Flame Lift-Off in DI Diesel Sprays: Impact on Soot Formation

Dennis L. Siebers and Brian S. Higgins Sandia National Laboratories Diesel Engine Emission Reduction Workshop San Diego, CA August 20-24, 2000

Sponsors: DOE/OHVT & OAAT Program Managers: Gurpreet Singh & Kathi Epping

Investigate the effects of engine conditions on the evolution of soot in a diesel spray.
l

How does our current understanding of diesel combustion change over a wide range of injector and in-cylinder conditions (including EGR)?

Critical to the development of models and to the optimization of in-cylinder combustion.

Soot

Our initial research is focused on determining the flame lift-off length.

Determines the amount of fuel-air premixing prior to combustion Emissions formation affected

Soot

premixing and structural changes

Lift-off Length
l

Common for DI diesel sprays

small orifices and high injection pressure

l

Database

model validation framework for soot measurements

Research is being conducted in the Diesel Combustion Simulation Facility.

Complete optical access 108 mm cube Ambient gas pressure: density: temperature: composition: 2 - 35 MPa 4 - 60 kg/m3 600 - 1400 K inert, EGR, air, O2 enriched

Common rail injector

Experimental setup.
Combustion Vessel Photodiode

Fuel Injector

Natural light emission at 310 nm: OH chemiluminescence a significant component Fuels:

ICCD Camera

UV Mirror Bandpass filter 310 nm (10 nm FWHM)

DF2 low-sooting heptane

Lift-off length definition.

Soot

Based on time-averaged light Lift-off Length = 22.0 mm emission at 310 nm.

l

Lift-off Camera gate = 30 s Length

l

Lift-off length defined as the farthest upstream location with a light intensity greater than 8% of full scale (0-255).

Time-averaged line-of-sight images of 310 nm light emission (3 ms camera gate).

l

DF2, d=246 m, Pinj=140 MPa, Density=14.8 kg/m3

Ta = 800 K

1000 K

850 K

1100 K

900 K

1200 K

Effects of in-cylinder conditions and orifice diameter on lift-off length.

80 70

14.8 kg/m3 7.3 kg/m 3

d [m]
246 180 100

Lift-off length [mm]

60 50 40

30.0 kg/m3
30 20 10 0 700 800 900 1000 1100 1200 1300 1400

Ambient-gas temperature [K]

Lift-off length depends linearly on injection velocity.

40

d [m]
246 180 100

Lift-off length [mm]

30

l l

20

Fuel: DF2 Gas density: 14.8 kg/m3 Gas temp: 1000 K

~ 190 MPa
10

~ 40 MPa
0 200

300

400

500

600

700

800

Injection velocity [m/s]

The quantity of fuel and air premixed prior to combustion is affected by lift-off.
l

DF2, Temperature = 1000 K, Density=14.8 kg/m3

40

Lift-off [mm] or st[%]

30

Soot

Lift-off Length
20
2 10 x st (%) = 1 + 16 + 1 3 s

10

Lift-off

st

d [m] 246 180 100

0 200

s+ =
800

300

400

500

600

700

d f tan

Injection velocity [m/s]

The relationship between fuel vaporization and combustion is affected by Pinj and d.
l

DF2, Temperature=1000 K, Density=14.8 kg/m3

40

Lift-off or Liquid length [mm]

30 Soot 20 10

Lift-off

Liquid

d [m] 246 180 100

0 200

300

400

500

600

700

800

Injection velocity [m/s]

Lift-off Length

Diesel combustion is evolving in response to changes in T, , Pinj, d, etc.

Liquid fuel droplets Vapor fuel/air mixture Premixed combustion Diffusion flame Soot formation/growth Combustion products

Liquid length Lift-off length

st = st =

15%

st =

20%

9% 140 MPa 250 m 140 MPa 180 m

35 MPa 250 m

. mf

4 P

. . 2 mf

d/ 2

. mf

Soot incandescence as a function of liftoff length.

8
d [ m]

Soot incandescence (a.u.)

6 4 2 0

100 180 246

Soot

Decreasing ambient temperature

-2 0

20 40 60 Lift-off length [mm]

80

Lift-off Length

Soot incandescence approaches zero as approaches two at the lift-off length.

8
d [ m]

Soot incandescence (a.u.)

6 4 2 0

100 180 246

30
x 1 + 16 + s
2

s+ =

d f tan

Decreasing ambient temperature

-2 10 8 6 4 2 0 Equivalence ratio at the lift-off length -

Comparison of predicted soot precursor and soot incandescence trends.

8
d [ m]

Soot incandescence

6 4 2 0 -2 0 1

100 180 246

O/C Atomic Ratio

(Flynn, et al., SAE 1999-01-0509)

Summary (initial results).

l

Engine load conditions (gas temperature and density) and injection parameters (orifice diameter and injection pressure) strongly affect lift-off: resulting in structural changes in diesel combustion. Historically, changes made to meet emissions regulations have contributed to a systematic evolution of diesel combustion processes. How do these changes affect soot formation? What about parameter ranges not considered yet ?