Understanding the unsteady pressure field inside combustion chambers of compression-ignited engines using a computational fluid dynamics approach

[EN] In this article, a numerical methodology for assessing combustion noise in compression ignition engines is described with the specific purpose of analysing the unsteady pressure field inside the combustion chamber. The numerical results show consistent agreement with experimental measurements in both the time and frequency domains. Nonetheless, an exhaustive analysis of the calculation convergence is needed to guarantee an independent solution. These results contribute to the understanding of in-cylinder unsteady processes, especially of those related to combustion chamber resonances, and their effects on the radiated noise levels. The method was applied to different combustion system configurations by modifying the spray angle of the injector, evidencing that controlling the ignition location through this design parameter, it is possible to decrease the combustion noise by minimizing the resonance contribution. Important efficiency losses were, however, observed due to the injector/bowl matching worsening which compromises the performance and emissions levels.The authors want to express their gratitude to CONVERGENT SCIENCE Inc. and Convergent Science GmbH for their kind support for performing the CFD calculations using CONVERGE software.Torregrosa, AJ.; Broatch, A.; Margot, X.; Gómez-Soriano, J. (2018). Understanding the unsteady pressure field inside combustion chambers of compression-ignited engines using a computational fluid dynamics approach. International Journal of Engine Research. 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468087418803030S113Benajes, J., Novella, R., De Lima, D., & Tribotté, P. (2014). Analysis of combustion concepts in a newly designed two-stroke high-speed direct injection compression ignition engine. International Journal of Engine Research, 16(1), 52-67. doi:10.1177/1468087414562867Costa, M., Bianchi, G. M., Forte, C., & Cazzoli, G. (2014). 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Efficient two-dimensional simulation of primary reference fuel ignition under engine-relevant thermal stratification

Funding Information: We would like to acknowledge Aalto University and CSC (Finnish IT Center for Science) for providing the computational resources. Funding Information: The present study has been financially supported by Neste Corporation, Finland, and the Academy of Finland (Grant Nos. 318024, 332784, and 332835). Publisher Copyright: © 2023 Author(s).Despite vast research on engine knock, there remains a limited understanding of the interaction between reaction front propagation, pressure oscillations, and fuel chemistry. To explore this through computational fluid dynamics, the adoption of advanced numerical methods is necessary. In this context, the current study introduces ARCFoam, a computational framework that combines dynamic mesh balancing, chemistry balancing, and adaptive mesh refinement with an explicit, density-based solver designed for simulating high-speed flows in OpenFOAM. First, the validity and performance of the solver are assessed by simulating directly initiated detonation in a hydrogen/air mixture. Second, the study explores the one/two-dimensional (1D/2D) hotspot ignition for the primary reference fuel and illuminates the impact of transitioning to 2D simulations on the predicted combustion modes. The 2D hotspot simulations reveal a variety of 2D physical phenomena, including the appearance of converging shock/detonation fronts as a result of negative temperature coefficient (NTC) behavior and shock wave reflection-induced detonation. The main results of the paper are as follows: (1) NTC chemistry is capable of drastically changing the anticipated reaction front propagation mode by manipulating the local/global reactivity distribution inside and outside the hotspot, (2) subsonic hotspot ignition can induce detonation (superknock) through the generation of shock waves and subsequent wall reflections, and (3) while the 1D framework predicts the initial combustion mode within the hotspot, significant differences between 1D and 2D results may emerge in scenarios involving ignition-to-detonation transitions and curvature effect on shock/detonation front propagation.Peer reviewe

Large-eddy simulation of underexpanded natural gas jets: Extended abstract

Large-Eddy Simulations (LES) based on scale-selective implicit filtering are carried out in order to study the effect of nozzle pressure ratios on the characteristics of highly underexpanded jets. Pressure ratios ranging from 3 to 9 with Reynolds numbers of the order 70000 to 150000 are considered. The studied configuration agrees well with the classical picture of the structure of highly underexpanded jets. The coherent structures of the jet are investigated using Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD). The statistics of scalar dissipation rate are investigated in detail. Using the first POD modes, we reconstruct the scalar fields and provide the link between the dominant modes and the dissipative structures.</p

Large-eddy simulation of underexpanded natural gas jets

Large-Eddy Simulations (LES) based on scale-selective implicit filtering are carried out in order to study the effect of nozzle pressure ratios on the characteristics of highly underexpanded jets. Pressure ratios ranging from 3 to 9 with Reynolds numbers of the order 70000 to 150000 are considered. The studied configuration agrees well with the classical picture of the structure of highly underexpanded jets. The coherent structures of the jet are investigated using Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD). The statistics of scalar dissipation rate are investigated in detail. Using the first POD modes, we reconstruct the scalar fields and provide the link between the dominant modes and the dissipative structures

Modeling cycle-to-cycle variations in spark ignited combustion engines by scale-resolving simulations for different engine speeds

Here, internal combustion engine operating speed effects on combustion cycle-to-cycle variations (CCV) are numerically investigated. The recent study by Ghaderi Masouleh et al. (2018) is extended to higher engine speeds including 560, 800 and 1000 RPM. The 3D scale-resolving simulations are carried out in a spark ignited simplified engine geometry under fuel lean condition. The numerical results include the following main findings. (1) Flow velocity and turbulence levels are noted to increase with RPM. (2) For a fixed spark timing, the combustion duration in CAD time increases with RPM contrasting the respective trend in physical time. (3) The link between early flow conditions around the spark position and the whole cycle combustion rate is demonstrated and explained for all the RPM for the investigated three example cycles. (4) On average, the moderate increase of turbulent flame speed with RPM is not able to compensate the reduced physical time for combustion. Hence, the higher RPM cycles burn typically slower in CAD time. (5) On average, the increased combustion duration in CAD time for higher RPM increases the CAD period, where the spark kernel is highly prone to local turbulence fluctuations. (6) A noted effect of RPM on CCV is the stretched combustion duration in CAD time so that the effect of the initial fluctuations can persist for a longer CAD period. (7) In the present model, the velocity magnitude near the spark largely explains cycle-to-cycle variations in the investigated low RPM range.Peer reviewe

