Numerical investigation of fluid flow and in-cylinder air flow characteristics for higher viscosity fuel applications

Abstract

Generally, the compression ignition (CI) engine that runs with emulsified biofuel (EB) or higher viscosity fuel experiences inferior performance and a higher emission compared to petro diesel engines. The modification is necessary to standard engine level in order to realize its application. This paper proposes a guide vane design (GVD), which needs to be installed in the intake manifold, is incorporated with shallow depth re-entrance combustion chamber (SCC) pistons. This will organize and develop proper in-cylinder airflow to promote better diffusion, evaporation and combustion processes. The model of GVD and SCC piston was designed using SolidWorks 2017; while ANSYS Fluent version 15 was utilized to run a 3D analysis of the cold flow IC engine. In this research, seven designs of GVD with the number of vanes varied from two to eight vanes (V2-V8) are used. The four-vane model (V4) has shown an excellent turbulent flow as well as swirl, tumble and cross tumble ratios in the fuel-injected region compared to other designs. This is indispensable to break up heavier fuel molecules of EB to mix with the air that will eventually improve engine performance.