Refinement and Validation of the Thermal Stratification Analysis: A post-processing methodology for determining temperature distributions in an experimental HCCI engine

Author(s):  
Benjamin Lawler ◽  
Joshua Lacey ◽  
Nicolas Dronniou ◽  
Jeremie Dernotte ◽  
John E. Dec ◽  
...  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Lawler ◽  
Mark Hoffman ◽  
Zoran Filipi ◽  
Orgun Güralp ◽  
Paul Najt

Naturally occurring thermal stratification significantly impacts the characteristics of HCCI combustion. The in-cylinder gas temperature distributions prior to combustion dictate the ignition phasing, burn rates, combustion efficiency, and unburned hydrocarbon and CO emissions associated with HCCI operation. Characterizing the gas temperature fields in an HCCI engine and correlating them to HCCI burn rates is a prerequisite for developing strategies to expand the HCCI operating range. To study the development of thermal stratification in more detail, a new analysis methodology for post-processing experimental HCCI engine data is proposed. This analysis tool uses the autoignition integral in the context of the mass fraction burned curve to infer information about the distribution of temperature that exists in the cylinder prior to combustion. An assumption is made about the shape of the charge temperature profiles of the unburned gas during compression and after combustion starts elsewhere in the cylinder. Secondly, it is assumed that chemical reaction rates proceed very rapidly in comparison to the staggering of ignition phasing from thermal stratification. The autoignition integral is then coupled to the mass fraction burned curve to produce temperature-mass distributions that are representative of a particular combustion event. Due to the computational efficiency associated with this zero-dimensional calculation, a large number of zones can be simulated at very little computational expense. The temperature-mass distributions are then studied over a coolant temperature sweep. The results show that very small changes to compression heat transfer can shift the distribution of mass and temperature in the cylinder enough to significantly affect HCCI burn rates and emissions.


Author(s):  
Benjamin Lawler ◽  
Mark Hoffman ◽  
Zoran Filipi ◽  
Orgun Güralp ◽  
Paul Najt

Naturally occurring thermal stratification significantly impacts the characteristics of homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) combustion. The in-cylinder gas temperature distributions prior to combustion dictate the ignition phasing, burn rates, combustion efficiency, and unburned hydrocarbon and CO emissions associated with HCCI operation. Characterizing the gas temperature fields in an HCCI engine and correlating them to HCCI burn rates is a prerequisite for developing strategies to expand the HCCI operating range. To study the development of thermal stratification in more detail, a new analysis methodology for postprocessing experimental HCCI engine data is proposed. This analysis tool uses the autoignition integral in the context of the mass fraction burned curve to infer information about the distribution of temperature that exists in the cylinder prior to combustion. An assumption is made about the shape of the charge temperature profiles of the unburned gas during compression and after combustion starts elsewhere in the cylinder. Second, it is assumed that chemical reaction rates proceed very rapidly in comparison to the staggering of ignition phasing from thermal stratification. The autoignition integral is then coupled to the mass fraction burned curve to produce temperature-mass distributions that are representative of a particular combustion event. Due to the computational efficiency associated with this zero-dimensional calculation, a large number of zones can be simulated at very little computational expense. The temperature-mass distributions are then studied over a coolant temperature sweep. The results show that very small changes to compression heat transfer can shift the distribution of mass and temperature in the cylinder enough to significantly affect HCCI burn rates and emissions.


Author(s):  
Robert E. Spall ◽  
Brandon Wilson ◽  
Eric Callister

The thermal behavior of Utah Lake, situated in northern Utah, is modeled over a spring-to-fall period using environmental forcing data from the year 2007. Results compare favorably with previously obtained data for temperature distributions around the lake during midsummer 2007. During the spring months, when experimental data is not available, the model predicts strong and rapid variations in the water temperature, which correlate well with significant storms on the lake. A heat balance shows that the largest components of heat fluxes into and out of the lake are due to short wave solar and evaporative cooling, respectively. Both numerical and experimental results also indicate that, due to the shallow nature of the lake and occurrence of significant wind events, thermal stratification is never achieved.


2017 ◽  
Vol 169 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-140
Author(s):  
Michał GĘCA ◽  
Jacek HUNICZ ◽  
Piotr JAWORSKI

Despite the fact that HCCI engines are distinguished by mixture homogeneity, some degree of stratification always appears inside a combustion chamber. It is especially applied to residual effect engines utilizing negative valve overlap. Mixture stratification is a result of the imperfect mixing of fresh air with trapped residuals. Direct fuel injection introduces stratification as well, due to fuel vaporization. As a consequence, the temperature within the combustion chamber is uneven. Thermal stratification affects auto-ignition timing and combustion evolution in a high extent. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a degree of thermal stratification in HCCI engine utilizing negative valve overlap. Investigations were performed using three-dimensional CFD model of the combustion system, made by using AVL FIRE software. Simulations were realized for various timings of fuel injection into the cylinder. It was found that fuel injection timing had a significant effect on the thermal stratification and resulting auto-ignition timing.


Author(s):  
Necdet Altuntop ◽  
Veysel Ozceyhan ◽  
Yusuf Tekin ◽  
Sibel Gunes

In this study the effect of obstacle geometry and its position on thermal stratification in solar powered domestic hot water storage tanks are numerically investigated. The goal of this study is to obtain higher thermal stratification and supply hot water for usage as long as possible. The temperature distributions are presented for three different obstacle geometries (1, 2 and 3) and six different distances (f = 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7 and 0.8 mm) from the bottom of the hot water storage tank. The numerical method is validated using both experimental and numerical results available in the literature. It is observed from the results that the thermal stratification increases with the increasing obstacle distance from the bottom of the hot water storage tank for obstacle 1 and 3. The obstacle 2 provides less thermal stratification than the obstacles 1 and 3. As a result, in a duration of 30 minutes, the obstacle 3 provides the best thermal stratification for the distance of f = 0.8 mm from the bottom of the hot water storage tank.


Author(s):  
Benjamin Lawler ◽  
Satyum Joshi ◽  
Joshua Lacey ◽  
Orgun Guralp ◽  
Paul Najt ◽  
...  

Thermal stratification of the unburned charge in the cylinder has a profound effect on the burn characteristics of a Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) engine. Experimental data was collected in a single cylinder, gasoline-fueled, HCCI engine in order to determine the effects of combustion chamber geometry and wall conditions on thermal stratification and HCCI combustion. The study includes a wall temperature sweep and variations of piston top surface material, piston top geometry, and compression ratio. The data is processed with a traditional heat release routine, as well as a post-processing tool termed the Thermal Stratification Analysis, which calculates an unburned temperature distribution from heat release. For all of the sweeps, the 50% burned point was kept constant by varying the intake temperature. Keeping the combustion phasing constant ensures the separation of the effects of combustion phasing from the effects of wall conditions alone on HCCI and thermal stratification. The results for the wall temperature sweep show no changes to the burn characteristics once the combustion phasing has been matched with intake temperature. This result suggests that the effects of wall temperature on HCCI are mostly during the gas-exchange portion of the cycle. The ceramic coatings were able to very slightly decrease the thermal width, increase the burn rate, increase the combustion efficiency, and decrease the cumulative heat loss. The combustion efficiency increased with the lower surface area to volume ratio piston and the lower compression ratio. Lastly, the compression ratio comparison showed a noticeable effect on the temperature distribution due to the effect of pressure on ignition delay, and the variation of TDC temperature required to match combustion phasing.


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