Numerical investigation on the combustion and emission characteristics of a heavy-duty natural gas-diesel dual-fuel engine

This paper presents research on the combustion and emission characteristics of a four-stroke Natural gas–Diesel dual-fuel marine engine at full load. The AVL FIRE R2018a (AVL List GmbH, Graz, Austria) simulation software was used to conduct three-dimensional simulations of the combustion process and emission formations inside the engine cylinder in both diesel and dual-fuel mode to analyze the in-cylinder pressure, temperature, and emission characteristics. The simulation results were then compared and showed a good agreement with the measured values reported in the engine’s shop test technical data. The simulation results showed reductions in the in-cylinder pressure and temperature peaks by 1.7% and 6.75%, while NO, soot, CO, and CO2 emissions were reduced up to 96%, 96%, 86%, and 15.9%, respectively, in the dual-fuel mode in comparison with the diesel mode. The results also show better and more uniform combustion at the late stage of the combustions inside the cylinder when operating the engine in the dual-fuel mode. Analyzing the emission characteristics and the engine performance when the injection timing varies shows that, operating the engine in the dual-fuel mode with an injection timing of 12 crank angle degrees before the top dead center is the best solution to reduce emissions while keeping the optimal engine power.

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A phenomenological combustion analysis of a dual-fuel natural-gas diesel engine

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Part D Journal of Automobile Engineering ◽

10.1177/0954407016633337 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 231 (1) ◽

pp. 66-83 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Shuonan Xu ◽

David Anderson ◽

Mark Hoffman ◽

Robert Prucka ◽

Zoran Filipi

Keyword(s):

Diesel Engine ◽

Natural Gas ◽

Heat Release ◽

Diesel Fuel ◽

Fuel Injection ◽

Dual Fuel ◽

Injection Timing ◽

Heavy Duty ◽

Engine System ◽

Wiebe Function

Energy security concerns and an abundant supply of natural gas in the USA provide the impetus for engine designers to consider alternative gaseous fuels in the existing engines. The dual-fuel natural-gas diesel engine concept is attractive because of the minimal design changes, the ability to preserve a high compression ratio of the baseline diesel, and the lack of range anxiety. However, the increased complexity of a dual-fuel engine poses challenges, including the knock limit at a high load, the combustion instability at a low load, and the transient response of an engine with directly injected diesel fuel and port fuel injection of compressed natural gas upstream of the intake manifold. Predictive simulations of the complete engine system are an invaluable tool for investigations of these conditions and development of dual-fuel control strategies. This paper presents the development of a phenomenological combustion model of a heavy-duty dual-fuel engine, aided by insights from experimental data. Heat release analysis is carried out first, using the cylinder pressure data acquired with both diesel-only and dual-fuel (diesel and natural gas) combustion over a wide operating range. A diesel injection timing correlation based on the injector solenoid valve pulse widths is developed, enabling the diesel fuel start of injection to be detected without extra sensors on the fuel injection cam. The experimental heat release trends are obtained with a hybrid triple-Wiebe function for both diesel-only operation and dual-fuel operation. The ignition delay period of dual-fuel operation is examined and estimated with a predictive correlation using the concept of a pseudo-diesel equivalence ratio. A four-stage combustion mechanism is discussed, and it is shown that a triple-Wiebe function has the ability to represent all stages of dual-fuel combustion. This creates a critical building block for modeling a heavy-duty dual-fuel turbocharged engine system.

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