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Fuel spray atomization process is known to play a key role in affecting mixture formation, combustion efficiency and soot emissions in direct injection engines. The fuel spray Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modeling technology can be an effective means to study and predict spray characteristics such as penetration, droplet size and droplet velocity, and as a consequence, to drastically reduce experimental work during the engine development process. For this reason, an accurate numerical simulation of the spray evolution process is imperative. Different approaches and various models based on aerodynamically induced breakup mechanism have been implemented to simulate spray atomization process in earlier studies, and the effects of turbulence and cavitation from the injector nozzle is recently being concerned increasingly by engine researchers. In this study, an enhanced turbulence and cavitation induced primary breakup model combining aerodynamic breakup mechanism is developed.

The design and optimization of a modern spray-guided gasoline direct injection engine require a thorough understanding of the fuel spray characteristics and atomization process. The fuel spray Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modeling technology can be an effective means to study and predict spray characteristics, and as a consequence, to drastically reduce experimental work during the engine development process. For this reason, an accurate numerical simulation of the spray evolution process is imperative. Different models based on aerodynamically-induced breakup mechanism have been implemented to simulate spray atomization process in earlier studies, and the effect of turbulence from the injector nozzle is recently being concerned increasingly by engine researchers. In this study, a turbulence-induced primary breakup model coupled with aerodynamic instability is developed.

HCCI combustion was studied in a 4-stroke gasoline engine with a direct injection system. The electronically controlled two-stage gasoline injection and spark ignition system were adopted to control the mixture formation, ignition timing and combustion rate in HCCI engine. The engine could be operated in HCCI combustion mode in a range of load from 1 to 5 bar IMEP and operated in SI combustion mode up to load of 8 bar IMEP. The HCCI combustion characteristics were investigated under different A/F ratios, engine speeds, starts of injection, as well as spark ignition enabled or not. The test results reveal the HCCI combustion features as a high-pressure gradient after ignition and has advantages in high thermal efficiency and low NOx emissions over SI combustion. At the part load of 1400rpm and IMEP of 3.5bar, ISFC in HCCI mode is 25% lower and NOx emissions is 95% lower than that in SI mode.

Combustion behaviour and emissions characteristics of different blending ratios of diesel and gasoline fuels (Dieseline) were investigated in a light-duty 4-cylinder compression-ignition (CI) engine operating on partially premixed compression ignition (PPCI) mode. Experiments show that increasing volatility and reducing cetane number of fuels can help promote PPCI and consequently reduce particulate matter (PM) emissions while oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions reduction depends on the engine load. Three different blends, 0% (G0), 20% (G20) and 50% (G50) of gasoline mixed with diesel by volume, were studied and results were compared to the diesel-baseline with the same combustion phasing for all experiments. Engine speed was fixed at 1800rpm, while the engine load was varied from 1.38 to 7.85 bar BMEP with the exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) application.

The diesel particulate filter (DPF) is an effective technology for particulate matter (PM) and particle number (PN) reduction. On heavy-duty diesel engines, the passive regeneration by Diesel Oxidation catalysts (DOC) and catalyzed DPFs (CDPF) is widely used for its simplicity and low cost, which is generally combined with the active regeneration of exhaust fuel injection. This study investigated a DOC-CDPF system with exhaust fuel injection upstream of the DOC. The system was integrated with a 7-liter diesel engine whose engine-out PM emission was below the Euro IV level and tested on an engine dynamometer. PM and PN concentrations were measured based on the Particle Measurement Programme (PMP), and the number/size spectrum for particles was obtained by a Differential Mobility Spectrometer (DMS). The filtration efficiency of DPF on PN was higher than 99% in ESC test, while the efficiency on PM was only 58%.

A study of Multiple Premixed Compression Ignition (MPCI) with heavy naphtha is performed on a light-duty single cylinder diesel engine. The engine is operated at a speed of 1600rpm with the net indicated mean effective pressure (IMEP) from 0.5MPa to 0.9MPa. Commercial diesel is also tested with the single injection for reference. The combustion and emissions characteristics of the heavy naphtha are investigated by sweeping the first (−200 ∼ −20 deg ATDC) and the second injection timing (−5 ∼ 15 deg ATDC) with an injection split ratio of 50/50. The results show that compared with diesel combustion, the naphtha MPCI can reduce NOx, soot emissions and particle number simultaneously while maintaining or achieving even higher indicated thermal efficiency. A low pressure rise rate can be achieved due to the two-stage combustion character of the MPCI mode but with the penalty of high HC and CO emissions, especially at 0.5MPa IMEP.

A new combustion mode namely multiple premixed compression ignition (MPCI) for gasoline engines was proposed. The MPCI mode can be realized by two or more times gasoline injections into cylinder with a high pressure around the compression TDC and featured with a premixed combustion after each injection in the cylinder, which is different from the existed gasoline direct injection compression ignition (GDICI) modes such as homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) mode with gasoline injection occurred in intake stroke, and partially premixed compression ignition (PPCI) mode with multiple gasoline injections in intake and compression strokes before the start of combustion (SOC). Therefore the spray and combustion of the MPCI mode are alternatively occurred as "spray-combustion-spray-combustion" near the TDC, rather than "spray-spray-combustion" sequence as traditional PPCI gasoline engines.

