Fuel 276 (2020) 118082

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Fuel
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Full Length Article

Experimental and numerical study the effect of EGR strategies on in-cylinder T

flow, combustion and emissions characteristics in a heavy-duty higher CR
lean-burn NGSI engine coupled with detail combustion mechanism
⁎
Shiheng Zhanga,b, Yangyang Lia,b, , Shuqian Wanga,b, Haibo Zenga, Jingping Liub,
Xiongbo Duana,b, Hao Donga,b
a
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Design and Manufacturing for Vehicle Body, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China
b
Research Center for Advanced Powertrain Technologies, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: In order to study the effects of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) strategies on in-cylinder flow, performance,
3-D full-size parts combustion and emissions characteristics in a heavy-duty higher compression ratio (CR) lean-burn natural gas
In-cylinder flow spark ignition (NGSI) engine. In the first stage, a detailed three-dimensional (3-D) full-scale cylinder part (in-
EGR cluding detailed intake port and exhaust port) is established based on the actual combustion chamber. Then
Higher CR
some cases were simulated by commercial CFD code coupled with the detailed combustion mechanism and
Natural gas
NOx
validated against the measured data. In the second stage, a sensitivity analysis of the EGR rate on in-cylinder
temperature, emissions under different crank angles in 3-D, and performance of a heavy-duty higher CR (13.6)
engine fueled with 99% methane content is discussed. The results show that the production of NOx is related to
the mass fraction of high-temperature gas in a specific section of the cylinder. The larger the mass fraction of
high-temperature gas, the more NOx emissions are generated. Besides, NOx is generated on the flame front and
continuing to be generated inside the flame surface. The faster the temperature inside the flame surface de-
creases, the smaller the amount of NOx generation is. Furthermore, the model and these data in the paper can be
applied to evaluate and optimize the energy distribution by changing different technologies or strategies in the
future. In addition, 3-D data can provide a basis for the quantitative relationship between the EGR rate and
combustion rate, NOx generation in the format of 1-D.

1. Introduction internal or external EGR [6,7], variable valve lift (VVL) [8,9], gasoline
direct injection (GDI) [10,11], homogeneous charge compression igni-
Nowadays, with the development of the automobile industry and tion (HCCI) [12,13] and multi-injection strategies [13,14], lead to an
the large growth of the population, both the energy crisis and en- increase in the development of the new engine. On the other hand,
vironmental pollution have caused people’s panic [1–4]. Facing these alternative fuels, such as biofuels, mix-fuels (including compressed
problems, some governments have announced that the internal com- natural gas (CNG), hydrogen and other fuel blends [15,16]), are im-
bustion engine (ICE) whose fuel is pure gasoline or diesel would be plemented in these advanced engines, because those fuels can be ex-
banned in the future, such as France, England, Germany and so on [5]. tracted from renewable resources, which have lower emissions levels
Meantime, China 6 emissions standard has been carried out since 2020. compared with traditional fossil fuels. Among these fuels, natural gas
On one hand, the introduction of advanced technologies, such as (NG) is treated as the most potential alternative fuels due to lower

Abbreviations: CR, compression ratio; NGSI, natural gas spark ignition; CFD, computational fluid dynamics; ICE, internal combustion engine; EGR, exhaust gas
recirculation; VVL, variable valve lift; HCCI, homogeneous charge compression ignition; CNG, compressed natural gas; CO, carbon monoxide; CO2, carbon dioxide;
HC, hydrocarbon; NOx, nitric oxide metabolite; NO, nitric oxide; PM, particle mass; NG, natural gas; HNG, hydrogen-natural gas blend; PCP, peak cylinder pressure;
TDC, top dead center; COV, cycle-by-cycle variations; IMEP, indicated mean effective pressure; LMG, liquefied methane gas; CB, combustion chamber; BTE, brake
thermal efficiency; Fig, figure; HRR, heat release rate; ECU, electronic control unit; BMEP, brake mean effective pressure; RANS, Reynolds average Navier Stokes;
RNG, renormalization group; AMR, adaptive mesh refinement; CT, computed tomography; Eq, equation; PLIF, planar laser-induced fluorescence; PIV, particle image
velocimetry; VVT, variable valve timing
⁎
Corresponding author at: Research Center for Advanced Powertrain Technologies, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China.
E-mail addresses: 982807258@qq.com, lyy025920@163.com (Y. Li).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2020.118082
Received 14 February 2020; Received in revised form 10 May 2020; Accepted 12 May 2020
Available online 21 May 2020
0016-2361/ © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
S. Zhang, et al. Fuel 276 (2020) 118082

