Search Results

Water injection has been used to reduce the charge temperature and mitigate knocking due to its higher latent heat of vaporization compared to gasoline fuel. When water is injected into the intake manifold or into the cylinder, it evaporates by absorbing heat energy from the surrounding and results in charge cooling. However, the effect of detailed evaporation process on the combustion characteristics under gasoline direct injection relevant conditions still needs to be investigated. Therefore, spray study was firstly conducted using a multi-hole injector by injecting pure water and water-methanol mixture into constant volume combustion chamber (CVCC) at naturally aspirated and boosted engine conditions. The target water-fuel ratio was fixed at 0.5. Mie-scattering and schlieren images of sprays were analyzed to study spray characteristics, and evaluate the amount of water vaporization.

The medium and heavy-duty powertrain industry trend is to reduce reliance on diesel fuel and is aligned with continued efforts of achieving ultra-low emissions and high brake efficiencies. Compression Ignition (CI) of late cycle Directly Injected (DI) Natural Gas (NG) shows the potential to match diesel performance in terms of brake efficiency and power density, with the benefit of utilizing a lower carbon content fuel. A primary challenge is to achieve stable ignition of directly injected NG over a wide engine speed and load range without the need for a separate ignition source. This project aims to demonstrate the CI of DI NG through experimental studies with a Single Cylinder Research Engine (SCRE), leading to the development of a mono-fueled NG engine with equivalent performance to that of current diesel technology, 25% lower CO2 emissions, and low engine out methane emissions.

A diesel piloted natural gas engine's performance varies depending on operating conditions and has performed best under medium to high loads. It can often equal or better the fuel conversion efficiency of a diesel-only engine in this operating range. This paper presents a study performed on a multi-cylinder Cummins ISB 6.7L diesel engine converted to run stoichiometric natural gas/diesel micro-pilot combustion with a maximum diesel contribution of 10%. This study systematically quantifies and ranks the sensitivity of control factors on combustion and performance while operating at medium loads. The effects of combustion control parameters, including the pilot start of injection, pilot injection pressure, pilot injection quantity, exhaust gas recirculation, and global equivalence ratio, were tested using a design of experiments orthogonal matrix approach.

The study of spray-wall interaction is of great importance to understand the dynamics that occur during fuel impingement onto the chamber wall or piston surfaces in internal combustion engines. It is found that the maximum spreading length of an impinged droplet can provide a quantitative estimation of heat transfer and energy transformation for spray-wall interaction. Furthermore, it influences the air-fuel mixing and hydrocarbon and particle emissions at combusting conditions. In this paper, an analytical model of a single diesel droplet impinging on the wall with different inclined angles (α) is developed in terms of βm (dimensionless maximum spreading length, the ratio of maximum spreading length to initial droplet diameter) to understand the detailed impinging dynamic process.

Past experimental studies conducted by the current authors on a 13 liter 16.7:1 compression ratio heavy-duty diesel engine have shown that diesel-Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Reactivity Controlled Compression Ignition (RCCI) combustion targeting low NOx emissions becomes progressively difficult to control as the engine load is increased. This is mainly due to difficulty in controlling reactivity levels at higher loads. For the current study, CFD investigations were conducted in CONVERGE using the SAGE combustion solver with the application of the Rahimi mechanism. Studies were conducted at a load of 5 bar BMEP to validate the simulation results against RCCI experimental data. In the low load study, it was found that the Rahimi mechanism was not able to predict the RCCI combustion behavior for diesel injection timings advanced beyond 30 degCA bTDC. This poor prediction was found at multiple engine speed and load points.

Gasoline compression ignition (GCI) technology shows the potential to obtain high thermal efficiencies while maintaining low soot and NOx emissions in light-duty engine applications. Recent experimental studies and numerical simulations have indicated that high reactivity gasoline-like fuels can further enable the benefits of GCI combustion. However, there is limited empirical data in the literature studying the gasoline compression ignition process at relevant in-cylinder conditions, which are required for further optimizing combustion system designs. This study investigates the temporal and spatial evolution of the compression ignition process of various high reactivity gasoline fuels with research octane numbers (RON) of 71, 74 and 82, as well as a conventional RON 97 E10 gasoline fuel. A ten-hole prototype gasoline injector specifically designed for GCI applications capable of injection pressures up to 450 bar was used.

While significant progress has been made in recent years to develop hybrid and battery electric vehicles for passenger car and light-duty applications to meet future fuel economy targets, the application of hybrid powertrains to heavy-duty truck applications has been very limited. The relatively lower energy and power density of batteries in comparison to diesel fuel and the operating profiles of most heavy-duty trucks, combine to make the application of hybrid powertrain for these applications more challenging. The high torque and power requirements of heavy-duty trucks over a long operating range, the majority of which is at constant cruise point, along with a high payback period, complexity, cost, weight and range anxiety, make the hybrid and battery electric solution less attractive than a conventional powertrain.

