Modern Gasoline Direct Injection Research Articles

Estimation of Piston Surface Temperature During Engine Transient Operation for Emissions Reduction

Abstract Piston surface temperature is an important factor in the reduction of harmful emissions in modern gasoline direct injection (GDI) engines. In transient operation, the piston surface temperature can change rapidly, increasing the risk of fuel puddling. The prediction of the piston surface temperature can provide the means to significantly improve multiple-pulse fuel injection control strategies through the avoidance of fuel puddling. It could also be used to intelligently control the piston cooling jet (PCJ), which is common in modern engines. Considerable research has been undertaken to identify generalized engine heat transfer correlations and to predict piston and cylinder wall surface temperatures during operation. Most of these correlations require in-cylinder combustion pressure as an input, as well as the identification of numerous model parameters. These requirements render such an approach impractical. In this study, the authors have developed a thermodynamic model of piston surface temperature based on the global energy balance (GEB) methodology, which includes the effect of PCJ activation. The advantages are a simple structure and no requirement for in-cylinder pressure data, and only limited experimental tests are needed for model parameter identification. Moreover, the proposed model works well during engine transient operation, with maximum average error of 6.68% during rapid transients. A detailed identification procedure is given. This and the model performance have been demonstrated using experimental piston crown surface temperature data from a prototype 1-liter 3-cylinder turbocharged GDI engine, operated in both engine steady-state and transient conditions with an oil jet used for piston cooling turned both on and off.

Influence of plume arrangement on spray collapsing process in lateral-cylinder-mounted gasoline injectors

Spray collapsing is a major factor that deteriorates combustion performance in gasoline direct-injection (GDI) engines. This study employed three different GDI injectors to investigate plume arrangement influence on spray dynamics. Novel optical diagnostics were applied to analyze complex spray collapse behaviors using LED-based diffusive back-illuminated extinction imaging (DBIEI) and 3D computed tomographic (CT) image reconstruction. The triangular pattern with 6 holes, commonly applied in modern GDI engines, was compared with two newly designed spray patterns: the inversed T pattern with 6 holes and the lambda pattern with 5 holes. Experimental results showed that the base triangular pattern, with plumes enclosed by other plumes, indicated significant spray collapse behavior under various conditions. The inversed T pattern, where plumes were arranged to not have a closed volume, had a robustness against collapse due to an open layout which prevents imbalance of the local pressure field that may causes collapse. The lambda pattern, which had a similar plume arrangement to the triangular pattern, except that one side of the diamond-shape closed volume is opened, also showed good robustness against collapse under most of the test conditions. This study demonstrated that spray collapse can be significantly mitigated by improved plume arrangement and provides spray patterns that can be applied to actual GDI engines with significantly improved spray robustness.

Realistic fuel spray modeling for gasoline direct injection engine applications

Fuel spray modeling plays a critical role during modern gasoline direct injection (GDI) engine development due to fuel injection’s dominant impact on engine performance and emissions as well as the complex physical processes involved. In engineering three-dimensional (3D) computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations, the liquid-phase fuel atomization, evaporation, and mixing are usually modeled with the discrete droplet model (DDM) adopting a Lagrangian approach for multiphase CFD simulations. To this end, general practices heavily depend on the reduced order characterization of the injector nozzle flow. However, such simplified injector modeling may lead to insufficient representations of the complex spray dynamics. To tackle this problem, this study proposes a novel workflow to numerically evaluate GDI sub-cooled and flash-boiling sprays under engine-relevant conditions using a side-mounted GDI injector together with real gasoline fuel properties. The workflow introduces a one-way coupling (OWC) method leveraging high-fidelity nozzle flow simulations to provide realistic boundary conditions to the Lagrangian injector model. The proposed workflow was first verified in a constant volume chamber (CVC) environment and then implemented in a practical GDI engine setup to study spray morphology, fuel-air mixing, and wall-wetting propensity. In addition, detailed comparison was performed between the OWC method and the conventional rate of injection (ROI) routine. Quantitative analysis of spray characteristics was conducted to highlight possible source of discrepancies of the conventional ROI method.