prices [17] and emissions, higher octane number hydrogen/carbon Table 1

ratio and anti-knocking characteristic [18]. Features of the tested engine [21].
Consequently, scholars have conducted some experimental tests to Item Content
study the fuel characteristics and control methods on the performance
characteristics of the NG engine. In terms of the fuels, Musthafah et al. Engine type In-line six-cylinder, four-stroke
Displacement (L) 9.726
[19] studied the effects of different kinds of fuels (CNG and gasoline) on
Bore (mm) 126
the performance of spark ignition (SI) single-cylinder engine. The re- Stroke (mm) 130
sults presented that the output brake power of CNG was reduced by Compression ratio (–) 13.6
18.5% because of the reduction of volumetric efficiency, and a similar Rated power/speed (kW/(r/min)) 250/2200
conclusion was listed in Ref [20]. For the sake of improving the laminar Turbocharger WG-controlled
Fuel Natural gas with 99% methane content
flame velocity, adding the hydrogen in the NG is considered as a great
way, since the hydrogen could produce zero carbon and have faster
burning speed and higher flame propagation rate [21]. Meantime, Table 2
Huang et al. [22] presented that the higher the hydrogen addition was, Properties of natural gas. Data given at 300 K and 1 atm [4,42].
the higher the laminar burning velocity was, a similar conclusion was
Feature Natural gas with 99% methane content
listed in Hu’s research [23]. Valeria et al. [24] investigated the effect of
hydrogen addition on the laminar combustion rate using the CHEMKIN Molecular weight (g/mol) 16.04
PREMIX code with the GRI 3.0 kinetic mechanism. The results showed Density (kg/m3) 0.65
that the laminar burning velocity of the hydrogen-methane blends was Methane (%) 99.68
strictly related to the concentration of H radicals. They also found that Ethane (%) 0.0297
Propane (%) 0.003
the hydrogen addition was beneficial to increase flame resistance to Octane number (–) 139
strain-induced extinction [25,26]. The impacts of H2 addition strategies Auto ignition temperature (°C) 540
on performance and combustion characteristics of SI engine fueled with Mass diffusivity in air (cm2/s) 0.16
CNG were conducted in Bhasker’s research [27]. The results were Minimum quenching distance (mm) 2.03
Laminar burning velocity in air (m/s) 0.4
consistent with the study in Ref [28], and the results showed that as the
Lower heating value (MJ/kg) 50
hydrogenation rate increases, the emissions level decreases. Besides, in Higher heating value (MJ/kg) 55.5
terms of the control strategies, the optimum CR was 12.5 in Bhasker’s Stoichiometric air-to-fuel ratio (–) 17.12
paper [27]. Duan et al. [29] studied the impacts on combustion and
emissions characteristics of SI hydrogen-NG blend (HNG) engine under
different CRs (13.6 and 14), the results showed that both the nitrogen development of CFD, some research have been carried out on in-cy-
oxide (NOx) emissions and brake thermal efficiency (BTE) were in- linder flows (including swirl ratio, turbulence flow and flame propa-
creased under the higher CR, but the hydrocarbon (HC) emissions were gation) characteristics. Khalilarya et al. [15] analyzed the effect of EGR
in contras. Besides, the energy and exergy balance in the NGSI engine strategy on emissions and performance characteristics in the SI engine
was conducted in two different CRs (13.6 and 14) [21]. A similar with CR of 8.6 fueled with gasoline and methane by the CFD code.
conclusion was listed in Ref [30] but the research object was an HNG Zhang et al. [42] studied the effects of the combustion chamber (CB) on
engine using 55% HNG. Moreover, in Chen’s research [31], the results the in-cylinder flows and performance, and the results showed that
showed that when the CR increased from 10.6 to 13.6, the peak cy- based on analysis of in-cylinder flow (including the swirl ratio, turbu-
