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Cycle-to-cycle variations are important to consider in the development of spark-ignition engines to further increase fuel conversion efficiency. Direct numerical simulation and large eddy simulation can predict the stochastics of flows and therefore cycle-to-cycle variations. However, the computational costs are too high for engineering purposes if detailed chemistry is applied. Detailed chemistry can predict the fuels’ tendency to auto-ignite for different octane ratings as well as locally changing thermodynamic and chemical conditions which is a prerequisite for the analysis of knocking combustion. In this work, the joint use of unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes simulations for the analysis of the average engine cycle and the spark-ignition stochastic reactor model for the analysis of cycle-to-cycle variations is proposed. Thanks to the stochastic approach for the modeling of mixing and heat transfer, the spark-ignition stochastic reactor model can mimic the randomness of turbulent flows that is missing in the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes modeling framework. The capability to predict cycle-to-cycle variations by the spark-ignition stochastic reactor model is extended by imposing two probability density functions. The probability density function for the scalar mixing time constant introduces a variation in the turbulent mixing time that is extracted from the unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes simulations and leads to variations in the overall mixing process. The probability density function for the inflammation time accounts for the delay or advancement of the early flame development. The combination of unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes and spark-ignition stochastic reactor model enables one to predict cycle-to-cycle variations using detailed chemistry in a fraction of computational time needed for a single large eddy simulation cycle.
Following the resonance theory by Bradley and co-workers, engine knock is a consequence of an auto-ignition in the developing detonation regime. Their detonation diagram was developed using direct numerical simulations and was applied in the literature to engine knock assessment using large eddy simulations. In this work, it is analyzed if the detonation diagram can be applied for post-processing and evaluation of predicted auto-ignitions in Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes simulations even though the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes approach cannot resolve the fine structures resolved in direct numerical simulations and large eddy simulations that lead to the prediction of a developing detonation. For this purpose, an engine operating point at the knock limit spark advance is simulated using Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes and large eddy simulations. The combustion is predicted using the G-equation and the well-stirred reactor model in the unburnt gases based on a detailed gasoline surrogate reaction scheme. All the predicted ignition kernels are evaluated using the resonance theory in a post-processing step. According to the different turbulence models, the predicted pressure rise rates and gradients differ. However, the predicted ignition kernel sizes and imposed gas velocities by the auto-ignition event are similar, which suggests that the auto-ignitions predicted by Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes simulations can be given a meaningful interpretation within the detonation diagram.
Biomass devolatilization and incineration in grate-fired plants are characterized by heterogeneous fuel mixtures, often incompletely mixed, dynamical processes in the fuel bed and on the particle scale, as well as heterogeneous and homogeneous chemistry. This makes modeling using detailed kinetics favorable but computationally expensive. Therefore, a computationally efficient model based on zero-dimensional stochastic reactors and reduced chemistry schemes, consisting of 83 gas-phase species and 18 species for surface reactions, is developed. Each reactor is enabled to account for the three phases: the solid phase, pore gas surrounding the solid, and the bulk gas. The stochastic reactors are connected to build a reactor network that represents the fuel bed in grate-fired furnaces. The use of stochastic reactors allows us to account for incompletely mixed fuel feeds, distributions of local temperature and local equivalence ratio within each reactor and the fuel bed. This allows us to predict the released gases and emission precursors more accurately than if a homogeneous reactor network approach was employed. The model approach is demonstrated by predicting pyrolysis conditions and two fuel beds of grate-fired plants from the literature. The developed approach
can predict global operating parameters, such as the fuel bed length, species release to the freeboard, and species distributions within
the fuel bed to a high degree of accuracy when compared to experiments.
Impact of the surrogate formulation on 3D CFD engine knock prediction using detailed chemistry
(2019)
For engine knock prediction, surrogate fuels are often composed of iso-octane and n-heptane since they are the components of the Primary Reference Fuel (PRF). By definition, a PRF has no octane sensitivity (S = RON-MON). However, for a commercial gasoline fuel holds RON > MON and therefor S > 0. More complex surrogates are Toluene Reference Fuels (TRF) and Ethanol containing Toluene Reference Fuels (ETRF). In this work, the impact of the surrogate formulation on the prediction of flame propagation and auto-ignition in the unburnt gases are investigated. The surrogates are composed such that the Research Octane Number is the same. The auto-ignition events ahead of the flame front are predicted using 3D CFD and a combustion model based on the ETRF mechanism by Seidel (2017). The strength of the auto-ignition is determined using the detonation diagram by Bradley and co-workers (2002, 2003). Applying the different surrogates, ignition kernels of different size and reactivity are predicted. The results indicate a dependency on the local temperature history and the low temperature chemistry of the fuel species. The comparison of homogenous constant volume reactor and transient simulations show that the analysis of ignition delay time and octane rating solely from homogenous simulations is not sufficient if the knock tendency of a surrogate in engine simulations needs to be characterized.
