Homogeneous charge compression ignition of binary fuel blends

The present experimental investigation aims to understand the homogeneous combustion chemistry associated with binary blends of three surrogate components for practical fuels, including toluene, isooctane, and diisobutylene-1 (DIB-1). Specifically, high-pressure autoignition characteristics of the three neat fuel components as well as the fuel blends of toluene + isooctane and toluene + DIB-1 are studied herein. Experiments are conducted in a rapid compression machine at compressed pressures varying from 15 to 45 bar and under low to intermediate temperatures. To obtain insights into interactions among fuels, the relative proportion of the two neat fuels in the reactive mixtures is systematically varied, while the total fuel mole fraction and equivalence ratio are kept constant. Experimental results demonstrate that ignition delays for neat toluene are more than an order of magnitude longer than those for neat isooctane. Whereas DIB-1 has ignition delays shorter than those for isooctane at higher temperatures, at temperatures lower than 820 K DIB-1 shows a longer ignition delay. Although the ignition delays of binary blends lie in between the two extremes of neat components, the variation of ignition delay with the relative fuel proportion is seen to be highly nonlinear. Especially, a small addition of isooctane or DIB-1 to toluene can result in greatly enhanced reactivity. In addition, the effect of DIB-1 addition to toluene is more significant than the effect of isooctane addition. Furthermore, in the compressed temperature range from 820 to 880 K, ignition delay of the toluene + isooctane blend shows greater sensitivity to temperature than that of isooctane.     

Co-oxidation in the auto-ignition of primary reference fuels and n-heptane/toluene blends

Auto-ignition of fuel mixtures was investigated both theoretically and experimentally to gain further understanding of the fuel chemistry. A homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engine was run under different operating conditions with fuels of different RON and MON and different chemistries. Fuels considered were primary reference fuels and toluene/n-heptane blends. The experiments were modeled with a single-zone adiabatic model together with detailed chemical kinetic models. In the model validation, co-oxidation reactions between the individual fuel components were found to be important in order to predict HCCI experiments, shock-tube ignition delay time data, and ignition delay times in rapid compression machines. The kinetic models with added co-oxidation reactions further predicted that an n-heptane/toluene fuel with the same RON as the corresponding primary reference fuel had higher resistance to auto-ignition in HCCI combustion for lower intake temperatures and higher intake pressures. However, for higher intake temperatures and lower intake pressures the n-heptane/toluene fuel and the PRF fuel had similar combustion phasing.     

Simultaneous high-speed visualization of soot luminosity and OH1 chemiluminescence of alternative-fuel combustion in a HSDI diesel engine under realistic operating conditions

Crude-oil independent liquid fuels are currently being developed for future HSDI diesel engines. Thus, it is the primary objective of the present study to characterize the combustion of selected reference fuels under realistic conditions, in particular with regard to flame lift-off and soot formation. The experiments are conducted in an optically-accessible and a comparable all-metal HSDI engine at part load, using n-decane, n-heptane, 1-decanol, and conventional diesel, respectively, as the fuel. Two image-intensified, high-speed CMOS cameras are employed simultaneously, in order to visualize the highly unsteady combustion process in terms of OH¹ radicals and soot, respectively, with relatively high temporal resolution and data throughput.The results demonstrate the influence of the fuel properties, in particular cetane number and volatility, on mixture formation, ignition, combustion, soot formation, and emissions. Relatively high soot emissions for n-decane can basically be explained by its short ignition delay, small lift-off length, and lack of fuel-bound oxygen. The soot formation process seems to be more important for the relative engine-out emissions than soot oxidation under the investigated conditions. Furthermore, a very strong correlation between the ignition delay and the flame lift-off length (during injection) is found. This indicates that lift-off stabilization is essentially determined by autoignition.     

