2013-01-0865

Published 04/08/2013
Copyright © 2013 SAE International
doi:10.4271/2013-01-0865
saeeng.saejournals.org

A Multi-Dimensional CFD-Chemical Kinetics Approach in

Detection and Reduction of Knocking Combustion in Diesel-
Natural Gas Dual-Fuel Engines Using Local Heat Release
Analysis
Amin Maghbouli
National University of Singapore

Sina Shafee
Middle East Technical University

Rahim Khoshbakhti Saray

Sahand University of Technology

Wenming Yang
National University of Singapore

Vahid Hosseini
Sharif Univ of Technology

Hui An
National University of Singapore

ABSTRACT
Dual-fuel diesel-natural gas (NG) engine exhibits higher power density and lower specific emissions compared to
dedicated diesel engines. However, high intake temperatures, high compression ratios, combined with high engine loads
may lead to engine knock. This is potentially a limiting factor on engine downsizing and getting higher power. In the
present study, the combustion process under knocking conditions has been investigated in a dual-fuel diesel-NG engine. A
comprehensive multi-dimensional simulation framework was generated by integrating the CHEMKIN chemistry solver
into the KIVA-3V code. A detailed chemical kinetics mechanism was used for n-heptane and methane as diesel and NG
surrogates. Combination of detailed chemical kinetics and detailed fluid dynamics calculation enabled the model to take
into account the characteristics of most pronounced knock type in dual-fuel engines, so called end-gas knock. Within the
CFD computational domain, eight regions that are the representatives of the dual-fuel heat release patterns have been
selected to extract local properties. Using local knock identification factors, end-gas knock was observed in abnormal
combustion cases. A new Knock Intensity factor (K.I) was introduced based on local heat release rate. Using developed
knock prediction method, results showed knock could be mitigated by using EGR. Moreover, effect of premixed methane
equivalence ratio on knocking combustion was investigated.

CITATION: Maghbouli, A., Shafee, S., Khoshbakhti Saray, R., Yang, W. et al., "A Multi-Dimensional CFD-Chemical
Kinetics Approach in Detection and Reduction of Knocking Combustion in Diesel-Natural Gas Dual-Fuel Engines Using
Local Heat Release Analysis," SAE Int. J. Engines 6(2):2013, doi:10.4271/2013-01-0865.
____________________________________