Characteristics and mechanism of spray deviation of ethanol and its blended fuel in multi-hole spray

Research on renewable fuels is crucial to render engines compliant with energy and environmental efficiency, and alcohol fuels have become hotspots in the field of modern gasoline direct injection engines. This study aims to elucidate the effects of ethanol addition on spray deviation under non-flash and flashing conditions. Macroscopic characteristics and microscopic characteristics can be obtained from Diffused Back Illumination and Phase Doppler Anemometry. The influential factors accounting for the spray deviation were examined, and internal flow simulations were also performed to obtain in-nozzle flow information. The angled momentum induced by the short L/D ratio leaves space for ambient gas ingestion into the counterbore under non-flash conditions. The entrained gas was affected by cavitation intensities, leading to the spray deviation, which was tracked by the Lagrangian particle trajectory method. The spray deviation is also affected by the formation of the low-pressure zone and droplets' migration. The higher surface tension and lower molecular weight of ethanol facilitate the spray expansion, forming the liquid barrier to draw the spray moving toward the injector center. Ethanol's high latent heat of evaporation inhibits the further reduction in droplets' radius, resulting in a persistent decrease in the relative span factor. On the other hand, the high latent heat of evaporation leads to a larger pressure drop induced by the vapor condensation, accounting for the “more powerful” abilities in drawing droplets into the jet center. The trade-off between the droplets' size and migration ability should be achieved to efficiently modulate spray deviation.

The Impact of Thermochemical Exhaust Energy Recovery Using Ethanol-Gasoline Blend on Gasoline Direct Injection Engine Performance

Thermochemical exhaust energy recovery in a modern gasoline direct injection engine is investigated using ethanol-gasoline blend (E25) and gasoline, as base fuel. The primary objectives of this research are focused on reducing carbonaceous emissions as well as improving thermal efficiency and fuel economy in combustion engines. These are consistent with the global commitment to lessen carbon emissions and meet environmental regulations and agreements.The possibility of hydrogen production through catalytic reforming of mentioned fuels using actual exhaust composition is investigated on full-scale Rh (Rhodium)—Pt (Platinum) catalysts. ANSYS-Chemkin is utilized for thermodynamic equilibrium analyses based on the Gibbs energy minimization method to explore the key reaction pathways for E25 reforming. Main reforming parameters including steam to carbon molar ratios and reforming temperatures are selected to investigate the feasibility of ethanol-gasoline blend reforming as well as to identify the reformate composition and evaluate the whole process efficiency. The results revealed that the presence of ethanol in reforming fuel mixture facilitates endothermic reactions and improves hydrogen-rich mixture, particularly at high engine load conditions where maximum heat recovery is obtained. Furthermore, E25 fuel reforming helped achieving up to 16% greater CO2 compared to gasoline fuel reforming under the same engine condition. Overall, the experimental results of full-scale reforming tests using E25 can be accredited for effective implementation of the reforming technique in practical application.

Visualization of soot formation in load transients during GDI engine warm-up

Reducing the emissions of pollutants, and particularly soot particles, from internal combustion engines is one of the greatest challenges faced by car manufacturers. Although modern gasoline direct injection (GDI) engines produce relatively low particulate emissions during steady state operation under near-stoichiometric conditions, they can produce much higher particulate emissions during transients that cause abrupt changes in load, fuel consumption, and the air-to-fuel ratio. Emissions during transients are particularly high when the engine coolant temperature is low, as occurs during engine start-up. Consequently, there is a need to find ways of reducing particulate emissions during load transients. This paper therefore investigates particulate formation during load transients in a single-cylinder GDI engine equipped with an endoscope in the cylinder head. A transient sequence was designed in which the engine load was increased from 4 bar NMEP to a maximum of 12 bar NMEP in 2 s at an engine speed of 2000 rpm. During the transients, the engine’s particulate emissions were measured in terms of particulate number (PN) and images of the combustion process inside the cylinder were captured via the endoscope using a high-speed camera to identify locations where soot formation occurred. Experiments were conducted at a range of coolant temperatures and using different injection strategies to determine how these parameters affect PN emissions. The coolant temperature was found to be the dominant factor governing PN emissions during transients. Luminescence data obtained by analyzing the flame images agreed well with the measured PN emissions during transients. Under all varied parameters in the transients except delayed injection, soot was mainly formed from wall films. For transients with delayed fuel injection, much of the piston film could be avoided but soot formation instead became mixing-dominated. Variation of the air-fuel ratio had little effect on PN emissions during transients. At all coolant temperatures, PN emissions were lowest when using a split injection strategy but delaying the injection timing increased PN emissions even though the endoscope images suggested a lower frequency of diffusion flame formation. No conditions were found under which the PN emissions during transients with low coolant temperatures could be reduced to levels comparable to those seen with warm coolant.

