Publications

Abstract not provided.

Shadowgraph/schlieren imaging techniques have often been used for flow visualization of reacting and non-reacting systems. In this paper we show that high-speed shadowgraph visualization in a high-pressure chamber can also be used to identify cool-flame and high-temperature combustion regions of diesel sprays, thereby providing insight into the time sequence of diesel ignition and combustion. When coupled to simultaneous high-speed Mie-scatter imaging, chemiluminescence imaging, pressure measurement, and spatially-integrated jet luminosity measurements by photodiode, the shadowgraph visualization provides further information about spray penetration after vaporization, spatial location of ignition and high-temperature combustion, and inactive combustion regions where problematic unburned hydrocarbons exist. Examples of the joint application of high-speed diagnostics include transient non-reacting and reacting injections, as well as multiple injections. Shadowgraph and schlieren image processing steps required to account for variations of refractive index within the high-temperature combustion vessel gases are also shown.

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.

Abstract not provided.

Abstract not provided.

The United States produces only about 1/3 of the more than 20 million barrels of petroleum that it consumes daily. Oil imports into the country are roughly equivalent to the amount consumed in the transportation sector. Hence the nation in general, and the transportation sector in particular, is vulnerable to supply disruptions and price shocks. The situation is anticipated to worsen as the competition for limited global supplies increases and oil-rich nations become increasingly willing to manipulate the markets for this resource as a means to achieve political ends. The goal of this project was the development and improvement of technologies and the knowledge base necessary to produce and qualify a universal fuel from diverse feedstocks readily available in North America and elsewhere (e.g. petroleum, natural gas, coal, biomass) as a prudent and positive step towards mitigating this vulnerability. Three major focus areas, feedstock transformation, fuel formulation, and fuel characterization, were identified and each was addressed. The specific activities summarized herein were identified in consultation with industry to set the stage for collaboration. Two activities were undertaken in the area of feedstock transformation. The first activity focused on understanding the chemistry and operation of autothermal reforming, with an emphasis on understanding, and therefore preventing, soot formation. The second activity was focused on improving the economics of oxygen production, particularly for smaller operations, by integrating membrane separations with pressure swing adsorption. In the fuel formulation area, the chemistry of converting small molecules readily produced from syngas directly to fuels was examined. Consistent with the advice from industry, this activity avoided working on improving known approaches, giving it an exploratory flavor. Finally, the fuel characterization task focused on providing a direct and quantifiable comparison of diesel fuel and JP-8.

Experiments were conducted in an optically accessible constant-volume combustion vessel to investigate soot formation at diesel combustion conditions - in a high exhaust-gas recirculation (EGR) environment. The ambient oxygen concentration was decreased systematically from 21% to 8% to simulate a wide range of EGR conditions. Quantitative measurements of in-situ soot in quasi-steady n-heptane and No.2 diesel fuel jets were made by using laser extinction and planar laser-induced incandescence (PLII) measurements. Flame lift-off length measurements were also made in support of the soot measurements. At constant ambient temperature, results show that the equivalence ratio estimated at the lift-off length does not vary with the use of EGR, implying an equal amount of fuel-air mixing prior to combustion. Soot measurements show that the soot volume fraction decreases with increasing EGR. The regions of soot formation are effectively 'stretched out' to longer axial and radial distances from the injector with increasing EGR, according to the dilution in ambient oxygen. However, the axial soot distribution and location of maximum soot collapses if plotted in terms of a 'flame coordinate', where the relative fuel-oxygen mixture is equivalent. The total soot in the jet cross-section at the maximum axial soot location initially increases and then decreases to zero as the oxygen concentration decreases from 21% to 8%. The trend is caused by competition between soot formation rates and increasing residence time. Soot formation rates decrease with decreasing oxygen concentration because of the lower combustion temperatures. At the same time, the residence time for soot formation increases, allowing more time for accumulation of soot. Increasing the ambient temperature above nominal diesel engine conditions leads to a rapid increase in soot for high-EGR conditions when compared to conditions with no EGR. This result emphasizes the importance of EGR cooling and its beneficial effect on mitigating soot formation. The effect of EGR is consistent for different fuels but soot levels depend on the sooting propensity of the fuel. Specifically, No.2 diesel fuel produces soot levels more than ten times higher than those of n-heptane.

