Publications

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This project was funded through the Campus Executive Fellowship at University of California (UC) Berkeley, and had two principal aims. First, it sought to explore predictive tools for estimating fuel properties based on molecular structure, with the goal of identifying promising candidates for new fuels to be synthesized. Second, it sought to investigate the possibility of increasing engine efficiency by substituting air for a working fluid with higher efficiency potential employed in a closed loop, namely a mixture of argon and oxygen. In pursuing the predictive tool for novel fuels, a new model was built that proved to be highly predictive of autoignition characteristics for a wide variety of hydrocarbons, esters, ethers and alcohols, and reasonably predictive for furan and tetrahydrofuran compounds, the target class of novel fuels. Obtaining more “training data” for the model improved its predictive capabilities, and further reductions in the uncertainty of the predictions would be possible with more training data. In investigating the concept of a closed-loop engine cycle using an argon-oxygen working fluid, substantial progress was made. Initial engineering models were built showing the feasibility of the concept; numerous collaborations were formed with industry and academic partners; external funding was secured from the California Energy Commission (CEC) to build a dedicated engine platform for research; and this engine platform was designed and constructed. Experimental work and associated modeling studies will take place in late 2016 and early 2017.

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This work explores the mechanisms by which a post injection can reduce unburned hydrocarbon (UHC) emissions in heavy-duty diesel engines operating at low-temperature combustion conditions. Post injections, small, close-coupled injections of fuel after the main injection, have been shown to reduce UHC in the authors’ previous work. In this work, we analyze optical data from laser-induced fluorescence of both CH₂O and OH and use chemical reactor modeling to better understand the mechanism by which post injections reduce UHC emissions. The results indicate that post-injection efficacy, or the extent to which a post injection reduces UHC emissions, is a strong function of the cylinder pressure variation during the post injection. However, the data and analysis indicate that the pressure and temperature rise from the post injection combustion cannot solely explain the UHC reduction measured by both engine-out and optical diagnostics. In conclusion, the fluid-mechanic, thermal, and chemical interaction of the post injection with the main-injection mixture is a key part of UHC reduction; the starting action of the post jet and the subsequent entrainment of surrounding gases are likely both important processes in reducing UHC with a post injection.

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We investigated the combustion process in a dual-fuel, reactivity-controlled compression-ignition (RCCI) engine using a combination of optical diagnostics and chemical kinetics modeling to explain the role of equivalence ratio, temperature, and fuel reactivity stratification for heat-release rate control. An optically accessible engine is operated in the RCCI combustion mode using gasoline primary reference fuels (PRF). A well-mixed charge of iso-octane (PRF = 100) is created by injecting fuel into the engine cylinder during the intake stroke using a gasoline-type direct injector. Later in the cycle, n-heptane (PRF = 0) is delivered through a centrally mounted diesel-type common-rail injector. This injection strategy generates stratification in equivalence ratio, fuel blend, and temperature. The first part of this study uses a high-speed camera to image the injection events and record high-temperature combustion chemiluminescence. Moreover, the chemiluminescence imaging showed that, at the operating condition studied in the present work, mixtures in the squish region ignite first, and the reaction zone proceeds inward toward the center of the combustion chamber. The second part of this study investigates the charge preparation of the RCCI strategy using planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) of a fuel tracer under non-reacting conditions to quantify fuel concentration distributions prior to ignition. The fuel-tracer PLIF data show that the combustion event proceeds down gradients in the n-heptane distribution. The third part of the study uses chemical kinetics modeling over a range of mixtures spanning the distributions observed from the fuel-tracer fluorescence imaging to isolate the roles of temperature, equivalence ratio, and PRF number stratification. The simulations predict that PRF number stratification is the dominant factor controlling the ignition location and growth rate of the reaction zone. Equivalence ratio has a smaller, but still significant, influence. Lastly, temperature stratification had a negligible influence due to the NTC behavior of the PRF mixtures.

