In the present study, a semiempirical, zero-dimensional multizone model, developed by the authors, is implemented on two automotive diesel engines, a heavy-duty truck engine and a light-duty passenger car engine with pilot fuel injection, for various operating conditions including variation of power/speed, EGR rate, fuel injection timing, fuel injection pressure, and boost pressure, to verify its capability for Nitric Oxide (NO) emission prediction. The model utilizes cylinder&#x2019;s basic geometry and engine operating data and measured cylinder pressure to estimate the apparent combustion rate which is then discretized into burning zones according to the calculation step used. The requisite unburnt charge for the combustion in the zones is calculated using the zone equivalence ratio provided from a new empirical formula involving parameters derived from the processing of the measured cylinder pressure and typical engine operating parameters. For the calculation of NO formation, the extended Zeldovich mechanism is used. From this approach, the model is able to provide the evolution of NO formation inside each burned zone and, cumulatively, the cylinder&#x2019;s NO formation history. As proven from the investigation conducted herein, the proposed model adequately predicts NO emissions and NO trends when the engine settings vary, with low computational cost. These encourage its use for engine control optimization regarding NOx abatement and real-time/model-based NOx control applications.

Nicholas S. Savva

Dimitrios T. Hountalas

Evaluation of a Semiempirical, Zero-Dimensional, Multizone Model to Predict Nitric Oxide Emissions in DI Diesel Engines&#x2019; Combustion Chamber

Yields of liquid and gaseous products of the filtration combustion of cellulose, wood, peat, coal, and rubber have been investigated. Experiments have shown that the gasification of solid fuels in the regime with superadiabatic heating yields liquid hydrocarbons with quantity and quality, which are close to those produced using other methods, for example, by pyrolysis. But in this case no additional energy supply is needed to carry out the gasification process. The low calorific combustible gas, which forms in this process, contains a substantial quantity of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, which are components of syngas.

E. A. Salgansky

V. M. Kislov

S. V. Glazov

M. V. Salganskaya

Formation of Liquid Products at the Filtration Combustion of Solid Fuels

A mathematical analysis of laminar premixed spray flame propagation with heat loss is presented. The analysis makes use of a distributed approximation of the Arrhenius exponential term in the reaction rate expression and leads to an implicit expression for the laminar burning velocity dependent on the spray-related parameters for the fuel, gas-related parameters and the intensity of the heat losses. It is shown that the initial droplet load, the value of the evaporation coefficient, and the initial size distribution are the spray-related parameters which exert an influence on the onset of extinction. The combination of these parameters governs the manner in which the spray heat loss is distributed spatially and it is this feature that is the main factor, when taken together with volumetric heat loss, which determines the spray&#x2019;s impact on flame propagation and extinction.

G. Kats

J. B. Greenberg

On Laminar Rich Premixed Polydisperse Spray Flame Propagation with Heat Loss

To meet more stringent norms and standards concerning engine performances and emissions, engine manufacturers need to develop new technologies enhancing the nonpolluting properties of the fuels. In that sense, the testing and development of alternative fuels such as biodiesel are of great importance. Fuel testing is nowadays a matter of experimental and numerical work. Researches on diesel engine’s fuel involve the use of surrogates, for which the combustion mechanisms are well known and relatively similar to the investigated fuel. Biodiesel, due to its complex molecular configuration, is still the subject of numerous investigations in that area. This study presents the comparison of four biodiesel surrogates, methyl-butanoate, ethyl-butyrate, methyl-decanoate, and methyl-9-decenoate, in a 0D phenomenological combustion model. They were investigated for in-cylinder pressure, thermal efficiency, and <svg xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" style="vertical-align:-3.2911pt" id="M1" height="12.0575pt" version="1.1" viewBox="-0.0498162 -8.7664 25.1463 12.0575" width="25.1463pt"><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,0,0)"><path id="g121-76" d="M719 650H483V622C553 619 576 606 581 560C585 532 588 487 588 394V148H585L167 650H20V622C67 618 88 610 109 585C127 562 129 557 129 484V264C129 173 126 124 123 93C118 44 92 31 35 28V0H272V28C204 32 181 44 176 95C173 124 170 172 170 264V515H172L598 -9H629V394C629 487 631 532 635 563C639 606 663 619 719 622V650Z"/></g><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,9.568,0)"><path id="g121-77" d="M381 665C170 665 44 498 44 318C44 125 188 -15 369 -15C552 -15 703 117 703 333C703 534 550 665 381 665ZM359 629C491 629 601 517 601 306C601 114 502 21 390 21C249 21 146 158 146 346S248 629 359 629Z"/></g><g transform="matrix(.0091,0,0,-0.0091,19.279,3.132)"><path id="g50-121" d="M545 403C545 425 527 451 498 451C448 451 400 404 312 286L290 341C262 412 246 451 219 451C182 451 138 404 92 345L112 323C152 368 169 378 181 378C192 378 201 359 216 321L257 214C184 115 142 69 113 69C102 69 93 73 88 79S78 89 68 89C47 89 24 61 24 40C24 8 49 -12 75 -12C125 -12 175 31 271 175L312 64C330 15 357 -12 382 -12C421 -12 475 35 515 98L496 121C466 88 439 62 420 62C402 62 384 92 363 147L325 247C349 280 374 309 397 333C422 361 446 381 462 381C471 381 481 374 488 366C493 360 499 357 505 357C521 357 545 380 545 403Z"/></g></svg> emissions. Experiments were performed on a six-cylinder turbocharged DI diesel engine fuelled by methyl ester (MEB) and ethyl ester (EEB) biodiesel from wasted frying oil. Results showed that, among the four surrogates, methyl butanoate presented better results for all the studied parameters. In-cylinder pressure and thermal efficiency were predicted with good accuracy by the four surrogates. <svg xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" style="vertical-align:-3.2911pt" id="M2" height="12.0575pt" version="1.1" viewBox="-0.0498162 -8.7664 25.1463 12.0575" width="25.1463pt"><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,0,0)"><use xlink:href="#g121-76"/></g><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,9.568,0)"><use xlink:href="#g121-77"/></g><g transform="matrix(.0091,0,0,-0.0091,19.279,3.132)"><use xlink:href="#g50-121"/></g></svg> emissions were well predicted for methyl butanoate but for the other three gave approximation errors over 50%.

