Evaluation of Methanol Sprays in Marine Internal Combustion Engines: a Case Study for Port Fuel Injection Systems

Abstract

Methanol has emerged as a cost-effective and scalable alternative fuel for the maritime sector. However, the use of methanol in marine engines is limited by the unknown characteristics of methanol sprays when introduced through retrofitted port fuel injection (PFI) systems. The present study investigates the characteristics of methanol sprays under relevant conditions for marine engines, such as low injection pressure PFI. The primary objective of this research is to advance knowledge into key spray characteristics, including spray penetration, droplet size, atomization quality, and evaporation. The proposed methodology evaluates the efficacy of state-of-the-art computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models in simulating PFI marine engine spray conditions. Moreover, the study compares the performance of the Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH-RT) and Taylor Analogy Breakup (TAB) droplet breakup models under low injection pressure conditions. The results demonstrated that the KH-RT model does not predict any droplet breakup occurrence suggesting that the TAB model is more suitable for the given conditions. Furthermore, the liquid penetration of the spray was observed to align with the outcomes reported in previous experimental literature on methanol sprays. Nevertheless, the droplet sizes for low pressure injectors appear relatively large, indicating poor spray atomization, which impedes rapid evaporation and increases the risk of wall wetting in the inlet manifold and combustion chamber.