Alexandria Engineering Journal (2016) xxx, xxx–xxx

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Alexandria University

Alexandria Engineering Journal

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ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Application of zero-dimensional thermodynamic

model for predicting combustion parameters of CI
engine fuelled with biodiesel-diesel blends
Hariram V. a,*, Bharathwaaj R. b

a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Hindustan Institute of Technology & Science, Hindustan University, Chennai, Tamil
Nadu, India
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, S.A. Engineering college, Chennai, India

Received 30 March 2016; revised 10 August 2016; accepted 25 August 2016

KEYWORDS Abstract Biodiesel from non-edible vegetable oil seems to be a promising alternate for petro-diesel
Zero-dimensional model; in the present energy scenario. This study analyses the experimental and theoretical effects on the
Combustion; blends of Bee Wax biodiesel with straight diesel on combustion parameters. A zero-dimensional
Heat release; mathematical model is developed to analyse the rise in in-cylinder pressure along with Wiebie’s heat
Rate of pressure rise release correlations, ignition delay, gas dynamics model, heat transfer model and frictional model.
The combustion parameters include in-cylinder pressure rise, net heat release and rate of pressure
rise are investigated and found to be higher for straight diesel and deteriorated with the increase in
blends of BWB. The theoretical simulation also supports the experimental data with constant injec-
tion timing, speed and compression ratio.
Ó 2016 Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an
open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction Thus, the raw material for production of honey is available