linder pressure (PCP) was increased, the combustion was advanced and lence flow and flame propagation), the original CB was located between
closer to top dead center (TDC), and then 10–90% combustion duration CB #2 and CB #3. Maurya et al. [43] studied the effects of EGR and
was shorter. However, based on the Heywood’s research and Ref [32], injection strategies (NG port injection and diesel pilot injection) on the
the NOx emissions were increased under the higher CR. in-cylinder flows and performance in a diesel engine with CR of 17.6 by
Thus, the EGR system was introduced to decrease NOx emissions. the 0-D and 3D CFD approach, the results showed that using the EGR
Abdelaal et al. [33] stated that the NG-diesel engine with EGR strategy system had a negligible effect on BTE, CO and HC emissions in dual-fuel
could decrease the PCP and emissions compared with other engines. operating range. Similar conclusions were listed in Ref [44].
The similar conclusion was presented in Verma’s research [34] and the Based on the above literatures, the effect of controlling and physical
results showed that both the engine performance and emissions could parameters (CR, EGR, fuel types) on the performance of NGSI engine
be improved under higher CR in engine whose fuel was diesel-biogas was comprehensively investigated at previous work. Although some
dual-fuel, besides, under 5%, 10% and 15% EGR rates, the BTE was researchers have studied the lean-burn SI natural gas engines by the
increased and the NOx emission was decreased slightly. Meanwhile, method of CFD coupling with chemical dynamic mechanism, most of
similar conclusions were listed in Ref [9]. In terms of the cycle-by-cycle the combustion models of internal combustion engines they used were
variations (COV), Huang et al. [35] studied the effect of EGR strategy zero-dimension models and quasi-dimension models. Most of these
on the COV of an HNG engine. The results presented that both the COV models rely on empirical factors. Besides, the authors referred to lots of
of PCP and COV of indicated mean effective pressure (IMEP) increased Ref and datum, but still failed to find a similar study about the impact of
with the increased EGR ratio [36]. In terms of the emissions, the use of EGR strategy and fuel type on in-cylinder flows of NG engine, let alone
the exhaust gas into the cylinder could decrease the NOx and HC the impacts on a heavy-duty higher CR (13.6) NG engine with higher
emissions level [37], the same conclusions were listed in Ref [38,39]. methane content. Thus, in this paper, in order to study the effects of
Besides, In terms of the content of methane, Chen et al. [40] studied EGR strategy on in-cylinder flow and emissions characteristics in a
that engine fueled with higher methane content could produce higher higher CR lean-burn NGSI engine, a simulated performance model with
BTE. Besides, Zhou et al. [41]also analyzed the energy balance at dif- a detailed three-dimensional (3-D) full-size parts (including combustion
ferent speeds and load in liquefied methane gas (LMG) engine whose chamber, intake port and exhaust port) was established by the com-
methane content is 99%. mercial CFD code and calibrated by the experimental data in the first
In a word, although many important and meaningful conclusions stage. In the second stage, a sensitivity analysis of the EGR rate on in-
are presented in their publications based on the experimental data, few cylinder flow, emissions and performance of a higher CR (13.6) NG
publications are showed to study the primary cause for the heat-work engine with 99% methane content was discussed. Thus, this paper is the
conversion efficiency of the NG engine from the aspect of the flow and first to study the effect of combing with the EGR, fuel types and higher
detailed combustion mechanism in the cylinder. But with the CR in NG engine based on CFD code, and then it is quite different from