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778 Maghbouli et al / SAE Int. J. Engines / Volume 6, Issue 2(June 2013)
INTRODUCTION
Dual-fuel diesel-NG engines use NG as the main fuel and
benefit from the auto-ignition characteristics of diesel fuels
for combustion initiation. With limited changes in the engine
fuel delivery system and without any structural modification,
a normal diesel engine can be retrofitted to a dual-fuel diesel-
NG engine. Dual-fuel diesel-NG engines have comparable
performance to that of conventional diesel engines, while
most of the energy is obtained from NG as a relatively clean
burning fuel [1, 2, 3]. In a dual-fuel diesel-NG engine, NG
provides the majority of chemical energy and injection of a
small amount of diesel fuel as the pilot-fuel is used to trigger
the ignition of premixed NG and air mixture. The small
quantity of the liquid fuel and clean burning nature of the
gaseous fuel provide the potential of producing relatively
lower NOx and lower particulate emissions (PM) comparing
to the conventional diesel cycle [4]. Despite the great benefits
of the dual-fuel engines in terms of fuel economy, they suffer
from low thermal efficiency and high CO and UHC emission
levels at light engine loads [4]. At high engine loads,
knocking combustion may be resulted due to applying high
intake pressure and temperature [5 and 6]. The abnormal
combustion process caused by knock leads to high frequency
oscillation of the engine structure, high noise level and it can
be a limiting factor on engine downsizing and its persistence
may damage engine structure and parts.
Under specific operating conditions Dual-fuel engines
share one similar aspect with the spark-ignited (SI) engines
and that is the end-gas auto-ignition known as SI engine
knock. In a dual-fuel engine, diesel pilot-fuel acts as an
ignition source and triggers combustion of the premixed NG
and air mixture. NG combustion is a premixed flame which
propagates through the combustion chamber, leading to
compression of the end-gas and possible auto-ignition of the
gaseous fuel caused by high pressure and temperature. This
abnormal combustion is characterized by extremely rapid
temperature rise and energy release and noticeable
fluctuations in local pressure [7]. On the other hand, knock
tendency depends on the auto-ignition characteristics of the
applied fuel. In gaseous fuels, the Methane Number (MN) is
used to represent the gas quality or its ability to resist auto-
ignition. This is equivalent of Research Octane Number
(RON) used for liquid fuels [7]. Although NG has
considerably high MN, under high engine loads, compression
ratio or boosted intake pressure and temperature could be
subjected to the end-gas knock.
Heat release analysis is one of the tools that have been
used to identify knocking conditions [7, 8, 9]. It should be
noted that knock occurrence mechanism in dual-fuel engines
is different compared to SI engines due to persistence of both
injected diesel and premixed NG in an engine cycle. Karim
and Liu [9] theoretically described that energy release of a
dual-fuel diesel-NG engine is made up of three distinguished
parts namely pilot-fuel combustion, combustion of gaseous
fuel in vicinity of pilot-fuel, and combustion of remained
gaseous fuel as parts I, II, and III, respectively. They
explained that combustion is initiated by the energy release of
the diesel pilot-fuel, while the maximum heat release occurs
in part II and then combustion propagates into the remained
NG-air mixture near the cylinder wall boundaries. It is also
indicated by them that increasing the concentration of the
gaseous fuel in the air, coolant water jacket temperature and
pilot-fuel type and injection timing could cause the knock
onset in dual-fuel engines. They theoretically claimed that
once the dual-fuel engine was incurred knocking combustion,
overlap between part II and part III of the heat release pattern
would be increased [9].
Comparing to SI engines limited experimental researches
have been reported in the literature for dual-fuel engines
under knocking conditions. An experimental analysis of
knock in dual-fuel engines has been done by Karim et al [6].
It was concluded that initial mixture temperature, pilot-fuel
quantity, type of the engine aspiration and equivalence ratio
are important factors in knock occurrence. Kubesh and
Brehob [7] used Waukesha CFR cetane engine to study
knocking combustion in dual-fuel mode. They used in-
cylinder pressure gradient and maximum pressure as the
knock detection parameters to investigate the diesel and end-
gas knock occurrence in a dual-fuel engine and concluded
that Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) on cylinder pressure
fluctuations was a good indicator of end-gas knock. They also
concluded that the different NG compositions used for the
premixed fuel fraction did not have a definite effect on the
presence or intensity of knock in the engine as methane
concentration of the applied gaseous fuel blends was greater
than 90 percent.
In the numerical analysis of the knock phenomenon, the
onset of knock is defined by steep rise in pressure, HRR and
end-gas temperature [5 and 7]. Based on a previous study [8],
Karim and Liu developed a quasi two-zone model with
detailed chemical kinetics sub-model including 31 species
and 105 elementary reactions in order to study knock in the
dual-fuel engines [9]. The chemical kinetics mechanism was
only used for the predictions of the gaseous fuel auto-ignition
process. Pilot-fuel chemistry was neglected and considered as
an ignition source to simplify the calculations. They
concluded that sudden increase in HRR diagram was the
evidence for knock onset. Saidi et al developed a quasi two-
zone model [5] and conducted experiments [10] to study the
combustion process of a dual-fuel engine operating under
normal and knocking conditions. GRI-MECH 3 chemical
kinetics mechanism was used in the model. It was concluded
