Influence of Pre- and Post-Injection on the Performance and Pollutant Emissions in a HD Diesel Engine

The work presented here focuses on the influence of pre- and post-injection on the development of the combustion process and on engine efficiency and pollutant emissions.

Tests were performed with a heavy-duty 1.8 litre single-cylinder engine. The study combines performance and emissions measurements together with heat release law analysis. Four representative operating conditions from the European Steady state test Cycle (ESC) have been considered. For each one, the fuel quantity of the pre- and post-injection has been varied between 12 and 20 mg/cc, and the delay of the pre- and post-injection respect to the main injection has been modified too.

With a pre-injection strategy it has been possible to reduce the fuel consumption with little soot penalty but causing an increase in NO_x levels in most engine modes. The post-injection strategy has been demonstrated to be efficient in soot reduction without NO_x emission and fuel consumption penalty.