Regular Article

Characterization of radiative heat transfer in a spark-ignition engine through high-speed experiments and simulations

¹ Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, 1231 Beal Ave, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
² Southwest Research Institute, 4622 Runway Blvd, Ann Arbor, MI 48108, USA
³ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, 140 Research Building East, University Park, PA 16802, USA

^* Corresponding author: lhenrion@umich.edu

Received: 14 January 2019
Accepted: 2 May 2019

Abstract

A combined experimental and Large-Eddy Simulation (LES) study of molecular radiation is presented for combustion in a homogeneous pre-mixed spark-ignition engine. Molecular radiation can account for ~10% of the engine heat loss and could have a noticeable impact on the local conditions within the combustion chamber. The Transparent Combustion Chamber (TCC) engine, a single-cylinder two-valve research engine with a transparent liner and piston for optical access, was used for this study. High-speed infrared emission spectroscopy and radiative post-processing of LES calculations have been performed to gain insight into the timescales and magnitude of radiative emissions of molecular gases during the combustion process. Both the measurements and simulations show significant Cycle-to-Cycle Variations (CCV) of radiative emission. There is agreement in the instantaneous radiative spectrum of experiment and simulation, but the crank-angle development of the radiative spectrum shows disagreement. The strengths and limitations of the optical experiments and radiative simulations are seen in the results and suggest pathways for future efforts in characterizing the influence of molecular radiation. In particular, focusing on the relative changes of the spectral features will be important as they contain information about the thermochemical properties of the gas mixture.