Numerical investigation of spontaneous flame propagation under Reactivity Controlled Compression Ignition (RCCI) conditions

Results from one and two-dimensional direct numerical simulations under dual-fuel Reactivity Controlled Compression Ignition (RCCI) conditions will be presented. These simulations employ an improved model of compression heating through mass source/sink terms developed in a previous work, which incorporates feedback from the flow to follow a predetermined experimental pressure trace. One-dimensional simulations explored the effect of temperature and fuel concentration gradients on the combustion mode. Two-dimensional simulations explored parametric variation in temperature stratification, pressure profiles and n-heptane concentration. Statistics derived from analysis of local diffusion/reaction balances were used to elucidate combustion characteristics for the different cases. Both deflagration and spontaneous ignition modes were observed to co-exist. Higher n-heptane concentration and higher level of thermal stratification resulted in a greater degree of flame propagation, whereas lower n-heptane concentration (higher fraction of iso-octane) and higher pressure resulted in more prevalent autoignition. Starting with a uniform initial temperature and a stratified n-heptane concentration also resulted in a large fraction of combustion occurring through flame propagation.