A study on the formation of vertical vortex in the cylinder of an I.C. engine using CFD: Effect of intake valve closing timing

Air flows in the intake ports and cylinders of a four-valve gasoline engine were numerically analyzed by means of an original CFD code named “GTT”. In this code, the k-ε turbulence model was used and the Chakravarthy-Osher 3rd order TVD scheme was applied to the convection terms in all the governing differential equations. The validity of the code was confirmed by comparing the calculated results of the mean velocity and turbulence intensity with the measured ones by means of LDV. Using the present code, the effect of the intake valve closing timing on the formation of vertical vortex in the cylinder of a four-valve engine was investigated. It was found that the turbulence energy in the combustion chamber near compression TDC can be increased by the retardation of intake valve closing timing in the case of intense vertical vortex, because the vertical vortex is intensified by the back flow from the cylinder to the intake ports.     

Combined effect of boost pressure and injection timing on the performance and combustion of CNG in a DI spark ignition engine

There is an increasing interest in supercharging spark ignition engines operating on CNG (compressed natural gas) mainly due to its superior knock resisting properties. However, there is a penalty in volumetric efficiency when directly injecting the gaseous fuel at early and partial injection timings. The present work reports the combined effects of a small boost pressure and injection timing on performance and combustion of CNG fueled DI (direct injection) engine. The experimental tests were carried out on a 4-stroke DI spark ignition engine with a compression ratio of 14. Early injection timing, when inlet valves are still open (at 300°BTDC), and partial injection timing, in which part of the injection occurs after the inlet valves are closed (at 180°BTDC), were varied at each operating speed with variation of the boost pressure from 2.5 to 10 kPa. A narrow angle injector (NAI) was used to increase the mixing rate at engine speeds between 2000 and 5000 rpm. Similar experiments were conducted on a naturally aspirated engine and the results were then compared with that of the boosting system to examine the combined effects of boost pressure and injection timing. It was observed that boost pressure above 7.5 kPa resulted in an improvement of performance and combustion of CNG DI engine at all operating speeds. This was manifested in the faster heat release rates and mass fraction burned that in turn improved combustion efficiency of the boosting system. An increased in cylinder pressure and temperature was also observed with boost pressure compared to naturally aspirated engine. Moreover, the combustion duration was reduced due to concentration of the heat release near to the top dead center as the result of the boost pressure. Supercharging was also found to reduce the penalty of volumetric efficiency at both the simulated port and partial injection timings.     

进气参数对HCCI汽油机缸内残余废气分布的影响

在采用全可变气门机构的汽油HCCI试验机上,固定排气门升程和相位,选取了4组不同的进气门升程与相位组合,并应用Simpack软件对气体流动进行计算,同时还引入了残余废气的空间分布率和不均匀度的概念,分析了进气门相位和升程对缸内残余废气分布的影响。结果表明:改变进气门的开启定时和升程会对缸内残余废气的分布造成一定的影响,进气门开启定时对缸内残余废气不均匀度的影响比进气门开启升程对其的影响要大;进气门开启时刻越早,上止点附近残余废气不均匀度越小。     

进气门晚关机构对高增压柴油机排放与热效率的影响

以某重型柴油机为研究对象,在低速中等负荷工况,通过对比进气门晚关机构开闭两种状态对两级增压系统匹配关系的影响,分析其对柴油机排放和热效率的影响。研究表明,喷油定时(上止点后-2.5°~8.5°)和EGR率(0%~21%)恒定时,使用进气门晚关(IVCA)机构后HC排放降低,有效热效率下降。当喷油定时不变,BNOxdif与BCOdif随着EGR率的增加而减少;当EGR率保持恒定时,随着喷油定时增加,BCOdif呈现先增加后减小的趋势,拐点在4.5°~6.5°(ATDC)之间;同时,开启IVCA机构后,EGR率在15.29%~21.16%,喷油定时在-2.5°~8.5°(ATDC)范围内,Bsootdif均小于0。在保证喷油定时恒定时,EGR率越大,Bsootdif越小。当量比在0.42~0.52范围内,保持喷油策略不变,使用IVCA机构致使进气流量减少,若当量比在原状态的基础上增加超过0.07,即可克服由于流量减少导致柴油机缸内平均温度和燃烧持续期增加对NOx生成的负面影响。     