free from nature. Beehives neither demand additional land
Honey and beekeeping have a long history in India with oldest space nor do compete with agriculture or animal husbandry
records in the form of paintings by prehistoric man in the rock for any input. Beekeeping constitutes a resource of sustainable
shelters. With the development of civilization, honey acquired income generation to the rural and tribal farmers providing
a unique status in the lives of human beings. The recent past valuable nutrition in the form of honey, protein rich pollen,
has witnessed a revival of the industry in the rich forest regions brood and beehive wax.
along the sub-Himalayan mountain ranges and the Western During the 1980s, an estimated one million beehives had
Ghats, where it has been practiced in its simplest form. Several been functioning under various schemes of the Khadi and Vil-
natural plant species provide nectar and pollen to honey bees. lage Industries Commission with the development of apicul-
ture using the indigenous bee, Apis cerana, Apis mellifera,
* Corresponding author. which gained popularity in Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Hima-
E-mail address: connect2hariram@gmail.com (V. Hariram). chal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Ben-
Peer review under responsibility of Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria gal. Wild honey bee colonies of the giant honey bee and the
University. oriental beehive have also been exploited for collection of
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2016.08.021
1110-0168 Ó 2016 Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Please cite this article in press as: V. Hariram, R. Bharathwaaj, Application of zero-dimensional thermodynamic model for predicting combustion parameters of CI
engine fuelled with biodiesel-diesel blends, Alexandria Eng. J. (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2016.08.021
2 V. Hariram, R. Bharathwaaj
Nomenclature
h crank angle (in °)
Cr compression ratio
Crl connecting rod length
Vswept swept volume (in mm3)
BDC bottom dead centre
TDC top dead centre
D bore diameter (in mm)
l stroke length (in mm)
DI direct injection
C–H–O carbon hydrogen oxygen equilibrium system
FTT finite temperature thermodynamics model
bTDC before top dead centre
EGT exhaust gas temperature in degree celsius
U internal energy (in joules)
W work done (in kW)
honey. Both natural and cultivated vegetations in India consti-
tute an immense potential for development of beekeeping.
About 500 flowering plant species have been identified as
major and minor sources of nectar and pollen. In the recent
years the exotic honey bee has been introduced representing
a wide variety of bee fauna that can be utilized for the devel-
opment of honey industry in the country. There are several
types of indigenous and traditional hives including logs, clay
pots, wall niches, baskets and boxes of different sizes and
shapes. India, potentially produces about 120 million bee colo-
nies discharging over 1.2 million tons of honey and 15,000 tons
of beeswax. Organized collection of forest honey and beeswax
using improved methods results in an additional production of
at least 120,000 tons of honey and 10,000 tons of beeswax [22].
Internal combustion engines, mainly compression ignition
engines are used in transportation industries. They are also
used in power production and agricultural applications as well.
CI engines operate at relatively higher efficiency when com-
pared with spark ignition engines, due to their higher compres-
sion ratio. Currently, investigations are carried out to reduce
the diesel emission and provide cleaner and more efficient
engine systems. Biodiesels will be a key in achieving the above
goal and thermodynamic simulation of the internal combus-
tion engines providing enhanced knowledge to understand
and configure new engines technologies.
Simulation is the process of creating a virtual system to
understand the properties of real time system without physical
interventions. The development in the field of computers has
opened the doors of computational environment. Diesel engine
simulation models are classified into three categories, namely
zero-dimensional single zone models, quasi-dimensional multi
zone models and multi-dimensional models in which zero-
dimensional models provide the essence of thermodynamic
property of a system modelled. On the other hand, the
multi-dimensional models resolve the space of modelled system
on a fine grid thus providing special information. However,
computational time and coding constraints keep this model
away from consistently using them in-design optimization pro-
cess. Combustion process of compression ignition engine is a
complicated phenomenon based on thermodynamic models
that incorporate the energy equation for closed system and
Please cite this article in press as: V. Hariram, R. Bharathwaaj, Application of zero-dimensional thermodynamic model for predicting combustion parameters of CI
engine fuelled with biodiesel-diesel blends, Alexandria Eng. J. (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2016.08.021
Cv specific heat at constant volume (in kJ/kg K)
x mass fraction
ti starting time of injection (in s)
tg starting of combustion (in s)
po stagnation pressure (in bar)
k specific heat ratios for gasses
hc coefficient of heat transfer (in W/m2)
t velocity of gasses (in m/s)
Vp mean piston speed (in mm/s)
BWB 10 beeswax biodiesel 10% straight diesel 90%
BWB 20 beeswax biodiesel 20% straight diesel 80%
CA crank angle (in °)
HRR heat release rate (in J/CA)
species conservation equation that predicts the heat release
pattern and pressure of the system. Working fluid undergoes
a continuous change in its thermodynamic state through the
series of the engine operational cycles which mainly consists
of constant pressure suction, adiabatic compression, constant
pressure combustion, isentropic expansion and constant pres-
sure exhaust events where the thermodynamic states are to
be computed with the help of programs for diesel operating
cycle.
Many researchers conducted experiments based on mathe-
matically modelling of engine fuelled with bio-diesel for pre-
dicting the performance and combustion parameters. A few
of them are discussed below. Ramadhas et al. studied the the-
oretical model for rubber seed oil methyl ester fuelled engine
and analysed effect of relative air fuel ratio and compression
ratio on the engine performance for different fuels. They used
single zone thermodynamic model for predicting the perfor-
mance of compression ignition engine by considering funda-
mental assumption about cylinder charge, specific heats to
solve energy equation and also Hohenberg equation in heat
transfer [1].
Raut theoretically modelled a compression ignition engine
depending on the characteristics of fuel using thermodynamic
model for predicting the properties of working substance in
suction, compression, power and exhaust strokes during the
engine operation. The model predicted the performance of
compression ignition engine in terms of brake power and brake
thermal efficiency for all fuels and also calculated the volume
as a function of crank angle by taking cylinder bore, stroke
length of the engine and length of the connecting rod. The
author used Wiebie heat release model to analyse the heat
release pattern of the engine and Pflaum equation to predict
the heat transfer coefficient and heat lost to the walls of the
engine [14]. Rakopoulos et al. elaborated the two zone models
for DI diesel engine with the use of mass, energy and state
equations for determining the local temperature and pressure.
Also, the author applied chemical equilibrium scheme for C–
H–O system to predict the exhaust gas composition and used
simulation model for various loads and compression ratios
along with Annand’s equation for determining the heat trans-
fer coefficient. The authors have also elaborated the use of fuel
Application of zero-dimensional thermodynamic model
spray model, air entertainment model for two zone application
and sensitivity analysis discussing their procedure [5].
Gonica et al. reported the effect of engine load and biodie-
sel concentration on the performance of diesel engine running
with diesel-biodiesel blends using theoretical model based finite
temperature thermodynamic (FTT) approach which was based
on temperature dependent variable specific heats. The applica-
tion of FTT was intensely discussed for compression ignition
engine and exhibited a linear increase in power for varying
loads at constant engine operating parameters [11]. Gogoi
and Baruah simulated a single zone combustion model for pre-
dicting the performance of CI engine fuelled with biodiesel
blends. They analysed the effect of compression ratio and
engine speed on BP and BTE with Karanja biodiesel blends.
The model prediction resulted in exhibiting similar trend for
biodiesel concentration up to 50% and showed better perfor-
mance with 60% blend ratio [21].
Canakci, experimentally investigated the influence of using
biodiesel blends on performance, combustion and emission
characteristics in compression ignition engines in which, the
brake specific fuel consumption increased with the addition
of biodiesel on comparison with straight diesel [15]. Patil devel-
oped a thermodynamic model for predicting the performance
of CI engine fuelled with diesel and POME biodiesel blends
using MATLAB and studied its empirical simulation [19].
Sivalingam et al. validated the combustion and emission
parameters of direct injection CI engine fuelled with blends
of bio-ethanol emulsion. In-cylinder pressure, ignition delay,
NOx and smoke were determined and compared with mathe-
matically simulated results at all loads. The results exhibited
a marginal 5% variation between the experimental and theo-
retical data with diesel fuel and 3% variation with biodiesel
operations.
Figure 1 Schematic diagram of experimental setup.
Please cite this article in press as: V. Hariram, R. Bharathwaaj, Application of zero-dimensional thermodynamic model for predicting combustion parameters of CI
engine fuelled with biodiesel-diesel blends, Alexandria Eng. J. (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2016.08.021
3
In this present work, zero dimensional thermodynamic
model was developed to analyse the in-cylinder pressure, rate
of heat release and rate of pressure rise to understand the com-
bustion behaviour of the DI CI engine and the same was val-
idated using biodiesel obtained from wax esters of Apis
melifera (honey bee).
2. Materials and methods
In the present experimental investigation, bio-diesel was
obtained from wax esters of Apis melifera (honey bee). Since
honey bees are grown commercially for the production of
honey, the source of raw material is sustainable. In the process
of extracting wax from the beehive, honey bees were not killed
leaving the ecological balance undisturbed. Commercially,
honey bees are domesticated for honey and wax is obtained
as the by-product of domestication process which makes it
more reliable and renewable. The test engine used for this
experimental investigation is direct injection compression igni-
tion Kirloskar 240PE test engine equipped with eddy current
dynamometer having 87.5 mm and 110 mm as bore and stroke
length respectively with capacity of 661 cc that delivers 3.5 kW
at 1500 rpm. The schematic diagram of the test rig is shown in
Fig. 1 with pressure, temperature, crank angle, airflow and fuel
flow measuring instruments and the test engine specification is
given in Table 1. A high speed data acquisition system (DAS)
is used in the experimental setup to transmit and analyse the
data.
Many ways have been devised to extract, refine and lighten
the colour of beeswax. A widely preferred method is pressur-
ized extraction method in which the beeswax is maintained
at 90 °C under water at pressurized condition to melt the
4 V. Hariram, R. Bharathwaaj