CO2 emission constraints taking effect from 2020 lead to further investigations of technologies to lower knock sensitivity of gasoline engines, main limiting factor to increase engine efficiency and thus reduce fuel consumption. Moreover the RDE cycle demands for higher power operation, where fuel enrichment is needed for component protection. To achieve high efficiency, the engine should be run at stoichiometric conditions in order to have better emission control and reduce fuel consumption. Among others, water injection is a promising technology to improve engine combustion efficiency, by mainly reducing knock sensitivity and to keep high conversion rates of the TWC over the whole engine map.
The comprehension of multiple thermodynamic effects of water injection through 3D-CFD simulations and their exploitation to enhance the engine combustion efficiency is the main purpose of the analysis. As basis for the research a single cylinder engine derived from a 1l turbocharged 3-cylinders engine is used to evaluate indirect and direct water injection. The entire engine flow field is reproduced and analyzed with 3D-CFD simulations and numerical models are employed to separate the influence of chemical and thermodynamic properties. Measurements are performed with different injectors for indirect/direct water injection in the single-cylinder engine in order to assess water break-up, wall wetting, spray interaction and penetration. Several injection strategies, such as varying start of injection, injection pressure, and water to fuel ratio, are tested at the single-cylinder engine test bench. Detailed gas phase chemistry is employed to link flame front speed with water concentration and knocking occurrence. These results are correlated with the 3D-CFD simulation of mixture formation, in-cylinder flow and water distribution for two different operating points (part load and maximum power) in order to study water behavior, with focus on the evaporation process, in-cylinder pressure and temperature profile, as well as the combustion development, during multiple engine cycles.
Water injection is investigated for turbocharged spark-ignition engines to reduce knock probability and enable higher engine efficiency. The novel approach of this work is the development of a simulation-based optimization process combining the advantages of detailed chemistry, the stochastic reactor model and genetic optimization to assess water injection. The fast running quasi-dimensional stochastic reactor model with tabulated chemistry accounts for water effects on laminar flame speed and combustion chemistry. The stochastic reactor model is coupled with the Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm to find an optimum set of operating conditions for high engine efficiency. Subsequently, the feasibility of the simulation-based optimization process is tested for a three-dimensional computational fluid dynamic numerical test case. The newly proposed optimization method predicts a trade-off between fuel efficiency and low knock probability, which highlights the present target conflict for spark-ignition engine development. Overall, the optimization
shows that water injection is beneficial to decrease fuel consumption and knock probability at the same time. The application of the fast running quasi-dimensional stochastic reactor model allows to run large optimization problems with low computational costs. The incorporation with the Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm shows a well performing multi-objective optimization and an optimized set of engine operating parameters with water injection and high compression ratio is found.
Engine knock is an important phenomenon that needs consideration in the development of gasoline-fueled engines. In our days, this development is supported using numerical simulation tools to further understand and predict in-cylinder processes. In this work, a model tool chain which uses a detailed chemical reaction scheme is proposed to predict the auto-ignition behavior of fuels with different octane ratings and to evaluate the transition from harmless auto-ignitive deflagration to knocking combustion. In our method, the auto-ignition characteristics and the emissions are calculated using a gasoline surrogate reaction scheme containing pathways for oxidation of ethanol, toluene, n-heptane, iso-octane and their mixtures. The combustion is predicted using a combination of the G-equation based flame propagation model utilizing tabulated laminar flame speeds and well-stirred reactors in the burned and …
A Computationally Efficient Combustion Progress Variable (CPV) Approach for Engine Applications
(2018)
In this work, we apply a sequence of concepts for mechanism reduction on one reaction mechanism including novel quality control. We introduce a moment-based accuracy rating method for species profiles. The concept is used for a necessity-based mechanism reduction utilizing 0D reactors. Thereafter a stochastic reactor model for internal combustion engines is applied to control the quality of the reduced reaction mechanism during the expansion phase of the engine. This phase is sensitive on engine out emissions, and is often not considered in mechanism reduction work. The proposed process allows to compile highly reduced reaction schemes for computational fluid dynamics application for internal combustion engine simulations. It is demonstrated that the resulting reduced mechanisms predict combustion and emission formation in engines with accuracies comparable to the original detailed scheme.