Bulletin of the JSME Vol.9, No.

1, 2014

Journal of Thermal Science and Technology

Thermodynamic model and optimization of a miller cycle

applied on a turbocharged diesel engine
Yi CUI* and Kangyao DENG*
* Key Laboratory for Power Machinery and Engineering of Ministry of Education,
Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China
E-mail:ycui@sjtu.edu.cn

Received 13 April 2013

Abstract

A new thermodynamic model for turbocharged diesel engines is developed for Miller cycle analysis and
optimization. The effects of turbocharger efficiency, Miller degree, combustion mode, and air fuel ratio on
engine efficiency, power, and NOx emissions are analyzed by the model. Engine performance is optimized by
the thermodynamic model under the constraints of maximum cylinder pressure and NOx emissions. Although
the Miller cycle is beneficial for NOx emission control, it has adverse effects on engine thermal efficiency and
power without parameter redesign. Turbocharger efficiency is a key factor in highly boosted Miller cycle diesel
engines. The trade-off relationships among thermal efficiency, break mean effective pressure, and NOx
emissions can be improved remarkably by highly efficient turbochargers. Measures with high geometric
compression ratio and boost pressure and intensified Miller degree must be applied to reduce NOx emissions
and improve thermal efficiency simultaneously. The results provide guidance in designing a Miller cycle
system for turbocharged diesel engines.

Keywords : Miller cycle, Diesel engine, Turbocharging, Performance, NOx

1. Introduction

The effective compression ratio in a Miller cycle engine is less than the expansion ratio. This lower ratio can be
achieved by adjusting the intake valve timing. Intake air flow rate and compression temperature can be controlled by
the Miller cycle. When a Miller cycle is utilized in a gasoline engine, throttle loss at part load can be reduced and fuel
efficiency can be improved by 7% to 13% (Cleary and Silvas, 2007). The Miller cycle in a diesel engine can be utilized
to reduce combustion temperature for NOx emission control. Studies on marine diesel engines show that NOx emission
is reduced by 50% by two-stage turbocharging with deep Miller cycle (Raikio, et al., 2010; Wik and Hallback, 2007).
The Miller cycle can also be utilized in premixed charge compression ignition (PCCI) combustion as a method for
ignition timing control and operation range extension (Murata, et al., 2010).
The high thermal efficiency and power density of turbocharged diesel engines has led to the extensive use of these
engines to power vehicles and ships. Stringent emission regulations have made emission control one of the most
important issues in the application of diesel engines. For example, the emission legislation of the International Marine
Organization (IMO) Tier III, which will be executed in 2016, claims that NOx emission must be reduced to 20% of
IMO Tier I, which was executed in 2005. Miller cycle is an important measure to meet future NOx emission
regulations.
Research on the diesel engine Miller cycle can be classified into the following categories: 1) experimental and
numerical studies on the effects of Miller cycle on diesel engine in cylinder combustion (Benajes, et al., 2009;
Imperato, et al., 2010) and 2) research on matching of Miller cycle with engine systems, such as the turbocharging
system, through realistic engine cycle analysis and engine system test (Codan and Mathey, 2007; Millo, et al., 2010;
Raikio et al., 2010; Tinschmann, et al., 2008; Wang, et al., 2005; Wik and Hallback, 2007). Numerical simulation and
experimental studies reveal the difficulty of describing the entire engine system and conducting an integrated

