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Effect of EGR on Performance and Emission Characteristics 2017-24-0033

of a GDI Engine - A CFD Study Published 09/04/2017

Priyanka Dnyaneshwar Jadhav and J M Mallikarjuna

Indian Institute of Technology, Madras

CITATION: Jadhav, P. and Mallikarjuna, J., "Effect of EGR on Performance and Emission Characteristics of a GDI Engine - A CFD
Study," SAE Technical Paper 2017-24-0033, 2017, doi:10.4271/2017-24-0033.

Copyright © 2017 SAE International

Abstract mixture formation, engine geometry, fuel injection strategies, etc. A

turbocharged GDI engine has proven as one of the highly efficient
Future stringent emission norms are impelling researchers to look for
prime movers to serve the purpose. In these engines, charge cooling
new emission control techniques. Today, gasoline direct injection
effect associated with direct injection of fuel resulted in higher
(GDI) engines are becoming more popular because of high potential
volumetric efficiency and low knocking tendency allowing the use of
to reduce exhaust emissions over a wide operating load range, unlike
higher compression ratios. Hence, better fuel economy with higher
conventional port fuel injection (PFI) engines. Also, turbocharged
specific power could be achieved compared to conventional PFI
GDI engines allow engine downsizing with a certain restriction on
engines [1, 2, 3]. In addition, use of EGR in a GDI engine resulted in
compression ratio (CR) due to knocking tendency, thereby limiting
a reduction of NOx emissions very effectively [4].
the fuel economy. However, use of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR)
delays combustion and lowers the knocking tendency which will aid
Previously, Diana et al., [5] conducted experiments to study the effect
in improving the fuel economy. Therefore, this study is aimed to
of EGR rate on engine performance, on a four-cylinder, 1.25 liter
evaluate the effect of EGR rate on the performance and emission
gasoline engine. The experiments were performed at steady state and
characteristics of a two-liter turbocharged four-stroke GDI engine by
stoichiometric conditions for three CRs of 10, 11.5 and 13. Their
computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis. For the analysis, the
results revealed a significant reduction in fuel consumption and NOx
CR of 9.3 and the engine speed of 1000 rev/min., are selected. The
emissions, and increase of HC emissions, with the increase of CR.
engine is operated at full-load conditions in the stoichiometric
homogeneous mixture mode. The full cycle CFD simulations are
Grandin and Ångström [6] conducted experiments on a 2.29 liter,
carried out using the CONVERGE. The CFD results are validated by
four-valve, turbocharged SI engine with pentroof cylinder head. They
the available experimental data from the literature. The quantity of
tried to reduce the fuel enrichment by using cooled EGR and lean
cooled EGR is varied from 0 to 15% to evaluate its effect on
mixture. The tests were carried out at medium load conditions, with
combustion, performance and emission characteristics of the engine.
IMEP of 13 bar at 3500 rev/min., and 10.5 bar at 5000 rev/min., and
The results showed that the engine indicated mean effective pressure
at full load conditions (IMEP of 16.5 bar at 5000 rev/min.). The low
(IMEP) is increased by about 2% and the indicated thermal efficiency
(7 and 9%) and medium (11 and 13%) EGR rates were used at high
is increased by about 2.3% at 5% EGR rate as compared to that of no
load with stoichiometric mixture conditions. Their results showed
EGR. It is also found that heat release rate decreased with increase in
that the cooled EGR and lean mixture could be used at high power in
EGR rate. The mean in-cylinder temperature decreased with increase
