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Diesel burners have been used to regenerate diesel particulate filters (DPF) because of their simplicity in engine torque control and less oil dilution by fuel compared with the commonly used in-cylinder post fuel injection method. We previously developed a novel diesel burner using rotating plasma as an ignition source and found it to be effective in DPF regeneration. Here, we carry out in-depth studies on combustion efficiency of this plasma-ignited diesel burner and investigate the effects of influential factors such as plasma power, the amount of fresh air supplied, and O2 concentration in the exhaust gas on combustion characteristics of the burner. The obtained results show that fresh air supplied to the burner plays an important role in ignition and the early stage of combustion, and O2 concentration in the exhaust gas is identified as the most dominant factor for combustion efficiency.

Owing to the presence of oxygen atoms in biodiesel, the use of this fuel in compression ignition (CI) engines has the advantage of reducing engine-out harmful emissions. In this context, biodiesel fuel can also be used to extend the low temperature combustion (LTC) regime because it inherently suppresses soot formation within the combustion chamber. Therefore, in this study, LTC characteristics of biodiesel were investigated in a single cylinder CI engine; the engine performance and emission characteristics with biodiesel and conventional petro-diesel fuels were evaluated and compared. A modulated kinetics (MK)-like approach was employed to realize LTC operation. The engine test results showed that LTC operation was achieved by retardation of the fuel injection timing. The results also showed that using biodiesel reduced smoke, THC, and CO emissions but increased NOx emissions.

A low temperature combustion (LTC) diesel engine has been under investigation for reduction of NOx and soot with acceptable compromise in the efficiency through modification of the combustion process. In this paper computational simulation is performed as a preliminary step for development of an LTC diesel engine for off-highway construction vehicles. Validation is performed for major physical models against measurements in LTC conditions. The conditional moment closure (CMC) is employed to address coupling between chemistry and turbulence in KIVA-CMC. The Kelvin-Helmholtz/Rayleigh-Taylor (KH-RT) model is employed for spray breakup and a skeletal n-heptane mechanism for both low and high temperature chemistry. Parametric evaluation is performed for design and operating conditions including EGR rate and injection timing. Results are obtained for efficiency, IMEP, CO, NOx and PM emissions at intake boost pressures of 1, 2 and 3 bar.