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An operational scheme with fuel-lean and exhaust gas dilution in spark-ignited engines increases thermal efficiency and decreases NOx emission, while these operations inherently induce combustion instability and thus large cycle-to-cycle variation in engine. In order to stabilize combustion variations, the development of an advanced ignition system is becoming critical. To quantify the impact of spark-ignition discharge, ignitability tests were conducted in an optically accessible combustion vessel to characterize the flame kernel development of lean methane-air mixture with CO₂ simulating exhaust diluent. A shrouded fan was used to generate turbulence in the vicinity of J-gap spark plug and a Variable Output Ignition System (VOIS) capable of producing a varied set of spark discharge patterns was developed and used as an ignition source. The main feature of the VOIS is to vary the secondary current during glow discharge including naturally decaying and truncated with multiple strikes.

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.

The use of hydrogen as a possible fuel for internal combustion (IC) engines can help build a society with a clean transportation framework. Diluting the in-cylinder mixture can improve the efficiency of the engines. To prove the validity of lean burn in hydrogen IC engines, three different combustion modes are investigated in this study. The engine experiments are conducted in a spray-guided direct-injection (DI) spark-ignition engine with 10 MPa of hydrogen DI. When lean burn is applied to a hydrogen IC engine, the characteristics of pumping and heat transfer loss improve. The improvement in heat transfer loss is more significant than the reduction in negative pumping work for the indicated thermal efficiency. Among the three combustion modes, stratified charge combustion (SCC) develops the maximum indicated mean effective pressure. However, this mode deteriorates the combustion stability slightly. The nitrogen oxide emission is reduced when the excess air ratio is increased.

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.

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.

Recognition of Dimethyl Ether (DME) as an alternative fuel has been growing recently due to its fast evaporation and ignition in application of compression-ignition engine. Most importantly, combustion of DME produces almost no particulate matter (PM). The current study provides a further understanding of the combustion process in DME reacting spray via experiment done in a constant volume combustion chamber. Formaldehyde (CH2O), an important intermediate species in hydrocarbon combustion, has received much attention in research due to its unique contribution in chemical pathway that leads to the combustion and emission of fuels. Studies in other literature considered CH2O as a marker for UHC species since it is formed prior to diffusion flame. In this study, the formation of CH2O was highlighted both temporally and spatially through planar laser induced fluorescence (PLIF) imaging at wavelength of 355-nm of an Nd:YAG laser at various time after start of injection (ASOI).

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.

The combustion and exhaust emission characteristics of a DME fueled HCCI engine were investigated. Different fuel injection strategies were tested under various injection quantities and timings with exhaust gas recirculation (EGR). The combustion phase in HCCI was changed by an in-cylinder direct injection and EGR, due to changes in the in-cylinder temperature and mixture homogeneity. The gross indicated mean effective pressure (IMEPgross) increased and the hydrocarbon (HC) and carbon monoxide (CO) emissions decreased as the equivalence ratio was augmented. The IMEPgross with direct injection was greater than with the port injection due to retarded ignition timing resulting from latent heat of direct injected DME fuel. It was because that most of burn duration was completed before top dead center owing to higher ignitability for DME with high cetane number. However, HC and CO emissions were similar for both injection locations.

Combustion systems with advanced injection strategies have been extensively studied, but there still exists a significant fundamental knowledge gap on fuel spray interactions with the piston surface and chamber walls. This paper is meant to provide detailed data on spray-wall impingement physics and support the spray-wall model development. The experimental work of spray-wall impingement with non-vaporizing spray characterization, was carried out in a high pressure-temperature constant-volume combustion vessel. The simultaneous Mie scattering of liquid spray and schlieren of liquid and vapor spray were carried out. Diesel fuel was injected at a pressure of 1500 bar into ambient gas at a density of 22.8 kg/m3 with isothermal conditions (fuel, ambient, and plate temperatures of 423 K). A Lagrangian-Eulerian modeling approach was employed to characterize the spray-gas and spray-wall interactions in the CONVERGETM framework by means of a Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) formulation.

