5th European Thermal-Sciences Conference, The Netherlands, 2008

NUMERICAL STUDY OF UNSTEADY HEAT TRANSFER AROUND AN ENGINE CYLINDER: EFFECT OF COMBUSTION HEAT FLUX FREQUENCY FOR KNOCK DETECTION
P. Lamarche1, F. Daumas-Bataille and J. Bellettre3
1

GEPEA, UMR 6144 CNRS / University of Nantes / Ecole des Mines de Nantes / ENITIAA, DSEE 4 rue Alfred Kastler, B.P. 20722, 44307 Nantes Cedex 3, France Laboratoire PROMES, UPR 8521 CNRS / University of Perpignan Rambla de la thermodynamique Tecnosud, 66100 Perpignan, France Laboratoire de Thermocintique, UMR 6607 CNRS / University of Nantes Rue Christian Pauc, BP 50609, 44306 Nantes Cedex 3, France tel.: +33 2 40 68 31 33, fax: +33 2 40 68 31 41, e-mail: jerome.bellettre@univ-nantes.fr
3 2

Abstract
This paper focuses on the improvement of a new and non-intrusive method of knock detection for spark ignition engine. This method shows that a knocking combustion can be detected by the analysis of the transient component of the flow temperature acquired in the coolant channel. But, although turbulent promoters are used to enhance the signal level, this remains too small (about 1 K) to use an industrial temperature probe. The present paper studies the possibility to improve detection by studying signal level at different frequencies. So, numerical simulations of unsteady heat transfer through the cylinder and inside the coolant flow are performed to observe how the signal temperature changes when combustion peak heat flux signal frequency increases. The results show that the frequency changes significantly the signal amplitude. For a combustion heat flux intensity of 8 MW.m-2, while at 12.5 Hz the amplitude value works in an 8 K range (peak to peak amplitude), this range at 75 Hz, reaches only 6 mK on a plate wall (without promoter). Effects with rib are similar and more significant: the variation at 75 Hz is limited to 1 mK while at 12.5 Hz variations reach almost 29 K.

Nomenclature
CT g H h' k n cycle time, s gravity, m.s-2 enthalpy (mean value), J.kg-1 enthalpy fluctuation, J.kg-1 turbulent kinetic energy, m.s- ( k = 1 u ' i2 )
2

q T* U u' y
+

heat flux, W.m-2 variation of temperature, K velocity (mean value), m.s-1 velocity fluctuation, m.s-1
w wall unit ( y * = )

harmonic rank

5th European Thermal-Sciences Conference, The Netherlands, 2008

Greek letters
ij

Subscript av i, j, k ext p t average i, j and k directions external closed to the wall (i.e. at the first cell center) turbulent

distance from the wall Kronecker symbol turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate, m.s-3 thermal conductivity, W.m-1.K-1 heartbeat, rad.s-1