Table 1 Engine specifications. Table 3 Composition of beeswax.

Description Specifications Composition of beeswax In %
Make Kirloskar Acid esters 4
Model 240PE/four stroke Di-esters 6
Bore diameter 87.5 mm Tri-esters 3
Stroke length 110 mm Free alcohols 1
Rated power 3.5 kW@1500 rpm Cerotic acid 4.4
Injection timing 23°bTDC Lacceryl palmitate 2
Connecting rod length 230 mm Lignoric acid 1
Capacity 661 cc Melissic acid 2
Speed 1500 rpm Montanic acid 2.6
Compression ratio 17.5:1 Myricyl palmitate 23
Loading type Eddy current dynamometer Myricyl cerotate 12
Load cell 0–50 kg, stain gauge type Myricyl hypogaeate 12
Pressure sensor 0–350 bar Psyllic acid 1.5
Temperature sensor K Type, PT 100, RTD thermocouple Hydrocarbons 13.5

wax into liquid form. Acidic medium was prepared by adding Chromatography Mass Spectrometry analysis and by employ-
5% sulphuric acid to water containing processed beeswax to ing the Iodine Value and Saponification value relations
P 254
DXAi P 560
Ai
lighten the colour and increase the yield of liquid beeswax and respectively, where D is the number
MWi MWi
called slumgum. 5% of hydrogen peroxide was mixed to the of double bond, Ai is mass composition from GC/MS result
slumgum to avoid bleaching action and later recovered. and MWi is the molecular weight. Cetane number of the
The biodiesel from beeswax was obtained by two stage BWB was found to be 48 whereas the value for the straight die-
trans-esterification process. The primary stage comprises of sel lies between 46 and 53. When the BWB was blended with
acid catalysed esterification with the molar ratio of 1:2:0.04 diesel, the Cetane number was found to be lying between 50
of wax, methanol and concentrated hydrochloric acid for and 49 for BWB10 and BWB20 respectively. The cloud and
reducing the free fatty acid content from 14.5% to >2%. Base pour point of beeswax biodiesel was found to be 12 °C and
catalysed esterification with methanol and sodium hydroxide 15 °C which was lower on comparison with straight diesel.
was followed with treated wax ester. The yield of biodiesel At lower temperature, especially in northern parts of India,
was 85% at molar ratio of 1:0.25, reaction temperature of clogging of fuel filter and fuel injector takes place which can
60 °C, for NaOH concentration of 0.02% by weight. The prop- be overcome by installing fuel line heaters as well as by adding
erties of biodiesel were studied with respect to diesel and tab- pour point additive such as ethylene glycol up to 1.5% of the
ulated in Table 2 and the composition of Beeswax biodiesel biodiesel by volume.
is given in Table 3. BWB showed higher kinematic viscosity
at 40 °C, which was determined to be 3.5 mm2/s whereas for 2.1. Mathematical modelling
straight diesel, the kinematic viscosity was noticed to be
2.6 mm2/s. However, BWB-Diesel blends showed an increase
2.1.1. Engine kinematics model
in kinematic viscosity (i.e.) BWB10 and BWB20 exhibited
2.69 mm2/s and 2.78 mm2/s respectively. The fundamental geometry of reciprocating piston engine is
The calorific value of BWB, BWB10 and BWB20 also shown in Fig. 2. Using the engine kinematics model volume
showed a similar trend with variations between 44.8 MJ/kg every crank angle can be calculated by solving [20]
2 ffi3
ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
s
and 44.1 MJ/kg for blends of BWB. Density at 15 °C of the 2
Cr 1  cos 2h 1 Crl
BWB was found to be 880 kg/m3 which is higher by 2.3% than VðhÞ ¼ Vswept 4  þ 2  sin h5ð1Þ
2

straight diesel and the increase in blend ratio resulted in grad- Cr  1 2 2 l

ual increase in density of the fuel. Cetane number of the bio- p
diesel was determined using molecular weight from Gas Vswept ¼ D2 l ð2Þ
4

Table 2 Physio-chemical properties of straight diesel and biodiesel blends.

