A comprehensive evaluation of water injection in the diesel engine

Abstract

Due to increasing climate awareness and the introduction of much stricter exhaust emission legislation the internal combustion engine technology faces major challenges. Although the development and state of technology of internal combustion engines generally reached a very high level over the last years those need to be improved even more. Combining water injection with a diesel engine, therefore, seems to be the next logical step in developing a highly efficient drive train for future mobility. To investigate these potentials, a comprehensive evaluation of water injection on the diesel engine was carried out. This study covers >560 individual operating points on the test bench. The tests were carried out on a single-cylinder derived from a Euro 6d four-cylinder passenger car with the port water injection. Furthermore, a detailed pressure trace analysis (PTA) was performed to evaluate various aspects regarding combustion, emission, etc. The results show no significant effects of water injection on the combustion process, but great potential for NOx reduction. It has been shown that with the use of water injection at water-to-fuel rates of 25%, 50%, and 100%, NOx reduction without deterioration of soot levels can be achieved in 62%, 40%, and 20% of the experiments, respectively. Furthermore, water injection in combination with EGR offers additional reduction in NOx emissions.