CFD Methodology for the Simulation of Mixture Formation of High Performance PFI Engines

Mixture composition strongly influences the stability of combustion of spark ignition engines. The control of air to fuel ratio at ignition is a critical issue for high performance engines: due to the low stroke-to-bore ratio the maximum power is reached at very high regimes, letting little time to the fuel to evaporate and mix with air. The aim of this work is to present a CFD methodology for the evaluation of mixture formation applied to a Ducati high performance engine. The phenomena involved in the process are highly heterogeneous, and particular care must be taken to the choice of CFD models and their validation. In the present work all the main models involved in the simulations are validated against experimental tests available in the literature, selected based on the similarity of physical conditions with those of the engine configuration under analysis. The multi-cycle simulation methodology here presented reveals to be a useful tool for the evaluation of the mixture quality around the spark plug at ignition, allowing a parametric analysis of the effects of the injection process on engine output.

Low Cetane Fuels in Compression Ignition Engine to Achieve LTC

The conventional combustion processes of Spark Ignition (SI) and Compression Ignition (CI) have their respective merits and demerits. Internal combustion engines use certain fuels to utilize those conventional combustion technologies. High octane fuels are required to operate the engine in SI mode, while high cetane fuels are preferable for CI mode of operation. Those conventional combustion techniques struggle to meet the current emissions norms while retaining high efficiency. In particular, oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and particulate matter (PM) emissions have limited the utilization of diesel fuel in compression ignition engines, and conventional gasoline operated SI engines are not fuel efficient. Advanced combustion concepts have shown the potential to combine fuel efficiency and improved emissions performance. Low Temperature Combustion (LTC) offers reduced NOx and PM emissions with comparable modern diesel engine efficiencies. The ability of premixed, low-temperature compression ignition to deliver low PM and NOx emissions is dependent on achieving optimal combustion phasing. Variations in injection pressures, injection schemes and Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) are studied with low octane gasoline LTC. Reductions in emissions are a function of combustion phasing and local equivalence ratio. Engine speed, load, EGR quantity, compression ratio and fuel octane number are all factors that influence combustion phasing. Low cetane fuels have shown comparable diesel efficiencies with low NOx emissions at reasonably high power densities.

The High Performance Toroidal Engine Concept (HiPerTEC)

The traditional reciprocating I.C. engine has evolved to a point where significant improvements in thermal efficiency and specific power are not expected. Modifications to existing engines may prove to be difficult and expensive while resulting in only marginal gains. In addition, most modifications result in added components that often increase cost and decrease reliability of the system as a whole. For applications requiring major advances in performance, such as unmanned vehicles, meeting mission requirements will likely stem from a revolutionary rather than an evolutionary engine design. The slider crank mechanism is a major impediment to the traditional reciprocating I.C. engine. Although this mechanism has been used for the past 100 years, it is very wasteful of the available energy supplied by the combustion process, where piston-liner interactions from this arrangement accounts for 50–70% of the total friction losses in this engine design. Eliminating the slider crank could significantly reduce friction losses and provide additional benefits that can increase fuel conversion efficiency. The HiPerTEC engine is an opposed, free-piston engine arranged in a toroidal configuration with two counter reciprocating sets of pistons. The counter reciprocating masses eliminate the vibration found in linear free-piston engines. The HiPerTEC employs a unique shared volume configuration where the swept volume is twice the physical cylinder volume. This attribute offers a significant increase in specific power, while the free-piston characteristics provide for substantial gains in thermodynamic cycle efficiency. An eight cylinder/chamber arrangement offers balanced operation in both two and four-stroke cycle modes to allow for a wide operating envelope. The final HiPerTEC configuration will require advanced materials to address lubrication and cooling requirements. This paper discusses the HiPerTEC design, operating characteristics, development progress to date, and the challenges that lie ahead.

