Numerical Investigation on the Combustion and Emission Characteristics of Diesel Engine with Flexible Fuel Injection

As the main engineering power plant, diesel engines are irreplaceable in the future. However, the stringent emission regulations impose many tough requirements to their developments. Recently, flexible fuel injection strategy has been recognized as an effective technology in creating an advanced spray and mixture formation and improving combustion efficiency indirectly. However, the detailed combustion and emission behaviors under flexible fuel injection are still unknown. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate the combustion and emission characteristics under flexible fuel injection and explore an optimal injection strategy for high-efficiency combustion. A numerical simulation method is conducted by coupling the large-eddy simulation (LES) model and the SAGE combustion model. Then, the spray mixing, combustion flame propagation and emissions formation under various multiple-injection strategies are investigated. Results reveal that initial an ultrahigh injection pressure has a significant influence on the spray's axial penetration while dwell time mainly affects the spray's radial expansion. Under an initial ultrahigh injection pressure, the turbulence kinetic energy (TKE) becomes larger, and the vortex motions are stronger, contributing to a better spray turbulent mixing. Meanwhile, a snatchier flame structure with a favorable level of equivalence ratio and a homogeneous temperature distribution is obtained. In this way, the peak heat release rate (HRR) could increase by 46.7% with a 16.7% reduction in soot formation and a 31.4% reduction in NOx formation.