Validation of a Simplified Model for Combustion and Emission Formation in Diesel Engines Based on Correlations for Spray Penetration and Dispersion, Gas Entrainment into Sprays and Flame Lift-off

The work presented in this thesis is the result of the KTH CICERO project “Dynamic Engine Performance” in which the main objective was to develop simple models foremission formation. The demand for such models is increasing, mainly due to the tightening emission legislation for diesel engines which has lead to more complex engines and thereby more laborious development and calibration processes. Simple emission models can be a valuable tool during the development phase, e.g. when used with models for gas exchange - and after-treatment systems, and for precalibration of the engine control settings. Since engines in automotive application typically work under dynamic load, the main prerequisites were that the models should be comprehensive enough to handle the extreme conditions that can occur in engines during load transients but still simple enough to be used for calibration. Two main approaches have been used; one where the combustion and emission formation processes were modeled from the flame front and downstream using equilibrium chemistry. In the other approach, the entire mixing/entrainment process was modeled and emission formation was modeled with kinetic chemistry. Both approaches were found to meet the requirements but had different advantages; the first, simpler approach had shorter calculation time while the latter was more comprehensive and required less tuning. The latter also resulted in a model for heat release rate which can be useful as a stand-alone model and allows the emission models to be used for untested conditions. Another objective in this project was to identify techniques/instruments that can be used for emission measurements during transient operation since these are essential for understanding of emission formation in these conditions and as validation data for the emission models.