Xin Zhang1, Wanchen Sun1, Liang Guo1, Hao Zhang1, Yi Sun1, Yuying Yan2, Tian You3. 1. State Key Laboratory of Automotive Simulation and Control, Jilin University, Changchun 130025, China. 2. Faculty of Engineering, the University of Nottingham, Nottingham, U.K. NG7 2RD. 3. Engineering Technology Branch, Changchun Vocational Institute of Technology, Changchun 130033, China.
Abstract
It is of great significance to improve the performance of diesel engines by adjusting the intake components and their distribution. In this work, various proportions of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) gas and oxygen (O2) have been introduced to the intake charge of a diesel engine and the effects of different intake components and stratification conditions on pollutant emissions, especially for particles, have been explored. The results show that the introduction of O2 into the intake charge is beneficial to alleviate the deterioration of particles and hydrocarbon (HC) emissions caused by high EGR rates. Compared with the pure air intake condition, the introduction of moderate O2 at high EGR rate conditions can simultaneously reduce nitrogen oxides (NO x ) and particles, when the intake oxygen content (IOC) is 0.2 and the EGR rate is 20%, the NO x and particles are reduced by 45.66% and 66.49%, respectively. It is worth noting that different intake components have a significant impact on the particle size distribution (PSD) of diesel engines. In addition, the in-cylinder O2 concentration distribution formed by the stratified intake is advantageous for further improving the combined effect of NO x , particles and HC emissions relative to the homogeneous intake. At a condition of 0.2 IOC and 20% EGR rate, the NO x , particles, and HC emissions are about 8.8%, 14.3%, and 26% lower than that of intake components nonstratification, respectively.
It is of great significance to improve the performance of diesel engines by adjusting the intake components and their distribution. In this work, various proportions of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) gas and oxygen (O2) have been introduced to the intake charge of a diesel engine and the effects of different intake components and stratification conditions on pollutant emissions, especially for particles, have been explored. The results show that the introduction of O2 into the intake charge is beneficial to alleviate the deterioration of particles and hydrocarbon (HC) emissions caused by high EGR rates. Compared with the pure air intake condition, the introduction of moderate O2 at high EGR rate conditions can simultaneously reduce nitrogen oxides (NO x ) and particles, when the intake oxygen content (IOC) is 0.2 and the EGR rate is 20%, the NO x and particles are reduced by 45.66% and 66.49%, respectively. It is worth noting that different intake components have a significant impact on the particle size distribution (PSD) of diesel engines. In addition, the in-cylinder O2 concentration distribution formed by the stratified intake is advantageous for further improving the combined effect of NO x , particles and HC emissions relative to the homogeneous intake. At a condition of 0.2 IOC and 20% EGR rate, the NO x , particles, and HC emissions are about 8.8%, 14.3%, and 26% lower than that of intake components nonstratification, respectively.
In recent years, with the increasing retention of internal combustion
engines (ICE), pollutant emissions from ICE have already caused considerable
damage to the atmospheric environment. Compared with other types of
ICE, diesel engines are widely used in various fields such as agriculture,
transportation, and industry because of their advantages in reliability
and fuel economy.[1,2] However, gaseous emissions such
as NO and HC, and particulate emissions
mainly composed of soot and unburned carbonaceous compounds are inevitably
generated due to inhomogeneous mixture concentration and temperature
distribution.[3,4] Among them, NO has a significant impact on the atmospheric chemistry and
climate. NO in the atmosphere can be
oxidized to HNO3 and then deposited as acid rain, which
will adversely affect drinking water, soil, and biodiversity.[5,6] The particles produced by diesel engines can easily penetrate into
the respiratory tract and affect human health. Especially the ultrafine
particles (DP < 100 nm) formed by the
modern low mass emission engines are more harmful to the human body
and environment.[7−9] Therefore, strict regulations have been enacted all
over the world to limit the pollutant emissions from diesel engines,[10] and research work on low-emission technologies
for diesel engines is in full swing.[11,12]Exhaust
gas recirculation (EGR) is an effective technology used
to reduce NO emissions from diesel engines.[13−16] However, a too high EGR rate will cause some changes in the combustion
process, including the lower IOC, longer ignition delay, lower heat
release rate, and decreased combustion completeness, which lead to
a series of problems, such as the deterioration of HC, CO, and particulate
emissions and the decline of engine power and fuel economy.[17] In order to cope with these problems arising
from high EGR, some researchers have adopted the method of intake
supercharging to increase the IOC and optimize the engine emissions
and fuel economy comprehensively through the coordinated control of
EGR and supercharging technology.[18,19] However, limited
by the mechanical strength, the compression ratio of intake supercharging
cannot be too high, and this means will consume exhaust energy. Therefore,
it has been difficult to introduce a large proportion of EGR at high
intake pressure conditions.[20]Introducing
O2 into the intake charge can also increase
the IOC and facilitate the introduction of a high proportion EGR.
