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Two-dimensional pulse-laser Mie scattering visualization of the direct-injection gasoline fuel sprays and wall impingement processes was carried out inside a single-cylinder optically accessible engine under motoring condition. The injectors have been first characterized inside a pressurized chamber using identical technique, as well as high-speed microscopic visualization and phase Doppler measurement techniques. The effects of injector cone angle, location, and injection timings on the wall impingement processes were investigated. It was found that the fuel vaporization is not complete at the constant engine speed tested. Fuel spray droplets were observed to disperse wider in the motored engine when compared with an isothermal quiescent ambient conditions. The extent of wall-impingement varies significantly with the injector mounting position and spray cone angle; however, its effect can be reduced to some extent by optimizing the injection timing.

The direct injection spray-wall interactions were investigated experimentally using high-speed laser-sheet imaging, shadowgraphy, wetted footprints and phase Doppler interferometry techniques. A narrow-cone high-pressure swirl injector is used to inject iso-octane fuel onto a plate, at three different impact angles inside a pressurized chamber. Heated air and plate conditions were compared with unheated cases. Injection interval was also varied in the heated case to compare dry- and wet- wall impingement behaviors. High-speed macroscopic Mie-scattering images showed that presence of wall and air temperature has only minor effect on the bulk spray structure and penetration speed for the narrow-cone injector tested. The overall bulk motions of the spray plume and its spatial position at a given time are basically unaffected until a few millimeters before impacting the wall.

Propagation-based and phase-enhanced x-ray imaging was developed as a unique metrology technique to visualize the internal structure of high-pressure fuel injection nozzles. We have visualized the microstructures inside 200-μm fuel injection nozzles in a 3-mm-thick steel housing using this novel technique. Furthermore, this new x-ray-based metrology technique has been used to directly study the highly transient needle motion in the nozzles in situ and in real-time, which is virtually impossible by any other means. The needle motion has been shown to have the most direct effect on the fuel jet structure and spray formation immediately outside of the nozzle. In addition, the spray cone-angle has been perfectly correlated with the numerically simulated fuel flow inside the nozzle due to the transient nature of the needle during the injection.

In order to meet the requirements in the stringent emission regulations, more and more research work has been focused on homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) and partially premixed combustion (PPC) or partially premixed compression ignition (PCCI) as they have the potential to produce low NOx and soot emissions without adverse effects on engine efficiency. The mixture formation and charge stratification influence the combustion behavior and emissions for PPC/PCCI, significantly. An ultra-high speed burst-mode laser is used to capture the mixture formation process from the start of injection until several CADs after the start of combustion in a single cycle. To the authors’ best knowledge, this is the first time that such a high temporal resolution, i.e. 0.2 CAD, PLIF could be accomplished for imaging of the in-cylinder mixing process. The capability of resolving single cycles allows for the influence of cycle-to-cycle variations to be eliminated.

A global characterization of the spray distribution of various current and development types of automotive fuel injectors was obtained. Axial and radial measurement of droplet sizes, velocities and volume fluxes were made with a phase Doppler particle analyzer (PDPA) for a transient port injector spray in quiescent atmospheric conditions. Time-resolved measurements involving the time-of-arrival of each droplet associated with its size and velocity components were also acquired. Additionally, the liquid sprays emanating from various types of port fuel injectors were visualized, through planar laser induced fluorescence (PLIF) technique, at different time instants. Such detailed study provides an improved understanding of the temporal or unsteady behavior of port injector spray.

The Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) combustion progress has been characterized by means of high-speed fuel tracer Planar Laser Induced Fluorescence (PLIF) combined with simultaneous chemiluminescence imaging. Imaging has been conducted using a high-speed laser and detector system. The system can acquire a sequence of eight images within less than one crank angle. The engine was run at 1200 rpm on iso-octane or ethanol and a slight amount of acetone was added as a fuel tracer, providing a marker for the unburned areas. The PLIF sequences showed that, during the first stage of combustion, a well distributed decay of fuel concentration occurs. During the later parts of the combustion process the fuel concentration images present much more structure, with distinct edges between islands of unburned fuel and products.

Engine-out CO emission and fuel conversion efficiency were measured in a highly-dilute, low-temperature diesel combustion regime over a swirl ratio range of 1.44-7.12 and a wide range of injection timing. At fixed injection timing, an optimal swirl ratio for minimum CO emission and fuel consumption was found. At fixed swirl ratio, CO emission and fuel consumption generally decreased as injection timing was advanced. Moreover, a sudden decrease in CO emission was observed at early injection timings. Multi-dimensional numerical simulations, pressure-based measurements of ignition delay and apparent heat release, estimates of peak flame temperature, imaging of natural combustion luminosity and spray/wall interactions, and Laser Doppler Velocimeter (LDV) measurements of in-cylinder turbulence levels are employed to clarify the sources of the observed behavior.