Claude Valery Ngayihi Abbe

Raidandi Danwe

Robert Nzengwa

Comparative Numerical Study of Four Biodiesel Surrogates for Application on Diesel 0D Phenomenological Modeling

In order to compare solar-hydrogen and the most used fossil fuels, the evaluation of the &#x201c;external&#x201d; costs related to their use is required. These costs involve the environmental damage produced by the combustion reactions, the health problems caused by air pollution, the damage to land from fuel mining, and the environmental degradation linked to the global warming, the acid rains, and the water pollution. For each fuel, the global cost is determined as sum of the market price and of the correspondent external costs. In order to obtain a quantitative comparison, the quality of the different combustion reactions and the efficiency of the technologies employed in the specific application sector have to be considered adequately. At this purpose, an entropic index that considers the degree of irreversibility produced during the combustion process and the degradation of surroundings is introduced. Additionally, an environmental index that measures the pollutants released during the combustions is proposed. The combination of these indexes and the efficiency of the several technologies employed in four energy sectors have allowed the evaluation of the total costs, highlighting an economic scenario from which the real advantages concerning the exploitation of different energy carrier are determined.

Giovanni Nicoletti

Roberto Bruno

Natale Arcuri

Gerardo Nicoletti

Real Costs Assessment of Solar-Hydrogen and Some Fossil Fuels by means of a Combustion Analysis

For reduction of engine-out emissions and improvement of fuel economy, closed-loop control of the combustion process has been explored and documented by many researchers. In the closed-loop control, the engine control parameters are optimized according to the estimated instantaneous combustion metrics provided by the combustion sensing process. Combustion sensing process is primarily composed of two aspects: combustion response signal acquisition and response signal processing. As a number of different signals have been employed as the response signal and the signal processing techniques can be different, this paper did a review work concerning the two aspects: combustion response signals and signal processing techniques. In-cylinder pressure signal was not investigated as one of the response signals in this paper since it has been studied and documented in many publications and also due to its high cost and inconvenience in the application.

Libin Jia

Jeffrey D. Naber

Jason R. Blough

Review of Sensing Methodologies for Estimation of Combustion Metrics

Most of the thermodynamic modeling of gasification for updraft gasifier uses one process of decomposition (decomposition of fuel). In the present study, a thermodynamic model which uses two processes of decomposition (decomposition of fuel and char) is used. The model is implemented in modification of updraft gasifier with external recirculation of pyrolysis gas to the combustion zone and the gas flowing out from the side stream (reduction zone) in the updraft gasifier. The goal of the model obtains the influences of amount of recirculation pyrolysis gas fraction to combustion zone on combustible gas and tar. The significant results of modification updraft are that the increases amount of recirculation of pyrolysis gas will increase the composition of H2 and reduce the composition of tar; then the composition of CO and CH4 is dependent on equivalence ratio. The results of the model for combustible gas composition are compared with previous study.

Fajri Vidian

Adi Surjosatyo

Yulianto Sulistyo Nugroho

Thermodynamic Model for Updraft Gasifier with External Recirculation of Pyrolysis Gas

Pulse detonation engines (PDEs) are new exciting propulsion technologies for future propulsion applications. The operating cycles of PDE consist of fuel-air mixture, combustion, blowdown, and purging. The combustion process in pulse detonation engine is the most important phenomenon as it produces reliable and repeatable detonation waves. The detonation wave initiation in detonation tube in practical system is a combination of multistage combustion phenomena. Detonation combustion causes rapid burning of fuel-air mixture, which is a thousand times faster than deflagration mode of combustion process. PDE utilizes repetitive detonation wave to produce propulsion thrust. In the present paper, detailed review of various experimental studies and computational analysis addressing the detonation mode of combustion in pulse detonation engines are discussed. The effect of different parameters on the improvement of propulsion performance of pulse detonation engine has been presented in detail in this research paper. It is observed that the design of detonation wave flow path in detonation tube, ejectors at exit section of detonation tube, and operating parameters such as Mach numbers are mainly responsible for improving the propulsion performance of PDE. In the present review work, further scope of research in this area has also been suggested.

K. M. Pandey

Pinku Debnath

Review on Recent Advances in Pulse Detonation Engines

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Journal of Combustion publishes research focusing on on all aspects of combustion science, both practical and theoretical. This includes, fuels, dentonators, flames and fires, energy transfer, physical phenomena and combustion chemistry.

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Journal of Combustion publishes research focusing on on all aspects of combustion science, both practical and theoretical. This includes, fuels, dentonators, flames and fires, energy transfer, physical phenomena and combustion chemistry.

Journal of Combustion