To gain a deep understanding of the process of the fuel/air mixture formation and the role of the PM (porous medium) in mixture homogenization and combustion in a PM engine, the interaction of a pressure swirl spray and a hot porous medium was investigated computationally by using the modified KIVA-3V code in which an improved spray/hot wall interaction model was incorporated. The improved spray/hot wall interaction model fits into the regime above the Leidenfrost temperature, determines the properties of post-impingement fuel droplets and the quantity of heat transfer between the fuel droplets and a hot surface. An evaporating fuel spray impingement on a hot plane surface was simulated for validating the reasonability of the improved spray/hot wall interaction model. Numerical results compared well with experimental data for spray radius in the liquid and vapor phases. The linearized instability sheet atomization (LISA) model has been used to describe the atomization and breakup processes of the spray from the pressure swirl atomizers. The structure of a hot porous medium with porosity of 0.88 was established using a simple model. The injection, movement and vaporization of the fuel droplets inside the PM and their impingement oil the block edges was computed. Consequently, the spatial distribution and time evolution of the temperature and fuel concentration inside the PM were obtained. The influences of the operating parameters, including ambient pressure and spray cone angle, on the characteristics of the fuel spray and mixture formation were discussed based oil the numerical simulations. The basic aspects of the interaction between the pressure swirl spray and the hot porous medium have been revealed by the computational results. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.