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As a new method to examine the extremely unsteady and spatially varying wall heat transfer phenomena on diesel engine combustion chamber wall, high-speed imaging of infrared thermal radiation from the chromium coated window surface impinged by a diesel spray flame has been conducted in a constant volume combustion chamber. The infrared radiation from a back surface of the chromium layer was successfully visualized at 10kHz frame rate and 128 × 128 pixel resolution through the window. The distributions of infrared radiation, temperature and heat flux exhibited coherent and streaky structure with radial stripes extending and waving from a stagnation point likely reflecting the near-wall turbulent structure in a wall impinging diesel flame. The experiments were conducted with various parameters such as fuel injection pressure, ambient gas oxygen concentration, wall impinging distance, wall surface roughness and wall materials.

The enhancement of vortex development, fuel-air mixing and heat release in diesel spray flame by inversed-delta injection rate shaping, having been predicted via LES simulation with detailed chemical kinetics, is experimentally confirmed for the first time. Newly developed 3-injector TAIZAC (TAndem Injector Zapping ACtivation) injector realizing aggressive inversed-delta injection rate shaping was used for single-shot combustion experiments in a constant volume combustion vessel. Simultaneous high-speed (120,000fps) and high-resolution (1,280 x 704 pixels) laser schlieren and UV OH* chemiluminescence imaging combined with subsequent Flame Imaging Velocimetry (FIV) analysis was employed to elucidate the correlation between vortex development and enhanced heat release.

For better understanding, model development and its validation of in-cylinder soot formation processes of Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI) engines, crank-angle-resolved mass and size distribution of in-cylinder soot during a GDI combustion cycle were investigated via optical measurements and total cylinder sampling technique in an optically accessible Rapid Compression and Expansion Machine (RCEM). A direct-injection, spark-ignited and single-shot combustion event was achieved in the RCEM operated with engine speed 600 rpm, compression ratio 9.0, equivalence ratio 0.9 and natural aspiration. A three-component (iso-octane 65%, n-heptane 10%, toluene 25%) gasoline surrogate fuel and a multi-hole injector shared within the Japanese SIP Innovative Combustion Technology research program were used.

In order to better understand in-flame diesel soot oxidation processes, soot particles at the oxidation-dominant periphery of diesel spray flame were sampled by a newly developed “suck” type soot sampler employing a high-speed solenoid valve and their morphology and nanostructure were observed via high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM). A single-shot diesel spray flame for the soot sampling experiment was achieved in a constant-volume vessel under a diesel-like condition. The sampler instantaneously sucks out a small portion of soot laden gases from the flame. A TEM grid holds inside the flow passage close to its entrance is immediately exposed to the gas flow induced by the suction at the upstream of the solenoid valve, so that the quick thermophoretic soot deposition onto the grid surface can effectively freeze morphology variation of soot particles during the sampling processes.

For better understanding, model development and its validation of in-cylinder soot formation processes of Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI) engines, visualization of piston surface fuel wetting, vaporization and soot formation processes of in-cylinder pool fire via high-speed UV (266nm) and visible (445nm) laser shadowgraphy was attempted in an optically accessible Rapid Compression and Expansion Machine (RCEM). A direct-injection, spark-ignition and single-shot combustion event was achieved in the RCEM under engine-equivalent, simplified and well-defined conditions operated with engine speed 600 rpm, compression ratio 9.0, equivalence ratio 0.9 and natural aspiration. The tested fuel was composed of 70% iso-octane and 30% toluene by volume and the UV absorption by toluene enabled visualization of the in-cylinder fuel distribution.

For better understanding of soot formation and oxidation processes in diesel combustion, effects of ambient oxygen concentration on in-flame diesel soot particle properties including concentration, size, number density and morphology were investigated in a constant volume combustion vessel via simultaneous LII (Laser-Induced Incandescence) / LS (Laser Scattering) imaging techniques and TEM (Transmission Electron Microscopy) analysis. An analysis of LII and LS images yielded 2-dimensional distribution images of concentration, size and number density of soot particles in diesel spray flame, based on a practical assumption that LII and LS signals are proportional to the soot particle size to the power of 3 and 6, respectively.