that existence of large amounts of free radicals before the
flame arrival was the evidence of knock. Saikaly et al [11]
developed a two-zone thermodynamic model to study end-
gas knock in CFR engine fueled by NG. They used
predefined knock factor based on HRR analysis introduced
by Karim and Gao [12]. They inferred that the developed
model was unable to simulate local temperature and HRR
increments and could not predict the knocking conditions
correctly.
 Maghbouli et al / SAE Int. J. Engines / Volume 6, Issue 2(June 2013)
Overall, paying particular attention to the governing
chemistry is the common feature among all numerical
simulations discussed above. This is why detailed chemical
kinetics mechanisms are used as chemistry directly affects
knock occurrence as far as auto-ignition conditions are
provided. By referring to extensive researches on modeling of
the knock phenomenon in SI engines [13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18,
19, 20], there are quantitatively limited publications on dual-
fuel engines. Furthermore, most of the numerical studies on
these engines were performed by the use of thermodynamic
models and considering only NG chemistry. In multi-zone
models, this was done along with assumption of uniform
temperature and composition distribution inside the
considered zones [5, 8 and 9]. Therefore, key parameters such
as: pilot-fuel chemistry and its distribution, local rate of
pressure rise, local temperature and local HRR, and their
effects on knocking behavior were neglected. Moreover, use
of mean temperature, pressure and HRR values in
identification of the knocking combustion is not an
appropriate tool and only very strong knock can be captured
by using these simplified models. The present work aims to
accurately model and demonstrate knocking combustion by
developing a coupled 3D CFD/Chemistry model. This has
been done by taking into account the effects of fluid flow and
chemical kinetics simultaneously not only for in-cylinder
mean values of pressure, temperature and HRR, but also for
local regions where knock is likely to occur.
ANALYTICAL MODEL
In reality, not only the combustion process, but also the
knock phenomenon is a three-dimensional event which relies
on numerous physical and chemical aspects [18]. This
requires utilization of a multi-dimensional CFD coupled with
chemical kinetics to accurately account for the effects of fluid
flow, spray combustion and detailed fuel oxidation chemistry.
In this study, fluid flow simulation was carried out using the
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) CFD code,
KIVA-3V [21], with improved turbulence and spray/wall
interaction models. KIVA is a computer code for the
numerical calculation of transient, two and three dimensional
chemically reactive flows with sprays. It uses a time-
marching, finite-volume scheme which solves the
conservation equations of mass, momentum, energy and
accounts for turbulence using an Arbitrary Lagrangian
Eulerian (ALE) method in three solution phases. The
combustion calculations in the original KIVA code are based
on a global reaction for fuel oxidation chemistry and it
involves only 12 active chemical species [21]. The
assumption of single-step global reaction ignores essential
features of the combustion and auto-ignition of hydrocarbon
fuels so called “double-stage ignition” [1]. Fuels with
tendency of exhibiting double-stage ignition, are more prone
to knock as the first stage ignition happens at relatively low
temperature, but provides free radicals and enthalpy for the
initiation of the main ignition stage. The phenomenon is
779
completely ignored by global single step mechanisms.
Obviously, combustion model has a key role in reliable and
accurate predictions of the global engine performance data
such as: in-cylinder pressure, HRR and emissions. Hence, in
this work the gas phase kinetics library of CHEMKIN-II [22]
was integrated into the KIVA code to generate an advanced
computational framework.
KIVA-CHEMKIN INTEGRATION
Accurate simulation of the dual-Fuel combustion under
knocking conditions is highly dependent on detailed
prediction of pilot-fuel ignition delay as well as methane
auto-ignition chemistry. Hence, utilization of detailed
chemical kinetics mechanism is essential. Considering a
typical chemical kinetics mechanism which consists of N
elementary reactions with participation of m chemical
species, the general form of the reactions is in the form of [2]:
(1)
Molar production rate of the participated chemical species
is obtained as the difference of the molar creation and
destruction rate:
(2)
Introducing detailed chemical kinetics into the KIVA
code, if the net molar production rate, , is calculated for
each time step, different combustion source terms in the
conservation equations can be updated. To achieve further
details about species molar production/destruction rates, the
chemistry routine in KIVA was modified. A considerable
amount of FORTRAN programming was needed to enable
internal integration of the CHEMKIN-II library within the
KIVA code. Detailed and thorough examinations were
needed to avoid conflicting parameters or data arrays among
both codes. Species concentrations and thermodynamic
information of each individual cell at every time step were
provided by the KIVA code to pass to the CHEMKIN
chemistry solver. N-set of stiff ordinary differential equations
was constructed by the CHEMKIN library. Then, the
DVODE package [23] was called to compute the species net
production rates at the end of each time step. In such a
process, gas phase reactions and species thermodynamic data
were identified by the CHEMKIN prior to integration with
the KIVA code. Using this procedure, the flow and chemistry
solutions were fully coupled. Heat transfer routine in the
KIVA code was also modified to calculate wall heat flux
based on Han and Reitz formulation [24] for better accuracy.
780 Maghbouli et al / SAE Int. J. Engines / Volume 6, Issue 2(June 2013)

