Energy 109 (2016) 190e200

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Energy
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Miller cycle application to improve lean burn gas engine performance

Sady Tavakoli a, *, S. Ali Jazayeri b, Morteza Fathi a, Omid Jahanian a
a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Noshirvani University of Technology, Babol, Iran
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, KN Toosi University of Technology, Tehran, Iran

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

Article history: Miller cycle is applied to improve performance and emission characteristics of a gas engine. There are
Received 4 May 2015 different types of Miller cycle concept utilization through variation of valve timing either by early intake
Received in revised form valve closure or late intake valve closure. In this study finite-volume method is used to analyse the
23 March 2016
performance and emission characteristics of a four-stroke 12-cylinder turbocharged Miller cycle gas
Accepted 24 April 2016
Available online 19 May 2016
engine. Therefore, experimental data are used to calibrate the results derived from 3D combustion
simulation and 1D overall engine simulation. The Miller cycle application shows that about 30 CAD
(crank angle degrees) advancement of IVC compared with standard cycle reduces emissions such as NOx
Keywords:
Miller cycle
to half its magnitude. However, a little reduction in power output seems inevitable. Also, compression
Gas engine ratio reduction contributes to almost 15% decrease in maximum inecylinder pressure. Moreover,
Performance retardation of IVC simultaneously improves performance and emission characteristics. However, no
Emission significant change of inecylinder peak pressure and temperature is seen.
© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction to make it a feasible alternative for different applications. In order

Stringent legislations on pollution emissions of internal com-
bustion engines together with concerns for fossil fuel reserves have
forced engine designers and manufacturers to seek ever-improving
engine performance and emissions characteristics. Extensive
research work is carried out in universities and related industries to
simultaneously improve engine efficiencies and decrease emission
levels through application of new technologies such as engine
downsizing, new combustion concepts, using alternative and/or
renewable energy sources, turbocharging and better fuel-air
mixture preparation to meet the above-mentioned demands. Nat-
ural gas as an alternative fuel has interesting features such as vast
and available known worldwide reserves and acceptable emission
behaviour while being appropriate to be used in internal combus-
tion engines. Gas engines are increasingly becoming attractive in
applications such as industrial prime movers, transportation and
stationary power generations. In the meantime, research is being
done on improving gas engine performance and emission charac-
teristics and to overcome its deficiencies for various loading plans
* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: sady.tavakoli@gmail.com (S. Tavakoli), jazayeri@kntu.ac.ir
(S.A. Jazayeri), morteza.fathi@yahoo.com (M. Fathi), Jahanian@nit.ac.ir
(O. Jahanian).
to compare natural gas and gasoline performance in engines, Kalam
et al. [1] investigated a bi-fuel spark ignition (SI) multi cylinder
engine which was operated on either gasoline or natural gas for
several part load and full load test conditions to assess the power
output and emission levels. Results show that natural gas produces
15%e20% lower power than gasoline while having 18% less brake
specific fuel consumption (BSFC). For the same output power,
natural gas produced less emission except for NOx. In order to
improve the gas engine performance, Klimkiewicz and Teodorczyk
[2] investigated a direct injection SI engine. A series of frame
schlieren pictures relevant to injection and combustion processes
together with inecylinder pressure profile were obtained. It is
shown that the influence of spark plug location on gas engine
performance is less than its influence on conventional engines.
Furthermore, double gas injection fuelling system gives more stable
ignition of gas-air mixture in the combustion chamber with
improved engine performance. Another comparison between gas-
oline and natural gas combustion is done by Evans et al. [3] on a
single cylinder engine. They showed that a much lower exhaust
emissions can be achieved by natural gas, although brake mean
effective pressure (BMEP) of natural gas fuelled engine was around
12 percent lower for any considered ignition timing. The results
showed that at full load, the gas engine produced about 50% less
total hydrocarbons (THC) and carbon monoxide (CO) compared to
gasoline engine. When an engine is designed as dedicated natural