Numerical Analysis of GDI Flash Boiling Sprays Using Different Fuels

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.

Synergies in renewable fuels and exhaust heat thermochemical recovery in low carbon vehicles

The impact of renewable fuels on exhaust energy recovery using catalytic thermochemical process in modern gasoline direct injection is studied with main aim of reducing vehicle carbon footprints. It is proven that supplying the engine with increased calorific value reformate would be beneficial in terms of CO2 reduction and fuel economy. In this research, the influence of butanol and ethanol on heat recovery, H2 production, and reforming efficiency are analytically and experimentally studied under various key parameters, including steam to carbon molar ratio and reactor inlet temperature under lean engine operating condition. Gibbs free energy and chemical equilibrium analyses are implemented to identify the key reaction pathways in reforming of the fuels. At lower exhaust gas temperatures where the reactions are thermodynamically limited the conversion rate is mainly controlled by the steam to carbon molar ratio and reducing fuel flow rate leads to a significant increase in fuel conversion levels. Maximum calorific value was achieved by ethanol reforming at 600 °C. However, at higher temperatures and steam to carbon molar ratios, butanol generally indicates better performance in terms of engine fuel economy, energy replacement by reformate, and CO2 reduction. These advantages are attributed to higher calorific value and higher reforming process efficiency of butanol compared to ethanol. In contrast, at lower temperatures, ethanol reforming generates more H2 as a result of highly endothermic nature of butanol steam and dry reforming reactions compared to ethanol with weaker molecular bonds and higher molecular diffusivity rate which leads to efficient use of the catalyst.

Experimental Analysis of Water Pressure and Temperature Influence on Atomization and Evolution of a Port Water Injection Spray

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.

Modelling liquid film in modern GDI engines and the impact on particulate matter emissions – Part 1

This paper presents the details of a Computational Fluid Dynamics methodology to accurately model the process of mixture preparation in modern Gasoline Direct Injection engines, with particular emphasis on liquid film as one of the main causes of Particulate Matter formation. The proposed modelling protocol, centred on the Bai-Onera approach of droplets-wall interaction and on multi-component surrogate fuel blend models, is validated against relevant published data and then applied to a modern small-capacity GDI engine, featuring centrally-mounted spray-guided injection system. The work covers a range of part-load, stoichiometric and theoretically-homogeneous operating conditions, for which experimental engine data and engine-out Particle Number measurements were available. The results, based on the parametric variation of start of injection timing and injection pressure, demonstrate how both fuel mal-distribution and liquid film retained at spark timing, may contribute to PN emissions, whilst their relative importance vary depending on operating conditions and engine control strategy. Control of PN emissions and compliance with future, more stringent regulations remain large challenges for the engine industry. Renewed and disruptive approaches, which also consider the sustainability of the sector, appear to be essential. This work, developed using Siemens Simcenter CFD software as part of the Ford-led APC6 DYNAMO project, aims to contribute to the development of a reliable and cost-effective digital toolset, which supports engine development and diagnostics through a more fundamental assessment of engine operation and emissions formation.

Effect of oxidation temperature on oxidation reactivity and nanostructure of particulate matter from a China VI GDI vehicle

Modern Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI) vehicles offered higher power output, improved fuel economy and reduced CO2 emissions compared with port fuel injection (PFI) vehicles. However, the particle number emission of GDI is larger than that of PFI and also higher than diesel vehicles equipped with diesel particle filter (DPF). This research sampled particle matter (PM) emitted from a China VI vehicle over the Worldwide harmonized Light vehicles Test Cycle (WLTC). The results of particle size distribution showed that ultra-fine particles in diameter below 23 nm take up majority of particle emissions. While with the oxidation temperature rising, the peak diameter of emitted particles migrated to larger section. The effect of oxidation temperature including interlayer spacing, fractal dimension, fringe length and tortuosity have been analyzed by TEM. The value of nano structural parameters increases slightly with the temperature increasing. Besides, the impact of volatile components was considered into the micromorphology and microstructure parameters of primary particles. After eliminating volatile materials, there is no presence of hollow carbon particles and all the three parameters including interlayer spacing, fringe length and fringe tortuosity showed an overall decrease. Better understanding nano structural parameters of PM under different oxidation temperatures can provide information to explain the potential impacts of particle emissions on human health and environment and the regeneration process of gasoline particle filter (GPF).