In the early days, due to the limitation of cost and other issues,
the technology of increasing the IOC by directly introducing O2 to achieve oxygen-enriched combustion has mainly been used
in the industrial fields such as thermal power generation.[21] With the rapid development of gas components
separation technology, the oxygen enrichment technology has been gradually
applied to the adjustment of the intake components in ICE.[22] Therefore, it is of certain research value to
optimize the engine combustion process and control the pollutant emissions
by adjusting the engine intake components with EGR and oxygen enrichment
technology.In addition, since the primary generation areas
of NO and soot are different, the technique
of the intake
components stratification represented by the EGR stratification is
an effective means to solve the trade-off relationship between NO and particulate emissions.[23,24] Kosaka et al.[25] have conducted a pilot
study on the combustion characteristics of diesel in a rapid compressor
and expander machine (RCEM) at various intake distribution conditions,
and the effect of asymmetric oxygen distribution in the cylinder on
emissions has been clarified. Shen et al.[26] have used the in-cylinder EGR stratification technique to form a
nonuniform distribution of oxygen concentration and temperature in
the combustion chamber for simultaneously control the generation of
NO and particles. At present, many studies
on EGR intake stratification technology have been done and encouraging
results have been achieved,[27] but EGR stratification
can only reduce the oxygen concentration and cannot make up for the
lack of oxygen in the oil-rich area. In fact, soot is often generated
in the oil-rich area in diesel engines. Therefore, adding oxygen on
the basis of the stratification of intake components can not only
increase the oxygen concentration in the cylinder but also reduce
the soot generation more effectively.On the basis of the combined
application of EGR and oxygen enrichment
technology, we have used the self-designed and developed intake system
on a common rail four-valve diesel engine to investigate the effects
of intake components on the particles and gaseous emissions in this
study. Moreover, in terms of the particulate emissions, the formation
processes and the harm to the human body of different size particles
are different. The effect of diesel engine combustion on the particle
size distribution (PSD) of different intake components has great research
value, and that aspect is lacking in previous research, especially
when the addition of oxygen is even more lacking.[28−31] The present study has also investigated
the effects of different intake component conditions on the particle
size distribution of diesel engines. In addition, we have used different
gas flow characteristics of intake port structures to explore the
potential effects of intake component stratification to reduce pollutant
emissions.
Results and Discussion
Effect
of EGR on Emissions of Diesel Engines
The EGR technology
can reduce the IOC and combustion temperature
by introducing exhaust gas into the intake charge. However, the current
EGR technology still has problems like causing deteriorations of particles
and HC emissions of the diesel engine. Figure shows the comparison of NO and particulate mass (PM) emissions at different EGR rates.
And in this paper, the PM refers to the total particulate mass. Figure shows the comparison
of HC emissions at different EGR rates.
Figure 1
NO and PM emissions at various EGR
rates.
Figure 2
HC emissions at various EGR rates.
NO and PM emissions at various EGR
rates.HC emissions at various EGR rates.It can be seen from Figure that the increasing EGR rate is beneficial to suppress
NO emissions, but the high EGR rate leads
to
a sharp increase in PM emissions. For the NO formation mechanism, the thermal (Zeldovich), prompt (Fenimore),
and fuel NO mechanism are the most common mechanisms for NO formation in diesel combustion. Among them, thermal
NO is the dominant mechanism of NO formation
in diesel engines due to the lower nitrogen content of vehicle diesel
and the lean mixture in the cylinder.[32] And there are two main reasons for the increase because of thermal
NO in NO emissions. On the one hand,
the introduction of EGR brings a large amount of triatomic molecule
CO2 with high specific heat capacity (SHC), thereby lowering
the combustion temperature. On the other hand, the introduction of
exhaust gas reduces the O2 concentration in the cylinder.
