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Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) three-dimensional (3D) computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of gaseous emissions from combustion engines are very demanding due to the complex geometry, the emissions formation mechanisms, and the transient processes inside the cylinders. The validation of emission simulation is challenging because of modeling simplifications, fundamental differences from reality (e.g., fuel surrogates), and difficulty in the comparison with measured emission values, which depend on the measuring position. In this study, detailed gaseous emission data were acquired for a spark ignition (SI) direct-injection (DI) single-cylinder engine (SCE) fueled with a toluene reference fuel (TRF) surrogate to allow precise comparison with simulations. Multiple devices in different sampling locations were used for the measurement of average emission concentration, as well as hydrocarbon (HC) cycle- and species-resolved values. A RANS 3D-CFD methodology to predict gaseous pollutants was developed and validated with this experimental database. For precise validation, the emission comparison was performed in the exact same locations as the pollutants were measured. Additionally, the same surrogate fuel used in the measurements was defined in the simulation. To focus on the emission prediction, the pressure and heat release traces were reproduced by calibrating a G-equation flame propagation model. The differences of simulation results with measurements were within 4% for CO2, while for O2 and NO, the deviations were within 26%. CO emissions were generally overestimated probably because of inaccuracies in mixture formation. For HC emissions, deviations up to 50% were observed possibly due to inexact estimation of the influence of the piston-ring crevice geometry. The reasonable prediction accuracy in the RANS context makes the method a useful framework for the analysis of emissions from SI engines, as well as for mechanism validation under engine relevant conditions.

This study investigates the formation of by-product species during flame spray synthesis (SFS) of superparamagnetic maghemite (γ-Fe2O3) nanoparticles. Four samples are synthesized by utilizing two standardized burner types (SpraySyn1 and SpraySyn2) and varying the iron (III) nonahydrate (INN) concentration (0.1 M and 0.2 M) in the precursor feed while using ethanol and 2-ethylhexanoic acid as solvent. Conducting complementary powder analysis revealed a predominant presence of carboxylates and carbonates as by-product species (~14–18 wt.%), while no strong indications for elemental carbon and precursor/solvent residues can be found. Carbonates/carboxylates are located on particle surfaces, and the particles’ surface loadings by these species are independent of the precursor concentration but depend on burner type, with SpraySyn2 exhibiting lower values, indicating a more complete combustion for this burner. Through time-resolved thermophoretic sampling, we further demonstrate that carbon forms temporally in the visible flame center when using SpraySyn1. Since carbon solely forms momentarily within large flame pulses and decomposes further downstream, its temporal formation is of minor relevance for the final particle purity. However, its local co-existence aside from γ-Fe2O3 in the flame has potential to bias in situ diagnostics.

A single-hole n-dodecane spray flame is studied in a Large-Eddy Simulation (LES) framework under Diesel-relevant conditions using a Multiple Representative Interactive Flamelets (MRIF) combustion model. Diesel spray combustion is strongly affected by the mixture formation process, which is dominated by several physical processes such as the flow within the injector, break-up of the liquid fuel jet, evaporation and turbulent mixing with the surrounding gas. While the effects of nozzle-internal flow and primary breakup are captured within tuned model parameters in traditional Lagrangian spray models, an alternative approach is applied in this study, where the initial droplet conditions and primary fuel jet breakup are modeled based on results from highly resolved multiphase simulations with resolved interface. A highly reduced chemical mechanism consisting of 57 species and 217 reactions has been developed for n-dodecane achiving a good computational performance at solving the chemical reactions. The MRIF model, which has demonstrated its capability of capturing combustion and pollutant formation under typical Diesel conditions in Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) simulations is extended for the application in LES. In the standard RIF combustion model, representative chemistry conditioned on mixture fraction is solved interactively with the flow. Subfilter-scale mixing is modeled by the scalar dissipation rate. While the standard RIF model only includes temporal changes of the scalar dissipation rate, the spatial distribution can be accounted for by extending the model to multiple flamelets, which also enables the possibility of capturing different fuel residence times. Overall, the model shows good agreement with experimental data regarding both, low and high temperature combustion characteristics. It is shown that the ignition process and pollutant formation are affected by turbulent mixing. First, a cool flame is initiated at approximately stoichiometric mixture and propagates towards the rich side. Hence, heat and radicals are transported away from the most reactive mixture and thus the ignition is delayed. At the same time, the transported heat and radicals increase the reactivity of rich mixtures, which strongly affects the CO formation. NO was found to increase compared to the no transport case due to enhanced mixing, which is related to a broader high-temperature zone and the additional transport of oxygen from lean into high-temperature regions.