Influence of operating parameters on performance and emissions for a compression-ignition engine fueled by hydrogen/diesel mixtures

Hydrocarbon exhaust emissions are mainly recognized as a consequent of carbon-based fuel combustion in compression ignition (CI) engines. Alternative fuels can be coupled with hydrocarbon fuels to control the pollutant emissions and improve the engine performance. In this study, different parameters that influence the engine performance and emissions are illustrated with more details. This numerical work was carried out on a dual-fuel CI engine to study its performance and emission characteristics at different hydrogen energy ratios. The simulation model was run with diesel as injected fuel and hydrogen, along with air, as inducted fuel. Three-dimensional CFD software for numerical simulations was implemented to simulate the direct-injection CI engine. A reduced-reaction mechanism for n-heptane was considered in this work instead of diesel. The Hiroyasu-Nagel model was presented to examine the rate of soot formation inside the cylinder. This work investigates the effect of hydrogen variation on output efficiency, ignition delay, and emissions. More hydrogen present inside the engine cylinder led to lower soot emissions, higher thermal efficiency, and higher NO_x emissions. Ignition timing delayed as the hydrogen rate increased, due to a delay in OH radical formation. Strategies such as an exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) method and diesel injection timing were considered as well, due to their potential effects on the engine outputs. The relationship among the engine outputs and the operation conditions were also considered.     

Two-stage ignition in HCCI combustion and HCCI control by fuels and additives

A Rapid Compression Machine (RCM) has been used to study the effects of fuel structure and additives on the Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) of pure hydrocarbon fuels and mixtures under well-determined conditions. Such information is needed for understanding ignition delays and burning rates in HCCI engines, and “knock” in spark-ignition engines. It is also valuable for validating basic chemical kinetic models of hydrocarbon oxidation. The pure fuels used in the study include: paraffins (n-heptane, iso-octane), cyclic paraffins (cyclohexane, methylcyclohexane), olefins (1-heptene, 2-heptene, 3-heptene), cyclic olefins (cyclohexene, 1,3-cyclohexadiene), and an aromatic hydrocarbon (toluene). The additives were 2-ethyl-hexyl-nitrate and di-tertiary-butyl-peroxide. It was found that fuels which contained the structure -CH₂-CH₂-CH₂- showed two-stage ignition with relatively short ignition delays and that the ignition delay depended strongly on the energy released during the first-stage. For primary reference fuel mixtures (n-heptane + iso-octane), the ignition delay depended only on the molar ratio of n-heptane to oxygen and was independent of the octane number (percent iso-octane). On the other hand, the burn rate depended on both these parameters, which uniquely determine the equivalence ratio. When additives were included in the air/fuel mixtures, the ignition delay was reduced but the burn rate was not affected. These results indicate that for HCCI combustion, the ignition delay and the burn rate can be independently controlled using various fuel mixtures and additives.     

The autoignition in air of some binary fuel mixtures containing hydrogen

A predictive model for the autoignition and combustion of fuel–air mixtures employing detailed full chemical schemes was used to examine the autoignition and combustion characteristics in air of hydrogen in the presence of a range of common fuels. These included the gaseous fuels: methane, carbon monoxide and the higher hydrocarbon fuel n-heptane. A wide range of relative concentrations of the fuel components in the binary mixtures with hydrogen for different values of initial mixture temperature and pressure were considered under constant volume adiabatic conditions. It is shown that the presence of hydrogen in turn with these fuels can bring about complex changes to the autoignition behaviour of the fuel mixtures that show hydrogen may behave as an accelerant or retardant depending on the fuel, initial temperature, pressure and equivalence ratio considered.     

HCCI experiments with gasoline surrogate fuels modeled by a semidetailed chemical kinetic model

