Knock is well recognized as a destructive phenomenon to be avoided when running dual fuel engines. Typically, it occurs at high loads and high ambient temperatures and its onset has always been difficult to predict, particularly where multiple fuels are present. In a dual fuel engine, knock can occur from either the diesel or the gaseous fuel and it is recognised that the ratio of diesel fuel mass to gaseous fuel mass is an important index in determining which type of knock is predominant. This paper describes the development of a two-zone predictive model for the onset of knock in a dual fuel engine. Prediction of spark knock onset is the main objective of present work. A 9-step short mechanism with 11 chemical species, developed specifically for modelling dual fuel operation, is used to determine the chemical reactivity of the end-gas zone. The contribution of pilot diesel fuel combustion is taken into account by a heat release model. Chemical equilibrium is assumed for the burned gas zone. Simulation results predict the point of knock-limited BMEP and its dependency on operating parameters such as air intake temperature, boost pressure, start of pilot fuel injection timing and compression ratio. The results were first validated against some published engine analysis data and also some in-house performance prediction data. Secondly, a known dual-fuel development engine was simulated. Finally, the performance of an engine which had been converted from diesel to dual fuel during its service life was modeled but commercial constraints prevent the identification of this engine within this paper. However, good agreement with existing performance data was demonstrated in all these cases.
