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A simultaneous multi-composition analyzing (SMCA) resonance enhanced multi-photon ionization (REMPI) system was used to investigate gasoline engine exhaust. Observed peaks for exhaust were smaller mass numbers than those from diesel exhaust. However, large species up to three ring aromatics were observed suggesting that soot precursor forms even in the gasoline engine. At low catalyst temperature condition, the reduction efficiencies of a three-way catalyst were higher for higher mass numbers. This result indicates that the larger species accumulate in the catalyst or elsewhere due to their lower vapor pressures. To evaluate the emission of low volatility species, the accumulation should be taken into account. In the hot mode, reduction efficiencies for aromatic species of three-way catalyst were almost 99.5% however, they fall to 70% in the cold start condition.

In this study, the genetic algorithm so called GA is newly applied for the optimization of many engine mounting parameters, calculations of stiffness matrix and inverse matrix to obtain 6 degrees of freedoms displacements at mounting points and a center of gravity. As a result, the optimized result could be shortly obtained in a minute, and an inexperienced engineer could easily make the optimum engine mounting layout, which can satisfy the vibration isolation and the non-interference in an engine compartment.

Measurements of Excitation-Emission Matrix (EEM) of shock-heated vapors of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) at high temperature (750-1500K) and high pressure (0.3-1.3MPa) conditions were conducted using a multi-wavelength excitation laser in order to demonstrate the potential of the single-measurement EEM fluorometry for investigation of soot precursors. Argon-diluted vapors of naphthalene and pyrene, as PAH model compounds, were heated in an optically accessible shock tube. The PAH vapors were excited by a coherent multi-wavelength “rainbow” laser light generated by converting the 4th harmonic (266nm) of a pulsed Nd:YAG laser using a Raman cell frequency converter filled with high-pressure (2MPa) methane-hydrogen mixture.

The relation between the characteristics of a non-evaporating spray and those of a corresponding frame achieved in a rapid compression machine was investigated experimentally. The fuel injection pressure was changed in a range of 55 to 260 MPa and the other injection parameters such as orifice diameter and injection duration were changed systematically. The characteristics of the non-evaporating spray such as the Sauter mean diameter and the mean excess air ratio of the spray were measured by an image analysis technique. The time required for a pressure rise due to combustion was taken as an index to characterize the flame. It was concluded that the mean excess air ratio of a spray is the major factor which controls the burning rate and that the high injection pressure is effective in shortening the combustion duration and reducing soot formation.

The two-dimensional distribution of a soot cloud in an unsteady spray flame in a rapid compression machine(RCM) was visualized using the laser sheet scattering technique. A 40 mm x 50 mm cross section on the flame axis was illuminated by a thin laser sheet from a single pulsed Nd:YAG laser(wavelength 532 nm). Scattered light from soot particles was taken by a CCD camera via a high speed gated image intensifier. The temporal variation of the scattered light images were presented with the injection pressure as a parameter. The results showed that scattered light was intense near the periphery of the flame tip and that the scattered light becomes weaker significantly and disappears fast after the end of injection as injection pressure is increased. This technique was also applied to the visualization of the two-dimensional distribution of liquid droplets in the non-evaporating spray to correlate it with the soot concentration distribution.

The structure of dense sprays was investigated using 2-D imaging techniques. To investigate the mechanism of atomization, the liquid phase in a non-evaporating spray was visualized by a thin laser sheet formed by a single pulse from a Nd:YAG laser at the distance from 4 to 19 mm from the nozzle orifice with the injection pressure and the surrounding gas density as parameters. A new technique for the visualization of vapor phase in an evaporating spray, the SSI (Silicone particle Scattering Imaging) method, was proposed to investigate the structure of the vapor phase regions of the spray.

To measure the fuel vapor concentration in an unsteady evaporating spray injected into nitrogen atmosphere, the exciplex-forming method, which produces spectrally separated fluorescence from the liquid and vapor phase, was applied in this study. Two experiments were conducted to investigate the qualitative and quantitative applicability of the technique in a high temperature and high pressure atmosphere during the fuel injection period. One is to examine the thermal decomposition of TMPD dopant at a high temperature and a high pressure nitrogen atmosphere during a short period of time. The other is to calibrate the relationship between fluorescence intensity and vapor concentration of TMPD at different vapor temperatures. And then, the qualitative measurement of fuel vapor concentration distributions in diesel sprays was made by applying the technique.

Soot concentration is very high in the periphery near the head of an unsteady spray flame which is achieved in a quiescent atmosphere in a rapid compression machine. To reduce soot concentration in this region, it was intended to improve fuel-air mixing by letting the flame impinge on a turbulence-generating plate. Two types of turbulence-generating plates, one donut-type, the other cross-type, were tested. Soot concentration in the flame was imaged using the laser shadow technique. The effect of injection pressure on soot reduction by the flame impingement was also investigated. The overall soot concentration is reduced significantly in the case when the flame impinges on the cross-type turbulence-generating plate at 50 mm (333 nozzle diameters) from the nozzle exit. The flame impingement on the cross-type turbulence-generating plate at 333 nozzle diameters makes soot reduction little dependent on injection pressures.