Experiments in a homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engine have been conducted with four gasoline surrogate fuel blends. The pure components in the surrogate fuels consisted of n-heptane, isooctane, toluene, ethanol and diisobutylene and fuel sensitivities (RON-MON) in the fuel blends ranged from two to nine. The operating conditions for the engine were pin=0.1 and 0.2 MPa, Tin=80 and 250 °C, ?=0.25 in air and engine speed 1200 rpm. A semidetailed chemical kinetic model (142 species and 672 reactions) for gasoline surrogate fuels, validated against ignition data from experiments conducted in shock tubes for gasoline surrogate fuel blends at 1.0?p?5.0 MPa, 700?T?1200 K and ?=1.0, was successfully used to qualitatively predict the HCCI experiments using a single zone modeling approach. The fuel blends that had higher fuel sensitivity were more resistant to autoignition for low intake temperature and high intake pressure and less resistant to autoignition for high intake temperature and low intake pressure. A sensitivity analysis shows that at high intake temperature the chemistry of the fuels ethanol, toluene and diisobutylene helps to advance ignition. This is consistent with the trend that fuels with the least Negative Temperature Coefficient (NTC) behavior show the highest octane sensitivity, and become less resistant to autoignition at high intake temperatures. For high intake pressure the sensitivity analysis shows that fuels in the fuel blend with no NTC behavior consume OH radicals and acts as a radical scavenger for the fuels with NTC behavior. This is consistent with the observed trend of an increase in RON and fuel sensitivity. With data from shock tube experiments in the literature and HCCI modeling in this work, a correlation between the reciprocal pressure exponent on the ignition delay to the fuel sensitivity and volume percentage of single-stage ignition fuel in the fuel blend was found. Higher fuel sensitivity and single-stage fuel content generally gives a lower value of the pressure exponent. This helps to explain the results obtained while boosting the intake pressure in the HCCI engine.     

Validation of a ternary gasoline surrogate in a CAI engine

This experimental study validated in a piston engine the European gasoline surrogate from [Pera and Knop, Fuel 96 (2012) 59–69], consisting of a ternary mixture of n-heptane, iso-octane, and toluene. Because only the gas phase properties of gasoline were emulated with the selected mixture, this validation was deliberately limited to port fuel injection operating points. By considering engine operation under controlled autoignition (CAI) combustion mode, the validation focused on fuel autoignition characteristics (autoignition delay and rate of heat release). A direct comparison of gasoline and its surrogate over the entire CAI operating range permitted a comprehensive evaluation of the surrogate adequacy under purely kinetically controlled combustion mode. The acquired data include autoignition timings, rate of heat release, exhaust gas temperatures, pollutant emissions, operating point stability, and operating ranges under CAI combustion mode. Good agreement between gasoline and its surrogate was obtained for all quantities, indicating similar behavior for the two fuels. Experimental results showed that a mixture of 13.7 mol% n-heptane, 42.9 mol% iso-octane, and 43.4 mol% toluene is a satisfactory surrogate for a European unleaded gasoline with a research octane number of 95, conforming to the EN 228 specification.     

二甲醚发动机燃烧特性的试验与数值模拟研究

在一台直喷式压燃发动机上开展了二甲醚燃烧与排放特性的试验与数值模拟研究。测量了二甲醚在高压燃油泵内的泄漏量及其与发动机转速之间的定量关系,并就发动机分别燃用二甲醚和柴油的运转性能进行了对比试验研究,结果表明,发动机燃用二甲醚要比燃用柴油具有更好的性能与排放水平;另从二甲醚低温着火的化学反应机理人手,开展了其自燃着火过程的数值模拟研究,进而建立了计及温度、压力和燃空当量比因素的DME滞燃期数据库;通过将该数据库与发动机循环模拟程序相耦合,对DME发动机的运转性能进行了变参数预测分析,预测结果与试验结果吻合较好。     

活性添加剂对高辛烷值燃料HCCI着火时刻与燃烧速率的影响

为研讨活性添加剂过氧化二叔丁基(DTBP)对高辛烷值燃料以HCCI燃烧模式运行时的放热率特征、着火时刻、燃烧持续期和排放特性的影响,在一台单缸发动机上,在辛烷值为90(RON90)(90％的异辛烷和10％的正庚烷)的混合燃料中加入不同比例(0～4％)的DTBP,考察5种燃料在1800r／min下不同负荷时的燃烧特性和排放特性．实验结果表明：RON90中没有添加剂时,只能在高温、高负荷下才能以HCCI燃烧模式运行;在其中加入少量的DTBP后,RON90实现HCCI燃烧的工况范围向低温低负荷下大幅度拓展．各种燃料的HCCI燃烧冷焰反应发生在850K左右,到950K结束,进入负温度系数区(NTC),在1125K左右突破NTC区而发生热着火．随DTBP含量增加,系统温度达到冷焰反应和热焰反应的化学时间尺度缩短,因此着火时刻提前,燃烧持续期缩短,特别是提高了低负荷下的燃烧速率．添加剂使各种当量比下未燃碳氢(UHC)和一氧化碳(CO)排放显著改善,NOx排放也保持在很低的水平．     