High Temperature HCCI Critical Compression Ratio of the C1-C4 Alcohol Fuels

<div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">In this work, a high temperature (HT) homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) critical compression ratio (cCR) was defined as the compression ratio which resulted in HCCI combustion with a crank angle location of 50% fuel burned (CA50) of 3.0 degrees after top dead center (aTDC) while operating at an equivalence ratio of 0.33 (λ = 3), an intake pressure of 1.0 bar (naturally aspirated), an intake temperature of 473 K (200°C), and an engine speed of 600 rpm. Using a Cooperative Fuel Research engine, the HT HCCI cCR of seven alcohol fuels were experimentally determined and found to be ordered as follows (ordered from least reactive to most reactive): isopropanol > sec-butanol > methanol ≈ ethanol ≈ n-propanol ≈ isobutanol > n-butanol. The HT HCCI cCR for the alcohol fuels correlated well with experimental HCCI data from a modern gasoline direct injection (GDI) engine architecture with a pent-roof head and a rebreathe valvetrain. The HT HCCI cCR was also correlated with available cetane number (CN), motor octane number (MON), and research octane number (RON) values found in the literature. The coefficient of determination (R<sup>2</sup>) for these correlations was 0.02, 0.95, and 0.69, respectively. When the RON values were modified to account for the high cooling potential of the alcohol fuels, the R<sup>2</sup> increased from 0.69 to 0.96. When a wider array of other fuels were considered, including pure components of different fuel classes, pure-component fuel blends, and gasoline fuel blends, the critical compression ratio no longer correlated well with MON or HOV-modified RON. It was concluded that when fuels of a similar fuel class are considered, such as neat C1-C4 alcohols, MON or an HOV-modified RON may be sufficient to compare the HCCI reactivity of the fuels at MON-like cylinder conditions. However, due to the complex nature of the octane number tests, the HCCI ignition propensity is not well predicted by the standard octane numbers when fuels of varying chemical characteristics and combustion chemistry attributes are considered. Therefore, a metric for characterizing gasoline-like fuels under compression ignition conditions is required, such as an HCCI test method on the CFR octane rating engine.</div></div>

Experimental and numerical investigation on inner flow and spray characteristics of elliptical GDI injectors with large aspect ratio

The application of non-circular elliptical orifice is recognized to increase the fuel spray and mixing quality, which has potential ability for modern gasoline direct injection (GDI) engines. In this research work, a single-hole elliptical GDI injector with aspect ratio of 4 was adopted. Numerical simulation and experimental spray test are both introduced to study the inner flow patterns and spray characteristics. The results indicated that the cavitation is mainly distributed on the minor axial plane of the elliptical GDI injector, and the cavitation domain decreases gradually with the increase of back pressure. Additionally, the unique swallowtail-like spray structure discharging from the elliptical GDI injector with aspect ratio of 4 was captured for the first time, and the swallowtail-like spray structure only appeared on the major view plane of the elliptic spray. Moreover, the GDI elliptical spray tip branching length reduced with the increase of the back pressure, and the high back pressure can inhibit the formation of swallowtail-like spray structure. Finally, the branching angle at the spray tip increased with the increase of back pressure, because high back pressure will enhance the effect of high aerodynamic force.

Experimental and numerical study of the effects of nozzle taper angle on spray characteristics of GDI multi-hole injectors at cold condition

With today’s stringent legislative requirements, every combustion/emission contributing component must be researched and optimized in modern gasoline direct injection (GDI) engines. However, a limited amount of research on the taper angle of gasoline injector nozzles can be found. In this study, three GDI fuel injectors are investigated to study the effects of nozzle taper angle on spray characteristics. All of the injectors have the same inlet diameter, and the only difference is the nozzle taper angle. Fuel pressure was set at 200 bar and fuel temperature was at room temperature. A numerical method was used to study the internal nozzle flow, and various optical techniques were applied to investigate the spray characteristics. It was found that adjusting the nozzle taper angle didn’t induce any noticeable difference in the static flow rate, which was linear with the square root of the pressure differential across the orifice plate. As a result, the initial tip penetration was proportional to the injection timing, and nearly independent with the nozzle taper angle. For well-developed sprays, larger nozzle taper angle resulted in shorter penetration and faster breakup. Increasing the nozzle taper angle resulted in larger space between internal flow and the nozzle wall, which enhanced air entrainment into the nozzle. Consequently, flow radial velocity at the nozzle exit increased, which was beneficial to spray breakup and atomization. Larger nozzle taper angle resulted in wider fuel plume, larger plume angle, broader and shorter global spray, which increased the possibility of plume interaction. Smaller fuel drops were measured from the injectors with larger taper angle. Finally, it shows that adjusting the taper angle of the nozzle offers an additional degree of freedom when trying to optimize the spray characteristics of an injector for improved fuel atomization, engine combustion performance and emissions reduction.