Property ASTM standards Diesel BWB BWB 10 BWB20
Kinematic viscosity at 40 °C (mm /s)2
3.5–5 2.6 3.5 2.69 2.78
Cetane number – 51 48 50.7 50.4
Calorific value (MJ/kg) – 45.5 38.5 44.8 44.1
Density at 15 °C (kg/m3) 860–900 860 880 862 864
Flash point (°C) – 45 110 57 63
Carbon residue (%) – 0.17 0.04 – –
Acid value, mg KOH <0.8 0.35 0.4 – –
Iodine value – – 121 – –
Cloud point (°C) – 34 12 31 29
Pour point (°C) – 40 15 37 35

Please cite this article in press as: V. Hariram, R. Bharathwaaj, Application of zero-dimensional thermodynamic model for predicting combustion parameters of CI
engine fuelled with biodiesel-diesel blends, Alexandria Eng. J. (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2016.08.021
Application of zero-dimensional thermodynamic model 5

2.1.3. Heat release model

In this present study, the combustion model was developed
based on equally distributed heat release phenomena (i.e. heat
is liberated evenly from all the areas of the combustion cham-
ber). Since single zone combustion model predominantly give
the accurate results in case of constant pressure combustion,
Wiebie’s function was employed to determine the mass frac-
tion of the fuel burnt and which in turn applied for finding
Figure 2 Engine kinematics.
the heat release rate due to combustion of fuel.
Wiebie co-relation for predicting heat release rate is
where Vswept is volume displaced by engine when piston moves expressed as [13]
from BDC to TDC in mm3, D represents cylinder bore diam- "  mþ1 #
eter in mm, while l is stroke length of the engine in mm, Crl is h  ho
xb ðhÞ ¼ 1  exp a ð6Þ
length of connecting rod in mm. Cr represents the compression Dh
ratio, Crl represents the length of connecting rod in mm and h
is crank angle in radians. where xb denotes mass fraction of fuel burnt at given crank
The first derivative of Eq. (1) gives the change in cylinder angle h, Dh represents the duration of combustion, ‘‘a” is a
volume for change in crank angle. parameter that symbolizes the completion of combustion. Wie-
2 3 bie assumed xmax as 0.99; hence, value of ‘‘a” is taken as 6.908.
dV Vswept 61 sin 2h 7 ‘‘m” is the parameter that delineates the rate of combustion.
¼ 4 qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
 ffi  sin h5 ð3Þ When Eq. (6) is differentiated once with respect to x and mul-
dh 2 2 Crl 2
2 l  sin h 2
tiplied with QDhav , gives the relation for determining the heat
release rate as [16]
2.1.2. Zero dimensional combustion model   m "  mþ1 #
dQc Qav h  ho h  ho
The thermodynamic or fluid dynamic model was developed ¼ aðm þ 1Þ exp a ð7Þ
dh Dh Dh Dh
based on energy conservation or complete analysis of fluid
motion in the cylinder predicting the performance and com- Here Qav is average heat release rate.
bustion characteristics of the engine. Zero dimensional model
predicts and analyses the characteristics of thermodynamic 2.1.4. Ignition delay model
properties of the engine solving energy equations whereas
Ignition delay is termed as the time difference between start of
multi-dimensional momentum conservation equations allow
injection of fuel and start of combustion. Physical delay and
to visualize the gas flow and combustion products. Therefore,
chemical delay are two broad classifications of delay period
Zero dimensional model is suitable for observing the effects of
that occurs in CI combustion. Ignition delay was calculated
variation in heat release rate and in-cylinder pressure parame-
as a function of air fuel mixture temperature, pressure that
ters of engine operation.
accounts for physical delay and air-fuel equivalence ratio, fuel
The zero-dimensional model [2,19] used in the study was
properties that characterize the chemical delay. In actual com-
based on the first law of thermodynamics applied to a closed
bustion, ignition delay plays a major role in heat release rates.
cycle for duration when both the inlet and exhaust valves are
The empirical correlation developed by Wolfer [3,17] given in
closed (i.e. for the period of combustion). The energy equation
Eq. (8) is integrated by Runge-Kutta method to determine
for above process is written as
ignition delay period.
dQc dQh dU dW
 ¼ þ ð4Þ Z tg Z tg
dh dh dh dh dt 1 dt
¼    ¼ 1 ð8Þ
dðp; TÞ Kti a A
where dQdh
c
denotes the heat generated by the fuel due to com- ti ti pðtÞ exp RTðtÞ
dQh
bustion, dh represents heat transferred to walls by the means
The constant values relevant for direct injection diesel
of in cylinder gasses. dU
dh
describes the change in internal energy engine are K = 2272, a = 1.19, A/R = 4650. Where ti is time
of the system while dWdh
gives the rate of work transferred from when injection starts, tg time when combustion starts. K is
the system. thermal conductivity, A is activation energy of fuel and R is
The above equation signifies the net heat release rate which universal gas constant.
is defined as difference between heat generated by the fuel due
to combustion and heat that is convicted to the cylinder walls 2.1.5. Gas exchange modelling
due to in cylinder gasses. Eq. (4) is rearranged as It is equally necessary to model the intake and exhaust process
dQc dQh dT dV to push the results towards the actual values. So, intake and
 ¼ MCv þp ð5Þ
dh dh dh dh exhaust processes are considered as a function of cylinder pres-
sure and mass flow rate in and out of the engine. By consider-
The rate of change of internal energy of the system is a
ing the gas as ideal and applying the energy equation for
function of temperature. Here, M, Cv, T, p and V are in-
exhaust process,
cylinder instantaneous mass, specific heat of gases at constant
volume, instantaneous temperature, in-cylinder pressure at the  
dp 1 dN 1 dV
given instant of crank angle and instantaneous volume ¼ kp p  ð9Þ
dt N dt V dt e
respectively.