The influence of the head shape on intracranial responses under impact was investigated by using Finite Element Method. Head shape models of 52 young adult male Japanese were analyzed by Multi Dimensional Scaling (MDS), and a 2 dimensional distribution map of head shapes was obtained. Five finite element models of the Japanese head were constructed by a transformed finite element model of an average European adult male (H-Head model) using Free Form Deformation (FFD) technique. The constructed models represent the 5th and 95th percentile of the first 2 scales obtained by MDS. The same acceleration pulse was applied to the H-Head model and the five finite element models. The cause of the difference was considered to be differences in pressure distribution in the brain caused by the differences in the head shape. Variation in the head shape should be taken into account in simulating the effects of impact using a finite element model.

Experiments on the effects of temperature T and equivalence ratio ϕ on soot formation at high pressures up to 5 MPa were conducted. The soot formation region is mapped on ϕ-T diagram using the results obtained in the experiments and the published data. NO formation region is also determined by the Zeldovich equations and is plotted on the same diagram. The time histories of ϕ and T of the flame in a DI diesel engine which was obtained by a gas sampling study, are plotted on the ϕ-T diagram to form a trajectory. Discussion of the trajectory in relation to both soot and NO formation region gives suggestion of a possibility of high temperature - rich mixture combustion to reduce particulate formation in diesel engines.

A new technique is developed for the in-situ measurement of Sauter mean diameter of droplets in non-evaporating transient dense sprays. This method analyzes the image of a shadowpicture of a spray based on the incident light extinction principle, and allows the sizing of Sauter mean diameter of whole droplets in a transient spray with any shape. In addition, this method allows the measurement of the local droplet size in a quasi-steady region of an axisymmetric spray if the conservation equations regarding mass and momentum are included in the calculation and data analysis. A calibration was carried out using glass beads as test particles: this was proved to have an accuracy of Sauter mean diameter measurement within 10%, on average. Applications of the new technique to both diesel and gasoline (EFI) sprays have been made.

The characteristics of diesel spray and flame in a quiescent atmosphere were studied as a function of injection pressure ranging from 30 to 110 MPa. Measurements included the spray form and Sauter mean diameter of a non-evaporating spray, the liquid phase penetration of an evaporating spray and the visualization of sooting zone in a flame. Experimental results show that high pressure injection improves the atomization and air entrainment of non-evaporating spray and that the liquid phase penetration of evaporating spray is hardly affected by injection pressure, demonstrating a promotion of evaporation with injection pressure. Visualization of the sooting zone in a flame made it clear that high pressure injection is advantageous in reducing soot formation and shortening the combustion duration.

Surface pores that are open to the inlet channel below the surface play a particularly important role in the filtration of particulate matter (i.e., soot) inside the walls of a diesel particulate filter (DPF); they are closely related to the pressure drop and filtration efficiency through the DPF as well as the performance of the regeneration process. In this study, a scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to dynamically visualize the soot deposition process at the particle scale as “time-lapse” images corresponding to the different increases in the pressure drop at each time step. The soot was first trapped at the deepest areas of the surface pores because the porous channels in this area were constricted by silicon carbide grains; soot dendrite structures were observed to grow and finally cause obstructions here.

A direct numerical simulation of turbulent premixed flames in a constant volume vessel is conducted to understand flame-wall interactions and heat loss characteristics under the pressure rising condition. The contribution of the burnt region to the total heat flux is more significant compared to the reaction region. The velocity profiles indicate inward and outward motions. The profile of the turbulent kinetic energy is damped by the wall, and no distinct turbulence production is observed. Since the turbulence is weakened in the burnt region, the effect of near wall turbulence to the total wall heat flux is considered to be limited.

Diesel engines are high thermal efficiency because of high compression ratio but produce high concentration of particulate matter (PM) because of direct injection fuel diffusion combustion. PM must be removed from the exhaust gas to protect human health. This research describes biodiesel engine performance, efficiency and combustion behavior using combustion pressure analyzer. It was clearly observed that PM emitted from CI engines can be reduced by using renewable bio-oxygenated fuels. The morphology and nanostructure of fossil fuel and biofuel PMs were investigated by using a Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The morphology of biodiesel and diesel doesn’t have much different in the viewpoint of particulate matter trapping using DPF micro surface pores. The agglomerated ultrafine particles and primary nanoparticles sizes of diesel and biodiesel engine’s PM are approximately 50-500 nm and 20-50 nm, respectively.

A multi-functional membrane filter was developed through deposition of agglomerated Three-Way Catalyst particles with a size of 1 ~ 2 microns on the conventional bare particulate filter. The filtration efficiency reaches almost 100 % from the beginning of soot trapping with a low pressure drop and both reductions of NO and CO emission were achieved.