a turbocharged engine to replace rich charge. The HC and CO
in the EGR rate reducing NOx emissions.
emissions reduced, with cooled EGR and lean mixture, compared to
that of fuel enrichment. But, the NOx emissions were more with lean
Introduction combustion due to impaired after treatment.
Today, the main objective of automotive industries is to achieve
Potteau et al., [7] investigated the effect of cooled EGR, on a two liter
effective combustion with simultaneous reduction of fuel
four-cylinder, turbocharged SI engine, for reducing knocking tendency
consumption and emissions. GDI engines show better fuel economy
and fuel consumption. The experiments were carried out at
compared to conventional PFI engines. The performance and
stoichiometric condition, at an engine speed of 5500 rev/min., and
emissions in these engines depend upon many factors viz., in-cylinder
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12.9 bar BMEP. They found that with the use of EGR allowed spark
timing advance to achieve optimum combustion phasing. They also
found that the fuel economy improved by about 14% with a significant
reduction in exhaust gas temperature at about 12.2% of cooled EGR.
Fontana et al., [8] carried out an experimental analysis, to study the
effect of cooled EGR on combustion characteristics of a naturally
aspirated, four-valve, SI engine operating with full-throttle. The
measurements were made using stoichiometric mixture, with the
engine speed ranging from 1500 to 2500 rev/min., at full load
conditions. They found that the cooled EGR reduced knocking
tendency at high load conditions and helped improve brake specific
fuel consumption (BSFC) by about 2.5 to 7%.
Alger et al., [9] conducted experimental investigations, on the 2.4
liter, turbocharged MPFI and on the 1.6 liter turbocharged GDI
engines, to study the effect of cooled EGR, on fuel economy and
emissions. The engine speed was varied from 1000 to 5500 rev/min.,
and EGR rate was varied from 5 to 30% using stoichiometric
mixture. They reported that, the fuel efficiency improved by about
5-30%, with the EGR rate of 25%, along with the reduction of NOx
emissions by about 80%, at the high loads, for both the engines. Also,
the HC emissions increased with the addition of EGR. Finally, they
reported that, the turbocharged GDI engine with the cooled EGR had
the potential to suppress knocking and improve the fuel efficiency at
high load conditions [7, 8, 9].
Gill et al., [10] tried to understand the effect of EGR on PM
emissions, in a single-cylinder direct injection diesel engine under
steady state conditions, at a constant engine speed of 1500 rev/min.
The IMEP of 3 and 5 bar was used to represent 40 and 70% of full
load respectively. Their results showed that, the addition of EGR had
an adverse effect on PM emissions which limited the use of EGR.
Also, the use of particulate filter reduced PM emissions by about 24%
at 20% EGR.
Hoepke et al., [11] conducted experiments on a four-cylinder, 2 liter
turbocharged GDI engine to study the effect of cooled EGR on the
performance of the engine. The tests were carried out using
stoichiometric mixture, at the IMEP of 11 to 14 bar, with engine
speeds of 1500 to 2000 rev/min. Their results showed that use of
cooled EGR could be attributed to reduced rate of combustion,
increased quenching reactions, and lowered end gas temperatures.
They also reported that the specific heat ratio increased with increase
in EGR rate and 5% improvement in the indicated specific fuel
consumption (ISFC) at the EGR rate of 18%.
Tie et al., [12] carried out a thermodynamic analysis to study the
effect of EGR on first and second law efficiencies of a four-cylinder,
2 liter, boosted GDI engine, by using the GT power. The experiments
were conducted at full-load (210 Nm and 1000 rev/min.,), medium