1 Introduction
Knock is due to an unexpected combustion in Spark Ignition (SI) engines. It is a result of spontaneous ignition of a portion of end charge in the engine chamber, ahead of the propagating flame. The very rapid heat release implied by this abnormal combustion generates shock waves that can lead to decrease of the output work, increase in pollutants and the destruction of the engine components. Nowadays, the growth of downsizing (turbocharged systems) and development of alternative fuels with variable knock-resistance give to engines a higher sensivity to knock. Hence, a reliable method for the detection of knock in SI engine is of high interest. Brecq et al. (2001, 2003) precise that knock detection is currently based on data generated by accelerometers or cylinder pressure sensors. Due to its simplicity, accelerometry (vibration measurement) is largely employed in industry. Nevertheless, parasitic noises relative to engine operation often affect the quality of knock detection in this method. On the other hand, cylinder pressure data provides a direct and reliable way to analyze knock. The major disadvantage is that a suitable probe has to be provided on the engine cylinder that may reduce the engines life time as explained by Brecq (2002). Syrimis (1996) and Enomoto et al. (1994) revealed that knock occurrence is accompanied by an important increase (up to 4 times higher) of the wall heat transfer inside the combustion chamber. Thus, an alternative to the current methods could be the detection by analysis of the thermal signal measured near the outer side of the cylinder. However, the damping effect of the cylinder wall makes such a detection difficult. Previous works from Bellettre et al. (2003) and Loubar et al. (2005) have shown that acquiring a representative temperature signal from the knocking combustion is possible. Although turbulent promoters are used to enhance the signal level, this remains too small (about 1 K) to use an industrial temperature probe. The present paper studies the possibility to improve detection of knock by studying signal level at different frequencies as explained by Chen and Chiou (1996), who have studied interaction between turbulent flow and variable heat flux with more lower frequency. As a matter of fact, every periodical signal is composed of sum of elementary harmonics: T(t) = q.sin(nt) where q is the amplitude of the signal, the heartbeat in origin, and n, the harmonics rank. The aim is to observe how the temperature signal amplification of each harmonics changes when frequency increases. In order to achieve this goal, numerical simulations of the unsteady heat transfer across the cylinder wall and inside the coolant flow are performed at different combustion heat flux signal frequencies. The studied configuration is firstly described, before the presentation of the governing equations and the boundary conditions. Mesh validation and time step choice are then given. Finally, main results regarding the effect of frequency heat flux on the coolant flow are exposed in order to conclude about the feasibility of the proposed approach.

5th European Thermal-Sciences Conference, The Netherlands, 2008

2 Studied configuration and governing equations

The present paper treats the case of a water cooled engine cylinder. The geometrical characteristics of this cylinder are representative of those of a Combined Heat and Power gas engine (bore: 152 mm, displacement volume: 3 l). The engine speed is set constant at 1500 rpm, as in an actual CHP operation. The computational domain is two-dimensional and is constituted by the single coolant flow channel, see figure 1. The water flows is vertically introduced from the bottom to the top along the external side of the cylinder.
outlet cylinder head coolant channel

combustion chamber

combustion heat flux adiabatic side

cylinder wall

cylinder axis

(a)

inlet

(b)

Figure 1: Global configuration (a) and computational domain (b). The governing equations regarding the coolant flow (continuity, momentum and energy) are solved by the finite volume technique. In each equation, the diffusion terms are discretized according to a central difference method and the convective terms using a power law scheme as described by Patankar (1980). Pressure velocity coupling is calculated with the SIMPLE cell-centered scheme and a 1st order implicit scheme is used for time integration, Patankar (1980). The flow is unsteady and turbulent. The equations needed are the continuity, momentum and energy ones where the Reynolds decomposition is applied:
U x

=0

(1)

( U ) + i x t

U U U = p + i i j x x x j i j j

U
+

' ' u u + g i j x i i j

(2)

( H ) +

x j

(U j H )= x

T j x j

x j

( u ' j h ') + U j xP

(3)

where U, H and P are the mean values of velocity, enthalpy and pressure. g is the gravity.

5th European Thermal-Sciences Conference, The Netherlands, 2008

Enthalpy, H, and temperature, T, are linked by the specific heat, cp : H = c p dT , Tref being 273 K.
Tref

u' and h' are the velocity and enthalpy fluctuations, the fluid density, the dynamic viscosity and the thermal conductivity. , cp, and are set constant because of the small variation in temperature observed outside of the combustion chamber. In order to close the system (1)(3), Reynolds Stress Model (RSM) is used as turbulence model. Only useful equations are recalled in this paper and more details and physical assumptions can be found in Launder et al. (1975). The RSM involves solving the transport equations for the Reynolds stresses, given by (4):
' ' U k ui' u 'j t ui u j (4) ( ) + Pij + ij ij + = t xk xk k xk U j 2 2 ' ' U i Pij = (ui' u k + u 'j u k ) , ij = C1 (ui' u 'j ij k ) C 2 ( Pij + Cij ij ( P + C )) , xk xk k 3 3

ui' u 'j

with

U k ui' u 'j 2 1 1 Cij = , ij = ij , and k = 0.82, P = Pii , C = Cii , C1 = 1.8, C2 = 0.60. 2 2 xk 3

