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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 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.

A mixed timescale subgrid model of a large eddy simulation was used to simulate the turbulence regime in diesel engine combustion. The combustion model used the direct integration approach with a diesel oil surrogate mechanism (developed at Chalmers University of Technology and consisting of 70 species and 309 reactions). Additional reactions for the generation and consumption of OH*, CO2*, and CH* species were added from recent kinetic studies. Collisional quenching and spontaneous emission resulted in de-excitation of the excited state radical. A phenomenological soot formation model (developed at Waseda University) was combined with the LES code. The following important steps were considered in the soot model: particle inception where naphthalene grows irreversibly to form soot, surface growth with the addition of C2H2, surface oxidation (induced by OH radicals and O2 attack), and particle coagulation.