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Diesel fuels are complex mixtures of thousands of hydrocarbons. Since modeling their combustion characteristics with the inclusion of all hydrocarbon species is not feasible, a hybrid surrogate model approach is used in the present work to represent the physical and chemical properties of three different diesel fuels by using up to 13 and 4 separate hydrocarbon species, respectively. The surrogates are arrived at by matching their distillation profiles and important properties with the real fuel, while the chemistry surrogates are arrived at by using a Group Chemistry Representation (GCR) method wherein the hydrocarbon species in the physical property surrogates are grouped based on their chemical classes, and the chemistry of each class is represented by using up to two hydrocarbon species.

This study uses Fourier analysis to investigate the relationship between the heat release event and the frequency composition of pressure oscillations in a variety of combustion modes. While kinetically-controlled combustion strategies such as HCCI and RCCI offer advantages over CDC in terms of efficiency and NOX emissions, their operational range is limited by audible knock and the possibility of engine damage stemming from high pressure rise rates and oscillations. Several criteria such as peak pressure rise rate, ringing intensity, and various knock indices have been developed to quantify these effects, but they fail to capture all of the dynamics required to form direct comparisons between different engines or combustion strategies. Experiments were performed with RCCI, HCCI, and CDC on a 2.44 L heavy-duty engine at 1300 RPM, generating a significant diversity of heat release profiles.

In-cylinder blending of gasoline and diesel to achieve Reactivity Controlled Compression Ignition (RCCI) has been shown to reduce NOX and particulate matter (PM) emissions while maintaining or improving brake thermal efficiency as compared to conventional diesel combustion (CDC). The RCCI concept has an advantage over many advanced combustion strategies in that the fuel reactivity can be tailored to the engine speed and load allowing stable low-temperature combustion to be extended over more of the light-duty drive cycle load range. Varying the premixed gasoline fraction changes the fuel reactivity stratification in the cylinder providing further control of combustion phasing and pressure rise rate than the use of EGR alone. This added control over the combustion process has been shown to allow rapid engine operating point exploration without direct modeling guidance.

Advanced combustion systems that simultaneously address PM and NOx while retaining the high efficiency of modern diesel engines, are being developed around the globe. One of the most difficult problems in the area of advanced combustion technology development is the control of combustion initiation and retaining power density. During the past several years, significant progress has been accomplished in reducing emissions of NOx and PM through strategies such as LTC/HCCI/PCCI/PPCI and other advanced combustion processes; however control of ignition and improving power density has suffered to some degree - advanced combustion engines tend to be limited to the 10 bar BMEP range and under. Experimental investigations have been carried out on a light-duty DI multi-cylinder diesel automotive engine. The engine is operated in low temperature combustion (LTC) mode using 93 RON (Research Octane Number) and 74 RON fuel.

The present experimental study explored methods to obtain the maximum practical cycle efficiency with Reactivity Controlled Compression Ignition (RCCI). The study used both zero-dimensional computational cycle simulations and engine experiments. The experiments were conducted using a single-cylinder heavy-duty research diesel engine adapted for dual fuel operation, with and without piston oil gallery cooling. In previous studies, RCCI combustion with in-cylinder fuel blending using port-fuel-injection of a low reactivity fuel and optimized direct-injections of higher reactivity fuels was demonstrated to permit near-zero levels of NOx and PM emissions in-cylinder, while simultaneously realizing gross indicated thermal efficiencies in excess of 56%. The present study considered RCCI operation at a fixed load condition of 6.5 bar IMEP an engine speed of 1,300 [r/min]. The experiments used a piston with a flat profile with 18.7:1 compression ratio.

An experimental investigation of Reactivity Controlled Compression Ignition (RCCI) combustion was conducted in a small single-cylinder HSDI diesel generator engine and compared to standard Direct Injection (DI) diesel combustion to assess the validity of this combustion strategy for high efficiency operation and simultaneous NOx and soot emission reduction in cylinder for this type of engine. A Yanmar L70AE engine was modified from its unit injector mechanical fuel system to operate with a more flexible, electrically controlled common rail DI fuel system in order to achieve the high level of injection event control required for RCCI combustion. RCCI combustion was realized using split, early DI diesel fuel and Port Fuel Injected (PFI) gasoline for 25%, 50% and 75% engine loads (~3, 4.3 and 5.5 bar IMEPn). The effects of intake air temperature, DI injection timing and combustion phasing on engine efficiency, emissions and combustion stability were explored.

The paper presents the development of a novel approach to the solution of detailed chemistry in internal combustion engine simulations, which relies on the analytical computation of the ordinary differential equations (ODE) system Jacobian matrix in sparse form. Arbitrary reaction behaviors in either Arrhenius, third-body or fall-off formulations can be considered, and thermodynamic gas-phase mixture properties are evaluated according to the well-established 7-coefficient JANAF polynomial form. The current work presents a full validation of the new chemistry solver when coupled to the KIVA-4 code, through modeling of a single cylinder Caterpillar 3401 heavy-duty engine, running in two-stage combustion mode.