load (200 Nm and 3000 rev/min.,) and low load (100 Nm and 3000
rev/min.,) conditions. They reported that, the brake thermal efficiency
improved by about 1.1 to 4.1% with the EGR rate of about 12 to
17%, at all operating loads.
Jianye et al., [13] carried out a numerical and experimental study of
the combined effect of cooled EGR and CR on brake thermal
efficiency in a 2 liter turbocharged GDI engine. The experiments were
carried out at wide operating conditions from 1000 to 3000 rev/min.,
at low to high loads, with CRs of 9.3 and 10.9. They also conducted a
numerical analysis of the engine using GT power. They found that the
brake thermal efficiency improved by about 2.1 to 3.5% at 10.9 CR,
with the use of 18-25% cooled EGR. They reported that the fuel
economy improved by about 6 to 9%. Finally, they concluded that the
combined effect of the high CR and cooled EGR improved the brake
thermal efficiency better than that of individual effects.
Ma et al., [14] studied the throttle-less and EGR-controlled
stoichiometric combustion in a diesel-gasoline dual-fuel compression
ignition engine. The experiments were conducted with a modified
single cylinder diesel engine with port injection for gasoline and direct
injection of diesel. The tests were performed at engine load ranging
from IMEP of 4.3 to 8 bar. The EGR was used to control the IMEP
while maintaining the stoichiometric mixture to study the effect of
EGR on engine performance and emissions. The results showed that,
the use of external EGR suppressed the combustion temperature,
which reduced the NOx emissions. Similarly, Grandin et al., [6]
reported that the knock limited spark timing could be advanced by
about 8° CA when the EGR rate was increased from 7 to 13%.
Song et al., [15] conducted experiments to investigate the effect of
cooled EGR on fuel economy, on a four-cylinder, 1.5 liter,
turbocharged, PFI engine. The tests were performed at two CRs of
9.3 and 11.5, engine speed of 2000 rev/min., brake mean effective
pressure (BMEP) of 5 bar and 3000 rev/min., and at BMEP of 10 bar
with the EGR rate varied from 0 to 25%. Their results showed that,
the fuel consumption reduced by about 4.5% at 2000 rev/min., BMEP
of 5 bar and by about 9.7% at 3000 rev/min., BMEP 10 bar with the
use of 20% EGR. They also reported that the NOx emissions reduced
and HC emission increased with the addition of EGR.
Thomas et al., [16] experimentally investigated the effect of EGR on
combustion and PM emissions, in a single-cylinder GDI engine. The
tests were performed at CR of 11.5 and engine speed of 1500 rev/
min., for three different IMEP of 5.5, 7 and 8.5 bar. The EGR rate
was used up to 13%. They found the fuel consumption was reduced
by about 2.2, 4.1 and 1% for the respective IMEPs at 12% EGR. The
PM emissions were increased with the increase in EGR rate at 5.5
and 7 bar IMEPs, whereas it was insignificant at 8 bar IMEP. They
also observed that with the increase of IMEP, HC emissions increased
by about 48.3, 19% and 6.8% respectively. Similar results were also
reported in the literature [7 and 9].
From the above discussion, it is understood that, in a boosted GDI
engine, the CR can be reduced to avoid knocking [17, 18, 19, 20, 21,
22, 23]. But, this may reduce the fuel economy. However, the use of
EGR can allow the use of higher CR and thereby improve the fuel
economy. Also, EGR can help reduce NOx emissions. Therefore, in
this study, the effect of the use of EGR on the performance and
emissions of a turbocharged GDI engine has been carried out by
using CFD analysis.
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CFD Methodology
Engine Specifications
The present study is carried out on a turbocharged, four-valve,
fourstroke, pentroof head, single-cylinder GDI engine (Janiye et al.,
[24]), whose specifications are shown in Table.1.

