Effect of a 2-stage injection strategy on the combustion and flame characteristics in a PCCI engine

Recently, to reduce environmental pollution and the waste of limited energy resources, there is an increasing requirement for higher engine efficiency and lower levels of harmful emissions. A premixed charge compression ignition (PCCI) engine, which uses a 2-stage type injection, has drawn attention because this combustion system can simultaneously reduce the amount of NOx and PM exhausted from diesel engines. It is well known that the fuel injection timing and the spray angle in a PCCI engine affect the mixture formation and the combustion. To acquire two optimal injection timings, the combustion and emission characteristics of the PCCI engine were analyzed with various injection conditions. The flame visualization was performed to validate the result obtained from the engine test. This study reveals that the optimum injection timings are BTDC 60° for the first injection and ATDC 5° for the second injection. In addition, the injection ratio of 3 to 7 showed the best NOx and PM emission results.     

Operating strategy for gasoline/diesel dual-fuel premixed compression ignition in a light-duty diesel engine

Environmental problems have become a major issue for diesel engine development. Although emission aftertreatment systems such as DPFs (diesel particulate filters), LNTs (lean NOx traps) and SCR (selective catalytic reduction) have been used in diesel vehicles, the manufacturing cost increase caused by this equipment can be hard to be control. Thus, it is better for engine emissions to be reduced by improving the combustion system. A dual-fuel combustion concept is a recommended method to improve a combustion system and effectively reduce emissions. Low reactivity fuel including gasoline and natural gas, which was supplied to the intake port by the FPI (port fuel injector), improved the premixed air-fuel mixture conditions before ignition. Additionally, a small amount of high reactivity fuel, in this case diesel, was injected into the cylinder directly as an ignition source. This dual-fuel combustion promises lower levels of NOx (nitrogen oxide) and PM (particulate matter) emissions due to the elimination of local rich regions in the cylinder. However, it is challenging to control the dual-fuel combustion because the combustion stability and efficiency deteriorate due to the lack of ignition source and reactivity. Thus, it is important to establish an appropriate dual-fuel operating strategy to achieve stable, high efficiency and low emission operation. As a result of this research, a detailed operating method of dual-fuel PCI (premixed compression ignition) was introduced in detail at a low speed and low load condition by using a single cylinder diesel engine. Engine operating parameters including the gasoline ratio, a diesel injection strategy consisting of multiple injectors and timing, the EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) rate and the intake pressure were controlled to satisfy the low ISNOx (indicated specific NOx) and PM emissions levels (0.21 g/kWh and 0.1 FSN, 0.040 g/kWh, respectively) as per the EURO-6 regulation without any after-treatment systems. The results emphasized that a well-constructed dual-fuel PCI operating strategy showed low NOx and PM emissions and high GIE (gross indicated fuel conversion efficiency) with excellent combustion stability.     

二甲醚发动机的燃烧与排放研究

在一台2135直喷柴油机上，对燃油供给系统进行了适当的改造，测试了燃用二甲醚发动机的燃料喷射时刻、气缸压力和有害排放，计算分析了放热规律及滞燃期变化规律。研究结果表明，在供油提前角相同的情况下，二甲醚的喷射延迟比柴油长而滞燃期比柴油短，着火时刻落后于柴油；二甲醚的最大放热速率小，而燃烧持续期短；二甲醚发动机接近无烟排放，N0x排放浓度显著低于柴油机。     

多次喷射对柴油机燃烧与排放影响的试验研究

基于1台高压共轨涡轮增压柴油机,采用不同的预喷正时、预喷油量与后喷正时等,研究了多次喷射对燃烧放热、排放生成与燃油经济性的影响,以实现均质压燃和低温燃烧过程。研究结果表明:随预喷正时提前,缸内峰值压力降低,主燃阶段的滞燃期缩短,NOx和炭烟排放均降低;随预喷油量增加,预喷阶段燃烧的放热率和最大压力升高率增大,NOx和HC排放增大,而PM和CO排放降低;随后喷始点推迟,缸内压力与主放热率峰值差异变小,NOx排放降低,但炭烟排放先增大后逐渐降低。     

Influence of pilot injection on combustion characteristics and emissions in a DI diesel engine fueled with diesel and DME

