Chemical kinetic modeling of exhaust hydrocarbon oxidation

Numerical simulations of the oxidation of unburned hydrocarbons from spark ignition engines were made based on full-chemistry, zero-dimensional models and compared with experiments for engine-out hydrocarbons and exhaust port oxidation. Simple correlations can be drawn between calculated results for hydrocarbon oxidation half-lives in plug or stirred reactors and measured hydrocarbon emissions. The extent of reaction through the exhaust port was simulated using calculated temperature histories for each burned gas mass element leaving the cylinder, coupled to detailed chemical kinetic rate equations. The results show that, for the fuels considered, the extent of oxidation of the remaining unburned fuel measured through the exhaust can be bracketed by the calculated results for the well-mixed (average) and core (adiabatically expanded) temperatures in the exhaust. Most of the oxidation is shown to occur at the very early exhaust times. For the paraffins considered, comparisons of simulations and experiments suggest that fuel oxidation is partially controlled by the mixing of cold gases at the initial stages of exhaust, where temperatures are high and the cold unburned mixture emerges from the wall layers into the exhaust jet. These conclusions are supported by the relatively small measured dependence on fuel type of the extent of oxidation in the exhaust, and by the resulting ratio of fuel to nonfuel hydrocarbons in the exhaust port exit.