An investigation of high speed direct injection (DI) compression ignition (CI) engine combustion fueled with gasoline injected using a triple-pulse strategy in the low temperature combustion (LTC) regime is presented. This work aims to extend the operation ranges for a light-duty diesel engine, operating on gasoline, that have been identified in previous work via extended controllability of the injection process. The single-cylinder engine (SCE) was operated at full load (16 bar IMEP, 2500 rev/min) and computational simulations of the in-cylinder processes were performed using a multi-dimensional CFD code, KIVA-ERC-Chemkin, that features improved sub-models and the Chemkin library. The oxidation chemistry of the fuel was calculated using a reduced mechanism for primary reference fuel combustion chosen to match ignition characteristics of the gasoline fuel used for the SCE experiments.

In a recent experimental study the in-cylinder spatial distribution of mixture equivalence ratio was quantified under non-combusting conditions by planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) of a fuel tracer (toluene). The measurements were made in a single-cylinder, direct-injection, light-duty diesel engine at conditions matched to an early-injection low-temperature combustion mode. A fuel amount corresponding to a low load (3.0 bar indicated mean effective pressure) operating condition was introduced with a single injection at -23.6° ATDC. The data were acquired during the mixture preparation period from near the start of injection (-22.5° ATDC) until the crank angle where the start of high-temperature heat release normally occurs (-5° ATDC). In the present study the measured in-cylinder images are compared with a fully resolved three-dimensional CFD model, namely KIVA3V-RANS simulations.

Reactivity Controlled Compression Ignition (RCCI) is an engine combustion strategy that produces low NO and PM emissions with high thermal efficiency. Previous RCCI research has been investigated in single-cylinder heavy-duty engines. The current study investigates RCCI operation in a light-duty multi-cylinder engine at 3 operating points. These operating points were chosen to cover a range of conditions seen in the US EPA light-duty FTP test. The operating points were chosen by the Ad Hoc working group to simulate operation in the FTP test. The fueling strategy for the engine experiments consisted of in-cylinder fuel blending using port fuel-injection (PFI) of gasoline and early-cycle, direct-injection (DI) of diesel fuel. At these 3 points, the stock engine configuration is compared to operation with both the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and custom-machined pistons designed for RCCI operation.

Many recent studies have shown that the Reactivity Controlled Compression Ignition (RCCI) combustion strategy can achieve high efficiency with low emissions. However, it has also been revealed that RCCI combustion is difficult at high loads due to its premixed nature. To operate at moderate to high loads with gasoline/diesel dual fuel, high amounts of EGR or an ultra low compression ratio have shown to be required. Considering that both of these approaches inherently lower thermodynamic efficiency, in this study natural gas was utilized as a replacement for gasoline as the low-reactivity fuel. Due to the lower reactivity (i.e., higher octane number) of natural gas compared to gasoline, it was hypothesized to be a better fuel for RCCI combustion, in which a large reactivity gradient between the two fuels is beneficial in controlling the maximum pressure rise rate.

Premixed charge compression ignition (PCI) strategies offer the potential for simultaneously low NOx and soot emissions with diesel-like efficiency. However, these strategies are generally confined to low loads due to inadequate control of combustion phasing and heat-release rate. One PCI strategy, dual-fuel reactivity-controlled compression ignition (RCCI), has been developed to control combustion phasing and rate of heat release. The RCCI concept uses in-cylinder blending of two fuels with different auto-ignition characteristics to achieve controlled high-efficiency clean combustion. This study explores fuel reactivity stratification as a method to control the rate of heat release for PCI combustion. To introduce fuel reactivity stratification, the research engine is equipped with two fuel systems. A low-pressure (100 bar) gasoline direct injector (GDI) delivers iso-octane, and a higher-pressure (600 bar) common-rail diesel direct-injector delivers n-heptane.

Premixed compression ignition (PCI) strategies offer the potential for simultaneously low NOx and soot emissions and diesel-like efficiency. However, these strategies are generally confined to low loads due to difficulties controlling the combustion phasing and heat release rate. Recent experiments have demonstrated that dual-fuel reactivity-controlled compression ignition (RCCI) combustion can improve PCI combustion control and expand the PCI load range. Previous studies have explored RCCI operation using port-fuel injection (PFI) of gasoline and direct-injection (DI) of diesel fuel. In this study, experiments are performed using a light-duty, single-cylinder research engine to investigate RCCI combustion using a single fuel with the addition of a cetane improver 2-ethylhexyl nitrate (EHN). The fuel delivery strategy consists of port-fuel injection of E10 (i.e., 10% ethanol in gasoline) and direct-injection of E10 mixed with 3% EHN.