Chemical species tomography enables non-invasive measurements of temperatures and concentrations in gas phase processes. In this work, we demonstrate the recently introduced linear hyperspectral absorption tomography (LHAT) on an axisymmetric counterflow burner used for speciation studies of Oxyfuel combustion. As LHAT reconstructs spectrally resolved local absorption coefficient spectra, the physical plausibility of these reconstructed spectra degrades with an over-regularization of the tomographic problem. As presented in this work, this behavior can be employed in a novel regularization parameter choice method based on the residuals of local spectroscopic fits to the reconstructed spectra. After determining the regularization parameter, the reconstructions of the temperature and water mole fraction profiles of different flames are compared to numerical simulations, showing a good agreement.

Accurate computations of turbulent flows using the Large-Eddy Simulation (LES) technique with an appropriate SubFilter Scale (SFS) model require low artificial dissipation such that the physical energy cascade process is not perturbed by numerical artifacts. To realize this in practical simulations, energy-conserving numerical schemes and high-quality computational grids are needed. If unstructured meshes are used, the latter requirement often makes grid generation for complex geometries very difficult. Structured Cartesian grids offer the advantage that uncertainties in mesh quality are reduced to choosing appropriate resolution. However, two intrinsic challenges of the structured approach are local mesh refinement and representation of complex geometries. In this work, the effectiveness of numerical methods which can be expected to reduce both drawbacks is assessed in engine flows, using a multi-physics inhouse code. The overset grid approach is utilized to arbitrarily combine grid patches of different spacing to a flow domain of complex shape during mesh generation. Walls are handled by an Immersed Boundary (IB) method, which is combined with a wall function to treat underresolved boundary layers. A statistically stationary Spark Ignition (SI) engine port flow is simulated at Reynolds numbers typical for engine operation. Good agreement of computed and measured integral flow quantities like overall pressure loss and tumble number is found. A comparison of simulated velocity fields to Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) measurement data concludes the validation of the enhanced numerical framework for both mean velocity and turbulent fluctuations. The performance of two SFS models, the dynamic Smagorinsky model with Lagrangian averaging along pathlines and the coherent structure model, is tested on different grids. Sensitivity of pressure loss and tumble ratio to the wall treatment and mesh refinement is presented. It is shown that increased wall friction introduced by applying a wall model is overcompensated by some secondary effects, which lead to an overall reduction of pressure loss in the investigated engine geometry. Finally, dynamics of the statistically stationary valve jets are analyzed using Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD). Two distinct flow patterns are identified and the relevance for Cycle-to-Cycle Variations (CCV) is discussed.

Premixed hydrogen flames are prone to thermodiffusive instabilities due to strong differential diffusion effects. Reproducing these instabilities in large eddy simulations (LES), where their effects are only partially resolved, is challenging. Combustion models that account for differential diffusion effects have been developed for laminar flames, but to use them in LES, models for the turbulence/flame subfilter interactions are required. Modelling of the subfilter interactions is particularly challenging as instabilities synergistically interact with turbulence resulting in a strong enhancement of the turbulent flame speed. In this work, a combustion model for LES, which accounts for thermodiffusive instabilities and their interactions with turbulence, is presented. In the first part, an a priori analysis based on a direct numerical simulation (DNS) of a turbulent hydrogen/air jet flame is discussed. Progress variable, progress variable variance and mixture fraction are rigorously identified as suitable model input parameters, and an LES combustion model based on pre-tabulated unstretched premixed flamelets with varying equivalence ratio is formulated. Subfilter closure is achieved via a presumed probability density function and a significant reduction of modelling errors is achieved with the presented model. In the second part, LES of the DNS configuration are performed for an a posteriori analysis. The presented combustion model shows significant improvements in predicting the flame length and local phenomena, such as super-adiabatic temperature, compared with combustion models that either neglect differential diffusion effects or consider these effects but neglect the subfilter closure. Two variants of the model formulation with a water- or hydrogen-based progress variable have been tested, yielding overall similar predictions.

