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Four kinds of optical measurements were performed to investigate the process of soot formation and oxidation in a direct-injection (DI) diesel engine. Measurements were carried out in an optically accessible DI diesel engine that allows planar laser sheet for combustion diagnostics to enter the combustion chamber either horizontally or along the axis of the fuel jet. The temporal and spatial distribution of soot particles has been investigated using the laser- induced incandescence (LII) and high-speed direct photography. Fuel vapor concentration, which is directly linked to the soot formation process in diesel combustion, has been deduced from the images obtained by the measurements of laser shadowgraph and elastic Mie scattering. According to the experimental results, soot formation begins to occur near the injector nozzle in which a fuel-rich mixture is distributed with a homogeneous condition. LII signal is dominated by the fuel vapor concentration in initial combustion period.

A phenomenological or empirical model based on experimental results obtained from various optical measurements is critical for the understanding of DI diesel combustion phenomena as well as for the improvement of its emission characteristics. Such a model could be realized by the application of advanced optical measurement, which is able to isolate a particular phenomenon amongst complicated physical and chemical interactions, to a DI diesel combustion field. The authors have conducted experimental studies to clarify the combustion characteristics of unsteady turbulent diffusion flames in relation to the soot formation and oxidation process in a small-sized DI diesel engine. In the present study, the effect of fuel vapor concentration on the process of early combustion and soot formation has been investigated using several optical measurements.

The stoichiometric direct injection gasoline engines have higher torque performance than the port injection engines, as the volumetric efficiency can be increased due to the cooling effects of charging air by the fuel evaporation in the cylinder. They need only 3-way catalyst, leading to the cost down. However there exists the injection timing (region) that increased volumetric efficiency does not lead to higher torque. In order to investigate the phenomena, the in-cylinder mixture formation process has been analyzed by the LIF and the CFD techniques. As the results, it has been revealed that the phenomena are caused by the inhomogeneous mixture distribution before the ignition timing.

In SI engines with port injection system, the injected fuel spray adheres surely on the port wall and the inlet valve, consequently, the spray-wall interaction process leads to the generation of unburned hydrocarbons and uncontrollable mixture formation. This paper deals with the fuel mixture preparation process including basic research on characteristics of the wall-wetted fuel film on a flat wall inside a constant volume vessel. In the experiments, iso-octane mixed with biacetyl as a tracer dopant was injected through a pintle type injector against a flat glass wall under the ambient conditions of atmospheric pressure and room temperature. The thickness of the adhered fuel film on the wall was quantitatively measured by using laser induced fluorescence (LIF) technique, which provides 2-D distribution information with high special resolution as a function of the injection duration, the impingement distance from the injector to the wall, and the impingement angle against the wall.

Cyclic variation on heavy knocking was reproduced using 3D SI combustion simulation with RANS / LES turbulence models and detailed kinetic mechanisms. A 0.66 liter, inline 3 cylinder gasoline engine operated at 1200 rpm, WOT was mainly investigated. It was revealed that the combination of RANS, Liu mech. and calculation over multiple cycles worked well. Detailed process of heavy-knock was also suggested and it was thought that SWACER-like mechanism had concerned. RANS could describe typical behavior of heavy-knock within the first 3 cycle calculation and it showed good agreement with both the actual engine measurement and LES calculation result.