Both of them have an inhibitory effect on the production of NO. However, the anoxic environment produced
by application of a high EGR rate promotes the formation of particles.
Because it is very detrimental to the late oxidation of particles,
it results in severe deterioration of particulate emissions.[33] In addition, Figure shows that a higher EGR rate will also cause
a markedly increased HC emissions. It indicates that the higher EGR
rate leads to more serious incomplete combustion and less oxidization
time for the unburned HC.
Effect of Intake Components
on Emissions of
Diesel Engines
For the purposes of this study mentioned in
the previous section, in order to reduce the effects of the high EGR
rate (>10%) on particles and HC emissions, the effect of adding
oxygen
at a high EGR rate conditions on diesel emissions has been experimentally
investigated.
Analysis of NO and PM Emissions
Figure and Figure respectively show the comparison of NO emissions and PM emissions generated with different intake
components. It can be seen that increasing the oxygen concentration
of the intake charge at the same EGR rate is conducive to inhibition
of particulate emissions but leads to an increase of NO emissions. However, compared with the pure air intake
condition, when O2 is introduced at a high EGR rate and
the IOC is still lower than that of the atmosphere, simultaneous reduction
of NO and particulate emissions can be
achieved. Compared with the pure air intake condition, when the IOC
is 0.2 and the EGR rate is 10%, 15%, 18%, and 20%, the NO emissions are reduced by 21.62%, 17.74%, 26.35%,
and 45.66% and the PM emissions are reduced by 51.48%, 34.72%, 57.77%,
and 66.49%, respectively. The result indicates that the simultaneous
reduction in NO and particulate emissions
can be achieved through intake components optimization by properly
regulating the EGR and oxygen supplementation at the intake. The reason
is that the low combustion temperature brought by the high EGR rate
is conducive to inhibiting both NO and
particulate emissions. In addition, with the increase of the EGR rate
at the same IOC condition, the N2 component in the intake
charge is getting smaller, which is also one of the factors causing
the reduction of the NO emissions.[34]
Figure 3
NO emissions with various
intake components.
Figure 4
PM emissions with various
intake components.
NO emissions with various
intake components.PM emissions with various
intake components.It can also be found
from the above data that at the same IOC condition,
both NO and particulate emissions show
an increasing trend at first, and then a decreasing tendency with
the increased EGR rate. This is because the combustion temperature
becomes an important factor affecting NO and particulate emissions when the oxygen concentration is fixed,
and the lower combustion temperature is conducive to inhibiting NO and particles formation. And the combustion
temperature is affected by the fraction of premixed combustion and
the SHC of the mixture. A larger premixed combustion fraction leads
to a higher combustion temperature, while a larger mixture SHC leads
to a lower combustion temperature.[35] As
supporting evidence, it can be seen from Figure that at the same oxygen concentration condition,
the ignition delay is prolonged and the combustion duration is shortened
with the increased EGR rate, indicating that the higher EGR rate leads
to an increased proportion of premixed combustion. At the same time,
with a fixed oxygen concentration, the SHC of the mixture also increases
with the increased EGR rate. At a small EGR rate, e.g., less than
15%, the change of SHC is also small, and the effect of premixed combustion
on the combustion temperature is dominant. But when the EGR rate turns
higher than 15%, the effect of SHC on the combustion temperature becomes
more remarkable due to the greater change in SHC value. Therefore,
at the same IOC condition, when the EGR rate is less than 15%, the
maximum temperature in the cylinder increases with the increase of
the EGR rate; when the EGR rate is higher than 15%, the temperature
in the cylinder decreases with the increase of the EGR rate.
Figure 5
Ignition delay
and combustion duration at various EGR rates for
an IOC value of 0.2.
Ignition delay
and combustion duration at various EGR rates for
an IOC value of 0.2.
Analysis
of HC Emissions
Figure shows the effect
of different intake components on HC emissions. It can be seen from
the figure that increasing the IOC is beneficial to suppress HC emissions
caused by a high EGR rate. At an EGR rate of 20%, the HC emissions
with oxygen concentrations of 0.18, 0.19, 0.20, and 0.21 could be
reduced by 18%, 28%, 32%, and 46%, respectively, comparing to that
measured without oxygen addition into the intake. The reason is that
increasing the IOC is conducive to form the gas/fuel mixture suitable
for combustion, the combustion completeness is improved, and the oxidation
of the unburned HC is promoted.
