Yann Gallo

A Study of In-Cylinder Soot Oxidation by Laser Extinction Measurements During an EGR-Sweep in an Optical Diesel Engine

Two competing in-cylinder processes, soot formation and soot oxidation, govern soot emissions from diesel engines. Previous studies have shown a lack of correlation between the soot formation rate and soot emissions. The current experiment focuses on the correlation between soot oxidation rates and soot emissions. Laser extinction is measured using a red (690nm) laser beam, which is sent vertically through the cylinder. This wavelength is long enough to minimize absorption interference from poly-aromatic hydrocarbons, while still in the visible regime. It is modulated at 72 kHz in order to produce 10 pulses per crank angle degree at an engine speed of 1200 rpm. The intake oxygen concentration is varied between 9% and 21%. The time resolved extinction measurements are used to estimate soot oxidation rates during expansion. High-speed video imaging is used in conjunction with the laser-extinction technique to indicate the location of the sooting regions, and to assess beam steering effects. The oxidation processes are described using single exponential decay fits and an attempt to correlate them with the late cycle rate of heat release was made. (Less)

Evolution of In-Cylinder Diesel Engine Soot and Emission Characteristics Investigated with Online Aerosol Mass Spectrometry

To design diesel engines with low environmental impact, it is important to link health and climate-relevant soot (black carbon) emission characteristics to specific combustion conditions. The in-cylinder evolution of soot properties over the combustion cycle and as a function of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) was investigated in a modern heavy-duty diesel engine. A novel combination of a fast gas-sampling valve and a soot particle aerosol mass spectrometer (SP-AMS) enabled online measurements of the in-cylinder soot chemistry. The results show that EGR reduced the soot formation rate. However, the late cycle soot oxidation rate (soot removal) was reduced even more, and the net effect was increased soot emissions. EGR resulted in an accumulation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) during combustion, and led to increased PAH emissions. We show that mass spectral and optical signatures of the in-cylinder soot and associated low volatility organics change dramatically from the soot formation dominated phase to the soot oxidation dominated phase. These signatures include a class of fullerene carbon clusters that we hypothesize represent less graphitized, C5-containing fullerenic (high tortuosity or curved) soot nanostructures arising from decreased combustion temperatures and increased premixing of air and fuel with EGR. Altered soot properties are of key importance when designing emission control strategies such as diesel particulate filters and when introducing novel biofuels.

Parameters Influencing Soot Oxidation Rates in an Optical Diesel Engine

Soot emissions from diesel engines are the net result of two competing processes: soot formation and soot oxidation. Previous studies have shown poor correlation between soot formation rates and the soot emissions. This article presents a systematic study of a number of parameters affecting soot oxidation rate and how it correlates with the soot emissions. An optical heavy-duty engine is used in conjunction with a laser extinction setup in order to collect time resolved data of the soot concentration in the cylinder during the expansion stroke. Laser extinction is measured using a red (685 nm) laser beam, which is sent vertically through the cylinder and modulated to produce 10 pulses per crank angle degree. Information is obtained about the amount of soot formed and the soot oxidation rate. The parameters studied are the motored density at top dead center (TDC), motored temperature at TDC, injection pressure, engine speed, swirl level and injector orifice diameter. A central composite design is employed to assess the importance of the parameters as well as identifying potential interaction effects. A single exponential decay function is fit to the extinction data to describe the oxidation process and the half-life of the decay is used as a measure of the oxidation rate. The half-lives are compared with engine out emissions and the importance of each parameter is studied using regression analysis. The results suggest that the injection pressure has the strongest effect on the late-cycle soot oxidation rate, while the temperature at TDC has the weakest effect of the parameters studied. (Less)

Comparison of Laser-Extinction and Natural Luminosity Measurements for Soot Probing in Diesel Optical Engines

Soot emissions from diesel internal combustion engines are strictly regulated nowadays. Laser extinction measurement (LEM) and natural luminosity (NL) of sooty flames are commonly applied to study soot. LEM measures soot along the laser beam path and it can probe soot regardless of temperature. NL integrates the whole field of view and relies on soot temperature. In this work, a comparison of simultaneously recorded LEM and NL data has been performed in a heavy-duty optical engine. A 685 nm laser beam is used for LEM. The laser was modulated at 63 kHz, which facilitated subtraction of the background NL signal from the raw LEM data. By Beer-Lambert’s law, KL factor can be calculated and used as a metric to describe soot measurements. A compensation of transmitted laser intensity fluctuation and soot deposits on optical windows has been performed in this work. The data compensation successfully reduced the transmitted laser intensity fluctuation and made it possible to study in-cylinder low temperature soot residual. The KL curves were compared with NL curve in this work. In the late cycle the KL curve can successfully show the low temperature soot which is not detected by NL. The KL curve is found to rise about 2 CAD ahead of the corresponding NL curve due to liquid fuel spray disturbance. In this case, LEM is not a suitable method to calculate KL for analyzing the early soot formation if there are liquid phase fuel droplets crossing the probing laser beam. (Less)