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Soot particle size, particle concentration and volume fraction were measured by laser based methods in optically dense, highly turbulent combusting diesel sprays under engine-like conditions. Experiments were done in the Chalmers High Pressure, High Temperature spray rig under isobaric conditions and combusting commercial diesel fuel. Laser Induced Incandescence (LII), Elastic Scattering and Light Extinction were combined quasi-simultaneously to quantify particle characteristics spatially resolved in the middle plane of a combusting spray at two instants after the start of combustion. The influence that fuel injection pressure, gas temperature and gas pressure exert on particle size, particle concentration and volume fraction were studied. Probability density functions of particle size and two-dimensional images of particle diameter, particle concentration and volume fraction concerning instantaneous single-shot cases and average measurements are presented.

In a diesel engine, the combustion and emissions formation are governed by the spray formation and mixing processes. To meet the stringent emission legislations of the future, which will demand substantial reductions of NOX and particulate emissions from diesel engines, the spray and mixing processes play a major roll. Different fuel injection systems and injection strategies have been developed to achieve better performance and lower emissions from the diesel engine almost without investigating the influence of the injector nozzle orifices. A reduction in the nozzle orifice diameter is important for an increased mixing rate and formation of smaller droplets which is beneficial from emissions and fuel consumption point of view, as long as the local air-to-fuel ratio (AFR) is kept at a sufficiently lean level.

Substantial reduction of NOX and particulate emissions from diesel engines will be required by the emission legislation in the future. In a diesel engine, the combustion and emissions formation are governed by the spray formation and mixing processes. Parameters of importance are droplet size, droplet distribution, injection velocity, in-cylinder flow (convection and turbulence) and cylinder charge temperature/pressure. The mixing is controlled by convective and turbulent mixing due to in-cylinder charge motion, momentum transfer and turbulence induced by the injection process. The most important processes are known to be the turbulent macro- and micromixing. Smaller nozzle orifices are believed to increase mixing rate, due to smaller droplet size leading to faster evaporation. Dimensional analysis suggests that the turbulent mixing time, τmix, scales with orifice diameter, d.

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.

To reproduce the Diesel fuel structural effect on soot formation, the diesel oil surrogate chemical model has been developed, validated using constant volume and applied to 3-D engine calculations using the KIVA-3V code. To better predict soot production, the presence of toluene, A1CH3, which is a product of benzene alkylation, in the reaction mechanism of n-heptane oxidation has been assumed. Soot formation as a solid phase has been simulated via a finite-rate transition of the gaseous precursor of soot, A2R5, to graphite. The final mechanism consists of 68 species and 278 reactions. Reasonable agreement of predictions with constant volume experimental data, on ignition delay times, flame appearance, accumulated amount of soot produced and soot cloud evolution has been achieved. Then, the fuel surrogate model has been applied to 3-D simulation (on a sectored mesh) of the Volvo NED5 DI Diesel engine.

Gasoline direct injection (GDI) engines usually emit higher levels of particulates in warm-up conditions of a driving cycle. Thus, sources of soot formation in these conditions were investigated by measuring particulate numbers (PN) emitted from a single-cylinder GDI engine and their sizes. The combustion was also visualized using an endoscope connected to a high-speed camera. Engine coolant and oil temperatures were varied between 15 and 90oC to mimic warm-up conditions. In addition, effects of delaying the start of ignition (SOI) on the emissions in these conditions were examined. Coolant and oil temperatures were varied individually to identify which factor has most effect on PN emissions. While coolant temperature strongly influenced PN with cold oil, the oil temperature insignificantly affected PN at low coolant temperature. These findings indicate that PN emissions are heavily dependent on the engine block’s temperature, which is dominated by the coolant.

In this work a soot source term tabulation strategy for soot predictions under Diesel engine conditions within the zero-dimensional Direct Injection Stochastic Reactor Model (DI-SRM) framework is presented. The DI-SRM accounts for detailed chemistry, in-homogeneities in the combustion chamber and turbulence-chemistry interactions. The existing implementation [1] was extended with a framework facilitating the use of tabulated soot source terms. The implementation allows now for using soot source terms provided by an online chemistry calculation, and for the use of a pre-calculated flamelet soot source term library. Diesel engine calculations were performed using the same detailed kinetic soot model in both configurations. The chemical mechanism for n-heptane used in this work is taken from Zeuch et al. [2] and consists of 121 species and 973 reactions including PAH and thermal NO chemistry. The engine case presented in [1] is used also for this work.

In order to meet future emission regulations, various new combustion concepts are being developed, several of which incorporate advanced diesel injection strategies, e.g. multiple injections, offering attractive potential benefits. In this study the effects of split injections on soot evolution in diesel flames were investigated in a series of flame experiments performed using a high pressure, high temperature (HP/HT) spray chamber and laser-induced incandescence apparatus to measure soot volume fractions. The focus was on split injections with varied dwell times preceded by a short pilot. The results, which were analyzed and compared to results from engine tests, show that net soot production can be decreased by applying an appropriate split injection strategy.

