Search Results (18)

Cold start causes a high amount of unburned hydrocarbon and particulate matter emissions in gasoline direct injection (GDI) engines. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the dynamics of spray during a cold start and develop a predictive model to form a better air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber. In this study, an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) was designed to predict quantitative 3D liquid volume fraction, liquid penetration, and liquid width under different operating conditions. The model was trained with data derived from high-speed and Schlieren imaging experiments with a gasoline surrogate fuel, conducted in a constant volume spray vessel. A coolant circulator was used to simulate the low-temperature conditions (−7 °C) typical of cold starts. The results showed good agreement between machine learning predictions and experimental data, with an overall accuracy $R^2$ of 0.99 for predicting liquid penetration and liquid width. In addition, the developed ANN model was able to predict detailed dynamics of spray plumes. This confirms the robustness of the ANN in predicting spray characteristics and offers a promising tool to enhance GDI engine technologies. Full article

Nowadays it has become particularly valuable to control the Particulate Matter (PM) emissions from the road transport sector, especially in vehicle powertrains with an Internal Combustion Engine (ICE). However, almost no publication has focused on a comparison of the microscopic characteristics of gasoline and ethanol spray under injection pressure conditions of more than 30 MPa, except in the impingement process. By using a Phase Doppler Particles Analyser (PDPA) system, the microscopic characteristics of gasoline and ethanol spray from a Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI) injector under injection pressure ($P_I$) up to 50 MPa was fully explored in this research. The experimental results demonstrate that under the same $P_I$, the second peak of the probability ($p_d$) curves of droplet normal velocity for gasoline is slightly higher than that of ethanol. Moreover, gasoline spray exceeds ethanol by about 5.4% regarding the average droplet tangential velocity at 50 mm of jet downstream. Compared to ethanol, the $p_d$ curve’s peak of droplet diameter at (0, 50) for gasoline is 1.3 percentage points higher on average, and the overall Sauter mean diameter of gasoline spray is slightly smaller. By increasing $P_I$ from 10 MPa to 50 MPa, $p_d$ of the regions of “100 ≤ Weber number ($We$) < 1000” and “$We$ ≥ 1000” increases by about 23%, and the $p_d$ of large droplets over 20 μm shows a significant reduction. This research would provide novel insights into the deeper understanding of the comparison between gasoline and ethanol spray in microscopic characteristics under ultra-high $P_I$. Additionally, this research would help provide a theoretical framework and practical strategies to reduce PM emissions from passenger vehicles, which would significantly contribute to the protection and sustainability of the environment. Full article

Blending gasoline with hydrogenated catalytic biodiesel has the potential to improve combustion problems of gasoline direct-injection compression combustion, and the spray characteristics of the blending fuel can directly affect the combustion effect. In order to understand the spray characteristics of a gasoline–hydrocatalyzed catalytic biodiesel mixture, a numerical spray model of constant volume combustion chamber was established, and the accuracy of the model was verified by experimental data in the literature. Based on this model, the spray penetration, sauter mean diameter, spray velocity field and concentration field of gasoline–hydrocatalyzed catalytic biodiesel at different blending ratios were studied. The results show that under the conditions of 850 K ambient temperature, 5 MPa ambient pressure, and 80 MPa injection pressure, as the proportion of hydrogenated catalytic biodiesel in the blending fuel increases, the spray penetration increases, the sauter mean diameter decreases slightly, and the area of high velocity and high concentration at the spray center increases. The results of this study will contribute to the development of blended fuels for superior combustion performance and reduced pollutant emissions at appropriate blending ratios. Full article

Among the most relevant fields of research recently investigated for improving the performance of gasoline direct injection (GDI) engines, there are ultrahigh injection pressures and the flash-boiling phenomenon. Both perform relevant roles in improving the air/fuel mixing process, reducing tailpipe emissions and implementing new combustion methods. When a high-temperature fuel is released into an environment with a pressure lower than the fuel’s saturation pressure, flash boiling occurs. Due to complex two-phase flow dynamics and quick droplet vaporization, flash boiling can significantly modify spray formation. Specifically, if properly controlled, flash boiling produces important benefits for the fuel–air mixture formation, the combustion quality and, in general, for overall engine operation. Flash boiling was broadly investigated for classical injection pressure, but few works concern ultrahigh injection pressure. Here, the investigation of the spray produced by a multihole injector was performed using both experimental imaging techniques and CFD simulations aiming to highlight the combined impact of the injection pressure and the flash boiling occurrence on the spray morphology. The shadowgraph method was employed to observe the spray experimentally. The information gathered allows for assessing the performances of an Eulerian–Lagrangian algorithm purposely developed. Breakup and evaporation models, appropriate for flashing sprays, were implemented in a CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) code. The experimental results and the CFD simulations demonstrate a good agreement, demonstrating that through adoption of a flash-boiling breakup model, it is possible to reproduce non-evaporating and superheated sprays while changing few simulation parameters. Finally, the results also show the significance of injection pressure in preventing spray collapse. Full article