The turbulent viscosity, t, is a function of k, the turbulent kinetic energy, and the dissipation rate k2 , with C = 0.09. of k: t = C

k, the turbulent kinetic energy, is obtained by summing three of Reynolds stresses ( k =

1 u'i2 ). 2

The turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate, , is computed by solving the transport equation (5):
U j = + x j x k t
( + t ) x k

P jj 2 + C C 2 1 2k k

(5)

with

c = 1.0, C1 = 1.44 and C2 = 1.92.

The turbulent heat transfer appearing in the energy equation (3) is modeled using the turbulent c pT viscosity: u ' j h' = t (6) h x j
with h = 0.7 (turbulent Prandtl number).

3 Boundary conditions
Computational domain is constituted by liquid water which physico-chemical proprieties are kept constant for all simulations. As shown in figure 1, water is introduced according to vertical axis at the channels bottom with a uniform velocity inlet value of 0.6 m.s-1. This means a Reynolds number of 12000. Turbulent intensity is set to 5 % and temperature is kept constant to 363 K. A low Reynolds number model approach is retained to account for the wall effects. The near-wall calculation regarding the turbulent viscosity is described in details by Bellettre and Tazerout (2003) and the modifications regarding the RSM by Launder and Shima (1989).

5th European Thermal-Sciences Conference, The Netherlands, 2008

The approach, used by Mathelin et al. (2001), also allows simulating instabilities in turbulent flows if we later disturb the flow of water. External right side channels is considered perfectly adiabatic. Unsteady heat transfer from the hot burnt gases to the chamber wall is simulated by a self developed C language program. This program allows fixing instantaneous local heat flux values deduced from the literature, maximum amplitude is 8 MW.m- as exposed by Lu et al. (2002). As explained earlier in the introduction, real combustion wall heat flux is a periodical signal which could be decomposed - by Fast Fourier Transformation analysis - in a sum of elementary sinuses signals. So, heat flux is studied by different single sinusoidal signal where frequency is fixed by harmonic rank order. Simulation were performed for four frequencies such as 1<n<6, including frequencies between 12.5 Hz and 75 Hz. Heat flux is applied on all left side. An example of the instantaneous heat flux imposed on the cylinder wall is presented in figure 2.
10 q (MW/m) 5 0
T/2 T

t (ms)

-5 -10

Figure 2: Example of combustion heat flux; f=12.5 Hz; qmax= 8 MW.m-

4 Mesh validation and time step choice

The grid has been validated by checking the independence of the results. Different meshes, with wall units, y+, included in a 0.5 - 2 range, were tested. For each geometrical modification that has been studied, the grid was adapted and again validated. The mesh is structured in the initial configuration (with a smooth cylinder) and unstructured if geometrical disturbances are made in the cylinder wall. Moreover, numerical heat transfer from the wall to the coolant is in good agreement with theoretical correlation in the steady state case tested by Loubar et al. (2005). A discrepancy lower than 7 % has been found. Independence of the numerical results in a large range of time steps has been also checked (from CT / 80 to CT / 800, where CT is the cycle time: 0.08 s in the present case). Finally, the grids are composed of around 90000 finite volumes, time step is fixed at 10-4 s for convergence time, and 10-3 s for results recording. 20 iterations per time step were adopted at starting, but it seems that 4 iterations per time step are sufficient because more iteration do not improve the convergence of the simulations.