Simulations of a Direct Injection Spark Ignition (DISI) engine have been performed for both early injection with homogeneous charge combustion and for late injection with stratified charge combustion. The purpose has been to study flow characteristics, fuel/air mixing, combustion, and NOx and soot formation. Focus is put on the combustion modeling. Two different full load cases with early injection are simulated, 2000 rpm and 6000 rpm. One load point with late injection is simulated, 2000 rpm and 2.8 bar net MEP. Three different injection timings are simulated at the low load point: 77, 82, and 87 CAD bTDC. The spray simulations are tuned to match measured spray penetrations and droplet size distributions at both atmospheric and elevated pressure. Boundary conditions for the engine simulations are taken from 1-D gas exchange simulations that are tuned to match engine tests.

In this paper, the turbulent flow induced by a production side-view mirror assembled on a full-scale production truck is simulated using a compressible k-ω SST detached eddy simulation (DES) approach -- the improved delayed DES (IDDES). The truck configuration consists of a compartment and a trailer. Due to the large size and geometric complexity of the configuration, some simplifications are applied to the simulation. A purpose of this work is to investigate whether the simplifications are suitable to obtain the reasonable properties of the flow near the side-view mirror. Another objective is to study the aerodynamic performances of the mirror. The configuration is simplified regarding two treatments. The first treatment is to retain the key exterior components of the truck body while removing the small gaps and structures. Furthermore, the trailer is shaped in an apex-truncated square pyramid.

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 current trend toward more fuel efficient vehicles with lower emission levels has prompted development of new combustion techniques for use in gasoline engines. Stratified combustion has been shown to be a promising approach for increasing the fuel efficiency. However, this technique is hampered by drawbacks such as increased particulate and standard emissions. This study attempts to address the issues of increased emission levels by investigating the influence of high frequency ionizing ignition systems, 350 bar fuel injection pressure and various tumble levels on particulate emissions and combustion characteristics in an optical SGDI engine operated in stratified mode on isooctane. Tests were performed at one engine load of 2.63 bar BMEP and speed of 1200 rpm. Combustion was recorded with two high speed color cameras from bottom and side views using optical filters for OH and soot luminescence.

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.

The expansion of current driving cycles for emission regulations to higher load operation in the near future (such as the US06 supplement to the FTP-75 driving cycle) requires attention to low emission combustion concepts in medium to high load regimes. One possibility to reduce NO emissions is to increase the EGR rate. The combustion-temperature reducing effects of high EGR rates can significantly reduce NO formation, to the point where engine-out NOx emissions approach zero levels. However, engine-out soot and CO emissions typically increase at high EGR levels, due to the reduced soot and CO oxidation rates at reduced combustion temperatures and oxygen concentrations. The work presented in this paper focuses on different strategies to reduce soot and CO emissions associated with EGR rates of up to 50%, at which NO formation is largely avoided, but combustion temperatures are not low enough to consider the process as Low-Temperature Combustion (LTC).

Neck injuries in rear-end collisions are usually caused by a swift extension-flexion motion of the neck and mostly occur at low impact velocities (typically less than 20 km/h). Although the injuries are classified as AIS 1, they often lead to permanent disability. The injury risk varies a great deal between different car models. Epidemiological studies show that the effectiveness of passenger-car head-restraints in rear-end collisions generally remains poor. Rear-end collisions were simulated on a crash-sled by means of a Hybrid III dummy with a new neck (Rear Impact Dummy-neck). Seats were chosen from production car models. Differences in head-neck kinematics and kinetics between the different seats were observed at velocity changes of 5 and 12.5 km/h. Comparisons were made with an unmodified Hybrid III. The results show that the head-neck motion is influenced by the stiffness and elasticity of the backrest as well as by the properties of the head-restraint.

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.

This paper investigates how particulates number PN is influenced by fuel wall-film, liner wetting, and the mixing quality for different start of injection timings (SOI). Both experimental data with PN measurements, endoscope images from a high-speed camera from a single-cylinder engine, and CFD simulations were used for the analysis. Engine geometry was a spray-guided system with 300 bar fuel pressure and with single injections. Data was captured for 2000 rpm / 9 bar IMEPn. The results show that fuel film on the piston was only found to significantly increase PN for over-advanced SOI (in our engine geometry, earlier than -310 CAD). This results in luminescence from diffusion burn on the piston surface, which strongly contributes to PN. For an SOI timing of -310 CAD, fuel film on piston reaches a maximum of 3% of the injected fuel, vaporizes, and no remaining fuel film is found at the time of ignition. Approximately 0.5-1% of the fuel ends up on the liner.

Public health risk and resulting stringent emission regulations for internal combustion engines pose a need for solutions to reduce particle emissions (PN). Current PN control approaches include increasing fuel injection pressure, optimizing spray targeting, multiple injection strategies, and the use of tumble flaps together with gasoline particulate filters (GPF). Experiments were performed using a single-cylinder spark-ignited GDI engine equipped with a custom inlet manifold and a port fuel injector located 500 mm upstream. Particulate emissions were measured during stationary medium/high load operation to evaluate the effect of varying the mass split between the direct and upstream injectors. Mixing quality is improved substantially by upstream injection and can thus be controlled by altering the mass split between the injectors.

This work presents a numerical method for predictions of HC oxidation in the cold turbulent wall jet emerging from the piston top land crevice in an S.I. engine, using a complex chemical reaction model. The method has been applied to an engine model geometry with the aim to predict the HC oxidation rate under engine - relevant conditions. According to the simulation a large amount of HC survives oxidation due to the long ignition delay of the wall jet emitted from the crevice. This ignition delay, in turn depends mainly on chemical composition and temperature of the gas mixture in the crevice and also on the temperature distribution in the cylinder boundary layer.

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.