There has been a great effort expended in identifying causes of Hydro-Carbon (HC) and Particulate Matter (PM) emissions resulting from poor spray preparation, leading to characterization of fueling behavior near nozzle. It has been observed that large droplet size is a primary contributor to HC and PM emission. Imaging technologies have been developed to understand the break-up and consistency of fuel spray. However, there appears to be a lack of studies of the spray characteristics at the End of Injection (EOI), near nozzle, in particular, the effect that tip deposits have on the EOI characteristics. Injector tip deposits are of interest due to their effect on not only fuel spray characteristics, but also their unintended effect on engine out emissions. Using a novel imaging technique to extract near nozzle fuel characteristics at EOI, the impact of tip deposits on Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI) fuel injectors at the EOI is being examined in this work.

The fuel spray impingement on the piston head and/or chamber often occurs in compact IC engines. The impingement plays one of the key roles in combustion because it affects the air-fuel mixing process. In this study, the impinged combustion has been experimentally investigated to understand the mechanism and dynamics of flame-wall interaction. The experiments were performed in a constant volume combustion chamber over a wide range of ambient conditions. The ambient temperature was varied from 800 K to 1000 K and ambient gas oxygen was varied from 15% to 21%. Diesel fuel was injected with an injection pressure of 150 MPa into ambient gas at a density of 22.8 kg/m3. The natural luminosity technique was applied in the experiments to explore the impinged combustion process. High-speed images were taken using a high-speed camera from two different views (bottom and side). An in-house Matlab program was used to post-process the images.

The characteristics of gasoline sprayed directly into combustion chambers are of critical importance to engine out emissions and combustion system development. The optimization of the spray characteristics to match the in-cylinder flow field, chamber geometry, and spark location is a vital tasks during the development of an engine combustion strategy. Furthermore, the presence of liquid fuel during combustion in Spark-Ignition (SI) engines causes increased hydro-carbon (HC) emissions. Euro 6, LEVIII, and US Tier 3 emissions regulations reduce the allowable particulate mass significantly from the previous standards. LEVIII standards reduce the acceptable particulate emission to 1 mg/mile. A good DISI strategy vaporizes the correct amount of fuel just in time for optimal power output with minimal emissions. The opening and closing phases of DISI injectors are crucial to this task as the spray produces larger droplets during both theses phases.

Fuel film formed in the spray-piston or cylinder wall impingement plays a critical role in engine performance and emissions. In this paper, the fuel film formation and the relevant film characteristics resulting from the liquid spray impinging on a flat plate were investigated in a constant volume combustion vessel by Refractive Index Matching (RIM) technique. The liquid film thickness was firstly calibrated with two different proportional mixtures (5% n-dodecane and 95% n-heptane; 10% n-dodecane and 90% n-heptane by volume) pumped out from a precise syringe to achieve an accurate calibration. After calibration, n-heptane fuel from a side-mounted single-hole diesel injector was then injected on a roughened glass with the same optical setup. The ambient temperature and the plate temperature are set to 423 K with the fuel temperature of 363 K.

The necessity to study spray-wall interaction in internal combustion engines is driven by the evidence that fuel sprays impinge on chamber and piston surfaces resulting in the formation of wall films. This, in turn, may influence the air-fuel mixing and increase the hydrocarbon and particulate matter emissions. This work reports an experimental and numerical study on spray-wall impingement and liquid film formation in a constant volume combustion vessel. Diesel and n-heptane were selected as test fuels and injected from a side-mounted single-hole diesel injector at injection pressures of 120, 150, and 180 MPa on a flat transparent window. Ambient and plate temperatures were set at 423 K, the fuel temperature at 363 K, and the ambient densities at 14.8, 22.8, and 30 kg/m3. Simultaneous Mie scattering and schlieren imaging were carried out in the experiment to perform a visual tracking of the spray-wall interaction process from different perspectives.

Numerical modeling of fuel injection in internal combustion engines in a Lagrangian framework requires the use of a spray-wall interaction sub-model to correctly assess the effects associated with spray impingement. The spray impingement dynamics may influence the air-fuel mixing and result in increased hydrocarbon and particulate matter emissions. One component of a spray-wall interaction model is the splashed mass fraction, i.e. the amount of mass that is ejected upon impingement. Many existing models are based on relatively large droplets (mm size), while diesel and gasoline sprays are expected to be of micron size before splashing under high pressure conditions. It is challenging to experimentally distinguish pre- from post-impinged spray droplets, leading to difficulty in model validation.

An accurate estimation of cycle-by-cycle in-cylinder mass and the composition of the cylinder charge is required for spark-ignition engine transient control strategies to obtain required torque, Air-Fuel-Ratio (AFR) and meet engine pollution regulations. Mass Air Flow (MAF) and Manifold Absolute Pressure (MAP) sensors have been utilized in different control strategies to achieve these targets; however, these sensors have response delay in transients. As an alternative to air flow metering, in-cylinder pressure sensors can be utilized to directly measure cylinder pressure, based on which, the amount of air charge can be estimated without the requirement to model the dynamics of the manifold.