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S. Zhang, et al. Fuel 276 (2020) 118082

Fig. 1. The schematic diagram of the experimental device.

Table 3
The main features of instruments and equipment [4].
Equipment Type Precision
/Resolution

Electric dynamometer 380 kW/2300 N.m/3790r/ ± 0.2% N.m;

min ± 2r/min
Dynamometer control system FC2012 /
Cooling water temperature Professional cold and heat /
Control system shock FC2422 /
Exhaust emissions analyzer Horiba MEXA 584L CO:0.01% vol
HC:1ppm vol
CO2:0.02% vol
O2:0.01% vol
NO:1ppm vol
Lambda analysis meter ETAS LA4 ± 0.001
Combustion analyzer AVL-IndiSet ADVANCED /
PLUS
ECU 1 Yi kong-Cheng du /
ECU 2 Yi kong-Cheng du /
Cylinder pressure sensor Kistler 6115BCD65Q01 0.3% F.S
Crank angle calculator AVL 4CA1.01 ± 0.5 °CA
Amplifier Kistler 5015 ± 0.01 V
Fig. 2. The 3-D simulation model.

the previous studies from the viewpoint of fuel types (higher methane on the engine bench under different EGR rates. The features of the NGSI
content), control strategy (EGR strategy) as well as the research engine are listed in Table 1, the injection mode of the engine is port-
methods (3-D). Furthermore, the model and these data in this paper can injection, and the NGSI engine has one intake valve and exhaust valve
be applied to evaluate and optimize the energy distribution by changing (discuss later). And the main features of the fuel types are shown in
different technologies or strategies in the future. Besides, the 3-D data Table 2.
can provide a basis for the quantitative relationship between the EGR The figure Fig. 1 presents the schematic diagram of the NGSI engine
rate and the combustion rate, NOx generation in the format of 1-D. bench. The tested NGSI engine consists of fuel supply system (including
NG tank, mass flow meter and valve), electronic control unit (ECU),
such as the ECU 1 which controls the amount of CO2 and the ECU 2
2. Experimental setup and simulation model which controls the amount of NG and, signal processing system (in-
cluding the charge amplifier, crank angle calculator and combustion
2.1. Test benchmark and apparatus analyzer), test equipment (such as the electric dynamometer, coolant
system, fuel system and emissions meter) and so on. Among these kinds
In order to study the effects of EGR strategies on combustion, in- of equipment, the combustion analyzer is necessary to obtain the in-
cylinder flow and emissions characteristics in a heavy-duty higher CR cylinder pressure, and then the heat release rate (HRR), temperature
lean-burn NGSI engine coupled with the detail combustion mechanism, and the combustion parameters (such as 50% combustion position and
a high CR (13.6) NGSI engine whose methane content is 99% was tested

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S. Zhang, et al. Fuel 276 (2020) 118082

Table 4
Description of test conditions and key boundary conditions.
Boundary conditions Operating condition Operating condition Operating condition Operating condition

Engine speed 1800 r/min 1800 r/min 1800 r/min 1800 r/min
Load BMEP 9 bar BMEP 9 bar BMEP 9 bar BMEP 9 bar
Initial intake port temperature (K) 311 311 311 311
Initial intake port pressure (bar) 1.45 1.45 1.45 1.45
Initial exhaust port temperature (K) 843 843 843 843
Initial exhaust port pressure (bar) 1.735 1.735 1.735 1.735
EGR rate (%) 0 10 20 30

Fig. 3. Comparison between the in-cylinder pressure and HRR vs. crank angle under different EGR rates (1800 r/min, 9 bar).

