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Low NOx and soot free premixed diesel combustion can be realized by increasing ignition delays in low oxygen atmospheres, as well as the combustion here also depends on fuel ignitability. In this report single intermittent spray combustion with primary reference fuels and a normal heptane-toluene blend fuel under several oxygen concentrations in a constant volume combustion vessel was analyzed with high-speed color video and pressure data. Temperature and KL factor distributions are displayed with a 2-D two-color method. The results show that premixing is promoted with a decrease in oxygen concentration, and the local high temperature regions, above 2200 K, as well as the duration of their appearance decreases with the oxygen concentration. With normal heptane, mild premixed diesel combustion can be realized at 15 vol% oxygen and there is little luminous flame.

Ultra low emissions and high performance combustion was achieved with a combination of high EGR, a three-way catalyst, and a highly oxygenated liquid fuel, neat dimethoxy methane (DMM), in an ordinary DI diesel engine. The smokeless nature of neat DMM effectively allowed stoichiometric diesel combustion by controlling BMEP with EGR. NOx, THC, and CO emissions were reduced with a three-way catalyst. At lower BMEP with excess air, the EGR effectively reduced NOx. High-speed video in a bottom view type engine revealed that luminous flame decreased with increased fuel oxygen content and almost disappeared with DMM.

Significant improvements in exhaust emissions and engine performance in an ordinary DI diesel engine were realized with highly oxygenated fuels. The smoke emissions decreased sharply and linearly with increases in oxygen content and entirely disappeared at an oxygen content of 38 wt-% even at stoichiometric conditions. The NOx, THC, and CO were almost all removed with a three-way catalyst under stoichiometric diesel combustion at both the higher and lower BMEP with the combination of EGR and a three-way catalyst. The engine output for the highly oxygenated fuels was significantly higher than that with the conventional diesel fuel due to the higher air utilization.

This paper presents a theory and its experimental validation for air entrainment changes into fuel sprays in DI diesel engines. The theory predicts air entrainment changes for a variety of swirl speeds, number of nozzle holes, nozzle diameters, engine speeds, injection speeds and fuel densities. The formulae of the theory are simple non-dimensional equations, which apply for different sized engines. Experiments were performed to compare theoretical predictions and experimental results in six different engines varying from 85 to 800mm bore. All results showed good agreement with the theoretical predictions for shallow-dish piston engines. However the agreement became poor in the case of deep cavity piston engines. With the theory, it is possible to interpret a variety of combustion phenomena in diesel engines, providing additional understanding of diesel combustion processes.

To design diesel engines adapted to future exhaust gas regulation, it would be advantageous to have a driving mode simulation for vehicle performance and exhaust emissions, including after-treatment systems. The combustion model for this objective must be able to simulate the engine performance in very short time. We have tried to develop such diesel engine combustion model by adding the improvements to the Hiroyasu model. In this paper, we detail the improvements that were added to this model and comparisons the calculated results by the improved model with experimental result.

A critical factor in improving performance of crankcase-scavenged two-stroke gasoline engines is to reduce the short-circuiting of the fresh charge to the exhaust in the scavenging process. To achieve this, the authors developed a reciprocating exhaust control valve mechanism and direct air-fuel injection system. This paper investigates the effects of exhaust control valve and direct air-fuel injection in the all aspect of engine performance and exhaust emissions over a wide range of loads and engine speeds. The experimental results indicate that the exhaust control valve and direct air-fuel injection system can improve specific fuel consumption, and that HC emissions can be significantly reduced by the reduction in fresh charge losses. The pressure variation also decreased by the improved combustion process. CRANKCASE SCAVENGED two-stroke gasoline engines suffer from fresh charge losses leading to poor fuel economy and it is a reason for large increases of HC in the exhaust.

Extensive experiments were conducted on a low emission DI diesel engine by using Dimethyl Carbonate (DMC) as an oxygenate fuel additive. The results indicated that smoke reduced almost linearly with fuel oxygen content. Accompanying noticeable reductions of HC and CO were attained, while a small increase in NOx was encountered. The effective reduction in smoke with DMC was maintained with intake charge CO2, which led to low NOx and smoke emissions by the combined use of oxygenated fuel and exhaust gas recirculation (EGR). Further experiments were conducted on an optically accessible combustion bomb and a thermal cracking set-up to study the mechanisms of DMC addition on smoke reduction.