Fuel quality, including antiknock rating, plays a critical role in enabling optimal operation of advanced gasoline engines. As new designs introduced into the market implement technologies to improve fuel efficiency, the overall octane level of the gasoline pool may need to be increased to ensure optimal performance. Turbocharging, higher compression ratios and downsized displacement all lead to higher combustion pressures and temperatures that make engines more susceptible to knocking. All modern gasoline engines are equipped with knock sensors that detect abnormal combustion resulting from autoignition caused by insufficient octane quality. The ability of an engine to account for the use of lower octane fuel by retarding spark timing and enriching air-fuel ratio to reduce knock is limited, and engine efficiency is directly and adversely impacted when the use of lower octane gasoline is accommodated, resulting in higher fuel consumption.

An experimental study of particulate matter (PM) emission was conducted on four cars from Chinese market. Three cars were powered by gasoline direct injection (GDI) engines and one car was powered by a port fuel injection (PFI) engine. Particulate mass, number and size distribution were measured based on a chassis dynamometer over new European driving cycle (NEDC). The particulate emission behaviors during cold start and hot start NEDCs were compared to understand how the running conditions influence particulate emission. Three kinds of gasoline with RON 91.9, 94.0 and 97.4 were tested to find the impact of RON on particulate emission. Because of time and facilities constraints, only one cold/hot start NEDC was conducted for every vehicle fueled with every fuel. The test results showed that more particles were emitted during cold start condition (first 200s in NEDC). Compared with cold start NEDC, the particulate mass and number of hot start NEDC decreased by a wide margin.

Little research has been done on spray characteristics of 2,5-dimethylfuran (DMF), since the breakthrough in its production method as an alternative fuel candidate. In this paper, the spray characteristics of pure fuels (DMF, Isooctane) and DMF-Isooctane blends under different ambient pressures (1 bar, 3 bar and 7 bar) and injection pressures (50 bar, 100 bar and 150 bar) were studied using Phase Doppler Particle Analyzer (PDPA) and high speed imaging. Droplet velocity, size distribution, spray angle and penetration of sprays were examined. Based on the results, DMF had larger SMD and penetration length than isooctane. The surface tension of fuel strongly influenced spray characteristics. Increasing the surface tension by 26 % resulted in 12 % increase in SMD. Higher ambient pressure increased the drag force, but SMD was not influenced by the increased drag force. However, the increased ambient pressure reduced the injection velocity and We number resulting in higher SMD.

A study of Multiple Premixed Compression Ignition (MPCI) with mixtures of gasoline and diesel is performed on a light-duty single cylinder diesel engine. The engine is operated at a speed of 1600rpm with the same fuel mass per cycle. By keeping the same intake pressure and EGR ratio, the influence of different blending ratios in gasoline and diesel mixtures (90vol%, 80vol% and 70vol% gasoline) is investigated. Combustion and emission characteristics are compared by sweeping the first (−95 ∼ −35deg ATDC) and the second injection timing (−1 ∼ 9deg ATDC) with an injection split ratio of 80/20 and an injection pressure of 80MPa. The results show that compared with diesel combustion, the gasoline and diesel mixtures can reduce NOx and soot emissions simultaneously while maintaining or achieving even higher indicated thermal efficiency, but the HC and CO emissions are high for the mixtures.

Diesel particulate filter (DPF) is necessary for diesel engines to meet the increasingly stringent emission regulations. Many studies have demonstrated that the lubricant derived ash has a significant effect on DPF pressure drop and engine fuel economy, and this effect becomes more and more severe with the increasing of operating hours of the DPF because the ash accumulated in the DPF cannot be removed by regeneration. It is reported that most of the DPFs operated with more ash than soot in the filter for more than three quarters of the time during its lifetime [1]. In order to mitigate this problem, the original engine manufacturers (OEM) tend to use an oversized DPF for the engine. However, it will increase the costs of the DPF and reduce the compactness of the engine aftertreatment system.

Spray atomization, spray-wall impingement, and mixture formation are key factors in affecting the particulate matter (PM) emission in gasoline direct injection (GDI) engines. Current knowledge of wall-wetting phenomenon and mixture formation are mostly based on the studies that the fuel is injected at ordinary temperature and various ambient conditions. In the real GDI engine, the fuel pipe and injector are always heated up by the pump and the engine body, especially at hot engine conditions, thus the fuel temperature is always higher than the ordinary temperature, and the relevant research is still limited. The aim of this study is to numerically investigate the spray, spray-wall impingement, and mixture formation characteristics under different fuel temperature conditions, so as to provide theoretical support in optimizing the combustion performance and further reducing the PM emission of GDI engines.