Potential dual effect of anthropogenic emissions on the formation of biogenic secondary organic aerosol (BSOA)

Abstract. The fraction of gasoline direct-injection (GDI) vehicles comprising the total vehicle pool is projected to increase in the future. However, thorough knowledge about the influence of GDI engines on important atmospheric chemistry processes is missing – namely, their contribution to secondary organic aerosol (SOA) precursor emissions, contribution to SOA formation, and potential role in biogenic–anthropogenic interactions. The objectives of this study were to (1) characterize emissions from modern GDI vehicles and investigate their role in SOA formation chemistry and (2) investigate biogenic–anthropogenic interactions related to SOA formation from a mixture of GDI-vehicle emissions and a model biogenic compound, α-pinene. Specifically, we studied SOA formation from modern GDI-vehicle emissions during the constant-load driving. In this study we show that SOA formation from GDI-vehicle emissions was observed in each experiment. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) measured with the proton-transfer-reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometer (PTR-ToF-MS) could account for 19 %–42 % of total SOA mass generated in each experiment. This suggests that there were lower-volatility intermediate VOCs (IVOCs) and semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) in the GDI-vehicle exhaust that likely contributed to SOA production but were not detected with the instrumentation used in this study. This study also demonstrates that two distinct mechanisms caused by anthropogenic emissions suppress α-pinene SOA mass yield. The first suppressing effect was the presence of NOx. This mechanism is consistent with previous reports demonstrating suppression of biogenic SOA formation in the presence of anthropogenic emissions. Our results indicate a possible second suppressing effect, and we suggest that the presence of anthropogenic gas-phase species may have suppressed biogenic SOA formation by alterations to the gas-phase chemistry of α-pinene. This hypothesized change in oxidation pathways led to the formation of α-pinene oxidation products that most likely did not have vapor pressures low enough to partition into the particle phase. Overall, the presence of gasoline-vehicle exhaust caused a more than 50 % suppression in α-pinene SOA mass yield compared to the α-pinene SOA mass yield measured in the absence of any anthropogenic influence.

An experimental and numerical study of natural gas jets for direct injection internal combustion engines

Natural gas predominantly contains methane which is the cleanest burning hydrocarbon. It can be considered as the most promising alternative fuel that has the potential to replace gasoline and diesel. This is mainly due to wider availability, lower fuel price, favourable fuel properties and cleaner burning characteristics. Currently in all spark ignited CNG engines fuel is port injected that results in lower peak torque due to reduced volumetric efficiency. Direct injection can easily overcome this drawback and can match the performance levels of modern gasoline direct injection engines while emitting far less harmful pollutants. Gaseous direct injection produces highly diffusive under-expanded turbulent gaseous jets. In order to optimise mixture preparation and maximise combustion performance, the flow characteristics of gaseous jets need to be further understood and modelled. In this work, the fundamentals of gaseous flow from an outward opening direct injector is studied. Schlieren imaging is used at high spatial and temporal resolution to characterise the far-field jet growth. The nozzle in a typical outward opening direct injector has been found to produce a hollow conical jet at the beginning of injection which later collapses depending on the nozzle geometry and pressure ratio. The experimental data are used to validate a CFD model. A numerical investigation is carried out to predict the jet growth for different nozzle geometries and their effect on the jet characteristics such as mass flow rate, penetration and mixing is discussed.

Comparative Effects of Olefin Content on the Performance and Emissions of a Modern GDI Engine

The effects of different olefin contents in fuel (nominally 8.2 and 17.2% in volume) on the performance and exhaust emissions of a modern gasoline direct injection engine at speeds of 1500, 3500, a...