Characteristics of semi-premixed diesel combustion with a twin peak shaped heat release (twin combustion) were investigated under several in-cylinder gas conditions in a 0.55 L single cylinder diesel engine with common-rail fuel injection, super-charged, and with low pressure loop cooled EGR. The first-stage combustion fraction, the second injection timing, the intake oxygen concentration, and the intake gas pressure influence on thermal efficiency related parameters, the engine noise, and the exhaust gas emissions was systematically examined at a middle engine speed and load condition (2000 rpm, 0.7 MPa IMEP). The twin peak shaped heat release was realized with the first-stage premixed combustion with a sufficient premixing duration from the first fuel injection and with the second fuel injection taking place just after the end of the first-stage combustion.

This paper presents results of experiments to reduce smoke emitted from direct Injection diesel engines by strong turbulence generated during the combustion process. The turbulence was created by jets of burned gas from an auxiliary chamber installed in the cylinder head. Strong turbulence, which was induced late in the combustion period, enhanced the mixing of air with unburned fuel and soot, resulting in a remarkable reduction of smoke and particulate; NOx did not show any increase with this system, and thermal efficiency was improved at high loads. The paper also shows that the combination of EGR and water injection with this system effectively reduces the both smoke and NOx.

Premixed diesel combustion offers the potential of high thermal efficiency and low emissions, however, because the rapid rate of pressure rise and short combustion durations are often associated with low temperature combustion processes, noise is also an issue. The reduction of combustion noise is a technical matter that needs separate attention. Engine noise research has been conducted experimentally with a premixed diesel engine and techniques for engine noise simulation have been developed. The engine employed in the research here is a supercharged, single cylinder DI diesel research engine with a high pressure common rail fuel injection system. In the experiments, the engine was operated at 1600 rpm and 2000 rpm, the engine noise was sampled by two microphones, and the sampled engine noise was averaged and analyzed by an FFT sound analyzer.

Premixed diesel combustion blending high volatility fuels into diesel fuel were investigated in a modern diesel engine. First, various fractions of normal heptane and diesel fuel were examined to determine the influence of the blending of a highly ignitable and volatile fuel into diesel fuel. The indicated thermal efficiency improves almost linearly with increasing normal heptane fraction, particularly at advanced injection timings when the fuel is not injected directly into the piston cavity. This improvement is mainly due to decreases in the other losses, ϕother which are calculated with the following equation based on the energy balance. ηu: The combustion efficiency calculated from the exhaust gas compositions ηi: The indicated thermal efficiency ϕex: The exhaust loss calculated from the enthalpy difference between intake and exhaust gas The decreases in the other losses with normal heptane blends are due to a reduction in the unburned fuel which does not reach the gas analyzer.

Smokeless and ultra low NOx combustion without knocking in a dual-fuel diesel engine with induced LPG as the main fuel was established with a uniquely developed piston cavity divided by a lip in the sidewall. A small quantity of diesel fuel was directly injected at early compression stroke into the lower part of the cavity as an ignition source for this confined area, and this suppressed explosively rapid combustion just after ignition and spark-knock like combustion at later stage. A combination of the divided cavity, EGR, and intake air throttling was effective to simultaneously eliminate knocking, and reduce THC and NOx significantly.

The purpose of this investigation is to evaluate the feasibility of rapeseed oil and palm oil for diesel fuel substitution in a naturally aspirated D.I. diesel engine, and also to find means to reduce the carbon deposit buildup in vegetable oil combustion. In the experiments, the engine performance, exhaust gas emissions, and carbon deposits were measured for a number of fuels: rapeseed oil, palm oil, methylester of rapeseed oil, and these fuels blended with ethanol or diesel fuel with different fuel temperatures. It was found that both of the vegetable oil fuels generated an acceptable engine performance and exhaust gas emission levels for short term operation, but they caused carbon deposit buildups and sticking of piston rings after extended operation.

