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Sources of unburned hydrocarbon (UHC) emissions are examined for a highly dilute (10% oxygen concentration), moderately boosted (1.5 bar), low load (3.0 bar IMEP) operating condition in a single-cylinder, light-duty, optically accessible diesel engine undergoing partially-premixed low-temperature combustion (LTC). The evolution of the in-cylinder spatial distribution of UHC is observed throughout the combustion event through measurement of liquid fuel distributions via elastic light scattering, vapor and liquid fuel distributions via laser-induced fluorescence, and velocity fields via particle image velocimetry (PIV). The measurements are complemented by and contrasted with the predictions of multi-dimensional simulations employing a realistic, though reduced, chemical mechanism to describe the combustion process.

The objective of this research is a detailed investigation of multiple injections in a highly-dilute diesel low temperature combustion (LTC) regime. This research concentrates on understanding the performance and emissions benefits of multiple injections via experiments and simulations in a 0.48L signal cylinder light-duty engine operating at 2000 r/min and 5.5 bar IMEP. Controlled experiments in the single-cylinder engine are then combined with three computational tools, namely heat release analysis of measured cylinder pressure, a phenomenological spray model using in-cylinder thermodynamics [1], and KIVA-3V Chemkin CFD computations recently tested at LTC conditions [2]. This study examines the effects of fuel split distribution, injection event timing, rail pressure, and boost pressure which are each explored within a defined operation range in LTC.

The objective of this research is a detailed investigation of unburned hydrocarbon (UHC) in a highly-dilute diesel low temperature combustion (LTC) regime. This research concentrates on understanding the mechanisms that control the formation of UHC via experiments and simulations in a 0.48L signal-cylinder light duty engine operating at 2000 r/min and 5.5 bar IMEP with multiple injections. A multi-gas FTIR along with other gas and smoke emissions instruments are used to measure exhaust UHC species and other emissions. Controlled experiments in the single-cylinder engine are then combined with three computational tools, namely heat release analysis of measured cylinder pressure, analysis of spray trajectory with a phenomenological spray model using in-cylinder thermodynamics [1], and KIVA-3V Chemkin CFD computations recently tested at LTC conditions [2].

The transient response of an engine with both High Pressure (HP) and Low Pressure (LP) EGR loops was compared by conducting step changes in EGR fraction at a constant engine speed and load. The HP EGR loop performance was shown to be closely linked to turbocharger performance, whereas the LP EGR loop was relatively independent of turbocharger performance and vice versa. The same experiment was repeated with the variable geometry turbine vanes completely open to reduce turbocharger action and achieve similar EGR rate changes with the HP and LP EGR loops. Under these conditions, the increased loop volume of the LP EGR loop prolonged the response of intake O2 concentration following the change in air-fuel ratio. The prolonged change of intake O2 concentration caused emissions to require more time to reach steady state as well. Strong coupling between the HP EGR loop and turbochargers was again observed using a hybrid EGR strategy.

A detailed comparison of cylinder pressure derived combustion performance and engine-out emissions is made between an all-metal single-cylinder light-duty diesel engine and a geometrically equivalent engine designed for optical accessibility. The metal and optically accessible single-cylinder engines have the same nominal geometry, including cylinder head, piston bowl shape and valve cutouts, bore, stroke, valve lift profiles, and fuel injection system. The bulk gas thermodynamic state near TDC and load of the two engines are closely matched by adjusting the optical engine intake mass flow and composition, intake temperature, and fueling rate for a highly dilute, low temperature combustion (LTC) operating condition with an intake O2 concentration of 9%. Subsequent start of injection (SOI) sweeps compare the emissions trends of UHC, CO, NOx, and soot, as well as ignition delay and fuel consumption.

An investigation of high speed direct injection (DI) compression ignition (CI) engine combustion fueled with gasoline (termed GDICI for Gasoline Direct-Injection Compression Ignition) in the low temperature combustion (LTC) regime is presented. As an aid to plan engine experiments at full load (16 bar IMEP, 2500 rev/min), exploration of operating conditions was first performed numerically employing a multi-dimensional CFD code, KIVA-ERC-Chemkin, that features improved sub-models and the Chemkin library. The oxidation chemistry of the fuel was calculated using a reduced mechanism for primary reference fuel combustion. Operation ranges of a light-duty diesel engine operating with GDICI combustion with constraints of combustion efficiency, noise level (pressure rise rate) and emissions were identified as functions of injection timings, exhaust gas recirculation rate and the fuel split ratio of double-pulse injections.

Deviations between transient and steady state operation of a modern light duty diesel engine were identified by comparing rapid load transitions to steady state tests at the same speeds and fueling rates. The validity of approximating transient performance by matching the transient charge air flow rate and intake manifold pressure at steady state was also assessed. Results indicate that for low load operation with low temperature combustion strategies, transient deviations of MAF and MAP from steady state values are small in magnitude or short in duration and have relatively little effect on transient engine performance. A new approximation accounting for variations in intake temperature and excess oxygen content of the EGR was more effective at capturing transient emissions trends, but significant differences in magnitudes remained in certain cases indicating that additional sources of variation between transient and steady state performance remain unaccounted for.

