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Engine out (feedgas) emissions control during cold start operations has been a major technical challenge since mandated LEV/ULEV/SULEV/PZEV regulation compliance. Cold start emissions contribute to more than 85% of total emissions in a FTP test. Unburned Hydrocarbons are mostly generated during cold starts due to a rich Air/fuel ratio strategy. Cold intake and cylinder wall surfaces do not provide a quick vaporization bed for the rich fuel, therefore un-vaporized and unburned fuel result in excessive tailpipe emissions. Utilizing fuel vapor during cold starts reduces the Hydrocarbon (HC) emissions level and minimizes the transient fuel effect process. A vapor management system must function to control the Air-to-fuel ratio of the intake charge during “cold-starts”, idle, and drive-away, or until catalyst lights off to a desired level.

We have developed and used micro-machined injector nozzles with commercially produced diesel injection systems that have the capability to improve the spray characteristics in DI diesel engines. The availability of a MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical-Systems) processing sequence supported the construction of micro-diesel injector nozzles, and micro-systems technology was also employed in our macro-instrumentation. Fourteen different circular plates (nickel-iron alloy) were fabricated with deep X-ray lithography and electroplating technology. Five plates that have a single orifice were fabricated to investigate the effect of orifice diameter on spray characteristics; i.e., 40 to 260 microns. The spacing between multiple orifices was also varied; e.g., two plates that each had 41 orifices and 169 orifices, respectively, with a diameter of 40 microns. Finally, three plates with non-circular orifices were also made to examine the effect of orifice shape on spray characteristics.