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2016.04.102
0360-5442/© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 S. Tavakoli et al. / Energy 109 (2016) 190e200 191

Nomenclature w stoichiometric coefficients

BMEP brake mean effective pressure
BDC bottom dead center CAD crank angle degrees
C carbon CO carbon monoxide
CFD computational fluid dynamics EIVC early intake valve closure
ECFM extended coherent flame model H hydrogen
EVO exhaust valve open IVO intake valve open
HC hydrocarbon NOx nitric oxides
LIVC late intake valve closure R gas constant value
O oxygen T temperature
SI spark ignition V volume
TDC top dead center Fr fresh gas
Cv specific heat for a constant volume Kf rate constants for the forward reactions
Fu fuel density Sl laminar burning velocity
Kr rate constants for the reverse reactions uL mean laminar fuel consumption rate per unit surface

gas engine, some components and systems have to be redesigned to
give optimal performance compared to conventional engines.
These include modifications of compression ratio, spark plug,
cooling and lubrication systems, charge entrainment and gas ex-
change processes to meet thermo fluid design criteria. It is known
that one of the most important considerations in any internal
combustion engine is designing a suitable cam shaft profile. The
need to have adequate trapped air/fuel ratio in combustion cham-
ber, on one hand; and the need to achieve the optimised pumping
loss together with overlapping, on the other hand; makes it
necessary to have an appropriate valve timing. Miller [4] proved
that controlling the phasing of intake valve closure (IVC) and
exhaust valve opening (EVO) (known as Miller cycle) have signifi-
cant impact on engine performance.
Same as Atkinson cycle, in Miller cycle, expansion ratio exceeds
compression ratio as shown in Fig. 1. This can be achieved by either
late intake valve closure (LIVC) or early intake valve closure (EIVC)
which depends on engine boost pressure which varies with engine
speed [5e7]. However, unlike Atkinson cycle, Miller cycle can
improve engine efficiency without any reduction in power output
due to supercharging and turbocharging utilization.
In recent years, numerous researches have been carried out to
improve engine performance by using Miller cycle. Anderson et al.
[9] investigated a naturally aspirated Miller cycle SI engine with
LIVC, based on first and second law analyses. They found that LIVC
required less fuel to produce the same power output compared
with base engine as a result of 6.3% higher indicated thermal effi-
ciency at part load. Furthermore, LIVC had better thermo me-
chanical criteria due to higher intake manifold pressure.
Wu et al. [10] simulated Miller cycle to compare with standard
Otto cycle based on a thermodynamic model. Their work showed
that in case of Miller cycle application, supercharger is strongly
recommended since trapped mass is too low without super-
charging e even lower than base Otto cycle. However, other studies
on optimal power-density characteristics for Atkinson, Miller and
dual cycles showed no such losses [11e13].
In order to overcome the drawbacks of using extensive exhaust
gas recirculation (EGR), Benajes et al. [14] investigated the suit-
ability of the Atkinson cycle for lowering the inecylinder charge
temperature. It was achieved by advancing IVC, keeping constant
intake and exhaust pressures, in a heavy duty diesel engine
equipped with a fully variable valve actuation (VVA) system. Re-
sults corroborated the potential from Atkinson cycle for reducing
the inecylinder gas temperature during the compression stroke,
together with the gas pressure and its density.
Al Sarkhi et al. [6] investigated the relations between thermal
efficiency, compression ratio and expansion ratio for an ideal
naturally-aspirated (air-standard) Miller cycle by using finite-time