Paper No.13-00015
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assessment of different diesel engine classes because of a large number of factors affecting the studies under realistic
conditions. Therefore, many researchers studied the performance of Miller cycle and the engine system through
analytical thermodynamic methods to determine the best engine cycle.
The effects of combustion on the power output of an endoreversible diesel engine were examined by Blank and Wu
(1993). The effects of combustion efficiency on a dual cycle containing irreversibilities from expansion and
compression processes were studied by Osman Azmi (2009). Several studies have also focused on the effects of the
variable specific heat of working fluids, heat transfer, friction, and irreversibility on the performance of different
thermodynamic cycles (Chen, et al., 2006; Hou, 2004; Ozsoysal, 2006; Parlak, 2005; Zhao and Chen, 2007). Chen et al.
(2007) obtained the characteristics of Miller cycles with losses in heat resistance, heat leak, and internal irreversibility.
Al-Sarkhi et al. (2007) studied the effects of different specific heat models on the performance of an irreversible Miller
cycle engine. Lin et al. (2008) examined the effects of the variable specific heat of working fluids, friction, and heat
loss characterized by a percentage of the fuel’s energy on the net work output and thermal efficiency of an air standard
Miller cycle.
Despite the number of studies on the effects of the specific heat of working fluids, friction, heat loss, irreversible
compression, and expansion processes on the performance of Miller cycle, the gas exchange process and effect of a
turbocharger on the Miller cycle of a turbocharged diesel engine has not been examined theoretically. Some constraints,
such as structure and thermal strength and emission limits of the engine, should also be considered in studying the
Miller cycle design of a turbocharged diesel engine.
A theoretical thermodynamic model for a turbocharged Miller cycle diesel engine was developed in this paper. The
model considered the effects of turbocharger efficiency, combustion modes, and air fuel ratio on engine performance
and developed a simple method to measure NOx emissions. The effects of geometric and effective compression ratio,
air fuel ratio, boost pressure, and turbocharger efficiency on engine power output, thermal efficiency, and NOx
emissions were analyzed. Engine performance was optimized under the constraints of maximum cylinder pressure and
NOx emissions. The results reveal some unique characteristics of the Miller cycle of turbocharged diesel engines.

Nomenclature
ap constant defined in Eq. (4)

av constant defined in Eq. (3)

cp specific heat at constant pressure

cv specific heat at constant volume
E activation energy of chemical reaction
EI NOx emission index
Hu low heating value of the fuel

k specific heat ratio

k1 constant defined in Eqs. (3) to (4)
m mass of gas in cylinder per cycle
mK
mass flow rate of compressor

mT
mass flow rate of turbine
P pressure
Pef break mean effective pressure (BMEP) defined in Eq. (21)
Q heat input or release per cycle
Rp premixed combustion fraction, defined in Eq. (1)
R gas constant
s entropy
T temperature
V volume

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Wnet net work output per cycle

Wp pumping work during gas exchange per cycle
hKs ideal isentropic compression work of compressor per mass unit

hTs ideal isentropic expansion work of turbine per mass unit

Subscripts
0 environment state
1 to 8 states defined in Fig. (1)
d cylinder displacement
s states defined in Fig. (1)
t states defined in Fig. (1)

Greek symbols
 excess air fuel ratio
V1

 geometric compression ratio, V3
V2
M 
M effective compression ratio, V3

 air fuel mass ratio

 thermal efficiency of engine cycle
TK isentropic efficiency of the turbocharger
 explosion ratio defined in Eq. (27)
p2
K 
K boost ratio of compressor, p0

p8
T T 
expansion ratio of turbine, p0

 cut off ratio defined in Eq.(28)

2. Thermodynamic model
The P–V diagram of the Miller cycle in a turbocharged diesel engine is shown in Fig. 1. Environment air is
compressed in the environment state (p0, T0) to boost pressure p2 by a compressor and then cooled to temperature T 2 by
an intercooler. The air in state (p2, T2) enters the cylinder (process s-2). Considering that it is a Miller cycle, the intake
valves are closed before the bottom dead center (at point 2). The adiabatic expansion process 2-1 occurs first when the
piston is moved downward from point 2 to bottom dead center (point 1). Adiabatic compression process 1-3 then
occurs. Processes 3-4 and 4-5 are constant volume and constant pressure combustion processes, respectively. Process
5-6 is an adiabatic expansion process, whereas process 6-7 is a constant volume exhaust process. Process 7-8-t is a
constant pressure exhaust process that occurs when the piston is moved from V1 to V3. pt is the pressure before the
turbine. We define the premixed combustion fraction as
Q34
Rp 
Q34  Q45 (1)
Q34 Q45
where and are the released heat from the fuel at constant volume and pressure, respectively. The mass of air is
much larger than that of the fuel in the cylinder of diesel engines; thus, the energy released by the fuel can be expressed
as
m
Qin  H u  Q34  Q45
 . (2)