Table 1. OM-355 engine specifications

Moreover, the RNG k-ε model was used as the turbulence Table 2. Selected experimental cases used for model
model. This model was demonstrated in the literature to validation taken from [10] (IVC = −120 CAD ATDC,
obtain better results than previous versions under wide range EVO = 118 CAD ATDC)
of engine operating conditions [1].

Chemical Kinetics Mechanism

NG used in the experiments was consisted of more than
98% methane by volume [10] and hence, pure methane/air
mixture was assumed at IVC. Moreover, n-heptane was
considered as a surrogate of the diesel fuel. The n-heptane
chemical kinetics mechanism of Zheng and Yao [25] was
used in this study to model pilot-fuel chemistry in knocking
conditions. The mechanism includes 42 chemical species and
58 elementary reactions and was derived from the detailed n-
heptane mechanism developed by Lawrence Livermore
National Laboratory (LLNL) [26]. It was successfully used in
simulation of HCCI engines with low D.I ratios [25]. As
described earlier, during a knocking cycle methane was Computational Mesh
experiencing the end-gas knock. Li et al developed a reduced
chemical kinetics mechanism of the methane auto-ignition
and validated the mechanism by conducting experiments on a
dual-fuel engine [27]. In the present study, reduced reaction
mechanism developed by Li et al was added to the Zheng and
Yao's n-heptane mechanism and was used in modeling of
dual-fuel combustion under knocking conditions. Since mass
ratio of NG/diesel was high in the conducted experiments
[10], only characteristic of end-gas knock was considered in
this study. Nevertheless, dual-fuel diesel-NG engines can be
subjected to both diesel and end-gas knock types as discussed
by Kubesh and Berhab [7].
Figure 1. Computational mesh for OM-355 engine at
Experimental Setup and Operating Cases BDC (right) and TDC (left)
The experiments for the OM-355 dual-fuel engine were
conducted by Pirouzpanah et al [10] in the Diesel-Gas
research facility [28]. As discussed in introduction part, they A 90 degree computational sector mesh was generated for
have also performed numerical simulations [5] using OM-355 dual-fuel engine, assuming symmetry for a four-hole
measured experimental data under knocking conditions. injector configuration. Periodic boundary conditions were
Engine specifications are presented in Table 1. Numerical assumed for the side faces of the sector computational mesh
calculations were performed on four experimental cases. The which is shown in figure 1. The independency of the results
specifications of the cases are presented in Table 2. from the mesh size was ensured using various computational
mesh sizes. Considering computational time, the mesh
depicted in figure 1 was selected including 44*34*65 cells (at
 Maghbouli et al / SAE Int. J. Engines / Volume 6, Issue 2(June 2013) 781

Figure 2. Side view and top view of the eight introduced regions for knock study inside the computational domain