Fig. 1. PeV diagram in a conventional Otto cycle and Miller cycle [8].
192 S. Tavakoli et al. / Energy 109 (2016) 190e200
thermodynamics. This model provides guidance for performance
prediction of a Miller cycle engine, provided that correct model
parameters are used. Martins and Lanzanova [15] presented a
detailed 1D simulation analysis of a Miller cycle SI engine at full-
load when running on hydrous ethanol at different supercharging
amounts and valve train configurations. In their study, the effects of
IVC timing as well as cam shaft profiles, charge dilution through
EGR or excess air on burn duration and inecylinder temperatures
were investigated. A detailed assessment of the main losses was
carried out and several possible arrangements were studied.
Diesel-like engine brake efficiency of more than 40% was achieved
when applying the Miller cycle concept. They showed that the
highest efficiency values are achieved with solenoid actuated
valves and early IVC. Pumping losses associated with the LIVC turn
this option less attractive. However, higher intake pressure
required by the very EIVC cases (higher than 5 bar) makes this
option very challenging in current engines. It is expected that
operation with EIVC before 460 crank angle degrees (CAD) after the
firing TDC would not be practically achievable.
Gas engine emissions are basically THC, CO, CO2 and NOx where
the last one is the most harmful one. Miller cycle is one of the most
promising ways to reduce this emission. The combustion temper-
ature in Miller Cycle engine is much lower, which results in less NOx
formation. An experimental study by Wang et al. [16] shows that by
application of a Miller cycle on standard Otto cycle, NOx reduction is
about 8% with only 1% engine power loss at full load. Similar study
on Miller cycle concept by Wang and Ruxton [17] shows significant
NOx reduction.
Gonca et al. [18] conducted a performance analysis for investi-
gation of power output and thermal efficiency. Maximum power
output and thermal efficiency criteria have been investigated for an
air-standard irreversible dual Miller cycle with LIVC. In this work,
the optimum engine operation and design parameters for the en-
gine has been achieved by thermodynamic optimization to maxi-
mize the power output and thermal efficiency. Moreover, the
application of this method to a single cylinder, direct injection
diesel engine is experimentally and theoretically studied. Two
different Miller cycle approaches, which provide 5 and 10 CAD
retarding IVC compared to standard condition, are applied with
two different camshafts. Results show that NO and CO2 emissions
decreased up to 48% and 2.2%, respectively; HC and CO emissions
increased by 46% and 34%, respectively; the effective power and
efficiency decreases 6.4% and 9.2%, respectively. The optimum
condition has been defined as 10 CAD retarding because of
maximum NO reduction [19].
Rinaldini et al. [20] investigated potentials and restrictions of
applying Miller cycle in a conventional high speed Diesel engine, in
reducing NOx and soot formation at part load. The analysis carried
out using, GT power and kiva-3V simulation tools for engine anal-
ysis and detailed inecylinder analysis, respectively, which revealed
that the combustion is intrinsically cleaner with the Miller cycle
with 10% and 50% reduction in NOx and soot formation,
respectively.
Benajes et al. [21] have shown that advancing IVC to reduce the
effective compression ratio and compensating the air mass losses
by increasing boost pressure (Miller cycle), decreases the
compression temperature. The strategy was further tested on a
single-cylinder heavy-duty research engine. Additionally, 3D-CFD
modelling was used to give insight into local inecylinder condi-
tions during the injection and combustion processes. The results
confirm the suitability of this strategy for reducing NOx and soot
emissions, while the main drawback is the increase in fuel
economy.
Meanwhile, several other studies [22e27] report that Miller
cycle can be applied in high-efficiency SI gas engines for power
generation. Together with technical enhancements, studies show
efficiency increase from 36% to 42.5%. LIVC has been employed in
the majority of the engines, increasing expansion ratio up to 15:1 in
some cases. Almost all the studies point out the need for specially
designed high efficiency turbochargers, enabling them to provide
high pressure ratios at low flow rates.
Kesgin [28] presented an engine simulation methodology, sup-
ported by experimental tests, to develop a dual-stage turbocharged
V20 natural gas engine for power generation. One-dimensional gas
dynamic models were presented and validated for engine gas ex-
change processes, and an optimization of a two-stage turbocharged
Miller cycle engine in terms of both efficiency and NOx emissions
was presented. The Miller cycle provided an increase of 0.28% in
engine efficiency, while the amount of NOx emissions decreased.
In the present study, a performance analysis considering power
output, pollutant emissions and design limitations including
maximum pressure has been carried out to investigate the effects of
various Miller cycle strategies through different valve timings on a
gas engine. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this paper pro-
vides the first study to investigate application of the Miller cycle in
early and late intake valve closure simultaneously. Furthermore,
the study conducts a comprehensive comparison of thermody-
namic model and CFD model by parallelling 3D-AVL FIRE and GT
POWER for a Miller cycle SI gas engine.
2. Experimental setup
The engine is a 12 cylinder V-type diesel engine modified for SI
operation, having a displacement volume of 38 L that is equipped
with two turbochargers and its main features is listed in Table 1.
Fig. 2 shows the engine in test cell. Fig. 3 shows the comparison and
verification of the CFD simulation and experimental data for
inecylinder pressure history. It is seen that there is a good agree-
ment between experimental and simulation results particularly in
compression and expansion strokes.
To convert the diesel engine to work in SI mode of operation, the
compression ratio is decreased from 15 to 11.5. Moreover, the
combustion chamber shape is revised according to Fig. 4 and a gas
valve is added to inject natural gas fuel into intake port according to
Fig. 5. Also Intake valve timing has to be modified.
3. Engine simulation
A tridimensional combustion chamber model is shown in
Figure. At BDC, the whole mesh number is 495,348 cells and at TDC
firing, when intake valve is closed, the whole mesh number is
45,722 cells. This mesh size is able to provide a good spatial reso-
lution for the distribution of most of variables in the combustion
Table 1
Base diesel engine specification.
Engine speed (rpm) 1500
Power (kW) 1000
Torque (N$m) 6370
Bore (mm) 150
Stroke (mm) 180
Volume (L) 38
Compression ratio 15
IVO (before TDC) 60
IVC (after BDC) 30
EVO (after TDC) 120
EVC (after TDC) 30
Turbocharger type 2*single stage
Boost pressure (barg) ~2
Air to fuel ratio ~30
 S. Tavakoli et al. / Energy 109 (2016) 190e200 193