5 Results
Once a converged solution is obtained (all the normalized residues are then less than 10-5), the transitional component of the thermal signal is analysed with different combustion heat flux frequencies in a specified point, near wall, called recording point. In a first time, flat plate is studied. This analyse informs about the behaviour of the heat transfer with turbulent flow and varying heat flux. In a second time, simulations are repeated with a turbulent promoter disposed on the surface, figure 3. Recording point is still located at same coordinates and appears then next recirculation zone behind the rib. Then, the amplitude of the temperature at this point for different frequencies (the rank n takes values included between 1 to 6, so 12.5 to 75 Hz, where 12.5 Hz is considered as fundamentals frequency) and the different wall designs can be compared.

5th European Thermal-Sciences Conference, The Netherlands, 2008

coolant flow cylinder wall

recording point

Figure 3: Stream wises observed behind the rib. The results show that the frequency impacts significantly the signal amplitude in the two cases. At first, for each design, effect of frequency is investigated. Perfect full plate study shown an important reduction of signal temperature when frequency increases. Figure 4 presents variation of signal temperature at recording point. While at f=12.5 Hz (n=1), signal level amplitude (peak to peak) reaches almost 8 K, this value is even not equal to 1 K when frequency doubles, at f=50 Hz (n=2). This signal attenuation hardly continues: when f=50 Hz (n=4), it is a very lower signal which is available, around 60 mK. Finally, signal temperature for f=75 Hz (n=6) is very poor since only 4 mK is recorded. To sum up, when the pulsation increases, the variations of the temperature tend to smooth T* variations. Note that a 10 ratio can be observed between two successive studied frequencies. Understanding could be obtained by investigating velocity, turbulence and temperature field.
0,6 0,4 T* (K) 0 -0,2 -0,4 -0,6 25 Hz 12.5 Hz x0.1
0 20 40 60 80 1 00 1 20

0,04 0,02 T* (K) t (ms) 0

0 20 40 60 80 1 00 1 20

0,2

t (ms)

-0,02 -0,04 75 Hz 50 Hz

Figure 4: Variation temperature at recording point perfect full plate channel. T*=T(t)-Tav Effects with rib are similar and even more significant: the rib is placed 200 mm after the coolant inlet. It is 2 mm high and 2 mm long. The flow obtained behind this rib is much more turbulent than without (the turbulent kinetic energy is multiplied by more than 10 times). Temperature signal values are presented in figure 5.
1,5 1 0,5 0 -0,5 -1 -1,5 -2 0,025 0,015 T* (K) 0,005 -0,005 -0,015 -0,025 25 Hz 12.5 Hz x0.1 75 Hz 50 Hz
0 20 40 60 80 1 00 1 20 0 20 40 60 80 1 00 1 20

T* (K)

t (ms)

t (ms)

Figure 5: Temperature signal at recording point ribbed duct. T*=T(t)-Tav

5th European Thermal-Sciences Conference, The Netherlands, 2008

Identical behaviour as full plate case is observed. Increasing frequency leads to an important reduction of the heat transfer signal. Signal amplitude is divided by a ratio of 13 when frequency changes from 12.5 Hz to 25 Hz. Same phenomenon reproduces between 25 Hz and 50 Hz, and between 50 Hz and 75 Hz, variation range is respectively divided by a 52 and 10 ratio. These results show that when frequency increases, turbulent promoter tend to be useless. Moreover, the figure 6 presents a comparative diagram of dimensionless amplitude signal for full plate and ribbed channels, effect of frequency and geometry could be clearly observed: signal amplification with promoter is not constant. As a matter of fact, if promoter at low frequencies leads to an important amplification, until 4 ratio at 12.5 Hz, effect for f=50 Hz and f=75 Hz is strongly inversed.
0,1 0,09 0,08 0,07 0,06 0,05 0,04 0,03 0,02 0,01 0

1 0,9 0,8 0,7 0,6 0,5 0,4 0,3 0,2 0,1 0 1 Hz 2.5 25 Hz

0,01 0,009 0,008 0,007 0,006 0,005 0,004 0,003 0,002 0,001 0
25 Hz 50 Hz

50 Hz

75 Hz

Figure 6: Dimensionless representation of T* variations at the different frequencies. (reference value (=1) is taken for the higher value of variation: the ribbed channel at 12.5 Hz.)