HCCI experiments with toluene reference fuels modeled by a semidetailed chemical kinetic model

A semidetailed mechanism (137 species and 633 reactions) and new experiments in a homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engine on the autoignition of toluene reference fuels are presented. Skeletal mechanisms for isooctane and n-heptane were added to a detailed toluene submechanism. The model shows generally good agreement with ignition delay times measured in a shock tube and a rapid compression machine and is sensitive to changes in temperature, pressure, and mixture strength. The addition of reactions involving the formation and destruction of benzylperoxide radical was crucial to modeling toluene shock tube data. Laminar burning velocities for benzene and toluene were well predicted by the model after some revision of the high-temperature chemistry. Moreover, laminar burning velocities of a real gasoline at 353 and 500 K could be predicted by the model using a toluene reference fuel as a surrogate. The model also captures the experimentally observed differences in combustion phasing of toluene/n-heptane mixtures, compared to a primary reference fuel of the same research octane number, in HCCI engines as the intake pressure and temperature are changed. For high intake pressures and low intake temperatures, a sensitivity analysis at the moment of maximum heat release rate shows that the consumption of phenoxy radicals is rate-limiting when a toluene/n-heptane fuel is used, which makes this fuel more resistant to autoignition than the primary reference fuel. Typical CPU times encountered in zero-dimensional calculations were on the order of seconds and minutes in laminar flame speed calculations. Cross reactions between benzylperoxy radicals and n-heptane improved the model predictions of shock tube experiments for ?=1.0 and temperatures lower than 800 K for an n-heptane/toluene fuel mixture, but cross reactions had no influence on HCCI simulations.     

Ignition properties of methane/hydrogen mixtures in a rapid compression machine

We investigate changes in the combustion behavior of methane, the primary component of natural gas, upon hydrogen addition by characterizing the autoignition behavior of methane/hydrogen mixtures in a rapid compression machine (RCM). Ignition delay times were measured under stoichiometric conditions at pressures between 15 and 70 bar, and temperatures between 950 and 1060 K; the hydrogen fraction in the fuel varied between 0 and 1. The ignition delay times in methane/hydrogen mixtures are well correlated with the ignition delay times of the pure fuels by using a simple mixing relation reported in the literature. Simulations of the ignition delay times using various chemical mechanism are also reported. The mechanism given by Petersen et al. shows excellent agreement with the measurements for all mixtures studied. Initial results on fuel–lean mixtures show a modest effect of equivalence ratio on the delay times.     

燃料辛烷值对HCCI燃烧特征和排放特性的影响

将一台4缸高速轻型柴油机中的一缸改装，使其具有独立的进排气系统和燃油供给系统，研究了参比燃料及其混合物在均质压燃过程中的着火时刻、燃烧速率和NOx、UHC、CO排放．考察了正庚烷、异辛烷和各种不同比例的混合物在常温、常压下各种负荷的燃烧特性．研究发现：随燃料辛烷值增加，第一阶段着火时刻推迟，燃烧持续期缩短，第一阶段反应结束时的压力升高量和温度升高量减少；第一阶段的累积放热量取决于燃料中高十六烷值燃料的浓度；第二阶段的着火时刻与第一阶段着火时刻呈线性关系；第二阶段燃烧持续期随当量比的增加而减小，且随辛烷值增加而延长；随燃料十六烷值和当量比增加，CO和UHC排放大幅度改善．     

Numerical and experimental investigation of hydrogen enrichment in a dual-fueled CI engine: A detailed combustion,performance, and emission discussion