Please cite this article in press as: V. Hariram, R. Bharathwaaj, Application of zero-dimensional thermodynamic model for predicting combustion parameters of CI
engine fuelled with biodiesel-diesel blends, Alexandria Eng. J. (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2016.08.021
6 V. Hariram, R. Bharathwaaj

Similarly for intake process, 130p0:8 ðVp þ 1:4Þ0:8

  Hohenberg equation: hc ¼ ð18Þ
dp 1 dN 1 dV T0:5 V0:06
¼ kr  ð10Þ
dt N dt V dt i pffiffiffi
Pflaum equation: hc ¼ pT  fðvp Þ ð19Þ
dN
Here is mass flow rate through the valves which is
dt
selected by knowing the critical pressure ratio which is the fðvp Þ ¼ 3  2:57½1  eð1:50:416Vp Þ  ð20Þ
function of specific heat ratios (k) of the gasses alone. It is The above equation is considered as positive when Vp is
given by Eq. (11). greater than 3.6 m/s. If Vp is less than 3.6 m/s, the equation
  k
k þ 1 ðk1Þ becomes negative.
pc ¼ ð11Þ
2
2.1.7. FMEP model
Case (i): when pressure ratio p/po is less than pc, the flow is Due to frictional losses, there is a considerable decrease in the
subsonic and the mass flow rate is given by indicated power of the engine due to frictional losses so brake
power is dependent on frictional power. In general nine fric-
vffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
" k1 # tional mean effective pressure (FMEP) losses are considered
u  k1
dN u k 2 p k [20,10].
t
k
¼ Av p 1 ð12Þ Mean effective pressure lost to overcome friction due to gas
dt RTðk  1Þ k þ 1 po
pressure.
l  
Case (ii): when pressure ratio p/po is greater than pc, the FMEP1 ¼ 0:42ðpa  pinf Þ 2 0:088Cr1:330:39Vp=100  10 ð21Þ
D
flow is supersonic for this criteria mass flow rate is given by
where pinf is intake manifold vacuum.
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi MEP absorbed by piston rings.
 k1
kþ1
dN k 2 0:377  l  npr
¼ Av p ð13Þ FMEP2 ¼ 10  ð22Þ
dt RT k þ 1 D2
Here ‘‘k” is specific heat ratios and subscripts p and r where npr is number of piston rings present.
denote products and reactants respectively when applied for MEP lost due to piston.
either cases of inlet and exhaust process. Av is effective valve
Psl 100  Vp
flow area which depends on the valve lift profile of an engine. FMEP3 ¼ 12:85  ð23Þ
po is stagnation pressure for that particular temperature and p Dl 1000
is static pressure in the manifold [7–9]. where Psl is piston skirt length in mm.
Blow by losses.
2.1.6. Heat transfer model FMEP4
"  1:185 #
Since considerable amount of heat is transferred to the atmo- pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi N
sphere by exhaust gases and cooling water by means of convec- ¼ pa  pinf 0:121Cr  ð0:0345 þ 0:001055CrÞ 
0:4
1000
tion, net work done by the working fluid for entire cycle is
I   ð24Þ
Dp
Wn ¼ pþ DV ð14Þ
2 where Cr is compression ratio and N is speed.
where Wn indicates the net work output of the engine, DV is MEP lost by throttling.
p
change in volume and Dp is change in pressure due to heat FMEP5 ¼ e þ pinf ð25Þ
transfer process and it is given by [12] 2:75
MEP lost in valve gear.
Dp hc As ðTs  Tf Þ
¼ DT ð15Þ   
p mf Cv Tf 4N GH1:75
FMEP6 ¼ 0:226 30  ð26Þ
where As is surface area of engine, Ts is surface temperature,
1000 D2 l
Tf, mf, and Cv are temperature, mass and specific heat ratio where G is number of valves and H is intake valve diameter.
of working fluid respectively, and hc is heat transfer coefficient Pumping loss.
and is determined by any of the following methods.  1:5
N
0:3D0:2 p0:8 #0:8 FMEP7 ¼ 0:0275  ð27Þ
Ashley-Campbell equation: hc ¼ ð16Þ 1000
T0:5
MEP lost in bearing friction.
where D is bore diameter, p is pressure, # is velocity of gasses  
and T is temperature. D N
FMEP8 ¼ 0:0564  ð28Þ
l 1000
p0:7 V0:8
hc ¼ 0:014ð1 þ bÞ 0:5 V
p
Sitkei and Ramanaiah equation: MEP lost in combustion chamber.
T A
rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi  1:7
ð17Þ pimep N
FMEP9 ¼  0:0915  ð29Þ
11:45 1000
where b = 0.05–0.10, Vp is mean piston speed, and A is area of
bore. where pimep is intake manifold pressure.