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The growth of poly-cyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) soot precursors are observed using a two-laser technique combining laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) of PAH with laser-induced incandescence (LII) of soot in a diesel engine under low-temperature combustion (LTC) conditions. The broad mixture distributions and slowed chemical kinetics of LTC "stretch out" soot-formation processes in both space and time, thereby facilitating their study. Imaging PAH-LIF from pulsed-laser excitation at three discrete wavelengths (266, 532, and 633 nm) reveals the temporal growth of PAH molecules, while soot-LII from a 1064-nm pulsed laser indicates inception to soot. The distribution of PAH-LIF also grows spatially within the combustion chamber before soot-LII is first detected. The PAH-LIF signals have broad spectra, much like LII, but typically with spectral profile that is inconsistent with laser-heated soot. Quantitative natural-emission spectroscopy also shows a broad emission spectrum, presumably from PAH chemiluminescence, temporally coinciding with of the PAH-LIF.

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Post injections have been shown to reduce engine-out soot emissions in a variety of engine architectures and at a range of operating points. In this study, measurements of the engine-out soot from a heavy-duty optical diesel engine have conclusively shown that interaction between the post-injection jet and soot from the main injection must be, at least in part, responsible for the reduction in engine-out soot. Extensive measurements of the spatial and temporal evolution of soot using high-speed imaging of soot natural luminosity (soot-NL) and planar-laser induced incandescence of soot (soot-PLII) at four vertical elevations in the piston bowl at a range of crank angle timings provide definitive optical evidence of these interactions. The soot-PLII images provide some of the most conclusive evidence to date that the addition of a post injection dramatically changes the topology and quantity of in-cylinder soot. As the post jet penetrates toward the bowl wall, it carves out regions from the main-injection soot structures, either through displacement of the soot or through rapid and progressive oxidation of the soot. Later in the cycle, the regions of main-injection soot on either side of the jet centerline, clearly present in the main-injection-only case, have all but disappeared when the post-injection is added - only the soot in the post-injection pathway remains. Evidence of this apparent late-cycle oxidation of main-injection soot appears in both the soot-PLII and soot-NL images, providing substantial support for the mixing mechanism of soot reduction with post injections. Implications of these findings and future work are also discussed. © 2014 SAE International.

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To provide a better understanding of the fluid mechanical mechanisms governing entrainment in decelerating jets, we performed a large eddy simulation (LES) of a transient air jet. The ensemble-averaged LES calculations agree well with the available measurements of centerline velocity, and they reveal a region of increased entrainment that grows as it propagates downstream during deceleration. Within the temporal and spatial domains of the simulation, entrainment during deceleration temporarily increases by roughly a factor of two over that of the quasi-steady jet, and thereafter decays to a level lower than the quasi-steady jet. The LES results also provide large-structure flow details that lend insight into the effects of deceleration on entrainment. The simulations show greater growth and separation of large vortical structures during deceleration. Ambient fluid is engulfed into the gaps between the large-scale structures, causing large-scale indentations in the scalar jet boundary. The changes in the growth and separation of large structures during deceleration are attributed to changes in the production and convection of vorticity. Both the absolute and normalized scalar dissipation rates decrease during deceleration, implying that changes in small-scale mixing during deceleration do not play an important role in the increased entrainment. Hence, the simulations predict that entrainment in combustion devices may be controlled by manipulating the fuel-jet boundary conditions, which affect structures at large scales much more than at small scales. © 2012 American Institute of Physics.

