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When increasing EGR from low levels to a level that corresponds to low temperature combustion, soot emissions initially increase due to lower soot oxidation before decreasing to almost zero due to very low soot formation. At the EGR level where soot emissions start to increase, the NOx emissions are low, but not sufficiently low to comply with future emission standards and at the EGR level where low temperature combustion occurs CO and HC emissions are too high. The purpose of this study was to investigate the possibilities for shifting the so-called soot bump (where soot levels are increased) to higher EGR levels, or to reduce the magnitude of the soot bump using very high injection pressures (up to 240 MPa) while reducing the NOx emissions using EGR. The possibility of reducing the CO and HC emissions at high EGR levels due to the increased mixing caused by higher injection pressure was also investigated and the flame was visualized using an endoscope at chosen EGR values.

Studies have shown that premixed combustion concepts such as PCCI and RCCI can achieve high efficiencies while maintaining low NOx and soot emissions. The RCCI (Reactivity Controlled Compression Ignition) concept use blending port-injected high-octane fuel with early direct injected high-cetane fuel to control auto-ignition. This paper describes studies on RCCI combustion using CNG and diesel as the high-octane and high-cetane fuels, respectively. The test was conducted on a heavy-duty single cylinder engine. The influence of injection timing and duration of the diesel injections was examined at 9 bar BMEP and1200 rpm. In addition, experiments were conducted using two different compression ratios, (14 and 17) with different loads and engine speeds. Results show both low NOx and almost zero soot emissions can be achieved but at the expense of increasing of unburned hydrocarbon emissions which could potentially be removed by catalytic after-treatment.

The interaction between a combusting diesel spray and a wall was studied by measuring the spray flame temperature time and spatially resolved. The influence of injection sequences, injection pressure and gas conditions on the heat transfer between the combusting spray and the wall was investigated by measuring the flame temperature during the complete injection event. The flame temperature was measured by an emission based optical method and determined by comparing the relative emission intensities from the soot in the flame at two wavelength intervals. The measurements were done by employing a monochromatic and non intensified high speed camera, an array of mirrors, interference filters and a beam splitter. The studies were carried out in the Chalmers High Pressure High Temperature (HP/HT) spray rig at conditions similar to those prevailing in a direct injected diesel engine prior to the injection of fuel.

In order to investigate the effects of split injection on emission formation and engine performance, experiments were carried out using a heavy duty single cylinder diesel engine. Split injections with varied dwell time and start of injection were investigated and compared with single injection cases. In order to isolate the effect of the selected parameters, other variables were kept constant. In this investigation no EGR was used. The engine was equipped with a common rail injection system with a piezo-electric injector. To interpret the observed phenomena, engine CFD simulations using the KIVA-3V code were also made. The results show that reductions in NOx emissions and brake specific fuel consumption were achieved for short dwell times whereas they both were increased when the dwell time was prolonged. No EGR was used so the soot levels were already very low in the cases of single injections.

The influence of ethanol blending in Diesel fuel on the spray and spray combustion characteristics was investigated by performing experiments in an optically accessible high-pressure / high-temperature spray chamber under non-evaporating, evaporating and combusting conditions. Three fuels were investigated: (1) Diesel - a European Diesel based on the EN590 standard; (2) E10 - a blend of Diesel containing 10% ethanol and 2% emulsion additive; and (3) E20 - a blend of Diesel containing 20% ethanol and 2% emulsion additive. A constant gas density of 24.3 kg/m3 was maintained under non-evaporating (30 °C, 21.1 bar), evaporating (350 °C, 43.4 bar), low combustion temperature (550 °C, 57.3 bar) and high combustion temperature (600 °C, 60 bar) conditions. A single-hole injector with a nozzle diameter of 0.14 mm was used and injection pressure was held constant at 1350 bar. Various optical methods were used to characterize the non-combusting and combusting sprays.

Combustion characteristics of dimethyl ether, DME, have been investigated experimentally, in a heavy duty single cylinder engine equipped with an adapted common rail fuel injection system, and the effects of varying injection timing, rail pressure and exhaust gas recirculation on the combustion and emission parameters. The results show that DME combustion does not produce soot and with the use of exhaust gas recirculation NOX emissions can also be reduced to very low levels. However, high injection pressure and/or a DME adopted combustion system is required to improve the mixing process and thus reduce the combustion duration and carbon monoxide emissions.

