Modeling the Effects of Steam-Fuel Reforming Products on Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition of n-Heptane

Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) offers benefits of high efficiency with low emissions, but suffers load range limitations and control issues. A method to improve control of HCCI was numerically investigated based on two separate fuel streams with different autoignition characteristics to regulate timing and heat release at specific operational conditions. In this numerical study n-heptane was selected as the primary fuel, and the secondary fuel was defined as a reformed product of n-heptane (RG). The reformed fuel species composition was experimentally determined based on steam/n-heptane reforming process at a steam/carbon mole ratio of 2:1. In addition to H2 and CO, the reformed fuel stream was composed of CH4 , CO2 , H2 O and non-reformed n-heptane. A single zone model using a detailed chemical kinetic mechanism was implemented on CHEMKIN to study the effects of base fuel and steam-fuel reforming products on the ignition timing and heat release characteristics. The study was performed considering the reformed fuel species composition at total n-heptane conversion (stoichiometric) and also at the composition corresponding to a specific set of operational reforming temperatures. The computational model confirmed that the reformed products have a strong influence on the low temperature heat release (LTHR) region, affecting the onset of the high temperature heat release (HTHR). The ignition timing was proportionally delayed with respect to the baseline fuel case when higher concentrations of reformed gas were used.Copyright © 2009 by ASME