Waseda University · Chemical Engineering
Professor Ratnak Sok's research lab specializes in advanced internal combustion engine (ICE) technologies, focusing on combustion modeling, virtual sensing, and energy recovery systems. The lab conducts experimental and numerical investigations on lean and ultra-lean combustion, laminar flame speed characterization, and high-efficiency engine operation using detailed chemical mechanisms and reduced kinetic models. Key research directions include developing neural network-based virtual sensors for real-time engine control, optimizing lean-boost and high-tumble combustion strategies, and evaluating thermoelectric generator (TEG) integration for improved fuel efficiency and emissions reduction in modern ICEs, particularly in CNG and hybridized engines.
Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.
<div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">Primary work is to investigate premixed laminar flame propagation in a constant volume chamber of iso-octane/air combustion. Experimental and numerical results are investigated by comparing flame front displacements under lean to rich conditions. As the laminar flame depends on equivalence ratio, temperature, and pressure conditions, it is a main property for chemical reaction mechanism validation. Firstly, one-dimensional
Physical sensors are commonly used to record performance data of internal combustion engines (ICEs) for online feedback control and calibration, but they are prone to diagnostic and increased development costs. Lookup tables are commonly used in conventional calibration and feedback control; however, the table parameters increase with the advancement of ICE technologies under transient operations. Consequently, the calibration and control systems are time-consuming. This work proposes novel virt
<div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">This paper focuses on an assessment of predictive combustion model using a 0D/1D simulation tool under high load, different excess air ratio <i>λ</i> , and different combustion stabilities (based on coefficient of variation of indicated mean effective pressure <i>COV<sub>imep</sub></i>). To consider that, crank angle resolved data of experimental pressure of 500 cycles are recorded under
This paper aims to improve thermal efficiency of spark ignition engine by numerical calculation with detailed chemistry. Experimental results from a four-stroke-single-cylinder engine are compared with that of simulations. It is experimentally found that peak efficiency is achieved at lean-limit combustion under excess air ratio λ=1.6. Due to engine output power loss, further investigations are conducted under lean-boost operations. The best condition of the lean-boost mode is at λ=1.3 and 150 k
Abstract The turbulent combustion in gasoline engines is highly dependent on laminar flame speed SL. A major issue of the quasi-dimensional (QD) combustion model is an accurate prediction of the SL, which is unstable under low engine speeds and ultra-lean mixture. This work investigates the applicability of the combustion model with a refined SL correlation for evaluating the combustion characteristics of a high-tumble port gasoline engine operated under ultra-lean mixtures. The SL correlation i
Abstract Using thermoelectric generators (TEG) to reduce exhaust heat loss from internal combustion engines can improve emissions and the fuel economy of conventional and electrified vehicles. However, TEG potentials have not been investigated in hybridized, compressed natural gas (CNG), twin-turbocharged, and spark-ignited (SI) engines. This work demonstrates TEG's effectiveness in boosting a hybridized 3.0 L CNG engine using model-based development. TEG experiments are performed to measure the
<div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">The objective of this paper is to investigate the potential of lean burn combustion to improve the thermal efficiency of spark ignition engine. Experiments used a single cylinder gasoline spark ignition engine fueled with primary reference fuel of octane number 90, running at 4000 revolution per minute and at wide open throttle. Experiments were conducted at constant fueling rate and in order to lean the mixture, more air
<div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">Natural gas has been used in spark-ignition (SI) engines of natural gas vehicles (NGVs) due to its resource availability and stable price compared to gasoline. It has the potential to reduce carbon monoxide emissions from the SI engines due to its high hydrogen-to-carbon ratio. However, short running distance is an issue of the NGVs. In this work, methodologies to improve the fuel economy of a heavy-duty commercial truck u
<div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">A major issue of battery electric vehicles (BEV) is optimizing driving range and energy consumption. Under actual driving, transient thermal and electrical performance changes could deteriorate the battery cells and pack. These performances can be investigated and controlled efficiently with a thermal management system (TMS) via model-based development. A complete battery pack contains multiple cells, bricks, and modules w
Gasoline Direct Injection Homogeneous Charge Compression (GDI-HCCI) combustion is achieved by closing early the exhaust valves for trapping hot residual gases combined with direct fuel injection. The combustion is chemically controlled by multi-point auto-ignition which its main combustion phase can be controlled by direct injection timing of fuel. This work investigates the effect of single pulse injection timing on a supercharged GDI-HCCI combustion engine by using a four-stroke single cylinde
Abstract The oxygen-depleted environment in the recompression stroke can convert gasoline fuel into light hydrocarbons due to thermal cracking, partial oxidation, and water-gas shift reactions. These reformate species can influence the combustion characteristics of gasoline direct injection homogeneous charge compression ignition (GDI-HCCI) engines. In this work, the combustion phenomena are investigated using a single-cylinder research engine under a medium load. The main combustion phases are
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