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In this paper we report how optical techniques were applied in the cylinder of an optically accessible engine equipped with latest-generation EURO V diesel engine head. The injection strategy with high percentage of EGR, characteristic of real engine operating point, was adopted. In particular, the combustion behavior at 1500 rpm\2 bar BMEP was investigated. Alternative diesel fuels were used. In particular, rapeseed methyl ester (RME) and gas to liquid (GTL) were selected as representative of 1st and 2nd generation alternative diesel fuel, respectively. Combustion analysis was carried out in the engine combustion chamber by means of visible digital imaging. These measurements helped to analyze the chemical and physical events occurring during the mixture preparation and the combustion development. Ultraviolet (UV) digital imaging was also performed and the presence of characteristic radical, like OH, in the various phases of combustion was detected as well.

A numerical methodology to simulate the high pressure spray evolution and the fuel-air mixing in diesel engines is presented. Attention is focused on the employed atomization model, a modified version of the Huh and Gosman, on the definition of a turbulence length scale limiter and of an adaptive local mesh refinement technique to minimize the result grid dependency. All the discussed models were implemented into Lib-ICE, which is a set of libraries and solvers, specifically tailored for engine simulations, which runs under the open-source CFD technology OpenFOAM®. To provide a comprehensive assessment of the proposed methodology, the validation procedure consisted into simulating, with a unique and coherent setup of all models, two different sets of experiments: a non-evaporating diesel fuel spray in a constant-volume vessel with optical access and an evaporating non-reacting diesel fuel spray in an optical engine.

GM Powertrain Europe and Istituto Motori CNR have undergone a research project aimed at studying the effects on engine performance, emissions and fuel consumption of alternative diesel fuels, from both first (FAME) and second (GTL) generation. The present paper reports some of the results achieved studying the impact on injection and spray behavior of rapeseed and soybean methyl-esters, as well as of GTL diesel blends. The test were performed on a Bosch second generation common rail solenoid-driven fuel injection system capable of 1600bar maximum injection pressure, fitted on GM 1.9L Euro4 diesel engine for passenger cars. The characterization of the injection process has been carried out in terms both of fuel injection rate, as well as of spatial and temporal fuel distribution in a quiescent non-evaporative optically accessible chamber.

Spray impingement on walls is an important physical process in modern DI Diesel engines as it greatly influences mixture formation, combustion process and exhaust emissions. The mixture preparation is, in fact, a crucial aspect for the correct operation of the engine as it significantly affects the combustion process. In this paper three models, among the available in literature, have been selected and implemented in the KIVA-3V code. Namely, the models by O'Rourke and Amsden (OA model) [1, 2], by Bai and Gosman (BG model) [3] and by Lee et al. (LR model) [4, 5] are compared in terms of performance and capability of representing the splash phenomenon. The model capabilities are firstly tested comparing the numerical results with four sets of experimental literature data, characterized by low injection pressures. The high injection pressures of modern Diesel engines result in droplets velocities emerging from the nozzle greater than 300 m/s.

The contribution to environmental pollution due to mopeds and motorcycles equipped with 2-stroke engines is very high. Then European regulations will impose in the next future severe limits on pollutant emissions of such vehicles. Up to 40% of the charge at high load and low speed can be lost during scavenging, therefore exhaust hydrocarbon speciation is similar to fuel composition, i.e. with a comparable content of benzene. The use of rich air-fuel mixtures, necessary to reduce cyclic variations and improve driveability during transients, determines also high carbon monoxide emissions. On the other hand NOx emissions are very low in all operating conditions, due to the rich mixtures and the high residual gas fraction. An effective solution to reduce emissions from current two-stroke engines for two wheelers in a short time could be retrofitting circulating vehicles with a catalyst for exhaust after-treatment.

The attention on emissions of two-wheelers has been poor in the past, but today in countries with a large two-wheeler population it gives a significant contribution to aggregate emissions. In this paper the results obtained on a fleet composed by 22 two-stroke motorcycles (including mopeds) are presented. Sixteen in-use mopeds and six 125 cm3 motorcycles have been tested over ECE 47 and ECE 40 driving cycles respectively. Regulated emissions (CO, HC, NOx), carbon dioxide, benzene and fuel consumption have been evaluated by fueling motorcycles with two different gasoline formulations. One gasoline was a commercial Italian leaded gasoline with 1% benzene content; the other was a lower benzene and aromatics content gasoline. Benzene emissions decreased according to benzene content of gasoline.

In the present paper the status of development of diesel combustion and pollutants formation modelling at Diesel Engines and Fuels Research Division of Istituto Motori is pointed out. The main features and performances of the model are discussed comparing the numerical results with some experimental data. For the experiments a single cylinder direct injection diesel engine was used. In the head of the engine two small quartz windows have been mounted, in order to obtain pictures of the injection and combustion processes by high speed cinematography, and to apply the two colour technique for soot temperature and soot loading measurements. The soot loading was measured by the two colour technique and the a priori and the experimental uncertainties of the measurement technique were carefully evaluated. In addition, the engine may be also equipped with a second head, in which a fast acting valve allows the direct sampling of the combustion products.

Spectral flame emissivity and absorption measurements with high temporal and spatial resolution were performed in an optically accessible high-swirl divided-chamber Diesel system. Simultaneous determination of soot temperature, soot volume fraction and the OH radical concentration were made from the start to the end of the combustion in 153 locations equally distributed in the chamber. The engine was run at 2000 rpm and at fixed air-fuel ratio realizing 200 consecutive combustion cycles. To visualize the spatial and temporal spray and flame evolution, direct high-speed photographic sequences were taken at 8000 frames/s. The photographic sequences showed that the spray is strongly distorted and mixed by very high swirl resulting in a well premixed region where the combustion starts. The OH radicals were detected in the fuel reaction zone. Moreover OH concentration and soot volume fraction are well correlated with soot temperature.

Three dimensional computations of Diesel combustion were performed using a modified version of Kiva II code. The autoignition and combustion model were tuned on a set of experimental conditions, changing the engine design, the operating conditions and the fuel characteristics. The sensitivity of the model to the different test cases is acceptable and the experimental trends are well reproduced. In addition the peak of pressure and temperature computed by the code are quite close to the experimental values, as well as the pressure derivatives. Once tuned the combustion model constants, different but simple formulations for the soot formation and oxidation processes were implemented in the code and compared with the experimental measurements obtained both with fast sampling technique and two colors method. These formulations were found unable to give good prediction in a large range of engine operating conditions, even if the model tuning may be very good for each test point.

A modified version of KIVA II code was used to perform three-dimensional calculations of combustion in a DI diesel engine. Both an ignition delay submodel and a different formulation of the fuel reaction rate were implemented and tested. The experiments were carried out on a single cylinder D.I. diesel of 0.75 I displacement equipped with sensors to detect injection characteristics and indicated pressure. A fast acting sampling valve was also installed in the combustion chamber to allow the measurement of main pollutants during the combustion cycle, by an ensemble average technique. Computational and experimental results are compared and the discrepancies are discussed. Today the demand for light duty engines that produce less emission and consume less fuel is increasing. Thus, if limits on CO2 emissions are established, the direct injection diesel engine for light duty applications will become an attractive option.