Convective heat transfer equation for turbulent flow in tubes applied to internal combustion engines operated under motored conditions

An equation developed for the case of turbulent flow in tubes was applied for the study of convective heat transfer in internal combustion engines. Calculated average heat flux values under motored conditions were compared to measurements, results available in the literature obtained by using a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code and the correlations of Woschni and Annand. Cumulative heat flux values for the four models were also compared to measurements at the end of the compression stroke and start of expansion. Average heat transfer rates were found to be predicted with reasonable accuracy by the proposed model. The major advantage of this equation compared to the correlations of Woschni and Annand is that it does not require any corrections for specific engine characteristics or working conditions. The proposed model was found to correctly predict higher heat transfer rates as engine speed, load and compression ratio were increased. Accuracy at the end of the compression stroke was found to be within acceptable limits for the cumulative heat flux, comparable to that of the CFD code, except for one case of the seven different engines investigated. Therefore, this model can be used to predict spatial average convective heat flux values with fairly good accuracy under motored conditions, when limited information on engine geometry is available, or when computing resources are required to be minimal.

► Empirical equation applied for convective heat transfer modeling in motored piston engines.
► Good accuracy compared to the results of a more complex CFD model.
► Applicability for spark ignition as well as compression ignition engines.
► Effects of operational parameters well predicted by the proposed model.