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 

s 

t 
 
V
V3 V1

Fig. 1. P–V diagram of the Miller cycle in a turbocharged diesel engine. Environment air is compressed in the
environment state (p0, T0) to boost pressure p2 by a compressor and then cooled to temperature T2 by an
intercooler. The air in state (p2, T2) enters the cylinder (process s-2). Considering that it is a Miller cycle, the
intake valves are closed before the bottom dead center (at point 2). The adiabatic expansion process 2-1 occurs
first when the piston is moved downward from point 2 to bottom dead center (point 1). Adiabatic compression
process 1-3 then occurs. Processes 3-4 and 4-5 are constant volume and constant pressure combustion
processes, respectively. Process 5-6 is an adiabatic expansion process, whereas process 6-7 is a constant
volume exhaust process. Process 7-8-t is a constant pressure exhaust process that occurs when the piston is
moved from V1 to V3. pt is the pressure before the turbine.

We assume that the in-cylinder working fluid is air, and the specific heat values are functions of temperature alone.
cv  av  k1T
and (3)

c p  a p  k1T
(4)
cp
k c
Specific heat ratio cv varies with temperature because both p c
and v depend on temperature. Accordingly, the
parameters of the reversible adiabatic processes are calculated with following differential equation:
dT dV
ds  cv R
T V . (5)
T
Integrating Eq. (5) from temperature Ti to j and considering that ds=0, we obtain the following equation:
k1 T j  Ti   av ln   R ln
Tj Vj
Ti Vi . (6)
Therefore, the equations for adiabatic processes 2-3 and 5-6 are as follows:
T V 1
k1 T3  T2   av ln 3   R ln 3   R ln
T2 V2 M (7)
T6 V  T 
k1 T6  T5   av ln   R ln 6   R ln   4 
T5 V5  T5  . (8)
The heat released by fuel in processes 3-4 and 4-5 are
 
Q34  m cv dT  m av T4  T3   1 T4 2  T32 
T4 k
T3
 2  (9)
 
Q45  m c p dT  m a p T5  T4   1 T52  T4 2  
T5 k
T4
 2  . (10)
From Eqs. (1), (2), (9), and (10), we obtain the relations between states 3, 4, and 5.
av T4  T3   k1 T4 2  T32   Rp u
1 H
2  and (11)

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a p T5  T4   k1 T52  T4 2   1  Rp  u
1 H
2  . (12)
Process 6-7-8 is the pre-exhaust process of the engine cycle. Although the in-cylinder mass and temperature are
reduced continuously in the process, we can abstract the process into a closed process without gas exchange and with
the same pressure trace in process 6-7-8. The power output of the cycle can be calculated with the first law of
thermodynamics through this method. The temperature of states 7 and 8 can be expressed as
p
T7  8 T6
p6 (13)
T2 p
k1 T2  T8   a p ln  R ln 8
T8 p2 . (14)
The heat rejected in the environment during processes 6-7 and 7-8 is as follows:
 
Q67  m av T6  T7   1 T6 2  T7 2  
k
 2  (15)
 
Q78  m a p T7  T8   1 T7 2  T82  
k
 2 .  (16)
The pumping work during the gas exchange process s-2-8-t can be expressed by
W p  p2 V2  V3   p8 V8  V3    pdV
V8

V2

 1   p8 T3 
 mRT2 1    mRT8 1  
 M   p3 T8 
 
 m  av T2  T8   1 T22  T82  
k
 2 ,  (17)
where p8=p7 is the pressure before the turbine, which can be solved through the energy balance equation of the
turbocharger (Watson, 1982).
mK hKs  mT hTsTK
(18)
The mass flow rates of the compressor and turbine are approximately equal in diesel engines considering the large
air fuel ratio (usually larger than 24). The air temperature after intercooler is usually lower than 50 °C in marine diesel
engines, and the effect of intercooler is not considered in the model. We can therefore assume that the mass flow rates
of the compressor and turbine are equal, and the air temperature after intercooler is equal to the environment
temperature. These assumptions represent an ideal process. The theoretical analysis of the ideal process is important in
designing a Miller cycle system. The theoretical model can be simplified by these assumptions. The expansion ratio and
the pressure before the turbine can be derived from Eq. (18) as follows:
k

