Search Results

Design of Experiments (DoE) methodologies have been applied in conjunction with objective functions to the experimental optimization of multiple injection strategies for a small displacement Common Rail (CR) off-road diesel engine. One operating point, which corresponds to the 5th mode of the ISO 8178 - C1 test cycle (intermediate speed / full load), was considered during this analysis: this operating condition is one of the most critical as far as exhaust emissions for the considered engine are concerned. Three injections were actuated per engine cycle during the experimental tests, with different strategies characterized by different timings and durations of each injection. It was found that DoE techniques for the reduction of experimental plans can be very effective in finding the optimum values for the injection parameters, leading to a remarkable reduction in the calibration process time, compared to full factorial designs.

The influence of pilot injection timing and quantity on soot, NOx, combustion noise and bsfc has been analyzed on a passenger car DI Diesel engine prototype equipped with a common rail fuel injection system. The investigated engine operating points were 1500/5, 2000/2, 2500/8 rpm/bar, which are quite typical of EC driving cycles. For each of these operating conditions, the pilot injection quantity was varied by up to 15% of the total injected quantity and the pilot injection timing was varied between 32° and 1° crank angle degrees. The principal combustion characteristics were determined on the basis of the heat release, and a thorough statistical analysis was performed to infer the correlation between the combustion parameters and soot and NOx emissions.

The influence of different multiple injection strategies on the emissions, combustion noise and BSFC (brake specific fuel consumption) of a small non-road diesel engine prototype equipped with a Common Rail (CR) fuel injection system has been analysed. The two most critical operating points according to the ISO 8178 - C1 test cycle as far as the exhaust emissions are concerned (Intermediate Speed/Full Load; Rated Speed/Full Load) were considered. Different injection strategies, each with a fixed number of consecutive injections (up to 4), were tested for the selected operating points. It was found that multiple injection strategies can be very effective also for small displacement non-road diesel engines in reducing particulate matter (PM), NOx and noise levels without increasing fuel consumption.

High pressure common-rail injection systems nowadays allow a very high degree of flexibility in the timing and quantity control of multiple injections, which can be used to obtain significant reductions in engine noise and emissions. The aim of this study is to develop a better understanding of the relationship between injection strategies and the combustion and emission formation process. Some multiple injection strategies (pilot-pilot-main and pilot-main-after) have therefore been analyzed to highlight their influence on soot, NOx, combustion noise and bsfc (brake specific fuel consumption) on a passenger car DI Diesel engine prototype. One operating point (2000×2 rpm/bar) was analyzed for the pilot-pilot-main injection strategy while two operating points (1500×5 and 2500×8 rpm/bar) were tested for the pilot-main-after injection strategy.

The effect of variations of compression ratio (CR) and injection pressure (IP) on the emissions and performance of a small displacement common rail off-road diesel engine was evaluated. The operating point corresponding to the 5th mode of the ISO 8178 - C1 test cycle (intermediate speed / full load) was considered, since it represents one of the most critical operating conditions as far as exhaust emissions are concerned. The main effect of a reduction of the compression ratio, for a fixed injection timing, was found to be, as expected, an increase in NOx emissions along with a decrease of PM emissions, with a substantial redefinition of the PM-NOx trade-off curve; the choice of a proper value for the start of injection can therefore lead to a better compromise among pollutant emissions, although remarkable variations in BSFC and combustion noise must be taken into account.

The influence of injection pressure on the performance of a FIAT passenger car Diesel engine prototype equipped with a Common Rail Fuel Injection System has been investigated. An increase of the injection pressure from 1300 up to 1500 bar, during this research, has permitted the assessment of the effect of this parameter on the maximum power and on the smoke emissions. The tests were performed at 4000 rpm, with an equal mass of injected fuel. The influence of the injection advance has also been taken into consideration during this experimental analysis. The in-cylinder pressure was first detected and recorded, together with the brake torque and emissions; the in-cylinder pressure was then used for the determination of the principal combustion characteristics, on the basis of the heat release analysis. Finally, higher injection pressure could be used as an effective parameter to increase the maximum power angular speed.

A production six-hole conical sac-type nozzle incorporating a quartz window in one of the injection holes has been used in order to visualize the flow under cavitating flow conditions. Simultaneous variation of both the injection and the back chamber pressures allowed images to be obtained at various cavitation and Reynolds numbers for two different fixed needle lifts corresponding to the first- and the second-stage lift of two-stage injectors. The flow visualization system was based on a fast and high resolution CCD camera equipped with high magnification lenses which allowed details of the various flow regimes formed inside the injection hole to be identified. From the obtained images both hole cavitation initiated at the top inlet corner of the hole as well as string cavitation formed inside the sac volume and entering into the hole from the bottom corner, were identified to occur at different cavitation and Reynolds numbers.