Technical Paper
On the Correlation between NOx Emissions and the Diesel Premixed Burn
2004-03-08
2004-01-1401
It is generally accepted that exhaust NOX emissions of diesel engines increase with the degree of premixed burning. Although several mechanisms proposed in the literature are likely responsible for some aspects of the correlation, taken together, they cannot explain all observations of this correlation. In this study, thermodynamic analyses and optical/imaging diagnostics were employed in an optically-accessible, heavy-duty DI diesel engine to examine the in-cylinder mechanisms by which fuel/air premixing affects engine-out NOX emissions. Exhaust NO and NOX emissions were measured and correlated with observations of soot luminosity and jet penetration as the intake-temperature and injection timing were varied. The engine was operated at low-load conditions, for which the premixed burn was a significant fraction of the total heat released.