CFD code for internal combustion engines
A CFD code written for internal combustion engines: reacting flow, sprays and detailed chemistry in one parallel solver, with a desktop program to set up, run and inspect a case.
What is inside
FRESCO has been in development since the 2010s and has been used in published research with universities and national laboratories.
Finite-volume engine CFD
Multi-dimensional reacting flow on unstructured meshes with moving pistons and valves, parallel with MPI and domain decomposition.
Detailed kinetics with SpeedCHEM
Sparse analytical-Jacobian chemistry that makes large reaction mechanisms affordable inside an engine simulation.
Lagrangian sprays and wall films
Droplet tracking with atomization, collision and vaporization models, wall film dynamics, and multi-component fuels.
Flame and ignition models
G-equation flame propagation, spark ignition kernels and dual-fuel combustion, next to direct integration of the chemistry.
Automated mesh generation
Engine meshes generated from the geometry, including sector meshes of a piston bowl built from a few dimensions.
A program, not only a solver
Projects, settings with input checking, run control, plots and a 3-D viewport in one window, with light and dark themes and built-in help.
SpeedCHEM
The chemical kinetics library I have been developing since 2010. Its sparse algebra, analytical Jacobians and tabulated thermodynamic functions make the cost of chemistry grow almost linearly with the size of the reaction mechanism.
SpeedCHEM also runs on its own from the command line and from the desktop program:
- Constant-volume and constant-pressure reactors, ignition delay
- Stirred reactors and 1-D laminar flame speed
- Chemical equilibrium and fuel-air mixture composition
- Ignition delay and knock tables
- Reaction mechanism reduction and optimisation
Where it is going
FRESCO is being prepared for its first commercial release. Until then I use it in my consulting projects, and I give early access to a small number of teams who want to try it on their engines and tell me what is missing.
If you want a demonstration, an evaluation on one of your cases, or a development that your application needs, write to me.
Papers about FRESCO and SpeedCHEM
- F. Perini and R.D. Reitz, “FRESCO – an object-oriented, parallel platform for internal combustion engine simulations”, 28th International Multidimensional Engine Modeling User's Group Meeting, Detroit, 2018.
- F. Perini, S. Bnà, E. Pascolo, I. Spisso, R.D. Reitz, “Robust preconditioning techniques for iterative solvers in scalable engine simulations using FRESCO”, 29th International Multidimensional Engine Modeling User's Group Meeting, Detroit, 2019.
- F. Perini, E. Galligani, R.D. Reitz, “An analytical Jacobian approach to sparse reaction kinetics for computationally efficient combustion modelling with large reaction mechanisms”, Energy & Fuels 26 (8), 2012.