Table 1. Engine specifications (Janiye et al., [24])

Figure 1. Engine computational domain

Fuel Injector Specifications
Here, a six-hole symmetric fuel injector with the hole-diameter of
0.13 mm is used, which has the spray cone angle of 10° and the
nominal cone angle of 50°. The fuel injector is located below the
intake ports at distance of 5 mm from the cylinder axis, such that one
of the fuel spray plumes is faced towards the spark plug. Table 2
shows the detailed specifications of the fuel injector used [24].
Table 2. Fuel injector specifications (Janiye et al., [24])
Boundary Conditions
In this study, the boundary conditions used are taken from the Janiye
et al. [24]. Here, for the intake air, the boost pressure (intake
pressure) of 1.45 bar and temperature of 311 K is used. The exhaust
gas is assumed to be at the atmospheric pressure and the temperature
of 400 K. The engine speed of 1000 rev/min., and the CR of 9.3 are
used throughout the analysis. All the simulations are carried out at
stoichiometric mixture conditions.
CFD Models
In-Cylinder Flow Modeling
For the CFD analysis, the mass, and momentum equations are used
for the incompressible fluid flow as follows [26].

(1)
Geometric Modelling and Meshing
The engine computational domain is modelled using the PTC-CREO,
as shown in Figure 1. The CFD simulation is carried out from inlet
valve opening (IVO) to exhaust valve opening (EVO) with the (2)
CONVERGE. The CONVERGE uses a modified cut-cell Cartesian
grid generation method which allows representation of the complex where, xi and xj are the Cartesian coordinates and t represents time. ui
geometrical intersections easily. The engine computational domain and uj are the absolute velocity components in the direction of xi and
consists of a combustion chamber, intake and exhaust ports. The CFD xj. Sm and Si represent mass and momentum source components. P is
simulations are executed with 2 million cells with the base mesh size the pressure and σij is the viscous stress tensor which is estimated as:
of 4 mm, the maximum mesh size of 1 mm and minimum mesh size
of 0.125 mm. In this study, the mesh refinement is done by using
adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) technique. In this technique, the
grid size is varied automatically wherever required during runtime
(3)
based on the gradients of the parameters considered. In this case, the
grid size is refined on the basis of gradients of velocity, temperature where, u’ is the fluctuating component of the ensemble average
and chemical species as and when they cross the threshold value [25]. velocity and over-bar denotes the ensemble averaging. Right most
term in Eq. (3) represents the additional Reynolds stresses due to
turbulent motion.
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Turbulence and Combustion Modelling
In-cylinder turbulent flow characteristics are analyzed by using
Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equation based RNG
k-ε turbulence model which captures swirling flows better than the
standard k-ε turbulence model [27 and 28]. The following
turbulent kinetic energy (k) and the turbulent dissipation rate (ε)
equations are used.
(4)
(5)
Combustion is analyzed by a detail chemical kinetics using SAGE
model which solves 152 reactions for 48 reaction species. NOx
emissions are quantified by using Zeldovich model [25].
Fuel Spray Modelling
The KH-RT spray breakup model was basically developed for
capturing high pressure diesel sprays [29]. But, the previous studies
reported that it can also predicts the macroscopic fuel spray
characteristics effectively in GDI engines [30, 31, 32, 33]. Hence, it
is used to capture the fuel spray atomization. Fuel spray wall
impingement is predicted by the model developed by O’Rourke and
Amsden which evaluates splash Mach number and considers the
splash occurrence when it exceeds the critical value [34 and 35].
Table 3 summaries all the CFD models used in the present study.
Table.3. CFD models used
Validation of the CFD Models
The fuel spray model is validated by comparing the simulation results
of spray penetration lengths and fuel spray patterns of the present
study with that of the experiments of Janiye et al., [24] at the
injection pressure of 100 bar and ambient pressure of 1 bar. Figure 2
shows the comparison of the spray penetration length between the
experimental data of Janiye et al., [24], and that of the present study.
From Figure 2, it is seen that, the simulation and experimental results
are in good agreement.
Figure 2. Comparison of fuel spray penetration between experimental data
[24] and the results of present CFD simulation
Figure 3 shows the comparison of the fuel spray patterns between the
experimental and CFD data of Janiye et al., [24], and that of the
present study. From Figure 3, it is seen that, the fuel spray patterns
from the three results are matching reasonably well. Hence, the
present fuel spray model is able to predict fuel spray patterns
properly. Therefore, it can be used with confidence for the further
simulations.
Figure 3. Comparison of fuel spray patterns
Figure 4 shows the comparison of the experimental in-cylinder
pressure traces obtained by Janiye et al., [24], and that of the present
study, at the engine speed of 1000 rev/min., and the CR of 9.3. The
fuel is injected at 280 CAD before TDC during intake stroke, with the
injection pressure of 110 bar. The ER of 1 and the spark timing of
712.5 CAD are used for the validation. From Figure 4, it is seen that,
there is a good agreement between the two results. Hence, the
combustion model can be used for further CFD simulation.
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Table 5. Engine operating conditions [24]

