Effect of IC Engine Operating Conditions on Combustion and Emission Characteristics

Numerical simulation of flow, combustion, heat release rate, and pollutants emission characteristics have been obtained using a single cylinder internal combustion engine operating with propane as the fuel. The data show that for good agreement with experimental results on the peak pressure and the rate of pressure rise as a function of crank angle, spark ignition energy and local cylinder pressure must be properly modeled. The results obtained for NO and CO showed features which are qualitatively in good agreement and are similar to those reported in the literature for the chosen combustion chamber geometry. The results have shown that both the combustion chamber geometry and engine operating parameters affects the flame growth within the combustion chamber which subsequently affects the pollutants emission levels. The code employed the time marching procedure and solves the governing partial differential equations of multicomponent chemically reacting fluid flow by finite difference method. The numerical results provide a cost effective means of developing advanced internal combustion engine chamber geometry design that provides high efficiency and low pollution levels. It is expected that increased computational tools will be used in the future for enhancing our understanding of the detailed combustion process in internal combustion engines and all other energy conversion systems. Such detailed information is critical for the development of advanced methods for energy conservation and environmental pollution control.