Table 5 while before sampling the emissions and collecting the data to decrease
Description of comparison between the simulated and measured data. the test error.
Boundary conditions Experiment Simulation Experiment Simulation
In this paper, the formula of the EGR rate is calculated by the next
Eq. (1) [9]:
Engine speed 1800 r/min 1800 r/min 1800 r/min 1800 r/min
Load BMEP 9 bar BMEP 9 bar BMEP 9 bar BMEP 9 bar ICO2 − ECO2
EGRrate = × 100%
EGR rate (%) 0 0 10 10 OCO2 − ECO2 (1)
PCP (bar) 8.76 8.85 8.52 8.50
Relative error of PCP −1.02 0.23 whereICO2 is CO2 concentration of intake air supplied by the ECU 1, %;
(%)
ECO2 is CO2 concentration in the environment, %; OCO2 is the CO2
Angel of PCP (°CA) 12.30 12.43 12.30 13.14
Maximum HRR (J/°CA) 232.27 237.33 232.52 265.59 concentration in the exhaust gas, %.
Angle of Maximum 7.20 6.95 11.21 7.12
HRR (°CA)
NOx (PPM) 1569 1433 1163 1277 3. Results and discussion
Relative error of NOx 9.50 −8.93
(%) 3.1. Numerical simulation model setup and validation
HC (PPM) 334 247 297 238
CO (%) 0.19 0.17 0.15 0.15
In this paper, the commercial engine simulation software CONVE-
RGE 2.3 code (Convergent Science Inc. (CSI) (v2.3, Convergent Science
10–90% combustion duration) are calculated. Besides, the NOx, HC and Inc, USA, 2017)) was applied to simulate the in-cylinder energy con-
CO emissions are measured in emissions meter. To ensure the validity of version process, and the detailed reaction chemical kinetics mechanism
the data, the sensor’s precision was recalibrated regularly based on the of methane [45] was used in this simulation model. In this 3-D simu-
calibration manual and then the accuracy of the facilities and sensors lation process, some important methods and theories had been used, for
were in good condition and precision in the process of experiments. example, the Reynolds-average Navier-Stokes (RANS) method, re-
Table 3 presents the specifications of full-size main instruments and normalization group (RNG) andκ - ε turbulence model [46]. Besides,
equipment. the adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) [47] was used to automatically
refine the mesh, which is a very important feature in the CONVERGE
2.3 code software so as to save the developer’s time.
2.2. Experimental procedures and calculation method The full-size 3-D NGSI engine simulation model was developed and
presented in Fig. 2 including one intake port and exhaust port, intake
The lean-burn higher CR (13.6) NGSI engine operates under brake and exhaust valve, both valves timings and lift profiles were obtained
mean effective pressure (BEMP) 9 bar at 1800 r/min. The NGSI’s fuel is by the manufacturer, spark plug and piston were scanned by the in-
NG with 99% methane content. The output coolant temperature of the dustrial computed tomography (CT). Importantly, the initial boundary
NGSI engine is kept at 88 ± 2 °C by the coolant control system, and the conditions during this simulation (the temperature and pressure of the
lambda is controlled at constant (1.24) by ECU 2 at lean combustion port and valve) are listed in Table 4, which were directly-measured
conditions. Besides, the intake air temperature is controlled at about from the experiments, and then used to the implementation of the 3-D
38 °C, in other words, which is treated as the cold EGR configuration. NGSI engine simulation model.
Last but not the least, the tested engine is kept at a steady state for a After developing the 3-D NGSI engine model, it is necessary to

4
S. Zhang, et al. Fuel 276 (2020) 118082

Fig. 4. In-cylinder pressure, HRR and integrated heat release in different crank angles.

Fig. 5. Combustion phasing vs. crank angle.

validate the simulation results by two cases (as shown in Fig. 3). Since results and the experimental data. For example, the maximum relative
the in-cylinder temperature, heat transfer energy, and its brake output error between the simulated and measured data of peak in-cylinder
power are heavily dependent on in-cylinder pressure and HRR, thus, the pressure is below 1.5%. Besides, the maximum relative error between
in-cylinder pressure and HRR are the crucial parameters to validate the the simulated and measured data of NOx emissions is still within 10%.
simulation results. Fig. 3 shows the in-cylinder pressure and HRR be- Thus, the 3-D NGSI engine model could be treated as a very useful tool
tween the simulated and measured data without EGR and at 10% EGR to accurately predict the performance, combustion, and emissions
rate. What’s more, the purpose of this paper is to present the in-cylinder characteristics.
flow and the emissions, the emissions (including the NOx, CO and HC)
are also treated as the important parameters to validate the simulation 3.2. Effects of different EGR rate on in-cylinder flow, performance and
results. emissions
It can be seen from Fig. 3 that the simulated in-cylinder pressure and
HRR are generally consistent with the experimental data. Moreover, With the rapid development of advanced optical combustion diag-
Table 5 clearly shows the comparison between 3-D key simulation nostic technology [48], researchers can directly obtain experimental

5
S. Zhang, et al. Fuel 276 (2020) 118082

Fig. 6. IMEP and Indicated thermal efficiency vs. EGR rate.

Fig. 7. In-cylinder bulk temperature (a) and NO emissions (b) Mass Fraction of T greater than 2500 K (c) CH4 Fraction(d) vs. crank angle.

