Applied Energy 189 (2017) 492505

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Applied Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apenergy

Investigation of natural gas energy fraction and injection timing on the

performance and emissions of a dual-fuel engine with pre-combustion
chamber under low engine load
Amin Yousefi , Madjid Birouk
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3T 5V6, Canada

h i g h l i g h t s

 Improved cylinder charge as a result of high swirling motion of pre-chamber.

 Drastic reduction of NOx at 60% natural gas energy fraction compared to diesel mode.
 Higher unburned methane emissions under dual-fuel operation.
 46% decrease of unburned methane emissions by using pre-combustion chamber.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Energy fraction of the main (premixed) fuel and pilot injection timing are important in dual-fuel pilot die-
Received 15 March 2016 sel ignition engine. In the present study, natural gas, which is the main premixed fuel, is induced into the
Received in revised form 9 December 2016 engine through the intake port, while the pilot diesel fuel (for ignition) is indirectly injected into the
Accepted 9 December 2016
engine. A computational fluid dynamic (CFD)-chemistry platform based on AVL FIRE-CHEMKIN is used
to simulate the combustion and emissions characteristics of a dual-fuel pilot diesel ignition engine oper-
ating on premixed natural gas. The effect of natural gas energy fraction and diesel injection timing at con-
Keywords:
stant engine total fuel energy on combustion performance and emissions is investigated at low engine
Dual-fuel mode
Natural gas energy fraction
load (25% load and IMEP = 3 bar). The results revealed that at injection timings of 12 and 20 BTDC,
Pilot diesel injection timing the maximum ITE (26.7%) occurs at 50% natural gas energy fraction. This is attributed to the improved
cylinder charge conditions as a result of high swirling motion produced by the introduction of pre-
combustion chamber. Moreover, a drastic reduction of NOx emissions was observed at 60% natural gas
energy fraction in comparison with that of only diesel combustion (i.e., 0% natural gas energy fraction).
On the other side, the combustion of fuel starts in the pre-combustion chamber and propagates into the
main chamber. As a result, the combustion peak temperature drops which significantly reduces NOx for-
mation. The results revealed that unburned methane emissions under dual-fuel operation mode become
much higher compared to that under diesel combustion mode, which implies that a considerable amount
of gaseous fuel escapes the combustion process at low load. However, using pre-combustion chamber is
found to decrease unburned methane emissions by 46% on average compared to dual-fuel engine without
pre-combustion chamber.
Crown Copyright 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The increasingly stringent emissions regulations in conjunction
with the rise of the cost of fossil fuels have compelled researchers
to develop higher efficiency and lower emissions combustion con-
cepts for internal combustion (IC) engines. This is owing to the
unique features of compression ignition (CI) engines, such as
Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: yousefia@myumanitoba.ca, amin_50@yahoo.com (A. Yousefi).
higher fuel economy, durability, reliability, and specific power out-
put [1]. However, reducing simultaneously NOx and soot emissions
is a challenge for diesel engine due to the inherent local fuel rich
zones and overall lean combustion [2,3]. Significant research has
been conducted to break through the NOx-soot trade-off relation-
ship in IC engine. For example, after-treatment devices, such as
diesel particulate filters (DPF), selective catalytic reduction (SCR),
or a combination of both, have been used in vehicles. However,
the application of this technology is still limited due to its high
cost, complex controlling strategies, and fuel economy penalties

