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We have proposed the application of Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) gas dissolved fuel which might improve spray atomization through effervescent atomization instead of high injection pressure. Since EGR gas is included in the spray of EGR gas dissolved fuel, it directly contributes to combustion, and the further reduction of NOx emissions is expected rather than the conventional external EGR. In our research, since highly contained in the exhaust gas and highly soluble in the fuel, CO2 was selected as the dissolved gas to simulate EGR gas dissolved. In this paper, the purpose is to evaluate the influence of the application of CO2 gas dissolved fuel on the combustion characteristics and emission characteristics inside the single cylinder, direct injection diesel engine. As a result, by use of the fuel, smoke was reduced by about 50 to 70%, but NOx reduction does not have enough effect.

In previous study, the model for flash-boiling spray of multicomponent fuel was constructed and was implemented into KIVA code. This model considered the detailed physical properties and evaporation process of multicomponent fuel and the bubble nucleation, growth and disruption in a nozzle orifice and injected fuel droplets. These numerical results using this model were compared with experimental data which were obtained in the previous study using a constant volume vessel. The spray characteristics from numerical simulation qualitatively showed good agreement with the experimental results. Especially, it was confirmed from both the numerical and experimental data that flash-boiling effectively accelerated the atomization and vaporization of fuel droplets. However, in this previous study, injection pressure was very low (up to 15 MPa), and the spray characteristics of high pressure injection could not be analyzed.

We have proposed the application of EGR gas dissolved fuel which might improve spray atomization through effervescent atomization instead of high injection pressure. In this paper, the purpose is to evaluate the influence of the application of CO2 gas dissolved fuel on the combustion characteristics and emissions inside the single cylinder, direct injection diesel engine. As a result, by use of the fuel, smoke was reduced by about 50 to 70%. The amount of NOx was reduced at IMEP=0.3 MPa, but it was increased at IMEP=0.9 MPa.

The CO2 gas dissolved fuel for the diesel combustion is effective to reduce the NOx emissions to achieve the internal EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) effect by fuel. This method has supplied EGR gas to the fuel side instead of supply EGR gas to the intake gas side. The fuel has followed specific characteristics for the diesel combustion. When the fuel is injected into the chamber in low pressure, this CO2 gas is separated from the fuel spray. The distribution characteristics of the spray are improved and the improvement of the thermal efficiency by reduction heat loss in the combustion chamber wall, and reduce soot emissions by the lean combustion is expected. Furthermore, this CO2 gas decreases the flame temperature. Further, it is anticipated to reduce NOx emissions by the spray internal EGR effect.

Fuel design approach has been proposed as the control technique of spray and combustion processes in diesel engine to improve thermal efficiency and reduce exhaust emissions. In order to kwow if this approach is capable of controlling spray flame structure and interaction between the flame and a combustion chamber wall, the present study investigated ignition and flame characteristics of dual-component fuels, while varying mixing fraction, fuel temperature and ambient conditions. Those characteristics were evaluated through chemiluminescence photography and luminous flame photography. OH radical images and visible luminous flame images were analyzed to reveal flame shape aspect ratio and its fractal dimension.

Ignition, combustion and emissions characteristics of dual-component fuel spray were examined for ranges of injection timing and intake-air oxygen concentration. Fuels used were binary mixtures of gasoline-like component i-octane (cetane number 12, boiling point 372 K) and diesel fuel-like component n-tridecane (cetane number 88, boiling point 510 K). Mass fraction of i-octane was also changed as the experimental variable. The experimental study was carried out in a single cylinder compression ignition engine equipped with a common-rail injection system and an exhaust gas recirculation system. The results demonstrated that the increase of the i-octane mass fraction with optimizations of injection timing and intake oxygen concentration reduced pressure rise rate and soot and NOx emissions without deterioration of indicated thermal efficiency.

Auto-ignition and combustion processes of dual-component fuel spray were numerically studied. A source code of SUPERTRAPP (developed by NIST), which is capable of predicting thermodynamic and transportation properties of pure fluids and fluid mixtures containing up to 20 components, was incorporated into KIVA3V to provide physical fuel properties and vapor-liquid equilibrium calculations. Low temperature oxidation reaction, which is of importance in ignition process of hydrocarbon fuels, as well as negative temperature coefficient behavior was taken into account using the multistep kinetics ignition prediction based on Shell model, while a global single-step mechanism was employed to account for high temperature oxidation reaction. Computational results with the present multi-component fuel model were validated by comparing with experimental data of spray combustion obtained in a constant volume vessel.