Flamelet combustion model for stratified EGR distribution in a diesel engine

Numerous research has been devoted to finding a method to simultaneously reduce NOx and soot emissions from diesel engines. In-cylinder EGR stratification is a technique that simultaneously reduces NOx and soot using a nonuniform EGR distribution in the combustion chamber. To study the potential of in-cylinder EGR stratification, a new combustion model is required that considers the non-uniform EGR distribution and the chemical kinetics. In this study, a new combustion model, the Flamelet for Stratified EGR (FSE) model, was developed to consider the non-uniform in-cylinder gas distribution based on chemical kinetics. The concept of the FSE model is based on using multiple flamelets with the multizone concept. To describe the non-uniform gas distribution, the combustion chamber is divided into several zones by oxygen concentration at the start of injection. Then, the flamelet equations are solved at the boundary of each zone. The final species mass fraction of each cell is calculated using linear interpolation between two results from the boundaries. In this paper, the FSE model was validated under in-cylinder EGR stratification conditions, and then, the potential of in-cylinder EGR stratification was studied by using the FSE model. The effect of in-cylinder EGR stratification was verified under various injection timing, engine speed, and road conditions with optimized engine geometries. The results shows simultaneous NOx and soot reductions under the stratified EGR condition.     

Scavenging a sub-chamber type CNG fueled engine

The sub-chamber type gasoline engine was suggested to be a type of clean engine, but the presence of residual gas in the sub-chamber was a serious fault. In this experimental study, the CNG direct injection method was applied to scavenge residual gas from the sub-chamber. The CVC (constant volume chamber) is divided into the sub-chamber and main-chamber and used as the main experimental apparatus. Because each combustion chamber of the CVC has an injector, the injector can be used freely, at the same time or individually. Therefore, the scavenging efficiency can be improved by changing injection times for the sub-chamber. The experimental results demonstrated that when all the fuel was injected into the sub-chamber, the combustion duration was shortened by 30% compared to that of injection into the main-chamber. Although residual gas was observed in the CVC, when the frequency of injections into the sub-chamber increased, good combustion characteristics were obtained.     

Improving pollutant emissions in diesel engines for heavy-duty transportation using retarded intake valve closing strategies

A combined theoretical and experimental study has been carried out to determine the real potential of reducing pollutant emissions in a HD diesel engine by means of retarding the intake valve closing. The effects produced by this alteration of the basic operation cycle have been examined by a preliminary modelling study, and from the obtained results, a modified camshaft was manufactured with a delayed intake valve closing of 60 crank angle degrees. Single-cylinder engine tests were carried out with this modified camshaft, and the emissions and fuel consumption were recorded. The results showed that the retarded intake valve closing can enhance the premixed combustion phase, and thus simultaneously reduce soot and NOx emissions. Moreover, the combustion process attained is extremely tolerant to exhaust gas recirculation, and by adoption of this measure, Euro-5 emissions limits can be achieved at the tested conditions without after-treatment.     

Study of an optimized gas strut layout to improve opening and closing quality

The most important factor in gas strut design is determining an optimized layout. If the layout is not optimized, vehicle operators will have a suboptimal experience when opening and closing the tailgate. A poor layout of the gas struts causes operators to work excessively when they open/close the tailgate, and vehicle owners will incur additional expenses due to deterioration in the body quality of the vehicle. Thus, an optimized gas strut layout is very important, even if it does not seem interesting. This paper describes the tailgate operation process and focuses on determining an optimized gas strut layout for opening/closing the tailgate easily.     

柴油超临界喷雾大涡数值模拟研究

随着现代内燃机燃烧室内温度和压力的不断提升,液体燃料往往处于超临界状态,与亚临界状态相比,其喷雾射流行为特征发生了很大的变化.本研究采用大涡数值模拟方法对超临界环境下的单组分和多组分柴油表征燃料喷雾射流进行数值计算,对比了不同气体状态方程预测柴油表征燃料超临界射流行为的差异性,发现PR气体状态方程对正庚烷质量分数分布的...     

米勒循环发动机缸内气体流动与燃烧分析

在某1．6L发动机的基础上进行纵向开发,以此来实现高压缩比米勒循环发动机。利用大型三维计算流体动力学（CFD）软件STAR‐CD对采用进气门晚关策略的高压缩比米勒循环发动机进行数值模拟,对比分析了采用两种几何形状活塞的米勒循环发动机的缸内气体流动模式及燃烧过程。计算结果表明：经过结构优化的活塞方案相对于原方案可以获得较优的缸内流动及燃烧特性。计算结果将为实际开发中的高压缩比米勒循环发动机的活塞选型及燃烧室优化提供理论及数据支撑。     

垃圾填埋气内燃机的研制与试验

阐述了开发垃圾填埋气内燃机的重要性,分析了垃圾填埋气中CO2成分对垃圾填埋气内燃机有关参数的影响。以2190T天然气发动机为基础,采用提高压缩比、调整点火提前角、预燃室式燃烧室、进气增压等技术措施,初步开发出2190垃圾填埋气内燃机。试验结果表明,采用上述技术措施,可改善和提高垃圾填埋气内燃机的性能指标。     

