A Methodology for Indirect Determination of Diesel Fuel Laminar Flame Speed

A method for indirectly determining the laminar flame speed for diesel fuel was formulated and benchmarked against cylinder pressure data acquired for two direct-injection diesel engines. The approach was focused on fitting a series of experimentally generated heat release and mean cylinder pressure profiles with a zero-dimensional, physics-based combustion model. A correlation for laminar flame speed was generated based on the optimal fit of flame speed to this series of heat release profiles. This technique resulted in a correlation that had a reasonable RMS error and exhibited trends that have been observed with lighter hydrocarbon fuels such as gasoline including pressure and air fuel ratio behavior.