Modeling HCCI combustion: Modification of a multi-zone model and comparison to experimental results at varying boost pressure

The present study presents a comparison of the results obtained from a modified HCCI multi-zone model to experimental measurements, at different load and boost pressure conditions. The multi-zone model includes a modified sub-model for the wall heat transfer and accounts for the heat transfer between zones. Gas mixing between cold and hot regions of the combustion chamber, which is of major importance for the emissions formation, is also accounted for throughout compression, combustion and expansion. Combustion is modeled using a reduced set of chemical reactions coupled with a chemical kinetics solver. A refined zone configuration near the combustion chamber wall was used, in order to obtain a high resolution at the emissions formation regions. The pressure traces and emissions of nine experimental cases were compared to the multi-zone model results. In these cases the equivalence ratio and the boost pressure were varied, while maintaining constant engine speed. The results show adequate agreement with the pressure traces. The emissions trends are also adequately captured, with the absolute values presenting some deviation from the experimental cases especially for the HC and CO emissions at the relatively low air-fuel equivalence ratios. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.