Investigation of Reactivity Controlled Compression Ignition (RCCI) using 3D CFD Simulations

Reactivity Controlled Compression Ignition (RCCI) is an advanced combustion concept that uses two fuels to create favorable mixture properties in the cylinder for maximizing efficiency and minimizing emissions formation. The main barrier to commercial utilization of RCCI is the added cost and complexity of using two requisite fuel systems. This challenge can be addressed by having onboard fuel reformation that creates two fuel streams of different reactivity from a single parent fuel. In the present work, 3D CFD modeling is being used to investigate the feasibility of this approach. To maintain a balance between computation accuracy and cost, a number of advanced grid manipulation techniques are used.