The effect of biodiesel produced from waste cooking oil (WCO) on the soot particles in a compression ignition engine was investigated and compared with conventional diesel fuel. The indicated mean effective pressure of approximately 0.65 MPa was tested under an engine speed of 1200 revolutions per minute. The fuels were injected at an injection timing of −5 crank angle degree after top dead center with injection pressures of 80 MPa. Detailed characteristics of particulate matters were analyzed in terms of transmission electron microscopy (TEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and elemental analysis. Soot aggregates were collected on TEM grid by thermophoretic sampling device installed in the exhaust pipe of the engine. High-resolution TEM images revealed that the WCO biodiesel soot was composed of smaller primary particle than diesel soot. The mean primary particle diameter was measured as 19.9 nm for WCO biodiesel and 23.7 nm for diesel, respectively.

Dimethyl-ether combustion with pilot injection was investigated in a single cylinder direct injection diesel engine equipped with a common-rail injection system. Combustion characteristics and emissions were tested with dimethyl-ether and compared with diesel fuel. The main injection timing was fixed to have the best timings for maximum power output. The total injected fuel mass corresponded to a low heating value of 405 joules per cycle at 800 rpm. The fuel quantity and the injection timing of the pilot injection were varied from 8 to 20% of the total injected mass and from 50 to 10 crank angle degrees before the main injection timing, respectively. Ignition delay decreased with pilot injection. The effects of pilot injection were less significant with DME combustion than with diesel. Pilot injection caused the main combustion to increase in intensity resulting in decreased emissions of hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and particulate matter.

The combustion, knock characteristics and exhaust emissions in an engine were investigated under homogeneous charge compression ignition operation fueled with liquefied petroleum gas with regard to variable valve timing and the addition of di-methyl ether. Liquefied petroleum gas was injected at an intake port as the main fuel in a liquid phase using a liquefied injection system, while a small amount of di-methyl ether was also injected directly into the cylinder during the intake stroke as an ignition promoter. Different intake valve timings and fuel injection amount were tested in order to identify their effects on exhaust emissions, combustion and knock characteristics. The optimal intake valve open timing for the maximum indicated mean effective pressure was retarded as the λTOTAL was decreased. The start of combustion was affected by the intake valve open timing and the mixture strength (λTOTAL) due to the volumetric efficiency and latent heat of vaporization.

A detailed chemical model was implemented in the KIVA-3V two dimensional CFD code to investigate the effects of the spray cone angle and injection timing on the PCCI combustion process and emissions in an optical research diesel engine. A detailed chemical model for Primary Reference Fuel (PRF) consisting of 157 species and 1552 reactions was used to simulate diesel fuel chemistry. The model validation shows good agreement between the predicted and measured pressure and emissions data in the selected cases with various spray angles and injection timings. If the injection is retarded to -50° ATDC, the spray impingement at the edge of the piston corner with 100° injection angle was shown to enhance the mixing of air and fuel. The minimum fuel loss and more widely distributed fuel vapor contribute to improving combustion efficiency and lowering uHC and CO emissions in the engine idle condition.

Dimethyl ether (DME) as a high cetane number fuel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as a high octane number fuel were supplied together to evaluate the controllability of combustion phase and improvement of power and exhaust emission in homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engine. Each fuel was injected at the intake port and in the cylinder separately during the same cycle, i.e., DME in the cylinder and LPG at the intake port, or vice versa. Direct injection timing was varied from 200 to 340 crank angle degree (CAD) while port injection timing was fixed at 20 CAD. In general, the experimental results showed that DME direct injection with LPG port injection was the better way to increase the IMEP and reduce emissions. The direct injection timing of high cetane number fuel was important to control the auto-ignition timing because the auto-ignition was occurred at proper area, where the air and high cetane number fuel were well mixed.