BDC) in radial, azimuthal and axial directions, respectively. spray-cone and near the cylinder head and piston crown,
Simulation time for a typical case, from IVC to EVO was respectively. Considering both views of the regions in figure
approximately 49 hours on a 10 GHz workstation. 2, R7 was placed in diesel fuel spray path (part I in dual-fuel
combustion).
Defining Regions
As discussed before energy release of a dual-fuel diesel-
NG engine is made up of three distinguished parts including
pilot-fuel combustion, combustion of gaseous fuel in vicinity
of pilot-fuel, and combustion of remained gaseous fuel [9].
Using this theory, eight regions were introduced within the
CFD computational domain to study the knock phenomenon
on local regions. Exact dimensions and locations of these
regions are shown in figure 2. Specifications of the
aforementioned HRR parts (I, II and III in figure 1) were used
to get the insight for introducing locations of the regions.
Introducing regions 1-8, further FORTRAN programing was
performed to extract local properties such as pressure,
Figure 3. Three main parts making up the energy release
temperature, HRR and methane concentration at the
rate of a dual-fuel engine introduced by Karim and Liu
mentioned regions. Region-resolved local HRR, pressure rise
[9] and their corresponding regions in this study
rate, temperature and methane concentration history were
assumed as the key parameters on engine knock identification
in this study. As indicated in figure 3, R1, R2 and R3 were
located near cylinder wall which are the representative
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
locations of part III of dual-fuel heat release pattern. R5 is Numerical simulations are performed for all of the
also the end-gas knock location at the corner of the piston considered cases. The in-cylinder pressure and HRR traces of
bowl. As the representatives for part II of dual-fuel the simulations and the corresponding experimental data for
combustion, R4, R6 and R8 were located in vicinity of the the cases are compared in figure 4 and a good agreement
782 Maghbouli et al / SAE Int. J. Engines / Volume 6, Issue 2(June 2013)
between experimental and numerical results is achieved.
Regarding to experimental observations (Table 2), all cases
except case 1 are experienced knocking combustion. In-
cylinder mean pressure traces in figure 4 show some pressure
fluctuations after top dead center due to knock occurrence;
however, it cannot provide detailed information about its
location inside combustion chamber and occurrence crank
angle. Meanwhile, it can be seen that simulated total HRR
shows some fluctuations, where mean cylinder pressure does
not show it vividly. In order to this, the main purpose of this
study is to fill the gap and region-resolved data for local
pressure, HRR, temperature and methane concentration that
extracted from 3D CFD computations are used for knock
identification in dual-fuel closed cycle simulations.
Figure 4. Comparison of measured and predicted in-
cylinder pressure and HRR histories for considered cases
Knock Identification
Local pressure fluctuations
During the knock auto ignition of methane at the end-gas
regions will cause pressure fluctuations. Figure 5 illustrates
simulation results of regional pressure together with mean
cylinder pressure for cases 1-4. It can be seen that the
maximum pressure fluctuations in no-knock case (case 1) is
around 2 bar/CAD, however, for knocking cases local
pressure tends to increase rapidly. This is more pronounced in
R1, R2 and R3 which are at the wall boundaries of
combustion chamber. The maximum of 8.2, 15 and 13
bar/CAD are observed for cases 2, 3 and 4, respectively. It
should be noted that tangible pressure rise is observed at R5
in case 3 where it can be the evidence of knock. Considering
location of R5 and specifications of case 3, it can be
discussed that boosted pressure and temperature have
strengthened knock occurrence even at the corners of piston
bowl in OM-355 engine. Nonetheless, the same trend is not
repeated for case 4. Referring to Table 2, cases 3 and 4 have
almost identical initial conditions except for engine speed.
Numerical simulations show that engine is more likely to
incur knock at lower engine speeds. This is due to the fact
that a stronger turbulence is formed in the combustion
chamber with the increase of engine speed, which accelerates
the propagation of flame to end gas region, thereby reducing
the occurrence of knock. This behavior coincides with
findings of Saidi et al in their experimental and numerical
investigations [5].
Figure 5. Simulation results of average in-cylinder and
regional pressure diagrams for cases 1-4
