Numerical study on the compression ignition of a porous medium engine

Homogeneous and stable combustion can be realized in a porous medium (PM) engine where a chemically inert PM is mounted in the combustion chamber. To understand the mechanism of the PM engine, we simulated the working process of a PM engine fueled with natural gas (CH4) using an improved version of KIVA-3V and investigated the effects of the initial PM temperature, the PM structure as well as the fuel injection timing on the compression ignition of the engine. The improved version of KIVA-3V was verified by simulating the experiment of Zhdanok et al. for the superadiabatic combustion of CH4-air mixtures under filtration in a packed bed. The numerical results are in good agreement with experimental data for the speed of combustion wave. Computational results for the PM engine show that the initial PM temperature is the key factor in guaranteeing the onset of compression ignition of the PM engine at a given compression ratio. The PM structure affects greatly both convective heat transfer between the gas and solid phase in the PM and the dispersion effect of the PM. Pore diameter of the PM is a crucial factor in determining the realization of combustion in the PM engine. Over-late fuel injection timing (near TDC) cannot assure a compression ignition of the PM engine.