An Investigation of the Engine Combustion Network ‘Spray B’ in a Light Duty Single Cylinder Optical Engine 2018-01-0220

Engine Combustion Network promotes fundamental investigations on a number of different spray configurations with the goal of providing experimental results under highly controlled conditions for CFD validation. Most of the available experiments up to now have been obtained in spray vessels, which miss some of the interactions governing spray evolution in the combustion chamber of an engine, such as the jet wall interaction and the transient conditions in the combustion chamber. The main aim of the present research is to compare the results obtained with a three-hole, 90 μm injector, known as ECN’s Spray B, in these constant-volume vessels and more recent Heavy-Duty engines with those obtained in a Light Duty Single Cylinder Optical Engine, under inert and reactive conditions, using n-dodecane. In-cylinder conditions during the injection were estimated by means of a 1-D and 0-D model simulation, accounting for heat transfer and in-cylinder mass evolution. Different optical techniques were used, namely Mie scattering, Broadband luminosity and OH* chemiluminescence imaging. Results indicate that liquid length stabilizes before the spray tip reaches the bowl wall. Ignition event occurs before or after the wall impingement point, depending on operating conditions.