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Homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) is an advanced combustion concept that is developed as an alternative to diesel engines with higher thermal efficiency along with ultralow NOx and PM emissions. To study the performance of this novel technique, experiments were performed in a two cylinder engine, in which one cylinder is modified to operate in HCCI mode while other cylinder operates in conventional CI mode. The quality of homogeneous mixture of air and fuel is the key feature of HCCI combustion. Low volatility of diesel is a major hurdle in achieving HCCI combustion because it is difficult to make a homogeneous mixture of air and fuel. This problem is resolved by external mixture preparation technique in uses a dedicated diesel vaporizer with an electronic control system. All the injection parameters such as fuel quantity, fuel injection timing, injection delay etc., are controlled by the injection driver circuit.

In this study, macroscopic spray characteristics of Waste cooking oil (WCO), Jatropha oil, Karanja oil based biodiesels and baseline diesel were compared under simulated engine operating condition in a constant volume spray chamber (CVSC). The high pressure and high temperature ambient conditions of a typical diesel engine were simulated in the CVSC by performing pre-ignition before the fuel injection. The spray imaging was conducted under absence of oxygen in order to prevent the fuels from igniting. The ambient pressure and temperature for non-evaporating condition were 3 MPa and 300 K. Meanwhile, the spray tests were performed under the ambient pressure and temperature of 4.17 MPa and 804 K under evaporating condition. The fuels were injected by a common-rail injection system with injection pressure of 80 MPa. High speed Mie-scattering technique was employed to visualize the evaporating sprays.

Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI) engine is known for its higher power and higher thermal efficiency. Researchers are steadily determining and resolving the problems of fuel injection in a GDI engine. In order to meet the stringent emission norms such as PM and NOx emitted by a GDI engine, it is necessary to investigate the microscopic spray characteristics and fuel-air mixing process. This paper aims to share the fundamental knowledge of the interacting mixture preparation mechanisms at the wide range of fuel injection pressures. The investigations were carried out at five different fuel injection pressures viz: 40, 80, 120, 160, 200 bar, for 24 mg fuel per injection. A high speed CCD camera was used to determine the macroscopic spray characteristics of the GDI injector. It was found that spray penetration length increased with increasing fuel injection pressure. Phase Doppler Interferometry (PDI) was used to determine the droplet size and droplet velocity for different test fuels.

Premixed charge compression ignition (PCCI) combustion is an advanced combustion technique, which has the potential to be operated by alternative fuels such as alcohols. PCCI combustion emits lower oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and particulate matter (PM) and results thermal efficiency similar to conventional compression ignition (CI) engines. Due to extremely high heat release rate (HRR), PCCI combustion cannot be used at higher engine loads, which make it difficult to be employed in production grade engines. This study focused on development of an advanced combustion engine, which can operate in both combustion modes such as CI combustion as well as PCCI combustion mode. This Hybrid combustion system was controlled by an open engine control unit (ECU), which varied the fuel injection parameters for mode switching between CI and PCCI combustion modes.

The Homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) is the third alternative for the combustion in the reciprocating engine. HCCI a hybrid of well-known spark ignition (SI) and compression ignition (CI) engine concepts and has potential of combining the best features of both. A two cylinder, four stroke, direct injection diesel engine was modified to operate one cylinder on the compression ignition by detonation of homogeneous mixture of ethanol and air. The homogeneous mixture of the charge is prepared by port injection of ethanol in the preheated Intake air. This study presents results of experimental investigations of HCCI combustion of ethanol at intake air temperature of 120°C and at different air-fuel ratios. In this paper, the combustion parameters, pressure time history, rate of pressure rise, rate of heat release, mean temperature history in the combustion chamber is analyzed and discussed.

Indian Railways have a fleet of high-horsepower diesel-electric locomotives rated at 2310 kW. These high horsepower diesel-electric locomotives have evolved from original design of 1940 kW locomotives. Adoption of new design turbochargers was essential for this upgrading efforts and a series of new design turbochargers were evaluated on the engine test-bed before their use on the diesel locomotives. The objective was to increase engine power output, improve fuel efficiency and limit thermal loading. Test-bed evaluation of different turbochargers was carried out for comparing five different turbochargers. Each turbocharger had different size nozzle ring, diffuser, turbine blade assembly, impeller and inducer. The compressor maps of turbochargers were used to plot the engine load lines and to calculate surge margins. The tests involved measuring critical parameters for various combinations of engine speed and load for every turbocharger.