The article discusses the results of experimental studies on the course of pyrolysis oil injection through the high-pressure injector of a direct-injection engine. The pyrolysis oil used for the tests was derived from waste plastics (mainly high-density polyethylene—HDPE). This oil was then distilled. The article also describes the production technology of this pyrolysis oil on a laboratory scale. It presents the results of the chemical composition of the raw pyrolysis oil and the oil after the distillation process using GC-MS analysis. Fuel injection tests were carried out for the distilled pyrolysis oil and a 91 RON gasoline in order to perform a comparative analysis with the tested pyrolysis oil. In this case, the research was focused on the injected spray cloud analysis. The essential tested parameter was the Sauter Mean Diameter (SMD) of fuel droplets measured at the injection pressure of 400 bar. The analysis showed that the oil after distillation contained a significant proportion of light hydrocarbons similar to gasoline, and that the SMDs for distilled pyrolysis oil and gasoline were similar in the 7–9 µm range. In conclusion, it can be considered that distilled pyrolysis oil from HDPE can be used both as an additive for blending with gasoline in a spark-ignition engine or as a single fuel for a gasoline compression-ignition direct injection engine. Full article

Modern internal combustion engines are designed to meet new emission standards and reduce fuel consumption. The wide application of direct fuel injection is associated with the problem of injector contamination. It leads to a deterioration of the engine’s environmental performance. The paper aims to evaluate the effect of applying gasoline–butanol blends and appropriate additives on the formation of injector deposits. The research involved testing the engine on a dynamometer, evaluating the injector tips visually at 1000× magnification, and registering the fuel spray using high-speed imaging techniques with a laser and halogen lighting source. The effect of engine operating with the reference fuel was to coke the injector tip with a linear pattern. It increased the linear injection time to keep the engine’s operating point constant over the 48 h test. The application of 20% (v/v) butanol reduced deposit formation. The best scavenging results were obtained by extending the engine operating time by the next 24 h and using a cleaning procedure. The procedure included a cleaning additive in addition to butanol. Among the cases analyzed, a combination of butanol and DCA (Deposit Control Additive) was the best method for injector patency restoration. Full article

A closed-cycle, three-dimensional (3D) computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis campaign was conducted to evaluate the performance of using spark plugs to assist gasoline compression ignition (GCI) combustion during cold idle operations. A conventional spark plug using single-sided J-strap design was put at a location on the cylinder head to facilitate spray-guided spark assistance. Ignition was modeled with an L-type energy distribution to depict the breakdown and the arc-to-glow phases during the energy discharge process. Several key design parameters were investigated, including injector clocking, number of nozzle holes, spray inclusion angle, number of fuel injections, fuel split ratio, and fuel injection timings. The study emphasized the region around the spark gap, focusing on flame kernel formation and development and local equivalence ratio distribution. Flame kernel development and the ignition process were found to correlate strongly with the fuel stratification and the flow velocity near the spark gap. The analysis results showed that the flame kernel development followed the direction of the local flow field. In addition, the local fuel stratification notably influenced early-stage flame kernel development due to varying injection spray patterns and the fuel injection strategies. Among these design parameters, the number of nozzle holes and fuel injection timing had the most significant effects on the engine combustion performance. Full article