The goal of this study is to provide a window into the physics of extinction and reignition via three-dimensional simulations of non-premixed combustion in isotropic decaying turbulence using one-step global reaction and neglecting density variations. Initially non-premixed fields of fuel and oxidant are developing in a turbulent field. Due to straining, the scalar dissipation rate is initially increasing and its fluctuations create extinguished regions on the stoichiometric surface. Later in the process, the stoichiometric surface again becomes uniformly hot. Besides using Eulerian data, this research applies flame element tracking and investigates the time history of individual points (‘flame elements’) along the stoichiometric surface. The main focus of the study is the discussion of the different scenarios of reignition. This paper identifies three major scenarios: independent flamelet scenario, reignition via edge (triple) flame propagation, and reignition through engulfment by a hot neighbourhood. The results give insight into the role different scenarios play in the reignition process, reveal the physical processes associated with each scenario, and provide the relative frequency of reignition for each scenario.

The tangential strain rate in premixed flames impacts significantly the flame surface area generation and thus the combustion process. Studies on incompressible isotropic turbulence have revealed that the mean tangential strain rate at material and iso-scalar surfaces is positive and exhibits a universal value when normalized by the Kolmogorov time. This is associated with the preferential alignment of the surface normal with the most compressive principal strain rate. The present study investigates such effects in premixed hydrogen and iso-octane flame kernels using direct numerical simulations. It is shown that the normalized mean tangential strain rate of the investigated flames has a very similar value compared with the incompressible flows. However, in the reaction zone, the flame surface normal aligns preferentially with the most extensive principal strain rate. Furthermore, this alignment depends on the reaction progress variable and the Lewis number, while the tangential strain rate remains independent of these parameters. Such counter-intuitive behaviour is systematically investigated by decomposing the effects of dilatation and residual solenoidal turbulence. It is found that the solenoidal turbulence influences significantly the tangential strain rate. A general effect of turbulence on the tangential strain rate is identified, which is consistent with incompressible flows and independent of the Lewis number and the reaction progress variable. This is a remarkable finding indicating that models of the tangential strain rate developed based on incompressible flows apply also to premixed flames with different Lewis numbers, and, for the modelling, only the solenoidal turbulence should be considered.

The continuously increasing demand for better fuel efficiency, low emissions, and high performance has led to downsizing and down-speeding in gasoline engines. High power density in spark ignition (SI) gasoline engines is impeded by abnormal combustion, namely, knock, megaknock, and preignition. The objective of the present work is the experimental investigation of knock in gasoline engines and the development of a procedure for knock severity quantifi cation and analysis. The methodology relies on several existing techniques such as Maximum Amplitude Pressure Oscillation (MAPO) and digital signal processing to investigate individual cycle knock characteristics. The novelty of the approach is in combining characteristic knock parameters with advanced signal processing tools to identify and analyze outlier cycles. The multi-outlier filtering approach enables the detection of abnormal knocking cycles as well as identifying cycles with distinct combustion behavior. By incorporating a Continuous-Wavelet Transform (CWT) in addition to Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), the amplitude and frequency of the pressure oscillations can be analyzed on a Crank Angle resolved basis. The spark sweep investigation permitted analysis under heavy knocking conditions in which knock occurred very frequently with the most advanced spark timing leading to a 300 cycle-averaged MAPO of 6.9 bar and peak MAPO of 44.2 bar. The analysis led to the detection of numerous peculiar cycles with high MAPO, albeit with low resonance.

Spontaneous Raman scattering is a conventional in-situ laser-diagnostic method that has been widely used for measurements of temperature and major species. However, utilization of Raman scattering in sooting flames suffers from strong interference including laser-induced fluorescence, laser-induced incandescence, and flame luminosity, which has been a challenge for a long time. This work introduces an easy-to-implement and calibration-free Raman scattering thermometry in sooting flames based on a 355-nm nanosecond-pulsed laser beam. Several strategies were utilized to increase the signal-to-noise ratio and suppress the interference: (1) nanosecond intensified CCD gate width; (2) optimized intensified CCD gate delay; (3) specially designed focused laser beam; (4) ultraviolet polarizer filter. The temperature was obtained by fitting the spectral profile of Stokes-Raman scattering of N 2 molecules without any calibrations. Based on the measured temperature, the mole fraction of major species can be evaluated. This method was applied to measure the temperature and major species profiles in a steady ethylene–air counterflow diffusion flame with a spatial resolution of 1.2 mm × 10.8 mm × 0.13 mm. The experimental results agree well with the simulation results in both sooting and non-sooting regions, demonstrating the feasibility of this method for quantitative diagnostics of temperature and major species in multiphase reacting flows.