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A small Cassegrain optics sensor was developed to measure local chemiluminescence spectra and the local chemiluminescence intensities of OH*, CH*, and C2* in a four-stroke spark-ignition (SI) engine in order to investigate the propagation characteristics of the turbulent premixed flame. The small Cassegrain optics sensor was an M5 type that could be installed in place of a pressure transducer. The measurements could be used to estimate the flame propagation speed, burning zone thickness, and local air/fuel (A/F) ratio for each cycle. The specifications of the small Cassegrain optics sensor were the same as those used for previous engine measurements. In this paper, measurements were made of several A/F ratios using gasoline to fuel the model engine. The performances of two Cassegrain optics sensors were compared to demonstrate the advantages of the new small sensor by measuring the local chemiluminescence intensities of a turbulent premixed flame in the model engine.

The purpose of this study was to characterize the air/fuel ratio (AFR) of turbulent premixed flames in a spark-ignition (SI) engine. We developed a spark plug sensor with an optical fiber to detect the chemiluminescence spectra, specifically the intensity of the spectral lines related to OH*, CH*, and C2* free radicals. The sensor was composed of a sapphire window and optical fiber and is applicable to automobile SI engines. Measurements of the chemiluminescence intensity from OH*, CH*, and C2* radicals were obtained in turbulent premixed flames with a propane-air mixture for different AFRs in a compression-expansion machine (CEM). The performance of the spark plug sensor was compared with a Cassegrain reflector using an intensified charge-coupled device. The results showed good agreement with measurements obtained using the Cassegrain reflector. The spark plug sensor was shown to be useful for measuring chemiluminescence of turbulent premixed flames in an SI engine.

In order to reduce the exhaust emission and the fuel consumption in a spark ignition engine, the combustion diagnostics had been developed. However, there are few sensors which can detect the combustion quality for the individual cycle and cylinder in production engines. In previous study, the new technique using a gasket ion sensor for measuring the combustion quality has been proposed. In present study, the flame propagation pattern in a spark ignition engine was detected by using a gasket ion sensor with a circular electrode. The waveforms of ion current obtained from a circular ion sensor were compared with the flame propagation pattern obtained from multiple ion sensors. When the mixture was ignited in offset center of the cylinder, the flame propagation pattern was distorted from the spherical pattern. Then the waveforms of ion current from the circular ion sensor were varied from the waveform for a center ignition.

An investigation was made into two approaches to air-fuel mixture formation in direct injection SI engines in which charge stratification is controlled by swirl or tumble gas motions, respectively. Particle image velocimetry (PIV), laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) and air-fuel ratio measurement by infrared absorption were used to analyze fuel transport from the fuel injector to the spark plug and the fuel vaporization process. The results obtained were then compared with measured data as to combustion stability. As a result, the reason why the effects of injection timing on combustion stability were different between the two approaches was made clear from the standpoint of the mixture formation process.

Recently, in order to warm up the catalyst temperature rapidly, the retard ignition management has been developed. However, the excess retard of ignition causes the combustion instability and misfire. In this case, the ion sensor has been used for detecting the combustion quality for the late burned cycle under the idling condition. Several researchers have focused on the potential of ion-current measurement for the retard ignition management. However, the interpretation of ion-current during the exhaust process under the idling condition is not clear. In this study the source of ion-current for the late burned cycle during the exhaust process is focused. In order to measure the flame propagation process in the cylinder and the exhaust pipe, the single-cylinder test engine was used instead of production engine. Several ion probes were mounted on the cylinder head gasket, the piston head and the exhaust pipe for detecting the flame front.

A turbulent entrainment model is considered to be reasonable for the combustion in a spark-ignition engine. For this kind of model, it is important to estimate the turbulence characteristics, turbulent burning velocity, flame surface area and several empirical constants. Nevertheless, the examination of these values have not been examined sufficiently. In this study, a combustion model was proposed, and initiation of flame propagation, burning process of an eddy, scale of turbulence and turbulent burning velocity were discussed in detail. This model was examined under various conditions of engine speed (600-1200rpm), compression ratio (3.2-4.8) and ignition timing. The calculation results of mass fraction burned, burn rate and burn duration were in good agreement with the experimental ones. It was found that the concept of such a turbulent entrainment model was valid for predicting the combustion in a spark-ignition engine.

