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Large eddy simulation of spray and combustion characteristics of biodiesel and biodiesel/butanol blend fuels in internal combustion engines

Xu, Leilei LU ; Xu, Shijie LU orcid ; Lu, Xingcai ; Jia, Ming and Bai, Xue Song LU (2023) In Applications in Energy and Combustion Science 16.
Abstract

Biofuel is a crucial renewable and environmentally friendly energy source for addressing greenhouse gas emissions and other energy-related issues. Biodiesel and butanol, among alternative biofuels, possess complementary physical and chemical properties, offering multiple possibilities for their use in existing internal combustion engines. However, biodiesel's distinctly different physical and combustion properties from conventional diesel fuels make its combustion process substantially different. The complex composition of biodiesel presents significant challenges in accurately simulating its spray combustion characteristics. This paper presents a systematic evaluation of six single-component surrogate fuel models and a five-component... (More)

Biofuel is a crucial renewable and environmentally friendly energy source for addressing greenhouse gas emissions and other energy-related issues. Biodiesel and butanol, among alternative biofuels, possess complementary physical and chemical properties, offering multiple possibilities for their use in existing internal combustion engines. However, biodiesel's distinctly different physical and combustion properties from conventional diesel fuels make its combustion process substantially different. The complex composition of biodiesel presents significant challenges in accurately simulating its spray combustion characteristics. This paper presents a systematic evaluation of six single-component surrogate fuel models and a five-component model for the prediction of biodiesel spray characteristics under various conditions using large-eddy simulation (LES). The results show that single-component surrogate fuel models can only predict the gaseous penetration of biodiesel but not the liquid-phase penetration. A five-component fatty acid methyl ester surrogate fuel model is proposed, demonstrating an accurate simulation of biodiesel spray evaporation characteristics under different conditions. Based on the five-component evaporation model, LES is utilized to examine three strategies of biodiesel/butanol-fueled internal combustion engines: direct injection of pure biodiesel in conventional diffusion-controlled combustion (CDC) engines, direct injection of biodiesel–butanol blend in CDC engines, and biodiesel/butanol reactivity-controlled compression ignition (RCCI) engines. The simulation results are validated against engine experiment results, showing that the five-component model can successfully predict spray and combustion characteristics in internal combustion engines. The RCCI concept can significantly reduce NOx emissions; however, CO and UHC emissions are higher than in the CDC engines due to incomplete combustion in the fuel-lean butanol/air mixture.

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author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Biodiesel, Butanol, Large eddy simulation, Reactivity-controlled compression ignition (RCCI), Spray combustion
in
Applications in Energy and Combustion Science
volume
16
article number
100197
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:85170283084
ISSN
2666-352X
DOI
10.1016/j.jaecs.2023.100197
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
ade4d0d5-fccd-40c1-b436-69604da23180
date added to LUP
2023-10-18 14:58:30
date last changed
2023-11-07 15:31:35
@article{ade4d0d5-fccd-40c1-b436-69604da23180,
  abstract     = {{<p>Biofuel is a crucial renewable and environmentally friendly energy source for addressing greenhouse gas emissions and other energy-related issues. Biodiesel and butanol, among alternative biofuels, possess complementary physical and chemical properties, offering multiple possibilities for their use in existing internal combustion engines. However, biodiesel's distinctly different physical and combustion properties from conventional diesel fuels make its combustion process substantially different. The complex composition of biodiesel presents significant challenges in accurately simulating its spray combustion characteristics. This paper presents a systematic evaluation of six single-component surrogate fuel models and a five-component model for the prediction of biodiesel spray characteristics under various conditions using large-eddy simulation (LES). The results show that single-component surrogate fuel models can only predict the gaseous penetration of biodiesel but not the liquid-phase penetration. A five-component fatty acid methyl ester surrogate fuel model is proposed, demonstrating an accurate simulation of biodiesel spray evaporation characteristics under different conditions. Based on the five-component evaporation model, LES is utilized to examine three strategies of biodiesel/butanol-fueled internal combustion engines: direct injection of pure biodiesel in conventional diffusion-controlled combustion (CDC) engines, direct injection of biodiesel–butanol blend in CDC engines, and biodiesel/butanol reactivity-controlled compression ignition (RCCI) engines. The simulation results are validated against engine experiment results, showing that the five-component model can successfully predict spray and combustion characteristics in internal combustion engines. The RCCI concept can significantly reduce NO<sub>x</sub> emissions; however, CO and UHC emissions are higher than in the CDC engines due to incomplete combustion in the fuel-lean butanol/air mixture.</p>}},
  author       = {{Xu, Leilei and Xu, Shijie and Lu, Xingcai and Jia, Ming and Bai, Xue Song}},
  issn         = {{2666-352X}},
  keywords     = {{Biodiesel; Butanol; Large eddy simulation; Reactivity-controlled compression ignition (RCCI); Spray combustion}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Applications in Energy and Combustion Science}},
  title        = {{Large eddy simulation of spray and combustion characteristics of biodiesel and biodiesel/butanol blend fuels in internal combustion engines}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaecs.2023.100197}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.jaecs.2023.100197}},
  volume       = {{16}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}