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High pressure fuel injection and a micro-hole nozzle were used with a rapid compression machine to study soot and nitrogen oxide reduction by creating a uniform and lean fuel distribution in the combustion chamber. The rapid compression machine was optically accessible, which allowed high-speed photography and subsequent two-color flame temperature and soot concentration measurements to be made. In addition, band spectrum radical luminescence images were also observed.

The research shows the experimental results for a free piston linear engine according to operation conditions of the linear engine and the structure of linear generator for generating electric power. The powerpack used in this paper consists of the two-stroke free piston linear engine, linear generators and air compressors. Each parameter of fuel input heat, equivalence ratio, spark timing delay, electrical resistance and air gap length were set up to identify the combustion characteristics and to examine the performance of linear engine. The linear engine was fueled with propane. In the course of all linear engine operations, intake air was inputted under the wide open throttle state. Air and fuel mass flow rate were varied by using mass flow controller and these were premixed by pre-mixing device. Subsequently, pre-mixture was directly supplied into each cylinder.

This work has been investigated the potential of in-cylinder EGR stratification for reducing the pressure rise rate of DME HCCI engines, and the coupling of both thermal stratification and fuel stratification. The numerical analyses were done by using five-zone version of CHEMKIN-II kinetics rate code, and kinetic mechanics for DME. The effects of inert components were used for the presence of EGR in calculation. Three cases of EGR stratification were tested on both thermal stratification and fuel stratification at the fixed initial temperature, pressure and fueling rate at BDC. In order to explore the appropriate stratification of EGR, EGR width was employed from zero to thirty percent. Firstly, EGR homogeneity case which means EGR width zero was examined. Secondly, EGR is located densely in hotter zone for combining with thermal stratification or in richer zone for a combination with fuel stratification. Lastly, the case was judged inversely with the second case.

The exhaust gas composition was analyzed by gas chromatography, and combustion completion was investigated in a 2-stroke Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) engine. The experiment was performed using n-Butane as a typical pure fuel to easily identify the origin of exhaust gas components. The effect of maximum gas temperature on combustion completion was investigated by both the experiment and the calculation. From the measurements of unburned n-Butane emission, the thickness of the quenching layer was estimated.

The operating range is restricted by knocking and misfiring in a homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engine. In an HCCI engine, the autoignition does not always mean the high combustion efficiency because the operating range to achieve high combustion efficiency is very narrowly restricted by knocking and high THC, CO emissions. In this study, we have investigated the operating conditions to achieve high combustion efficiency and low CO emission in a four-stroke HCCI engine using experimental analysis and elementary reactions calculation. It is shown that the combustion efficiency reaches higher than 90%, and the CO emission can be reduced considerably when the in-cylinder maximum gas temperature is over 1600K.

In order to clarify the reason why NOx emissions factor becomes higher at vehicle acceleration at intersections etc, two freight vehicles, that have EGR system for the reduction of NOx, were tested by an on-board NOx measurement system. Higher NOx emissions factor was observed in operations in lower-gear operation for each vehicle. Since the engine speed change was higher in the operation of lower gears, NOx emissions characteristics were analyzed in view of engine torque, NOx mass emissions and EGR rate, considering engine speed change. It was found that lower-gear operations made the engine speed change higher and the EGR rate lower. This seems to be one of the factors to engender the intensive NOx pollution at roadsides.

In this study, attention was paid to the method of mixing fuel to solve one of problems of the HCCI engine, which is the avoidance of knocking. The objectives of the work reported in this paper were to research the characteristics of HCCI combustion of the Methane/DME/air pre-mixture in the experiment and to check the oxidation reaction in two cases: when DME was used as an ignition accelerator for the Methane/air pre-picture, and when Hydrogen was used as ignition accelerator. Furthermore, from these results reference was made about basic specifications required fuel for an HCCI engine.

Reduction of particulate emissions from diesel engine is an important theme from the view point of air pollution. Experiments were carried out using a four-stroke single cylinder direct-injection diesel engine. A new method to measure diesel particulates has been developed. Particulates were sampled with a freezing method just behind an exhaust valve and examined through a scanning electron microscope. Shape and structure of particulates and the size distributions are measured under wide operating conditions obtained with above method. The total mass of particulate emissions was measured using a dilution tunnel sampling system. The heat release processes were analyzed using indicator diagrams and the relation between burning condition and particulate emissions were discussed, after systematic experiments under constant revolution speed of 2000 r/min for several load and injection timing conditions.

