Numerical Simulation of Non-reacting Diesel Fuel Sprays under Low Temperature Late Injection Operating Condition

Accurate simulations on combustion and emission characteristics of direct injection diesel engines are highly dependent on detailed prediction of equivalence ratio distribution inside the combustion chamber. In this study, Open-FOAM and Lib-ICE multi-dimensional CFD frameworks were used in order to model engine flow, liquid diesel fuel spray, break-up, evaporation and mixing. Simulations were conducted on the basis of experimental data from SANDIA optical engine. Initial simulation results showed tangible discrepancy with the experimental equivalence ratio data in distribution of fuel-rich zones. Investigations on three different injection angles in three different combustion chamber bowl geometries showed that cavitation phenomenon was most probably occurred in injector nozzle during the experiments. Onset of cavitation in injector nozzle internal flow can noticeably change the spray break-up length and cause asymmetric spray angle later inside the combustion chamber. Taking cavitation effects into account, simulations were performed by corrected values of spray break-up length and injection angle based on experimental injection pressure and nozzle orifice dimensions. Final spray simulations showed better agreement with experimental results for all of three bowl geometries. This enhanced accuracy of numerical prediction without unacceptable tuning of spray sub-model parameters.