For better understanding of soot formation and oxidation processes in a diesel spray flame, two kinds of planar soot imaging techniques, Laser-Induced Incandescence (LII) and Laser Scattering (LS) techniques, were applied simultaneously to a diesel spray flame in a constant-volume combustion vessel under a diesel-like condition (2.5MPa, 940K). An analysis of LII and LS images yielded 2-dimensional distribution images of concentration, size and number density of soot particles in the spray flame, based on an assumption that LII and LS signals are proportional to the soot particle size to the power of 3 and 6, respectively. In order to obtain clearer variation trend in the soot concentration, size and number density distribution in significantly fluctuating single-shot diesel spray flames, spontaneous and time-integrated ensemble averaging of the laser-measured images were employed.

For better understanding of soot formation and oxidation processes in diesel spray flame, the nanostructure of primary soot particles directly sampled in a diesel spray flame was investigated via High-Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM). A single-shot diesel spray flame was achieved in a constant volume combustion vessel under diesel-like conditions (Ta=1000K, Pa=2.7 MPa) and a micro-grid for HRTEM observation was directly exposed to the spray flame to thermophoretically sample soot particles onto the grid surface. A preliminary nanostructure investigation was conducted for x500k magnification HRTEM images of soot particles directly sampled in diesel spray flames of Fischer-Tropsch Diesel (FTD) fuel seeded with naphthalene as a representative aromatic substance. A MATLAB code for HRTEM image processing and analysis of lattice fringes within primary soot particles was developed and used to characterize the length, tortuosity and separation of lattice fringes.

For better understanding of soot formation and oxidation processes in a biodiesel spray flame, the morphology, microstructure and sizes of soot particles directly sampled in a spray flame fuelled with soy-methyl ester were investigated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The soot samples were taken at different axial locations in the spray flame, 40, 50 and 70 mm from injector nozzle, which correspond to soot formation, peak, and oxidation zones, respectively. The biodiesel spray flame was generated in a constant-volume combustion chamber under a diesel-like high pressure and temperature condition (6.7 MPa, 1000K). Density, diameter of primary particles and radius of gyration of soot aggregates reached a peak at 50 mm from the injector nozzle and was lower or smaller in the formation or oxidation zones of the spray.

In order to investigate the mechanism of heat transfer on the chamber wall of direct-injection diesel engines, 2-D temperature imaging and heat flux measurement in the flame impinging region on the chamber wall were conducted using laser-induced phosphorescence technique. The temperature of the chamber wall surface was measured by the calibrated intensity variation of the 355nm-excited laser-induced phosphorescence from an electrophoretically deposited thin layer of La2O2S:Eu phosphor on a quartz glass plate placed in a rapid compression and expansion machine (RCEM). Instantaneous 2-D images of wall temperature at different timings after start of injection and time-resolved (10kHz) heat flux near the flame impinging region were obtained for combusting and non-combusting diesel sprays with impinging distance of 23.4mm at different injection pressures (80 and 120MPa).

In order to investigate the soot formation process in a diesel spray flame, simultaneous imaging of soot precursor and soot particles in a transient spray flame achieved in a rapid compression machine was conducted by laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) and by laser-induced incandescence (LII) techniques. The 3rd harmonic (355nm) and the fundamental (1064nm) laser pulses from an Nd:YAG laser, between which a delay of 44ns was imposed by 13.3m of optical path difference, were used to excite LIF from soot precursor and LII from soot particles in the spray flame. The LIF and the LII were separately imaged by two image-intensified CCD cameras with identical detection wavelength of 400nm and bandwidth of 80nm. The LIF from soot precursor was mainly located in the central region of the spray flame between 40 and 55mm (270 to 370 times nozzle orifice diameter d0) from the nozzle orifice. The LII from soot particles was observed to surround the soot precursor LIF region and to extend downstream.