 T 1  kk1   k 1
 T  1  2   K  1 
 T6 TK   . (19)
The net cycle work output is provided by
Wnet  Q34  Q45  Q67  Q78  Wp
. (20)
The break mean effective pressure (BMEP) is utilized to assess the work output ability per cylinder volume.
Wnet
Pef 
V1  V3 (21)
The thermal efficiency of the cycle can be expresses as
Q67  Q78  Wp
  1
Q34  Q45
. (22)
The Miller cycle is an effective measure to reduce NOx emissions in turbocharged diesel engines. However, NOx
emissions are difficult to predict even with a detailed numerical model. The expression correlating engine out NOx
with peak cycle temperature is utilized to analyze the effect of the Miller cycle on NOx emissions (Tanvir and Steven,
1983).
 E 
EI  Cmix exp   
 RT5  . (23)

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The following expression derived from Eq. (23) is utilized to analyze the regularity of NOx emissions instead of the
actual value.
EI ' E  1 1 
ln    
EI R  T5 T5 ' 
. (24)
If the specific heat values of the cycle medium are constant, the BMEP and thermal efficiency can be simplified
into
k  M  
k
  Mk


    1  k     1 
  1
 


   1 k  M  T   
Pef  p0 K     1   
 k  1 k  1 k  1   1   K    1


 (25)
 k  k  T   1
  k  1 k  k 1   k  1 1   k
 k 1 M M  K  M
  1
   1  k     1 , (26)
where  and  are expressed by Eqs. (27) and (28).
p Rp H u
 4  1
p3  cv Mk 1T2 (27)
V H u1  R p
 5  1
V4 kH u Rp   Mk 1c pT2
. (28)
Equation (19) can also be simplified into
k

 k 1
k 1
 k 1
     Kk  1 
 T  1    
   M   TK 
k

  . (29)

3. Performance analysis and design of the Miller cycle of a turbocharged diesel engine
The performance of a turbocharged diesel engine with a Miller cycle is analyzed by the aforementioned model. The
original engine specifications are shown in Tab. 1.

Table 1. Engine specifications

Bore (mm) 190
Stroke (mm) 230
Engine speed (r/min) 1500
Mean effective pressure (bar) 24
Power per cylinder (kW/cyl) 195.8
Geometric compression ratio 16
Maximum cylinder pressure p5 (bar) 200

3.1 Sensitivity analysis

y xi
The response sensitivities of performance with respect to design parameters are defined as xi y , where y
x
represents thermal efficiency, BMEP, or NOx emissions and i represents all the impact parameters. The response
sensitivities are shown in Fig. 2. The geometric compression ratio  has an obvious positive effect on thermal efficiency
but has a negative effect on BMEP, which is in contrast with the ordinary dual cycle. Figure 1 shows that the effective
displacement of engine V2  V3 can be expressed as
  1Vd
V2  V3  M
 1 . (30)
Effective displacement is reduced when the geometric compression ratio is increased and other parameters remain
unchanged, causing a decrease in BMEP. The effects of the properties of gas on performance are expressed as the
effects of k1 defined in Eqs. (3) and (4). Engine performance with temperature-dependent gas properties obviously

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differs from that with constant gas properties. Therefore, variable specific heat values are adopted in the analysis. All
parameters except turbocharger efficiency have contradictory effects on performance, which makes the design process
a trade-off among efficiency, BMEP, and NOx emissions.

2
Rp=0.06, K=4, TK=0.5, k1=0.202J/(kgK )

Sensitivityof Sensitivity of
0.3
0.2


0.1
0.0
-0.1
1.0
0.5
Pef

0.0
-0.5
-1.0
0
Sensitivity of

-4
NOx

-8

   Rp   k 

Fig. 2 Response sensitivities of performance. The response sensitivities of performance with respect to design
y xi
parameters are defined as xi y
, where y represents thermal efficiency , break mean effective pressure P ef, or

NOx emissions and xi represents all the impact parameters.