data from in-cylinder flow [49], air–fuel ratio distribution, and the PCP in the cylinder is 8.85 MPa, and 7.19 MPa under the condition of
formation and development of spark nuclei in spark-ignition engines 0% EGR rate and 30% EGR rate. It can be used to suppress abnormal
[50], which has a significant effect on the combustion process. Typi- combustion occurrence especially the tendency to knock. Besides, the
cally, two different methods have been utilized to quantify the in-cy- use of hot EGR would increase the tendency to knock and reduce the
linder air motion, such as the planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) charge efficiency of the engine [53], as stated earlier, the intake air
[51] and particle image velocimetry (PIV) [52]. However, either temperature is controlled at about 38 °C in this test. The peaks of the
method is limited by the cost. Therefore, simulation though the CFD combustion heat release rate and integrated heat release rate are de-
code coupled with the chemical reaction mechanism method can pro- layed with the increase of EGR rate. This means that as the EGR rate
vide quantitative research on the gas flow and combustion process of increases, the burning rate of the mixture in the cylinder continues to
the engine in an economical way. Fig. 4 shows the in-cylinder pressure, decrease, and the combustion midpoint moves backward, the same
HRR and integrated heat release at four different EGR rates. It can be conclusions were listed in Ref [37]. Fig. 5 shows IMEP, 10CA, 50CA,
seen from Fig. 4 that as the EGR rate increases, the PCP in the cylinder and 90CA with different EGR rates. The results show that there is no
decreases, a similar conclusion was listed in Ref [8]. For example, the clear difference in IMEP between different operating conditions.

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S. Zhang, et al. Fuel 276 (2020) 118082

Fig. 8. Temperature distribution and flame propagation of four EGR rates.

However, the 10CA point is delayed as the EGR rate increases, which cycle theory of the ICE, the higher the specific heat ratio of the mixture
indicates that the flame retardation period of the mixture increases with is, the higher the thermal efficiency is. However, with the increase of
the increase of the CO2 content. In contrast to our data, Amr et al.[54] CO2 content in the mixture, the specific heat ratio of the gas in the
found that as the EGR rate increased, the burning rate of the mixture cylinder decreases. A similar conclusion was listed in Ref [56]. Li et al.
decreased significantly, resulting in a large loss of engine power. This added AR, N2 and CO2 into methane as the fuel of the engine. And the
difference might relate to the method used, their formula for calculating experiments showed that the thermal efficiency of the mixture with a
the EGR rate is different from ours, and the EGR is hot EGR, which higher specific heat ratio was higher than that of the mixture with a
greatly reduces the volumetric efficiency and results in a significant lower specific heat ratio.
decrease in engine power. Besides, as the EGR rate increases linearly, Generally, three main mechanisms are describing the formation of
the backward effect of combustion increases nonlinearly. In particular, NOx emissions and detailed reaction paths in the CFD simulation,
compared to the case without EGR, the combustion heat release rate of thermal NOx, fuel NOx, and prompt NOx. However, the LMG was
the case with an EGR rate of 10% was delayed, but its peak value did purified from the NG and contained little nitrogen, so that only the
not change. It is worth noting that the maximum difference between thermal NOx mechanism (the extended Zeldovitch mechanism) was
50%CA delayed by EGR is about 3CA in Fig. 5(a), which may be the used in the simulation case, and the remaining two mechanisms are
reason why the IMEP of each case does not change much as shown in ignored [57]. Fig. 7(a) shows the mass fraction curves of NOx with the
Fig. 6(a). The IMEP of EGR 10% is even higher than that of EGR 0%, increase of the EGR rate. The amount of NOx generated decreases as the
and the same conclusions were listed in Hu’s literature [55]. EGR rate increases. It can be seen from Fig. 7(a) that the EGR rate has a
According to the above analysis, there exists a proper EGR rate, great influence on the generation of NOx. The NOx generated when the
which could not significantly affect the combustion performance of EGR rate is 0% is more than twice that when the EGR rate is 30%. The
natural gas engines. With the increase of the EGR rate, the peak position two reasons are following, on one hand, increasing the EGR rate could
of the combustion HRR could be delayed and the peak value could be increase the specific heat capacity of the mixture, increase the fuel’s
decreased, but those changes have little effect on the power perfor- ignition delay period, and reduce the combustion temperature, re-
mance of the engine. As shown in Fig. 6(b), the indicated thermal ef- sulting in reducing the formation rate of NOx emissions. On the other
ficiency decreases with the increase of the EGR rate, based on the ideal hand, the ambient oxygen concentration in the cylinder could decrease,

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S. Zhang, et al. Fuel 276 (2020) 118082

Fig. 9. In-cylinder temperature in different crank angles.

