Simulation Study of Cylinder-to-Cylinder Variation Phenomena and Key Influencing Factors in a Six-Cylinder Natural Gas Engine

Demin Jia, Qi Cao, Xiaoying Xu, Zhenlin Wang, Dan Wang () and Hongqing Wang
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Demin Jia: State Key Laboratory of Engine and Powertrain System, 197A Fushou East Street, Weifang 261001, China
Qi Cao: State Key Laboratory of Engine and Powertrain System, 197A Fushou East Street, Weifang 261001, China
Xiaoying Xu: State Key Laboratory of Engine and Powertrain System, 197A Fushou East Street, Weifang 261001, China
Zhenlin Wang: State Key Laboratory of Engine and Powertrain System, 197A Fushou East Street, Weifang 261001, China
Dan Wang: State Key Laboratory of Automotive Chassis Integration and Bionics, Jilin University, Changchun 130025, China
Hongqing Wang: State Key Laboratory of Automotive Chassis Integration and Bionics, Jilin University, Changchun 130025, China

Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 15, 1-21

Abstract: Cylinder-to-cylinder variation (CTCV) is a prevalent issue for natural gas (NG) premixed engines with port fuel injection (PFI), which significantly impacts the engine’s power performance, fuel economy, and reliability. Focusing on this issue, this study established a three-dimensional simulation platform based on a six-cylinder natural gas premixed engine. Quantitative analysis was conducted to discuss the differences in the main boundaries, combustion process, and engine power between cylinders. Additionally, influencing factors of CTCV were explored in terms of mixture uniformity and distribution uniformity. The results indicate that, for the NG premixed engine, many parameters vary significantly between cylinders even under the economical operating condition of 1200 rpm. For example, the difference rate in the peak cylinder pressure and peak phase between cylinder 3 and cylinder 2 can reach 23.5% and 24.3%, respectively. Through the design of simulation cases, it was found that improving the mixture uniformity had a more significant impact on CTCV than improving the distribution uniformity. For example, the relative standard deviation (RSD) of peak pressure decreased by 2.15% through mixture uniformity improvement, while it only decreased by 0.39% through distribution uniformity improvement. At a high speed of 1800 rpm, the influence of distribution uniformity on CTCV increased notably, but the influence of mixture uniformity still remained greater than that of distribution uniformity.

Keywords: natural gas engine; port fuel injection; cylinder-to-cylinder variation; mixture uniformity; distribution uniformity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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