Large-Eddy Simulations (LES) of a gasoline spray, where the mixture was ignited rapidly during or after injection, were performed in comparison to a previous experimental study with quantitative flame motion and soot formation data [SAE 2020-01-0291] and an accompanying Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) simulation at the same conditions. The present study reveals major shortcomings in common RANS combustion modeling practices that are significantly improved using LES at the conditions of the study, specifically for the phenomenon of rapid ignition in the highly turbulent, stratified mixture. At different ignition timings, benchmarks for the study include spray mixing and evaporation, flame propagation after ignition, and soot formation in rich mixtures. A comparison of the simulations and the experiments showed that the LES with Dynamic Structure turbulence were able to capture correctly the liquid penetration length, and to some extent, spray collapse demonstrated in the experiments. For early and intermediate ignition timings, the LES showed excellent agreement to the measurements in terms of flame structure, extent of flame penetration, and heat-release rate. However, RANS simulations (employing the common G-equation or well-stirred reactor) showed much too rapid flame spread and heat release, with connections to the predicted turbulent kinetic energy. With confidence in the LES for predicted mixture and flame motion, the predicted soot formation/oxidation was also compared to the experiments. The soot location was well captured in the LES, but the soot mass was largely underestimated using the empirical Hiroyasu model. An analysis of the predicted fuel–air mixture was used to explain different flame propagation speeds and soot production tendencies when varying ignition timing. Full article

This study aimed to investigate the influence of flash-boiling conditions on liquid propane sprays formed by a multi-hole injector at various injection pressures. The focus was on spray structures, which were analysed qualitatively and quantitatively by means of spray-tip penetration and global spray angle. The effect of flash boiling was evaluated in terms of trends observed for subcooled conditions. Propane was injected by a commercial gasoline direct injector into a constant volume vessel filled with nitrogen at pressures from 0.1 MPa up to 6 MPa. The temperature of the injected liquid was kept constant. The evolution of the spray penetration was observed by a high-speed camera with a Schlieren set-up. The obtained results provided information on the spray evolution in both regimes, above and below the saturation pressure of the propane. Based on the experimental results, an attempt to calibrate a simulation model has been made. The main advantage of the study is that the effects of injection pressure on the formation of propane sprays were investigated for both subcooled and flash-boiling conditions. Moreover, the impact of the changing viscosity and surface tension was limited, as the temperature of the injected liquid was kept at the same level. The results showed that despite very different spray behaviours in the subcooled and flash-boiling regimes, leading to different spray structures and a spray collapse for strong flash boiling, the influence of injection pressure on propane sprays in terms of spray-tip penetration and spray angle is very similar for both conditions, subcooled and flash boiling. As for the numerical model, there were no single model settings to simulate the flashing sprays properly. Moreover, the spray collapse was not represented very well, making the simulation set-up more suitable for less superheated sprays. Full article

Modeling the fuel injection process in modern gasoline direct injection engines plays a principal role in characterizing the in–cylinder mixture formation and subsequent combustion process. Flash boiling, which usually occurs when the fuel is injected into an ambient pressure below the saturation pressure of the liquid, is characterized by fast breakup and evaporation rates but could lead to undesired behaviors such as spray collapse, which significantly effects the mixture preparation. Four mono–component fuels have been used in this study with the aim of achieving various flashing behaviors utilizing the Spray G injector from the Engine Combustion Network (ECN). The numerical framework was based on a Lagrangian approach and was first validated for the baseline G1 condition. The model was compared with experimental vapor and liquid penetrations, axial gas velocity, droplet sizes and spray morphology and was then extended to the flash boiling condition for iso–octane, n–heptane, n–hexane, and n–pentane. A good agreement was achieved for most of the fuels in terms of spray development and shape, although the computed spray morphology of pentane was not able to capture the spray collapse. Overall, the adopted methodology is promising and can be used for engine combustion modeling with conventional and alternative fuels. Full article

Port water injection (PWI) is considered one of the most promising technologies to actively control the increased knock tendency of modern gasoline direct injection (GDI) engines, which are rapidly evolving with the adoption of high compression ratios and increased brake mean effective pressure levels in the effort to improve their thermal efficiency. For PWI technology, appropriately matching the spray evolution and the intake system design along with obtaining a high spray atomization quality, are crucial tasks for promoting water evaporation so as to effectively cool down the air charge with moderate water consumption and lubricant dilution drawbacks. In the present paper, a detailed experimental analysis of a low-pressure water spray is presented, covering a lack of experimental data on automotive PWI systems. Phase doppler anemometry and fast-shutter spray imaging allowed us to investigate the influence exerted by the injection pressure level and by the water temperature on spray drop size and global shape, obtaining a complete database to be used for the optimization of PWI systems. The obtained results evidence how significant benefits in terms of atomization quality can be obtained by adopting injection pressure and water temperature levels compliant with standard low injection pressure technologies. Full article