Fig. 5. Installed mixer to inject natural gas to intake port.

Fig. 2. Instrumented engine coupled to dynamometer in test cell.

chamber. Fig. 8 shows the investigation of mesh independency.

According to the model, it can be seen that mesh number in
maximum amount increments from 495,000 (Fig. 6) to 650,000
(Fig. 7) does not have any significant influence on inecylinder
pressure trace even at peak pressure location. Therefore, it is
concluded that this mesh number is acceptable for the simulation.

Fig. 6. 495,000 cells.

Fig. 3. Validation of CFD simulation by comparison with experimental result. Fig. 7. 650,000 cells.

Fig. 4. Piston bowl shapes for diesel and gas engines, respectively.
194 S. Tavakoli et al. / Energy 109 (2016) 190e200

Calculation is carried out from IVO at approximately TDC to EVO
at 120 CAD, after TDC firing in order to fully investigate the fluid
motion effects. In order to simulate and assess the performance of
other parts of engine such as turbocharger and intercooler systems,
a thermodynamic model is constructed by GT suite software. The
main advantage of this software is the capability to investigate
turbocharging influence on engine performance. Simulation has
been carried out for half of the engine including 6 cylinders with a
single turbocharger, because the engine has 12 cylinders arranged
in symmetrical configuration of two banks in V-type, having two
separate identical turbochargers one for each bank. The model is
constructed in GT power and demonstrated in Fig. 9.
The comparison between the one dimensional and CFD pre-
dictions in terms of average inecylinder pressure is depicted in
Fig. 10 showing good agreement between the results.

Fig. 10. One and tridimensional simulations comparison for inecylinder pressure.
Fig. 8. Mesh dependency.

Fig. 9. One dimensional model by using GT power.

 S. Tavakoli et al. / Energy 109 (2016) 190e200 195

IVC of diesel engine is 570 CAD (30 CAD after BDC) (see Fig. 11).
In this study, different cam shaft profiles according to Figs. 12 and
13 are used. 540, 530, 520, 510 and 500 are IVC timings for EIVC
and 550, 560, 570, 580 as well as 540 are IVC timings for LIVC. At the
timing of 540, piston is in BDC.

