The Development and Validation of a Simplified Soot Model for use in Soot Emissions Prediction in Natural Gas Fuelled Engine Simulations

This study employs a novel approach in order to satisfy the need in industry for a computationally inexpensive means to modelling soot formation in engines fuelled by natural gas. The complex geometries found in practical combustion devices along with the requirement to solve turbulent, chemically reacting, and multi-phase flows necessitates this goal. A two-equation model, which tracks soot mass and soot number density, is employed. The goal is to apply this model in engine simulations at Westport Innovations, an industry partner. Experimental data is used to validate the model in various operating conditions. Numerical data obtained from a detailed sectional soot model is also used to augment available validation data, especially with respect to soot formation/oxidation mechanisms. The developed model shows good agreement compared to experimental data and the detailed sectional soot model among all cases considered and will be further tested and applied in Westport’s natural gas engine simulations.MAS