Experiments were performed using a Light-Duty, single-cylinder, research engine in which the emissions, fuel consumption and combustion characteristics of two Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) Diesel fuels derived from natural gas and two conventional Diesel fuels (Swedish low sulfur Diesel and European EN 590 Diesel) were compared. Due to their low aromatic contents combustion with the F-T Diesel fuels resulted in lower soot emissions than combustion with the conventional Diesel fuels. The hydrocarbon emissions were also significantly lower with F-T fuel combustion. Moreover the F-T fuels tended to yield lower CO emissions than the conventional Diesel fuels. The low emissions from the F-T Diesel fuels, and the potential for producing such fuels from biomass, are powerful reason for future interest and research in this field.

Analysis of spray-wall interaction is a major issue in the study of the combustion process in DI diesel engines. Along with spray characteristics, the investigation of impinging sprays and of liquid wall film development is fundamental for predicting the mixture formation. Simulations of these phenomena for diesel sprays need to be validated and improved; nevertheless they can extend and complement experimental measurements. In this paper the wall film thickness for impinging sprays was investigated by evaluating the heat transfer across a temperature controlled wall. In fact, heat transfer is significantly affected by the wall film thickness, and both experiments and simulations were carried out to correlate the wall temperature variations and film height. The numerical simulations were carried out using the STAR-CD and the KIVA-3V, rel. 2, codes.

When increasing EGR from low levels to levels corresponding to low temperature combustion, soot emissions first start to increase (due to reductions in soot oxidation), before decreasing to almost zero (due to very low rates of soot formation). At the EGR level where soot emissions start to increase, the NOx emissions are still low, but not low enough to comply with future emission standards. The purpose of this study was therefore to investigate the possibilities for moving the so-called “soot bump” (increase in soot) to higher EGR levels or reducing the magnitude of the soot bump. This involved an experimental investigation of parameters affecting the combustion and thus the engine-out emissions. The parameters investigated were: charge air pressure, injection pressure, EGR temperature and post injection (with different dwell times) for a wide range of EGR rates.

The effect of ammoniac deoxidizing agent (Urea) on the reduction of NOx produced in the Diesel engine was investigated numerically. Urea desolved in water was directly injected into the engine cylinder during the expansion stroke. The NOx deoxidizing process was described using a simplified chemical kinetic model coupled with the comprehensive kinetics of Diesel oil surrogate combustion. If the technology of DWI (Direct Water Injection) with the later injection timing is supposed to be used, the deoxidizing reactants could be delivered in a controlled amount directly into the flame plume zones, where NOx are forming. Numerical simulations for the Isotta Fraschini DI Diesel engine are carried out using the KIVA-3V code, modified to account for the “co-fuel” injection and reaction with combustion products. The results showed that the amount of NOx could be substantially reduced up to 80% with the injection timing and the fraction of Urea in the solution optimized.

The effects of multiple injections on engine-out emissions from a high-speed direct injection (HSDI) diesel engine were investigated in a series of experiments using a single cylinder research engine. Injection sequences in which the main injection was split into two, three and four pulses were tested and the resulting emissions (NOx, CO HC and particulate matter), torque and cylinder pressures were compared to those obtained with single injections. Together with the number of injections, the effects of varying the dwell time were also investigated. It was found that dividing the main injection into two parts lowered the engine-out particulate and CO emissions and increased fuel efficiency. However, it also resulted in increased NOx emissions.

The emissions from a direct injection diesel engine measured according to the ECE R49 13-mode cycle and as a function of exhaust gas recirculation are compared for diesel fuel without water addition, and for water-in-diesel as emulsion and microemulsion. The effect of water addition on the soot emissions was remarkably strong for both the emulsion and microemulsion fuels. The average weighted soot emission values for the 13-mode cycle were 0.0024 and 0.0023 g/kWh for the two most interesting emulsion and microemulsion fuels tested, respectively; 5-fold lower than the US 2007 emission limit.

In order to meet future emissions legislation for Diesel engines and reduce their CO2 emissions it is necessary to improve diesel combustion by reducing the emissions it generates, while maintaining high efficiency and low fuel consumption. Advanced injection strategies offer possible ways to improve the trade-offs between NOx, PM and fuel consumption. In particular, use of high EGR levels (⥸ 40%) together with multiple injection strategies provides possibilities to reduce both engine-out NOx and soot emissions. Comparisons of optical engine measurements with CFD simulations enable detailed analysis of such combustion concepts. Thus, CFD simulations are important aids to understanding combustion phenomena, but the models used need to be able to model cases with advanced injection strategies.

