Fuel Stratification and Partially Premixed Combustion With Neat n-Butanol in a Compression Ignition Engine

Author(s):  
Shouvik Dev ◽  
Tongyang Gao ◽  
Xiao Yu ◽  
Mark Ives ◽  
Ming Zheng

Homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) has been considered as an ideal combustion mode for compression ignition (CI) engines due to its superb thermal efficiency and low emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter. However, a challenge that limits practical applications of HCCI is the lack of control over the combustion rate. Fuel stratification and partially premixed combustion (PPC) have considerably improved the control over the heat release profile with modulations of the ratio between premixed fuel and directly injected fuel, as well as injection timing for ignition initiation. It leverages the advantages of both conventional direct injection compression ignition and HCCI. In this study, neat n-butanol is employed to generate the fuel stratification and PPC in a single cylinder CI engine. A fuel such as n-butanol can provide additional benefits of even lower emissions and can potentially lead to a reduced carbon footprint and improved energy security if produced appropriately from biomass sources. Intake port fuel injection (PFI) of neat n-butanol is used for the delivery of the premixed fuel, while the direct injection (DI) of neat n-butanol is applied to generate the fuel stratification. Effects of PFI-DI fuel ratio, DI timing, and intake pressure on the combustion are studied in detail. Different conditions are identified at which clean and efficient combustion can be achieved at a baseline load of 6 bar IMEP. An extended load of 14 bar IMEP is demonstrated using stratified combustion with combustion phasing control.

Author(s):  
Shouvik Dev ◽  
Tongyang Gao ◽  
Xiao Yu ◽  
Mark Ives ◽  
Ming Zheng

Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) has been considered as an ideal combustion mode for compression ignition engines due to its superb thermal efficiency and low emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter (PM). However, a challenge that limits practical applications of HCCI is the lack of control over the combustion rate, which either deteriorates thermal efficiency at low engine load, or produces excessive pressure rise rate and combustion noise at high engine load. Fuel stratification and partially premixed combustion (PPC) have considerably improved the control over the heat release profile with modulations of the ratio between premixed fuel and directly injected fuel, as well as injection timing for ignition initiation. It leverages the advantages of both conventional direct injection compression ignition and HCCI. Compared with those of HCCI, the ignition ability and combustion efficiency of PPC are significantly enhanced at low engine load, and the low emissions of NOx and PM are maintained with lower pressure rise rate. In this study, neat n-butanol is employed to generate the fuel stratification and partially premixed combustion in a single cylinder compression ignition engine. A fuel such as n-butanol can provide additional benefits of even lower emissions, and can potentially lead to a reduced carbon footprint and improved energy security if produced appropriately from biomass sources. Intake port fuel injection (PFI) of neat n-butanol is used for the delivery of the premixed fuel, while the direct injection (DI) of neat n-butanol is applied to generate the fuel stratification. Effects of PFI-DI fuel ratio, DI timing, and intake pressure, on the combustion, are studied in detail. Different conditions are identified at which clean and efficient combustion can be achieved at a baseline load of 6 bar IMEP. An extended load of 14 bar IMEP is demonstrated using stratified combustion with combustion phasing control.


Author(s):  
Adam B. Dempsey ◽  
Scott Curran ◽  
Robert Wagner ◽  
William Cannella

Gasoline compression ignition (GCI) concepts with the majority of the fuel being introduced early in the cycle are known as partially premixed combustion (PPC). Previous research on single- and multicylinder engines has shown that PPC has the potential for high thermal efficiency with low NOx and soot emissions. A variety of fuel injection strategies have been proposed in the literature. These injection strategies aim to create a partially stratified charge to simultaneously reduce NOx and soot emissions while maintaining some level of control over the combustion process through the fuel delivery system. The impact of the direct injection (DI) strategy to create a premixed charge of fuel and air has not previously been explored, and its impact on engine efficiency and emissions is not well understood. This paper explores the effect of sweeping the direct injected pilot timing from −91 deg to −324 deg ATDC, which is just after the exhaust valve closes (EVCs) for the engine used in this study. During the sweep, the pilot injection consistently contained 65% of the total fuel (based on command duration ratio), and the main injection timing was adjusted slightly to maintain combustion phasing near top dead center. A modern four cylinder, 1.9 l diesel engine with a variable geometry turbocharger (VGT), high pressure common rail injection system, wide included angle injectors, and variable swirl actuations was used in this study. The pistons were modified to an open bowl configuration suitable for highly premixed combustion modes. The stock diesel injection system was unmodified, and the gasoline fuel was doped with a lubricity additive to protect the high pressure fuel pump and the injectors. The study was conducted at a fixed speed/load condition of 2000 rpm and 4.0 bar brake mean effective pressure (BMEP). The pilot injection timing sweep was conducted at different intake manifold pressures, swirl levels, and fuel injection pressures. The gasoline used in this study has relatively high fuel reactivity with a research octane number of 68. The results of this experimental campaign indicate that the highest brake thermal efficiency (BTE) and lowest emissions are achieved simultaneously with the earliest pilot injection timings (i.e., during the intake stroke).


2020 ◽  
pp. 146808742097355
Author(s):  
Vincent Giuffrida ◽  
Michele Bardi ◽  
Mickael Matrat ◽  
Anthony Robert ◽  
Guillaume Pilla

This paper aims at taking into account the chemistry of O3 in a 3D CFD simulation of compression ignition engine with Diesel type combustion for low load operating points. The methodology developed in this work includes 0D homogeneous reactors simulations, 3D RANS simulations and validation regarding experimental results. The 0D simulations were needed to take into account O3 reactions during the compression stroke because of the high reactivity of O3 with NO and dissociation at high temperature. The values found in these simulations were used as an input in the 3D model to match the correct O3 concentration at fuel injection timing. The 3D simulations were performed using CONVERGETM with a RANS approach. Simulations reproduce the compression/expansion stroke after the intake valve closure to focus on the impact of O3 on the fuel auto ignition. The comparison between numerical and experimental results demonstrates that the proposed methodology is able to capture correctly the impact of O3 addition on ignition delay and on heat release. Moreover, the analysis of the data enables to better understand the fundamental processes driving O3 impact in a CI engine. In particular, using 0D simulations, the plateau effect observed experimentally when increasing O3 concentration is attributed to O3 thermal decomposition and reaction with NO during the compression stroke. Also, 3D CFD results showed that O3 impact is observed mainly during LTHR phase and does not affect the topology and the propagation of the flame inside the combustion chamber.


Author(s):  
Saliha Mohammed Belkebir ◽  
Benyoucef Khelidj ◽  
Miloud Tahar-Abbes

In order to investigate a viable approach to achieving high efficiencies and low nitrogen oxide (NOX) emissions, this paper presents the application of a homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engine and the partially premixed combustion (PPC) mode applied to a heavy diesel engine. The effect of carbon dioxide (CO2) fraction on combustion parameters was analyzed and discussed in detail. For this purpose, on the one hand, ANSYS CHEMKIN-Pro software was used to perform simulations of a closed homogeneous reactor under conditions relevant to HCCI engines, and on the other hand, ANSYS-Fluent software was used by adding a CO2 fraction varying from 20% to 58% to methane fuel to study 2D flow simulation by applying a PPC combustion mode to predict the distribution of various output parameters such as in-cylinder temperature, in-cylinder pressure and emissions. In comparison with the two presented models, it was found that the HCCI engine showed a lower NOX level than the PPC mode and this was due to the lower in-cylinder temperature in the HCCI engine.


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