The structures of the turbulent premixed flame in the engine cylinder under lean burn conditions were investigated using ion probe method. The flow fields were measured with an LDA for two tumble ratios and two compression ratios. And ion-current signal was analyzed to discuss the interaction between the turbulence and the flame structure. The effects of turbulence and equivalence ratio on the characteristic values of the turbulent flame, that is to say number of ion-current peaks, thickness of flame front and thickness of burning zone of the flamelet, were investigated. In normal combustion, the structure of the turbulent flame front is almost the same as the laminar flame. In the lean limit, the flamelet is broken and stretched and then the structure may change.

Bio-gas as an internal combustion (I.C.) engine fuel has many advantages such as cheaper fuel cost, low emission levels and especially the neutral recirculation loop of carbon dioxide, which is one of the principal factors in global warming. In this study, positive potentialities of bio-gas were investigated using a micro co-generation engine. The mixing ratio of methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) was changed to simulate various types of bio-gases. Intake air and fuel flow rates were controlled to change the equivalence ratio. The engine load condition could be changed with the electric output power used. Base on the result, the higher CO2 content rate slowed down the engine speed in the same load condition and the combustion speed generally decreased under the same load condition with maintaining the engine speed. However thermal efficiency increased with lean burn conditions and NOX emission decreased with higher CO2 mixing rates.

The authors have previously proposed a plume ignition and combustion concept (i.e., PCC combustion), in which a hydrogen fuel is directly injected to the combustion chamber in the latter half of compression stroke and forms a richer mixture plume. By combusting the plume, both cooling losses and NOx formation are reduced. In this study, thermal efficiency was substantially improved and NOx formation was reduced with PCC combustion by optimizing such characteristics as direction and diameter of the jets in combination with combustion of lean mixture. Output power declined due to the lean mixture, however, was recovered by supercharging while keeping NOx emissions at the same level. Thermal efficiency was further improved by slightly re-optimizing the jet conditions.

An in-spark-plug flame sensor was developed to measure local chemiluminescence near the spark gap in a practical spark-ignition (SI) engine in order to study the development of the initial flame kernel, flame front structure, transient phenomena, and the correlation between the initial flame kernel structure and cyclic variation in the flame front structure, which influences engine performance directly. The sensor consists of a commercial instrumented spark plug with small Cassegrain optics and an optical fiber. The small Cassegrain optics were developed to measure the local chemiluminescence intensity profile and temporal history of OH*, CH*, and C2* at the flame front formed in a turbulent premixed flame in an SI engine. A highresolution monochromator with an intensified chargecoupled device (ICCD) and spectroscopy using optical filters and photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) were used to measure the time-series of the three radicals, as well as the in-cylinder pressure.

In order to investigate the relation between ion current and combustion characteristics, the ion current signal from a spark plug as an ion probe, pressure history and flame development were measured in a homogeneous propane-air mixture in closed combustion chambers. The flame propagation was measured by Schlieren photography technique. When negative bias is applied to the central electrode of the spark plug, the ion current flows only due to an early flame kernel existing near the spark plug. When positive bias is applied to the central electrode, the ion current flows from the central electrode to the combustion chamber wall and to the ground electrode. Consequently, the ion current is dominated by the contact area between the flame and the combustion chamber wall. The appearance period of ion-current is related to the combustion duration. This method was applied to the combustion analysis of the spark ignition engine.

This paper describes the development and application of a spark plug sensor using an infrared absorption technique to quantify the instantaneous residual gas concentration near the spark plug. The residual gas fraction inside engine cylinder is assumed to be proportional to CO2 concentration. The relationship between CO2 concentration and absorption strength of CO2 was determined for various pressures and temperatures in advance using a constant volume vessel with electric heating system. The spark plug sensor for in-situ CO2 concentration measurement was applied to a compression-expansion engine and also to a port injected motorcycle SI engine. It was possible to qualify the CO2 concentration inside residual gas during the compression stroke using the developed optical system with new spark plug sensor in compression-expansion machine.

The objective of this study is to investigate the initial flame propagation characteristics of turbulent flame in an engine cylinder through time-series analysis of radical emissions. A spark plug with optical fiber was developed in this study. The plug sensor is M12 type that makes it possible to mount in practical engine. The spark plug sensor can detect radical emissions in time-resolved spectra through time-series spectroscopic measurement. In this spectra, some kinds of radical emissions such as OH*(306nm), CH*(431nm) and C2*(517nm) based on principle of chemiluminescence are observed. In this study, the spark plug sensor was applied to both compression-expansion machine (CEM) and practical engine. As a result of CEM with bottom viewed high-speed camera, three kinds of spectra could be detected.