Conclusions and perspectives

The present work focused on the numerical simulations of transient heat transfer around the combustion chamber in order to detect default in the combustion process such as knock. A knocking combustion generates a wall heat transfer much higher than a normal one. This heat flux is the sum of singles sinuses signals. Simulations are performed for four frequencies. Heat flux is then taken into account by a self developed program which enables fixing instantaneous heat flux on the internal side of the cylinder. The effect of frequency increasing is first investigated. The results shown an important reduction of the signal when frequency increases. Next, effect of ducts geometry ribbed channel is observed. Same phenomenon is revealed, when frequency increases, signal level decreases more strongly when promoter is used. In a common way, increasing frequency leads to an important reduction of the heat transfer signal. This phenomenon informs us about the use of low-pass type filter connected to the probe for signal conditioning for future applications. Unlike Chen and Chiou study (1996), no resonance between the turbulent flow and the periodical heat transfer has been found but other heat flux frequencies need now to be investigated. Understanding could be obtained by looking at velocity, turbulence and temperature field. Thus, major parameters could be identified in order to develop a mathematical model driving this specific heat transfer.

5th European Thermal-Sciences Conference, The Netherlands, 2008

References
Bellettre, J. and Tazerout, M., 2003, Numerical Study of Unsteady Heat Transfer Around a Cylinder. Application to Knock Detection in Gas SI Engine. Heat Transfer in Unsteady and Transitional Flows, Eurotherm 74, pp. 99 104. Brecq, G., 2002, Contribution la caractrisation thermodynamique du cliquetis dans les moteurs gaz : application de nouvelles mthodes de dtection. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Nantes. Brecq, G., Bellettre, J. and Tazerout M., 2003, A new indicator for knock detection in gas SI engines. Int. J. Therm. Sci., Vol. 42, N5 pp. 523 532, 2003. Brecq, G., Tazerout, M. and Le Corre O., 2001, A comparison of experimental indices to determine knock limit in CHP SI engines. 5th World Conference on Experimental Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics ExHFT, Vol. 1, pp. 517-521. Chen, C. and Chiou, J., 1996, Periodic heat transfer in a vertical plate fin cooled by a forced convective flow. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 39(2), pp. 429 435. Enomoto, Y., Kitahara, N. and Takai, M., 1994, Heat losses during knocking in a four-stroke gasoline engine. JSME International Journal, Serie B, Vol. 37. Launder, B.E., Reece, G.J. and Rodi, W., 1975, Progress in the development of a Reynolds-stress turbulence closure. J Fluid Mech., Vol. 68, pp. 537-566. Launder, B.E. and Shima, N., 1989, Second-moment closure for the near-wall sublayer: development and application. AIAA Journal, Vol. 27, pp. 1319-1325. Liou, T.M., Chen, S.H. and Shih, K.C., 2002, Numerical simulation of turbulent flow field and heat transfer in a two-dimensional channel with periodic slit ribs. Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer, Vol. 45, pp. 4493-4505. Lopez-Matencio, J.L., Bellettre, J. and Lallemand, A., 2003, Numerical prediction of turbulent heat and mass transfer above a porous wall subjected to vaporisation cooling. I. J. Transport Phenomena, Vol. 5, N3, pp. 185 201. Loubar, K., Bellettre, J. and Tazerout, 2005, M., Unsteady heat transfer enhancement around an engine cylinder in order to detect knock. ASME Journal of Heat Transfer, 127(3), pp. 278 286. Mathelin, L., Bataille, F. and Lallemand, A., 2001, Blowing models for cooling surfaces. Int. J. Therm. Sci., Vol. 40, pp. 969-980. Patankar, S.V., 1980, Numerical heat transfer and fluid flow. Hemisphere Publishing Corp., Washington. Syrimis, M., 1996, Characterization of knocking combustion and heat transfert in a spark-ignition engine. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Illinois.