An effort has been made to simulation a compression ignition engine using hydrogen-diesel, hydrogen-diethyl ether, hydrogen-n-butanol and base diesel fuel as alternatives. The engine measured for the simulation is a single cylinder, four stroke, direct injection, diesel engine. During the simulation the injection timing and engine speed are kept constant at 23°bTDC and 1500 rpm. Diesel-RK, a piece of commercial software employed for this project, can forecast an engine emission, performance and combustion characteristics. The examination of the anticipated outcomes reveals that adding hydrogen to diesel leads in a small increase in efficiency and fuel consumption. With the usage of hydrogen-blend fuels, the majority of dangerous pollutants in exhaust are greatly decreased. The shortest ignition delay was consistently given by 5H295DEE. The lowest CO₂ (578.61 g/kWh) was given by 5H295nB at CR 19.5. Hydrogen blends increase NOx emissions more than base diesel fuel. In the case of smoke and particulate matter emission, the reduce tendency was seen.     

Applicability of high dimensional model representation correlations for ignition delay times of n-heptane/air mixtures

It is difficult to predict the ignition delay times for fuels with the two-stage ignition tendency because of the existence of the nonlinear negative temperature coefficient (NTC) phenomenon at low temperature regimes. In this paper, the random sampling-high dimensional model representation (RS-HDMR) methods were employed to predict the ignition delay times of n-heptane/air mixtures, which exhibits the NTC phenomenon, over a range of initial conditions. A detailed n-heptane chemical mechanism was used to calculate the fuel ignition delay times in the adiabatic constant-pressure system, and two HDMR correlations, the global correlation and the stepwise correlations, were then constructed. Besides, the ignition delay times predicted by both types of correlations were validated against those calculated using the detailed chemical mechanism. The results showed that both correlations had a satisfactory prediction accuracy in general for the ignition delay times of the n-heptane/air mixtures and the stepwise correlations exhibited a better performance than the global correlation in each subdomain. Therefore, it is concluded that HDMR correlations are capable of predicting the ignition delay times for fuels with two-stage ignition behaviors at low-to-intermediate temperature conditions.     

Experimental investigations on combustion, performance and emissions characteristics of neat karanji biodiesel and its methanol blend in a diesel engine

The increased focus on alternative fuels research in the recent years are mainly driven by escalating crude oil prices, stringent emission norms and the concern on clean environment. The processed form of vegetable oil (biodiesel) has emerged as a potential substitute for diesel fuel on account of its renewable source and lesser emissions. The experimental work reported here has been carried out on a turbocharged, direct injection, multi-cylinder truck diesel engine fitted with mechanical distributor type fuel injection pump using biodiesel-methanol blend and neat karanji oil derived biodiesel under constant speed and varying load conditions without altering injection timings. The results of the experimental investigation indicate that the ignition delay for biodiesel-methanol blend is slightly higher as compared to neat biodiesel and the maximum increase is limited to 1 deg. CA. The maximum rate of pressure rise follow a trend of the ignition delay variations at these operating conditions. However, the peak cylinder pressure and peak energy release rate decreases for biodiesel-methanol blend. In general, a delayed start of combustion and lower combustion duration are observed for biodiesel-methanol blend compared to neat biodiesel fuel. A maximum thermal efficiency increase of 4.2% due to 10% methanol addition in the biodiesel is seen at 80% load and 16.67 s⁻¹ engine speed. The unburnt hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emissions are slightly higher for the methanol blend compared to neat biodiesel at low load conditions whereas at higher load conditions unburnt hydrocarbon emissions are comparable for the two fuels and carbon monoxide emissions decrease significantly for the methanol blend. A significant reduction in nitric oxide and smoke emissions are observed with the biodiesel-methanol blend investigated.     