Local methane burning rate and temperature rise
Figure 6 illustrates mean values of methane concentration
and temperature in the cylinder. It can be seen that
temperature rise rate in case 1 is much slower compared to
knocking cases 2-4. Furthermore, methane tends to oxidize
rapidly under knocking conditions. It can be noted that case 3
which has shown intense knocking condition has faster
methane oxidation and higher temperature rise rates
comparing to other knocking cases. Although mean in-
cylinder values of methane consumption and temperature rise
rate can give an insight to identify onset of end-gas knock,
the results cannot be used for accurate knock crank angle and
location identification. In order to this, regional history of
temperature and methane oxidation for part III of dual-fuel
heat release pattern (R1, R2, R3 and R5) is represented in
figure 7 only for case 3. Comparing to in-cylinder mean
temperature, there are considerable temperature rise rates for
all end-gas regions in this particular case due to massive
methane consumption and subsequently occurrence of the
end-gas knock. Referring to figure 7, end-gas knock occurs at
slightly different crank angles within the local regions. Local
temperature and methane consumption rate can be a useful
criterion to identify onset of knock, however, there is a need
to quantify knock strength in local regions. This will be done
 Maghbouli et al / SAE Int. J. Engines / Volume 6, Issue 2(June 2013)
by extracting total and regional HRR results from numerical
simulations.
Figure 6. Simulation results of mean in-cylinder
methane concentration and temperature histories for
cases 1-4
Figure 7. Simulation results of regional methane and
temperature histories of R1, R2, R3 and R5 for case 3
Local HRR and definition of knock intensity
factor
As discussed before, HRR analysis is a very useful tool to
distinguish knocking combustion. Despite the fact that onset
of knock can be captured by intense increments in HRR
diagrams, mean in-cylinder HRR cannot be used to find the
location of knock occurrence inside combustion chamber.
Figure 8 illustrates the values of total and regional HRR for
cases 1-4. As introduced regions in the 3D CFD
computational domain indwell small volumes, their
corresponding values of HRR are considerably less than total
in-cylinder HRR value. It is obvious from the diagrams that
there are notably high HRR values in local regions of the
knocking cases (case 2-4) compared to the normal
combustion case (case 1). HRR in R2 for all knocking cases
shows very sharp increase where it is reached to 6.7 J/CAD at
783
10.5 CAD, 8 J/CAD at 5.5 CAD and 3.6 J/CAD at 13.5 CAD
ATDC for cases 2, 3 and 4, respectively. Furthermore, in case
3, simulation results of regional HRR show knock occurrence
in R3 and R5 at 4.5 CAD and 2.5 CAD ATDC, respectively.
Moreover, simulation results agree well with three theoretical
heat release patterns explained by Karim and liu [9] and
discussed in this paper earlier. In all cases heat release is
started from the oxidation of n-heptane in R7 which is close
to the injector nozzle and located on spray pass (part I in
dual-fuel heat release pattern). The second pattern of the
dual-fuel diesel-NG heat release which is the combustion of
premixed NG in vicinity of pilot-fuel ignition sites is
activated by the energy release of part I. R4, R6 and R8 are
introduced to capture combustion characteristics of part II in
heat release pattern. It can be seen from figure 8 that
combustion in these regions starts after the combustion of
part I. It was theoretically discussed by Karim and Liu [9]
that the maximum total heat release took place in part II of
dual-fuel engine heat release pattern. This is well captured by
simulations for considered cases where regional HRR values
for R4, R6 and R8 coincide with the maximum total heat
release rates, see figure 8. After the combustion of part I and
II, remained NG at the boundaries of the cylinder and piston
bowl undergo oxidization process. R1, R2, R3 and R5 are
located in part III of heat release pattern. Notable increase
and high values of HRR for R1, R2, R3 and R5 are observed
when engine is operated under end-gas knocking conditions.
Figure 8. Simulation results of total in-cylinder and
regional heat release rates for cases 1-4
Referring to figure 8, it can be seen that under normal
combustion condition both total and regional heat release
diagrams span wider range of CAD compared to the
knocking combustion cases. As an instance in case 3, which
the end-gas knock is dominant, heat is released for both total
and local regions approximately within 13 CAD, whereas in
784 Maghbouli et al / SAE Int. J. Engines / Volume 6, Issue 2(June 2013)

