Experiments and modeling of a dual-mode, turbulent jet ignition engine

Abstract

The dual-mode, turbulent jet ignition system is a promising combustion technology to achieve high diesel-like thermal efficiency at medium to high loads and potentially exceed diesel efficiency at low-load operating conditions. The dual-mode, turbulent jet ignition systems to date proved a high level of improvement in thermal efficiency compared to conventional internal combustion engines. However, some questions were still unanswered. The most frequent question regarded power requirements for delivering air to the pre-chamber of a dual-mode, turbulent jet ignition system. In addition, there was no study available to predict the expected efficiency of a dual-mode, turbulent jet ignition engine in a multi-cylinder configuration. This study, for the first time, predicts the ancillary work requirement to operate the dual-mode, turbulent jet ignition system. It also presents a novel, reduced order, and physics-based model of the dual-mode, turbulent jet ignition engine with a pre-chamber valve assembly. The developed model was calibrated based on experimental data from the Prototype II dual-mode, turbulent jet ignition engine. The simulation results were in good agreement with the experimental data. The validity of the model was observed based on the standard metric of the coefficient of determination as well as comparison plots for in-cylinder pressures. Numerical predictions were compared to experiments for three metrics of main chamber combustion: gross indicated mean effective pressure, main chamber peak pressure, and main chamber phasing for the peak pressure. Predictions were within 5% of experimental data, with one exception of 6%. In addition, the absolute root mean square errors of in-cylinder pressures for both pre- and main-combustion chambers were below 0.35. The calibrated model was further studied to introduce a predictive and generalized model for dual-mode, turbulent jet ignition engines. Such a model can project engine behavior in a multi-cylinder configuration over the entire engine fuel map.