Figure 6
HC emissions with various intake components.
HC emissions with various intake components.
Analysis of Emission
Characteristics of
Particles in Different Modes
In this section, the effect
of the IOC on the PSD at different EGR rates was analyzed. The results
show that the effects of oxygen concentration on the PSD are similar
for different EGR rates, so that only the case with the 15% EGR rate
is taken as an example and analyzed to illustrate the effect of the
IOC on PSD, as shown in Figure . In order to classify the particles with different sizes,
all the particles with the size below 35 nm are defined as nuclear
mode (NM) particles and particles with the size above 35 nm are defined
as accumulated mode (AM) particles in this study.
Figure 7
Characteristics of particle
emission distribution at various IOCs
for a 15% EGR rate.
Characteristics of particle
emission distribution at various IOCs
for a 15% EGR rate.As can be seen from Figure , increasing the
oxygen concentration is effective to reduce
both the mass and number of the AM particles, but for the NM particles,
both parameters are decreased at first and then increased with the
oxygen concesntration increment. Because the number of NM particles
and the mass of AM particles account for large proportions in diesel
particulate emissions, the total number of particles decrease at first
and then increases with the increased IOC, while the total mass of
particles decreases continuously. It is generally believed that the
NM particles are mainly formed due to condensation of some saturated
HC components during the cooling and dilution process of the exhaust
gas,[36] while the AM particles are formed
by aggregated porous carbonaceous particles that have large specific
surface areas that can absorb unburned hydrocarbons in the cylinder.[37] As the IOC increases, the lean oxygen area will
be reduced, so that the formation of graphitized carbon particles
at a high temperature can be avoided. As a result, the mass and number
of AM particles will be greatly reduced. But for the NM particulate
emissions, the HC emissions are significantly reduced, so that the
less saturated HC to form the NM particulates. Moreover, as the amount
of graphitized carbon particles decreases, the adsorption capacity
of it for the unburned HC decreases, resulting in an increase in the
number of NM particles. The combined effect of these two aspects results
in an increase following by a decrease in the measured NM particle
numbers with a rising IOC value. Therefore, with the increase of the
IOC, the geometric mean diameter of the particles decreases greatly.The effects of EGR rates on the particle characteristics at different
IOCs were also analyzed in this study. The results show that the effects
of the EGR rate on particle characteristics are similar for different
oxygen concentrations. It can be concluded from the above analysis
that the comprehensive effect of particles and NO emissions is relatively superior when the oxygen concentration
is 0.2. In this section, the results of particle characteristics with
different EGR rates are illustrated when the oxygen concentration
is 0.2 as shown in Figure . It can be seen from Figure that with the increase of the EGR rate, at the same
oxygen concentration condition, the overall change in the number of
the particles belonging to different modes is small, and the variation
trend for NM particles and AM particles are opposite. With the increase
of the EGR rate and the 15% EGR rate as the turning point, the number
and mass of nucleate particles decreases at first and then increases
and the number and mass of the AM particles increases at first and
then decreases, which lead to the total particle number decreases
at first and then increases, and the PM increases at first and then
decreases. The reason for this phenomenon is similar to that described
in the previous paragraph.
Figure 8
Characteristic of particle emission distribution
at various EGR
rates for 0.2 IOC.
Characteristic of particle emission distribution
at various EGR
rates for 0.2 IOC.
Effect
of Intake Stratification on Emissions
Characteristics of Diesel Engines
The intake components adjustment
can effectively improve the engine pollutant emissions; however, the
stratification of the intake component can further optimize the engine
intake process with less cost on the basis of the intake components
adjustment. In this section, the effects of intake components stratification
on engine pollutant emissions were studied, and the potential of reducing
engine pollutant emissions through intake component stratification
was explored.
Analysis of Intake Stratification Process
and in-Cylinder Oxygen Concentration Distribution
The numerical
simulation method was used to study the intake stratification process
of the engine at the condition of introducing EGR into the helical
intake port and O2 into the tangential intake port. The
numerical simulation software used in this study is CONVERGE v2.3.
