Thermal efficiency improvement of a lean-boosted spark ignition engine by multidimensional simulation with detailed chemical kinetics

This paper aims to improve thermal efficiency of spark ignition engine by numerical calculation with detailed chemistry. Experimental results from a four-stroke-single-cylinder engine are compared with that of simulations. It is experimentally found that peak efficiency is achieved at lean-limit combustion under excess air ratio λ=1.6. Due to engine output power loss, further investigations are conducted under lean-boost operations. The best condition of the lean-boost mode is at λ=1.3 and 150 kPa boosted pressure (abs). To further improve the efficiency without power loss, simulations are conducted under lean-boost combustion with dilution rate, high engine swirl, and high knock resistant fuel.