3.2 Analysis of parameters without constraints

The effects of  and M on  and Pef when the other parameters are constant are shown in Fig. 3. Thermal efficiency
decreases slightly with the decrease in M, which is due to “Miller loss” (Codan and Mathey, 2007). The geometric
compression ratio must be reduced to improve BMEP. However, the effective compression ratio must be increased,
which means the Miller degree must be reduced. The value of M must be limited and the selection of  must be a
trade-off between efficiency and BMEP to satisfy the engine out NOx limits.
The effects of M and  on thermal efficiency and BMEP when the other parameters are constant are shown in Fig.
4. BMEP has a high value at high M and low , but the effect of  on thermal efficiency is complicated. Figure 5
illustrates the variations in net, in-cylinder, and pumping thermal efficiencies with respect to excess air fuel ratio. The
in-cylinder thermal efficiency in-cylinder and pumping thermal efficiency pump are defined as
Q  Q78
incylinder  1  67
Q34  Q45 (31)
Wp
 pump 
Q34  Q45 , (32)
where  first increases with  and reaches a peak value at =3 and then decreases when  is larger than 3. Equations
(27) and (28) show that explosion ratio  and cut off ratio  decrease when the air fuel ratio increases, thereby
improving in-cylinder. Pumping work decreases with the increase in air fuel ratio because the low exhaust temperature
reduces the difference between Ps and Pt. An optimized value of  for thermal efficiency  exists owing to the opposite
trends in pumping and in-cylinder thermal efficiencies.
Figure 6 shows the effects of boost ratio and turbocharger efficiency on engine thermal efficiency. The optimal
points for thermal efficiency move from (3.5, 0.5457) to (9, 0.5644) when turbocharger efficiency increases from 0.5 to
0.75. The improvement in thermal efficiency is mainly due to the improvement in pumping efficiency with high
turbocharger efficiency. This finding indicates that high-efficiency turbocharger systems must be employed for engines
with high BMEP and efficiency. Two-stage turbocharging systems with intercoolers with high efficiency of about 0.75
are utilized in highly boosted marine diesel engines (Raikio, et al., 2010; Wik and Hallback, 2007).

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Relative efficiency
Relative BMEP
20
Relative efficiency
0.68
19 Relative BMEP 2.8
1.04

Effective compression ratio 18 2.6

1.05

Excess air fuel ratio

17
2.4
1
16 0.95
NOx limit 0.84 1.04
2.2

15

0.96
0.85 2.0 1.03
14

13
1.8 1.04 1.2
1.01
12 1.6
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Geometric compression ratio Effective compression ratio
=α 2,= π K 4,=
R p 0.06,= ηTK 0.5 =ε 18,
= =
R p 0.06, π K 4,=
ηTK 0.5
Fig. 3. Effects of  and M on  and Pef. Fig. 4 Effects of  and  on  and Pef.
x0=[18;14;14.3*2;0.06;4];

Rp=0.06, 
0.6


0.5 in-cylinder
Efficiency

0.00
pump

-0.05
1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0
Excess air fuel ratio
Fig. 5. Variations in efficiencies (net, in-cylinder, and pumping thermal efficiencies)
with respect to excess air fuel ratio.

0.58
Rp=0.06

0.56



0.54


0.52
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
 K

Fig. 6. Influence of K and TK on thermal efficiency.

3.3 Analysis of parameters with constraints

Maximum cylinder pressure p5 is limited by engine structural strength, and maximum combustion temperature
T5
is limited by engine thermal load and NOx emission legislation in a turbocharged diesel engine in actual operating
conditions. Thus, these constraints must be considered in the analysis.
An optimization model is utilized to analyze the performance of the engine under constraints.

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max y  f ( ,  M ,  , R p ,  K )
  min   M  
    