Using carbon free energy sources is one of the keys to mitigate climate change. Hydrogen promises to be one of these carbon free energies, but its storage is difficult and expensive. Ammonia, however, is interesting as it can store hydrogen safely and can be used in combustion engines instead of hydrocarbon fuels. In this experimental work, the spray characteristics of ammonia under different air densities and temperatures were investigated in constant volume and were compared to a biofuel, ethanol, and a common fuel, gasoline. The Schlieren technique was used to capture images of liquid and liquid + vapor spray. The penetration length, the angle near the injector and the angle at half-penetration length were measured. The results show that the spray geometry of ammonia differs from that of the other fuels and that its sensitivity to air density and temperature is greater. The flash boiling condition at ambient temperature was explored for ammonia and indicated a wider spray at half-penetration length at phase change. Moreover, a semi-empirical correlation for penetration length as a function of physical parameters was found with a high accuracy for the global spray. These experimental data provide the first information about ammonia injection with a current spark-ignition GDI injector. Full article

This paper offers new insights into a partial fuel stratification (PFS) combustion strategy that has proven to be effective at stabilizing overall lean combustion in direct injection spark ignition engines. To this aim, high spatial and temporal resolution optical diagnostics were applied in an optically accessible engine working in PFS mode for two fuels and two different durations of pilot injection at the time of spark: 210 µs and 330 µs for E30 (gasoline blended with ethanol by 30% volume fraction) and gasoline, respectively. In both conditions, early injections during the intake stroke were used to generate a well-mixed lean background. The results were compared to rich, stoichiometric and lean well-mixed combustion with different spark timings. In the PFS combustion process, it was possible to detect a non-spherical and highly wrinkled blue flame, coupled with yellow diffusive flames due to the combustion of rich zones near the spark plug. The initial flame spread for both PFS cases was faster compared to any of the well-mixed cases (lean, stoichiometric and rich), suggesting that the flame propagation for PFS is enhanced by both enrichment and enhanced local turbulence caused by the pilot injection. Different spray evolutions for the two pilot injection durations were found to strongly influence the flame kernel inception and propagation. PFS with pilot durations of 210 µs and 330 µs showed some differences in terms of shapes of the flame front and in terms of extension of diffusive flames. Yet, both cases were highly repeatable. Full article

In this study, a novel injector driving circuit was developed to achieve the regulation of fuel injection quantity and to work with the engine control system in a vehicle. The main purpose of the proposed injector driving circuit is to control the quantity and timing of fuel injection within the gasoline direct injection (GDI) fuel injector system. In this paper, a mathematical state model of a high-pressure (H.P.) fuel injector system is derived and the improved Taguchi method is proposed to define the optimal operating parameter settings of a fuel injector system. The experiments on fuel injection quantity were performed to achieve the requirements of the injector driving circuit. The fuel quantity sprayed from a fuel injector system under these control parameters was analyzed by leading the design of experiments. The S/N and β slopes were analyzed to determine their optimal control settings. The H.P. injector driving circuit developed was designed to drive the fuel injector and spray the injected quantity of fuel into the flask following the optimized control factors. The experimental results demonstrate that the H.P. fuel injecting system exhibits better and more stable operating performance, to assure the accurate injection quantity for the GDI injector, and it was also realized with low cost metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) switches. Full article

Direct optical access to the combustion chamber of a gasoline direct injection (GDI) engine provides extremely valuable information about the combustion process. Experimental measurements of the geometric characteristics of the turbulent flame—such as the flame radius, flame center, flame edges and flame brush thickness—are of fundamental interest in support of the development and validation of any combustion model. To determine the macroscopic properties of sprays and flames, visualization and digital image processing techniques are typically used in controlled experimental setups like single-cylinder optical engines or closed vessels, while optical measurements on mass-production engines are more uncommon. In this paper the optical experimental setup (consisting of a high-speed camera, a laser light source and a data acquisition system) used to characterize the planar turbulent flame propagation in the cylinder of a 3.5 L GDI V6 mass-production engine, is described. The image acquisition process and the image processing that is necessary to evaluate the geometric characteristics of the propagating flame front, which are usually omitted in the referenced literature, are reported in detail to provide a useful guideline to other researchers. The results show that the step-by-step algorithm and the calculation formulae proposed allow to retrieve clear visualizations of the propagating flame front and measurements of its geometrical properties. Full article