Modeling diesel combustion in heavy duty engine using detailed chemistry approach and CFD

Abstract: Emission and fuel consumption are among the key parameters when designing a combustion system. Combustion CFD can assist in this task only if good enough accuracy is achieved regarding combustion and emission predictions. The aim of this master thesis is to evaluate the use of detailed reaction mechanisms (as a substitute for standard combustion model) in terms of computational time and result accuracy. Several mechanisms for n-heptane are tested. Lund University optical engine experimental case is used for this evaluation.Results showed that detailed chemistry can predict ignition accurately but differences are observed in the peak cylinder pressure. The computational time also increased significantly as size and complexity of the mechanism increased. Recommendations are given to improve predictions using detailed chemistry approach which is found to be an interesting approach especially for lift-off length predictions.