 min max

s.t.  0  R p  R p max
1    
 K K max

 p5  pmax
(33)
where y represents thermal efficiency or BMEP and f( ) is the thermodynamic model established in Section 2. The
optimization function fmincon in MATLAB is utilized to solve optimization problems subject to nonlinear equalities
and inequalities.
Figure 7 shows the relationship between BMEP and optimized efficiency. The three curves represent optimized
thermal efficiency as it changes with effective compression ratio M under three different turbocharger efficiencies.
Excess air fuel ratio , premixed combustion fraction R p, and boost ratio K are optimized in the calculation. When
TK=0.5, efficiency obtains its maximum value of 0.556 at M=14.9. The corresponding BMEP is 21.3 bar. When TK
increases to 0.75 through an intercooler two-stage turbocharging system, thermal efficiency reaches its maximum value
of 0.58 at M=12. The corresponding BMEP is 40.2bar. The relationships between optimized efficiency and
corresponding BMEP are not monotonous when turbocharger efficiency is low. However, thermal efficiency and BMEP
increase simultaneously when TK increases to 0.75. This interaction can be explained by Fig. 6. Thermal efficiency
increases with an increase in K when TK=0.75, indicating that thermal efficiency and BMEP can be improved
simultaneously.
The engine parameters under optimized thermal efficiency when TK equals 0.5 and 0.75 are shown in Tab. 2.
Combustion temperature can be reduced by the Miller cycle. According to Eq. (24) and considering that
E/R=34300(K), NOx emissions can be reduced by nearly 40% when M is decreased from 14.9 to 12 and TK is
increased from 0.5 to 0.75. A similar effect on NOx reduction was observed in an experimental marine diesel engine
(Millo, et al., 2010; Tinschmann, et al., 2008).
45
Arrows show the deeper Miller directions

40

35
Pef(bar)

30 16
=12~16
25  1.9~2.4
Rp=0~0.06
20 
P5<200bar
15
0.55 0.56 0.57 0.58

Fig. 7. Relationship between optimized efficiency and corresponding BMEP. The three curves represent optimized
thermal efficiency as it changes with effective compression ratio M under three different turbocharger
efficiencies. Excess air fuel ratio , premixed combustion fraction R p, and boost ratio K are optimized in the
calculation.

Tab. 2. Engine parameters under optimized thermal efficiency

Given values TK 0.5 0.75
 16 16
M 14.9 12
 0.556 0.58
Values under Pef (bar) 21.3 40.2
optimized thermal  2.4 2.4
efficiency Rp 0.06 0.06
K 2.68 6
p5 (bar) 118.1 200

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 Cui and Deng, Journal of Thermal Science and Technology, Vol.9, No.1 (2014)

T5 (K) 1826.5 1778.6

The Pareto optimality of thermal efficiency and BMEP under engine strength and thermal restrictions are shown in
Fig. 8. The Pareto frontier achieves high efficiency and BMEP when turbocharger efficiency is improved. In general,
the maximum cylinder temperature is reduced when turbocharger efficiency is increased.

M=12~20, Rp=0~1, K=1~9, P5<200bar

60 2400
=0.5
=0.6 2200
50
=0.75 2000
40
1800
Pef (bar)

T5 (K)
30 1600

1400
20
1200
10
1000
0.61 0.62 0.63 0.64 0.65 0.66

Fig. 8. Pareto optimality of thermal efficiency and BMEP under different turbocharger efficiencies.

3.4 Parameter optimization design

The Miller cycle, that is, low effective compression ratio is utilized for in-cylinder temperature reduction to reduce
NOx emissions. Boost pressure is increased simultaneously to compensate for the negative effect of the Miller cycle on
BMEP. Figure 6 shows that highly boosted engines require a high-efficiency turbocharger system to maintain thermal
efficiency.
A marine diesel engine, the specifications of which are shown in Tab. 1, is redesigned by the optimization model to
address the more stringent NOx emission regulations as shown in Eq. (34). Compression ratio  can be adjusted
between 13 to 20 by changing the height of the piston head without modifying the basic structure and displacement of
the engine. The lower bound value, which is 13 in the model, is determined based on the cold start ability for effective
compression ratio M. Excess air fuel ratio is obtained between 1.9 to 2.4 to meet the demands of combustion at rated
conditions. The combustion of a turbocharged marine diesel engine at rated conditions is a diffusion combustion; thus,
Rp is less than 0.06 in the model. Considering that a two-stage turbocharging system is optional, the upper limit of
p5  p5original
boost ratio K is set at 9. The basic mechanical structure of the engine is determined, and the constraint is
considered.

max   f ( ,  M ,  , R p ,  K )
 13    20
 13   M  

 1.9    2.4

 0  R p  0.06
s.t. 
1 K  9

 Pef  Pef original

 p5  p5original
 NOx  (0.5 ~ 0.9) NOx
 original
(34)

The optimization results are shown in Tab. 3. NOx emissions can be reduced to 80% of its original value by the
Miller cycle (=20, M=13) when BMEP, TK, and P5 retain their original values. Thermal efficiency can be improved
from 55.7% to 58.2%. Fuel consumption can be reduced by 4% based on the relationship between thermal efficiency
and fuel consumption. Unlike the original engine, the optimization measures reduce the exhaust temperature despite the
same work output because there is less heat absorption at high temperature. Boost ratio is increased from 2.6 to 3.73 to
compensate for the low volumetric efficiency of the Miller cycle and to maintain the original power.