An investigation of high speed direct injection (DI) compression ignition (CI) engine combustion fueled with gasoline injected using a triple-pulse strategy in the low temperature combustion (LTC) regime is presented. This work aims to extend the operation ranges for a light-duty diesel engine, operating on gasoline, that have been identified in previous work via extended controllability of the injection process. The single-cylinder engine (SCE) was operated at full load (16 bar IMEP, 2500 rev/min) and computational simulations of the in-cylinder processes were performed using a multi-dimensional CFD code, KIVA-ERC-Chemkin, that features improved sub-models and the Chemkin library. The oxidation chemistry of the fuel was calculated using a reduced mechanism for primary reference fuel combustion chosen to match ignition characteristics of the gasoline fuel used for the SCE experiments.

The applicability of several popular diesel particulate matter (PM) measurement techniques to low temperature combustion is examined. The instruments' performance in measuring low levels of PM from advanced diesel combustion is evaluated. Preliminary emissions optimization of a high-speed light-duty diesel engine was performed for two conventional and two advanced low temperature combustion engine cases. A low PM (<0.2 g/kg_fuel) and NOx (<0.07 g/kg_fuel) advanced low temperature combustion (LTC) condition with high levels of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) and early injection timing was chosen as a baseline. The three other cases were selected by varying engine load, injection timing, injection pressure, and EGR mass fraction. All engine conditions were run with ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel. An extensive characterization of PM from these engine operating conditions is presented.

There is a significant global effort to study low temperature combustion (LTC) as a tool to achieve stringent emission standards with future light duty diesel engines. LTC utilizes high levels of dilution (i.e., EGR > 60% with <10%O2 in the intake charge) to reduce overall combustion temperatures and to lengthen ignition delay, This increased ignition delay provides time for fuel evaporation and reduces in-homogeneities in the reactant mixture, thus reducing NOx formation from local temperature spikes and soot formation from locally rich mixtures. However, as dilution is increased to the limits, HC and CO can significantly increase. Recent research suggests that CO emissions during LTC result from the incomplete combustion of under-mixed fuel and charge gas occurring after the premixed burn period [1, 2]1. The objective of the present work was to increase understanding of the HC/CO emission mechanisms in LTC at part-load.

A single cylinder Yamaha research engine was operated with gasoline HCCI combustion using negative valve overlap (NVO). The injection strategy for this study involved using fuel injected directly into the cylinder during the NVO period (pre-DI) along with a secondary injection either in the intake port (PI) or directly into the cylinder (DI). The effects of timing of the pre-DI injection along with the percent of fuel injected during the pre-DI injection were studied in two sets of experiments using secondary PI and DI injections in separate experiments. Results have shown that by varying the pre-DI timing and pre-DI percent the main HCCI combustion timing can be influenced as a result of varied heat release during the negative valve overlap period along with hypothesized varied degrees of reformation of the pre-DI injected fuel. In addition to varying the main combustion timing the ISFC, emissions and combustion stability are all influenced by changes in pre-DI timing and percent.

Predictive models of soot formation during Diesel combustion are of great practical interest, particularly in light of newly proposed strict regulations on particulate emissions. A modified version of the phenomenological model of soot formation developed previously has been implemented in KIVA-II CFD code. The model includes major generic processes involved in soot formation during combustion, i.e., formation of soot precursors, formation of surface growth species, soot particle nucleation, coagulation, surface growth and oxidation. The formulation of the model within the KIVA-II is fully coupled with the mass and energy balances in the system. The model performance has been tested by comparison with the results of optical in-cylinder soot measurements in a single cylinder Cummins NH Diesel engine. The predicted soot volume fraction, number density and particle size agree reasonably well with the experimental data.

The use of low temperature combustion (LTC) modes has demonstrated abilities to lower diesel engine emissions while maintaining good fuel consumption. LTC is assumed to be a viable solution to assist in meeting stringent upcoming diesel engine emissions targets, particularly nitric oxides (NOx) and particulate matter (PM). However, LTC is currently limited to low engine loads and is not a feasible solution at higher loads on production engines. A mixed mode combustion strategy must be implemented to take advantage of the benefits offered from LTC at the low loads and speeds while switching to a conventional diesel combustion strategy at higher loads and speeds and thus allowing full range use of the engine under realistic driving conditions. Experiments were performed to characterize engine out emissions during transient engine operating conditions involving LTC combustion strategies.