Large eddy simulation of high gas density effects in fuel sprays

The paper focuses on the physics of sprays using large eddy simulation (LES) and Lagrangian particle tracking (LPT). The LES/LPT was compared to previously unpublished experimental fuel spray data in two ambient gas densities, 39 and 115 kg/m3. The higher density case corresponds to a nearfuture engine environment with maximum cylinder pressure of the order of 300 bar, whereas the lower density case resembles typical present-day engine conditions. The accuracy of the results was quantified by calculating the resolved part of the turbulent kinetic energy and using a LES quality index analysis. The sprays produced by the LES/LPT had many similarities with the experimental sprays. On a global scale, spray penetration, spray opening angle, and spray dispersion were found to be well captured by the LES/LPT. The results indicated that the effect of subgrid scales on particle dispersion was small and hence no explicit particle dispersion model was required. Similarities were also found locally as LES/LPT produced small-scale flow structures indicated by the Q-criterion, preferential concentrations, and voids free of droplets. Finally, we propose a new gas phase mixing indicator in order to quantify turbulent mixing. Results from the novel mixing indicator suggest that for a given spray penetration, the higher ambient gas density spray yields an increased mixing rate. © 2013 by Begell House, Inc

Flow and thermal field effects on cycle-to-cycle variation of combustion

Premixed, spark ignited combustion of lean methane at fuel to air equivalence ratio of 0.58 is numerically investigated in a piston-cylinder assembly. The simplified numerical configuration is tailored to emulate the intake, compression and spark ignition processes in engines. Large-eddy simulation is employed in the core flow along with a zonal hybrid wall treatment in near-wall regions. The G-equation level-set method is used to simulate flame propagation with a detailed chemistry based laminar flame speed correlation developed herein. The main numerical findings of this paper are as follows: (1) Despite the geometrical simplicity, the present set-up is shown to exhibit relatively large cycle-to-cycle variation for the three investigated cycles. (2) The local thermodynamics and fluid dynamic conditions around the spark close to the ignition location initiate the first discrepancies between the cycles. (3) These early variations are then amplified due to the subsequent differences in the early growth of flame area. (4) The cycle-to-cycle variation in the present set-up is shown to be largely a consequence of the local flow fluctuations close to the spark position and timing, while the results indicated a less dominating role of thermal stratification on cycle-to-cycle variation. (5) The asymmetric combustion behavior was explained to be a combined effect of burning rate and convection velocity, while convection velocity proved to be the major contributor. (6) Finally, a numerical test in the present model setup indicated large spark kernels being less prone to cycle-to-cycle variations than small kernels.Peer reviewe

Large-eddy simulation of underexpanded natural gas jets: Extended abstract

Large-Eddy Simulations (LES) based on scale-selective implicit filtering are carried out in order to study the effect of nozzle pressure ratios on the characteristics of highly underexpanded jets. Pressure ratios ranging from 3 to 9 with Reynolds numbers of the order 70000 to 150000 are considered. The studied configuration agrees well with the classical picture of the structure of highly underexpanded jets. The coherent structures of the jet are investigated using Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD). The statistics of scalar dissipation rate are investigated in detail. Using the first POD modes, we reconstruct the scalar fields and provide the link between the dominant modes and the dissipative structures.Process and EnergyEnergy Technolog

A large-eddy simulation study on the influence of diesel pilot spray quantity on methane-air flame initiation

The present study is a continuation of the previous work by Kahila et al. (2019), in which a dual-fuel (DF) ignition process was numerically investigated by modeling liquid diesel-surrogate injection into a lean methane-air mixture in engine relevant conditions. Earlier, the injection duration (tinj) of diesel-surrogate exceeded substantially the characteristic autoignition time scale. Here, such a pilot spray ignition problem is studied at a fixed mass flow rate but with a varying tinj. The focus is on understanding the influence of pilot quantity on spray dilution process and low- and high-temperature chemistry. In total, ten cases are computed with multiple diesel pilot quantities by utilizing a newly developed large-eddy simulation/finite-rate chemistry solver. The baseline spray setup corresponds to the Engine Combustion Network (ECN) Spray A configuration, enabling an extensive validation of the present numerical models and providing a reference case for the DF computations. Additionally, experimental results from a single-cylinder laboratory engine are provided to discuss the ignition characteristics in the context of a real application. The main results of the present study are: (1) reducing tinj introduces excessive dilution of the DF mixture, (2) dilution lowers the reactivity of the DF mixture, leading to delayed high-temperature ignition and slow overall methane consumption, (3) low enough pilot quantity (tinj < 0.3 ms) may lead to very long ignition delay times, (4) cumulative heat release is dominated by low/high-temperature chemistry at low/high tinj values, (5) analysis of the underlying chemistry manifold implies that the sensitivity of ignition chemistry on mixing is time-dependent and connected to the end of injection time, and 6) long ignition delay times at very low tinj values can be decreased by decreasing injection pressure.Peer reviewe