Characterisation of multiple-injection diesel sprays at elevated pressures and temperatures

Abstract

This thesis describes work undertaken at the University of Brighton on a rapid compression machine based on a two-stroke diesel engine (Proteus) with an optical head to allow observation of the fuel spray. A long-tube, rate of injection rig was used to measure the injection rate of the fuel injection system. Quantification of cyclic variation and rate of injection were carried out for single and multiple-injection strategy. For multiple-injections, it was found that the injected mass of the first of the split was approximately 19% less than that of the single injection strategy for the same injection duration. The second split reduction was less than 4% in comparison to the single injection strategy. The transient response of the fuel injection equipment was characterised and compared with steady-state behaviour. The characteristics of the Proteus rig in terms of trapped air mass and transient incylinder temperature were investigated and quantified. The effect of in-cylinder temperature, density and pressure, as well as injection pressure on the characteristics of spray formation, for single and multi-hole nozzles were investigated using high speed video cameras. Cycle-to-cycle and hole-to-hole variations for multi-hole nozzles were investigated and attributed to uneven fuel pressure distribution round the needle seat, and subsequent cavitation phenomena. Simultaneous Planar Laser Induced Fluorescence (PLIF) and Mie scattering techniques were used to investigate spray formation and vapour propagation for multihole nozzles for single and multiple-injection strategy. The multiple injection work focused on the effect of dwell period between each injection. Two different modes of flow were identified. These are described as 'wake impingement' and 'cavity mode wake effect', resulting in increased tip velocity of the second split spray. The increase in tip velocity depended on dwell period and distance downstream of the nozzle exit. The maximum increase was calculated at 17 m/s. A spray pattern growth for the second of the split injections, the 'exceed type' was identified, resulting from an increase in tip penetration due to air entrainment of the first split and propagation into the cooler vapour phase from the first split. The effect of liquid core length near the nozzle exit was investigated using modified empirical correlations and the evolution of the discharge coefficient obtained from rate of injection measurements. The results showed increased injection pressure and increased in-cylinder gas pressure reduce both break-up length and break-up time. Penetration was modelled using conservation of mass and momentum of the injected fuel mass. The input to the numerical model was the measured transient rate of injection. The model traced the centre-of-mass of the spray and was validated against PLIF data for centre-of-mass. Overall, the same value of modelling parameters gave good agreement for single and split injection strategy.

Date of Award	2007
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Brighton
Supervisor	Cyril Crua (Supervisor)