Among them, the initial gas mass concentrations of the tangential
intake port were 30% O2 and 70% N2, the initial
gas mass concentrations of the helical intake port were 20% CO2, 18.4% O2, and 61.6% N2. The effects
of differently shaped intake ports on three-dimensional gas flow and
gas concentration distribution are revealed. The simulation model
parameters are shown in the Table . Since the intake process is very important for this
study, the in-cylinder pressure of the intake process after the intake
valve open is verified. As shown in Figure , the simulated pressure profiles are consistent
with that of the experimental results. On the basis of these model
validations, the established numerical models can be used for subsequent
calculation.
Table 1
Simulation Model Parameters
category
properties
base grid size
0.001 mm × 0.001 mm × 0.001 mm (adaptive)
start
time
360 °CA BTDC
end time
0 °CA BTDC
time-step
1 × 10–8 to 5 × 10–5 s (adaptive)
turbulence model
renormalized k–ε model
wall heat transfer model
O’Rourke and Amsden
solver type
SOR
Figure 9
Comparison of in-cylinder pressure curves between simulation and
experiment.
Comparison of in-cylinder pressure curves between simulation and
experiment.Figure shows
the distribution of the velocity field in the cylinder at different
times during the intake process, the H in the figure represents the
height of valve lift. It can be seen from Figure that the airflow guided by the helical
intake port forms a strong rotation above the valve seat. And the
tangential intake port has a relatively straight shape, so the airflow
guided by it has a high speed in the axial direction. The gas introduced
through the tangential intake port rotates close to the cylinder wall,
while the gas introduced by the helical intake port rotates close
to the center of the cylinder. Figure shows the distribution of oxygen concentration
in the cylinder at 8 °CA BTDC, and the directions of sections
A–A and B–B are shown in Figure . As illustrated in Figure , the oxygen concentration is low in the
center of the combustion chamber, and the oxygen concentration is
high around the combustion chamber, especially in the pit area of
the combustion chamber. Since the soot is mainly generated in the
pits of the combustion chamber due to the diffusion combustion, and
NO is mainly formed in the high temperature
region of the center of the combustion chamber,[27] the gas distribution state formed by introducing oxygen
through the tangential intake port and EGR through the helical intake
port is beneficial to simultaneously reduce soot and NO emissions.
Figure 10
Distribution of the velocity field in the cylinder
at different
times during the intake process.
Figure 11
Distribution
of oxygen concentration in the cylinder at 8 °CA
BTDC: (a) A–A direction and (b) B–B direction.
Distribution of the velocity field in the cylinder
at different
times during the intake process.Distribution
of oxygen concentration in the cylinder at 8 °CA
BTDC: (a) A–A direction and (b) B–B direction.
Analysis of NO and PM emissions
Figure shows the comparison of NO emissions and PM emissions obtained at the stratified
intake condition
and homogeneous intake condition, respectively. At both conditions,
the NO increases monotonically and the
PM decreases monotonically with the increase of oxygen content at
the same EGR rate. Therefore, using the PM and NO emissions as the horizontal and vertical coordinates to draw
the PM-NO curves with the different oxygen
concentration at the same EGR rate and intake form, the comprehensive
improvement effect of stratification on PM and NO emissions could be clearly demonstrated.
Figure 12
NO and PM emissions with different
intake configurations and components.
NO and PM emissions with different
intake configurations and components.It can be seen from Figure that when the oxygen concentration is too high or
too low, either the NO emission or the
particulate emission will be seriously deteriorated. In contrast to
the stratified intake and homogeneous intake conditions at different
EGR rates, it can be found that the PM-NO comprehensive emissions are poor at the condition of the 15% EGR
rate, while the PM-NO curve of the stratified
intake form is at the lower left of the homogeneous intake form. It
indicates that the effect of stratified intake is more obvious for
the comprehensive reducing pollutant emissions on the 15% EGR rate.
For the 18% and 20% EGR rates, the PM-NO comprehensive emissions are relatively superior, while the stratified
intake has a better effect than the homogeneous air intake only in
the cases where the NO or particulate
emissions deteriorate severely. For example, when the IOC is 0.2 and
the EGR rate is 20%, the NO and particulate
emissions are about 8.8% and 14.3% lower than that of homogeneous
intake components, respectively. This is caused by the NO formation region being closer to the center of the
combustion chamber relative to the generation region of the soot according
to preliminary researches,[38] the introduction
of O2 through the tangential intake port and the EGR through
the helical intake port results in low oxygen concentration at the
center of the combustion chamber and high oxygen concentration in
the off center regions. The above oxygen concentration distribution
form can simultaneously reduce the amount of NO and PM in the original high generation region.
