A chemical kinetic interpretation of the octane appetite of modern gasoline engines
Somers, Kieran P. Cracknell, Roger F. Curran, Henry J.
Somers, Kieran P.
Cracknell, Roger F.
Curran, Henry J.
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2018-06-29
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Article
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Somers, Kieran P., Cracknell, Roger F., & Curran, Henry J. (2019). A chemical kinetic interpretation of the octane appetite of modern gasoline engines. Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, 37(4), 4857-4864. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proci.2018.05.123
Abstract
Fuel anti-knock quality is a critical property with respect to the effective design of next-generation spark-ignition engines which aim to have increased efficiency, and lower emissions. Increasing evidence in the literature supports the fact that the current regulatory measures of fuel anti-knock quality, the research octane number (RON), and motor octane number (MON), are becoming decreasingly relevant to commercial engines. Extrapolation and interpolation of the RON/MON scales to the thermodynamic conditions of modern engines is potentially valuable for the synergistic design of fuels and engines with greater efficiency. The K-value approach, which linearly weights the RON/MON scales based on the thermodynamic history of an engine, offers a convenient experimental method to do so, although complementary theoretical interpretations of K-value measurements are lacking in the literature. This work uses a phenomenological engine model with a detailed chemical kinetic model to predict and interpret known trends in the K-value with respect to engine intake temperature, pressure, and engine speed. The modelling results support experimental trends which show that the K-value increases with increasing intake temperature and engine speed, and decreases with increasing intake pressure. A chemical kinetic interpretation of trends in the K-value based on fundamental ignition behaviour is presented. The results show that combined experimental/theoretical approaches, which employ a knowledge of fundamental fuel data (gas phase kinetics, ignition delay times), can provide a reliable means to assess trends in the real-world performance of commercial fuels under the operating conditions of modern engines. (C) 2018 The Combustion Institute. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Elsevier
Publisher DOI
10.1016/j.proci.2018.05.123
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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Ireland