1Y0540 engine, a Tacom LABECO research engine, and a single cylinder version of a Cummins N14 production engine were used to validate the cylinder averaged predictions of the model.

An experimental and numerical characterization has been conducted of a high-pressure common rail diesel fuel injection system. The experimental study was performed using a common rail system with the capability of producing multiple injections within a single cycle. The injector used in the experiments had a single guided multi-hole nozzle tip. The diesel sprays were injected into a pressurized chamber with optical access at ambient temperature. The gas density in the chamber was representative of the density in an HSDI diesel engine at the time of injection. Single, pilot, and multiple injection cases were studied at different rail pressures and injection durations. Images of the transient sprays were obtained with a high-speed digital camera. From these images spray tip penetration and cone angles were obtained directly. Also spray droplet sizes were derived from the images using a light extinction method (LEM).

A new technique which is based on optoacoustic phenomena has been developed for measuring in-cylinder gas temperature and turbulent diffusivity. In the experiments, a high energy Nd:YAG pulsed laser beam was focused to cause local ionization of air at a point in the combustion chamber. This initiates a shock wave and creates a hot spot. The local temperature and turbulent diffusivity are determined by monitoring the shock propagation and the hot spot growth, respectively, with a schlieren photography system. In order to assess the validity and accuracy of the measurements, the technique was also applied to a turbulent jet. The temperature measurements were found to be accurate to within 3%. Results from the turbulent jet measurements also showed that the growth rate of the hot spot diameter can be used to estimate the turbulent diffusivity. In-cylinder gas temperature measurements were made in a motored single cylinder Caterpillar diesel engine, modified for optical access.

A kinetic carbon monoxide (CO) emission model is developed to simulate engine out CO emissions for conventional diesel combustion. The model also incorporates physics governing CO emissions for low temperature combustion (LTC). The emission model will be used in an integrated system level model to simulate the operation and interaction of conventional and low temperature diesel combustion with aftertreatment devices. The Integrated System Model consists of component models for the diesel engine, engine-out emissions (such as NOx and Particulate Matter), and aftertreatment devices (such as DOC and DPF). The addition of CO emissions model will enhance the capability of the Integrated System Model to predict major emission species, especially for low temperature combustion. In this work a CO emission model is developed based on a two-step global kinetic mechanism [8].

Studies have shown that there are a significant number of chemical species present in engine exhaust particulate matter emissions. Additionally, the majority of current world-wide regulatory methods for measuring engine particulate emissions are gravimetrically based. As modern engines considerably reduce particulate mass emissions, these methods become less stable and begin to display higher levels of measurement uncertainty. In this study, a characterization of mass emissions from three heavy-duty diesel engines, with a range of particulate emission levels, was made in order to gain a better understanding of the variability and uncertainty associated with common mass measurement methods, as well as how well these methods compare with each other. Two gravimetric mass measurement methods and a reconstructed mass method were analyzed as part of the present study.

In this work, linear, non-linear and a generalized renormalization group (RNG) two-equation RANS turbulence models of the k-epsilon form were compared for the prediction of turbulent compressible flows in diesel engines. The object-oriented, multidimensional parallel code FRESCO, developed at the University of Wisconsin, was used to test the alternative models versus the standard k-epsilon model. Test cases featured the academic backward facing step and the impinging gas jet in a quiescent chamber. Diesel engine flows featured high-pressure spray injection in a constant volume vessel from the Engine Combustion Network (ECN), as well as intake flows in a high-swirl diesel engine. For the engine intake flows, a model of the Sandia National Laboratories 1.9L light-duty single cylinder optical engine was used.

Two soot-containing turbulent non-premixed flames burning gaseous acetylene in atmospheric-pressure air were investigated by conducting non-intrusive optical experiments at various flame locations. The differences in burner exit Reynolds numbers of these flames were large enough to examine the influence of flow dynamics on soot formation and evolution processes in heavily-sooting flames. By accounting for the fractal nature of aggregated primary particles (spherules), the proper interpretation of the laser scattering and extinction measurements yielded all the soot parameters of principal interest. With the separation of spherule and aggregate sizes, the axial zones of the prevailing turbulent soot mechanisms were accurately identified. With the high propensity of acetylene fuel to soot, relatively fast particle nucleation process led to high concentrations immediately above the burner exit.

A previously developed CFD-based optimization tool is utilized to find optimal engine operating conditions with respect to fuel consumption and emissions. The optimization algorithm employed is based on the steepest descent method where an adaptive cost function is minimized along each line search using an effective backtracking strategy. The adaptive cost function is based on the penalty method, where the penalty coefficient is increased after every line search. The parameter space is normalized and, thus, the optimization occurs over the unit cube in higher-dimensional space. The application of this optimization tool is demonstrated for the Sulzer S20, a central-injection, non-road DI diesel engine. The optimization parameters are the start of injection of the two pulses of a split injection system, the duration of each pulse, the exhaust gas recirculation rate, the boost pressure and the compression ratio.

