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The development of an enhanced autoignition sub-model for use in CFD combustion simulations

Includes bibliographical references.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Cox, Ryan
Other Authors: Yates, Andrew
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Department of Mechanical Engineering 2014
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access_status_str Open Access
author Cox, Ryan
author2 Yates, Andrew
author_browse Cox, Ryan
Yates, Andrew
author_facet Yates, Andrew
Cox, Ryan
author_sort Cox, Ryan
collection Thesis
description Includes bibliographical references.
format Thesis
id oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/5570
institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:34:14.045Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2014
publishDateRange 2014
publishDateSort 2014
publisher Department of Mechanical Engineering
publisherStr Department of Mechanical Engineering
record_format dspace
source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/5570 The development of an enhanced autoignition sub-model for use in CFD combustion simulations Cox, Ryan Yates, Andrew Meyer, Chris Mechanical Engineering Includes bibliographical references. With the ever increasing pressure to manufacture more efficient engines that produce lowerexhaust emissions, there is a corresponding need for a greater understanding of the combustion processes within these engines. Specifically, it is the interaction between the fuel and the engine that represents one of the greatest research challenges. As the systemsbecome increasingly sophisticated, the fuel companies are experiencing an increased demand for high specification fuels with tighter tolerances. Now, more than ever, the fueldesign and engine design need to work as one integrated system to meet these expectations. In this project, an attempt was made to produce a computationally efficient mathematical model of the fuel ignition characteristics that could be used in a CFD simulation of an internal combustion engine or any other generic combustion system. The validation of the model provided useful insight into the need for good quality experimental data for the fuels of interest, highlighting the need for pure ignition delay curves without engine effects, which is a limitation of many of the current models. When modelling a single fuel droplet, the importance of the temperature profile in the vicinity of the evaporating particle was clearly illustrated, as well as the variation in the local air/fuel ratio. These effects were shown to playoff against each other - the centre of the droplet being coldest and hence yielding a longer ignition delay while, at the same time, the high equivalence ratio near the centre had the effect of shortening the ignition delay. Using a simple, two dimensional model and using n-Heptane as the fuel, a realistic prediction of the overall ignition delay was obtained. More importantly, the critical zone of the initial auto ignition was identified. These simulations show how this model can be used in an environment that exhibits both gradients of temperature and equivalence ratio. It also shows the importance of including such in-homogeneities when creating engine models that include fuel injection. This approach can easily be extended into any type of combustion simulation involving fuel droplets where local temperature and equivalence ratios have a controlling effect on the ignition. Some recommendations for future work include the modelling of the IQT™ with the possibility of reconciling the ignition delay of the IQT™ and the cetane test. 2014-07-31T11:30:29Z 2014-07-31T11:30:29Z 2006 Master Thesis Masters MSc http://hdl.handle.net/11427/5570 eng application/pdf Department of Mechanical Engineering Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment University of Cape Town
spellingShingle Mechanical Engineering
Cox, Ryan
The development of an enhanced autoignition sub-model for use in CFD combustion simulations
thesis_degree_str Master's
title The development of an enhanced autoignition sub-model for use in CFD combustion simulations
title_full The development of an enhanced autoignition sub-model for use in CFD combustion simulations
title_fullStr The development of an enhanced autoignition sub-model for use in CFD combustion simulations
title_full_unstemmed The development of an enhanced autoignition sub-model for use in CFD combustion simulations
title_short The development of an enhanced autoignition sub-model for use in CFD combustion simulations
title_sort development of an enhanced autoignition sub model for use in cfd combustion simulations
topic Mechanical Engineering
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/5570
work_keys_str_mv AT coxryan thedevelopmentofanenhancedautoignitionsubmodelforuseincfdcombustionsimulations
AT coxryan developmentofanenhancedautoignitionsubmodelforuseincfdcombustionsimulations