2, 5-Dimethylfuran (DMF) has been receiving increasing interest as a potential alternative fuel to fossil fuels, owing to the recent development of new production technology. However, the influence of DMF properties on the in-cylinder fuel spray and its evaporation, subsequent combustion processes as well as emission formation in current gasoline direct injection (GDI) engines is still not well understood, due to the lack of comprehensive understanding of its physical and chemical characteristics. To better understand the spray characteristics of DMF and its application to the IC engine, the fuel sprays of DMF and gasoline were investigated by experimental and computational methods. The shadowgraph and Phase Doppler Particle Analyzer (PDPA) techniques were used for measuring spray penetration, droplet velocity and size distribution of both fuels.

Gasoline direct injection engines can greatly improve the fuel economy, but the idea mixture distribution cannot be easily controlled. In this paper, the linearized instability sheet atomization (LISA) and large eddy simulation (LES) implemented into KIVA-3V code were used to study the gasoline hollow cone spray process for gasoline direct injection (GDI) in a constant volume vessel. The three-dimensional results show that the LISA model can effectively simulate the gasoline hollow cone spray and obtain the string structure compared to the experiment data. And the velocity interpolation method can reduce the grid dependency of spray simulation. Using dense grid (about 8 million cells) in LES and RANS all can obtain the good spray tip penetration and width. Unlike diesel spray, for gasoline spray there are not big difference between the results using LES and RANS. In additional the ambient pressure significantly influence the gasoline spray shape.

A conceptual approach to help understand and simulate droplet induced pre-ignition is presented. The complex phenomenon of oil-fuel droplet induced pre-ignition has been decomposed to its elementary processes. This approach helps identify the key fluid properties and engine parameters that affect the pre-ignition phenomenon, and could be used to control LSPI. Based on the conceptual model, a 3D CFD engine simulation has been developed which is able to realistically model all of the elementary processes involved in droplet induced pre-ignition. The simulation was successfully able to predict droplet induced pre-ignition at conditions where the phenomenon has been experimentally observed. The simulation has been able to help explain the observation of pre-ignition advancement relative to injection timing as experimentally observed in a previous study [6].

In this paper, a hybrid combustion mode in four-stroke gasoline direct injection engines was studied. Switching cam profiles and injection strategies simultaneously was adopted to obtain a rapid and smooth switch between SI mode and HCCI mode. Based on the continuous pressure traces and corresponding emissions, HCCI steady operation, HCCI transient process (combustion phase adjustment, SI-HCCI, HCCI-SI, HCCI cold start) were studied. In HCCI mode, HCCI combustion phase can be adjusted rapidly by changing the split injection ratio. The HCCI control strategies had been demonstrated in a Chery GDI2.0 engine. The HCCI engine simulation results show that, oxygen and active radicals are stored due to negative valve overlap and split fuel injection under learn burn condition. This reduces the HCCI sensitivity on inlet boundary conditions, such as intake charge and intake temperature. The engine can be run from 1500rpm to 4000rpm in HCCI mode without spark ignition.

Advanced exhaust after-treatment technology is required for heavy-duty diesel vehicles to achieve stringent Euro VI emission standards. Diesel particulate filter (DPF) is the most efficient system that is used to trap the particulate matter (PM), and particulate number (PN) emissions form diesel engines. The after-treatment system used in this study is catalyzed DPF (CDPF) downstream of diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC) with secondary fuel injection. Additional fuel is injected upstream of DOC to enhance exothermal heat which is needed to raise the CDPF temperature during the active regeneration process. The objective of this research is to numerically investigate soot loading and active regeneration of a CDPF on a heavy-duty diesel engine. In order to improve the active regeneration performance of CDPF, several factors are investigated in the study such as the effect of catalytic in filter wall, soot distribution form along filter wall, and soot loads.

This paper studied the knock combustion process in gasoline HCCI engines. The complex chemical kinetics was implemented into the three-dimensional CFD code with LES (Large eddy simulation) to study the origin of the knock phenomena in HCCI combustion process. The model was validated using the experimental data from the cylinder pressure measurement. 3D-CFD with LES method gives detailed turbulence, species, temperature and pressure distribution during the gasoline HCCI combustion process. The simulation results indicate that HCCI engine knock originates from the random multipoint auto-ignition in the combustion chamber due to the slight inhomogeneity. It is induced by the significantly different heat release rate of high temperature oxidation (HTO) and low temperature oxidation (LTO) and their interactions.

Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI) engines developed at nineties of the twentieth century can greatly improve the fuel economy. But the combustion chamber design and mixture control of the engines are very complex compared with Port Fuel Injection (PFI) gasoline engines. A two-stage gasoline direct injection (TSGDI) combustion system is developed and aimed to solve the problem of the complexity. Two-stage fuel injection and flexible injection timings are adopted as main means to form reasonable stratified mixture in the cylinder. A simple combustion chamber and helical intake port are designed to assist the mixture's stable combustion, which reduces the difficulties of the combustion system design. Systematical simulation and experimental studies of the effects of injection strategies such as different first,second injection timings and injection ratios, on the mixture formation processes and engine performanc are made in detail.