and the chance of collision of nitrogen and oxygen could decrease. The process, the more high-temperature regions generated in the cylinder
rate of NOx production and the net production of NOx are greatly re- area and the longer the time, the easier it is to produce NOx emissions
duced under the combined effect of these two aspects. The Fig. 7(b) [54].
shows the change of average cylinder temperature with the crank angle Fig. 8 shows the temperature distribution and flame propagation of
at different EGR rates. It can be seen from the figure that as the EGR the four different EGR rates. The yellow isosurface in the picture in-
rate increases, the gas compression temperature in the cylinder de- dicates that the 2000 K flame end face in the ignition engine. Compared
creases, and the average combustion temperature in the cylinder de- with other cases, the flame front of the case without EGR is the largest
creases after ignition. Besides, with the increase of the EGR rate, the at the time of −20CA, and the flame spreads fastest. The same con-
mass fraction of CO2 in the intake air is increased, which increases the clusion can also be drawn from Fig. 9. To provide a more detailed view
specific heat capacity of the mixture and decreases the temperature of the in-cylinder process and explain the relativity between measured
increase rate and pressure increase rate [38]. Fig. 7(c) shows the time and calculated NO emissions, the in-cylinder image of Fig. 9 and Fig. 10
history of a mass fraction greater than 2500 K for each case. Arrhenius are shown below, which can help understand and determine the NO
law points out that temperature has the most significant effect on the generation mechanism. The results show that the higher the NO mass
reaction rate among many factors [58]. It can be concluded that the fraction near the spark plug and in the center of the combustion
amount of NOx produced is positively related to the proportion of re- chamber for the entire combustion process, where the temperature is
gions at high temperatures during combustion. During the combustion higher. NOx is mostly generated in the interval of 0-20CA, so

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S. Zhang, et al. Fuel 276 (2020) 118082

EGR=0 EGR=10% EGR=20% EGR=30%

-20 °CA

0 °CA

20 °CA

40 °CA

60 °CA

Fig. 10. NOx emissions concentration in different crank angles.

controlling the temperature of this interval is an important way to re- (1) A full-scale CFD calculation model with intake port and exhaust
duce the NOx emissions. In all crank conditions after 20CA, the flame port was established and calibrated, which can analyze the gas
propagation has reached the cylinder wall and is fully developed. At flow, combustion, and emissions in the cylinder at the engine op-
this time, the temperature in the cylinder of each case is about the erating point. The maximum relative error between the simulated
same, and the fuel is almost consumed. The high-temperature and and measured data of PCP is below 1.5%. Besides, the maximum
oxygen-rich conditions required for NOx generation are destroyed, relative error between the simulated and measured data of NOx
thus, the NOx stops producing. Kosmadakis et al. [44] also observed emissions is still within 10%. Furthermore, the model in the paper
this phenomenon and they used the measured data to explore the op- can be applied to evaluate and optimize energy distribution by
eration of an engine at the aid of a validated CFD code. But they found changing different technologies or strategies in the future.
that when the flame covered almost the entire cylinder, NO continued Based on the analysis of simulation results, the 3-D data can provide
to be produced until after about 32CA after TDC. This difference might a basis for the quantitative relationship between the EGR rate and
relate to the different working conditions and different calculation the combustion rate, NOx generation in the format of 1-D. The si-
methods of chemical reaction kinetics. The uncertainty of the calcula- mulation results are listed below.
tion method of their chemical reaction kinetics (which is already quite (2) The simulation shows that as the EGR rate increases, the indicated
high) will increase when used to calculate the nitric oxide reaction rate thermal efficiency and specific gas consumption remain almost
in carbon-free fuels [59]. unchanged at the initial stage. When the blending ratio exceeds a
certain value, the indicated thermal efficiency decreases, and the
specific gas consumption increases.
4. Conclusions (3) As the EGR rate increases linearly, the combustion start point,
combustion duration, and CA50 increase nonlinearly, but the rate
In this article, an experimental investigation and numerical assess- of change of these parameters increases as the EGR rate increases.
ment of the effects of EGR strategies on in-cylinder flow, combustion The average combustion temperature in the cylinder decreases as
and emissions characteristics in a heavy-duty higher CR lean-burn NGSI the blending rate increases, and the crankshaft angle corresponding
engine coupled with detail combustion mechanism was implemented. to the peak value of the average combustion temperature in the
The main conclusions can be drawn as follows:

9
S. Zhang, et al. Fuel 276 (2020) 118082

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