Exploring the application prospects of turbulent jet ignition mode on direct injection methanol/gasoline Wankel rotary engine

Turbulent Jet Ignition (TJI) technology influences the ignition process of Wankel rotary engines (WREs) by modifying the flow field. Therefore, to investigate the impact of injection strategy on the combustion process of the TJI-WRE, a computational model for the direct injection TJI-WRE with a methanol/gasoline blend as fuel was developed and validated against experimental data. The results indicated that earlier injection timing could lead to the appearance of in-cylinder low fuel concentration areas, and later injection timing could lead to the appearance of low fuel concentration areas in the pre-chamber and cylinder, both of which were detrimental to the formation and development of jet flame. Meanwhile, the vortex generated by the collision between the jet flame and the surface of the rotor piston contributed to enhancing the flame propagation speed. As expected, the injection strategy could alter the flame propagation rate by affecting the process of TJI. Moreover, with the appropriate injection strategy, the indicated work and indicated thermal efficiency of the WRE using TJI reached their highest values of 84.9 J and 33%, respectively.