Study of Air Flow Interaction with Pilot Injections in a Diesel Engine by Means of PIV Measurements

With ever-demanding emission legislations in Compression Ignition (CI) engines, new premixed combustion strategies have been developed in recent years seeking both, emissions and performance improvements. Since it has been shown that in-cylinder air flow affects the combustion process, and hence the overall engine performance, the study of swirling structures and its interaction with fuel injection are of great interest. In this regard, possible Turbulent Kinetic Energy (TKE) distribution changes after fuel injection may be a key parameter for achieving performance improvements by reducing in-cylinder heat transfer. Consequently, this paper aims to gain an insight into spray-swirl interaction through the analysis of in-cylinder velocity fields measured by Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) when PCCI conditions are proposed. Experiments are carried out in a single cylinder optical Diesel engine with bowl-in-piston geometry. A standard 2D PIV system is used for measuring instantaneous velocity fields in a cross section (swirl-plane) inside the combustion chamber. The test matrix is based on an advanced single pilot injection with energizing time and injection pressure sweeps at different crank-angles. Results show that swirl ratio decreases with the increase of injected fuel mass. The decrease in swirl ratio also comes with a homogenization of the flow field. This homogenization along with lower swirl ratios might decrease heat transfer to cylinder walls.