International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) Volume 34 Number 4- April 2016

CFD Studies of Combustion in DI Diesel

Engine at Different Injection Timing and
Ethanol Addition
1
Maheboob Pasha, 2Yeshwanthray ashtagi, 3Rahul G Panchal
1.
Student M.Tech Department of Thermal Power Engineering, V.T.U. PG Centre RO, Gulbarga, India
2.
Assistant Professor Department of Thermal Power Engineering, V.T.U. PG Centre RO, Gulbarga, India
3. Assistant Professor Department of Mechanical Engineering Al Ameen COE and MS Pune Maharashtra,
India.

ABSTRACT being developed to provide more insight. The

modelling of combustion engine processes is useful
In recent years, due to increasing demand for fuel
to carry out extensive parametric studies, rather than
economy and tightening legislation for emissions,
hardware development and Experimentation.
there has been growing requirement to develop more
Depending on the various possible applications,
efficient and cleaner engines in a shorter time scale.
different types of models for engine combustion
Computational Fluid Dynamics, as a rapid and cost
processes have been developed. Rapid Increase in
effective tool, is being increasingly used in different
pollution levels, increase of fuel prices, and
stages of engine design and optimization. By using
depletion of hydrocarbon reserves of the world have
CFD tools effectively it is easy to predict and
forced the engineers to look for appropriate
analyse various details that are technically difficult
technology and alternative fuels to provide to the
like in cylinder process of diesel combustion,
ever-increasing demands of energy.[1]
temperature & pressure distribution and emissions
etc. prior to experimental tests to reduce the number
II.COMPUTATIONAL PROCEDURE
of investigated parameters as well as time and thus
The combustion simulation of CI engine was
costs. Here in our approach we have used Species
developed using fluent software (ANSYS 14.5
Transport Model of ANSYS FLUENT14.5 to find the
package) and the various equations of the multi-
complex phenomenon of in cylinder process of
dimensional model were solved by the software
combustion, temperature and pressure distribution,
automatically. The main inputs include engine speed,
CO2 and NOX emissions etc. The process is carried
injection details, bore, stroke, connecting rod length,
out at different injection timing of the Diesel liquid,
initial pressure and temperature. The program
the cases considered are 1. Injection at 2 degree
concerning the simulation model predicts the
after TDC, 2. Injection at 5 Degree bTDC, 3.
cylinder pressure, cylinder temperature, heat release
Injection at 10 Degree bTDC. Once we get an
rate, emission etc. The results including graphs and
optimized value of Injection than 10 % of ethanol is
various contours (temperature, pressure etc) were
added in order to increase the efficiency of the
generated by fluent software as outputs to the
combustion and thus still reduce the NOx emissions.
program for given inputs.[2],[3].
Keywords- Diesel combustion FLUENT 14.5, NOx,
III.MODEL DEFINITION AND MESHING
CFD, CO2 emission, Combustion modelling, k-
A 2D cylinder geometry with centrally located
model, Ethanol.
injector was considered .The mesh was created using
GAMBIT 2.4.6.The engine geometry details and
1. INTRODUCTION-The Internal Combustion specification details are given below. Mesh
(IC) engines play an important role in the fields of generation plays an important role in obtaining
transportation of goods and passengers, agricultural accurate results. A quadrilateral mesh was created
and industry. They develop power by consuming uniformly throughout the area and analysed using
precious fossil fuels and cause pollution. Among FLUENT, ANSYS 14.5 package. The complete
different types of engines, the direct-injection (DI) meshed geometry contains 821098 Elements and
diesel engine exhibits the best fuel economy along 145400 nodes. Fig.1 shows the meshed geometry.
with lowest engine-out emissions. Efforts have been Connecting rod length : 10.35 inch
put to improve exhaust emissions and fuel economy Bore :130mm
continuously. The complex task of improving IC Stroke :158mm
engines, which have reached a higher degree of Crank radius :55 mm
sophistication, can be achieved by combination of Crank shaft speed :1500 rpm
advanced experiments and computational studies.
Modern methods of experimental investigations are