A generalized re-normalization group (RNG) turbulence model based on the local "dimensionality" of the flow field is proposed. In this modeling approach the model coefficients C₁, C₂, and C₃ are all constructed as functions of flow strain rate. In order to further validate the proposed turbulence model, the generalized RNG closure model was applied to model the backward facing step flow (a classic test case for turbulence models). The results indicated that the modeling of C₂ in the generalized RNG closure model is reasonable, and furthermore, the predictions of the generalized RNG model were in better agreement with experimental data than the standard RNG turbulence model. As a second step, the performance of the generalized RNG closure was investigated for a complex engine flow.

This paper describes numerical simulations that compare the performance of two combustion CFD models against experimental data, and evaluates the effects of combustion and spray model constants on the predicted combustion and emissions under various operating conditions. The combustion models include a Characteristic Time Combustion (CTC) model and CHEMKIN with reduced chemistry models integrated in the KIVA-3Vr2 CFD code. The diesel spray process was modeled using an updated version of the KH-RT spray model that features a gas jet submodel to help reduce numerical grid dependencies, and the effects of both the spray and combustion model constants on combustion and emissions were evaluated. In addition, the performance of two soot models was compared, namely a two-step soot model, and a more detailed model that considers soot formation from PAH precursors.

In automotive industry it has been a challenge to retain diesel-like thermal efficiency while maintaining low emissions. Numerous studies have shown significant progress in achieving low emissions through the introduction of common-rail injection systems, multiple injections and exhaust gas recirculation and by using a high octane number fuel, like gasoline, to achieve adequate premixing. On the other hand, low temperature combustion strategies, like HCCI and PCCI, have also shown promising results in terms of reducing both NOx and soot emissions simultaneously. With the increasing capacity of computers, multi-dimensional CFD engine modeling enables a reasonably good prediction of combustion characteristics and pollutant emissions, which is the motivation behind the present research. The current research effort presents an optimization study of light-duty compression ignition engine performance, while meeting the emission regulation targets.

The present experimental study explores the effects of compression ratio and piston design in a heavy-duty diesel engine operated with Reactivity Controlled Compression Ignition (RCCI) combustion. In previous studies, RCCI combustion with in-cylinder fuel blending using port-fuel-injection of a low reactivity fuel and optimized direct-injections of higher reactivity fuels was demonstrated to permit near-zero levels of NOX and PM emissions in-cylinder, while simultaneously realizing high thermal efficiencies. The present study consists of RCCI experiments at loads from 4 to 17 bar indicated mean effective pressure at engine speeds of 1,300 and 1,700 [rev/min]. The experiments used a modified piston to examine the effect of piston crevice volume, squish geometry, and compression ratio on performance and efficiency.

Many studies have demonstrated ability of low temperature combustion to yield low NOx and soot while maintaining diesel-like thermal efficiencies. Methods of achieving low temperature combustion are numerous and range from using high cetane number fuels, like diesel, with large amounts of exhaust gas recirculation, to completely premixing a high octane number fuel, like gasoline, and approaching an HCCI-like condition. Both of the aforementioned techniques have relatively short combustion duration that results in very a rapid rate of heat release, and hence very rapid rates of pressure rise. This has been one of the major challenges for premixed, low temperature combustion at mid and high load. Reactivity Controlled Compression Ignition (RCCI) has been introduced recently, which is a dual fuel partially premixed combustion concept.

Dual-fuel reactivity controlled compression ignition (RCCI) engine experiments were conducted with port fuel injection of isooctane and direct injection of n-heptane. The experiments were conducted at a nominal load of 4.75 bar IMEPg, with low isooctane equivalence ratios. Two sets of experiments explored the effects of direct injection timing with single and double injections, and multi-dimensional CFD modeling was used to explore mixture preparation and timing effects. The findings were that if fuel-liner impingement is to be avoided, double injections provide a 40% reduction in CO and HC emissions, resulting in a 1% increase in thermal efficiency. The second engine experiment showed that there is a linear relationship between reactivity (PRF number) and intake temperature. It was also found that if the premixed fuel fraction is above a certain limit, the high-temperature heat release (HTHR) can be manipulated by changing the global PRF number of the in-cylinder fuel blend.

The simulation of combustion chemistry in internal combustion engines is challenging due to the need to include detailed reaction mechanisms to describe the engine physics. Computational times needed for coupling full chemistry to CFD simulations are still too computationally demanding, even when distributed computer systems are exploited. For these reasons the present paper proposes a time scale separation approach for the integration of the chemistry differential equations and applies it in an engine CFD code. The time scale separation is achieved through the estimation of a characteristic time for each of the species and the introduction of a sampling timestep, wherein the chemistry is subcycled during the overall integration. This allows explicit integration of the system to be carried out, and the step size is governed by tolerance requirements.