Results and Discussion

Here, the effect of cooled EGR rate, on indicated thermal efficiency,
heat release rate, IMEP and engine exhaust emissions, in a boosted
GDI engine is investigated. The EGR rate is varied from 0 to 15%, at
stoichiometric conditions, while keeping the engine speed of 1000
rev/min., and the CR of 9.3.
Figure 4. Comparison of in-cylinder pressures between experimental data [24]
and results of the present study
Effect of EGR Rate on Percentage of Fuel Evaporation
Figure 5 shows the comparison of the percentage of fuel evaporation
Operating Conditions Considered
for various EGR rates. From Figure 5, it is observed that, the rate of
The effect of EGR rate on the heat release rate, IMEP, brake thermal fuel evaporation is nearly same and almost 90% of the fuel is
efficiency and NOx emissions is investigated at 1000 rev/min., and at evaporated before spark timing for all the cases.
the stoichiometric mixture conditions. The CR of 9.3 is kept constant
throughout the analysis. Fuel is injected at 110 bar during suction
stoke, in order to achieve the homogeneous mixture in the
combustion chamber. The temperature of the intake charge along with
EGR is kept constant at 38°C, whereas the intake air pressure is
considered to be 1.45 bar (turbocharged). The spark timing of 710
CAD is used for the base case with no EGR, which gives maximum
peak in-cylinder pressure. But, when the EGR is used, the spark
timing needs to be advanced to compensate for the slow combustion
in order to obtain maximum peak in-cylinder pressure. Therefore, the
simulations are carried out at various spark timings (every time
advancing by 1 CAD); by keeping EGR rate constant, to obtain the
best spark advance (SA), in order to get the maximum peak in-
cylinder pressure. This method to get the best SA is adapted for all
cases of EGR. Thus, the spark timings of 708, 700 and 694 CAD are
obtained at the EGR rates of 5, 10 and 15% respectively. The mass of
fuel injected per cycle is varied to maintain the stoichiometric Figure 5. Comparison of the percentage of fuel evaporation at various EGR
mixture at different EGR rates as shown in Table 4. The fuel injection rates
pressure, engine speed and start of injection (SOI) are kept
unchanged, at all the EGR rates (Table 5). EGR is modelled using
Effect of EGR Rate on ER Distribution at Spark Timing
CO2 gas and EGR rate in percentage is calculated as follows.
Figure 6 shows the comparison of ER distribution for various EGR
rates at respective spark timings. From Figure 6, it is seen that, the
ER at the spark timing is nearly 1, which implies that the formation
of a stoichiometric mixture near the spark plug for all the EGR rates.
(6)
It is also noted that, the early SOI of 280 CAD before TDC resulted
where, mEGR and mAIR is the mass fraction of CO2 and air respectively. in homogeneous mixture formation in all the cases.

Table 4. Mass of fuel injected for different EGR rates

Effect of EGR Rate on In-Cylinder Pressure
Figure 7 shows the comparison of in-cylinder pressures for different
EGR rates. From Figure 7, it is evident that, the peak in-cylinder
pressure is maximum at 5% EGR rate and its occurrence is advanced
compared to that of no EGR, because of the advance of spark timing.
Whereas, in the case of 10 and 15% EGR rates, the peak in-cylinder
pressure decreases even at best spark timings. At 5% EGR rate, with
the best spark timing, the peak in-cylinder pressure increases by
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about 10.4%, compared to that of the no EGR. However, for the EGR
rates of 10 and 15%, the peak in-cylinder pressures decrease by about
8.8 and 34.4% respectively, compared to that of the no EGR. From
Figure 7, it is seen that, at higher EGR rates, the occurrence of the
peak in-cylinder pressure is retarded, because of slower combustion.
At the EGR rates of 10 and 15%, the combustion phasing could not
be adjusted by advancing spark timing [36, 37, 38]. Therefore, 5%
EGR rate is good enough to have proper combustion phasing.

Figure 8. Comparison of in-cylinder temperatures at various EGR rates

Figure 9 shows the comparison of peak mean in-cylinder temperature

distribution plots for various EGR rates at respective CAD. From
Figure 9, it is evident that, the occurrences of peak mean in-cylinder
temperature for 5% EGR rate shifts towards TDC compared to that of
Figure 6. Comparison of ER distributions for various EGR rates at respective no EGR. However, with further increase of EGR rate leads to
spark timing prolonged combustion. Therefore, for the 10 and 15% EGR rates, the
peak of mean in-cylinder temperatures shift away from TDC
compared to that of no EGR.

