Many dual fuel technologies have been proposed for diesel engines. Implementing dual fuel modes can lead to emissions reductions or increased efficiency through using partially premixed combustion and fuel reactivity control. All dual fuel systems have the practical disadvantage that a secondary fuel storage and delivery system must be included. Reforming the primary diesel to a less reactive vaporized fuel on-board has potential to overcome this key disadvantage. Most previous research regarding on-board fuel reforming has been focused on producing significant quantities of hydrogen. However, only partially reforming the primary fuel is sufficient to vaporize and create a less volatile fuel that can be fumigated into an engine intake. At lower conversion efficiency and higher equivalence ratio, reforming reactors retain higher percentage of the inlet fuel’s heating value thus allowing for greater overall engine system efficiency. The experimental work described in this paper

Hwang, Jeffrey, Li, Xuesong, Northrop, William

Numerical Study on a High Efficiency Gasoline Reformed Molecule HCCI Combustion Using Exergy Analysis

2017-01-073503/28/2017

In this study, the characteristics and the advantages on engine performance of the reformed molecule HCCI (RM-HCCI) combustion fueled with gasoline were investigated by exergy analysis. The processes of fuel reforming and the closed portion of the engine cycle were simulated integrated with chemical kinetics mechanism at varied compression ratio (CR) and constant speed conditions. Results showed the fuel reforming under high temperature and oxygen-free condition by the exhaust heat recovery and electric heating assistance could drive gasoline to transform to the small-molecule gas fuels, meanwhile enhanced the chemical exergy of the fuel. The reformed fuel contributed to extending ignition delay, so less dilution required in RM-HCCI engine when expanding high load compared with gasoline HCCI engine. Thus, RM-HCCI engine could achieve higher load than gasoline HCCI engine, with the improvements by 12%, 26%, and 31% at CR17, CR19, and CR21, respectively. Under the conditions of high

Yu, Hao, Su, Wanhua

A Theoretical Investigation of the Combustion of PRF90 under the Flexible Cylinder Engine Mode

2017-01-102703/28/2017

On-board fuel reforming offers a prospective clean combustion mode for the engines. The flexible cylinder engine strategy (FCE) is a new kind of such mode. In this paper, the combustion of the primary reference fuel of PRF90 was theoretically investigated in a homogeneous charge compression ignition engine to validate the FCE mode, mainly focusing on the ignition delay time, the flame speed, and the emissions. The simulations were performed by using the CHEMKIN2.0 package to demonstrate the fuel reforming process in the flexible cylinder, the cooling effect on the reformed products, and the combustions of the mixture of the fresh fuel and the reformed products in the normal cylinders. It was found that the FCE mode decreased the ignition delay time of the fuel by about 35 crank angles at a typical engine condition. The reaction pathways analyses indicated that methyl peroxide (CH3OOH), ketohydroperoxides (KETs), and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) were the key species to decrease the ignition

Wang, Yang, Wei, Lixia, Jia, Guorui, Yao, Mingfa

The Effects of Charge Preparation, Fuel Stratification, and Premixed Fuel Chemistry on Reactivity Controlled Compression Ignition (RCCI) Combustion

2017-01-077303/28/2017

Engine experiments were conducted on a heavy-duty single-cylinder engine to explore the effects of charge preparation, fuel stratification, and premixed fuel chemistry on the performance and emissions of Reactivity Controlled Compression Ignition (RCCI) combustion. The experiments were conducted at a fixed total fuel energy and engine speed, and charge preparation was varied by adjusting the global equivalence ratio between 0.28 and 0.35 at intake temperatures of 40°C and 60°C. With a premixed injection of isooctane (PRF100), and a single direct-injection of n-heptane (PRF0), fuel stratification was varied with start of injection (SOI) timing. Combustion phasing advanced as SOI was retarded between -140° and -35°, then retarded as injection timing was further retarded, indicating a potential shift in combustion regime. Peak gross efficiency was achieved between -60° and -45° SOI, and NOx emissions increased as SOI was retarded beyond -40°, peaking around -25° SOI. Optimal cases in

DelVescovo, Dan, Kokjohn, Sage, Reitz, Rolf

Energy Analysis of Low-Load Low-Temperature Gasoline Combustion with Auxiliary-Fueled Negative Valve Overlap

2017-01-072903/28/2017

In-cylinder reforming of injected fuel during an auxiliary negative valve overlap (NVO) period can be used to optimize main-cycle auto-ignition phasing for low-load Low-Temperature Gasoline Combustion (LTGC), where highly dilute mixtures can lead to poor combustion stability. When mixed with fresh intake charge and fuel, these reformate streams can alter overall charge reactivity characteristics. The central issue remains large parasitic heat losses from the retention and compression of hot exhaust gases along with modest pumping losses that result from mixing hot NVO-period gases with the cooler intake charge. Accurate determination of total cycle energy utilization is complicated by the fact that NVO-period retained fuel energy is consumed during the subsequent main combustion period. For the present study, a full-cycle energy analysis was performed for a single-cylinder research engine undergoing LTGC with varying NVO auxiliary fueling rates and injection timing. A custom alternate

Ekoto, Isaac, Wolk, Benjamin, Northrop, William

Investigation of Species from Negative Valve Overlap Reforming Using a Stochastic Reactor Model

2017-01-052903/28/2017

Fuel reforming during a Negative Valve Overlap (NVO) period is an effective approach to control Low Temperature Gasoline Combustion (LTGC) ignition. Previous work has shown through experiments that primary reference fuels reform easily and produce several species that drastically affect ignition characteristics. However, our previous research has been unable to accurately predict measured reformate composition at the end of the NVO period using simple single-zone models. In this work, we use a stochastic reactor model (SRM) closed cycle engine simulation to predict reformate composition accounting for in-cylinder temperature and mixture stratification. The SRM model is less computationally intensive than CFD simulations while still allowing the use of large chemical mechanisms to predict intermediate species formation rates. By comparing model results with experimental speciation data from a single-cylinder engine, the presented work provides insight into the thermodynamic and kinetic

Kane, Seamus, Li, Xuesong, Wolk, Benjamin, Ekoto, Isaac, Northrop, William F.

Development of Laminar Burning Velocity Correlation for the Simulation of Methanol Fueled SI Engines Operated with Onboard Fuel Reformer

2017-01-0539

03/28/2017

Methanol fueled spark ignition (SI) engines have the potential for very high efficiency using an advanced heat recovery system for fuel reforming. In order to allow simulation of such an engine system, several sub-models are needed. This paper reports the development of two laminar burning velocity correlations, corresponding to two reforming concepts, one in which the reformer uses water from an extra tank to produce hydrogen rich gas (syngas) and another that employs the water vapor in the exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) stream to produce reformed-EGR (R-EGR). This work uses a one-dimensional (1D) flame simulation tool with a comprehensive chemical kinetic mechanism to predict the laminar burning velocities of methanol/syngas blends and correlate it. The syngas is a mixture of H2/CO/CO2 with a CO selectivity of 6.5% to simulate the methanol steam reforming products over a Cu-Mn/Al catalyst. The simulation was exercised over syngas contents in the blend, fuel-air equivalence ratios

Nguyen, Duc-Khanh, Verhelst, Sebastian