This study was set out to characterize particulate emissions from diesel engines in terms of poly aromatic hydrocarbon emissions and Benzene Soluble Organic Fraction. The characteristics of DPM vary with engine operating conditions, quality of fuel and lubricants being used. Hence the diesel exhaust for the purpose of toxicity characterization needs to be studied for Organic Matter in terms of Poly Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) and Benzene Soluble Fraction (BSF). Therefore, the objectives of the present research are to characterize the diesel exhaust particulate matter for the above parameters under varying engine operating conditions/loads. Six PAHs, namely Chrysene, Benzo (k) Flouranthene, Benzo (a) Pyrene, Dibenzo (a, h) Anthracene, Benzo (g,h,i) Perylene and Indenopyrene were analyzed on High Pressure Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). PAH concentrations in the particulates of Mahindra DI engine were affected by engine loads.

Use of alternative fuels, and reduction of particulate and NOx emissions are major challenges for making diesel engines environmentally benign. Measures adopted for reducing gravimetric particulate emissions necessarily always do not reduce particulate number concentration, which is strongly related with adverse health effects. Current emission norms in some parts of the world limit particulate number concentration along with particulate mass. In this scenario, it becomes important to investigate effect of fuel injection parameters and fuel injection strategies such as pilot injections on particulate size-number distribution. A single cylinder research engine is used to evaluate the effect of different fuel injection strategies and injection timings (for pilot and main injections) on particulate size-number distribution and total particulate numbers.

New combustion concepts developed in internal combustion engines such as homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) have attracted serious attention due to the possibilities to simultaneously achieve higher efficiency and lower emissions, which will impact the environment positively. The HCCI combustion concept has potential of ultra-low NOX and particulate matter (PM) emission in comparison to a conventional gasoline or a diesel engine. Environmental Legislation Agencies are becoming increasingly concerned with particulate emissions from engines because the health and environmental effects of particulates emitted are now known and can be measured by sophisticated instruments. Particulate emissions from HCCI engines have been usually considered negligible, and the measurement of mass emission of PM from HCCI combustion systems shows their negligible contribution to PM mass. However some recent studies suggest that PM emissions from HCCI engines cannot be neglected.

The rising concerns of emissions have put enormous strain on the automotive industry. Industry is, therefore looking for next-generation engines and advanced combustion technologies with ultra-low emissions and high efficiency. To achieve this, more insights into the combustion and pollutant formation processes in IC engines is required. Since conventional measures have not been insightful, in-situ measurement of combustion and pollution formation through optical diagnostics is being explored. Gaining full optical access into the diesel engine combustion chamber is a challenging task. The late-compression flow dynamics is not well understood due to limited access into the engine combustion chamber. These flow structures contribute immensely to fuel-air mixing and combustion. The objective of this study is to understand the role of combustion chamber design on vertical plane air-flow structures.

Biodiesel made from Jatropha oil by transesterification process has viscosity and other important physical properties comparable to mineral diesel hence it can be used as an alternate fuel in conventional diesel engines. It is important to investigate the spray characteristics of biodiesel because emissions from the engines are dependent on fuel atomization process and resulting fuel-air mixing. This study focuses on the Jatropha biodiesel spray investigations using Phase Doppler Interferometry (PDI) for measurement of various microscopic spray parameters such as Sauter mean diameter (SMD) and spray droplet size and velocity distributions. The spray and engine experiments were carried out for Jatropha biodiesel (JB100) and their 20% blends (JB20) with mineral diesel as baseline. Fuel injection pressure during the spray experiments was maintained at 200 bars for all tests, quite similar to small horse power agricultural engines, and the fuel injection quantity was varied.

This paper deals with the evaluation of steel cap pistons for up-gradation of diesel electric locomotives for Indian Railways. These engines are four stroke, medium speed compression ignition engines (CR 12.5: 1) with output of 121 kW per cylinder on series 1 and 167 kW per cylinder on series 2. The series 1 engine uses single piece aluminum pistons, with rating of 0.295 kW/cm2 of piston crown area. A higher version of the series 1 engine with higher fuel efficiency and improvement in lube oil consumption was developed. As part of this improvement program, a composite steel cap piston with forged aluminum skirt was used. The whole engine up-gradation kit including the higher capacity turbocharger, higher fuel delivery pressure fuel pump, modified cam shaft, larger after-cooler along with the steel cap piston were evaluated for performance.

Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) offers great promise for excellent fuel economy and extremely low emissions of NOx and PM. HCCI combustion lacks direct control on the "start of combustion" such as spark timing in SI engines and fuel injection timing in CI engines. Auto ignition of a homogeneous mixture is very sensitive to operating conditions of the engine. Even small variations of the load can change the timing from "too early" to "too late" combustion. Thus a fast combustion phasing control is required since it sets the performance limitation of the load control. Crank angle position for 50% heat release is used as combustion phasing feedback parameter. In this study, a dual-fuel approach is used to control combustion in a HCCI engine. This approach involves controlling the combustion heat release rate by adjusting fuel reactivity according to the conditions inside the cylinder. Two different octane fuels (methanol and n-heptane) are used for the study.

The homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) combustion process is capable of providing both high ‘diesel-like’ efficiencies and very low NOx and particulate emissions. However, among several technical challenges, controlling the combustion phasing, particularly during transients is a major issue, which must be resolved to exploit its commercial applications. This study is focused on the experimental investigations of behavior of combustion timing and other combustion parameters during startup and load transients. The study is conducted on a gasoline fuelled HCCI engine by varying intake air temperature and air-fuel ratio at different engine speeds. Port fuel injection technique is used for preparing homogeneous mixture of gasoline and air. For fueling startup transient test, fuel injection was turned off, and the engine was motored for several minutes until the fire-deck, intake and exhaust temperatures stabilized.

Alternative fuels, coupled with advanced engine technologies, are potential solutions to overcome energy crisis and environmental degradation challenges, that transport sector faces. Methanol has emerged as a potential candidate as an alternate fuel due to adequate availability of indigenous feedstocks, such as coal, biomass, and municipal solid waste (MSW). Policy makers of several countries are focusing on developing roadmap for methanol fueled vehicles, especially in developing countries like China and India. These countries have the largest two-wheeler market globally; therefore, methanol adaptability on 2-wheeler engine becomes important national priority. This study is aimed at feasibility assessment of methanol (M100) fueled two-wheeler engine using simulations. Present study was divided into four different phases.

Mixture formation in GDI engine is considered crucial in determining combustion and emissions characteristics, which mainly depend on fuel spray quality. However, spray characteristics change with variations in control parameters such as fuel injection parameters, fuel injection strategy, engine operating conditions, and fuel properties. Growing research interest in the use of methanol as an additive with gasoline has motivated the need for deeper investigations of spray characteristics of these fuels. Although, it can be noted that sufficient literature is available in the area of spray characterization under several independent influencing factors, however, comparative analysis of gasohol spray behavior under different ambient conditions is hardly studied.

Fuel-air mixing is the main parameter, which affects formation of NOx and PM during CI combustion. Hence better understanding of air-flow characteristics inside the combustion chamber of a diesel engine became very important. In this study, in-cylinder air-flow characteristics of four-valve diesel engine were investigated using time-resolved high-speed tomographic Particle Imaging Velocimetry (PIV). For visualization of air-flow pattern, fine graphite particles were used for flow seeding. To investigate the effect of different operating parameters, experiments were performed at different engine speeds (1200 rpm and 1500 rpm), intake air temperatures (room temperature and 50°C) and intake port configurations (swirl port, tangential port and combined port). Intake air temperature was controlled by a closed loop temperature controller and intake ports were deactivated by using a customized aluminum gasket.

Di-ethyl ether (DEE) belongs to the family of oxygenated fuels, which have been investigated as an alternative to conventional diesel. However, increasing the proportion of DEE in DEE-diesel blends changes its physicochemical properties. This work shows the non-evaporating and non-reacting spray characteristics of diesel, DEE20 (20% v/v DEE and 80% v/v diesel), and DEE40 (40% v/v DEE and 60% v/v diesel) were investigated. The effect of fuel injection pressure (FIP: 500 and 800 bar) on the spray morphology and droplet size distribution at different axial locations along the spray axis was done. FIP of 800 bar showed a reduction in Sauter mean diameter (SMD) of spray droplets with increasing axial distance due to improved spray atomisation because of the drag forces of the surrounding air on the fuel droplets. DEE20 showed a higher number of droplets having a smaller diameter than DEE40. DEE20 and DEE40 showed superior spray atomisation characteristics than diesel.

Laser is emerging as a strong contender as an alternative ignition source for internal combustion (IC) engines. Short laser pulses of few nanoseconds duration delivered by a Q-switched laser are focused by a lens inside the engine cylinder containing combustible fuel-air mixture. If the peak intensity at the focal point exceeds threshold intensity level, breakdown of combustible gases occurs, which leads to plasma formation. If the energy of the spark generated by plasma is high enough, the mixture ignites. In this investigation, laser ignition (LI) was performed in a single cylinder engine at constant speed and wide open throttle conditions using CNG as fuel. Combustion behavior was recorded using a high speed data acquisition system. For laser ignition of the engine, a laser spark plug was designed and manufactured. Laser spark plug consists of combination of lenses and optical windows.

Diesel engines are very efficient prime movers in their power range. Fuel is directly injected into the combustion chamber. Performance and emission characteristics of diesel engines are highly influenced by the fuel spray parameters and atomization of the injected fuel. As the emission regulations become stringent, it is very important to optimize the combustion in internal combustion engines for different fuels including alternative fuels. Spray visualization using optical techniques play a very important role to analyze macroscopic spray parameters and fuel atomization behavior. In the present experimental study, an important alternative CI engine fuel, Karanja oil and its blends with diesel have been investigated for their spray parameters and fuel atomization relative to mineral diesel. These parameters are different for the two fuels because of difference in the viscosity and density of the fuels.