case 1 (no-knock) it takes around 35 CAD. This has caused

intense overlapping of heat release regions due to persistence
of strong knocking combustion which agrees with the finding
by Karim and Liu [9].

Figure 9. Simulation results for K.I of the regions for

cases 1-4

To get a better insight about knocking combustion,

regional and total in-cylinder HRR data are used to define a
new Knock Intensity factor (K.I). Knowing the volume value
of combustion chamber in each crank angle and the volume
occupied by the regions, K.I can be defined as:

Figure 10. Observed end-gas knock locations in

(3) simulations for cases 2-4
where, HRRV,R is volumetric regional HRR and HRRV,T is
simultaneous volumetric total HRR. Crank angle history of
Table 3. End-gas knock locations and onset CAD and
regional K.I values are shown in figure 9 for cases 1-4. It can
their corresponding K.I values for knocking cases
be seen that K.I has lower values in engine no-knock
condition (case 1), whereas in cases 2-4 much higher
magnitudes of K.I can be observed. Considering experimental
knock classification in Table 2, K.I= 15 can be considered as
a threshold to identify knock occurrence from normal
combustion. It is assumed that if K.I for one or more than one
local region exceeds the threshold limit, knock will occur and
it is very likely to occur in real engine operating cycle. As an
instance, K.I values in R1, R2, R3 and R5 exceed the knock
threshold value in case 2. This trend is also observed in the
same regions in case 3, however, K.I magnitudes in case 3 are
tangibly higher than their corresponding regional values in
case 2. The reason for this strong knocking combustion in
case 3 is due to applying higher initial pressure and
temperature at intake charge comparing to the other cases.
 Maghbouli et al / SAE Int. J. Engines / Volume 6, Issue 2(June 2013) 785

