Modeling the Diesel Fuel Spray Breakup by Using a Hybrid Model

Diesel engine CFD simulation is challenged by the need to improve the accuracy in the spray modeling due to the strong influence played by spray dynamics on evaporation rate, flow field, combustion process and emissions.

This paper aims to present a hybrid model able to describe both primary and secondary breakup of high-dense high-pressure sprays. According to this approach, the model proposed by Huh and Gosman is used to compute the atomization of the liquid jet (primary breakup) while a modified version of the TAB model of O'Rourke and Amsden is used for the secondary breakup. The atomization model considers the jet turbulence at the nozzle exit and the growth of unstable wave on the jet surface. In order to validate the hybrid model, a free non-evaporating high-pressure-driven spray at engine like conditions has been simulated. The accuracy of the breakup time evaluation has been improved by tuning the TAB constant C_k according to the Pilch's experimental correlations. In the second part, a sensitivity analysis of the grid resolution has been carried out, showing that the cell size used in common I.C. engine computations are inadequate to accurately resolve the transient diesel-spray dynamics. Finally, the influence of the turbulence dispersion modeling on spray structure is discussed and a new approach is presented.