This work experimentally investigates how the dwell time between pilot injection and main injection influences combustion and emissions characteristics (NOx, CO, THC and smoke) in a single-cylinder DI diesel engine. The experiments were conducted using two fuel injection systems according to the fuel type, diesel or dimethyl ether (DME), due to the different fuel characteristics. The injection strategy is accomplished by varying the dwell time (10°CA, 16°CA and 22°CA) between injections at five main injection timings (?4°CA aTDC, ?2°CA aTDC, 0°CA aTDC, 2°CA aTDC and 4°CA aTDC). Results from pilot-main injection conditions are compared with those shown in single injection conditions to better demonstrate the potential of pilot injection. It was found that pilot injection is highly effective for lowering heat-release rates with smooth pressure traces regardless of the fuel type. Pilot injection also offers high potential to maintain or increase the BMEP; even the combustion-timing is retarded to suppress the NOx emission formation. Overall, NOx emission formation was suppressed more by the combustion phasing retard effect, and not the pilot injection effect considered in this study. Comparison of the emissions for different fuel types shows that CO and HC emissions have low values below 100 ppm for DME operation in both single injection and pilot-main injection. However, NOx emission is slightly higher in the earlier main injection timings (?4°CA aTDC, ?2°CA aTDC) than diesel injections. Pilot injection was found to be more effective with DME for reducing the amount of NOx emission with combustion retardation, which indicates a level of NOx emission similar to that of diesel. Although the diesel pilot-main injection conditions show higher smoke emission than single-injection condition, DME has little smoke emission regardless of injection strategy.     

Low temperature premixed combustion within a small bore high speed direct injection (HSDI) optically accessible diesel engine using a retarded single injection

An optically accessible single-cylinder high speed direct-injection (HSDI) Diesel engine equipped with a Bosch common rail injection system was used to study low temperature Modulated Kinetics (MK) combustion with a retarded single main injection. High-speed liquid fuel Mie-scattering was employed to investigate the liquid distribution and evolution. By carefully setting up the optics, three-dimensional images of fuel spray were obtained from both the bottom of the piston and the side window. The NOx emissions were measured in the exhaust pipe. The influence of injection pressure and injection timing on liquid fuel evolution and combustion characteristics was studied under similar fuel quantities. Interesting spray development was seen from the side window images. Liquid impingement was found for all of the cases due to the small diameter of the piston bowl. The liquid fuel tip hits the bowl wall obliquely and spreads as a wall jet in the radial direction of the spray. Due to the bowl geometry, the fuel film moves back into the central part of the bowl, which enhances the air-fuel mixing process and prepares a more homogeneous air-fuel mixture. Stronger impingement was seen for high injection pressures. Injection timing had little effect on fuel impingement. No liquid fuel was seen before ignition, indicating premixed combustion for all the cases. High-speed combustion video was taken using the same frame rate. Ignition was seen to occur on or near the bowl wall in the vicinity of the spray tip, with the ignition delay being noticeably longer for lower injection pressure and later injection timing. The majority of the flame was confined to the bowl region throughout the combustion event. A more homogeneous and weaker flame was observed for higher injection pressures and later injection timing. The combustion structure also proves the mixing enhancement effect of the liquid fuel impingement. The results show that ultra-low sooting combustion is feasible in an HSDI diesel engine with a higher injection pressure, a higher EGR rate, or later injection timing, with little penalty on power output. It was also found that injection timing has more influence on HCCI-like combustion using a single main injection than the other two factors studied. Compared with the base cases, simultaneous reductions of soot and NOx were obtained by increasing EGR rate and retarding injection timing. By increasing injection pressure, NOx emissions were increased due to leaner and faster combustion with better air-fuel mixing. However, smoke emissions were significantly reduced with increased injection pressure.     

Effect of the fuel injection strategy on first-cycle firing and combustion characteristics during cold start in a TSDI gasoline engine

The first firing cycle is very important during cold-start for all types of spark ignition engines. In addition, the combustion characteristics of the first firing cycle affect combustion and emissions in the following cycles. However, the first-cycle fuel-air mixing, combustion and emissions generation within the cylinder of a two-stage direct-injection (TSDI) engine during cold start is not completely understood. Based on the total stoichiometric air-fuel ratio and local richer mixture startup strategy, the first-cycle firing and combustion characteristic at cold start were investigated in a two-stage direct injection (TSDI) gasoline engine. In addition, the effects of the first injection timing, second injection timing, 1st and 2nd fuel injection proportion and total excess air ratio on the in-cylinder pressure, heat release rate and accumulated heat release were analyzed on the basis of a cycle-by-cycle analysis. It is shown that a larger 2nd fuel injection amount and later 2nd injection timing are more beneficial to the firing of the first cycle in the case of a total excess air ratio of 1.0. The optimum 1st and 2nd injection timing fuel injection proportions are 120°CA ATDC during the intake stroke, 60°CA BTDC during the compression stroke and 1:1. In addition, the firing boundary is a 2nd injection timing later than 90°CA BTDC during the compression stroke in the case of the 1st injection timing from 60°CA to 180°CA ATDC during an intake stroke and involves a 1st and 2nd fuel injection proportion of 1:1 and an excess air ratio of 1.0. The study provides a detailed understanding of cold-start combustion characteristics and a guide for optimizing the reliable first-cycle firing at cold start.     