Physicochemical effects of varying fuel composition on knock characteristics of natural gas mixtures

The physicochemical origins of how changes in fuel composition affect autoignition of the end gas, leading to engine knock, are analyzed for a natural gas engine. Experiments in a lean-burn, high-speed medium-BMEP gas engine are performed using a reference natural gas with systematically varied fractions of admixed ethane, propane and hydrogen. Thermodynamic analysis of the measured non-knocking pressure histories shows that, in addition to the expected changes arising from changes in the heat capacity of the mixture, changes in the combustion duration relative to the compression cycle (the combustion “phasing”) caused by variations in burning velocity dominate the effects of fuel composition on the temperature (and pressure) of the end gas. Thus, despite the increase in the heat capacity of the fuel–air mixture with addition of ethane and propane, the change in combustion phasing is actually seen to increase the maximum end-gas temperature slightly for these fuel components. By the same token, the substantial change in combustion duration upon hydrogen addition strongly increases the end-gas temperature, beyond that caused by the decrease in mixture heat capacity. The impact of these variations in in-cylinder conditions on the knock tendency of the fuel have been assessed using autoignition delay times computed using SENKIN and a detailed chemical mechanism for the end gas under the conditions extant in the engine. The results show that the ignition-promoting effect of hydrogen is mainly the result of the increase in end-gas temperature and pressure, while addition of ethane and propane promotes ignition primarily by changing the chemical autoignition behavior of the fuel itself. Comparison of the computed end-gas autoignition delay time, based on the complete measured pressure history of each gas, with the measured Knock-Limited Spark Timing shows that the computed delay time accurately reflects the measured knock tendency of the fuels.     

正庚烷/生物柴油双燃料的部分均质压燃燃烧

研究了气口喷射正庚烷、缸内直喷生物柴油的部分均质充量压缩着火(HCCI)燃烧的燃烧特性和排放特性.研究表明,整个燃烧过程旱现三阶段放热模式.随着正庚烷预混合比例的增加,第一阶段和第二阶段最大放热率呈线性增加,从而导致生物柴油着火时的温度和压力明显上升.预混合正庚烷的引入使得放热中心时刻和放热结束时刻明显提前,燃烧持续时间缩短.至于排放方面,预混合比例的增加会引起CO和HC排放的增加,并且增加幅度逐渐减小;在中小当量比下,预混合比例增加会使得NOx排放线性降低,但是对碳烟排放却几乎没有影响;在较大当量比下,预混合比例增加可以使得NOx和碳烟排放同时大幅度下降,并且在20%～25%之间可以得到最佳的NOx和碳烟降低效果.     

Mechanism reduction for multicomponent surrogates: A case study using toluene reference fuels

Strategies and recommendations for performing skeletal reductions of multicomponent surrogate fuels are presented, through the generation and validation of skeletal mechanisms for a three-component toluene reference fuel. Using the directed relation graph with error propagation and sensitivity analysis method followed by a further unimportant reaction elimination stage, skeletal mechanisms valid over comprehensive and high-temperature ranges of conditions were developed at varying levels of detail. These skeletal mechanisms were generated based on autoignition simulations, and validation using ignition delay predictions showed good agreement with the detailed mechanism in the target range of conditions. When validated using phenomena other than autoignition, such as perfectly stirred reactor and laminar flame propagation, tight error control or more restrictions on the reduction during the sensitivity analysis stage were needed to ensure good agreement. In addition, tight error limits were needed for close prediction of ignition delay when varying the mixture composition away from that used for the reduction. In homogeneous compression-ignition engine simulations, the skeletal mechanisms closely matched the point of ignition and accurately predicted species profiles for lean to stoichiometric conditions. Furthermore, the efficacy of generating a multicomponent skeletal mechanism was compared to combining skeletal mechanisms produced separately for neat fuel components; using the same error limits, the latter resulted in a larger skeletal mechanism size that also lacked important cross reactions between fuel components. Based on the present results, general guidelines for reducing detailed mechanisms for multicomponent fuels are discussed.     

HCCI甲醇发动机的燃烧与排放特性

在Ricardo Hydra单缸四冲程发动机上利用内部废气再循环策略实现了甲醇燃料的HCCI燃烧.通过调整HCCI发动机的过量空气系数和转速,研究了HCCI甲醇发动机的燃烧和排放特性.结果表明,甲醇燃料的HCCI燃烧不同于普通汽油,其着火更早、燃烧更快,但在低转速时,平均指示压力相对较低.甲醇燃料可以在更稀的混合气条件下实现HCCI燃烧.在相同的转速和过量空气系数下,甲醇燃料的NOx和HC排放低于汽油.