Dynamic Analysis of Electrical Power Grid Delivery: Using Prime Mover Engines to Balance Dynamic Wind Turbine Output

This paper presents an investigation into integrated wind + combustion engine high penetration electrical generation systems. Renewable generation systems are now a reality of electrical transmission. Unfortunately, many of these renewable energy supplies are stochastic and highly dynamic. Conversely, the existing national grid has been designed for steady state operation. The research team has developed an algorithm to investigate the feasibility and relative capability of a reciprocating internal combustion engine to directly integrate with wind generation in a tightly coupled Hybrid Energy System. Utilizing the Idaho National Laboratory developed Phoenix Model Integration Platform, the research team has coupled demand data with wind turbine generation data and the Aspen Custom Modeler reciprocating engine electrical generator model to investigate the capability of reciprocating engine electrical generation to balance stochastic renewable energy.

Analysis of Tribological Performance of Piston Ring Lubrication

In this paper a mixed lubrication model considering lubricant supply conditions on cylinder bore has been developed for the piston ring lubrication. The numerical procedures of both fully flooded and starved lubrication were included in the model. The lubrication equations and boundary conditions at the end of strokes were discussed in detail. The effects of piston ring design parameters, such as ring face profile and ring tension, on oil film thickness, friction force and power loss under fully flooded and starved lubrication conditions due to available lubricant supply on cylinder bore were studied. The simulation results show that the oil available in the inlet region of the oil film is important to the piston ring friction power loss. With different ring face crown heights and tensions, the changes of oil film thickness and friction force were apparent under fully flooded lubrication, but almost no changes were found under starved lubrication except at the end of a stroke. In addition, the oil film thickness and friction force were affected evidently by the ring face profile offsets under both fully flooded and starved lubrication conditions, and the offset towards the combustion chamber made a large contribution to forming thicker oil film during the expansion stroke. So under different lubricant supply conditions on the cylinder bore, the ring profile and tension need to be adjusted to reduce the friction and power loss. Moreover, the effects of lubricant viscosity, surface composite roughness, and engine operating speed on friction force and power loss were also discussed.

A Computational Investigation of Piston Bowl Geometry for a Large Bore Two-Cycle Diesel Engine

The objective of this research was to optimize an Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) large-bore, two-cycle diesel engine (710 cubic inches of displacement per cylinder) at high load to minimize soot, nitrogen oxide (NOx) and fuel consumption. The variables considered were the number of spray-hole nozzles per injector, including spray angle and piston bowl geometry, for a range of injection pressures. Analytical simulations were conducted for a calibrated EMD 710 Tier 2 engine and a few of the top-performing cases were studied in detail. CONVERGE™, a commercially available, advanced combustion simulation software was used in this analysis. A surface deforming tool, Sculptor®, was used to obtain various piston bowl geometries. MiniTab® was utilized for statistical analysis. Results show that optimal combinations of injection variables and piston bowl shape exist to simultaneously reduce emissions and fuel consumption compared to Tier 2 EMD 710 engines. These configurations will be further tested in a single-cylinder test cell and presented later. This investigation shows the importance of bowl geometry and spray targeting on emissions and fuel consumption for large-bore, two-stroke engines with high power density.

Comparisons of Global Heat Transfer Correlations for Conventional and High Efficiency Reciprocating Engines

Cylinder wall heat transfer is known to be an important process for internal combustion engines, and directly affects engine efficiency, performance and emissions. In some cases, up to third of the fuel energy is lost via heat transfer. Better understandings of the cylinder heat transfer should provide opportunities for improvements of engine efficiency and performance. The influence of various heat transfer correlations on engine efficiency and performance, total heat transfer and nitric oxide emissions is determined for conventional and high efficiency engines. These high efficiency engines are often based on “low temperature combustion” — and such engines have inherently lower heat transfer. At least some of the improvements associated with LTC engines are attributed to reduced heat losses. This work uses a thermodynamic engine cycle simulation and studies automotive engines. Both conventional and LTC engines are examined. As expected, engine performance and efficiency increase for reductions in the cylinder wall heat transfer. Although the heat transfer is lower for LTC engines compared to conventional engines, efficiency increases still are obtained as the cylinder wall heat transfer is reduced. In addition to the above, these assessments include the effects of the various heat transfer correlations on nitric oxide emissions and exergy destruction during the combustion process for both engines.