掺氢比对氢-甲醇发动机稀薄燃烧及排放影响

为探究掺氢比对氢-甲醇发动机稀薄燃烧性能的影响，在一台1.8 L涡轮增压缸内直喷汽油机 （GDI） 改装的氢-甲醇发动机上，开展了不同燃空当量比和不同掺氢比条件下的甲醇发动机掺氢燃烧和排放试验研究。结果表明，在稀燃条件下，增大掺氢比能提高发动机缸内最高燃烧压力及放热率峰值，且燃烧相位提前，燃烧持续期缩短。在稀燃情况下适当掺氢有助于改善循环变动，混合气越稀改善效果越好，但随燃空比和掺氢量增大时，循环变动却有恶化的趋势。当燃空当量比大于 0.71 时，增大掺氢比能改善 HC 排放；当燃空当量比大于 0.83 时，掺氢能改善 NOx排放，但 CO 排放恶化；当燃空当量比小于0.83时，增大掺氢比导致NOx排放恶化但CO排放降低。     

Experimental studies on low pressure semi-direct fuel injection in a two stroke spark ignition engine

In this work a two-stroke scooter engine was modified to work with semi-direct injection of gasoline at a pressure of 8 bar from an injector in the cylinder barrel pointed toward the cylinder head. The influence of injection timing, injection pressure, spark plug location and air-fuel ratio, on performance, emissions and combustion characteristics has been investigated. In addition, a comparison has been made with manifold injection of gasoline on the same engine at a given speed and various outputs. A significant reduction in HC emissions and fuel consumption with no adverse effects on NOx emissions and combustion stability was observed. A small drop in power and increase in CO emission were observed disadvantages of the new injection system. Injection timing was found to be the most important factor and a balance between reduction in shortcircuited fuel by late injection, and time for mixture preparation by advancing the injection, was found to be essential.     

DME预混合引导进气实现PCCI-DI燃烧的试验研究

在单缸二甲醚发动机上开展了从进气管导入部分DME实现PCCI-DI燃烧的试验研究。结果表明,采用PCCI-DI工作模式时发动机可在较宽广的转速和负荷下运行,热效率增加,NOx排放下降,但HC和CO排放有所上升;随着进气管中导入的二甲醚量的增加,NOx,HC和CO排放都随之增加;此外,发动机采用PCCI-DI工作方式时,供油提前角可在原DME直喷压燃发动机的基础上进一步推迟。     

Exhaust emissions and its control methods in compression ignition engines: A review

Extensive usage of automobiles has certain disadvantages and one of them is its negative effect on environment. Carbon dioxide (CO₂), carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC), oxides of nitrogen (NO_x), sulphur dioxide (SO₂) and particulate matter (PM) come out as harmful products during incomplete combustion from internal combustion (IC) engines. As these substances affect human health, regulatory bodies impose increasingly stringent restrictions on the level of emissions coming out from IC engines. This trend suggests the urgent need for the investigation of all aspects relevant to emissions. It is required to modify existing engine technologies and to develop a better after-treatment system to achieve the upcoming emission norms. Diesel engines are generally preferred over gasoline engines due to their undisputed benefit of fuel economy and higher torque output. However, diesel engines produce higher emissions, particularly NO_x and PM. Aftertreatment systems are costly and occupy more space, hence, in-cylinder solutions are preferred in reducing emissions. Exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) technology has been utilized previously to reduce NO_x. Though it is quite successful for small engines, problem persists with large bore engines and with high rate of EGR. EGR helps in reducing NO_x, but increases particulate emissions and fuel consumption. Many in-cylinder solutions such as lower compression ratios, modified injection characteristics, improved air intake system etc. are required along with EGR to accomplish the future emission norms. Modern combustion techniques such as low temperature combustion (LTC), homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI), premixed charge compression ignition (PCCI) etc. would be helpful for reducing the exhaust emissions and improving the engine performance. However, controlling of autoignition timing and achieving wider operating range are the major challenges with these techniques. A comprehensive review of diesel engine performance and emission characteristics is given in this paper.     