Figure 7. Comparison of in-cylinder pressures at various EGR rates

Effect of EGR Rate on In-Cylinder Temperature Figure 9. Comparison of peak-mean in-cylinder temperatures for various EGR
Figure 8 shows the comparison of the in-cylinder temperature for rates
different EGR rates. From Figure 8, it is seen that, generally the peak
in-cylinder temperature reduces with the increase in EGR rate. At the Effect of EGR Rate on Heat Release Rate
EGR rate of 5%, the in-cylinder temperature reduces by about 2.5%.
Figure 10 shows the comparison of heat release rates at various EGR
Whereas, in the case of the EGR rates of 10 and 15%, it has dropped
rates. From Figure 10, it is evident that, with the increase in the EGR
by about 9.7 and 22.3% respectively, compared to that of the no
rate; the heat release rate slows down, thereby prolonging the
EGR. In addition, from Figure 8, it is also seen that, the occurrence of
combustion. It is found that, at the EGR rates of 5, 10 and 15%, the
the peak in-cylinder temperature retards with the increase in the rate
heat release rates reduce by about 22.5, 56 and 68.7% respectively.
of EGR. This is because of dilution and thermal effects due to the
Also, it is seen that, the combustion duration has increased with the
addition of the EGR [39]. This suppresses the in-cylinder
increase in EGR rates.
temperature. Therefore, higher rates of EGR reduce in-cylinder
temperatures.
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Figure 10. Comparison of heat release rates at various EGR rates
Effect of EGR Rate on Flame Propagation
Mass fraction burned (MFB) at a particular crank angle represents the
energy conversion during combustion process which is a normalized
quantity with a scale of 0 to 1. MFB is calculated by Eq.(8) [40 and 41].
(7)
Figure 11 shows the comparison of MFBs at various EGR rates. From
Figure 11, it is seen that, the MFB curves are much steeper at lower
EGR rates (0-10%). However, when EGR rate increases, the slope of
the MFB curve reduces, which indicates the reduction in flame speed
[36]. Also, it is seen that, the start of the MFB curve is advanced in
the case of higher EGR rates. This is because of the advanced spark
timing, at higher EGR rate, which is required to overcome the
dilution effect because of EGR.
Figure 11. Comparison of mass fraction burn at various EGR rates
Figure 12 shows the qualitative comparison of the flame development
with crank angles at different EGR rates. From Figure 12, it is seen
that, the flame development, in the case of 5% EGR rate, is much
faster than that at other cases of EGR rates.
Figure 12. Comparison of flame propagation at various EGR rates
Effect of EGR Rate on Combustion Duration
Figure 13 shows the comparison of combustion durations for various
EGR rates. Here, the combustion duration is considered as the crank
angle duration between the 10 and 90% of MFB. From Figure 13, it
is evident that, the combustion duration increases with the increase in
EGR rate. The combustion duration increases by about 4.8, 28.6 and
138%, for the EGR rates of 5, 10 and 15% respectively, compared to
that of the no EGR. This is because of the reduction in the in-cylinder
temperature and in turn the reduction of flame speed, with the
increase of EGR rate.
Figure 13. Comparison of combustion duration at various EGR rates
Effect of EGR Rate on Ignition Delay
Figure 14 shows the comparison of ignition delays at various EGR
rates. Here, the ignition delay is considered as the crank angle
duration between the spark timing and the 10% of the MFB. From
Figure 14, it is evident that, in general, the ignition delay increases
with the increase in EGR rate. However, compared to the no EGR, at
5% EGR rate, the ignition delay reduces. This may be because of the
increase in the flame speed, as the advanced spark is able to
overcome the EGR effect, which helps faster combustion. However,
the addition of more quantity of EGR, might suppress the combustion
because of dominant dilution effect rather than the thermal effect.
From Figure 14, it is also found that, the ignition delay, at 5% EGR
rate, is lower by about 16.7% than that of the no EGR. In addition, in
the cases of the EGR rates of 10 and 15%, the ignition delays
increase by about 20.8 and 41.7% respectively.
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Figure 14. Comparison of ignition delays at various EGR rates Figure 16. Comparison of IMEPs at various EGR rates