Simultaneous formaldehyde and OH PLIF have been applied in a direct-injected HCCI engine. The engine is a 0.5 l single-cylinder optical engine equipped with EGR system. PLIF measurements were performed with the engine run with two different fuels of low and high volatility, respectively. Different ratios of EGR were also examined. The aim of the study was to investigate how fuels with different volatility and EGR affect the HCCI combustion and measurements were performed for early and late injection timings. Measurements are presented for different injection timings showing formaldehyde and OH from start of injection until late in the expansion stroke. Also, formaldehyde distributions obtained from after the low temperature regime and before the high temperature regime are studied for different tuning of the start of injection from 300CAD to 20CAD before top dead center.

An experimental study was carried out to investigate the spray behavior inside engine intake ports. Production-type intake ports of four-valve gasoline engines were modified for the optical access at directions. The global spray formation process was visualized through laser Mie scattering technique. The spray breakup and atomization processes, spray targeting and fuel dispersing characteristics were investigated as a function of elapse time after fuel injection. The spray interaction with the port wall and port air flow were examined with different types of port fuel injectors including single-stream, multi-stream, and air-shrouded ones. The spray targeting and dispersing characteristics inside two different intake ports were examined. It was found that spray targeting and fuel dispersion inside the intake port are strongly dependent on the spray characteristics, as a result of different injector designs and injector installation positions.

Operation of flex fuel vehicles requires operation with a range of fuel properties. The significant differences in the heat of vaporization and energy density of E0-E100 fuels and the effect on spray development need to be fully comprehended when developing engine control strategies. Limited enthalpy for fuel vaporization needs to be accounted for when developing injection strategies for cold start, homogeneous and stratified operation. Spray imaging of multi-hole gasoline injectors with fuels ranging from E0 to E100 and environmental conditions that represent engine operating points from ambient cold start to hot conditions was performed in a spray chamber. Schlieren visualization technique was used to characterize the sprays and the results were compared with Laser Mie scattering and Back-lighting technique. Open chamber experiments were utilized to provide input and validation of a CFD model.

Simultaneous laser induced fluorescence (LIF) imaging of formaldehyde and a fuel-tracer have been performed in a direct-injection HCCI engine. A mix of N-heptane and iso-octane was used as fuel and Toluene as fluorescent tracer. The experimental setup involves two pulsed Nd:YAG lasers and two ICCD cameras. Frequency quadrupled laser radiation at 266 nm from one of the Nd:YAG lasers was used for excitation of the fuel tracer. The resulting fluorescence was detected with one of the ICCD cameras in the spectral region 270-320 nm. The second laser system provided frequency tripled radiation at 355 nm for excitation of Formaldehyde. Detection in the range 395-500 nm was achieved with the second ICCD. The aim of the presented work is to investigate the applicability of utilizing formaldehyde as a naturally occurring fuel marker. Formaldehyde is formed in the low temperature reactions (LTR) prior to the main combustion and should thus be present were fuel is located until it is consumed.

The effects of injection pressure and swirl ratio on the in-cylinder soot oxidation are studied using simultaneous PLIF imaging of OH and LII imaging of soot in an optical diesel engine. Images are acquired after the end of injection in the recirculation zone between two adjacent diesel jets. Scalars are extracted from the images and compared with trends in engine-out soot emissions. The soot emissions decrease monotonically with increasing injection pressure but show a non-linear dependence on swirl ratio. The total amount of OH in the images is negatively correlated with the soot emissions, as is the spatial proximity between the OH and soot regions. This indicates that OH is an important soot oxidizer and that it needs to be located close to the soot to perform this function. The total amount of soot in the images shows no apparent correlation with the soot emissions, indicating that the amount of soot formed is a poor predictor of the emission trends.

Simultaneous laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) imaging of formaldehyde and a fuel-tracer have been performed in a high-speed diesel engine. N-heptane and isooctane were used as fuel and toluene was used as a tracer. This arrangement made it possible to make simultaneous measurements of toluene by exciting at 266 nm and detecting at 270-320 nm while exciting formaldehyde at 355 nm and detecting at 400-500 nm. The aim of this study is to investigate how traditional fuel tracer and natural-occurring formaldehyde formed in the cool chemistry are transported in the piston bowl. A range of ignition delays were created by running the engine with different amounts of EGR. During this sweep the area where the low-temperature reactions take place were studied. The measurements were performed in a 0.5-l, single-cylinder optical engine running under conditions simulating a cruise-point, i.e., about 2.2 bar imep.