Tab. 3. Original and optimized engine parameters

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 Cui and Deng, Journal of Thermal Science and Technology, Vol.9, No.1 (2014)

Parameter Original Optimized

BMEP (bar) 24
TK (%) 64
P5 (bar) 127
 16 20
M 16 13

 2.2 2.12
K 2.6 3.73
Rp 0.06 0.012
T5 (K) 1928 1904
 (%) 55.7 58.2
Relative NOx emission (%) 100 80

Figure 9 shows the effects of NOx emissions and turbocharger efficiency on engine parameters when BMEP and
maximum cylinder pressure are equal to the original values. Thermal efficiency decreases slightly with the decrease in
NOx emission. In contrast, air fuel ratio and boost ratio increase with a relative decrease in NOx emission, thus
providing more fresh air into the cylinder. This occurrence leads to low combustion temperature. Premixed combustion
fraction Rp also decreases for the same reason with the decrease in NOx emission. Turbocharger efficiency has positive
effects not only on thermal efficiency but also on engine power.

0.60

0.59


0.58
2.2


2.1
 
0.02
Rp

0.00
3.8
3.7


3.6
1.0 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5
Relative NOx emission

Fig. 9. Influence of NOx emission limits and turbocharger efficiency on engine parameters. BMEP and maximum
cylinder pressure are equal to the original values.

The design results are validated by a numerical cycle simulation model established with GT-POWER software
(GT-POWER User's Manual, 2004). In order to compare with the thermodynamic model, the heat and friction losses
are ignored, and the gas exchange processes are idealized in the numerical simulation model. The results of
GT-POWER model are listed in Tab. 4. The comparison of P-V diagrams under optimized parameters is shown in Fig.
10. It is shown that the results of the two models are coincident with each other.

Tab. 4. Results of GT-POWER model

(original and optimized engine parameters)
Parameter Original Optimized
BMEP (bar) 24
TK (%) 64
P5 (bar) 127
 16 20

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 Cui and Deng, Journal of Thermal Science and Technology, Vol.9, No.1 (2014)

M 16 13
 2.02 1.92
K 2.6 3.73
T5 (K) 1828 1783
 (%) 53.9 56.1
Relative NOx emission (%) 100 56

100
P (bar)

10
GT-POWER model
Thermodynamic model

1
0.1 1
V/Vmax

Fig. 10. The comparison of P-V diagrams under optimized parameters. The heat and friction losses are ignored, and the
gas exchange processes are idealized in the numerical simulation model.

4. Conclusions
A Miller cycle thermodynamic model for turbocharged diesel engines was established in this paper. The effects of
many parameters on engine efficiency, power, and NOx emissions were analyzed. The performance of a marine diesel
engine was optimized. The results are summarized as follows:
(1) A slight negative effect of the Miller cycle on thermal efficiency was observed when other parameters remained
unchanged.
(2) The geometric compression ratio of the Miller cycle has a negative effect on engine power because of the less
effective displacement characterized by an increase in geometric compression ratio.
(3) Turbocharger efficiency has positive effects on both thermal efficiency and power output without side effects on
engine structure strength and NOx emissions. Therefore, a high-efficiency turbocharging system is essential to improve
engine efficiency and power output.
(4) An optimized air fuel ratio for engine efficiency exists because of the opposite effects on in-cylinder and
pumping efficiency.
(5) Unlike the original turbocharged diesel engine, the engine with a Miller cycle has a lower effective compression
ratio, higher geometric compression ratio, higher boost pressure, and lower premixed combustion fraction. The Miller
cycle reduces NOx emissions and improves thermal efficiency without side effects on engine structure reliability.

Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank the support of the National Pre-Research Project (Project No. 4010103010403) on this
work.

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