Post-injection strategies aimed at reducing engine-out emissions of unburned hydrocarbons (UHC) were investigated in an optical heavy-duty diesel engine operating at a low-load, low-temperature combustion (LTC) condition with high dilution (12.7% intake oxygen) where UHC emissions are problematic. Exhaust gas measurements showed that a carefully selected post injection reduced engine-out load-specific UHC emissions by 20% compared to operation with a single injection in the same load range. High-speed in-cylinder chemiluminescence imaging revealed that without a post injection, most of the chemiluminescence emission occurs close to the bowl wall, with no significant chemiluminescence signal within 27 mm of the injector. Previous studies have shown that over-leaning in this near-injector region after the end of injection causes the local equivalence ratio to fall below the ignitability limit. With a carefully selected post-injection, mixtures close to the injector show significant chemiluminescence emission, indicating more complete combustion of those regions, likely due to increased local equivalence ratios. Simultaneous planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) of OH with 284-nm excitation and PLIF of combined formaldehyde and poly aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) with 355-nm excitation were employed to identify the regions of first- and second-stage ignition, as well as providing some indication of local equivalence ratios. The laser diagnostics show that without a post injection, regions close to the injector show formaldehyde fluorescence late in the cycle without detectable OH fluorescence, indicating that these regions do not achieve second-stage ignition, and therefore likely contribute to UHC emissions. Persistence of formaldehyde fluorescence late in the cycle is also consistent with fuel-lean mixtures. With a carefully selected post injection, strong OH fluorescence appears in the near-injector regions, indicating that they are likely enriched by the post-injection such that they reach second-stage ignition and more complete oxidation. The reduction observed in the exhaust UHC emission is therefore attributed to the enrichment mechanism of the near-injector regions by the close-coupled post-injection. © 2011 SAE International.

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Diesel injection parameters effect on liquid-phase diesel spray penetration after the end-of-injection (EOI) is investigated in a constant-volume chamber over a range of ambient and injector conditions typical of a diesel engine. Our past work showed that the maximum liquid penetration length of a diesel spray may recede towards the injector after EOI at some conditions. Analysis employing a transient jet entrainment model showed that increased fuel-ambient mixing occurs during the fuel-injection-rate ramp-down as increased ambient-entrainment rates progress downstream (i.e. the entrainment wave), permitting complete fuel vaporization at distances closer to the injector than the quasi-steady liquid length. To clarify the liquid-length recession process, in this study we report Mie-scatter imaging results near EOI over a range of injection pressure, nozzle size, fuel type, and rate-of-injection shape. We then use a transient jet entrainment model for detailed analysis. Results show that an increased injection pressure correlates well with increasing liquid length recession due to an increased entrainment wave speed. Likewise, an increased nozzle size, with higher jet momentum and faster entrainment wave, enhances the liquid length recession. A low-density, high-volatility fuel does not decrease the strength of the entrainment wave; however, it decreases the steady liquid length causing the entrainment wave to reach the liquid spray tip earlier, which ultimately results in faster liquid length recession. A slow ramp down in injection rate causes a weaker entrainment wave so that the liquid length recession occurs even prior to injector close.

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A late-injection, high exhaust-gas recirculation rate, low-temperature combustion strategy is investigated in a heavy-duty diesel engine using a suite of optical diagnostics: chemiluminescence for visualization of ignition and combustion, laser Mie scattering for liquid-fuel imaging, planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) for both OH and vaporfuel imagings, and laser-induced incandescence for soot imaging. Fuel is injected at top dead center when the in-cylinder gases are hot and dense. Consequently, the maximum liquid-fuel penetration is 27 mm, which is short enough to avoid wall impingement. The cool flame starts 4.5 crank angle degrees (CAD) after the start of injection (ASI), midway between the injector and bowl rim, and likely helps fuel to vaporize. Within a few CAD, the cool-flame combustion reaches the bowl rim. A large premixed combustion occurs near 9 CAD ASI, close to the bowl rim. Soot is visible shortly afterward, along the walls, typically between two adjacent jets. OH PLIF indicates that premixed combustion first occurs within the jet and then spreads along the bowl rim in a thin layer, surrounding soot pockets at the start of the mixing-controlled combustion phase near 17 CAD ASI. During the mixing-controlled phase, soot is not fully oxidized and is still present near the bowl rim late in the cycle. At the end of combustion near 27 CAD ASI, averaged PLIF images indicate two separate zones. OH PLIF appears near the bowl rim, while broad-band PLIF persists late in the cycle near the injector. The most likely source of broad-band PLIF is unburned fuel, which indicates that the near-injector region is a potential source of unburned hydrocarbons. Copyright © 2008 by ASME.

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