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.12.046
0306-2619/Crown Copyright 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 A. Yousefi, M. Birouk / Applied Energy 189 (2017) 492505
Nomenclature
AFR air fuel ratio
BDC bottom dead center
BSFC break specific fuel consumption
BTDC before top dead center
CA crank angle
CI compression ignition
CFD computational fluid dynamic
CO carbon monoxide
DI direct injected
DPF diesel particulate filter
EGR exhaust gas recirculation
HCCI homogeneous charge compression ignition
HRR heat release rate
IC internal combustion
[4]. Alternative combustion strategies, such as homogeneous
charge compression ignition (HCCI), have been the focus of numer-
ous studies in the last few decades. HCCI combustion can maintain
similar thermal efficiency as that of diesel engine. Moreover, the
ultimate intend of HCCI combustion is to eliminate local rich air-
fuel mixture regions and thereby reduce combustion temperature
and consequently achieve simultaneously ultra-low NOx and soot
emissions [5,6]. However, HCCI combustion still has some chal-
lenges such as lack of an effective way to control ignition timing
under different operating conditions, difficulty in extending the
operating range, and high level of unburned hydrocarbon (UHC)
and CO emissions [7]. Thus, its application in commercial engines
has confronted challenging barriers. To overcome these challenges
and take advantage of HCCI concept to reduce diesel engine emis-
sions, several concepts have been under examination. One of the
most promising combustion concepts is HCCI combustion strategy
implemented in diesel engines using dual-fuel pilot diesel opera-
tion, where fuel and air mixture is not thoroughly homogeneous,
but the combustion event can be controlled more readily. In
dual-fuel pilot diesel ignition engine, where premixed fuel is
ignited by small mass/amount of diesel fuel [8,9], combustion
phasing is more closely coupled with the injection event rather
than with HCCI, though chemical kinetics still play a key role [4].
Utilization of gaseous fuels in diesel engines under dual-fuel pilot
diesel ignition mode is a simple way to reduce the degree of
heterogeneity and consequently achieve less NOx and particulate
matter (PM) emissions along with controlled combustion phasing
[10].
Natural gas is a promising and highly attractive fuel. Beside its
availability worldwide, natural gas is eco-friendly fuel with rela-
tively clean combustion. Low carbon content and clean burn fea-
tures, especially low soot/smoke, have helped the proliferation of
natural gas as an alternative fuel to meet the ever more severe
emissions standards. Increased natural gas energy substitution
has been found to be very effective in reducing NOx and PM emis-
sions while maintaining acceptable engine performance [11,12].
The utilization of natural gas as a premixed fuel and diesel fuel
as a pilot fuel revealed several benefits but also some shortcom-
ings. Several recent studies confirmed that engine dual-fuel opera-
tion is one of the most practical ways to enhance the economy and
reduce harmful emissions of conventional diesel engine [1319].
Natural gas/diesel dual-fuel engine has several advantages as it sig-
nificantly reduces NOx emissions compared to conventional diesel
engine. This is due to higher specific heat capacity of natural gas
which decreases the in-cylinder charge temperature and increases
the ignition delay compared to the baseline/conventional diesel
operation. Furthermore, it is possible to implement port fueled nat-
493
IDI indirect injection
ISFC indicated specific fuel consumption
ISNOx indicated specific NOx
ITE indicated thermal efficiency
IVC intake valve close
NO nitrogen monoxide
NO2 nitrogen dioxide
NOx nitrogen oxide
PM particulate matter
SCR selective catalytic reduction
SOI start of injection
TDC top dead center
UHC unburned hydrocarbon
VCR variable compression ratio
ural gas/diesel dual-fuel concept in the existing diesel engine with
minor modifications and using the original diesel injection system.
Moreover, dual-fuel mode can be easily switched to fully diesel
combustion without load reduction when the natural gas fuel is
not available [20]. However, one of the critical problems with
implementing natural gas/diesel dual-fuel operation is related to
unstable combustion performance and low thermal efficiency at
low engine load when compared to conventional diesel engine
[21]. This is due the fact that the flame initiated by the pilot diesel
fuel does not propagate through the charge resulting from extra-
lean natural gas-air mixture in the cylinder at low engine load
[22]. For example, Lounici et al. [22] studied the effect of dual-
fuel operating mode on combustion performance and emissions
of a DI diesel engine using natural gas as the primary fuel and die-
sel as the pilot fuel. They reported simultaneous reduction in soot
and NOx emissions over a large operating engine region at moder-
ate to relatively high loads. However, they indicated that dual-fuel
mode presents some deficit at low loads, especially concerning
UHC and CO emissions. Papagiannakis et al. [15] conducted an
experimental study to examine the effect of total air-fuel ratio
(AFR) on the efficiency and pollutant emissions of a high speed
DI diesel engine. Their results showed that the total AFR decreases
under dual-fuel natural gas/diesel mode operation, which is caused
by an increase in the diesel fuel supplementary ratio, leading to
lower brake thermal efficiency compared with diesel operation.
The decline in efficiency becomes more evident at low and inter-
mediate loads [15]. To overcome these issues, numerous studies
reported that low thermal efficiency and high level of unburned
methane and CO emissions can be improved by controlling key
combustion boundaries such as diesel and natural gas injection
timings [13,20,2326], hot exhaust gas recirculation (EGR)
[14,19,27,28], compression ratio [23,29,30], diesel injection pres-
sure [13,25,31], and hydrogen addition [3234]. There exist also
a few reports which focused on the effect of premixed charge fuel
stratification and bulk motions on natural gas fueled dual-fuel
combustion at low engine load. Different shapes of the intake man-
ifold or/and a variety of premixed fuel injection timings to provide
fuel stratification during the combustion process stage were also
tested [35,36].
The IDI system in diesel engine is an old technology owing to its
higher fuel consumptions and lower thermal efficiency compared
with direct injection (DI) system, however, diesel passenger cars
and off-road IC engines are still equipped with pre-combustion
chamber diesel engines rather than direct injection engines
because they have a better compromise between efficiency, noise,
and emissions [37]. It is worthwhile examining the combustion
performance and emissions of dual-fuel engine with pre-
494 A. Yousefi, M. Birouk / Applied Energy 189 (2017) 492505

