In this work, a multimode combustion model that combines a comprehensive kinetics scheme for volumetric heat release and a level-set-based model for turbulent flame propagation is applied over the range of engine combustion regimes from non-premixed to premixed conditions. The model predictions of the ignition processes and flame structures are compared with the measurements from the literature of naturally occurring luminous emission and OH planar laser induced fluorescence. Comparisons are performed over a range of conditions from a conventional diesel operation (i.e., short ignition delay, high oxygen concentration) to a low temperature combustion mode (i.e., long ignition delay, low oxygen concentration). The multimode combustion model shows an excellent prediction of the bulk thermodynamic properties (e.g., rate of heat release), as well as local phenomena (i.e., ignition location, fuel and combustion intermediate species distributions, and flame structure). The results of this study show that, even in the limit of mixing controlled combustion, the flame structure is captured extremely well without considering subgrid scale turbulence-chemistry interactions. The combustion process is dominated by volumetric heat release in a thin zone around the periphery of the jet. The rate of combustion is controlled by the transport of a reactive mixture to the reaction zone, and the dominant mixing processes are well described by the large scale mixing and diffusion. As the ignition delay is increased past the end of injection (i.e., positive ignition dwell), both the simulations and optical engine experiments show that the reaction zone spans the entire jet cross section. In this combustion mode, the combustion rate is no longer limited by the transport to the reaction zone, but rather by the kinetic time scales. Although comparisons of results with and without consideration of flame propagation show very similar flame structures and combustion characteristics, the addition of the flame propagation model reveals details of the edge or triple-flame structure in the region surrounding the diffusion flame at the lift-off location. These details are not captured by the purely kinetics based combustion model, but are well represented by the present multimode model.