The influence of superheated injection on liquid and gaseous flow field of an experimental single-hole gasoline direct injection injector

In modern gasoline direct injection engines, the fuel is (partially) superheated for a significant proportion of the time during operation. This means that the vapour pressure of the fuel, or at least of many of its components, is higher than the ambient pressure inside the engine during injection. If the excess fuel enthalpy cannot be removed by evaporation at the free surface of the spray, the liquid phase boiling creates new surfaces. This phenomenon is known as flash boiling. Flash-boiling atomization produces smaller droplets and can therefore be beneficial as an additional atomization mechanism. Furthermore, it can reduce the penetration depth of a spray, although it also decreases the stability of fuel sprays. This is manifested in undesired targeting changes, that is, spray contraction due to jet-to-jet interaction. In extreme cases, a complete spray collapse can occur, where a multi-hole or hollow-cone spray contracts towards the spray axis and forms a jet-like structure that increases penetration depth. To understand the relationship between flash-boiling atomization and targeting changes, flash boiling was investigated with a single-hole generic injector without jet-to-jet interaction. In addition to macroscopic spray parameters, this study also focused on the flow field of the spray itself measured using laser Doppler anemometry, as well as the spray-induced flow field of the surrounding gas phase measured using fluorescent particle image velocimetry. The results show a strong radial expansion of the jet directly after nozzle exit, caused by internal flash boiling. It is shown that this expansion is caused by a zone of expanding fuel vapour in the centre of the spray. As a result, the displacement of air after injector opening as well as at the front of the spray is significantly increased, causing a decrease in spray front velocity and penetration depth. The stationary air entrainment, however, is only moderately increased as is the total amount of captured air, since the fuel vapour displaces air in the spray.

In-cylinder flame luminosity measured from a stratified lean gasoline direct injection engine

Abstract In-cylinder flame luminosity has been used to diagnose combustion process and the formation of soot emissions in compression-ignition engines. Increased soot particle emissions from spark-ignited gasoline direct injection (GDI) engines, especially those with stratified fuel-air mixtures, requires investigation of responsible anomalous flame behavior. In this work, spatiotemporal in-cylinder flame luminosity is reported from a lean stratified operating condition in a modern GDI engine. Significant fuel mass injected near top dead center led to detectable piston-top pool fires that have previously correlated to significant soot particle emissions. The demonstrated result shows that measuring in-cylinder flame luminosity is a viable tool for identifying soot-causing flames in GDI engines.

Impact of bio-alcohol fuels combustion on particulate matter morphology from efficient gasoline direct injection engines

The requirements for controlling particulate emissions in gasoline direct injection (GDI) engines, particularly in hybrid vehicles (where frequent cold-start event impact on both, particles characteristics and catalytic aftertreament efficiency), nesesitates the need for understanding their formation mechanism and their morphological characteristics. The findings described in this investigation have significance in the design of efficient Gasoline Particulate Filters (GPFs) and the development of computational models that predict particle filtration and oxidation processes.Morphological analysis of the particulate emissions from the combustion of commercial gasoline and two bio-alcohol blends: of 25% v/v ethanol in gasoline and 33% v/v butanol and 67% v/v gasoline, in a modern GDI engine has been carried out using a transmission electron microscopy. The primary particle size distribution from the combustion of butanol-gasoline blend was slightly smaller compared to gasoline, while the mean primary particle diameter was 3 nm smaller from the combustion of ethanol-gasoline fuel. This decrease in primary particle size for ethanol-gasoline blend was also reflected in a reduction of the mean radius of gyration and mean number of primary particles per agglomerate.The combustion of butanol-gasoline blend induced improved particle oxidation rates during the combustion process and post-oxidation stage, and led in 80% and 60% reduction in particle concentration in the engine exhaust when compared to the combustion of gasoline and ethanol-gasoline blend, respectively. Additionally, the estimation of the particle fractal dimension through the use of fractal equation, minimum bonding rectangle method and root form factor showed comparable results for butanol-gasoline and gasoline, with the particle agglomerates being more compact than the ethanol-gasoline fuel, where more chain like particles are seen. Therefore, particles emitted from the combustion of ethanol-gasoline fuel are easier to be trapped (lower fractal dimension) and present a higher reactivity (high surface/volume ratio) compared to particles emitted from gasoline combustion.