ISSN: 2231-5381 http://www.ijettjournal.org Page 173

 International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) Volume 34 Number 4- April 2016
Fig.1 Meshed geometry of cylinder
The above Figure1 shows Meshed geometry of
cylinder in 2D cylinder geometry.
IV. GOVERNING EQUATIONS AND
MODEL
There are mainly three equations we solve in
computational fluid dynamics problem. They are
Continuity equation, Momentum equation (Navier
Stokes equation) and Energy equation. The flow of
most fluids may be analyzed mathematically by the
use of two equations. The first, often referred to as
the Continuity Equation, requires that the mass of
fluid entering a fixed control volume either leaves
that volume or accumulates within it. It is thus a
"mass balance" requirement posed in mathematical
form, and is a scalar equation. The other governing
equation is the Momentum Equation, or Navier-
Stokes Equation, and may be thought of a
momentum balance" The Navier-Stokes equations
are vector equations, meaning that there is a separate
equation for each of the coordinate directions
(usually three).The basic approach of in-cylinder
diesel combustion models are typically compressible
turbulent flow. Apart from the complexity of
turbulent model, the high pressure spray and
resulting spray penetration , evaporation, and
involvement of multiphase , multi-component nature
only increases its complexity. Even then the nature
of fluid is still governed by the basic equations
including continuity (mass conservation),
momentum (Navier-Stokes equation), energy and
turbulence (k- model) equations. Of the three
combustion modelling (thermodynamic,
multidimensional and phenomenological modelling)
the software use multidimensional modelling, i.e.
CFD modelling
V. COMBUSTION SIMULATION
In engine environments, the combustible
mixture is subject to a turbulent flow and, once
mixed, undergoes subsequent elementary reactions
which convert the fuel vapour to complete and
incomplete combustion products with the
accompanying release heat. So, in diesel engine
simulations, combustion modelling mainly deals
with two processes: first, low-temperature
ISSN: 2231-5381 http://www.ijettjournal.org
chemistry, which leads to auto ignition and produces
intermediate species, and second, these intermediate
species trigger high-temperature reactions that
contribute the main heat release, as well as further
complete and incomplete combustion products.
Another important task for combustion models is to
properly account for the significance of the effect of
turbulence on the combustion processes. The
combustion of diesel fuel was considered which is
simulated using FLUENT, ANSYS 14.5 package. A
single cylinder, single zone, multi-dimensional
model was considered in analysis process. The
mixture material, diesel-air, properties were copied
from the Fluent material database for combustion.
Using species transport model of fluent the analysis
is done. While using this model conservation
equation for chemical species, ANSYS FLUENT
predicts the local mass fraction of each species
through the solution of convection diffusion
equation for the ith species.[4].
VI .METHODOLOGY&BOUNDARY
CONDITIONS
After modelling the geometry, for analysis viscous
standard k-e model is enabled for considering eddy
dissipation. Since geometry is subjected to motion of
piston, dynamic meshing is enabled subjected to
suitable boundary condition for piston, cylinder,
walls etc. Combustion in a diesel engine involves the
transient injection of finely atomized liquid fuel into
the air at high temperature and pressure. The fuel
injection parameters like location of the injector, size
of the injector, injection temperature and pressure,
mass flow rate etc are having significant effect in
diesel combustion modelling. The injection
parameters and specifications are given below
1 X-Position 0.0197 inch
2 Y-Position 0.00984 inch
3 Z-Position 6.98 inch
4 Diameter 0.01 inch
5 Temperature 341K
6 Injection Type Solid Cone
7
Velocity
468 m/s
Magnitude
8 Cone Angle 8 Degree.
9 Total Flow Rate 0.00807 Kg/Sec
10 Particle Type Droplet.
11 Starting Crank Angle 722 Degree.
12 Starting Crank Angle 744 Degree
VII. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
The below section shows the results of the cases
considered in this project.
Page 174
 International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) Volume 34 Number 4- April 2016

CASE 1: INJECTION OF FUEL AT 0 DEGREE 2. CO2 Emission

BEFORE TDC. The mass fraction of CO2 was generated by the
simulating software and was found to be near 0.0800
at the end of expansion. (fig.6)

Fig.2. Contours of Start of Fuel Injection

Fig- 6: Variation of CO2 V/S flow time

3. NOx Emission
The mass fraction of NOx was generated by the
simulating software and was found to be near 0.0160
at the end of expansion. (fig.7)
Fig.3. Contours of Start of combustion

The above figure shows variation contours of start of

fuel injection & contours of start of combustion for
2D cylinder.

