Validation of CRDI Low-Power Diesel Engine for Diesel Generator Set as a Renewable Energy Source in Microgrid

In the recent trend of technology, the application of computer programming-based software to decode technical problems about the dynamics and combustion of internal combustion engines has become easier. However, professional packages like Ansys Forte, Converge, AVL Fire GT-Power, etc., are costlier and difficult to access for small researchers. Diesel-RK is considered one of the important and reliable open-source software for researchers in the current situation, because of its capability to simulate the combustion and thermodynamic cycles of diesel engines free of cost. An effort was made here to simulate the combustion phenomenon in a low-capacity diesel engine using the Diesel-RK. The simulation process was carried out from data available from experiments conducted and data received from the work of other researchers. The simulation results were compared and validated with experimental results and literature results. The testing was carried out on a mono-cylinder, four-stroke direct ignition, light-duty diesel engine installed as a stationary power source (Diesel generator set) in a microgrid. Results from the simulation showed a fair agreement between the modeling and experimental values. Validation results ensure the accuracy of the numerical predictions. From the results, it is evident that the Diesel-RK software can be one of the reliable CFD software for modeling and simulating the combustion of light-duty diesel engines used as diesel generator sets (DG set). Not only for light-duty diesel engines but also for all other internal combustion engine cycles, it facilitates equally accurate results.