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A mathematical model has been developed which describes the evaporation and trajectories of fuel droplets during their flight in the inlet manifold of port-injected gasoline engines. Based on the model, a computer simulation program was developed, and sample results of this program are given in this paper. Extensive results obtained using the simulation program are described in a companion paper. The simulation program can be used as a tool to improve understanding of mixture preparation in port injected engines. Such effects as: engine load and speed, air and fuel temperature, fuel type, fuel injection velocity, injection timing, and spray droplet size can be investigated.

The paper first describes three linked computational models which allow the estimation of: swirl generated during the induction process; the modification of swirl with bowl-in-piston combustion chambers during compression as the piston approaches top dead centre; the interaction of the fuel sprays with swirl including relative crosswind velocities between the air and the fuel sprays and spray impingement velocities. The paper then presents experimental results from a single-cylinder direct injection diesel engine, during which both the fuel spray and swirl parameters were changed systematically. Finally, the predicted spray impingement and crosswind velocities for this engine are correlated with the engine performance obtained experimentally, in particular, with fuel economy and smoke emission.

For a spark-ignition engine, the parasitic loss suffered as a result of conventional throttling has long been recognised as a major reason for poor part-load fuel efficiency. While lean, stratified charge, operation addresses this issue, exhaust gas aftertreatment is more challenging compared with homogeneous operation and three-way catalyst after-treatment. This paper adopts a different approach: homogeneous charge direct injection (DI) operation with variable valve actuations which reduce throttling losses. In particular, low-lift and early inlet valve closing (EIVC) strategies are investigated. Results from a thermodynamic single cylinder engine are presented that quantify the effect of two low-lift camshafts and one standard high-lift camshaft operating EIVC strategies at four engine running conditions; both, two- and single-inlet valve operation were investigated. Tests were conducted for both port and DI fuelling, under stoichiometric conditions.

Development of new fuels and engine combustion strategies for future ultra-low emission engines requires a greater level of insight into the process of emissions formation than is afforded by the approach of engine exhaust measurement. The paper describes the development of an in-cylinder gas sampling system consisting of a fast-acting, percussion-based, poppet-type sampling valve, and a heated dilution tunnel; and the deployment of the system in a single cylinder engine. A control system was also developed for the sampling valve to allow gas samples to be extracted from the engine cylinder during combustion, at any desired crank angle in the engine cycle, while the valve motion was continuously monitored using a proximity sensor. The gas sampling system was utilised on a direct injection diesel engine co-combusting a range of hydrogen-diesel fuel and methane-diesel fuel mixtures.

A mathematical model was used in order to investigate the trajectories of evaporating fuel droplets in the port of a four-valve per cylinder gasoline engine equipped with sequential port-injection. The effects on the trajectories and evaporation of the droplets of several parameters were investigated, including: injection timing, droplet initial size, droplet initial injection velocity, air temperature, fuel temperature, engine speed and load, fuel properties (in particular, volatility). The results of the computer simulation show that the most influential parameters on the droplet evaporation and trajectories are: the initial droplet momentum (droplet size and injection velocity), injection timing, air temperature, engine speed and fuel volatility.