combustion chamber. As previously mentioned, dual-fuel engine layout of the experimental test rig is presented in Fig. 1 and the
inevitably suffers from lower thermal efficiency and elevated levels specifications of the diesel engine are given in Table 1 [40]. To carry
of CO and UHC emissions at low loads which is mainly due to over- out dual-fuel engine experiments, the engine was conveniently
lean premixed fuel and low combustion temperature [14]. The modified where the natural gas was inducted to the intake mani-
combustion process of a dual-fuel engine strongly depends on fold and the homogenous air-fuel mixture was ignited by a small
the gaseous fuel-diesel mixing process in the cylinder at the start amount of pilot diesel. Pilot diesel fuel was injected indirectly
of combustion and during its development. It is well known in lit- through standard engine fuel system at a pressure of 150 bar using
erature that the thermal and kinetic interaction between the liquid a CAV injector body (type BKB 35S5153 RM). Fuel consumption
pilot fuel spray and the gaseous fuel results in an extension of the rate of pilot diesel was measured using an AVL-735 fuel mass flow
ignition delay and thus impact the combustion process [35]. It has meter which provides constant, adjustable fuel temperatures. The
been reported that an optimum distribution of the premixed fuel- gas fueling system consisted of high pressure compressed natural
air mixture and diesel fuel using a proper stratification of the in- gas (CNG) tank, a shut off valve, natural gas flow meter, and regu-
cylinder charge can improve dual-fuel combustion performance lating module. After the regulator, the pressure of natural gas was
[38,39]. Thus, the importance of the bulk motion to preserve the
stratification characteristics of the charge is fundamental for a suit-
able combustion development. Pre-combustion chamber can pro- Table 1
Ricardo engine specifications.
vide an appropriate bulk motion by creating very high swirling
motion and also fuel stratification inside the main combustion Parameter Specification
chamber. Therefore, the present study is focused on the natural Engine type Single cylinder E6/MS,
gas/diesel dual-fuel operation with the use of pre-combustion water cooled
chamber. More specifically, the effect of natural gas energy fraction Bore (mm) 76.2
Stroke (mm) 110
and injection timing on combustion phasing, engine performance,
Displacement (cc) 501
and emissions will be investigated at a typical low engine load Maximum indicated power/speed (kW/rpm) 14.7/3000
(25% load and IMEP = 3 bar). To achieve the objectives of this study, Compression Ratio 17.2:1 (Max. CR 22)
a 3D CFD-chemistry model, which has been developed and vali- Injection type IDI
dated in our previous works [3,40], is used in the present study. Injection pressure (bar) 150
Injection timing & duration (BTDC & CAD) 6&4
Nozzle hole  diameter (mm) 1  0.6
2. Experimental setup IVC (ABDC) 36
IVO (BTDC) 7
EVC (ATDC) 7
The experiments were carried out on a four-stroke, single cylin-
EVO (BBDC) 36
der, supercharged Ricardo E6/MS IDI diesel engine. A schematic

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the experimental setup.

