Computer Simulation of Diesel Fueled Engine Processes Using MATLAB and Experimental Investigations on Research Engine

The depletion of conventional fuel source at a fast rate and increasing environmental pollution have motivated extensive research in combustion modeling and energy efficient engine design. In the present work, a computer simulation incorporating progressive combustion model using thermodynamic equations has been carried out using MATLAB to evaluate the performance of a diesel engine. Simulations at constant speed and variable load have been carried out for the experimental engine available in the laboratory. For simulation, speed and Air/Fuel ratios, which are measured during the experiment, have been used as input apart from other geometrical details. A state-of-the-art experimental facility has been developed in-house. The facility comprises of a hundred horsepower water cooled eddy current dynamometer with appropriate electronic controllers. A normal load test has been carried out and the required parameters were measured. A six gas analyzer was used for the measurement of NOx, HC, CO₂, O₂, CO and SO_x. and a smoke meter was used for smoke opacity. The predicted Pressure-Volume (PV) diagram was compared with measurements and found to match closely. It is concluded that the developed simulation software could be used to get quick results for parametric studies.