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Knowledge of fuel mass injected in an individual cycle is important for engine performance and modelling. Currently direct measurements of fuel flow to individual cylinders of an engine are not possible on-engine or in real-time due to a lack of available appropriate measurement techniques. The objective of this work was to undertake real-time Coriolis fuel flow measurement using GDI injectors on a rig observing fuel mass flow rate within individual fuel injections. This paper evaluates the potential of this technology - combining Coriolis Flow Meters (CFMs) with Prism signal processing together known as Fast Next Generation Coriolis (Fast NGC), and serves as a basis for future transitions on-engine applications. A rig-based feasibility study has been undertaken injecting gasoline through a GDI injector at 150 bar in both single shot mode and at a simulated engine speeds of 1788 and 2978 rpm. The results show that these injections can, in principle, be observed.

For efficiency, the majority of modern diesel engines implement multiple injection strategies, increasing the frequency of transient injection phases and thus, end of injection (EOI) events. Recent advances in diagnostic techniques have identified several EOI phenomena pertinent to nozzle surface wetting as a precursor for deposit formation and a potential contributor towards pollutant emissions. To investigate the underlying processes, highspeed optical measurements at the microscopic scale were performed inside a motored diesel engine under low load/idling conditions. Visualisation of the injector nozzle surface and near nozzle region permitted an indepth analysis of the post-injection phenomena and the behaviour of fuel films on the nozzle surface when the engine is not fired. Inspection of the high-speed video data enabled an interpretation of the fluid dynamics leading to surface wetting, elucidating the mechanisms of deposition and spreading.

Rail pressures of modern diesel fuel injection systems have increased significantly over recent years, greatly improving atomisation of the main fuel injection event and air utilisation of the combustion process. Continued improvement in controlling the process of introducing fuel into the cylinder has led to focussing on fluid phenomena related to transient response. High-speed microscopy has been employed to visualise the detailed fluid dynamics around the near nozzle region of an automotive diesel fuel injector, during the opening, closing and post injection events. Complementary computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations have been undertaken to elucidate the interaction of the liquid and gas phases during these highly transient events, including an assessment of close-coupled injections.

An unmodified, conventionally fuelled, 2009 Class D vehicle with a 2.0L turbocharged gasoline direct injection engine was operated on a range of gasoline, gasoline-ethanol and gasoline-butanol fuel blends over NEDC drive cycles and WOT power curves on a chassis dynamometer. Engine performance, engine management system parameters and vehicle out emissions were recorded to investigate the response of a current state-of-the-art technology vehicle to various alcohol fuel blends. The vehicle fired on all fuels and was capable of adapting its long term fuelling trim to cope with the increased fuel flow demand for alcohol fuels up to E85. Over the NEDC tests, the volumetric fuel consumption was very strongly related to the calorific content of the fuel. CO and NOx emissions were largely unaffected for the mid alcohol blends, but CO emissions decreased and NOx emissions increased significantly for the high alcohol fuels. THC emissions were largely unaffected.

The formation and breakup of diesel sprays was investigated experimentally on a common rail diesel injector using a long range microscope. The objectives were to further the fundamental understanding of the processes involved in the initial stage of diesel spray formation. Tests were conducted at atmospheric conditions and on a rapid compression machine with motored in-cylinder peak pressures up to 8 MPa, and injection pressures up to 160 MPa. The light source and long range imaging optics were optimized to produce blur-free shadowgraphic images of sprays with a resolution of 0.6 μm per pixel, and a viewing region of 768x614 μm. Such fine spatial and temporal resolutions allowed the observation of previously unreported shearing instabilities and stagnation point on the tip of diesel jets.

This work was concerned with evaluation of the performance and emissions of potential future biofuels during advanced spark ignition engine operation. The fuels prepared included three variants of gasoline, three gasoline-ethanol blends and a gasoline-butanol fuel altogether covering a range of oxygen mass concentrations and octane numbers to identify key influencing parameters. The combustion of the fuels was evaluated in a turbocharged multi-cylinder direct fuel injection research engine equipped with a standard three-way catalyst and an external EGR circuit that allowed use of either cooled or non-cooled EGR. The engine operating effects studied at both part and boosted high load conditions included fuel injection timing and pressure, excess air tolerance, EGR tolerance and spark retard limits. A number of blends were also mapped at suitable sites across the European drive cycle under downsized engine conditions.