 A. Yousefi, M. Birouk / Applied Energy 189 (2017) 492505
decompressed from 160 bar to 1.4 bar. The gas then flows through
natural gas flow meter (020 L/min scale) to be inducted into the
engine air intake manifold via a simple venturi type gas mixture
along with the incoming air. Air flow measurement was made by
an Alcock viscous air flow meter which is fitted to a large settling
tank and incorporated within a 1 kW heater. The engine air-fuel-
ratio (AFR) was obtained using a Lambda sensor (Bosch Isu) which
was installed in the exhaust manifold.
The engine was coupled to a DC motoring dynamometer rated
at 22 kW and 420 V. The in-cylinder pressure was measured using
a piezoelecteic pressure transducer (AVL QC43D). The charge out-
put from this transducer was converted to an amplified voltage
using AVL amplifier and data of 50 consecutive cycles were
recorded by an in-house computer code for post processing. The
crankshaft position was measured by a magnetic rotary encoder
(MES-2500D-T, Fotek) with a resolution of 0.1 CA. The experimen-
tal data uncertainties are given in Table 2. The emissions of NOx,
UHC, and CO were detected by AVL DiGas 4000. The specifications
and resolution of the AVL DiGas 4000 gas analyzer are listed in
Table 3.
3. Description of the CFD-chemistry model and validation
3.1. Numerical model
Details of the model were reported in [3,41,42], and thus, only a
brief description is given here. A multi-dimensional CFD model
coupled with chemical kinetics (AVL FIRE-CHEMKIN) accounts for
the effect of fluid flow, spray dynamics, and fuel oxidation. AVL
FIRE software provides initial species concentrations, pressure,
and temperature to CHEMKIN, which calculate and provide back
the updated species concentrations and energy release to AVL FIRE.
The AVL-FIRE reaction mechanism used for the simulation of diesel
fuel self-ignition was developed along the lines of the reaction
scheme originally proposed for the study of auto-ignition phe-
nomenon in gasoline engines [43]. In this reaction scheme, species
that play a similar role in the ignition chemistry were combined
and treated as a single entity. Although this model was based on
a relatively simple chemical mechanism, it was found capable of
reproducing experimental observation [43]. On the hand, the
GRI-Mech 3.0 chemical kinetic mechanism which consists of 53
species and 325 reactions, was used to describe premixed natural
gas oxidation. The effect of both chemical kinetics and mixing
was accounted for following the approach of Kong and Reitz [44]
Table 2
Experimental uncertainties.
Parameter Uncertainties (%)
Temperature <2
Pressure <2
Engine speed <1
Fuel flow rate <1
Air flow rate <1
Table 3
Specification of AVL DiGas 4000 gas analyzer.
Species Measured unit
CO % 010 Vol.%
CO2 % 020 Vol.%
HC ppm
NOx ppm
O2 % 025 Vol.%
Engine speed rpm
k-calculation
495
which assume that the reaction rate can mainly be determined
by a kinetic (equilibrium assumption under perfectly mixed condi-
tions) and a turbulent time scale (eddy break up assumption).
Fig. 2 shows the computational domain and diesel fuel injector
location. An optimized average cell size of 0.8 mm, with less than
0.55% uncertainty was selected, which consisted of 135,448 cells
at the bottom dead center (BDC) and 76,109 cells at the top dead
center (TDC). Details on the computational domain, initial condi-
tions, and boundary conditions, can be found in our previous study
[3]. Turbulent flow within the combustion chamber was simulated
using the RNG j-e turbulence model [45]. The KH-RT (Kelvin-
Helmholtz and Rayleigh-Taylor) spray break-up model was
employed for the primary and secondary atomization of droplets
[46] in order to represent the injection process of spray pattern
of pilot diesel fuel. The Dukowicz model was used for modeling
the heat-up and evaporation of spray droplets [47]. The wall heat
transfer model was represented as a standard wall function to
account for the variation of gas density and turbulent Prandtl num-
ber in the boundary layer [48]. The extended Zeldovich mechanism
was used for NOx formation and Frolov kinetic soot model was
used to predict the formation and oxidation of soot [49].
3.2. Model validation
To validate the CFD-chemistry model, the experimental and
simulation results were compared at two different engine operat-
ing conditions (idle and 25% load), which are given in Table 4. Mea-
sured and simulated in-cylinder pressure for case-1 and case-2 are
shown in Fig. 3. The results show a good match between the exper-
imental and numerical results for idle and 25% load. The CFD-
chemistry model is able to predict the in-cylinder peak pressure,
start of combustion, pressure ramp, and pressure down. The
numerical model highest uncertainty for the in-cylinder peak pres-
sure is less than 1.2%, and 3.3% for start of combustion. Moreover,
the model predictions of NOx, CO, and unburned methane (Fig. 3c)
show a reasonable agreement with the experimental results. The
calculated NOx and CO emissions over-predict their experimental
counterparts by only about 2%. The predicted trend of production
and oxidation of these emissions is found to be in line with pub-
lished results (e.g., [50]). The comparison presented in Fig. 3 indi-
cates that the adopted mechanism and models for the numerical
CFD-chemistry code are capable of simulating the reaction path-
ways and engine performance.