Three distinct types of diesel particulate matter (PM) are generated in selected engine operating conditions of a single-cylinder heavy-duty diesel engine. The three types of PM are trapped using typical Cordierite diesel particulate filters (DPF) with different washcoat formulations and a commercial Silicon-Carbide DPF. Two systems, an external electric furnace and an in-situ burner, were used for regeneration. Furnace regeneration experiments allow the collected PM to be classified into two categories depending on oxidation mechanism: PM that is affected by the catalyst and PM that is oxidized by a purely thermal mechanism. The two PM categories prove to contribute differently to pressure drop and transient filtration efficiency during in-situ regeneration.

An experimental study was performed to investigate diesel particulate filter (DPF) performance during filtration with the use of real-time measurement equipment. Three operating conditions of a single-cylinder 2.3-liter D.I. heavy-duty diesel engine were selected to generate distinct types of diesel particulate matter (PM) in terms of chemical composition, concentration, and size distribution. Four substrates, with a range of geometric and physical parameters, were studied to observe the effect on filtration characteristics. Real-time filtration performance indicators such as pressure drop and filtration efficiency were investigated using real-time PM size distribution and a mass analyzer. Types of filtration efficiency included: mass-based, number-based, and fractional (based on particle diameter). In addition, time integrated measurements were taken with a Rupprecht & Patashnick Tapered Element Oscillating Microbalance (TEOM), Teflon and quartz filters.

Diesel particulate filters are designed to reduce the mass emissions of diesel particulate matter and have been proven to be effective in this respect. Not much is known, however, about their effects on other unregulated chemical species. This study utilized source dilution sampling techniques to evaluate the effects of a catalyzed diesel particulate filter on a wide spectrum of chemical emissions from a heavy-duty diesel engine. The species analyzed included both criteria and unregulated compounds such as particulate matter (PM), carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC), inorganic ions, trace metallic compounds, elemental and organic carbon (EC and OC), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and other organic compounds. Results showed a significant reduction for the emissions of PM mass, CO, HC, metals, EC, OC, and PAHs.

Diesel exhaust particulate trap system is one of the most effective means to control diesel particulate emissions from diesel vehicles. In this paper, a recently developed diesel exhaust particulate trap system was described and experimentally studied. This system employed a wall-flow ceramic foam filter, which was made of silicon carbide or chromium oxide. And this system was equipped with a microwave heater for the purpose of filter regeneration. Engine dynamometer testing, vehicle bench testing and on-road evaluation of this system were conducted. The experiments studied on the filtration efficiency of this system, the effectiveness of filter regeneration, the power penalty of the vehicle, the ability of noise suppression of this system, and the durability of this particulate trap system. The experimental results showed that this diesel particulate trap system was effective, reliable, and durable.

Micro-machined planar orifice nozzles have been developed and used with commercially produced diesel injection systems. Such a system may have the capability to improve the spray characteristics in DI diesel engines. The availability of a MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical-Systems) processing sequence supported the construction of micro-planar orifice nozzles, and micro-systems technology was also employed in our macro-instrumentation. To demonstrate this process, fourteen MEMS nozzles were fabricated with deep X-ray lithography and electroplating technology. The circular orifice diameters were varied from 40 to 260 microns and the number of orifices varied from one to 169. Three plates with non-circular orifices were also fabricated to examine the effect of orifice shape on spray characteristics. These nozzles were then attached to commercial injectors and the associated injection systems were used for the spray experiments.

We have developed and used micro-machined injector nozzles with commercially produced diesel injection systems that have the capability to improve the spray characteristics in DI diesel engines. The availability of a MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical-Systems) processing sequence supported the construction of micro-diesel injector nozzles, and micro-systems technology was also employed in our macro-instrumentation. Fourteen different circular plates (nickel-iron alloy) were fabricated with deep X-ray lithography and electroplating technology. Five plates that have a single orifice were fabricated to investigate the effect of orifice diameter on spray characteristics; i.e., 40 to 260 microns. The spacing between multiple orifices was also varied; e.g., two plates that each had 41 orifices and 169 orifices, respectively, with a diameter of 40 microns. Finally, three plates with non-circular orifices were also made to examine the effect of orifice shape on spray characteristics.

A, three-dimensional CFD code, based on the KIVA code, is used to explore alternatives to conventional DI diesel engine designs for reducing NOx and soot emissions without sacrificing engine performance. The effects of combustion chamber design and fuel spray orientation are investigated using a new proposed GAMMA engine concept, and two new multiple injector combustion system (MICS) designs which utilize multiple injectors to increase gas motion and enhance fuel/air mixing in the combustion chamber. From these computational studies, it is found that both soot and nitrous oxide emissions can be significantly reduced without the need for more conventional emission control strategies such as EGR or ultra high injection pressure. The results suggest that CFD models can be a useful tool not only for understanding combustion and emissions production, but also for investigating new design concepts.