Please cite this article in press as: V. Hariram, R. Bharathwaaj, Application of zero-dimensional thermodynamic model for predicting combustion parameters of CI
engine fuelled with biodiesel-diesel blends, Alexandria Eng. J. (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2016.08.021
Application of zero-dimensional thermodynamic model
2.2. Combustion chemistry
When a chemical reaction occurs, the bonds within the mole-
cules of reactants are broken, and atoms and electrons rear-
range to form products. In combustion reactions, rapid
oxidation of the fuel results in energy release with the forma-
tion of combustion products. Considering fuel as CaHbOc
which is oxidized to form products, the combustion equation
is given by
Ca Hb Oc þ xðO2 þ 3:77N2 Þ!dCO2 þ eH2 O þ fN2
The atomic balance of each species in the above C–H–O is
given as C: a = d, H: b = 2d, O: 2x = 2d + e.
Stoichiometric air fuel ratio is the amount of air required to
completely combust one mole of fuel. The molecular formula
of the fuel is determined as C18H35O2 and therefore, equation
for the combustion of the fuel is written as
C18 H35 O2 þ aðO2 þ 3:77N2 Þ!18CO2 þ 17:5H2 O þ a  3:77N2
Hereby considering the oxygen balance 2 + 2 * a = 18 * 2
+ 17.5.
Solving the above equation gives ‘‘a” as 12.875 (i.e.)
12.875 mol of air is required to completely burn 1 mol of fuel.
The above equation is rewritten as
C18 H35 O2 þ 12:875ðO2 þ 3:77N2 Þ!18CO2 þ 17:5H2 O þ 48:53N2
Specific heat is the factor that is dependent upon tempera-
ture of the combustion chamber. The following relations are be
used to determine the specific heat of the in cylinder gases
For 400 6 T 6 1600; CpðTÞ ¼ BL þ CL=T
For 1600 6 T 6 6000; CpðTÞ ¼ BH þ CH=T
X
n
Cp ¼ Cpk Nk
k¼1
where BL, BH, CL, and CH are constants depending upon the
species ‘‘k” is number of product species present.
2.3. Fuel spray model (fuel atomization and spray penetration
model)
The fuel jet that emerges out of the nozzle generally forms a
cone-shaped spray at the tip of the nozzle known as atomiza-
tion breakup regime, where the fuel is fragmented into smaller
droplets size less then nozzle diameter. For jets in the atomiza-
tion regime, the spray angle h is given by
 1=2 pffiffiffi
h 1 qg 3 Molecular weight
tan ¼ 4p ð36Þ
2 A ql 6 No of carbon present in fuel
where qg and ql are gas and liquid density of fuel, and A is con-
stant for given geometry which is normally taken as 4.9.
The speed at which the fuel penetrates into the combustion
chamber also plays a major role in the mixing of fuel droplets
with air. The spray penetration speed is given as
 1=4  1=4
Dp 1=2 294
S ¼ 3:07 ðtdn Þ ð37Þ
qg Tg
Please cite this article in press as: V. Hariram, R. Bharathwaaj, Application of zero-dimensional thermodynamic model for predicting combustion parameters of CI
engine fuelled with biodiesel-diesel blends, Alexandria Eng. J. (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2016.08.021
7
where Dp is pressure drop across the nozzle, t is time after the
start of injection and dn is nozzle diameter (see Table 4).
The simulation was carried out using of MATLAB which
divided into four major subroutines such as Ideal cycle simula-
tion, Fuel cycle simulation, Progressive combustion simulation
and Actual cycle simulation. Initially, in Ideal cycle simulation
(ICS), air is considered to be working medium to analyse the
pressure at different state points by using basic thermodynamic
relations. ICS was followed by Fuel Cycle Simulation (FCS) in
which fuel properties and adiabatic flame temperature are
ð30Þ determined to identify the amount of heat generated by the
fuel during the combustion process. The FCS is further modi-
fied by considering actual combustion where zero dimensional
combustion model incorporates the ignition delay equation
and Wiebie’s heat release correlation to study the pressure
and heat released in the Progressive cycle simulation (PCS).
Finally Actual cycle simulation is carried out to eliminate the
assumptions made by considering the pressure loss due to heat
transfer with the surroundings, pressure lost due to gas
ð31Þ exchange process and frictional losses to obtain pressure-
crank angle curves. The pressure data thus obtained are simu-
lated for heat release rate with the equation obtained by apply-
ing first law of thermodynamics to closed system [21]. The
details of molecular weight, carbon presence, oxygen and
hydrogen content were obtained from the molecular formula
derived from the Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry
result of beeswax biodiesel along with other thermodynamic
ð32Þ constants [4].
3. Results and discussion
3.1. In-cylinder pressure and rate of heat release
ð33Þ
The simulation was carried out using programs coded in latest
ð34Þ version MATLABÒ software where the thermodynamic equa-
tions are solved to predict the in-cylinder pressure, net heat
release rate and rate of pressure rise for given fuel properties
ð35Þ
and various engine loads. The experiments were conducted
at 0%, 50% and 100% load conditions. Fig. 3 shows the vari-
ation between in-cylinder pressure and net heat release for
actual and mathematical model running with straight diesel,
BWB10 and BWB20 as fuel at 0% load condition. The simu-
lated results showed higher value than the actual output from
the engine. This may be due to static error in the instrument,
ambiguity in the calibration of the equipment and due to
Table 4 Simulation data for fuel and air.
Simulation data Values
283
18
