BUILDING A BETTER ENGINE Modern engine design relies on a variety of simulation software programs, including Reaction Design's ENERGICO, that model not just the engine itself but also the chemical reactions taking place within the engine.
Image: © REACTION DESIGN
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Despite decades of fine-tuning, the average internal combustion engine still converts only about 20 percent of its fuel into power and spews a variety of emissions harmful to people and the environment.
With customers and government more interested than ever in energy efficiency and pollution, engine designers are feeling the heat. So engineers are turning to sophisticated simulation software to design and test ideas long before they build engine prototypes.
Low emissions, in particular, have become a key technical requirement for large industrial turbines, especially those that run continuously, says Joe Citeno, manager of combustion and emission technology at GE Energy, a division of General Electric Co. based in Greenville, S.C., and a maker of engines and turbines. The growing use of new and largely unproved biofuels, liquefied natural gas, synthetic gases derived from coal, and hydrogen complicates the design challenge, he says.
Better simulation software is helping engineers do a better job. Developing low-emission combustion engines requires "a fundamental understanding of combustion kinetics, or very fast chemistry, as well as fluid flow," Citeno says. "You need to understand the mixing that occurs in one of these gas turbines."
GE Energy uses several different software programs to create models of new engines. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software performs millions of calculations to simulate in 3-D the interaction of liquids and gases in the combustor (the part of the engine where fuel ignition takes place). Citeno says he and his team then use ENERGICO and CHEMKIN-PRO software from San Diego–based Reaction Design to simulate the complex chemical reactions, including the emissions they are likely to produce.
Before computer modeling and data crunching software were available, engineers relied on a slower, trial-and-error approach of designing, building and testing new engines, which did not allow them to sample the many different conditions that the software simulates.
The software that Reaction Design sells was first developed by Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, N.M., as a way for engineers to see "phenomena that otherwise couldn't be observed," says chief executive Bernie Rosenthal. "You need to know how something will work before you invest in building it."
In 1997 the company bought the rights from Sandia for software that would become CHEMKIN. (ENERGICO debuted in September.) NASA uses Reaction Design's software to simulate the operation of jet engines using biofuels and other alternative fuels, whereas the U.S. Department of Energy uses the software as part of its Freedom-CAR initiative (kicked off in 2002) to promote the development of hydrogen for fuel-cells as a primary energy source for cars and trucks.
The simulation software cuts in half the time it takes to model the reactions that turn fuel into power, Citeno says, freeing up "the design engineer for the more important mental task of understanding what's physically happening inside the combustor."
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7 Comments
Add CommentI think US auto industry should try using completely different and more efficient engine designs for hybrids and gasoline cars/trucks. It is the time to take risk w/ new technologies.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisChrysler tried gas turbine engine car back in the 70s commercially but gave up later. Japanese Mazda is using rotary engines for long time, however.
This is something that should have been done decades ago.Greed does slow down human endeavor.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOn the other hand, computers and software able to handle the math to solve these deep fluid dynamics problems wasn't available in the 1990's. Science and technology are like building a brick wall... one course of science, then one of technology. Repeat until there is no more science or technology to be done.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOn the other hand, computers and software able to handle the math to solve these deep fluid dynamics problems wasn't available in the 1990's. Science and technology are like building a brick wall... one course of science, then one of technology. Repeat until there is no more science or technology to be done.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI have often wondered why external combustion (steam) has not caught on. I believe that flash-tube boilers, heat scavengers, and electric motors would make an efficient system. Add a couple of batteries, and regenerative braking, and there we go.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisif you want to raise energy efficiency then add gas turbines (either tied to the drive train or used to generate electricity for the hybrid electric motor) to the exhaust line before the catalytic converter then have a small steam generator after the catalytic converter (steam could be added back to the turbine or used separately to generate more electricity)
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisif you want to raise energy efficiency then add gas turbines (either tied to the drive train or used to generate electricity for the hybrid electric motor) to the exhaust line before the catalytic converter then have a small steam generator after the catalytic converter (steam could be added back to the turbine or used separately to generate more electricity)
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