The reaction zone of a diesel fuel jet stabilizes at a location downstream of the fuel injector once the initial autoignition phase is over. This distance is referred to as flame lift-off length. Recent investigations have examined the effects of a wide range of parameters (injection pressure, orifice diameter, and ambient gas temperature, density and oxygen concentration) on lift-off length under quiescent diesel conditions. Many of the experimental trends in lift-off length were in agreement with scaling laws developed for turbulent, premixed flame propagation in gas-jet lifted flames at atmospheric conditions. However, several effects did not correlate with the gas-jet scaling laws, suggesting that other mechanisms could be important to lift-off stabilization at diesel conditions. This paper shows experimental evidence that ignition processes affect diesel lift-off stabilization. Experiments were performed in the same optically-accessible combustion vessel as the previous lift-off research. The experimental results show that the ignition quality of a fuel affects lift-off. Fuels with shorter ignition delays generally produce shorter lift-off lengths. In addition, a cool flame is found upstream of, or near the same axial location as, the quasi-steady lift-off length, indicating that first-stage ignition processes affect lift-off. High-speed chemiluminescence imaging also shows that high-temperature self-ignition occasionally occurs in kernels that are upstream of, and detached from, the high-temperature reaction zone downstream, suggesting that the lift-off stabilization is not by flame propagation into upstream reactants in this instance. Finally, analysis of the previous lift-off length database shows that the time-scale for jet mixing from injector-tip orifice to lift-off length collapses to an Arrhenius-type expression, a common method for describing ignition delay in diesel sprays. This Arrhenius-based lift-off length correlation shows comparable accuracy as a previous power-law fit of the No.2 diesel lift-off length database.

The effects of wall interaction on combustion and soot formation processes of a diesel fuel jet were investigated in an optically-accessible constant-volume combustion vessel at experimental conditions typical of a diesel engine. At identical ambient and injector conditions, soot processes were studied in free jets, plane wall jets, and 'confined' wall jets (a box-shaped geometry simulating secondary interaction with adjacent walls and jets in an engine). The investigation showed that soot levels are significantly lower in a plane wall jet compared to a free jet. At some operating conditions, sooting free jets become soot-free as plane wall jets. Possible mechanisms to explain the reduced or delayed soot formation upon wall interaction include an increased fuel-air mixing rate and a wall-jet-cooling effect. However, in a confined-jet configuration, there is an opposite trend in soot formation. Jet confinement causes combustion gases to be redirected towards the incoming jet, causing the lift-off length to shorten and soot to increase. This effect can be avoided by ending fuel injection prior to the time of significant interaction with redirected combustion gases. For a fixed confined-wall geometry, an increase in ambient gas density delays jet interaction, allowing longer injection durations with no increase in soot. Jet interaction with redirected combustion products may also be avoided using reduced ambient oxygen concentration because of an increased ignition delay. Although simplified geometries were employed, the identification of important mechanisms affecting soot formation after the time of wall interaction is expected to be useful for understanding these processes in more complex and realistic diesel engine geometries.

Laser-extinction diagnostics can provide spatially and temporally resolved measurements of attenuation from combustion-generated soot within the path of the beam. When laser-extinction techniques are utilized in high-pressure combustion environments, however, a number of complications may be encountered that are not present in low-pressure environments. Several of these experimental difficulties were investigated in diesel engine environments, and solutions that facilitated acquisition of reliable laser-extinction data were demonstrated. Beam steering due to refractive index gradients within the combusting gases was observed, and a full-angle beam divergence of over 100 mrad was measured. A spatial-filtering scheme was employed to reduce the collection of forward-scattered light and background combustion luminosity while ensuring full collection of the steered beam. To further reject combustion luminosity, a narrow-bandpass laser-line filter was employed, after diffusing the transmitted light sufficiently to avoid the effects of significant spatial non-uniformities of the filter. As the windows were subjected to thermal and mechanical stresses, dynamic etaloning effects due to the photoelastic properties of synthetic fused silica were observed. Dynamic changes in the polarization of the exit beam were also observed, as stress-induced birefringence in the windows caused dynamic phase retardation of the transmitted beam. Although these photoelastic effects could not be eliminated, they were mitigated by introducing curvature to the wavefronts in the laser-extinction beam and using polarization-insensitive elements in the detection optics. Soot deposits on window surfaces were removed ablatively using a coaxial, high-energy, pulsed Nd:YAG laser beam.