Soot particle size modelling in 3D simulations of diesel engine combustion

The present work is focused on multi-dimensional simulations of combustion in diesel engines. The primary objective was to test, in a diesel engine framework, a soot particle size model to represent the carbon particle formation and calculate the corresponding size distribution function. Simulations are performed by means of a parallel version of the KIVA3V numerical code, modified to adopt detailed kinetics reaction mechanisms. A skeletal reaction scheme for n-heptane autoignition has been extended, to include PAH kinetics and carbonaceous particle formation and consumption rates: the full reaction set is made up of 82 gas species and 50 species accounting for the particles, thus the complete reaction scheme comprises 132 species and 2206 reaction steps. Four different engine operative conditions, varying engine speed and load, are taken into account and experimentally tested on a single cylinder diesel engine fuelling pure n-heptane. Computed particle size distribution functions are compared with corresponding measurements at the exhaust, performed by a differential mobility spectrometer. A satisfying agreement between computed and measured combustion profiles is obtained in all the conditions. A reasonable aerosol evolution can be obtained, yet in all the cases the model exhibits the tendency to overestimate the number of particles within the range 5–160 nm. Moreover calculations predict a nucleation mode not detected by the available instrument. According to the simulations, the total number and size of the nascent particles would not depend on the operative conditions, while the features of the larger aggregates distinctly vary with the engine functioning.