The Ignition of a Premixed Fuel and Air Charge by Pilot Fuel Spray Injection with Reference to Dual-Fuel Combustion

Dual fuel engines compress the air/gas fuel mixture to just below autoignition conditions and then ignite it by the injection of a small amount of liquid fuel. The use and performance of these engines, however, have been limited by knock. Single cylinder engine experiments show that this limitation is a readily defined autoignition phenomenon, and can be analyzed by a mathematical model that indicates the effects on performance imposed by fuel changes and operating conditions. Experimental findings confirm that these performance data correlate broadly with those obtained conventionally in standard spark ignited or motored engines.