4. Results and discussions
A parametric study was carried out to study the effect of pre-
combustion chamber and its stratification characteristics of the
premixed charge and diesel fuel on combustion characteristics
and emissions of dual-fuel operation under low engine load
(IMEP = 3 bar). Different natural gas energy fractions and injection
timings were tested. The simulation conditions (i.e. engine load,
intake temperature, and engine speed) were kept constant (see
case-2 in Table 4) for which different natural gas energy fractions
Range Resolution Accuracy
0.01 Vol.% 1
0.1 Vol.% 1
020,000 ppm 1 ppm 1
05000 ppm 1 ppm 1
0.01 Vol.% 1
259990 rpm 10 rpm 1
09.999 0.001 1
496 A. Yousefi, M. Birouk / Applied Energy 189 (2017) 492505
Fig. 2. Computational domain at BDC and diesel fuel injector location at TDC.
Table 4
Test conditions for two different engine test cases with boosted intake pressure
(supercharged).
Case no. Case-1
Engine load (%) idle
Pressure at IVC (bar) 1.3
Intake temperature (K) 340
Engine speed (rpm) 500
Diesel fuel flow rate (mg/cycle) 2.38
UP (premixed fuel equivalence ratio) 0.3
and injection timings were examined under naturally aspirated
conditions (PIVC = 1 bar). The total fuel energy, which is calculated
based on the lower heating value, was kept constant for all tested
cases to eliminate the effect of different heat energy input and
make sure that the combustion and emissions characteristics are
only affected by fuel distribution. In the present study, natural
gas energy fractions of 0%, 30%, 40%, 50%, and 60% at different
injection timings (i.e. SOI = 6, 12, and 20 BTDC) were investigated
at 25% engine load (IMEP = 3 bar) and constant engine speed of
800 rpm.
4.1. In-cylinder pressure, HRR, and mean in-cylinder temperature
The in-cylinder pressure for different injection timings (i.e.
SOI = 6, 12, and 20 ATDC) and natural gas energy fractions
at 25% engine load (IMEP = 3 bar) is depicted in Fig. 4. A normal
combustion process in dual-fuel engine is identified to take place
over five stages which include pilot diesel fuel ignition delay, pilot
diesel fuel premixed combustion, premixed gaseous fuel ignition
delay, rapid combustion of premixed gaseous fuel, and diffusion
combustion stage of the pilot diesel fuel [51]. As shown in Fig. 4,
it can be observed that the combustion phasing under natural
gas/diesel dual-fuel combustion mode starts later compared to that
of diesel combustion (i.e., 0% NG). The ignition delay of pilot diesel
fuel (first stage) in dual-fuel combustion is longer than that of die-
sel combustion. This is due to the fact that under dual-fuel mode,
the in-cylinder charge (i.e., premixed fuel-air mixture) has higher
overall specific heat capacity compared to that air for diesel
combustion mode. This has an increasing effect on the ignition
delay period of the liquid diesel fuel. This becomes more evident
at higher natural gas energy fractions (60% NG) [51]. Due to the
Case-2 injection of small amount of pilot diesel fuel, the pressure rise in
dual-fuel combustion is moderately lower compared to that of die-
25
1.4 sel combustion during the pilot diesel fuel premixed combustion
340 stage (Fig. 4). As shown in Fig. 4, the maximum in-cylinder pres-
800 sure decreases with increasing the natural gas energy fraction from
1.625 0% to 60% for all three injection timings. It can also be noticed from
0.3
Fig. 4 that, at the same natural gas energy fraction, the maximum
in-cylinder pressure increases, and the bulge area of the in-
cylinder pressure curve becomes more noticeable with advancing
the injection timing. This is attributed primarily to the ignition
delay of pilot diesel fuel which is prolonged with advanced injec-
tion timing, providing more time for mixing and thereby generat-
ing more flammable mixture before injection [16]. This
consequently leads to increasing the in-cylinder pressure during
the combustion period of pilot diesel fuel. Combustion appears to
deteriorate at 60% natural gas energy fraction and diesel injection
timing of 6 BTDC. This is likely due to the amount of pilot diesel
injected which is not enough for igniting the entire premixed
fuel-air mixture [52].
Fig. 5 shows the heat release profiles at different natural gas
energy fractions and injection timings under 25% engine load
(IMEP = 3 bar). As can be seen in this figure, the total HRR
decreases with the increase of the natural gas energy fraction dur-
ing the initial stages of the premixed combustion. According to the
study of Papagiannakis et al. [53], this is due to the lower amount
of diesel fuel burned during the specific combustion phase and also
to the combustion retardation of the gaseous since the cylinder
charge conditions (i.e., in-cylinder charge temperature) do not
favor the occurrence of the flame front. Observing the heat release
profiles in Fig. 5, during the last stage of combustion (diffusion
combustion), it can be seen that the HRR under dual-fuel combus-
tion is higher compared to that of conventional diesel fuel opera-
tion. At lower natural gas energy fractions, a larger amount of
fuel is burned during the premixed combustion stage due to a
greater percentage of diesel fuel along with the enhanced ignition
energy. At higher natural gas energy fractions, the spray penetra-
tion of pilot diesel and the oxygen concentration in natural
 A. Yousefi, M. Birouk / Applied Energy 189 (2017) 492505 497