Analysis of HC Emissions
Figure shows the comparison
of HC emissions between stratified and homogeneous intake conditions.
It can be seen from the figure that stratified intake is beneficial
to reduce HC emissions at all EGR rates and oxygen concentrations.
Compared with the homogeneous intake condition, when the IOC is 0.2
and the EGR rate is 20%, the HC emission is reduced by 26% under stratification.
The reason is that the HC emissions of a diesel engine are mainly
caused by the inhomogeneous distribution of the mixture concentration
in the cylinder, which is generated at the end of the diesel fuel
spray and the area around the cylinder wall where the mixture is thin.
However, the low central oxygen concentration and high edge oxygen
concentration of the combustion chamber can accelerate the oxidation
of unburned HC around the cylinder wall, thus reducing HC emissions.
Figure 13
HC emissions
with different intake forms and components.
HC emissions
with different intake forms and components.
Conclusions
In this study, the self-developed
single-cylinder diesel engine
with flexible intake components control system was used to investigate
the effects of intake components and stratification on pollutant emissions.
The results can be summarized as follow:The introduction of O2 into
the intake charge is beneficial to alleviate the deterioration of
particulate and HC emissions at a condition with a high EGR rate.
Compared with the pure air intake condition, the introduction of O2 with an appropriate amount at high EGR rate conditions can
reduce NO and particulate emissions simultaneously.
At the same oxygen concentration, the NO and PM emissions of the engine increase at first and then decrease
with the increased EGR rate, where the 15% EGR rate is the turning
point. Compared with the pure air intake conditions, when the IOC
is 0.2, at a 20% EGR condition, the NO and PM are reduced by 45.66% and 66.49%, respectively.With a constant EGR rate, increasing
the IOC is conducive to reducing both the number and mass of the AM
particles. But for the NM particles, it leads to a first decreased
and then increased trend in both the number and mass of the particles.
However, with an increased IOC value and an unchanged EGR rate, the
geometric mean diameter of the particles can be greatly reduced. At
the same IOC, with the increase of the EGR rate and the 15% EGR rate
as the turning point, the particle number decreases at first and then
increases, and the PM increases at first and then decreases.The in-cylinder oxygen
concentration
distribution formed by the stratified intake is advantageous for further
improving the combined effect of NO and
particulate emissions in comparison to homogeneous intake, especially
in the conditions that severe deterioration of NO or particulate emissions occurred. Meanwhile, the stratified
intake has a certain effect on improving HC emissions compared to
the effects of homogeneous intake.This
work has clarified the effects of different EGR rates and
oxygen proportions and the corresponding stratification on the diesel
engine combustion process and emissions and provides a reference for
the use of oxygen-enriched technology to solve the combustion deterioration
and particulate emissions caused by large proportions of EGR. In future
studies, it is necessary to further optimize the design of the intake
port structure to form a better intake components stratification,
and to maximize the utilization of the potential of oxygen-enriched
and EGR technology.
Experimental Section
Experimental Engine and Test Equipment
The test engine
is a single-cylinder diesel engine modified from
a four-stroke, four-cylinder, direct-injected turbocharged diesel
engine. The key specifications of the engine are shown in Table . The third cylinder
of the test engine has an independent intake, exhaust, and fuel injection
system, and the other three cylinders remaining do not have injectors
installed. The fuel injection system is dynamically adjusted online
by an open electronic control unit (ECU). Moreover, the temperature
of cooling water and intake charge are controlled at 358 ± 2
and 290 ± 2 K, respectively, with a temperature control system.
The pressure and the components of the intake can be flexibly adjusted
using a self-designed two-stage dummy supercharging system and intake
components control system. The two-stage dummy supercharging system
is adopted to adjust the intake pressure between 0.1 and 0.3 MPa flexibly.
