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Wiebe functions, analytical equations that estimate the fuel mass fraction burned (MFB) during combustion, have been effective at describing spark-ignition (SI) engine combustion using gasoline fuels. This study explores if the same methodology can be extended for SI combustion with syngas, a gaseous fuel mixture composed of H2, CO, and CO2, and anode-off gas; the latter is an exhaust gas mixture emitted from the anode of a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell, containing H2, CO, H2O, and CO2. For this study, anode off-gas is treated as a syngas fuel diluted with CO2 and vaporized water. Combustion experiments were run on a single-cylinder, research engine using syngas and anode-off gas as fuels. One single Wiebe function and three double Wiebe functions were fitted and compared with the MFB profile calculated from the experimental data. It was determined that the SI combustion process of both the syngas and the anode-off gas could be estimated using a governing Wiebe function. While the detailed double Wiebe function had the highest accuracy, a reduced double Wiebe function is capable of achieving comparable accuracy. On the other hand, a single Wiebe function is not able to fully capture the combustion process of a SI engine using syngas and anode off-gas.

Reactivity controlled compression ignition (RCCI) combustion has previously been proposed as a method to achieve high fuel conversion efficiency and reduce engine emissions. A single-fuel RCCI combustion strategy can have decreased fuel system complexity by using a reformate fuel for port fuel injection and the parent fuel (diesel) for direct injection. This paper presents a one-dimensional computational model of a compression ignition engine with single-fuel RCCI. A Wiebe function is used to predict the combustion process by representing the mass fraction burned (MFB) on a crank angle resolved basis. One single-Wiebe function (SWF) and two double-Wiebe functions(DWFs) were fitted to experimentally derive MFB data using the least-square method. The fitted results were compared with MFBs calculated from experimental data to verify the accuracy. The SWF did not fully capture the MFB curve with high fidelity while the detailed DWF captured the MFB curve within a root mean square error of 1.4%. The reduced double-Wiebe function (RDWF) also resulted in a predicted combustion profile with similar accuracy. Hence, the RDWF was used in a GT-power thermodynamic study to understand the effects of the low-temperature heat release (LTHR) fraction and combustion phasing on combustion characteristics. At optimum phasing of 5–10 crank angle degree after the top dead center, increasing the LTHR fraction from 20% to 60% resulted in the fuel conversion efficiency increasing from 39.5% to 41.1%, thus suggesting that the reformate fuel-based RCCI strategy is viable to unlock improved combustion performance.

Recent modifications to the University of Michigan rapid compression facility (UM RCF) were made to allow direct imaging of flame/autoignition interactions using compression to initiate autoignition chemistry and a spark plug to initiate simultaneous flame development. The experimental data in this study quantify the effects of spark-initiated flame propagation on autoignition of iso-octane/O2/inert gas mixtures at well-defined initial conditions. The work leveraged the controlled environment of the UM RCF, in which temperature, pressure, and composition are nominally uniform and well-known at the end of compression. Flame initiation by the spark plasma, flame propagation, and autoignition were monitored using high-speed optical imaging of chemiluminescence and in situ pressure time histories. End-of-compression temperatures from TEOC = 942–1012 K were considered, while the end-of-compression pressures were nominally constant within the range of PEOC = 7.8–9.5 atm. The fuel-to-O2 molar equivalence ratio was varied from ϕ = 0.20–0.99 and dilution, defined as the molar ratio of inert gases to O2 in the reactant mixture, was varied from inert:O2 = 3.76–7.47 to determine the effects on flame/autoignition interactions as well as to identify the lean flammability limit of the mixtures as a function of dilution. Flame propagation is generally expected to decrease autoignition delay times by compression heating the unburned portion of the mixture. The effect of flame propagation was maximized in these experiments by igniting the mixtures early during the autoignition process. Later spark timings had small to negligible effect on the autoignition delay time. Dilution had significant effect on the lean flammability limits, increasing from a lean limit of ϕ = 0.35 at air levels of dilution to ϕ = 0.65 at inert:O2 dilution of 7.5. The flammability limit was well correlated with the theoretical adiabatic flame temperature of each experiment. The propagation rates of flames successfully initiated by the spark plasma were determined from the imaging data and were ∼1 to 12 m/s. The magnitude of the propagation rates and the effect on the time integrated temperature scaled with the energy content of the mixtures as indicated by the theoretical adiabatic flame temperature.