Fig. 3. Comparison of in-cylinder pressure and emissions between experiment and simulation.

gas-air mixture is comparatively low, and hence a larger propor-
tion of the fuel is consumed at later combustion stages, which
yields an increased tendency of delayed combustion. It positively
affects the in-cylinder pressure during the expansion stroke lead-
ing to higher expansion work. However, at very retarded injection
timings (i.e. SOI = 6 BTDC) the effect on the in-cylinder pressure is
small since most of the heat is released in the later stages of the
expansion stroke [54].
In-cylinder temperature is considered to be one of the key
parameters for controlling the auto-ignition process. Fig. 6 depicts
the variations in the calculated mean in-cylinder charge tempera-
ture versus the injection timings at different natural gas energy
fractions. As shown in Fig. 6, the peak of the mean in-cylinder tem-
perature occurs at an injection timing of 20 BTDC for all natural
gas energy fractions. Moreover, the peak of the mean in-cylinder
temperature decreases with increasing premixed natural gas
498 A. Yousefi, M. Birouk / Applied Energy 189 (2017) 492505

Misfiring

Fig. 4. In-cylinder pressure at different natural gas energy fractions and diesel injection timings at 25% low load (IMEP = 3 bar).

energy fraction. When natural gas energy fraction varies from 0% to
60%, the peak of the mean in-cylinder temperature decreases,
respectively, from 1767 K to 859 K, 1769 K to 1618 K, and
1827 K to 1625 K at injection timings of 6, 12, and 20 BTDC. As
shown in Fig. 6, the expansion charge temperature (or exhaust
temperature) of conventional diesel combustion is found to be
lower than that of all tested cases of dual-fuel combustion mode.
This is due to the retarded combustion of natural gas which short-
ens the duration of extracted power. As a result, the combustion
products are exhausted at higher temperature [29].
4.2. Indicated thermal efficiency
Fig. 7 shows the ITE trends at different natural gas energy frac-
tions and injection timings under 25% engine load (IMEP = 3 bar). It
can be seen that, at typical injection timing of 6 BTDC, an increase
in natural gas energy fraction results in a decrease of the thermal
efficiency. This is the outcome of the lower premixed controlled
combustion rate observed at higher percentage of natural gas
energy fractions. Moreover, at this injection timing, the low
amount of injected diesel fuel affects adversely the quality of the
diesel fuel spray which results in poor diesel fuel penetration/dis-
tribution, especially during the ignition delay period, as it has an
adverse effect on the gaseous fuel combustion process. However,
at both injection timings of 12 and 20 BTDC, it can be seen that
the ITE increases first with increasing natural gas energy fraction
up to 50%, then decreases with a further increase in the natural
gas energy fraction. This could be attributed to the fact that
increased gaseous fuel proportion combined with the improved
cylinder charge conditions as a result of high swirling motion
 A. Yousefi, M. Birouk / Applied Energy 189 (2017) 492505 499

Fig. 5. Heat release at different natural gas energy fractions and injection timings at 25% load (IMEP = 3 bar).

produced by pre-combustion chamber has a positive effect on the
onset and spread of the flame front surrounding the burning zone.
This hence results in a considerable shorter combustion duration.
As a result, a larger portion of the combustion process and heat
release takes place closer to and after the TDC; i.e., at the beginning
of the power stroke (Fig. 5), which leads to a greater power produc-
tion when increasing natural gas energy fraction. This yields an
increase in the expansion pressure (Fig. 4) and a reduction in the
useful power and consequently arise in the ITE. However, at
injection timings of SOI = 6 BTDC, most of the heat is released in
the late expansion stroke and the effect on the expansion in-
cylinder pressure is very small. The minimum ITE is 23% and occurs
at an injection timing of 6 BTDC and 50% natural gas energy frac-
tion, and the maximum ITE is 26.7% and occurs at both injection
timing of 12 and 20 BTDC and 50% natural gas energy fraction.
4.3. Exhaust emissions analysis
4.3.1. NOx emissions
The variation of indicated specific NOx emissions (ISNOx) with
natural gas energy fraction and injection timing at 25% engine load
is presented in Fig. 8. In the present work, both thermal and
prompt NOx mechanism of GRI Mech 3.0 mechanism were adopted
to predict NOx emissions. As known, NOx formation is highly
dependent on the combustion temperature, oxygen concentration,
and the retention time. As can be observed in this figure, NOx emis-
sions are considerably affected by the natural gas energy fraction
and diesel injection timing. The increase of the natural gas energy
fraction leads to lower NOx concentrations compared to those
observed under conventional diesel engine operation (Fig. 9b).
Also, Fig. 9 shows that, with 60% natural gas energy fraction, a
500 A. Yousefi, M. Birouk / Applied Energy 189 (2017) 492505

Fig. 6. Mean charge in-cylinder temperature for different natural gas energy fractions and injection timings at 25% engine load (IMEP = 3 bar).

