Simulation Model of a Methane-Fuelled Four Stroke Marine Engine for Studies on Low Emission Propulsion Systems

The paper describes a mathematical model for the simulation of a four-stroke marine engine fuelled with natural gas. In the developed calculation procedure the thermodynamic processes inside the engine cylinders are simulated as functions of the crank-angle, taking into account the behaviour of the engine intake and exhaust manifolds. The model is able to simulate also the supercharging system. The presented calculation procedure has been validated with good results by comparisons with reference steady state engine data, available in literature, relative to both design and off design situations. Despite the good accuracy of the simulation in modelling the engine components, the calculation time is maintained at reasonably low values