Effect of Intensified Swirl and Squish on the Performance of a Lean Burn Engine Operated on LPG 2000-01-1951

Experiments were conducted to assess the relative effects of swirl (by using a masked intake valve and by providing swirl grooves on the piston crown) and squish on the performance, emission and combustion characteristics of a lean burn engine operating on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) at a compression ratio of 10.5 under 20% and 100% throttle opening conditions. The swirl produced by the masked intake valve configuration at 100% throttle opening resulted in improved thermal efficiency and reduced HC emission, cyclic variations, ignition delay & combustion duration as compared to swirl groove piston and enhanced squish piston. The lean misfire limit was extended and there was no increase in the NO level at any given power output. At 20% throttle with high squish, under lean mixture conditions, combustion is even better than the masked valve configuration. The combined swirl and squish configuration resulted in a small extension of the lean misfire limit and no significant change in the performance.