Publications

Light- and Medium-Duty Diesel Combustion (Sandia)

Busch, Stephen B.

Diesel engines remain a cost-effective, efficient, powerful propulsion source for many light- and medium-duty vehicle applications. Modest efficiency improvements in these engines can eliminate millions of tons of CO₂ emissions per year, but these improvements will require improved understanding of how diesel combustion chamber geometry influences mixture preparation, combustion, and pollutant formation processes. The research focus for this performance period is to provide insight into spray-wall interactions in stepped-lip combustion chambers. These interactions are believed to promote the formation of recirculating flow structures that improve thermal efficiency and reduce soot emissions, but these benefits are only fully realized for late main injection timings. A detailed mechanistic understanding of these processes can lead to cleaner, more efficient combustion chamber designs. This project will provide scientific understanding needed to design, optimize, and calibrate the next generations of light- and medium-duty diesel engines that comply with increasingly stringent pollutant emission regulations while achieving thermal efficiencies approaching 50%.