4. Numerical analysis

The Coherent Flame Model (CFM) [29] can equally well be used
for both premixed and non-premixed conditions on the basis of a
laminar flamelet concept, whose velocity Sl and thickness dl are
defined as mean values, integrated along the flame front, and it only
depends on pressure, temperature and degree of mixture richness
in the fresh charge. This model is very attractive since it deals with a
decoupled treatment of chemistry and turbulence within cylinder.
All flamelet models assume that reaction takes place within

Fig. 13. Different cam shaft profiles with LIVC.

relatively thin layers that separate the unburned region from the
fully burnt region. Through this assumption the mean turbulent
reaction rate is derived as the product of the flame surface density S
and the laminar burning velocity Sl using:

r$r_fu ¼ uL S (1)

where uL is the mean laminar fuel consumption rate per unit sur-
face along the flame front in a lean combustion,

uL ¼ rfu;fr $SL rfu;fr ¼ rfr $yfu;fr (2)

rfu;fr , rfr and yfu;fr are the partial fuel density, density and fuel mass
fraction of the fresh charge respectively.
The Extended Coherent Flame Model which is known as ECFM has
been developed specifically to model combustion in DI-SI engines. This
Fig. 11. Base diesel engine cam shaft profile.
model is fully coupled to the spray model and enables stratified
combustion modelling including exhaust gas recirculation effects and

Fig. 12. Different cam shaft profiles with EIVC. Fig. 14. Turbine and compressor mass flow factor.
196 S. Tavakoli et al. / Energy 109 (2016) 190e200

Fig. 15. Inecylinder pressure for different cases of EIVC.

Fig. 17. Heat release rate by EIVC.

Table 2
Gas engine power, BMEP and BSFC for different EIVC.

BSFC (gr/kW$hr) BMEP (bar) Power (kW) IVC

191.0 20.90 1000 500

192.0 21.04 1006 510
193.0 21.14 1011 520
193.6 21.16 1012 530
194.2 21.26 1016 540

Fig. 18. CO mass fraction.


m k m
Cn Hm Ok þ n þ  O /n CO2 þ H O (3)
4 2 2 2 2


n k m
Cn Hm Ok þ  O /n CO2 þ H (4)
2 2 2 2 2
The reaction rate for the first one is calculated by:
Fig. 16. Inecylinder temperature by EIVC.
ufu ¼ uL g (5)

NO formation. The model relies on a conditional unburned/burnt where g is a function depending on the equivalence ratio 4, number
description of the thermo chemical properties of mixture. of carbon and hydrogen atoms, respectively, and for the second fuel
consumption reaction:

4.1. Chemical kinetic reactions ufu;2 ¼ uL ð1  gÞ (6)

The mean fuel reaction rate in turbulent combustion phenom- where uL is the mean laminar fuel consumption rate and the in-
ena is derived using ECFM model. Where a 2-step chemistry dividual reaction rates of each species i participating in the 2-step
mechanism for fuel conversion is: reaction mechanism are presented by:
 S. Tavakoli et al. / Energy 109 (2016) 190e200 197

Fig. 19. HC mass fraction.

Fig. 21. Inecylinder pressure by LIVC.
X2
ui ¼ w u
r¼1 i;r fu;r
(7)
4.3. Emission model
where wi;r are stoichiometric coefficients of species of i in the re-
action r, while for the reactants these coefficients are negative and In internal combustion engines, the cylinder pressure rises
for the products positive. during the combustion process, so earlier burned gases are com-
pressed to a higher temperature level than their temperature
immediately after combustion. Hence, the amount of thermal NO
4.2. Fuel reaction rate formed in burned gases always dominates the amount of NO
formed in the flame front and represents the main source of the NO
The mean turbulent fuel reaction rate is computed as the in engines whose reaction paths are effective at high temperatures
product of the flame surface density S and the laminar burning (above 1800 K). The reaction mechanism of NO formation based on
velocity SL via: extended Zeldovich mechanism can be expressed as [30];
X X2 X 
g/for fuel reaction 3
rr_fu ¼  v u ¼ uL
r¼1 i;r fu;r 1  g/for fuel reaction 4
N2 þ O4Kk 1 NO þ O (9)
(8) 1

Fig. 20. In cylinder NOx distribution for different valve timing in Miller cycle.
198 S. Tavakoli et al. / Energy 109 (2016) 190e200

Fig. 24. CO mass fraction.

