Review of Heavy-Duty Engine Combustion Research at Sandia National Laboratories

The objectives of this paper are to describe the research efforts in diesel engine combustion at Sandia National Laboratories' Combustion Research Facility and to provide recent experimental results. We have four diesel engine experiments supported by the Department of Energy, Office of Heavy Vehicle Technologies: a one-cylinder version of a Cummins heavy-duty engine, a diesel simulation facility, a one-cylinder Caterpillar engine to evaluate combustion of alternative fuels, and a homogeneous-charge, compression-ignition (HCCI) engine facility is under development. Recent experimental results to be discussed are: the effects of injection timing and diluent addition on late-combustion soot burnout, diesel-spray ignition and premixed-burn behavior, a comparison of the combustion characteristics of M85 (a mixture of 85% methanol and 15% gasoline) and DF2 (#2 diesel reference fuel), and a description of our HCCI experimental program and modeling work.