Jan Eismark

Role of Late Soot Oxidation for Low Emission Combustion in a Diffusion-controlled, High-EGR, Heavy Duty Diesel Engine

Soot formation and oxidation are complex and competing processes during diesel combustion. The balance between the two processes and their history determines engine-out soot values. Besides the efforts to lower soot formation with measures to influence the flame lift-off distance for example or to use HCCI-combustion, enhancement of late soot oxidation is of equal importance for low-λ diffusion-controlled low emissions combustion with EGR. The purpose of this study is to investigate soot oxidation in a heavy duty diesel engine by statistical analysis of engine data and in-cylinder endoscopic high speed photography together with CFD simulations with a main focus on large scale in-cylinder gas motion. Results from CFD simulations using a detailed soot model were used to reveal details about the soot oxidation. A particular objective of the present study was to investigate the importance of enhancing soot oxidation after End of Injection (EOI) when temperature and NOx formation rapidly decreases. Geometrical measures to control flame propagation and different flame interactions were investigated. Such measures contribute to conserve available kinetic energy until late in the combustion period in an efficient way. Based on this combustion strategy it is possible to reach near zero engine-out soot emissions. Copyright

High Pressure Ethanol Injection under Diesel-Like Conditions

Laws concerning to emissions from heavy duty (HD) internal combustion engines are becoming increasingly stringent. New engine technologies are therefore needed to satisfy these new legal requirements and reduce fossil fuel dependency. One way to achieve both objectives is to partially replace fossil fuels with alternatives that are more sustainable with respect to emissions of greenhouse gas, particulates and NOx. As a first step towards the development of a direct injected dual fuel engine using diesel fuel and renewable alcohols such as methanol or ethanol, we have studied ethanol (E100) sprays generated with a standard high pressure diesel fuel injection system in a high pressure/temperature spray chamber with optical access. The experiments were performed at a gas density of ∼27kg/m3 at ∼550 °C and ∼60 bar, representing typical operating conditions for a HD engine at low loads. High speed video images of the developing sprays were recorded, enabling measurement of spray parameters such as the liquid cone angle, liquid penetration length and vapor penetration at injection pressures between 500 and 2200 bar. The results obtained provide insight into the fuel-air mixing process. Moreover, they serve as a proof-of-concept demonstrating that ethanol can be used successfully in a high pressure Diesel injection system.