1. Cylinder pressure and Cylinder temperature

The modelled cylinder pressure data is
shown in fig.4. From the graph the peak pressure
generated by the software was approximately equal
to 20 bar which is in agreement with the theoretical
value. Also the maximum cycle temperature
obtained was near 2400K (Fig.5). The static pressure
and static temperature contours at the end of
expansion was also generated by the software Fig-7 Variation of NOx V/S flow time.
(shown in fig.4. and fig.5).

Case 2: Injection 5 Degree before TDC

The Results for Injection of Diesel Liquid 5 Degree
before TDC are shown below

Fig- 4: Variation of Pressure (Pa) V/S flow time.

Fig-5: Variation of temperature V/S flow time. Fig-8: contours Start of combustion

ISSN: 2231-5381 http://www.ijettjournal.org Page 175

 International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) Volume 34 Number 4- April 2016

Fig- 12: Variation of CO2 V/S flow time

3. NOx Emission
Fig-9: contours End of combustion
The mass fraction of NOx was generated by the
simulating software and was found to be near 0.0140
1. Cylinder pressure and Cylinder temperature
at the end of expansion
The peak pressure generated by the software was
approximately equal to 19bar which is in agreement
with the theoretical value. Also the maximum cycle
temperature obtained was near 2400K (Fig.11). The
static pressure and static temperature contours at the
end of expansion was also generated by the software
(shown in fig.10. and fig.11). [7]

Fig-13 Variation of NOx V/S flow time.

CASE 3: Injection of Diesel-Liquid 10 Degree before TDC
In the Third Case the Injection was performed 10
Degree before TDC and the Results are Shown in
the Coming Slides

Fig10- : Variation of Pressure V/S flow time.

Fig-14: contours Start of combustion

Fig- 11: Variation of Temperature V/S Flow time

2. CO2 Emission
The mass fraction of CO2 was generated by the
simulating software and was found to be near 0.0800
at the end of expansion

Fig-15: contours end of combustion

ISSN: 2231-5381 http://www.ijettjournal.org Page 176

 International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) Volume 34 Number 4- April 2016

1. Cylinder pressure and Cylinder temperature

The modelled cylinder pressure data is
shown in fig.16. From the graph the peak pressure
approximately equal to 19 bar which is in agreement
with the theoretical value. Also the maximum cycle
temperature obtained was near 2400K (Fig.17). The
static pressure and static temperature contours at the
end of expansion was also generated by the software
(shown in fig.16. and fig.17).

Fig-19: Variation of NOx V/S flow time.

Case 4: Addition of Ethanol, to diesel liquid.

1. In the case 4 we have used the injection timing as
per our previous analysis results in which we found
that the injection with 10 degree before TDC is
giving better results.
Fig-16: Variation of Pressure V/S flow time.
2. In this case we will add 10% of ethanol to further
reduce the NOx emission

Fig-17: Variation of Temperature V/S flow time. Fig-20: contours start of combustion
2. CO2 Emission
The mass fraction of CO2 was generated by the
simulating software and was found to be near 0.0750
at the end of expansion

Fig-21: contours End of combustion

Fig- 18: Variation of CO2 V/S flow time 1.CO2 Emission

3. NOx Emission
The mass fraction of NOx was generated by the
simulating software and was found to be near 0.0120
at the end of expansion
The mass fraction of CO2 was generated by the
simulating software and was found to be near 0.1400
at the end of expansion

