Prediction of Voltage Signature in a Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) Engine Fueled with Propane and Acetylene

Ion sensors work on the principle that the ion current in a combusting mixture is proportional to the electrical conductivity of the mixture. Ion sensors can thus provide direct in-cylinder combustion information to the engine controller in order to optimize engine performance and reduce emissions....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Combustion science and technology 2013-08, Vol.185 (8), p.1184-1201
Main Author: Aithal, S. M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acetylene
Alternative fuels
Charged species
Chemistry
Conductivity
Electric currents
Electric potential
Emissions
Engines
Equilibrium
Equivalence ratio
Fuels
HCCI engine
Ionization
Ions
Mathematical models
Propane
Temperature
Voltage
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Summary:Ion sensors work on the principle that the ion current in a combusting mixture is proportional to the electrical conductivity of the mixture. Ion sensors can thus provide direct in-cylinder combustion information to the engine controller in order to optimize engine performance and reduce emissions. Electrical conductivity of the combusting mixture depends on the mixture composition (fuel and equivalence ratio) along with the temperature and pressure. A previously developed equilibrium chemistry model consisting of 20 neutral species and seven charged species was shown to correctly predict the temporal variation of current in a constant-volume, spark-ignited methane/air mixture in a constant volume chamber, for various air/fuel ratios. The current study explores the use of this equilibrium chemistry model for predicting the voltage signatures in a homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engine fueled with alternative fuels such as propane and acetylene operating at low temperatures and equivalence ratios. Temporal variation of the current signal is compared with experimental data for various equivalence ratios for propane and acetylene. The contribution of various charged species to the current signal is also analyzed. It was seen that the equilibrium chemistry model captures the experimentally observed voltage signal trends correctly for both propane and acetylene for a range of equivalence ratios. The ability of the model to correctly correlate the voltage signal with equivalence ratio for various fuels shows its potential for diagnostics and control of next-generation engines.
ISSN:0010-2202
1563-521X
DOI:10.1080/00102202.2013.781593