排气道EGR策略对CAI燃烧过程影响的模拟研究

通过一维流体动力学软件GT-Power与化学动力学软件CHEMKIN联合模拟发动机循环,建立乙醇燃料排气道EGR模型,研究了发动机CAI燃烧的控制因素。分析了排气道EGR策略中的排气门晚关、进气门晚开和进气门开启时刻与排气门关闭时刻同时变化3种配气定时方案对EGR率的影响。由模拟计算可知排气道EGR策略对发动机缸内的换气过程、燃烧过程有强烈的影响。模拟结果表明:随着排气门逐渐晚关,EGR率增大,进气门关闭时刻缸内温度升高;进气门晚开策略中,EGR率受进气回流的影响较大;排气门晚关、进气门晚开同时变化策略扩大了CAI燃烧的EGR率范围;适当的EGR率有利于CAI燃烧的实现,EGR率过低或过高将导致失火和爆震,在不同的转速下EGR率的分布也不相同。     

Phenomenological two-phase multi-zone combustion model for direct-injection diesel engines

This paper proposed a quasi-dimensional combustion model from a new observed two-phase penetration and combustion phenomenon in diesel spray. In the model, fuel spray was divided into two of liquid and gas phase areas. Considering the phenomenon that separation of gas and liquid phase in diesel spray occurs during spray penetration, gas and liquid area of spray are discretized respectively. Liquid phase areas play important role in fuel mass transport, however gas phase areas are the main region for fuel combustion in the model. Fuel and air mixing rate of gas phase zone is the key for the calculation of combustion rate. Validation experiments are designed by using optimal Latin hypercube design method. Comparison of calculations and experiments show that the model is able to predict diesel engine performance at different engine speeds, loads, and injection pressure and timing, and provides guidance for the design of engines.     

掺氢比对低热值气体发动机燃烧性能的影响

基于台架试验开展了发动机燃用2种典型低热值气体燃料(煤层气、沼气)掺混氢气燃烧性能的试验研究,分析了掺氢比对发动机燃烧特性参数的影响和对低热值气体发动机燃烧稳定性的影响。结果表明:低热值气体掺混氢气后,改善了低热值气体发动机的燃烧性能,最大缸压值上升,其对应的曲轴转角前移,燃料燃烧的火焰发展期大幅降低;随着掺氢比的增加,发动机平均指示压力更加集中分布在均值附近,且掺氢比越高,效果越明显。     

Efficiency improvement for an unthrottled SI engine at part load

Variable valve timing (VVT) and cylinder deactivation (CDA) are promising methods in reducing fuel consumption and emission at part load in SI engines. An SI engine which uses electromagnetic valvetrain (EMV) will eliminate flow restriction from the throttle valve and produce higher indicated mean efficiency pressure (IMEP) due to the disabling of some of the working cylinders at part load. Therefore, pumping loss can be significantly reduced at part-load conditions. In addition, duration and timing of valve events are variably controlled at different operating conditions. This contributes to the improvement of engine efficiency. In this study, a dynamic model of an unthrottled SI engine has been developed to simulate the engine cycle. The model uses an EMV system that allows valvetrain control and cylinder deactivation techniques to be carried out in simulation flexibly. The simulated results find the optimal valve timing for different engine speeds. The optimal timing of intake valve closing depends on engine speed linearly, while the intake valve opening insignificantly influences engine performance. Additionally, this study also shows that cylinder deactivation modes can be successfully applied in improving engine efficiency at different engine loads. Different cylinder deactivation strategies have been applied for the full range of engine loads. It is concluded that the two-cylinder deactivation mode (50% CDA) considerably improves fuel consumption at low engine load. Meanwhile, one-cylinder deactivation (25% CDA) is an optimal fuel economy mode at medium engine load. With proper uses of VVT and CDA strategies, the efficiency of an SI engine can be increased more than 30% at low engine load and 11.7 % at medium engine load.     