Fig. 22. Inecylinder temperature by LIVC.

Fig. 25. HC mass fraction.

Fig. 23. Accumulated heat release rate by LIVC.

turbocharger system based on Fig. 14. Meanwhile, these factors
keep the air fuel ratio stay constant in all up to 25.
N þ O2 4Kk 3 NO þ O (10) Inecylinder pressure variation is shown in Fig. 15. Advancing IVC
4
from 540 to 500 causes 20 bars maximum pressure drop from 136 to
116 bars. It is also indicating that the peak pressure is slightly
N þ OH4Kk 5 NO þ H (11) retarded with minor overall effect on BMEP. Although the maximum
6
pressure drops about 15%, there is only 1% reduction in power output.
Meanwhile, due to lack of adequate OH in combustion chamber,
The output power of earlier IVC compared with Standard cycle is
equation (11) can be neglected most of the time.
demonstrated in Table 2.
The Initial temperature at the beginning of the compression
5. Results and discussion process is calculated by ideal gas law as follows:

5.1. Early intake valve closure
 R

T2 V1 CV T1
¼ (12)
T1 V2
Shortening valve timing duration according to Fig. 12 results in
less available time for mixture entrainment and less total air mass Inecylinder temperature is shown in Fig. 16 where it is increased
trapped. The turbocharger boost pressure is increased to compen- with reduction of Miller degrees. Owing to less initial temperature at
sate for A/F ratio decrease in all cases. Since required volumetric valve closure time, an approximate reduction of 78  C is obtained in
efficiency is 1.94, different mass flow factors are used by peak temperatures which occur at about 730 CAD (2208 K with
 S. Tavakoli et al. / Energy 109 (2016) 190e200
Fig. 26. NO mass fraction.
maximum Miller degree and 2286 K with standard cycle). Moreover,
no significant temperature difference at EVO is seen.
Fig. 17 represents the corresponding variations of heat release
rates at full load. It can be seen that the heat release of the cylinder
charge occurs mainly in just one stage. At this stage, the combus-
tion initiation occurs near TDC, while spark ignition timing is at 15
CAD before TDC and combustion duration is about 20 CAD.
10 CAD advancing in EIVC does not make any significant heat
release rate variation. By extending Miller degree, heat release rate
begins to decrease gradually, although same amount of fuel is
added which can be verified by identical area under the curve in all
cases. The lowest rate occurs when intake valve closes at 500 CAD.
Fig. 27. NOx distribution in the combustion chamber (540, 550, 560, 570 and 580 left to right, up to down respectively).
199
This is due to homogeneous mixing and lower inecylinder charge
temperature when combustion starts.
CO is a product of incomplete combustion and occurs when
carbon in the fuel is partially oxidized rather than fully oxidization
to CO2. Fig. 18 shows higher CO emission level of exhaust gases at
higher Miller degrees in the case of EIVC, although, the total
amount of CO is lower because of lean combustion of inecylinder
charge. Also, the low temperature of charge at any location pre-
vents CO to be converted to CO2. Moreover, CO oxidation is strongly
dependent on intermediate OH radicals which their existence de-
pends on inecylinder charge temperature. Referring to Fig. 16
proves that maximum temperature reduces almost 80  C, and
then EIVC contributes to higher amount of CO.
In engine, most of HC is formed due to crevices, blow by, liner
cooling and oil absorption/desorption. Considering IVC timing
other probable mechanism for HC formation should also be taken
into account. Since IVC timing affects inecylinder charge temper-
ature and effective compression ratio, the latter leading to variation
in expansion ratio, HC oxidation during expansion stroke is affected
which finally influences HC amount. O2 availability together with
stratification presence because of IVC influence on charge
entrainment also has a great impact on formation of this emission.
Fig. 19, indicates the effect of EIVC on HC. It is seen that the effect of