significant reduction of NOx emissions can be seen when using nat-
ural gas/diesel dual-fuel combustion as opposed to diesel combus-
tion. This is mainly due to the extremely low mean charge
temperature, small amount of injected diesel fuel, and pre-
combustion chamber which drastically reduces NOx formation.
As can be seen in Fig. 9, the combustion of fuel starts from the
pre-combustion chamber and propagates into the main chamber.
As a result, the combustion proceeds smoothly/slowly and conse-
quently the peak combustion temperature is lower which signifi-
cantly decreases the NOx formation rate.
4.3.2. Unburned methane emissions
The variation of UHC emissions in the exhaust gases depends on
the quality of the combustion process inside the combustion
chamber. Moreover, under dual-fuel mode, combustion process is
affected considerably by the total relative AFR since this specific
factor plays a significant role on the flame propagation mechanism
[53]. There are four reasons for UHC emissions increase when die-
sel engine operates on natural gas/diesel dual-fuel at low load [55].
On one hand, the premixed fuel-air mixture is very lean where the
chemical reactivity is sufficiently low which leads to partial oxida-
tion or even flame extinction. On the other hand, the mean charge
temperature is too low to oxidize the premixed gaseous fuel [50].
Additionally, extremely small amount of pilot diesel is injected at
low engine load leading to slower and consequently incomplete
combustion. Moreover, a leaner mixture flame weakens and extin-
guishes when it comes into contact with the cylinder wall and pis-
ton crevices [55]. Fig. 10a presents the effect of natural gas energy
 A. Yousefi, M. Birouk / Applied Energy 189 (2017) 492505
Fig. 7. Thermal efficiency for different natural gas energy fractions and diesel
injection timings at 25% load.
Fig. 8. NOx emissions for different natural gas energy fractions and diesel injection
timing at 25% load (IMEP = 3 bar).
fraction and injection timing on unburned methane emissions at
25% engine load. It can be seen that the unburned methane emis-
sions under dual-fuel operation mode is much higher compared to
that of conventional diesel combustion mode, revealing that a con-
siderable amount of gaseous fuel escapes the combustion process
at low load. As shown in Fig. 11, with dual-fuel operation,
unburned mixture easily displaces into quenching regions such
as the cylinder wall. Also, there still exist portions of natural gas-
air mixture that are not entrained into the spray flux of the ignition
fuel. It can be seen that methane is burned initially in the pre-
combustion chamber where the pilot diesel fuel is injected and
then propagates into the main chamber. It can be seen that back
501
parts of pre-combustion chamber and near piston wall regions
(highlighted by black arrow) are largely responsible for the forma-
tion of unburned methane emissions. In these regions, temperature
rise is suppressed due to intense heat transfer to the cylinder walls
resulting in incomplete combustion. As the mixture is very lean
and sits outside the flammable range, the flame does not propagate
and the mixture remains in the cylinder without burning. It can be
seen that the charge bulk flow induced by the swirl pre-
combustion chamber improves the charge mixing of the diesel
spray and consequently the propagation of the turbulent flame
front reaches and oxidizes the portions of premixed fuel-air mix-
ture located far away from the pilot diesel nuclei. To confirm the
positive effect of swirl pre-chamber on unburned methane emis-
sions of dual-fuel engine at low load, another simulation test was
carried out on a dual-fuel engine without pre-chamber at injection
timing of 12 BTDC using the same operating conditions as shown
in Fig. 10b. The results in Fig. 10a show that, using pre-combustion
chamber decreases unburned methane emissions by 46% on aver-
age. This further confirms that pre-combustion chamber helps to
improve the un-burned methane emissions of dual-fuel combus-
tion at low engine load.
At both injection timings of 12 and 20 BTDC, the increase of the
unburned methane emissions observed is smoother for high per-
centage of natural gas energy fraction compared to the respective
trend observed at injection timing of 6 BTDC. This is due to the
improvement of the flame propagation and premixed gaseous fuel
combustion process, which play a significant role on the unburned
methane oxidation rate.
4.3.3. CO emissions
The high level of CO emissions of dual-fuel combustion at low
engine load is mainly due to the very lean premixed fuel-air mix-
ture and low in-cylinder mean charge temperature which control
the rate of fuel decomposition and oxidation [56]. Fig. 12 presents
the effect of natural gas energy fraction and injection timing on CO
emissions at 25% engine load. It can be clearly noticed that CO
emissions under dual-fuel operation are significantly higher com-
pared to those of conventional diesel engine operation. For
instance, at an injection timing of 20 BTDC, the CO emissions of
dual-fuel mode with 60% natural gas energy fraction are 8 times
higher than those of diesel combustion mode. This is due to the fact
that the extremely poor quality of the gaseous fuel combustion
contributes to a sharp increase of the unburned gaseous fuel. This
combined with the low charge temperature and low oxygen con-
centration of the cylinder charge yields an increase in the CO for-
mation rate.
5. Conclusions
Dual-fuel pilot diesel ignition engine combustion performance
and emissions have been numerically investigated by varying the
injection timing and natural gas energy fraction at constant total
fuel energy at low engine load. This study revealed that both injec-
tion timing and natural energy fraction have significant effect at
low engine load. The main findings are summarized below.
 The combustion phasing under natural gas/diesel dual-fuel
combustion mode starts later compared to the case of conven-
tional diesel combustion (i.e., 0% NG). The maximum in-
cylinder pressure decreases with increasing the natural gas
energy fraction from 0% to 60%. Combustion tends to deteriorate
for 60% natural gas energy fraction and diesel injection timing
of 6 BTDC, which is likely due to the amount of pilot diesel
injected as being not enough for igniting the entire premixed
fuel-air mixture. The total HRR decreases with the increase of
502 A. Yousefi, M. Birouk / Applied Energy 189 (2017) 492505

