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Fuel Processing Technology 72 2001 4761

www.elsevier.comrlocaterfuproc
An analysis of the combustion characters and the
mechanism of oil-consumption economy for diesel
engines using water-blended oil
Li-Po Wang, Wei-Biao Fu
), 1
Engineering Mechanics Department, Tsinghua Uniersity, Beijing, 100084, China
Accepted 23 March 2001
Abstract
The combustion efficiency and pollutant emissions are key issues for the study of diesel engine
combustion. The remarkable effect of water on the reduction of pollutants has been confirmed
previously, while other problems, such as whether oil consumption can be decreased and the
overall effect of water on combustion performance are still not very clear. In the present paper, a
.
detailed analysis for the effect of water in oil has been conducted and the results show that: 1
compared with oil without water, the stronger entrainment ability of water-blended oil, leading to
more complete combustion and more rapid heat release, is one of the main reasons for decreasing
.
oil consumption; 2 because of the production of steam from water in oil, the pressure in chamber
will be increased and the engine power output may be improved, which will partly overcome the
disadvantages of heat absorption by water vaporization and contribute to oil consumption
.
economy; 3 although more latent heat of water vapor may be lost in the exhaust with the
increase of the amount of water in oil, the temperature in the chamber will be depressed also and
the total enthalpy loss is less, again decreasing oil consumption. Furthermore, there is an optimal
water content to lead to a maximal power output. q2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights
reserved.
Keywords: Water-blended oil; Diesel engine; Oil consumption saving
1. Introduction
The combustion process in diesel engine is a key process to determine the emission
of pollutants and engine performance. Water-blended oil in diesel engine has unique
)
Corresponding author. Tel.: q86-10-6277-2928; fax: q86-1-6278-4200.
.
E-mail address: fuwb@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn W.-B. Fu .
1
State Key Lab of Automotive Safety and Energy.
0378-3820r01r$ - see front matter q2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
.
PII: S0378- 3820 01 00183- 7
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L.-P. Wang, W.-B. FurFuel Processing Technology 72 2001 4761 48
advantage to reduce remarkably both NO and soot particulates, the main pollutants in
x
diesel engines, which has been accepted commonly now. But the problem of whether
water addition can reduce oil consumption is still not very clear. Furthermore, the
application of water-blended oil runs against some practical difficulties, such as the long
ignition delay and the instability of immiscible wateroil system. Those operational
disadvantages may be overcome by technology improvements. It is more important to
gain an overall theoretical understanding about the effect of water on combustion.
The effect of water on combustion is twofold: on the one hand, the heat absorption
for water evaporation will decrease the temperature of chamber. On the other hand,
more water vapor will increase the pressure of cylinder and decrease the total enthalpy
loss in exhaust gas, which may enhance the power output on the contrary. In the present
paper, a numerical calculation based on KIVA-3 with some experimental observations is
conducted. According to the computed results, mechanical analysis of the comprehen-
sive effect of water can be revealed.
2. Numerical calculation method
The variation processes in diesel engine are extremely complicated, involving
chemical reaction multiphase flow and heat transfer, etc. Many researches have been
w x
conducted in this field previously 1,2 . The calculation method adopted in the present
paper is based on the KIVA3 program code with some modifications and supplements of
several sub models. The main methods adopted in KIVA3 can be described as follows
w x
3 .
.
The Arbitrary LagrangianEulerian ALE method is the core CFD method in KIVA
program, which is very effective for the calculation of two phases flow. There are two
calculation parts in every time step. First, a calculation of droplet phase and the
diffusion of gas phase are conducted in Lagrangian coordinate. There is no convective
source in gas phase. Second, the gas flow is frozen and the computation mesh will be
rezoned in Eulerian coordinate. The calculation of convection is the main task in this
part. Different schemes of convection difference, such as quasi second upwind and
donor cell, can be selected according to different cases. The general form of gas phase
equations can be written as

EQ

q=P UQ sSqD 1 . .
Et
.
in which Qs r, ru, r , rw, rE, rk, r, rY , rY , . . . , rY , r, u, , w, E, Y
1 2 N i
represent the density, velocity, internal energy of gas phase and the mass fraction of

species, respectively. S and D means the source term and dissipation term, respectively.
The ky model is adopted here to deal with the turbulence calculation with a wall
.
function boundary condition. For chemical reaction mechanism included in Eq. 1 , the
mqn m n
.
one-step, overall Arhenius form is adopted, w sK M r Y Y exp yE rR T , in
i i i i o i i
which K, m, n and E means the pre-exponential factor, the density power of species
and oxygen, activation energy, respectively, whose values can be found in the database
of KIVA program.