The intake components control system has two high pressure cylinders
filled with 99% O2 and CO2, respectively. Due
to the large fluctuations in exhaust back pressure of single-cylinder
engine, it is difficult to accurately control the EGR rate. Therefore,
the high purity CO2 is used to simulate the actual exhaust
gas of the engine. Among them, the EGR rate in this study is defined
as the ratio of the purity CO2 mass flow and total intake
gas mass flow. And the O2 and CO2 flow are real
time monitored with two flow sensors that range from 0 to 100 L/min.
Table 2
Engine Specifications
category
properties
geometric compression ratio
17.7
cylinder diameter (mm)
95.4
piston stroke (mm)
104.9
connecting rod length (mm)
162
intake valve closing moment (°CA ATDC)
–143
exhaust valve closing moment (°CA ATDC)
366
injector orifice number
6
injector orifice diameter (mm)
0.12
oil jet cone angle (deg)
12
eddy current ratio
0.97
An intake
stratification device shown in Figure is also developed on the basis of the helical/tangential
dual intake port system of the test engine, and the in-cylinder component
stratification is realized by introducing O2 and CO2 of different flows into different intake port. The three-dimensional
model of the intake port is shown in Figure . The intake port on the left and the intake
port on the right in Figure are defined as a helical intake port and a tangential intake
port, respectively. Previous studies have shown that introducing EGR
into the helical intake port and O2 into the tangential
intake port can form a preferred in-cylinder charge distribution.[39] So only such an intake stratification configuration
is investigated in this study, and the intake gas introduction diagram
is shown in Figure .
Figure 14
Intake stratification device.
Figure 15
Three-dimensional
model of the intake port.
Figure 16
Intake
gas introduction diagram.
Intake stratification device.Three-dimensional
model of the intake port.Intake
gas introduction diagram.
Measurement and Control System
The
schematic diagram of the measurement and control system used in this
study is shown in Figure , and the detailed specifications of the measurement analyzers
are listed in Table . It mainly includes a Kaimai CW260 program-controlled eddy current
dynamometer, a Japan Ono DF-2420 transient fuel consumption meter,
a British Cambustion fast exhaust gas analyzer, and a DMS500 particle
size spectrometer. The in-cylinder pressure of the engine has been
collected with a Kistler 6052C cylinder pressure sensor. The sampling
interval of Kistler 6052C is 0.1 °Crank Angle (CA), and in total,
data from 50 cycles have been collected and averaged at each operating
point to eliminate the measurement error.
Figure 17
Schematic diagram of
the test bench.
Table 3
Accuracies of the
Main Measured Parameters
measured parameters
instrument
accuracy
NOx emission
CLD500
<±1%
HC emission
HFR500
<±1%
CO emission
NDIR500
<±1%
CO2 emission
NDIR500
<±1%
particle size distribution
DMS500
in-cylinder pressure
Kistler 6052C
<±1%
transient fuel consumption meter
DF-2420
<±0.5%
Schematic diagram of
the test bench.
Test Plan
The experiments are run
at an engine speed of 1400 r/min with a common rail pressure of 100
MPa. The engine is fueled with ultralow sulfur diesel (ULSD), and
the fuel injection pulse width and the fuel injection timing are adjusted
in real time to keep the engine working at the fixed medium load (50%
full load), at an indicated mean effective pressure (IMEP) of 8.5
bar. The crank angle of 50% cumulative heat release rate (CA50) is
kept constant at 8.5 °CA ATDC. The total intake charge flow (sum
of air flow, O2 flow, and CO2 flow) is controlled
at 440 L/min to study the effect of different intake components on
the pollutant emission of diesel engines. By adjusting the proportion
of CO2 in the intake air, different EGR rates including
10%, 15%, 18%, and 20% are achieved for testing. At the four selected
EGR rates, the IOC is increased by 1% gradient until 22%. The upper
limit of the IOC is 22% to avoid serious deterioration of NO emission at a too high O2 mass fraction.
All the tests are repeated three times, and the data used in this
paper are the average of the three tests. Among them, the pure air
flow is adjusted with the change of the CO2 and O2 flow to ensure that the total intake flow is constant. This study
also uses the self-developed intake stratification system to test
the two intake forms of homogeneous and stratified and explores the
effects of intake component stratification on emissions from diesel
engines. Homogeneous intake refers to the case where oxygen and EGR
are introduced into the intake manifold, and the stratification intake
refers to the case where EGR is introduced into the helical intake
port and O2 is introduced into the tangential intake port.