A technique which uses trained neural nets to model the compressor in the context of a turbocharged diesel engine simulation is introduced. This technique replaces the usual interpolation of compressor maps with the evaluation of a smooth mathematical function. Following presentation of the methodology, the proposed neural net technique is validated against data from a truck type, 6-cylinder 14-liter diesel engine. Furthermore, with the introduction of an additional parameter, the proposed neural net can be trained to simulate an entire family of compressors. As a demonstration, a family of compressors of different sizes is represented with a single neural net model which is subsequently used for matching calculations with intercooled and nonintercooled engine configurations at different speeds. This novel approach readily allows for evaluation of various options within a wide range of possible compressor configurations prior to prototype production. It can also be used to represent the variable geometry machine regardless of the method used to vary compressor characteristics. Hence, it is a powerful design tool for selection of the best compressor for a given diesel engine system and for broader system optimization studies.

A flexible model for computing one-dimensional, unsteady manifold gas dynamics in single-cylinder spark-ignition and diesel engines has been developed. The numerical method applies an explicit, finite volume formulation and a shock-capturing total variation diminishing scheme. The numerical model has been validated against the method of characteristics for valve flows without combustion prior to coupling with combustion engine simulations. The coupling of the gas-dynamics model with single-cylinder, spark-ignition and diesel engine modules is accomplished using the graphical MATLAB-SIMULINK environment. Comparisons between predictions of the coupled model and measurements shows good agreement for both spark ignition and diesel engines. Parametric studies demonstrating the effect of varying the intake runner length on the volumetric efficiency of a diesel engine illustrate the model use.

A non-linear, transient, single-cylinder diesel engine simulation has been developed for predictions of instantaneous engine speed and torque. The foundation of our model is a physically based, thermodynamic, steady-state diesel engine simulation (Assanis, D. N., and Heywood, J. B., 1986, “Development and Use of a Computer Simulation of the Turbocompounded Diesel System for Engine Performance and Component Heat Transfer Studies,” SAE Paper 860329), which has been comprehensively validated for various engine designs. The transient extension of the parent model represents the diesel engine as a non-linear, dynamic system. The instantaneous crank-shaft speed is determined from the solution of the engine-external load dynamics equation, where the engine torque is tracked on a crank-angle basis. Validation of the transient model during rapid engine acceleration shows that both the cyclic fluctuations in the instantaneous crank-shaft speed line and the overall engine response are in good agreement with experimental measurements. Predictions of single-cylinder engine starting reveals the importance of selecting the proper value of the engine moment of inertia in order to control the amplitude of angular velocity fluctuations and ensure stable engine operation. It is further shown that the variation in the inertial forces on the reciprocating components with speed has a dramatic impact on the instantaneous torque profile, and consequently on angular velocity fluctuations.

A thermodynamic simulation is used to study the effects of oxygen-enriched intake air on the performance and nitrogen oxide (NO) emissions of a locomotive diesel engine. The parasitic power of the air separation membrane required to supply the oxygen-enriched air is also estimated. For a given constraint on peak cylinder pressure, the gross and net power output of an engine operating under different levels of oxygen enrichment are compared with those obtained when a high-boost turbocharged engine is used. A 4 percent increase in peak cylinder pressure can result in an increase in net engine power of approximately 10 percent when intake air with an oxygen content of 28 percent by volume is used and fuel injection timing is retarded by 4 degrees. When the engine is turbocharged to a higher inlet boost, the same increase in peak cylinder pressure can improve power by only 4 percent. If part of the significantly higher exhaust enthalpies available as a result of oxygen enrichment is recovered, the power requirements of the air separator membrane can be met, resulting in substantial net power improvements. Oxygen enrichment with its attendant higher combustion temperatures, reduces emissions of particulates and visible smoke but increases NO emissions (by up to three times at 26 percent oxygen content). Therefore, exhaust gas after-treatment and heat recovery would be required if the full potential of oxygen enrichment for improving the performance of locomotive diesel engines is to be realized.

High-speed imaging combined with the optical access provided by a research engine offer the ability to directly image and compare ignition and combustion phenomena of various fuels. Such data provide valuable insight into the physical and chemical mechanisms important in each system. In this study, crank-angle resolved imaging data were used to investigate homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) operation of a single-cylinder four-valve optical engine fueled using gasoline, indolene, and iso-octane. Lean operating limits were the focus of the study with the primary objective of identifying different modes of reaction front initiation and propagation for each fuel. HCCI combustion was initiated and maintained over a range of lean conditions for various fuels, from 0.69 to 0.27. The time-resolved imaging and pressure data show that high rates of heat release in HCCI combustion correlate temporally to simultaneous, intense volumetric blue emission. Lower rates of heat release are characteristic of spatially resolved blue emission. Gasoline supported leaner HCCI operation than indolene. Iso-octane showed a dramatic transition into misfire. Similar regions of preferential ignition were identified for each of the fuels considered using the imaging data. DOI: 10.1115/1.2898720