Modelling n-dodecane spray and combustion with the transported probability density function method

An n-dodecane spray in temperature and pressure conditions typical of diesel engines, known as Spray A. is modelled by the transported probability density function (TPDF) method coupled with a time-dependent Reynolds-averaged k-epsilon turbulence model and a Lagrangian discrete phase model of the liquid spray. To establish a baseline for comparisons, non-reacting cases are first studied. Good results are obtained for the vapour penetration, the mean and variance of fuel mixture fraction, and velocity profiles, with variations in ambient density and injection pressure. These comparisons are more extensive than previous studies due to new experimental data being available. Reacting cases are then investigated for a number of ambient conditions and injection parameters, employing a reduced chemical kinetic model. The chemical mechanism incorporates an OH* sub-mechanism (Hall and Petersen, 2006) which enables a direct comparison with experimental measurements of the lift-off length that are based on OH chemiluminescence. To assess the importance of interactions between turbulence and chemistry, the results from the PDF model are compared to the measurements and to those from a well-mixed model that ignores turbulent fluctuations. Variations of ambient temperature, ambient oxygen concentration, ambient density, and injection pressure are considered. In all cases the PDF model with the EMST mixing model and C-phi = 1.5 shows an excellent agreement with the experimental lift-off length and presents improved results compared with the well-mixed model. Ignition delay is however over-predicted by both the PDF method and well-mixed models. Available shock tube data suggests that this may be due to the chemical kinetic model over-predicting ignition delay at higher pressures. (C) 2015 The Combustion Institute. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.