The objective of this study is to increase fundamental understanding of the effects of fuel composition and properties on low temperature combustion (LTC) and to identify major properties that could enable engine performance and emission improvements, especially under high load conditions. A series of experiments and computational simulations were conducted under LTC conditions using 67% EGR with 9.5% inlet O₂ concentration on a single-cylinder version of the General Motors Corporation 1.9L direct injection diesel engine. This research investigated the effects of Cetane number (CN), volatility and total aromatic content of diesel fuels on LTC operation. The values of CN, volatility, and total aromatic content studied were selected in a DOE (Design of Experiments) fashion with each variable having a base value as well as a lower and higher level. Timing sweeps were performed for all fuels at a lower load condition of 5.5 bar net IMEP at 2000 rpm using a single-pulse injection strategy.

Multi-dimensional computational efforts using comprehensive and skeletal kinetics have been made to investigate the cool flame region in HCCI combustion. The work was done in parallel to an experimental study that showed the impact of the negative temperature coefficient and the cool flame on the start of combustion using different fuels, which is now the focus of the simulation work. Experiments in a single cylinder CFR research engine with n-butane and a primary reference fuel with an octane number of 70 (PRF 70) were modeled. A comparison of the pressure and heat release traces of the experimental and computational results shows the difficulties in predicting the heat release in the cool flame region. The behavior of the driving radicals for two-stage ignition is studied and is compared to the behavior for a single-ignition from the literature. Model results show that PRF 70 exhibits more pronounced cool flame heat release than n-butane.

A single cylinder CFR research engine has been run in HCCI combustion mode at the rich and the lean limits of the homogeneous charge operating range. To achieve a variation of the degree of charge stratification, two GDI injectors were installed: one was used for generating a homogeneous mixture in the intake system, and the other was mounted directly into the side of the combustion chamber. At the lean limit of the operating range, stratification showed a tremendous improvement in IMEP and emissions. At the rich limit, however, the stratification was limited by the high-pressure rise rate and high CO and NOx emissions. In this experiment the location of the DI injector was in such a position that the operating range that could be investigated was limited due to liquid fuel impingement onto the piston and liner.

A single cylinder CFR research engine has been run in HCCI combustion mode for a range of temperatures and fuel compositions. The data indicate that the best HCCI operation, as measured by a combination of successful combustion with low ISFC, occurs at or near the rich limit of operation. Analysis of the pressure and heat release histories indicated the presence, or absence, and impact of the fuel's NTC ignition behavior on establishing successful HCCI operation. The auto-ignition trends observed were in complete agreement with previous results found in the literature. Furthermore, analysis of the importance of the fuel's octane sensitivity, through assessment of an octane index, successfully explained the changes in the fuels auto-ignition tendency with changes in engine operating conditions.

A modification of the computational fluid dynamics code KIVA-II is presented that allows computations to be made in complex engine geometries. An example application is given in which three versions of KIVA-II are run simultaneously. Each version considers a separate block of the computational domain, and the blocks exchange boundary condition information with each other at their common interfaces. The use of separate blocks permits the connectedness of the overall computational domain to change with time. The scavenging flow in the cylinder, transfer pipes (ports), and exhaust pipe of a ported two-stroke engine with a moving piston was modeled in this way. Results are presented for three engine designs that differ only in the angle of their boost ports. The calculated flow fields and the resulting fuel distributions are shown to be markedly different with the different geometries.

A single cylinder, Cummins NH, direct-injection, diesel engine has been operated in order to evaluate the effects of aromatic content and aromatic structure on diesel engine particulates. Results from three fuels are shown. The first fuel, a low sulfur Chevron diesel fuel was used as a base fuel for comparison. The other fuels consisted of the base fuel and 10% by volume of 1-2-3-4 tetrahydronaphthalene (tetralin) a single-ring aromatic and naphthalene, a double-ring aromatic. The fuels were chosen to vary aromatic content and structure while minimizing differences in boiling points and cetane number. Measurements included exhaust particulates using a mini-dilution tunnel, exhaust emissions including THC, CO2, NO/NOx, O2, injection timing, two-color radiation, soluble organic fraction, and cylinder pressure. Particulate measurements were found to be sensitive to temperature and flow conditions in the mini-dilution tunnel and exhaust system.

Reduction in the cycle-to-cycle variation (CCV) of combustion in internal combustion engines is required to reduce fuel consumption, exhaust emissions, and improve drivability. CCV increases at low load operations and lean/dilute burn conditions. Specifically, the factors that cause CCV of combustion are the cyclic variations of in-cylinder flow, in-cylinder distributions of fuel concentration, temperature and residual gas, and ignition energy. However, it is difficult to measure and analyze these factors in a production engine. This study used an optically accessible single-cylinder engine in which combustion and optical measurements were performed for 45 consecutive cycles. CCVs of the combustion and in-cylinder phenomena were investigated for the same cycle. Using this optically accessible engine, the volume inside the combustion chamber, including the pent-roof region can be observed through a quartz cylinder.