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L.-P. Wang, W.-B. FurFuel Processing Technology 72 2001 4761 49
The main purpose of the present paper is to study the characters of the combustion
performance of water-blended oil in diesel engine. Accordingly, a new multi-component
evaporation model should be adopted here. The main differences of mixture oil
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compared with pure oil are 4 : because of different volatility, more volatile components
will be vaporized and come into the high temperature environment to react with oxygen
first, which will have an important effect on the whole combustion process.
For a pure liquid droplet, the Sherwood number Sh is
d
Sh s 2.0q0.6Re
1r2
Sc
1r2
ln 1qB rB 2 . . .
d d d d d
. .
in which Re means the Reynolds number, B s Y yY r 1yY , Y and Y
d d f s f` f s f s f `
means the mass fraction in the ambience of droplet surface and surrounding, respec-
tively, Sc s rD , where and D means kinetic viscosity factor and diffusion
d air air air air
factor of air, respectively.
So the variation of the droplet radius R can be calculated as follows.
d R rD Y yY .
air f s f `
sy Sh . 3 .
d
dt 2r 1yY
d f s
For a mixture liquid droplet, if assuming that each species in the droplet is temporally
.
homogenous, the expression of Sherwood number is same as Eq. 2 , but Y sSY ,
f s i s
Y sSY , i s1,2,3 . . . , Y and Y represent the mass fraction of ith species in the
f` f i i s f i
ambience of the droplet surface and surrounding, respectively.
The relation between the total evaporation rata G and species evaporation rate G is
i
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as follows 4 .
Y yY
i s i`
G s GsY q 1yY 4 . .
i i i s f s
Y yY
f s f `
..
where Y sX Mr SM X qM 1ySX and X is the mole fraction of ith
i s i s i j j s a j s i s
species near the droplet surface. X can be solved as
i s
X sP
o
rP for each species is immiscible 5 .
i s i s `
X sX P
o
rP for each species is miscible 6 .
i s lis i s `
in which X is the mole fraction in liquid droplet system, P
o
is the saturation vapor
lis i s
press of ith species corresponding to a certain temperature.
.
The total evaporation mass G t is the sum of two parts
G t sG t qG t . 7 . . . .
w f
The energy conservation equation of droplet is
d
3
dT
p p
2
rpc s4p r Q y G t L qG t L 8 . . . .
p d w w f f
6 dt
in which L and L means the latent heat of evaporation of water and pure oil,
w f
respectively, and
Q sNu K TyT r2r.
.
p p air p
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L.-P. Wang, W.-B. FurFuel Processing Technology 72 2001 4761 50
Fig. 1. The diagram of cylinder.
Because of evaporation, the variation of droplet radius is
d
2
d d G G
.
p p w f
p sy q . 9 .
/
2 dt r r
w f
The mass and species content of those droplets after collision can be described as
follows
e s m e m 10 .

i k k i k
in which m means the mass of kth droplet that come into coalescence, e means the
k k i
mass fraction of ith species in the kth droplet. The physical parameter P in the mixture
o
Fig. 2. The presence of computation mesh.
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L.-P. Wang, W.-B. FurFuel Processing Technology 72 2001 4761 51
Fig. 3. The prospective view of mesh.
is a mean value by the mole fraction of each component, which can be expressed as
P sSX P .
o i i
3. The initial calculation parameters and engine specification
To have a comparison with the experimental phenomena, the calculation parameters
are based on the four-stroke, one-cylinder ZH1105W direct-injection diesel engine
Fig. 4. The cross-section view of mesh.
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L.-P. Wang, W.-B. FurFuel Processing Technology 72 2001 4761 52
Table 1
The parameters adopted in calculation
Borercm 10.5 Spray cone 158
Strokercm 11.5 Spray smrrmm 15
Displacementrl 0.996 Wall temperaturerK 600
Compression ratio 16.5 Inlet temperaturerK 400
y1 y1
.
Oil consumptionrg kW h -250 Spray velocityrm s 200
adopted in our experiment. A four-hole injector was used. The schematic diagram of the
engine is showed as Fig. 1.
The computational grid made up of hexahedrons is shown as Fig. 2. The perspective
and cross-section views are shown as Figs. 3 and 4, respectively. Some undesirable
deviations may be avoided using this regular hexahedron mesh instead of polar system
mesh.
The parameters adopted in the calculation are based on the specification of the engine
in our experiment, which are labeled in Table 1. Usually the wall temperature fluctua-
. w x
tion is very low approximately 20 K 6 . So a constant wall temperature is adopted
here.
4. Results and discussions
To probe into the overall effect of water in oil, the calculation for oil with 0%, 30%,
.
