Effects of Microwave Enhanced Plasma on Diesel Spray Combustion

The effect of microwave enhanced plasma (MW Plasma) on diesel spray combustion was investigated inside a constant volume high pressure chamber. A microwave-enhanced plasma system, in which plasma discharge generated by a spark plug was amplified using microwave pulses, was used as plasma source. This plasma was introduced to the soot cloud after the occurrence of autoignition, downstream of the flame lift-off position to allow additional plasma-generated oxidizers to be entrained into the hot combustion products. Planar laser induced incandescence (PLII) diagnostics were performed with laser sheet formed from 532 nm Nd:YAG laser to estimate possible soot reduction effect of MW plasma. A semi-quantitative comparison was made between without-plasma conventional diesel combustion and with-plasma combustion; with LII performed at different jet cross-sections in the combustion chamber. Results indicated that plasma can effectively reduce the soot produced; and the maximum soot reduction effect was seen at locations in closer proximity to plasma discharge compared to locations far away from plasma discharge.