ISSN: 2231-5381 http://www.ijettjournal.org Page 177

 International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) Volume 34 Number 4- April 2016

reduced before TDC better combustion takes place

Fig- 22: Variation of CO2 V/S flow time
2.NOx Emission
The mass fraction of NOx was generated by the
simulating software and was found to be near 0.0110
at the end of expansion
and NOx Reduces, so from our analysis we found
that the ANSYS Fluent 14.5 was helpful in giving
good results for the combustion modelling. The
addition of Ethanol has been added only upto 10%
and it has been found that the addition of ethanol has
reduced further the NOx emission. So in future if
India implemented ethanol blending with diesel and
petrol the blending ratio of 10% of ethanol will be
consider to be more effective than the neat diesel in
every aspect. It has also been considered according
to the production, demand and supply of the ethanol
in India.
REFERENCES
[1] Gavudhama Karunanidhi et.al CFD Studies of Combustion
in Diesel Engine (IJERA) Vol. 3, Issue 4, Jul-Aug 2013,

[2] Suresh Patil.G.L et.al. Fuel Injectors Stratergies Of Hcci

Engine. VOL. 3,
ISSUE 1, JANUARY -FEBRUARY 2013
[3] Vijayendra et.al.InCylinder Combustion Analysis of DI
Diesel Using Experimental and CFD Approach Volume 14
Number 5 Aug 2014

[4] Y Ren, Z-H Huang,et.alCombustion and emission

characteristics of a direct-injection diesel engine fuelled
with dieselethanol blends2008

[5] G. Li and S.M. Sapsfordas et.al Direct-inject (DI) diesel

engine combustion with the newly implemented Ricardo
Fig-23: Variation of NOx V/S flow time. Two-Zone Flamelet (RTZF) combustion model (2010)
VIII Comparison of Results with Base Data and
[6] Saeed Baghdar Hosseini,et.alThe Experimental and
Different Injection Timings Simulations Effect of Air Swirler on Pollutants from
Biodiesel combustion Published: May 05, 2013
Case Injection Max Max CO2 NOx
No Timings P(bar+) T(k) [7] F.E.Corcione,M.Costa,et.al Multidimensional Modeling of
0 the Combustion Process in a Diesel EngineEquipped with a
Base 0 b TDC 200 * 10 ^5 2500 0.0754 --- Fully Flexible Common Rail Injection System
Case [8] R Thundil Karuppa et.alEffect of Swirl in a Constant Speed
Case 1 00 b TDC 200 * 10 ^5 2500 0.076 0.0160 DI Diesel Engine using Computational Fluid Dynamics, Vol.
0 4 (4) December 2012
Case 2 50 b TDC 190 * 10 ^5 2400 0.078 0.0140 [9] Umakant et.alCFD Modeling and Experimental Validation
0 of Combustion in Direct Ignition Engine, Volume 1, No
0
Case 3 10 b TDC 190* 10 ^5 2400 0.0780 0.0140 3, 2010, ISSN 09764259
Case 4 100b TDC 160* 10 ^5 1800 0.140 0.0110 [10] Weiji Wang et.al.CFD Investigation into Diesel PCCI
k 0 Combustion with Optimized Fuel Injection 18 March 2011
[11] Sangjin Hong, Dennis et.al Modeling of Diesel Combustion
Table-1 Comparison of Results with Base Data and NO Emissions Based on a Modified Eddy Dissipation
Concept Combustion Science and Technology June 2008
and Different Injection Timings. [12] S Gavudhama karunanidhi.et.al CFD Studies of Split
Injection on the Combustion and Emission Characteristics in
DI Diesel EngineInt. Journal of Engineering Research and
IX.CONCLUSION Applications Vol. 4, Issue 7(Version 1), July 2014
The model was created using Gambit, and the [13] PatilPradipkailas et.al Study of Combustion in Di Diesel
combustion phenomenon was analysed using Fluent Engine for Different Compression Ratios Using
Ansys 14.5.Based on the present investigation the Experimental and CFD Approach Volume: 03 Special
Issue: 08 | NCAME-2014 | June-2014,
following conclusions have been drawn.
From the above Results we can conclude that the
Maximum Reduction in NOx occurs when the fuel is
injected at least 10 degree before TDC. NOx reduces
when the peak temperature reduces. Maximum
Pressure i.e. 200*10^5 is obtained in the case of
injection at 0 Degree before TDC, this high pressure
may be harmful since it may cause High Stresses
inside the cylinder. From many experimental works
it has been found that as the Injection timing is

ISSN: 2231-5381 http://www.ijettjournal.org Page 178