The concept of oxygen enriched charging (OEC) was exploratively examined as a means of reducing particulate emissions from a direct injection (DI) diesel engine. A single cylinder DI engine was operated with intake gas oxygen concentrations of 21% to 29%, under a constant engine speed of 40 Hz, and several load conditions. It was found that OEC reduces particulate emissions from a DI diesel engine for all operating conditions tested. Insoluble particulate is especially suppressed by OEC at high load conditions. Oxygen enriched charging has little effect on particulate size distribution at high loads when the mass fraction of extractables is low. Fuel consumption, at constant injection timing, is improved a little by OEC. Emissions of NOx increase exponentially with increasing oxygen concentration. Ignition delay is decreased by OEC and this allows injection timing to be retarded to reduce NOx emissions without increasing the specific fuel consumption.

Accurate measurements of combustion gas temperature and the coefficient of heat transfer between the gas and the combustion chamber wall of internal combustion engine in cyclic operations are difficult at present. Hence the only method available for determination of states of thermal load and heat loss to the combustion chamber wall in a cycle is to measure the instantaneous temperature on the combustion chamber wall surface accurately and precisely using proper thin-film thermocouples, then to calculate the instantanenous heat flux flowing into the wall surface by means of numerical analysis. However, it is necessary to pay adequate attention to the effects of thermophysical properties of the thermocouple materials on the measured values, since any thermocouple consists of several kinds of materials which are different from those of portions to be measured.

HCCI (Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition) engine is expected to a new engine to be high efficiency and low emission. But it is difficult to control ignition timing and combustion duration, because ignition and combustion mainly depend on oxidation process of fuel. In this study, the focus is to clear the combustion mechanism of auto-ignition engine. By calculating chemical kinetics of elementary reactions, effects of compression speed, equivalence ratio, initial temperature and compression ratio on auto-ignition were investigated. And also, behaviors of chemical species under auto-ignition process were cleared.

Auto-ignition, which is observed in homogeneous and premixed charge compression ignition engines, allows expansion of the lean flammability limit of engine operation and realization of stable ignition and combustion over a range of ultra-lean conditions, where NOx emissions are very low. In this study, the basic combustion mechanism of auto-ignition and combustion was studied with initial mixture temperatures and compression speeds for n-butane and dimethyl ether. A single-mode type heat release process was observed with n-butane in the homogeneous charge compression ignition test engine.

There have been strong demands recently for reductions in the fuel consumption and exhaust emissions of diesel engines from the standpoints of conserving energy and curbing global warming. A great deal of research is being done on new emission control technologies using direct-injection (DI) diesel engines that provide high thermal efficiency. This work includes dramatic improvements in the combustion process. The authors have developed a new combustion concept called Modulated Kinetics (MK), which reduces smoke and NOx levels simultaneously by reconciling low-temperature combustion with pre-mixed combustion [1, 2]. At present, research is under way on the second generation of MK combustion with the aim of improving emission performance further and achieving higher thermal efficiency [3]. Reducing heat rejection in the combustion chamber is effective in improving the thermal efficiency of DI diesel engines as well as that of MK combustion.

The time of, and location where ignition first occurs in a diesel fuel spray were investigated in a rapid compression machine (RCM) using the two–dimensional techniques of silicone oil particle scattering imaging (SSI), and the planar laser induced fluorescence (LIF) of formaldehyde. Formaldehyde has been hypothesized to be one of the stable intermediate species marking the start of oxidation reactions in a transient spray under compression ignition conditions. In this study, the LIF images of the formaldehyde formed in a diesel fuel spray during ignition process have been successfully obtained for the first time by exciting formaldehyde with the 3rd harmonic of the Nd:YAG laser. SSI images of the vaporizing spray, and the LIF images of formaldehyde were obtained together with the corresponding time record of combustion chamber pressures at initial ambient temperatures ranging from 580 K to 790 K.