No of hydrogen present in fuel 35
No of oxygen present in fuel 2
Universal gas constant (kJ/kg K) 0.287
Ratio of specific heats (for air) 1.4
Specific heat at constant pressure (for air) (kJ/kg K) 1.005
Specific heat at constant volume (for air) (kJ/kg K) 0.718
Ambient temperature (in K) 300
Ambient pressure (in bar) 1.03
8 V. Hariram, R. Bharathwaaj
human errors while obtaining the results from the equipment
which are un-avoidable. The variations in simulated and exper-
imental may be also due to assumptions such as air as ideal gas
with constant Cp and Cv values but in real-time scenario, speci-
fic heat is the function of temperature. Under simulation study,
the rate of combustion was considered to be uniform through-
out the combustion duration, but actually rate of combustion
depends on concentration of reactants [18].
It is clearly seen from Fig. 3, that the peak pressure for
straight diesel fuel operating at 0% load was around 48 bar
whereas the simulated results show the peak pressure of
52.9 bar which accounts to 8% deviation between simulated
and experimental results. Similarly, for BWB 10 and BWB
20, experimental peak pressure was found to be 45.9 bar and
44.8 bar respectively whereas the simulated peak pressure
was 47.2 bar and 49.6 bar showing the error of 7% and 11%
respectively. It was also noticed that peak pressure during sim-
ulation is shifted away from TDC by 1–2°CAD whereas exper-
imentally, it comes closer to TDC.
In compression ignition engine, pressure is mainly depen-
dent upon the amount of fuel burnt during pre-mixed combus-
tion phase. If more fuel is burnt in this phase, then the peak
cylinder pressure would be high. In normal case, amount of
fuel burning in premixed phase basically depends upon the
ignition delay period. If ignition delay is more, then premixed
combustion phase is reduced and hence only less amount of
fuel is burned in this phase. This in turn reduces the peak pres-
sure inside the cylinder. Ignition delay is characteristics of
combustion that can vary with respect to Cetane number of
the fuel. Here in this case, the Cetane number of straight diesel
was more than that of BWB10 and BWB20 and hence the
curve shows an increased pressure for diesel as 48 bar whereas
BWB10 and BWB20 exhibited 45.9 bar and 44.5 bar
respectively.
Fig. 3 also shows the net heat release rate for all the three
fuel blends used. It can be seen that the heat release for diesel
is higher than other two blends which may be due to marginal
increase in density influencing fuel droplet atomization and
higher latent heat of vaporization of bio fuels and hence it
Figure 3 In-cylinder pressure and net heat release comparison
for experimental and simulated models of straight diesel, BWB10
and BWB20 blend ratios at 0% load.
Please cite this article in press as: V. Hariram, R. Bharathwaaj, Application of zero-dimensional thermodynamic model for predicting combustion parameters of CI
engine fuelled with biodiesel-diesel blends, Alexandria Eng. J. (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2016.08.021
vaporizes quickly forming combustible air fuel mixture and
instantly burns by absorbing the heat from the premixed com-
bustion phase. Due to better fuel atomization, enhanced com-
bustion of fuel leads to maximum heat release of 20.32 J/CA
for diesel, 19.78 J/CA for BWB10 and 18.97 J/CA for
BWB20 blends.
Fig. 4 depicts the comparison of combustion parameters for
experimental and predicted results of straight diesel, BWB10
and BWB20 at 50% load operation which exhibits similar
trend to that of 0% load operation. It can be noticed from
the Fig. 4 which shows the increase in pressure from
48.08 bar to 60.14 bar for straight diesel, from 45 bar to
57.29 bar for BWB10 and 45 to 66.15 bars for BWB20 which
may be due to Ignition delay depending in-cylinder pressure,
temperature and spray atomization. The increase in in-
cylinder pressure results in reduction in physical period of igni-
tion resulting in maximum fuel burning in the pre-mixed com-
bustion phase. This effect raises the overall temperature of the
combustion chamber and leads to steady state heat release dur-
ing the diffused combustion phase. Another reason being
higher calorific value of straight diesel compared to BWB10
and BWB20 resulting in better rate of heat release. In case of
50% load and 0% load operation of the engine, the heat
release rate of BWB10 shows a slight increase than that of die-
sel which also may be due to additional oxygen content in the
BWB10 blend and increase in ignition delay for lower loads.
Fig. 5 shows the variations in the experimental and simu-
lated results of in-cylinder pressure and net heat release rates
for straight diesel, BWB10 and BWB20 operating at 100%
load. At this operating condition, the pressure was found to
be increased up to 69 bar for diesel and 67 bar for BWB10
and 65 bar for BWB20 blends which may be due to increase
in the engine load to the maximum extent which draws higher
power accordingly. During this period, the in-cylinder temper-
ature and exhaust gas temperature rise to a considerable extent
reducing the chemical delay phase of the ignition delay period
and hence early pre-mixed combustion occurs which shows the
drastic rise in pressure and heat release of the engine. At 100%
Figure 4 In-cylinder pressure and net heat release comparison
for experimental and simulated models of straight diesel, BWB10
and BWB20 blend ratios at 50% load.
Application of zero-dimensional thermodynamic model 9