Optical studies of combusting diesel sprays were done on three different alternative liquid fuels and compared to Swedish environmental class 1 diesel fuel (MK1). The alternative fuels were Rapeseed Oil Methyl Ester (RME), Palm Oil Methyl Ester (PME) and Fischer-Tropsch (FT) fuel. The studies were carried out in the Chalmers High Pressure High Temperature spray rig under conditions similar to those prevailing in a direct-injected diesel engine prior to injection. High speed shadowgraphs were acquired to measure the penetration of the continuous liquid phase, droplets and ligaments, and vapor penetration. Flame temperatures and relative soot concentrations were measured by emission based, line-of-sight, optical methods. A comparison between previous engine tests and spray rig experiments was conducted in order to provide a deeper explanation of the combustion phenomena in the engine tests.

In the study reported here the combustion and emission characteristics of a heavy duty six-cylinder diesel engine fuelled with dimethyl ether (DME) of chemical grade and DME with small and varying amounts of methanol and/or water were experimentally investigated. In addition, the size distribution of emitted particles and selected unregulated emissions were sampled. Methanol and water additions had a very limited effect on emissions, but affected the combustion processes in a way that accentuated the premixed combustion and thus caused more energy to be released early in the cycle. At high load, however, the effect was reversed, due to the lack of distinct premixed combustion. The results confirm that DME combustion does not generate any accumulation mode particles. The particles that are detected are smaller than the soot size range and do not occur in greater numbers than those from a diesel engine in the corresponding size range.

DME was tested in a heavy duty diesel engine and in an optically accessible high-temperature and pressure spray chamber in order to investigate and understand the effect of nozzle parameters on emissions, combustion and fuel spray concentration. The engine study clearly showed that smaller nozzle orifices were advantageous from combustion, efficiency and emissions considerations. Heat release analysis and fuel concentration images indicate that smaller orifices result in higher mixing rate between fuel and air due to reductions in the turbulence length scale, which reduce both the magnitude of fuel-rich regions and the steepness of fuel gradients in the spray, which enable more fuel to burn and thereby shorten the combustion duration.

Wall wetting can occur irrespective of combustion concept in diesel engines, e.g. during the compression stroke. This action has been related to engine-out emissions in different ways, and an experimental investigation of impinging diesel sprays is thus made for a standard diesel fuel and a two-component model fuel (IDEA). The experiment was performed at conditions corresponding to those found during the compression stroke in a heavy duty diesel engine. The spray characteristics of two fuels were measured using two different optical methods: a Phase Doppler Particle Analyzer (PDPA) and high-speed imaging. A temperature controlled wall equipped with rapid, coaxial thermocouples was used to record the change in surface temperature from the heat transfer of the impinging sprays.

It has been previously shown that engine-out soot emissions can be reduced by using Fischer-Tropsch (FT) fuels, due to their lack of aromatics, compared to conventional Diesel fuels. In this investigation the engine-out emissions and fuel consumption parameters of an FT fuel derived from natural gas were compared to those of Swedish low sulfur diesel (MK1) when used in Low Temperature Combustion mode in a single cylinder heavy-duty diesel engine. The effects of varying Needle Opening Pressure (NOP), Charge Air Pressure (CAP) and Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) according to an experimental design on the measured variables were also assessed. CAP and EGR were found to be the most significant factors for the combustion and emission parameters of both fuels. Increases in CAP resulted in lower soot emissions due to enhanced charge mixing, however NOx emissions rose as CAP increased.

Soot formation and oxidation are complex and competing processes during diesel combustion. The balance between the two processes and their history determines engine-out soot values. Besides the efforts to lower soot formation with measures to influence the flame lift-off distance for example or to use HCCI-combustion, enhancement of late soot oxidation is of equal importance for low-λ diffusion-controlled low emissions combustion with EGR. The purpose of this study is to investigate soot oxidation in a heavy duty diesel engine by statistical analysis of engine data and in-cylinder endoscopic high speed photography together with CFD simulations with a main focus on large scale in-cylinder gas motion. Results from CFD simulations using a detailed soot model were used to reveal details about the soot oxidation.

The purpose of the investigation presented here was to compare the effects of fuel composition on combustion parameters, emissions and fuel consumption in engine tests and simulations with five fuels: a Diesel-water emulsion, a Diesel-ethanol blend, a Diesel-ethanol blend with EHN (cetane number improver), a Fischer-Tropsch Diesel and an ultra-low sulfur content Diesel. The engine used in the experiments was a light duty, single cylinder, direct injection, common rail Diesel engine equipped with a cylinder head and piston from a Volvo NED5 engine. In tests with each fuel the engine was operated at two load points (3 bar IMEP and 10 bar IMEP), and a pilot-main fuel injection strategy was applied under both load conditions. Data were also obtained from 3-D CFD simulations, using the KIVA code, to compare to the experimental results and to further analyze the effects of water and ethanol on combustion.