基于负阀重叠EGR策略的HCNG发动机仿真

为降低HCNG发动机NOx排放,采用负阀重叠EGR策略,利用AVL-Fire软件对HCNG发动机不同进气门开启角(θIVO)下的进气过程和燃烧过程进行了三维仿真计算,对比分析了采用负阀重叠前后发动机缸内EGR分布和燃烧过程。仿真结果表明:负阀重叠EGR策略下,排气门关闭角(θEVC)固定为340°曲轴转角不变,当θIVO为380°曲轴转角时,既可避免发生回火又能保证一定的进气量及充气效率;采用负阀重叠后,在压缩冲程后期,缸内EGR率呈梯度分布(靠近火花塞位置EGR率较低),更有利于着火及火焰传播;采用负阀重叠可降低缸内最高燃烧压力及最高温度,但会减少进入气缸的新鲜工质,降低发动机功率;通过负阀重叠实现内部EGR可降低NOx排放,但会导致着火困难,燃烧速度变慢;提高点火能量可缩短着火落后期和燃烧持续期,加快燃烧速度。     

某高速汽油机改LNG发动机动力性下降问题研究

针对直接将汽油机改为LNG发动机导致的动力性下降问题,通过GT-Power与试验标定相结合的方法,提出了一种基于单因素法的高速LNG发动机配气相位优化方法:在降低泵气损失、减少缸内废气、提高充气效率的前提下,减小气门重叠角;针对优化后的配气相位,优化设计凸轮型线;同时根据LNG燃烧特性,在控制最高燃烧温度和压力的前提下,适当将点火提前角增大,合理组织燃烧,使燃烧更加及时完全,从而提高燃烧效率。结果表明,优化后的凸轮型线满足配气机构运动学动力学要求,高速LNG发动机最大功率较之优化前提高约7.9%,最低燃料消耗率降低约5.8%,此方法可以在一定程度上解决LNG发动机的动力性下降问题。     

Development of an on-line model to predict the in-cylinder residual gas fraction by using the measured intake/exhaust and cylinder pressures

The in-cylinder RGF (residual gas fraction) of internal combustion engines for new combustion concepts, such as CAI (controlled auto ignition) or HCCI (homogenous charged compression ignition), is a major parameter that affects the combustion characteristics. Thus, measurement or prediction of the cycle-by-cycle RGF and investigation into the relation between the RGF and the combustion phenomena are critical issues. However, on-line prediction of the cycle-by-cycle RGF during engine testing is not always practical due to the requirement of expensive, fast response exhaust-gas analyzers and/or theoretical models that are just too slow for application. In this study, an on-line model that can predict the RGF of each engine cycle and cylinder during the experiment in the test cell has been developed. This enhanced model can predict the in-cylinder charge conditions of each engine cycle during the test in three seconds by using the measured dynamic pressures of the intake, exhaust, and cylinder as the boundary conditions. A Fortran77 code was generated to solve the 1-D MOC (method of characteristics). This code was linked to Labview DAQ as a form of DLL (dynamic link library) to obtain three boundary pressures for each cycle. The model was verified at various speeds and valve timings under the CAI mode by comparing the results with those of the commercial code, GT-Power.     

Effects of the throttle opening ratio and the injection timing of CNG on the combustion characteristics of a DI engine

We investigated the effects of the fuel injection timing — both for early and late injection — in conjunction with the throttle opening ratio on the fuel-air mixing characteristics, engine power, combustion stability and emission characteristics of a DI CNG spark engine and control system that had been modified and designed according to the author’s original idea. We verified that the combustion characteristics were affected by the fuel injection timing and that the engine conditions were affected by the throttle opening ratios and the rpm. The combustion characteristics were greatly improved for a complete open throttle ratio with an early injection timing and for a partial throttle ratio with a late injection timing. The combustion duration was governed by the duration of flame propagation in late injection timing scenarios and by the duration of early flame development in cases of early injection timing. As the result, the combustion duration is shortened, the lean limit is improved, the air-fuel mixing conditions are controlled, and the emissions are reduced through control of the fuel injection timing and vary according to ratio of the throttle opening.     

Enhancement of NOx-PM trade-off in a diesel engine adopting bio-ethanol and EGR

For realizing a premixed charge compression ignition (PCCI) engine, the effects of bio-ethanol blend oil and exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) on PM-NOx trade-off have been investigated in a single cylinder direct injection diesel engine with the compression ratio of 17.8. In the present experiment, the ethanol blend ratio and the EGR ratio were varied focusing on ignition delay, premixed combustion, diffusive combustion, smoke, NOx and the thermal efficiency. Very low levels of 1.5 [g/kWh] NOx and 0.02 [g/kWh] PM, which is close to the 2009 emission standards imposed on heavy duty diesel engines in Japan, were achieved without deterioration of the thermal efficiency in the PCCI engine operated with the 50% ethanol blend fuel and the EGR ratio of 0.2. It is found that this improvement can be achieved by formation of the premixed charge condition resulting from a longer ignition delay. A marked increase in ignition delay is due to blending ethanol with low cetane number and large latent heat, and due to lowering in-cylinder gas temperature on compression stroke based on the EGR. It is noticed that smoke can be reduced even by increasing the EGR ratio under a highly premixed condition.