Effects of Injection Timings and Intake Port Flow Control on the In-Cylinder Wetted Fuel Footprints during PFI Engine Startup Process

Wall-wetting due to liquid fuel film motion and fuel droplet impingement on combustion chamber walls is a major source of unburned hydrocarbons (UBHC), and is a concern for oil dilution in PFI engines. An experimental study was carried out to investigate the effects of injection timing, a charge motion control device, and the matching of injector with port geometry, on the “footprints” of liquid fuel inside the combustion chamber during the PFI engine starting process. Using a gasoline-soluble dye and filter paper deployed on the cylinder liner and piston top land surfaces to capture the liquid fuel footprints, the effects of the mixture formation processes on the wetted footprints can be qualitatively and quantitatively examined by comparing the wetted footprint locations and their color intensities. Real-time filming of the development of wetted footprints using a high-speed camera can also show the time history of the fuel wetting process inside an optically accessible engine. The results show that the cold-start in-cylinder wetted footprint is quite engine specific, depending on the intake-port to injector matching. The tumble mixture-motion plate inserted in the intake port creates more turbulence and enhances mixing during the intake process, and therefore significantly reduces the wetted fuel footprint. Limited UBHC measurements were also performed on the engine to compare with the imaging results.