50% water content mass ration are conducted in the present paper with other
conditions fixed but the injection velocities are different to ensure volume flux; for 0%,
30%, 50% water content, the injection velocities are 200, 266 and 350 mrs, respec-
.
Fig. 5. The velocity plot cross-section .
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L.-P. Wang, W.-B. FurFuel Processing Technology 72 2001 4761 53
.
Fig. 6. The velocity plot straight section .
.
tively . By comparisons of the variation process of pressure, temperature and heat
release, etc., under different conditions, a detailed discussion about the effect of water
on combustion are conducted and some useful conclusions are gained.
4.1. The calculation results of heat release rate
.
The typical velocity plots are shown as Figs. 5 and 6 30BTDC .
The rate of heat release after ignition is proper to reflect the performance of
combustion process, which can be determined by Jsd Erdt sW DH and EsE q
oil oil a
Fig. 7. Total heat release process of oil with different water contents.
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L.-P. Wang, W.-B. FurFuel Processing Technology 72 2001 4761 54
Fig. 8. The development of heat release rate of oil with different contents.
WqH, where E is the total internal energy of gas, W is the power output, H is the
a
heat loss from the cylinder wall, W is the consumption rate and DH is the chemical
oil oil
enthalpy of oil. The variation of J and d Jrdw with crank angle w for different
water-blended oil are shown in Figs. 7 and 8, respectively.
It can be seen from Figs. 7 and 8 that the duration of heat release for pure oil is a
long, steady process, while that of water-blended oil are more rapid with a longer high
.
Fig. 9. The distribution of oil and oxygen in combustion chamber oilrwater s10r0 .
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L.-P. Wang, W.-B. FurFuel Processing Technology 72 2001 4761 55
.
Fig. 10. The distribution of oil and oxygen in combustion chamber oilrwater s7r3 .
heat release rate duration. For the pure oil, there is partly incomplete oil consumption in
chamber and the residual oil will be discharged with exhaust, which can decrease the
power output. Comparatively speaking, the combustion of water-blended oil is more
complete. What is the reason? At first, an analysis of the oil and oxygen distribution in
the chamber is necessary.
The distribution of oil and oxygen mass density at 30ATDC for oil with different
water content is shown in Figs. 911.
It can be seen from Figs. 911 that the more water in oil, the better mix between oil
and air in the chamber is. Because of the larger momentum of water-blended oil jet,
which leads to a larger air entrainment ability, the mixing between oil and fresh air will
be improved. Once oil has a better mixing and wider distribution in chamber, there will
be a more complete burning and more rapid heat release process in chamber and the
combustion performance and power output will be improved greatly. The heat released
near TDC will have a better work ability than that released near BDC. This is just one of
the main reasons of oil consumption saving for diesel engine using water-blended oil.
Other reasons will be discussed in the following sections.
.
Fig. 11. The distribution of oil and oxygen in combustion chamber oilrwater s5r5 .
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L.-P. Wang, W.-B. FurFuel Processing Technology 72 2001 4761 56
Many previous literatures owe oil consumption saving to the occurrence of microex-
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plosion 1,6 . Whereas from the above analysis, it can be seen that water addition will do
improve the combustion performance and save oil consumption instead of microexplo-
sion. A uniformed distribution droplet model is adopted in the evaporation calculation
and no microexplosion is considered in the present computation. A better ability of air
entrainment for water-blended oil will do improve the mixing in chamber and strength
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combustion. Furthermore, according to the criterion of microexplosion strength 7 , if the
initial droplet diameter is small enough, only a weak or even no microexplosion can
occur. Usually, the Sauter mean diameter of spray can reach 2030 mm. Only part of
the larger droplets in spray can have a weak microexplosion and the improvement to
combustion performance will be very limited. Comparatively, the improvement of
combustion due to a better mixing between oil and air is more reasonable with sufficient
theoretical support.
4.2. The pressure ariation process in the chamber
The pressure performance curve is the most important data to analysis the power
output and combustion process. The computed results for different oils are listed in Fig.
12.
In Fig. 12, there are obvious differences between those three computed curves under
different conditions. Compared with pure oil, the pressure curves have higher peak
values and more rapid increase rates for water-blended oil. Especially for the case of
30% water content, the pressure peak reaches the maximum. After the ignition of
water-blended oil spray, just similar to the steam engine, the pressure of water vapor
will work on piston instead of part oil. Once the ignition can occur, the effect of steam
engine will be more obvious with more water in oil. Thus part of the disadvantage of
water in oil may be overcome and the power output will increase to some extent. So the
Fig. 12. The pressure development of oil with different water content.
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L.-P. Wang, W.-B. FurFuel Processing Technology 72 2001 4761 57
Fig. 13. The relation between ignition lag and water content.
effect of steam engine can be attributed to another reason for saving oil in diesel engine.