Assessment of Residual Mass Estimation Methods for Cylinder Pressure Heat Release Analysis of HCCI Engines With Negative Valve Overlap

Increased residual levels in Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) engines employing valve strategies such as recompression or negative valve overlap (NVO) imply that accurate estimation of residual gas fraction (RGF) is critical for cylinder pressure heat release analysis. The objective of the present work was to evaluate three residual estimation methods and assess their suitability under naturally aspirated and boosted HCCI operating conditions: i) the Simple State Equation method employs the Ideal Gas Law at exhaust valve closing (EVC); ii) the Mirsky method assumes isentropic exhaust process; and iii) the Fitzgerald method models in-cylinder temperature from exhaust valve opening (EVO) to EVC by accounting for heat loss during the exhaust process and uses measured exhaust temperature for calibration. Simulations with a calibrated and validated “virtual engine” were performed for representative HCCI operating conditions of engine speed, fuel-air equivalence ratio, NVO and intake pressure (boosting). The State Equation method always overestimated RGF by more than 10%. The Mirsky method was most robust, with average errors between 3–5%. The Fitzgerald method performed consistently better, ranging from no error to 5%, where increased boosting caused the largest discrepancies. A sensitivity study was also performed and determined that the Mirsky method was most robust to possible pressure and temperature measurement errors.

Method for Translation of In-Use Fuel Consumption and NOX Emissions Between Different Heavy-Duty Vehicle Routes

Portable emissions measurement systems (PEMS) are used to perform in-use measurements for emissions inventory and regulatory applications. PEMS data represent real world conditions more accurately than chassis dynamometer or engine dynamometer testing, arguably being the most realistic method of determining exhaust emissions over a certain driving route. However, measured emissions and fuel consumption depend strongly on both the route followed and the traffic situation that the vehicle encounters. A tool for translation of emissions and fuel consumption between diverse types of vehicle activity is required. The purpose of this paper is to assess the possibility of using route-averaged properties (kinematic parameters) for translation of fuel consumption and NOx emissions for a set of eighteen heavy-duty vehicles operating over up to eight different driving routes. A linear model developed for heavy-duty vehicle chassis dynamometer data modeling has been extended to in-use heavy-duty vehicle data. Two approaches were implemented; the first approach mimicked the prior chassis dynamometer work by incorporating average vehicle speed and average positive acceleration and the second approach incorporated road grade in a characteristic power parameter. The end result is a simple method which was shown to be accurate for estimation of fuel consumption (within 5% relative error) and NOx emissions (within 12% relative error) for over-the-road vehicles over “unseen” roads or traffic situations, without the need to perform additional over-the-road tests.

Cylinder Liner in Ductile Cast Iron for High Loaded Combustion Diesel Engines

With the increase of combustion loading and the trend to reduce engine size, there is a need for thinner but stronger wet cylinder liners. While most of the current cylinder liners are made of gray cast iron, due to its good tribological behavior, machinability performance and competitive price, alternative casting materials like compact graphite iron, ductile iron and even steel are being considered to cover the future engine demands. In this paper, a new ductile iron (DI) cast material for wet cylinder liners is presented. The material has about 60 and 70% higher limits respectively for tensile stress and fatigue resistance as compared to conventional gray cast irons, but without penalty on the tribological properties. There is also a potential improvement to avoid cavitation on the outside surface due to its higher young modulus, which also equates to a higher stiffness. The tested cylinder liners were induction hardened on the running surface and a slide hone process was used to improve wear and scuffing resistance. The liners were tested in a HDD engine with PCP of 245 bar and showed similar wear as observed with conventional cylinder liners of gray cast iron material. The DI cylinder liners were also tested in an abusive scuffing engine test without any concern. The improved mechanical properties of the described new DI material introduce possibilities to reduce liner wall thickness or increase specific output. The preliminary evaluation in this paper showed that this new material is feasible for HDD diesel engines with PCP up to 250 bar. In cases that the customer needs to increase the bore diameter for output reasons there is the potential to reduce the liner wall thickness up to 25% based on high mechanical properties (UTS, Young Modulus and fatigue strength). In both cases, it’s recommended a FEA analysis to support the new component design.