Effect of EGR Rate on Maximum Rate of Pressure
Rise (MRPR)
Figure 15 shows the comparison of MRPRs at various EGR rates.
From Figure 15, it is seen that, at 5% EGR rate, the MRPR is higher
by about 3% than that of the no EGR. Further, it decreases by about
46.5 and 59.6%, at the EGR rates of 10 and 15% respectively. The
optimum combustion phasing can be achieved by overcoming the
EGR effect with the use of advanced spark at the EGR rate of 5%.
This led to earlier start of heat release results in the increase of the
MRPR at 5% EGR rate as compared to that of the no EGR. Later
with the increase of the EGR rate, the EGR effect increases and the
spark advance is unable to overcome it. Hence, it results in a slower
combustion and slow heat release over longer crank angle duration.
Therefore, further increase of EGR rate resulted in reduced MRPR,
and in-cylinder pressure (Figure 7).
Effect of EGR Rate on Indicated Thermal Efficiency
As the inlet pressure is higher than the exhaust pressure due to
turbocharging, the pumping work by the piston on in-cylinder gases can
be neglected [18]. The indicated work (W) per cycle can be estimated
from the in-cylinder pressure (P) and the cylinder volume (V) as:
(8)
The indicated thermal efficiency (ηi) can be obtained as:
(9)
Where Q is the heat added per cycle. Figure 17 shows the comparison
of indicated thermal efficiencies at various EGR rates. From Figure
17, it is seen that, the indicated thermal efficiency improves by about
2.3% at the 5% EGR rate. This is because of improved combustion
rate and proper combustion phasing, at lower EGR rate. However, in
the case of 10% and 15% EGR rate, the indicated thermal efficiency
decreases by about 5% and 19.5% respectively [38].

Figure 15. Comparison of maximum rate of pressure rise at various EGR rates

Effect of EGR Rate on Indicated Mean Effective

Pressure (IMEP)
Figure 16 shows the comparison of IMEPs at various EGR rates.
From Figure 16, it is seen that, the IMEP improves by about 2%, at
the 5% EGR rate than that of the no EGR. This is attributed to the
Figure 17. Comparison of indicated thermal efficiencies at various EGR rates
high rate of pressure rise compared to that of the no EGR. However,
it is also seen that, further addition of EGR reduces the IMEP by
about 5.3% and 19.3%, for 10% and 15% EGR rate respectively. This
is because of reduced in-cylinder pressures at higher EGR rates.
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Effect of EGR Rate on Exhaust Gas Temperature

Figure 18 shows the comparison of exhaust gas temperatures at
various EGR rates. From Figure 18, it is seen that, in general, the
exhaust gas temperature reduces with the increase in EGR rate
compared to that of the no EGR. It decreases by about 6.3%, 8% and
5.7%, with the EGR rates of 5%, 10%, and 15% respectively. From
Figure 18, it is also seen that, at the 10% EGR rate, the exhaust gas
temperature is the lowest of all. This may be because, at this EGR
rate, the rate of combustion and combustion phasing may make the
mixture to burn before the start of expansion and the burned gases
take longer time to expand and to transfer of heat. This may reduce
their temperature when they are exhausted from the cylinder [38].

Figure 20. Comparison of NOx emissions at various EGR rates at EVO

Figures 21 and 22 show the comparison of HC formations and

emissions at various EGR rates. From Figure 21, it is seen that, at the
end of expansion, the HC formation is more, with higher EGR rates.
From Figure 22, it is seen that, the HC emission at the EVO is higher
with higher EGR rates. This is because of the reduced combustion
rate as well as in-cylinder temperatures, which may not promote the
oxidation of the HC during expansion stroke [9, 12, and 14]. From
Figure 22, it is found that, the HC emissions increase by about
2.32%, at the 15% EGR as compared to that of the no EGR.

Figure 18. Comparison of exhaust gas temperatures at various EGR rates

Effect on Exhaust Emissions (NOx, HC and CO)

Figure 19 and 20 show the comparison of NOx formations and
emissions at various EGR rates. From Figure 19, it is seen that, in
general, NOx formation reduces, with the increase in EGR rate. It is
also evidenced from Figure 20 that the NOx emissions at EVO reduce
with increasing EGR rate. This is because of the overall reduction in
peak in-cylinder temperature when the EGR rate increases, thereby
reducing the formation of NOx emissions [30]. From Figure 20, it is
found that, the NOx emissions reduce by about 22.7%, 61.4% and
85.5% with the use of 5%, 10% and 15% EGR rate respectively.

