En el presente trabajo se sintetizan los resultados de la aplicación de modelos matemáticos para aspectos físico-químicos avanzados aplicados al proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje de la asignatura de Combustión para alumnos de lngeniería. Estos modelos han sido desarrollados previamente en el ámbito investigador, y posteriormente adaptados como herramientas docentes. El objetivo de las mismas es complementar los casos vistos en el aula, donde se trabaja con métodos de resolución simplificados, con estudios más realistas que únicamente son abordables computacionalmente debido a la mayor complejidad matemática. En el artículo se presentan los fundamentos de las herramientas utilizadas, se describe la metodología usada para su adaptación al ámbito docente y, finalmente, se evalúa el impacto de su implementación tanto en los resultados de aprendizaje de los alumnos como en su grado de satisfacción final.

The more and more stringent emissions regulations, together with the greater fuel economy demanded by vehicle users, impose a clear objective to researchers and engine manufacturers: look for the maximum efficiency with the minimum pollutant emissions levels.The conventional diesel combustion is a highly efficient process, but also leads to high levels of NOx and soot emissions that require using aftertreatment systems to reduce the final levels released to the environment. Since these systems incur in higher costs of acquisition and operation of the engine, the scientific community is working on developing alternative strategies to reduce the generation of these pollutants during the combustion process itself.The literature shows that the new combustion modes based on promoting low temperatures during this process, offer high efficiency and very low NOx and soot levels simultaneously. However, after years of investigation, it can be concluded that these techniques cannot be applied in the whole engine operating range due to, among others, factors like the low control of the combustion process. In recent years, it has been demonstrated that the dual-fuel combustion technique allows to overcome this limitation thanks to the additional degree of freedom provided by the capacity of modulating the fuel reactivity depending on the engine operating conditions. This characteristic, together with the near-zero NOx and soot levels obtained with this technique, has encouraged the scientific community to deeply investigate the dual-fuel combustion. In this sense, former works confirm the advantages previously described, concluding that still exist some limitations to be tackled, as well as some margin for improving the potential of this combustion concept.The general objective of the present doctoral thesis is to contribute to the understanding of the dual-fuel combustion mode, with the particular aim of exploring different ways to improve its efficiency. For this purpose, it has been experimentally evaluated different options such as the modification of the engine operating parameters, specific designs of the piston geometry or the use of alternative fuels.With the aim of answering some of the questions found in the literature, the first part of each study has been dedicated to perform a detailed analysis of the influence of each particular strategy on the dual-fuel operation at low load. Later, it has been checked the ability of each option to extend the dual-fuel operating range towards higher engine loads. It is interesting to note that the analysis of some results has been supported by CFD calculations, which have allowed to understand some local phenomena occurring during the dual-fuel combustion process, which cannot be confirmed only from the experimental point of view.Finally, taking into account the knowledge acquired during the different studies performed, the last chapter of results has been devoted to evaluate the ability of the dual-fuel concept to operate over the whole engine map, as well as to iden...