Fig. 9. Distribution of NOx mass fraction for different natural gas energy fractions and injection timings at TDC and 10 ATDC.

the natural gas energy fraction during the initial stages of the
premixed combustion. During the last stage of combustion (dif-
fusion combustion), the HRR under dual-fuel combustion is
higher compared to that of diesel operation. It positively affects
the in-cylinder pressure during the expansion stroke leading to
higher expansion work.
 At injection timing of 6 BTDC, an increase of natural gas energy
fraction results in a decrease of the thermal efficiency. At this
injection timing, most of the heat is released late during the
expansion stroke and the effect on the expansion in-cylinder
pressure is very small. However, at both injection timings of
12 and 20 BTDC, the maximum ITE (26.7%) occurs at 50% nat-
ural gas energy fraction. This could be attributed to the
increased gaseous fuel proportion combined with the improved
cylinder charge conditions using high swirling motion produced
by pre-combustion chamber which promote a positive effect on
the occurrence and propagation of the flame front.
 Increase of the natural gas energy fraction leads to a reduction
in NOx concentrations compared with that under diesel opera-
tion. With 60% natural gas energy fraction, a significant reduc-
tion of NOx emissions can be seen in natural gas/diesel dual-
fuel combustion compared to that of diesel combustion. This
is mainly due to the extremely low mean charge temperature,
small amount of injected diesel fuel. Moreover, in dual-fuel
engine with pre-combustion chamber, the combustion of fuel
starts from the pre-combustion chamber and then propagates
into the main chamber. As a result, the combustion process is
smoother and slower which thus promote lower peak combus-
tion temperature and hence less NOx formation.
 Unburned methane emissions under dual-fuel operation mode
is much higher compared to that under diesel combustion
mode, revealing that a considerable amount of gaseous fuel
escapes the combustion process at low load. Premixed fuel is
burned initially in the pre-combustion chamber where the pilot
 A. Yousefi, M. Birouk / Applied Energy 189 (2017) 492505 503

Fig. 10. Unburned methane emissions for different natural gas energy fractions and injection timings at 25% load (IMEP = 3 bar).

Fig. 11. Distribution of CH4 mass fraction for different natural gas energy fractions and injection timing of 12 BTDC at TDC and 10 ATDC.

diesel fuel is injected and then propagates into the main cham- methane emissions. The charge bulk flow induced by the swirl
ber. There are potions of the natural gas-air mixture which are pre-combustion chamber improves the charge mixing of the
not entrained into the spray flux of the pilot ignition fuel. These diesel spray and hence the turbulent flame front propagation
regions are largely responsible for the formation of unburned reaches and oxidizes the portions of premixed fuel-air mixture
504 A. Yousefi, M. Birouk / Applied Energy 189 (2017) 492505
Fig. 12. CO emissions for different natural gas energy fractions and injection
timings at 25% engine load (IMEP = 3 bar).
located far away from the pilot diesel nuclei. Using pre-
combustion chamber decreases unburned methane emissions
by 46% on average compared to dual-fuel engine without pre-
combustion chamber.
The results presented above revealed that in dual-fuel engine
with pre-combustion chamber, increasing natural gas energy frac-
tion and simultaneously using appropriate injection timing at low
engine load reduce significantly NOx emissions. Moreover, using
swirl pre-combustion chamber improves the charge mixing of die-
sel spray, and consequently turbulent flame propagation reaches
and hence oxidizes the portions of premixed natural gas-air mix-
ture located relatively far away from the pilot diesel nuclei, which
positively affect the unburned methane emissions at low engine
load.
Acknowledgements
AVL Fire Software is provided by AVL Advanced Simulation
Technologies. The financial support provided by the Natural
Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and the
University of Manitoba (UMGF) is gratefully appreciated. The
authors greatly acknowledge Amirkabir University of Technology
for providing the experimental data for validating the present com-
puter simulation study.
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