The influence of fuel properties on the operational range and the thermal efficiency of premixed diesel combustion was evaluated with an ordinary diesel fuel, a primary reference fuel for cetane numbers, three primary reference fuels for octane numbers, and two normal heptane-toluene blend fuels in a single-cylinder DI diesel engine. The fuel injection timing was set at 25°CA BTDC and the maximum rate of pressure rise was maintained below 1.0 MPa/°CA when lowering the intake oxygen concentration by cooled EGR. With increasing octane numbers, the higher intake oxygen concentration can be used, resulting in higher indicated thermal efficiency due to a higher combustion efficiency. The best thermal efficiency at the optimum intake oxygen concentration with the ordinary diesel fuel is lower than with the primary reference fuels with the similar ignitability but higher volatility.

The authors have previously reported significant reductions in particulate emissions by generating strong turbulence during the combustion process. Extending this, it was attempted to reduce NOx, particulate, and fuel consumption simultaneously by two-stage combustion: forming a fuel rich mixture at the initial combustion stage to prevent NOx formation, and inducing strong turbulence in the combustion chamber at the later stage of combustion to oxidize the particulate. The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of two-stage combustion in emission control. The paper gives an evaluation of the NO reaction-kinetics of the system and experimental results for a combustion chamber specially made for the two-stage combustion. With this combustion system, it was possible to reduce NOx levels to 1/3 of the base engine. Combination of EGR and the two-stage combustion was also examined.

Premixed diesel combustion modes including low temperature combustion and MK combustion are expected to realize smokeless and low NOx emissions. As ignition must be delayed until after the end of fuel injection to establish these combustion modes, methods for active ignition control are being actively pursued. It is reported that alcohols including methanol and ethanol strongly inhibit low temperature oxidation in HCCI combustion offering the possibility to control ignition with alcohol induction. In this research improvement of diesel combustion and emissions by ethanol intake port injection for the promotion of premixing of the in-cylinder injected diesel fuel, and by increased EGR for the reduction of combustion temperature.

The fuel spray distribution in a DI diesel engine with pilot injection was actively controlled by pilot and main fuel injections at different piston positions to prevent the main fuel injection from hitting the pilot flame. A CFD analysis demonstrated that the movement of the piston with a cavity divided by a central lip along the center of the sidewall effectively separates the cores of the pilot and main fuel sprays. Experiments showed that an ordinary cavity without the central lip emitted more smoke, while smokeless, low NOx operation was realized with a cavity divided by a central lip even at heavy loads where ordinary operation without pilot injection emits smoke.

The effect of eight kinds of oxygenated agents added to diesel fuels on the combustion and emissions was investigated in a DI diesel engine. The results showed significant smoke and particulate suppression without increases in NOx with every oxygenated agent. The emissions decreased linearly with increasing oxygen content in the fuels, almost regardless of the kind of oxygenated agent. The improvement in smoke and particulate emissions with the oxygenated agent addition was more significant for lower volatility fuels. Combustion analysis with the two-dimensional two color method showed that soot concentration in the flame during the combustion process decreased with the addition of the oxygenated agent while the flame temperature distribution was almost unchanged.

Dual fuel combustion with premixed natural gas as the main fuel and diesel fuel as the ignition source was investigated in a 0.83 L, single cylinder, DI diesel engine. At low loads, increasing the equivalence ratio of natural gas to around 0.5 with intake throttling makes it possible to reduce the THC and CO emissions as well as to improve the thermal efficiency. At high loads, increasing the boost pressure moderates the combustion, but increases the THC and CO emissions, resulting in deterioration of the thermal efficiency. The EGR is essential to suppress the rapid combustion. As misfiring occurs with a compression ratio of 14.5 and there is excessively rapid combustion with 18.5 compression ratio, 16.5 is a suitable compression ratio.

Port injection of ethanol addition as an ignition inhibitor was implemented to control ignition timing and expand the operating range in DME fueled HCCI combustion. The ethanol reduced the rate of low-temperature oxidation and consequently delayed the onset of the high-temperature reaction with ultra-low NOx over a wide operating range. Along with the ethanol addition, changes in intake temperature, overall equivalence ratio, and engine speed are investigated and shown to be effective in HCCI combustion control and to enable an extension of operation range. A chemical reaction analysis was performed to elucidate details of the ignition inhibition on low-temperature oxidation of DME-HCCI combustion.