Comparison of Spray Characteristics Measured in an Optical Single Cylinder Diesel Engine with 1D Model

In recent years, several studies on the efficiency of modern diesel engines have focused on the modeling of combustion process in its different phases. Here, analytical equations are used to describe the physical phenomena that occur in the cylinder. The good agreement between the experimental and simulated data could improve the predictive capabilities of the computational code and reduce the cost of experimental activities. For the modeling of a diesel spray, the first step has been to investigate its behavior in a non-combusting environment; in particular, Musculus and Kattke proposed a model for the simulation of the injection of fuel in non-reacting still environment. Starting from that knowledge, the authors apply the injection model to a compression ignition research engine. By means of an optical engine, injection phase has been investigated via 2D digital imaging. The main jet characteristics like penetration and dispersion angle have been measured. The penetration data were compared with those provided by the 1D model with the same in-cylinder conditions. Some differences have been noted. In order to match the experimental data with the predicted ones: dispersion angle, ramp-up of injection rate, and the equivalence ratio curve need to be modified.