Publications
Effect of EGR on diesel premixed-burn equivalence ratio
Idicheria, Cherian I.; Pickett, Lyle M.
The effect of exhaust-gas recirculation (EGR) on the equivalence ratio of premixed-burn mixture in diesel combustion was investigated experimentally. The ambient oxygen concentration was systematically decreased from 21% to 10% in a constant-volume combustion vessel to simulate EGR effects in engines. Pressure measurements and time-resolved imaging of high-temperature chemiluminescence were used to characterize the temporal and spatial ignition and premixed burn characteristics of n-heptane diesel jets. With increasing EGR, ignition delay increases and the location of premixed burn occurs further down-stream from the nozzle. Subsequent to first ignition, high temperature reactions stabilize at a quasi-steady lift-off length, showing that lift-off is a bounding parameter for determining premixed-burn region. The equivalence ratio of the fuel-ambient mixture in the premixed-burn region was measured using planar laser Rayleigh scattering. Fuel-oxygen mass distribution functions show that more mass is mixed into the premixed-burn region with increasing EGR, but the equivalence ratio of this mixture is the same. The study shows that an increasing ignition delay with increasing EGR does not necessarily decrease the equivalence ratio as would be desired for reducing soot formation in low-temperature combustion engines. However, measures to improve fuel-ambient mixing, such as shortened injection durations coupled to long ignition delay, could decrease equivalence ratio.