Figure 21. Comparison of HC formation at various EGR rates

Figure 19. Comparison of NOx formation at various EGR rates

Figure 22. Comparison of HC emissions at various EGR rates at EVO

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Figure 23. Comparison of CO formation at various EGR rates
Figure 24. Comparison of CO emission at various EGR rates at EVO
Figures 23 and 24 show the formations of CO over CAD and CO
emissions at EVO for various EGR rates respectively. From Figure
24, it is seen that, similar to the trend of HC emissions, the CO
emissions increase with the increase of EGR rate. This might be due
to the incomplete combustion at EVO with increased EGR rate. It is
found that, CO emissions have increased by about 34.2, 42.5 and
39.9%, for the cases of EGR rates of 5, 10 and 15% respectively,
compared to that of the no EGR.
Conclusions
From the CFD analysis of a four-stoke turbocharged GDI engine, the
following conclusions are drawn:
• The in-cylinder pressures increased by about 10.4%, at 5% EGR
rate and it decreased by about 8.8% and 34.4% respectively, at
the 10% and 15% EGR rates, compared to that of the no EGR.
• The mean in-cylinder temperatures reduced by about 2.5%,
9.7%, and 22.3%, at the EGR rates of 5%, 10% and 15%
respectively, compared to that of the no EGR.
• The heat release rates reduced by about 22.5%, 56% and 68.7%,
at the EGR rates of 5%, 10% and 15% respectively, compared to
that of no EGR.
• The slopes of MFB curves reduced and the flame development
was slower with increase in EGR rates.
• Combustion duration increased by about 4.8%, 28.6% and
138%, at the EGR rates of 5%, 10% and 15%, compared to that
of the no EGR.
• The ignition delay reduced by about 16.7%, at 5% EGR rate and
increased by about 20.8% and 41.7%, at 10% and 15% of EGR
rates respectively, compared to that of the no EGR.
• The maximum rate of pressure rise increased by about 3%, at
5% EGR rate and it reduced by about 46.5% and 59.6%, at 10%
and 15% of EGR rates, compared to that of the no EGR.
• The IMEP increased by about 2%, for 5% EGR; and at the
10% and 15% EGR rates, it reduced by about 5.3% and 19.3%
respectively compared to of the no EGR.
• The indicated thermal efficiency, at 5% EGR rate, improved by
about 2.3%; and at the 10% and 15% EGR rates, it decreased by
about 5.1% and 19.5% respectively.
• The exhaust gas temperature, at EVO, decreased by about 6.3%,
8% and 5.7%, at the 5%, 10% and 15% EGR rates respectively.
But, exhaust gas temperature increased by about 2.43% at the
15% EGR compared to that of the 10% EGR.
• The NOx emissions reduced by about 22.7%, 61.4% and 85.5%,
at 5%, 10% and 15% EGR rates respectively, compared to that
of the no EGR.
• The HC emissions increased at the 15% EGR rate as compared
to that of the no EGR.
• The CO emissions increased by about 34.2%, 42.5% and 39.9%
at the 5%, 10% and 15% EGR rates respectively, compared to
that of the no EGR.
Finally, it is concluded that EGR plays an important role on the
combustion, performance and emissions characteristics of a
turbocharged GDI engine. This study shows the potential benefits of
using EGR in a GDI engine, which are becoming very popular
nowadays. The usage of EGR, not only benefits in reducing exhaust
emissions, but can also boost the thermal efficiency and power output
of an engine, because it allows one to use higher compression ratios
and turbocharging. The technique can help to meet the future emission
norms. The future work should be compatible with the upcoming
stringent emission norms and should investigate the additional benefits
of low CO2 emission, low polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)
and soot particulates in a downsized GDI engine.
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Contact Information IMEP - Indicated mean effective pressure
Priyanka D. Jadhav MFB - Mass Fraction Burn
Internal Combustion Engines Laboratory
Indian Institute of Technology Madras
jadhavpriyanka3484@gmail.com

Dr. J. M. Mallikarjuna
Internal Combustion Engines Laboratory
Indian Institute of Technology Madras
jmmallik@iitm.ac.in

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