The effect of multiple injections in a heavy-duty diesel engine was investigated by focusing on single-pilot injection and double-pilot injection strategies with a wide injection timing range, various injection quantity ratios, and various dwell times. Combustion characteristics were studied through flame visualization and heat release analyses as well as emissions tests. Single-pilot injection resulted in a dramatic reduction in nitrogen oxide and smoke emissions when the injection timing was advanced over 40° CA before the start of injection (BSOI) due to combustion with partially premixed charge compression ignition. A brown-colored flame area, which indicates a very fuel-rich mixture region, was rarely detected when more fuel was injected during single-pilot injection. However, hydrocarbon emission increased up to intolerable levels because fuel wetting on the cylinder wall increased.

Low temperature diesel combustion with a large amount of exhaust gas recirculation in a direct injection diesel engine was investigated. Tests were carried out under various engine speeds, injection pressures, injection timings, and injection quantities. Exhaust emissions and brake specific fuel consumption were measured at different torque and engine speed conditions. High rates of exhaust gas recirculation led to the simultaneous reduction of nitrogen oxide and soot emissions due to a lower combustion temperature than conventional diesel combustion. However, hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emissions increased as the combustion temperature decreased because of incomplete combustion and the lack of an oxidation reaction. To overcome the operating range limits of low temperature diesel combustion, increased intake pressure with a modified turbocharger was employed.

Two-stage injection strategy was studied in dimethyl-ether homogeneous charge compression ignition engine combustion. An early direct injection, main injection, was applied to form a premixed charge followed by the second injection after the start of heat release. Experiments were carried out in a single-cylinder direct-injection diesel engine equipped with a common-rail injection system, and the combustion performance and exhaust emissions were tested with the various second injection timings and quantities. Engine speed was 1200 rpm, and the load was fixed at 0.2 MPa IMEP. Main injection timing for homogeneous mixture was fixed at −80 CAD, and the fuel quantity was adjusted to the fixed load. Second injection quantity was varied from 1 to 5 mg, and the timing was selected according to the heat release rate of the HCCI combustion without second injection.

The effect of the composition of propane (C₃H₈) and butane (C₄H₁₀) in liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) was investigated in a dual-fuel HCCI engine fueled with di-methyl ether (DME) and LPG. The composition of LPG affects DME-LPG dual fuel HCCI combustion due to the difference in the physical properties of propane that and butane such as octane number, auto-ignition temperature and heat of vaporization. DME was injected directly into the cylinder at various injection timing from 160 to 350 crank angle degrees (CAD). LPG was injected at the intake port with a fixed injection timing at 20 CAD. It was found that power output was increased with propane ratio. This gain in power output resulted from increased expansion work due to the better anti-knock properties of propane. However, higher propane ratio made combustion efficiency decrease because of the suppression in low temperature reaction of DME which determines heat release amount of high temperature reaction.

Diesel fuel injection system is the most important part of the direct-injection diesel engine and, in recent years, it has become one of the critical technologies for emission control with the help of electronically controlled fuel injection. Common rail injection system has great flexibility in injection timing, pressure and multi-injections. Many studies and applications have reported the advantages of using common rail system to meet the strict emission regulation and to improve engine performance for diesel engines. The main objective of this study is to investigate the effect of pilot-, post- and multiple-fuel injection strategies on engine performance and emissions. The study was carried out on a single cylinder optical direct injection diesel engine equipped with a high pressure common rail fuel injection system. Spray and combustion evolutions were visualized through a high speed charge-coupled device (CCD) camera.

This paper describes the results of a DOE (design of experiment) applied to an exhaust heat exchanger to lower the exhaust gas temperature mainly under high load conditions. The heat exchanger was installed between the exhaust manifold and the inlet of the close-coupled catalytic converter (CCC) to avoid thermal aging. The DOE evaluates the influence of the selected eight design parameters of the heat exchanger geometry on the performance of the exhaust gas cooling system, and the interaction between these parameters. To maximize the heat transfer between exhaust gas and coolant, fins were implemented at the inner surface of the heat exchanger. The design parameters consist of the fin geometry (length, thickness, arrangement, number of fin), coolant direction, exchanger wall thickness, and the length of the heat exchanger. The acceptable range of each design parameter is discussed by analyzing the DOE results.