extended valve timing on HC mass fractions is a major cause of
increasing the amount of this emission. Moreover, it can be
observed that higher Miller degrees contribute to lower tempera-
ture in combustion chamber, especially in regions far from spark
plug, which result in almost 22% growth in the amount of HC.
Another important pollutant in natural gas engines is NOx, the
generation of which is due to higher inecylinder temperatures ac-
cording to afore-mentioned Zeldovich mechanism, especially when
the engine is running at lean condition. By changing intake valve
timing, maximum temperature in the combustion chamber is
reduced resulting in NOx reduction. Fig. 20 show inecylinder NOx
distribution just before exhaust stroke. Total NOx mass fractions
200 S. Tavakoli et al. / Energy 109 (2016) 190e200
Table 3
Gas engine power, BMEP and BSFC for different LIVC.
BSFC (gr/kW$hr) BMEP (bar) Power (kW)
194.2 21.26 1016
194.3 21.4 1023
194.0 21.6 1032
193.4 21.7 1036
193.2 21.6 1031
calculated are 0.00088, 0.001376, 0.001446, 0.001741 and 0.001781
for EIVC of 500, 510, 520, 530 and 540 CAD respectively. This high-
lights that taking advantage of Miller cycle can reduce NOx emission
by about 50% which is a drastic reduction relative to standard cycle.
5.2. Late intake valve closure
In the case of LIVC, it is not needed to change the mass flow
factor for turbocharger to increase boost pressure since there is
enough time for sufficient air/fuel mixture entrainment.
Fig. 21 shows pressure traces for different cam shaft profiles of
LIVC cases. As can be seen there is no significant difference between
these curves even in peak pressures that is very important in en-
gine performance. The same trend can be seen in inecylinder
temperature traces which are depicted in Fig. 22.
Fig. 23 shows cumulative heat release for LIVC cases. As it is
expected, there is no significant difference between curves, which
results in similar engine performance at all cases which were seen
before in inecylinder pressure and temperature traces.
Unlike the afore-mentioned cases, the exception is the case of
570 IVC which shows good behaviour in terms of all emissions,
including CO (Fig. 24), HC (Fig. 25) and NOx (Figs. 26 and 27) while
higher power is also obtained.
BSFC, BMEP and the engine power output are presented in
Table 3. Again it is seen that the case of 570 IVC yields better per-
formance and produces more power. By increasing the valve
opening period, the power will be increased rapidly up to 1032 kW.
Since then, it grows a little to 1036 kW and then due to extended
valve opening period during compression stroke, part of
inecylinder charge leaves the chamber into the intake port which
leads to a power reduction to 1031 kW.
6. Conclusions
The study investigated valve timing modifications to convert a
heavy duty diesel engine to SI gas engine accompanied with a
reduction in compression ratio and using a spark plug instead of direct
injection injector. The main goal was to predict the engine perfor-
mance with different cam shaft profiles. The performance character-
istics of Miller cycle application in the engine shows that the
maximum pressure and temperature will decrease significantly
meanwhile resulting in a little degrading of engine performance by
EIVC. The main problem with EIVC is the need to a high boost pressure
with higher level of Miller degree which results in a need to a bigger
turbocharger. The most favourable effect is the NOx reduction in case of
EIVC. Furthermore, considering late valve closure, it is concluded that
better performance characteristics can be obtained by LIVC of 30 CAD
retardation. Therefore, in order to have better behaviour in terms of
peak pressure and temperature (for structural considerations) together
with emission reduction, EIVC application is suggested. However, LIVC
utilization is favourable in applications requiring more power.
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