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The presence and distribution of liquid fuel within an engine cylinder at cold start may adversely affect the hydrocarbon emissions from port-injected, spark ignition engines. Therefore, high speed videos of the liquid fuel entry into the cylinder of an optical engine were recorded in order to assess the effect of various engine operating parameters on the amount of liquid fuel inducted into the cylinder, the sizes of liquid drops present and the distribution of the fuel within the cylinder. A 2.5L, V-6, port-injected, spark ignition engine was modified so that optical access is available throughout the entire volume of one of the cylinders. A fused silica cylinder is sandwiched between the separated block and head of the engine and a “Bowditch-type” piston extension is mounted to the production piston. The Bowditch piston has a fused silica crown so that visualization is possible through the top of the piston as well as through the transparent cylinder.

Drop size measurements were performed in the intake port of a motoring engine using a laser diffraction particle sizing technique. The experimental parameters which were varied include number of injection cycles, start of injection timing, engine speed and manifold pressure. Two injectors having different atomization and dispersion characteristics were used in the study, a production dual jet injector which produced Sauter Mean Diameters (SMDs) in the range of 250 to 400 μm and an air assist injector which had a line-of-sight SMD of 39 μm. In measurements with the dual jet injector, after initial injection, the quantity of fuel present in the intake port was observed to increase with each subsequent injection event, reaching a steady state value after 6 to 10 injection cycles. The SMD produced by the back-flow atomization was independent of the number of injection events and independent of engine speed over a range of 750 to 1500 RPM.

An optically-accessible single cylinder small-bore HSDI diesel engine equipped with a Bosch common-rail injection system is used to study the effects of multiple injection. High-speed video is used to study the injector and spray behavior. Laser-induced exciplex fluorescence is used to obtain simultaneous liquid and vapor fuel distributions within the combustion chamber, with tetradecane-TMPD-naphthalene as the base fuel-dopant combination. Significant liquid impingement is seen in the single main injection case, while evidence of liquid impingement is seen only in the first stage of the multiple injection case. No appreciable liquid impingement is seen for the second stage of the multiple injection case. Vapor is seen throughout the jet cross-section regardless of the injection parameters. The majority of the vapor is confined to the bowl region in the single injection case while evidence of vapor is seen outside of the bowl for the multiple injection case.

A significant fraction of hydrocarbon (HC) emissions occurs during the cold-start phase of an engine's operating cycle. Fuel drop sizes in the cylinder and impingement of fuel on the cylinder wall are two factors which can affect the HC emissions during this period. Therefore, measurements of in-cylinder drop sizes and wall fuel impingement were made on a steady flow bench at flow rates and manifold vacuum conditions which simulated desired engine operating conditions. Experimental variables included three injector types, two cylinder head geometries, three valve lifts, and two simulated engine speeds. Injector performance was assessed prior to the flow bench studies. Fuel injector performance was found to affect in-cylinder drop size and wall fuel impingement. The dual-jet injector produced two liquid streams which were not atomized into drops at a distance of 10 cm (a typical injector to valve distance) from the injector tip.

The feasibility of a demand responsive bus system for Oakland University is analyzed and the recommended plan is presented. Oakland is an isolated campus, located approximately 25 miles north of Detroit, between Rochester and Pontiac, in a relatively low population density area. The University is primarily a commuter institution, with almost 100% of its 5000 commuter students traveling to the campus in personal automobiles. There is no form of public transportation serving the University, except the personal taxi. Oakland's policy is to construct parking lots to accommodate the high commuter volume. As early as 1976, the University will have to consider building parking structures to keep the lots within a reasonable walking distance from the center of campus. This paper examines an alternative mode of transportation for Oakland.

Lower proof ethanol is shown to be a viable alternate fuel for diesel engines. This type of ethanol can be manufactured economically in small distillation plants from renewable grain supplies. The effect of fumigation of ethanol proofs with a multipoint injection system on a turbocharged direct injection diesel engine at 2,400 rpm and three loads was studied. The addition of the water in the lower proofs reduced the maximum rate of pressure rise and peak pressure from pure ethanol levels. Both of these values were significantly higher than those for diesel operation. HC and CO emissions increased several times over diesel levels at all loads and also with increased ethanol fumigation. NO emissions were reduced below diesel levels for lower proof ethanol at all loads. The tests at this rpm and load with a multipoint ethanol injection system indicate that lower (100 or 125) proof provides optimum performance.

A study has been done to determine the effect of changes in diesel injection timing on engine performance using a multicylinder, turbo-charged diesel engine fumigated with ethanol. Tests at half load with engine speeds of 2000 and 2400 rpm indicated that a 4% increase in thermal efficiency could be obtained by advancing the diesel injection timing from 18 to 29 °BTDC. The effect of changes in diesel timing was much more pronounced at 2400 rpm. Advancing the diesel timing decreased CO and unburned HC levels significantly. The increase in NO levels due to advances in diesel timing was offset by the decrease in NO due to ethanol addition.

This paper reports on the results of using multipoint port injection alcohol fumigation of a four-cycle turbocharged diesel engine in which the fumigation injection cycle was varied. The three cycles, dual with one-half of the alcohol injection on each engine revolution (DIT), single with all of the alcohol injected during the open intake valve revolution (SIO), and single with all of the alcohol injected during the closed intake valve revolution (SIC), lead to significant differences in the engines pressure-volume history and alcohol energy replacement tolerance. The engine was fumigated with both industrial grade ethanol and methanol and complete performance and emissions data (excluding aldehydes) were measured at low, medium, and high values of BMEP and rpm. The results help to explain recently published data showing limited energy replacement, apparent excessive rate of cylinder pressure change, and emissions for single point injection in the same engine.

A 2.5L, V-6, port-injected, spark-ignition engine was modified for optical access by separating the head from the block and installing a Bowditch extended piston with a fused-silica top and a fused-silica liner in one of the cylinders. Two heads were employed in the study. One produced swirl and permitted modulation of the swirl level, and another produced a tumbling flow in the cylinder. Planar laser-induced exciplex fluorescence, which allows the simultaneous, but separate, imaging of liquid and vapor fuel, was extended to capture components of different volatilities in a model fuel designed to simulate the distillation curve of a typical gasoline. The exciplex fluorescence technique was calibrated in a separate cell where careful control of mixture composition, temperature and pressure was possible. The results show that large-scale motion induced during intake is critical for good mixing during the intake and compression strokes.

The problem of aerodynamic and rolling resistance characteristics of cars and trucks is of considerable importance to vehicle engineers as the two major contributions to external vehicle drag. Many testing methods have been developed including wind tunnel testing of scale models, testing of full-size production cars, and coast-down testing. The advantages and disadvantages of each method are discussed and analyzed.