Study on combustion characteristics of lean mixture ignited by diesel fuel injection

We have investigated combustion characteristics of lean gasoline–air pre-mixture ignited by diesel fuel injection using a high compression direct injection diesel engine. Gasoline was supplied as a uniform lean mixture by using carburetors, and diesel fuel was directly injected into the cylinder. It was confirmed that the lean mixture of air–fuel ratio between 150 and 35 could be ignited and burned by this ignition method. As the diesel fuel injection increased, HC concentration decreased, and NO and CO concentration increased. The exhaust gas emission of pollutants could be reduced when lean mixture was ignited by an optimum diesel fuel injection.     

不同还原过程空燃比大小对降低稀燃汽油机NOx排放的试验研究

运用自行开发设计的稀燃发动机电控系统和催化系统，对稀燃汽油机运用吸附还原催化法在不同的还原过程空燃比条件下降低NOx的排放进行了研究。试验结果表明，还原过程空燃比越小，吸附还原催化器吸附的NOx还原就越彻底，汽油机排出的NOx也越少。但稀燃汽油机的燃油消耗率增加，经济性变差。     

Effects of valve timing and intake flow motion control on combustion and time-resolved HC & NOx formation characteristics

In SI engines, valve events have a major influence on volumetric efficiency, fuel economy and exhaust emissions. Moreover, swirl and tumble motions in the intake charge also improve combustion speed and quality by stratifying the mixture as well as intensifying the mixing rate of air and fuel. This paper investigates the behaviors of an engine and the combustion phenomenon for various intake valve timings and intake charge motions using CVVT system and port masking schemes. Test condition includes a part load and a cold idle condition inclusive of a cold start of the engine. Time-resolved HC and NOx emissions were also measured at an exhaust port to examine their formation mechanisms and behaviors with fast response HC/NOx analyzers. In conclusion, the fast burning of fuel and improved combustion quality by enhanced charge motions reduced unburned HC emissions, and advancing the intake valve opening reduced HC as well as NOx. Furthermore, HCs during the cold transient phase and idle conditions decreased with recalibrated start parameters such as lean air-fuel ratio and spark retardation via the enhancement of intake charge motions.     

外部热EGR对基于优化动力技术的汽油HCCI燃烧的影响

考察了外部热EGR对基于优化动力技术的汽油HCCI发动机燃烧的影响。试验结果表明:外部热EGR可以推迟HCCI燃烧的着火时刻,减缓放热速率,但对于高辛烷值燃料的HCCI燃烧,它对更高EGR率的兼容能力不强,需要提高进气温度来提高燃烧的稳定性;随着EGR率的增加,燃烧持续期延长,缸内温度和压力峰值均减小,指示热效率也随着减小;NOx排放随着EGR率的增加在经过一个"拐点"后始终维持在一个较低的水平,而CO和HC的排放随着EGR率的增加显著增加,燃烧恶化。     

二甲醚均质充量压燃发动机燃烧特性试验研究

通过改造一台压缩比为16．5的2-135柴油机,在其上实现DME的HCCI燃烧方式。试验结果表明,DME HCCI发动机不但可以实现无烟燃烧,而且可以有效控制发动机NOx排放,使其接近0排放。在试验负荷范围内,CO排放随负荷增加而降低;HC的排放随负荷变化不大。     

Reduction of emissions with propane addition to a diesel engine

Recent studies on dual-fuel combustion in compression-ignition (CI) engines, also known as diesel engines, fall into two categories. In the first category are studies focused on the addition of small amounts of gaseous fuel to CI engines. In these studies, gaseous fuel is regarded as a secondary fuel and diesel fuel is regarded as the main fuel for combustion. The objectives of these studies typically involve reducing particulate matter (PM) emissions by using gaseous fuel as a partial substitution for diesel fuel. However, the addition of gaseous fuel raises the combustion temperature, which increases emissions of nitrogen oxides (NO_x). In the second category are studies focused on reactivity-controlled compression-ignition (RCCI) combustion. RCCI combustion can be implemented by early diesel injection with a large amount of low-reactivity fuel such as gasoline or gaseous fuel. Although RCCI combustion promises lower NO_x and PM emissions and higher thermal efficiency than conventional diesel combustion, it requires a higher intake pressure (usually more than 1.7 bars) to maintain a lean fuel mixture. Therefore, in this study, practical applications of dual-fuel combustion with a low air-fuel ratio (AFR), which implies a low intake pressure, were systemically evaluated using propane in a diesel engine. The characteristics of dualfuel combustion for high and low AFRs were first evaluated. The proportion of propane used for four different operating conditions was then increased to decrease emissions and to identify the optimal condition for dual-fuel combustion. Although the four operating conditions differ, the AFR was maintained at 20 (? approximately equal to 0.72) and the 50% mass fraction burned (MFB 50) was also fixed. The results show that dual-fuel combustion can reduce NO_x and PM emissions in comparison to conventional diesel combustion.     