It can be seen from Fig. 13 that more water addition will lead to a longer ignition delay.
The longer ignition delay can accumulate more oil vapor in chamber. Once ignition
occurs, there will be a more rapid increase of pressure. But with too much water
Fig. 14. The maximal temperature development with crank angle.
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L.-P. Wang, W.-B. FurFuel Processing Technology 72 2001 4761 58
.
addition 50% , the combustion performance will be poor and peak value of pressure
will be little lower.
4.3. The calculation of the temperature ariation process
The spatial maximal and mean temperature variations with crank angle are shown in
Figs. 14 and 15. From these curves, the occurrence of ignition, the ignition lag, the heat
loss in exhaust and some others characters can be shown.
Compared with pure oil, the maximal and mean temperature will be lower with more
water in oil, which will partly contribute to oil saving. Although some latent heat and
sensible heat of water vapor may be outputted in exhaust, the calculated results show
that the total enthalpy loss will decrease with more water addition in stead. For example,
the enthalpy loss in the exhaust of oil with 0%, 30%, 50% water content are 796J, 772J,
775J, respectively. So the lower enthalpy loss in exhaust is another remarkable advan-
tage of water-blended oil.
4.4. The effect of water addition on engine power output and special oil consumption
The computed specific oil consumption for pure oil with the comparison of experi-
mental data is shown in Fig. 16. It can be seen that the tendency for both is identical, so
the computation program is quantitatively reasonable. To compare the effect of water
addition on special oil consumption, the computed results are shown in Fig. 17.
It can be seen from Fig. 17 that there is a gradual deviation between the two
computed curves with the increase of power output. That is to say, the effect of water
addition on special oil consumption is more obvious under heavier duty performance.
Fig. 15. The average temperature development with crank angle.
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L.-P. Wang, W.-B. FurFuel Processing Technology 72 2001 4761 59
.
Fig. 16. Computed and measured special oil consumption oilrwater s10r0 .
Just as previous analysis, one main reason of oil consumption saving owes to a better
mixing effect. Under low duty performance, the low injection oil amount is easy to lead
to an adequate mixing and effect of oil saving will be slight consequently.
Too much water addition in oil may have a disadvantage on ignition and power
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output, but the pollutant production will be surely depressed 6,8 . So certain optimal
Fig. 17. Comparison of computed special oil consumption between different water content.
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L.-P. Wang, W.-B. FurFuel Processing Technology 72 2001 4761 60
water content is extremely important for both reducing pollutants and saving oil
consumption.
Conclusively, the effect of water addition on lower oil consumption may be attributed
.
to the following reasons. 1 A better mixing between oil and air can lead to a more
complete burning of oil and a more rapid hear release process near TDC. Thus, an extra
.
energy E is gained. 2 Just like steam engine, the high pressure for water vapor can do
1
.
an extra work of E . 3 Because of the lower heat loss in exhaust, more energy of E
2 3
can be saved from exhaust to work. Concretely speaking, what is the relative magnitude
between those three parts? The calculation for 30% water content shows that E : E : E
1 2 3
s46:6:48%. Although there have an inseparable relation between E , E and E , a
1 2 3
more comprehensive understanding can gained from this calculation.
5. Conclusions
Through a detailed numerical calculation and physical mechanism analysis, a com-
prehensive understanding of the effect of water on combustion performance is gained.
The liquid droplets are considered as homogenous for both temperature and species, and
the effect of microexplosion is neglected in the present paper. An overall effect of water
on combustion and other results derived form this study can be summarized as follows.
.
1 For water-blended oil, there is an elongated ignition delay, which is a disadvan-
tage for the steady running of diesel engines. Because of the larger momentum of
water-blended oil jet, which leads to larger air entrainment ability, the mixing between
oil and air will be improved. Consequently, the oil burning will be more complete and
heat release will be more rapid near TDC, which is one of the main causes of decreasing
oil consumption.
.
2 After the ignition of the water-blended oil spray, similar to the steam engine, the
pressure of water vapor will work on piston instead the oil. Once ignition occurs, the
effect of steam will increase with more water in oil. Thus part of the disadvantage of
water may be overcome and the power output will increase to some extent.
.
3 Although more latent and sensible heat of water vapor may be lost in the exhaust
with more water addition in oil, the total enthalpy loss will be less because of lower
exhaust temperature. At the same time, the heat loss by wall heat conduction will be less
.
too this calculation is not conducted in the present paper . Comprehensively speaking,
less heat loss may be labeled as the third important reason for oil consumption saving.
The lower enthalpy loss in exhaust is an obvious advantage for water-blended oil and
the total power output will be surely enhanced to some extent.
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