ATAC (Active Thermo-Atmosphere Combustion) is autoignition combustion in two stroke engines, which occurs by diluting trapped Fuel-Air mixture with residual gas to maintain a high temperature at low load operation. In this study, two-stroke ATAC engine testing was carried out to obtain fundamental knowledge for controlling the autoignition and combustion characteristics in this premixed charge compression-ignition combustion engine. The influences of delivery ratio, equivalence ratio and enginespeed (i.e. compression speed) on autoignition timing, autoignition temperature and combustion duration were investigated. It was found that the ATAC autoignition temperature and combustion duration did not depend on the delivery ratio and equivalence ratio, but were determined by the individual fuel characteristics. Increasing the compression speed reduced the ATAC autoignition temperature a little.

Nitrogen oxide (NOx) and particulate matter (PM) emissions of diesel vehicles are regarded as a source of air pollution, and there is a global trend to enforce more stringent regulations on these exhaust gas constituents in the early years of the 21st century. On the other hand, the excellent thermal efficiency of diesel engines is certainly a welcome attribute from the standpoints of conserving energy and curbing global warming. Recently, many research institutes around the world have been using high-efficiency direct-injection (DI) diesel engines to research emission control technologies. The authors have also been engaged in such research [1,2]. As a result of this work, we have developed a new combustion concept, called Modulated Kinetics (MK), that reduces NOx and smoke simultaneously due to low-temperature and premixed combustion characteristics, respectively, without increasing fuel consumption [3,4].

When the compression ratio of the spark ignition engine is set high as a method of improving the fuel efficiency of passenger cars, it is often combined with the direct fuel injection system for knock mitigation. In port injection, there are also situations where the fuel is guided into the cylinder while the vaporization is insufficient, especially at the cold start. If the fuel is introduced into the cylinder in a liquid state, the temperature in the cylinder will change due to sensible heat and latent heat of the fuel during vaporization. Further, if the fuel is unevenly distributed in the cylinder, the effect of the specific heat is added, and the local temperature difference is expanded through the compression process. In this research, an experiment was conducted using a rapid compression machine for the purpose of discussing the effect of the temperature-pressure time history of fuel on ignition delay time.

This study investigated effects of gas inhomogeneity induced by droplets of fuels and oils on the auto ignition timing and temperature in the direct-injection spark ignition (DISI) engine by means of detailed numerical calculation using multi zone model. Recent researchers pointed out that droplets are made of fuels and oils which mix on the cylinder liner and released from the cylinder liner [1]. During the compression stroke released droplets reach the auto ignition temperature before flame propagation induced by spark ignition. It is called Pre-ignition. In combustion chamber, there is inhomogeneity caused by temperature and mixture distribution. In this study, the effects of gas inhomogeneity produced by droplet on the auto ignition timing and temperature have been investigated using Multi-Zone model of CHEMKIN-PRO by changing initial temperature and initial equivalence ratio. Especially, the volume of first ignition zone is focused on.

To approach realization of Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) combustion without external combustion ignition trigger, it is necessary to construct HCCI engine control system. In this study, HCCI research engine equipped with the EGR passage for external EGR and the two-stage exhaust cam for exhaust rebreathed. This system can control the mixing ratio of four gases (air, fuel, rebreathed EGR gas, external EGR gas) of in-cylinder by operating four throttles and fuel injection duration while maintaining acceptable pressure rise rate (PRR) and cycle-to-cycle variation of Indicated Mean Effective Pressure (IMEP), closed-loop control system designed by applying feedback variables (equivalence ratio, combustion-phasing, IMEP) for feedback control. Those control inputs (four throttles and fuel injection) has correlation mutually, control inputs cause interference, response become low and hunching occurs.

A combustion method called Noise Canceling Spike (NC-Spike) Combustion [1, 2] has been reported in the co-author's previous paper, which reduces combustion noise in PCCI with split injection. This NC-Spike Combustion uses interference of the following “spike” of pressure rise on the preceding peak of pressure rise. The overall combustion noise is reduced by lowering the maximum frequency component of the noise spectrum. The period of this frequency is two times of the time interval between the two peaks of the pressure rise rate. This maximum load range of conventional PCCI combustion is limited by the combustion noise, since the maximum pressure rise rate increases as the amount of injected fuel increases. The NC-Spike Combustion has a potential to extend of the operating range of PCCI combustion.