A Detailed Modeling Study of Radiative Heat Transfer in A Heavy-Duty Diesel Engine

In recent years, the importance of radiative heat transfer in combustion has been increasingly recognized. Detailed models have become available that accurately represent the complex spectral radiative properties of reacting gas mixtures and soot particles, and new methods have been developed to solve the radiative transfer equation (RTE). At the same time, the trends toward higher operating pressures and higher levels of exhaust-gas recirculation in compression-ignition engines, together with the demand for higher quantitative accuracy from in-cylinder CFD models, has led to renewed interest in radiative transfer in engines. Here an in-depth investigation of radiative heat transfer is performed for a heavy-duty diesel truck engine over a range of operating conditions. Results from 10 different combinations of turbulent combustion models, spectral radiation property models, and RTE solvers are compared to provide insight into the global influences of radiation on energy redistribution in the combustion chamber, heat losses, and engine-out pollutant emissions (NO and soot). Also, the relative importance of the individual contributions of molecular gas versus soot radiation, the spectral model, the RTE solver, and unresolved turbulent fluctuations in composition and temperature (turbulence–radiation interactions – TRI) are investigated. Local instantaneous temperatures change by as much as 100 K with consideration of radiation, but the global influences of radiation on heat losses and engine-out emissions are relatively small (in the 5–10% range). Molecular gas radiation dominates over soot radiation, consideration of spectral properties is essential for accurate predictions of reabsorption, a simple RTE solver (a first-order spherical harmonics – P1 – method) is sufficient for the conditions investigated, and TRI effects are small (less than 10%). While the global influences of radiation are relatively small, it is nevertheless desirable to explicitly account for radiation in in-cylinder CFD. To that end, a simplified CFD radiation model has been proposed, based on the findings reported here

Soot and Spectral Radiation Modeling for High-Pressure Turbulent Spray Flames

A transported probability density function (PDF) method and a photon Monte Carlo/line-by-line (PMC/LBL) spectral model are exercised to generate physical insight into soot processes and spectral radiation characteristics in transient high-pressure turbulent n-dodecane spray flames, under conditions that are relevant for compression-ignition piston engines. PDF model results are compared with experimental measurements and with results from a locally well-stirred reactor (WSR) model that neglects unresolved turbulent fluctuations in composition and temperature. Computed total soot mass and soot spatial distributions are highly sensitive to the modeling of unresolved turbulent fluctuations. To achieve reasonable agreement between model and experiment and to capture the highly intermittent nature of soot in the turbulent flame, it is necessary to accurately represent mixing and the low diffusivity of soot particles. This is accomplished in the PDF framework using a mixing model that enforces locality in the gas-phase composition space, while not mixing the transported soot variables. The results suggest that mixing is at least as important as kinetics in controlling soot formation and evolution in high-pressure turbulent flames. Regarding radiation, radiant fractions and global influences of radiation in these flames are relatively small. Nevertheless, an examination of spectral radiative heat transfer provides valuable insight into the nature and modeling of radiation in high-pressure turbulent combustion systems. There are complex spectral interactions that are revealed using PMC/LBL. CO2 dominates the total radiative emission and reabsorption, but most of the emitted CO2 radiation is reabsorbed before reaching the walls. On the other hand, most of the emitted soot radiation reaches the walls, but soot radiation is a small contribution overall; H2O dominates the radiation that reaches the walls. Global turbulence–radiation interactions (TRI) effects are small, but radiative emission from soot increases by approximately a factor two when TRI are considered. Radiative transfer contributes both to energy redistribution in the vessel and to wall heat losses. The results suggest that a simple model that considers soot radiation and the principal CO2 and H2O spectral bands might be sufficient to capture the key influences of radiation in engine CFD. It is expected that these findings will contribute to the development of truly predictive CFD models for engines and other high-pressure turbulent combustion systems

Observation of inclined EeV air showers with the radio detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory

International audienceWith the Auger Engineering Radio Array (AERA) of the Pierre Auger Observatory, we have observed the radio emission from 561 extensive air showers with zenith angles between 60o and 84o. In contrast to air showers with more vertical incidence, these inclined air showers illuminate large ground areas of several km2 with radio signals detectable in the 30 to 80 MHz band. A comparison of the measured radio-signal amplitudes with Monte Carlo simulations of a subset of 50 events for which we reconstruct the energy using the Auger surface detector shows agreement within the uncertainties of the current analysis. As expected for forward-beamed radio emission undergoing no significant absorption or scattering in the atmosphere, the area illuminated by radio signals grows with the zenith angle of the air shower. Inclined air showers with EeV energies are thus measurable with sparse radio-antenna arrays with grid sizes of a km or more. This is particularly attractive as radio detection provides direct access to the energy in the electromagnetic cascade of an air shower, which in case of inclined air showers is not accessible by arrays of particle detectors on the ground