load operation, the effect of oxygen on combustion showed

negligible effect which may be due to increase in in-cylinder
temperature leading to formation of mono-atomic oxygen hav-
ing tendency to oxidize with carbon and nitrogen molecules
present in the air fuel mixture leading to the formation
carbon-monoxide and oxides of nitrogen in the exhaust across
all biodiesel blends. Exhaust gas temperature (EGT) is a phe-
nomenon which describes the extent of combustion inside the
combustion chamber. High EGT signifies complete oxidization
of air–fuel mixture along with emission such as oxides of car-
bon and nitrogen. In the present scenario, EGT of diesel is
higher when compared with the other blends of BWB10 and
BWB20 which may be due better combustible and high
flammability properties of straight diesel on comparison with
BWB10 and BWB20 blend ratios.
Figure 6 Rate of pressure rise comparison for experimental and
3.2. Rate of pressure rise simulated models of straight diesel, BWB10 and BWB20 blend
ratios at 0% load.
Fig. 6 shows the rate of pressure rise for experimental and sim-
ulated values of engine fuelled with straight diesel, BWB10 and
BWB20 at 0% load condition, where the rate of pressure rise
was found to be 1.1 bar for diesel and 0.8 bar for BWB10
and 1.1 bar for BWB20 when compared with theoretical data
which show 1.21 bar, 1 bar, and 1.16 bar for straight diesel,
BWB10 and BWB20 respectively with an average of 7–9%
variation in experimental and theoretical results. Fig. 7 depicts
the changes in rate of pressure rise for modelled and experi-
mental results for straight diesel, and BWB10 and BWB20 at
50% load operation which shows a significant increase on
BWB20 for both simulated and experimental results on com-
parison with 0% load condition which may be due higher
latent heat of vaporization and lower combustion duration.
Fig. 8 shows the comparison between rate of pressure rise
for straight diesel, BWB10 and BWB20 for experimental and
simulated model at 100% load operations which exhibits a
Figure 7 Rate of pressure rise comparison for experimental and
higher value of 6.4 bar, 5.68 bar and 5.53 bar for straight die-
simulated models of straight diesel, BWB10 and BWB20 blend
sel, BWB10 and BWB20 blend ratio. It can be seen that the
ratios at 50% load.
rate of pressure rise lies very close between BWB10 and
BWB20 due to their marginal variation in density which leads

Figure 8 Rate of pressure rise comparison for experimental and

simulated models of straight diesel, BWB10 and BWB20 blend
ratios at 100% load.

Figure 5 In-cylinder pressure and net heat release comparison to better atomization of the fuel particles in the combustion
for experimental and simulated models of straight diesel, BWB10 chamber [6]. It can be also noted that the rate of pressure rise
and BWB20 blend ratios at 100% load. is more when the fuel is complete atomized. Since the increase

Please cite this article in press as: V. Hariram, R. Bharathwaaj, Application of zero-dimensional thermodynamic model for predicting combustion parameters of CI
engine fuelled with biodiesel-diesel blends, Alexandria Eng. J. (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2016.08.021
10
in latent heat of vaporization and relatively lower density of
straight diesel than BWB10 and BWB20 blends, diesel shows
a better atomization and hence the in-cylinder pressure rises
instantly during the diffused combustion phase.
4. Conclusion
A comprehensive zero-dimensional model was developed to
estimate the in-cylinder pressure, rate of heat release and rate
of pressure rise in a cylinder compression ignition direct injec-
tion engine using straight diesel and blends of BWB. In this
study, thermodynamic approach was used to predict the in-
cylinder pressure, and Wiebie’s and Wolfer’s relation are
applied to analyse heat release correlations and ignition delay
respectively along with gas dynamics, heat transfer and FMEP
equations. At 0% load, the cylinder pressure for straight diesel
was found to be 48.09 bar and 52.9 bar for experimental and
simulated studies. With BWB10 and BWB20, the in-cylinder
pressure was found to be 45.97 bar and 44.8 bar for experimen-
tal and simulated results. At 50% load and 100% load condi-
tions, a similar trend is noticed in the P-h diagram in which
straight diesel exhibited higher peak.
The rate of heat release for straight diesel, BWB10 and
BWB20 at 0%, 50% and 100% load shows an increasing trend
between 20.38 J/CA and 57.96 J/CA which may be due to
enhanced pre-mixed combustion phase which is also supported
by the simulated results with a deviation of 7.2%. The rate of
pressure rise for simulated straight diesel, BWB10 and BWB20
was found to be 8.3% higher than the experimental data across
all loading conditions.
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