In this study, it is purpose to make clear the effect of cavitation phenomenon on the spray atomization. In this report, the cavitation phenomenon inside the nozzle hole was visualized and the pressure measurements along the wall of the nozzle hole were carried out by use of 25-times enlarged acrylic nozzle. For the representatives of regular gasoline, single and two-component fuels were used as a test fuel. In addition, various cavitating flow patterns same as experimental conditions were simulated by use of Barotropic model incorporated in commercial code of Star-CD scheme, and compared with experimental results.

A dual fuel operation with different reactivity fuels has the possibility of optimizing performance and emissions in premixed charge compression ignition engines by controlling the spatial concentration and distribution of both fuels. In the present study, n-heptane and i-octane were independently injected through two different injectors. In-cylinder pressure analysis and emissions measurement were performed in a compression ignition engine. Injection timings, fuel quantity ratio between the injections were changed for the two cases, in which one fuel was injected using a port fuel injection system while the other was directly injected into the cylinder, in order to drastically vary mixture distributions and ignition timings. In addition, an optical diagnostic was performed in a rapid compression and expansion machine to develop an understanding of the ignition processes of the two mixtures.

Three-dimensional large eddy simulation (LES) has been conducted for a diesel spray flame using KIVALES which is LES version of KIVA code. Modified TAB model, velocity interpolation model and rigid sphere model are used to improve the prediction of the fuel-mixture process in the diesel spray. Combustion is simulated using the Eddy-Dissipation model. CIP method was incorporated into the KIVALES in order to suppress the numerical instability on the combustible flow. The formation of soot and NO was simulated using Hiroyasu model and KIVA original model. Three different grid resolutions were used to examine the grid dependency. The result shows that the LES approach with 0.5 mm grid size is able to resolve the instantaneous spray with the intermittency in the spray periphery, the axi-symmetric shape and meandering flow after the end of injection as shown in the experimental results.

A diesel engine operating in premixed charge compression ignition (PCCI) mode promises the reduction of engine-out emissions of NOx and particulate matter. A serious issue for PCCI operation with the early injection timing during the compression stroke is the difficulty of controlling the mixture formation process. In this study, a mixed fuel consisting of high volatility fuel and high ignitability one is applied in order to develop a control technique for the mixture preparation. In particular, we focuses on a flash boiling phenomenon of mixed fuel. For pure substance, the quality of flashing spray is dominated by the degree of superheat. In contrast, that of mixed fuel is affected much by low boiling point fuel.

Authors propose the reformulation technique of physical properties of Biodiesel Fuel (BDF) by mixing lower boiling point fuels. In this study, waste cooking oil methyl ester (B100), which have been produced in Kyoto city, is used in behalf of BDF. N-Heptane (C7H16) and n-Dodecane (C12H26) are used as low and medium boiling point fuel. Mixed fuel of BDF with lower boiling point fuels have lighter quality as compared with neat BDF. This result is based on the chemical-thermo dynamical liquid-vapor equilibrium theory. This paper describes fundamental spray and combustion characteristics of mixed fuel of B100 with lower boiling point fuels as well as the reformulation technique. By mixing lower boiling point fuel, lighter quality fuels can be refined. Thus, mixed fuels have higher volatility and lower viscosity. Therefore, vaporization of mixed fuel spray is promoted and liquid phase penetration of mixed fuel shortens as compared with that of neat BDF.

It is thought that the synthetic gas, including hydrogen and carbon monoxide, has a potential to be an alternative fuel for internal combustion engines, because a heating value of the synthetic gas is higher than one of hydrogen or natural gas. A purpose of this study is to acquire stable auto-ignition and combustion of the synthetic gas which is supposed to be applied into a direct-injection compression ignition engine. In this study, the effects of ambient gas temperatures and oxygen concentrations on auto-ignition characteristics of the synthetic gas with changing percentage of hydrogen (H2) or carbon monoxide (CO) concentrations in the synthetic gas. An electronically-controlled, hydraulically-actuated gas injector was used to control a precise injection timing and period of gaseous fuels, and the experiments were conducted in an optically accessible, constant-volume combustion chamber under simulated quiescent diesel engine conditions.

Urea-SCR system has a high NOx reduction potential in the steady-state diesel engine operation. In complicated transient operations, however, there are certain problems with the urea-SCR system in that NOx reduction performance degrades and adsorbed NH3 would be emitted. Here, optimum urea injection methods and exhaust bypass control to overcome these problems are studied. This exhaust bypass control enables NO/NOx ratio at the inlet of SCR catalyst to be decreased widely, which prevents over production of NO2 at the pre-oxidation catalyst. Steady-state and simple transient engine tests were conducted to clarify NOx reduction characteristics when optimum urea injection pattern and exhaust bypass control were applied. In simple transient test, only the engine load was rapidly changed for obtaining the fundamental knowledge concerning the effect of those techniques.