Extensive studies have addressed diesel sprays under non-vaporizing, vaporizing and combusting conditions respectively, but further insights into the mechanism by which combustion alters the macroscopic characteristics including the spray penetration and the shape of the spray under diesel engine conditions are needed. Contradictory observations are reported in the literature regarding the combusting diesel spray penetration compared to the inert conditions, and it is an objective of this study to provide further insights and analyses on the combusting spray characteristics by expanding the range of operating parameters. Parameters varied in the studies are charge gas conditions including oxygen levels of 0 %, 15%, 19%, charge densities of 22.8 & 34.8 kg/m3, and charge temperatures of 800, 900 & 1050 K for injection pressures of 1200, 1500, and 1800 bar with a single-hole injector with a nozzle diameter of 100 μm.

Reactivity Controlled Compression Ignition (RCCI) is a promising dual-fuel Low Temperature Combustion (LTC) mode with significant potential for reducing NOx and particulate emissions while improving or maintaining thermal efficiency compared to Conventional Diesel Combustion (CDC) engines. The large reactivity difference between diesel and Natural Gas (NG) fuels provides a strong control variable for phasing and shaping combustion heat release. In this work, the Brake Thermal Efficiencies (BTE), emissions and combustion characteristics of a light duty 1.9L, four-cylinder diesel engine operating in single fuel diesel mode and in Diesel-NG RCCI mode are investigated and compared. The engine was operated at speeds of 1300 to 2500 RPM and loads of 1 to 7 bar BMEP. Operation was limited to 10 bar/deg Maximum Pressure Rise Rate (MPRR) and 6% Coefficient of Variation (COV) of IMEP.

Fuel lean combustion and exhaust gas dilution are known to increase the thermal efficiency and reduce NOx emissions. In this study, experiments are performed to understand the effect of equivalence ratio on flame kernel formation and flame propagation around the spark plug for different low turbulent velocities. A series of experiments are carried out for propane-air mixtures to simulate engine-like conditions. For these experiments, equivalence ratios of 0.7 and 0.9 are tested with 20 percent mass-based exhaust gas recirculation (EGR). Turbulence is generated by a shrouded fan design in the vicinity of J-spark plug. A closed loop feedback control system is used for the fan to generate a consistent flow field. The flow profile is characterized by using Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) technique. High-speed Schlieren visualization is used for the spark formation and flame propagation.

The increased availability of natural gas (NG) in the United States (US) and its relatively low cost compared to diesel fuel has heightened interest in the conversion of medium duty (MD) and heavy duty (HD) engines to NG fueled combustion systems. The aim for development for these NG engines is to realize fuel cost savings and reduce harmful emissions while maintaining durability. Transforming part of the vehicle fleet to NG is a path to reduce dependence on crude oil. Traditionally, port-fuel injection (PFI) or premixed NG spark-ignited (SI) combustion systems have been used for MD and HD engines with widespread use in the US and Europe. But this technology exhibits poor cycle efficiency and is load limited due to knock phenomenon. Direct Injection of NG during the compression stroke promises to deliver improved thermal efficiency by avoiding excessive premixing and extending the lean limits which helps to extend the knock limit.

Diesel combustion and emissions is largely spray and mixing controlled. Spray and combustion models enable characterization over a range of conditions to understand optimum combustion strategies. The validity of models depends on the inputs, including the rate of injection profile of the injector. One method to measure the rate of injection is to measure the momentum, where the injected fuel spray is directed onto a force transducer which provides measurements of momentum flux. From this the mass flow rate is calculated. In this study, the impact of impingement distance, the distance from injector nozzle exit to the anvil connected to the force transducer, is characterized over a range of 2 - 12 mm. This characterization includes the impact of the distance on the momentum flux signal in both magnitude and shape. At longer impingement distances, it is hypothesized that a peak in momentum could occur due to increasing velocity of fuel injected as the pintle fully opens.

High pressure diesel sprays were visualized under vaporizing and combusting conditions in a constant-volume combustion vessel. Near-simultaneous visualization of vapor and liquid phase fuel distribution were acquired using a hybrid shadowgraph/Mie-scattering imaging setup. This imaging technique used two pulsed LED's operating in an alternative manner to provide proper light sources for both shadowgraph and Mie scattering. In addition, combustion cases under the same ambient conditions were visualized through high-speed combustion luminosity measurement. Two single-hole diesel injectors with same nozzle diameters (100μm) but different k-factors (k0 and k1.5) were tested in this study. Detailed analysis based on spray penetration rate curves, rate of injection measurements, combustion indicators and 1D model comparison have been performed.