A quantitative and time-resolved technique has been developed to probe the dense spray structure of direct-injection (DI) gasoline sprays in near-nozzle region. This technique uses the line-of-sight absorption of monochromatic x-rays from a synchrotron source to measure the fuel mass with time resolution better than 1 μs. The small scattering cross-section of fuel at x-rays regime allows direct measurements of spray structure that are difficult with most visible-light optical techniques. Appropriate models were developed to determine the fuel density as a function of time.

A measurement technique is described which permits quantitative, multi-point, in-cylinder fluid composition measurements in an internal combustion engine. The technique is based on spontaneous Raman scattering with broadband signal collection, and provides simultaneous determination of the mole fractions of H2O, CO2, N2, O2, and fuel (C3H8). Calibration and data reduction procedures which largely eliminate interference between the signals from the various species are discussed. Mean mole fractions obtained in an optical access engine from the beginning of the intake stroke to the end of the compression stroke are reported. The mean mole fractions of the individual species are used to obtain independent estimates of the mean mole fraction of burnt residual gases, which, in turn, are used to evaluate the accuracy and consistency of the data. An over-prediction of the CO2 mole fraction in hot exhaust gases is found to be the most significant shortcoming of the technique.

Measurements of ignition behavior, homogeneous reactor simulations employing detailed kinetics, and quantitative in-cylinder imaging of fuel-air distributions are used to delineate the impact of temperature, dilution, pilot injection mass, and injection pressure on the pilot ignition process. For dilute, low-temperature conditions characterized by a lengthy ignition delay, pilot ignition is impeded by the formation of excessively lean mixture. Under these conditions, smaller pilot mass or higher injection pressures further lengthen the pilot ignition delay. Similarly, excessively rich mixtures formed under relatively short ignition delay conditions typical of conventional diesel combustion will also prolong the ignition delay. In this latter case, smaller pilot mass or higher injection pressures will shorten the ignition delay. The minimum charge temperature required to effect a robust pilot ignition event is strongly dependent on charge O2 concentration.

Simultaneous OH- and formaldehyde planar-LIF measurements have been performed in an optical engine using two laser sources working on 283 and 355 nm, respectively. The measurements were performed in a light duty Diesel engine, using n-heptane as fuel, converted to single-cylinder operation and modified for optical access. It was also equipped with a direct injection common rail system as well as an EGR system. The engine was operated in both HCCI mode, using a single fuel injection, and UNIBUS (Uniform Bulky Combustion System) mode, using two injections of fuel with one of the injections at 50 CAD before TDC and the other one just before TDC. The OH and formaldehyde LIF images were compared with the heat-release calculated from the pressure-traces. Analyses of the emissions, for example NOx and HC, were also performed for the different operating conditions.

Simultaneous OH- and formaldehyde planar-LIF measurements have been performed in an optical engine using two laser sources working on 283 and 355 nm, respectively. The engine used for the measurements was a car Diesel engine converted to single-cylinder operation and modified for optical access. The fuel, n-heptane, was injected by a direct injection common rail system and the engine was also fitted with an EGR system. The engine was operated in both HCCI mode and Diesel mode. Due to the low load, the Diesel mode resulted in low-temperature Diesel combustion and because of limitations in maximum pressure and maximum rate of pressure increase of the optical engine, the Diesel mode was run at a higher EGR percentage than the HCCI mode to slow down the combustion. A third mode, pilot combustion, was also investigated. This pilot combustion is created by an injection at 30 CAD before TDC followed by a second injection just before TDC.

This paper presents a study of the turbulence field in an optical diesel engine operated under motored conditions using both large eddy simulation (LES) and Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV). The study was performed in a laboratory optical diesel engine based on a recent production engine from VOLVO Car. PIV is used to study the flow field in the cylinder, particularly inside the piston bowl that is also optical accessible. LES is used to investigate in detail the structure of the turbulence, the vortex cores, and the temperature field in the entire engine, all within a single engine cycle. The LES results are compared with the PIV measurements in a 40 × 28 mm domain ranging from the nozzle tip to the cylinder wall. The LES grid consists of 1283 cells. The grid dynamically adjusts itself as the piston moves in the cylinder so that the engine cylinder, including the piston bowl, is described by the grid.

Analysis of flow field and charge distribution in a gasoline direct-injection (GDI) engine is performed by a modified version of the KIVA code. A particle-based spray model is proposed to simulate a swirl-type hollow-cone spray in a GDI engine. Spray droplets are assumed to be fully atomized and introduced at the sheet breakup locations as determined by experimental correlations and energy conservation. The effects of the fuel injection parameters such as spray cone angle and ambient pressure are examined for different injectors and injection conditions. Results show reasonable agreement with the measurements for penetration, dispersion, global shape, droplet velocity and size distribution by Phase Doppler Particle Anemometry(PDPA) in a constant-volume chamber. The test engine is a 4-stroke 4-valve optically accessible single-cylinder engine with a pent-roof head and tumble ports.