For protecting human health and preserving the clean environment, current regulations stipulate acceptable levels of particulate emissions based on the mass collected on filters obtained by sampling in diluted exhaust. Such regulations will be imposed not only on-road engines but also off-road engines. From the point of view of human health [1], so-called nano-particle (d<50nm) is thought to be nuisance because it could reach deeper lung tissue. So, many researches have been done in this research field [2]. A series of experiments were conducted on an off-road general purpose direct Injection (DI) diesel engine using EEPS (Engine Exhaust Particle Sizer) to make real time particle size distribution measurements possible. The data presented covers whole operating conditions including the operating modes of off-road diesel engine emission test (C1mode). Additionally, PM emissions in transient (NRTC test cycle) engine operation were examined.

Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) is effective for the simultaneous reduction of soot and NOx emissions in diesel engine. In general, high octane number fuels (gasoline components or gaseous fuels) are used for HCCI operation, because these fuels briefly form lean homogeneous mixture because of long ignition delay and high volatility. However, it is necessary to improve injection systems, when these high octane number fuels are used in diesel engine. In addition, the difficulty of controlling auto-ignition timing must be resolved. On the other hand, HCCI using diesel fuel (diesel HCCI) also needs ignition control, because diesel fuel which has a low octane number causes the early ignition before TDC. The purpose of this study is the ignition and combustion control of diesel HCCI. The effects of parameters (injection timing, injection pressure, internal/external EGR, boost pressure, and variable valve timing (VVT)) on the ignition timing of diesel HCCI were investigated.

Conditioning of diluted exhaust gas by Thermo-Conditioner prior to measurement has been proposed by the GRPE/PMP Research Council of the United Nation in order to achieve stability in nano-particle measurement. In this study the effect of thermo-conditioner on the thermo-physical behavior of nano-particle under different conditions have been clarified. Stability in measurement was also attempted depending on the characteristics of nano-particles. Quality of the raw exhaust gas, the dilution ratio and temperature, and the thermal conditioning temperature were considered as the main parameters. Exhaust gas from a medium duty DI diesel engine was used for analysis. Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer was used for measuring the concentration of nano-particles. It was concluded that the concentration of nuclei-mode particles within the size range of 15∼30 nm are significantly influenced by the thermal conditioning temperature.

Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) is effective for the simultaneous reduction of soot and NOx emissions from diesel engine. In general, high octane number and volatility fuels (gasoline components or gaseous fuels) are used for HCCI operation, because very lean mixture must be formed during ignition delay of the fuel. However, it is necessary to improve fuel injection systems, when these fuels are used in diesel engine. The purpose of the present study is the achievement of HCCI combustion in DI diesel engine without the large-scale improvements of engine components. Various high octane number fuels are mixed with diesel fuel as a base fuel, and the mixed fuels are directly applied to DI diesel engine. At first, the cylinder pressure and heat release rate of each mixed fuel are analyzed. The ignition delay of HCCI operation decreases with an increase in the operation load, although that of conventional diesel operation does not almost varied.

Particulate Matter (PM) from diesel engines is thought to be seriously hazardous for human health. Generally, it is said that the hazard depends on the total number and surface area of particles rather than total mass of PM. In the conventional gravimetric method, only the total mass of PM is measured. Therefore, it is very important to measure not only the mass of PM but also size and number density of particulates. Laser-Induced Incandescence (LII) is a useful diagnostic for transient measurement of soot particulate volume fraction and primary particle size. On the other hand, Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer (SMPS) is also used to measure the size distribution of soot aggregate particulates at a steady state condition. However, the measurement processes and the phenomena used to acquire the information on soot particulate are quite different between the LII and SMPS methods. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the detailed characteristics of both LII and SMPS.

In the previous study design of two-component normal paraffin fuel was attempted considering the components and blending ratio. Only the thermodynamic analysis of combustion and analysis of emission characteristics were performed to evaluate the design performance. In this study mixture formation behavior and combustion phenomena of pure and mixed n-paraffin fuels were investigated by direct visualization in an AVL engine with bottom view piston. The experiments included laser-illuminated high-speed photography of the fuel injection phase and combustion phase to investigate physical differences. The results obtained for the proposed fuels are compared with the results of conventional diesel fuel. It was found that the two component normal paraffin fuels with similar thermo physical properties have very similar spray development pattern but evaporation rates are different.