CFD Modeling of Flow and Heat Transfer Inside a Liquid-Cooled Exhaust Manifold

Abstract

Liquid cooled exhaust manifolds are used in turbo charged diesel and gas engines in the marine and various industrial applications. Performance of the manifold has a significant impact on the engine efficiency. Modifying manifold design and changing operational parameters are ways to improve its performance. With the rapid advance of computer technology and numerical methods, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has become a powerful tool that can provide useful information for manifold optimization. In this study, commercial CFD software (FLUENT®) was used to analyze liquid cooled exhaust manifolds. Detailed information of flow property distribution and heat transfer were obtained in order to provide a fundamental understanding of the manifold operation. Experimental data was compared with the CFD results to validate the numerical simulation. Computations were performed to investigate the parametric effects of operating conditions (engine rotational speed, coolant flow rate, coolant inlet temperature, exhaust gas inlet temperature, surface roughness of the manifold’s material) on the performance of the manifold. Results were consistent with the experimental observations. Suggestions were made to improve the manifold design and performance.