Combustion and emission characteristics of a lean burn natural gas engine

Lean burn is an effective way to improve spark ignition engine fuel economy. In this paper, the combustion and emission characteristics of a lean burn natural gas fuelled spark ignition engine were investigated at various throttle positions, fuel injection timings, spark timings and air fuel ratios. The results show that ignition timings, the combustion duration, the coefficient of variation (COV) of the indicated mean effective pressure (IMEP) and engine-out emissions are dependent on the overall air fuel ratio, spark timings, throttle positions and fuel injection timings. With the increase of the air fuel ratio, the ignition delays and combustion duration increases. Fuel injection timings affect ignition timings, combustion duration, IMEP, and the COV of the IMEP. Late fuel injection timings can decrease the COV of the IMEP. Moreover, the change in the fuel injection timings reduces the engine-out CO, total hydrocarbon (THC) emissions. Lean burn can significantly reduce NOx emissions, but it results in high cyclic variations.     

Cooling effect of methanol on an n-heptane HCCI engine using a dual fuel system

Homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engines have the potential to raise the efficiency of reciprocating engines during partial load operation. However, the performance of the HCCI engine at high loads is restricted by severe knocking, which can be observed by the excessive pressure rise rate. This is due to the rapid combustion process occurring inside the cylinder, which does not follow the flame propagation that is seen in conventional engines. In this study, a low compression ratio of 9.5:1 for a gasoline engine was converted to operate in HCCI mode with the goal being to expand the stable operating region at high loads. Initially, pure n-heptane was used as the fuel at equivalence ratios of 0.30 to 0.58 with elevated intake charge temperatures of 180 and 90 °C, respectively. The n-heptane HCCI engine could reach a maximum performance at an indicated mean effective pressure (IMEP) of 0.38 MPa, which was larger than the performance found in the literature. To reach an even higher performance, a dual-fuel system was exploited. Methanol, as an anti-detonant additive, was introduced into the intake stream with various amounts of n-heptane at fixed equivalence ratios in the range of 0.42 to 0.52. It was found that the methanol addition cooled the mixture down prior to combustion and resulted in an increased coefficient of variation (COV). In order to maintain stable combustion and keep the pressure rise rate below the limit, the intake charge temperature should be increased. Introduction of 90% and 95% (vol/vol) hydrous methanol showed a similar trend but a lower thermal conversion efficiency and IMEP value. Therefore, a dual fuel HCCI engine could maintain a high thermal conversion efficiency across a wide load and enhance a 5% larger load compared to a pure n-heptane-fuelled HCCI engine. The hydrocarbon (HC) and carbon monoxide (CO) emissions were lower than 800 ppm and 0.10%, respectively. They were less at higher loads. The nitrogen oxides (NO _x ) emissions were below 12 ppm and were found to increase sharply at higher loads to a maximum of 23 ppm.     

二甲醚均质压燃燃烧特性试验研究

介绍了在一台单缸柴油机上进行的二甲醚(DME)均质压燃燃烧过程的试验研究,DME的燃烧保持了低温反应与高温反应两个阶段的特征,着火时刻较早。试验结果表明,混合气燃空当量比的变化对低温反应开始时刻影响不大,但对高温反应开始时刻有较大影响,随着燃空当量比的增大,高温反应开始时刻逐步提前,当燃空当量比为0.21时,出现轻微爆震现象。随着发动机转速的增加,低温反应开始时刻提前,高温反应阶段的放热率略有增大。进气温度和冷却水温度升高,低温反应和高温反应时刻都有较大的提前。在进气温度(T)大于300 K后,缸内最大压力出现在上止点前,进气温度是控制着火时刻的重要参数。