Figure 11. EGR effect on K.I for R1-4 in case 3

Using local K.I values figure 10 summarizes the locations except R2. This is mostly because of the considerably high
where end-gas knock is observed. Furthermore, knock crank K.I value of this region without applying EGR. Figure 12
angle for each region and its corresponding K.I value are shows average in-cylinder and R2 temperature histories for
presented in Table 3. Experimental knock onset crank angles 0%, 5%, 10% and 20% EGR. As seen in figure 12, the rate of
are also repeated to compare with simulation results. It can be temperature rise is reduced in both R2 and in cylinder by
concluded that the experimental results in all three knocking applying higher EGR percentages. All three temperature
cases are very close to the highest K.I values and their curves in R2 with 0%, 5% and 10% EGR show steep
occurrence crank angle. For instance, knock is reported at 11 temperature rise at 5.5, 6.5 and 10 CAD ATDC. However,
CAD ATDC in case 2 during the experiments and with 20% EGR there is a gradual regional temperature rise
simulations show the highest value of K.I is occurred in R2 at which shows absence of end-gas knock in this operating
10.5 CAD ATDC. condition. The reason behind it is the diluted fresh charge
with the increase of EGR rate, which reduces the chemical
KNOCK MITIGATION reaction rate, thereby suppressing the end-gas knock
tendency.
Effect of Cooled EGR
For dual-fuel diesel-NG engines, EGR is an effective
method to enhance combustion characteristics at partial loads
[29]. However, under knocking conditions applying hot EGR
increases possibility of end-gas knock [18]. Parametric
studies are conducted only for case 3 by applying cooled
EGR. 5%, 10% and 20% volume basis EGR are considered as
inputs for the parametric simulations. K.I-crank angle
histories for the knocking regions (R1, R2, R3 and R5) are
shown in figure 11. K.I results show that cooled EGR has
favorable effect on reducing high reactivity of the end-gas
regions and subsequently on knock intensity. It can be seen
that peak K.I values are reduced and delayed in all knocking
regions. In R1, R2 and R3 applying 5% EGR reduces the
peak K.I values, however, considering predefined knock Figure 12. Average in-cylinder and R2 temperature
threshold they are still under knocking condition. All applied curves for applied EGR percentages
EGR percentages stop end-gas knock in R5 where all
maximum K.I values are less than knock threshold. By
applying 10% EGR end-gas knock is stopped in all regions
786 Maghbouli et al / SAE Int. J. Engines / Volume 6, Issue 2(June 2013)
Effect of NG Equivalence Ratio
Parametric studies are conducted on the effect of NG
equivalence ratio on dual-fuel combustion under knocking
conditions. As methane in diesel-NG dual-fuel engines
undergoes the end-gas knock, it is beneficial to study effects
of premixed methane/air mixtures in such conditions.
Developed knock model is used to simulate dual-fuel
combustion characteristics under intense end-gas knock
condition (case 3) by applying five different methane
equivalence ratios. All other operating parameters including
IVC pressure, temperature and the amount of diesel pilot-fuel
are kept as constant. Figure 13 illustrates the effect of
methane equivalence ratio on maximum K.I values of R1, R2,
R3 and R5. It shows that by increasing methane equivalence
ratio there is a continuous increasing in K.I values where for
EQR of 0.7 very high K.I values in all end-gas knock regions
is reported. This means that under knocking conditions
further addition of methane in intake charge makes end-gas
knock stronger. This behavior was also observed by Karim et
al [6] during their experimental investigations. Figure 13 also
shows that by reducing NG EQR to 0.55 knock is effectively
mitigated in R5 and its further reduction to 0.5 stops end-gas
knock in R1, R3 and R5.
Figure 13. Effect of methane equivalence ratio on
maximum K.I values of R1, R2, R3 andR5 in case 3
(EQR=0.6)
CONCLUSIONS
Multidimensional CFD-Chemical kinetics simulations
were performed by developing a comprehensive predictive
model to study knock phenomenon within a dual-fuel diesel-
NG engine. Detailed chemical kinetics mechanisms were
selected and applied for different operating conditions
including normal and knocking cases. Moreover, eight
regions, namely R1 to R8, were introduced inside CFD
computational domain to get access to local pressure,
temperature, methane concentration and HRR. After
discussing model development, numerical calculations and
their results, the main conclusions are drawn below:
1. As an important conclusion, engine knock study has to
be conducted in prospective local regions by paying
particular attention to the 3D flow field. The assumptions
regarding to uniform physical and chemical properties which
are widely applied in thermodynamic models are far from the
real processes taking place inside the combustion chamber.
2. Introduction of local regions within the CFD
computational domain numerically showed that end-gas
knock was incurred near cylinder walls in multiple locations
where in OM-355 engine geometry it was also observed in
piston bowl corner.
3. It was seen that experimental knock onset crank angle
was agreed well with the crank angle of maximum K.I value
among number of knocking regions for a particular case.
4. Number of parametric studies was conducted on the
effects of cooled EGR and NG equivalence ratio on knocking
combustion using the developed model. It was observed that
cooled EGR effectively reduced knock intensity and in some
cases can stop knock occurrence. In the case of NG EQR,
knock intensity tended to increase continuously by increasing
NG equivalence ratio. Nonetheless, K.I values were reduced
in end-gas regions by decreasing NG/air mixture strength.
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ABBREVIATIONS
A - Pre-exponential factor
b - Temperature exponent
c - Molar concentration
E - Activation energy
J - Joule
m - Number of species in chemical kinetics mechanism
N - Number of elementary reactions in chemical kinetics
mechanism
P - Pressure
- Universal gas constant
T - Temperature
υ′ - Reactant stoichiometric coefficient
υ″ - Product stoichiometric coefficient
θ - Crank angle
- Molar production rate
ATDC - After Top Dead Center
BDC - Bottom Dead Center
CAD - Crank Angle Degree
CFD - Computational Fluid Dynamics
CO - Carbon Monoxide
D.I - Direct Injection