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Temperature measurement of internal components and surfaces can enhance understanding of thermal processes that occur during engine operation. Such measurements have typically been made with thermocouples, temperature sensitive paints or plugs, or infrared emission methods. Phosphor thermometry, a non-contact measurement technique, is an alternative that can be applied when more traditional methods are not feasible or are too costly. Recent efforts described in this paper have used phosphor thermometry to measure steady state piston crown temperature in a single cylinder engine. Additional testing with this technique included monitoring intake valve temperature in a multicylinder engine under cold start conditions. Packaging of the optical hardware necessary for this technique was substantially refined during these tests for use in modern engine geometries.

The paper describes a water analogy rig and its associated instrumentation and data acquisition system, developed to make particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements of in-cylinder flow during the intake stroke. Methods of producing parameters to describe the flow characteristics of four valve engines with tumbling air motion are evaluated and correlation with combustion performance is examined for two different engines with a total of seven different inlet port designs. Each inlet port configuration was also evaluated by conventional steady flow methods. The results show that the dynamic water flow rig gave improved correlation with combustion data than that obtained with conventional steady flow methods of characterising in-cylinder flow patterns.

A combustion-based analytical method, initially developed by the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) and referred to as the Constant Volume Combustion Apparatus (CVCA), has been further researched/developed by an SwRI licensee (Advanced Engine Technology Ltd.). This R&D has resulted in a diesel fuel Ignition Quality Tester (IQT) that permits rapid and precise determination of the ignition quality of middle distillate and alternative fuels. Its features, such as low fuel volume requirement, complete test automation, and self-diagnosis, make it highly suitable for commercial oil industry and research applications. A preliminary investigation, reported in SAE paper 961182, has shown that the IQT results are highly correlated to the ASTM D-613 cetane number (CN). The objective of this paper is to report on efforts to further refine the original CN model and report on improvements to the IQT fuel injection system.

A vehicle's evaporative emission control system is continuously working, even when the vehicle is not running, due to generation of vapors from the fuel tank during ambient temperature variations. Diurnal temperature cycles cause the fuel tank to breathe the fuel vapor in and out, and thus the activated carbon canister is constantly loading and purging the hydrocarbon vapors. This paper discusses a study undertaken at Ford to evaluate the relationship between carbon canister condition and fuel tank vapor generation during diurnal cycles. The results of an extensive set of experiments are presented, and the data from these experiments are compared to the output of a fuel vapor system model also developed at Ford. Key parameters relating to the migration of hydrocarbons during the experimental conditions studied, including initial canister condition, canister volume, and canister geometry, are discussed.

A 1.9L four cylinder engine was evaluated for leakage of cylinder charge through the exhaust valve seats. Fast FID HC analyzer traces reveal leakage. Static leakdown tests do not correlate with the Fast FID measurement, unlike previously published reports for a different engine. The causes of exhaust valve seat leakage are likely to be Flakes of cylinder deposits lodging in the valve seat Valve seat distortion due to the thermal and pressure loading of the cylinder head structure Because deposit related effects are very history dependent, it is very difficult to obtain quantitative results. Some experimental observations: Static pressure leakage measurements show variation of leakage area with cylinder pressure, caused by flexing of the valve head. Dynamic leakage results are history dependent. Leakage is reduced after running at high speed/load, and gradually build up during extended light load low speed operation.

Catastrophic failures of fuel pumps used to transport ethanol have occurred in various facilities. Failures occurred in as little as 50 hours on pumps with a 2000 hour life expectancy. Post-failure inspection of the pumps showed corrosive pitting of the metal in the areas of sliding contact. Several potential causes, including cavitation, thermal expansion of pump parts, and fuel contaminants such as acetic acid were ruled out. Fuel samples from facilities with high pump failure rates passed all D 4806 specification tests for fuel-grade ethanol, including titratable acid by D 1613. However, pH readings as low as 2.0 indicated potentially corrosive fuels. Controlled tests on pumps and corrosion tests showed that pump failures correlated with fuel pH. Corrosive fuels were found to contain ethyl sulfate, which correlated with fuel pH. It appears that ethyl sulfate originates from sulfur dioxide, which is used as an antioxidant and antiseptic in the production of ethanol.

Three catalysts based on X-zeolite have been developed by exchanging its Na+ ion with Copper, Nickel and Vanadium metal ions and tested in a stationary SI engine exhaust to observe their potentialities for NOx and CO controlling. The catalyst Cu-X, in comparison to Ni-X and V-X, exhibits much better NOx and CO reduction performance at any temperature. Maximum NOx conversion efficiencies achieved with Cu-X, Ni-X and V-X are 62.2%, 59.7% and 56.1% respectively. Unlike noble metals, the doped X-zeolite catalysts, studied here, maintain their peak NOx reduction performance through a wider range of A/F ratio. Back pressure developed across the catalyst bed is found to be well within the acceptable limits.

Four vehicle fleets, consisting of 3 to 4 vehicles each, were emission tested on a 48″ roll chassis dynamometer using both the FTP urban dynamometer driving cycle and the REP05 driving cycle. The REP05 cycle was developed to test vehicles under high speed and high load conditions not included in the FTP. The vehicle fleets consisted of 1989 light-duty gasoline vehicles, 1992-93 limited production FFV/VFV methanol vehicles, 1992-93 compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles and their gasoline counterparts, and a 1992 production and two prototype ethanol FFV/VFV vehicles. All vehicles (except the dedicated CNG vehicles) were tested using Auto/Oil AQIRP fuels A and C2. Other fuels used were M85 blended from A and C2, E85 blended from C1, which is similar to C2 but without MTBE, and four CNG fuels representing the range of in-use CNG fuels. In addition to bag measurements, tailpipe exhaust concentration and A/F data were collected once per second throughout every test.

This paper introduced a very simple method to measure the liquid phase of spray in an optically accessible DI diesel engine. Particular attention was paid to easy usage and maintaining the compression ratio of the real engine. As a result, a less-expensive 4 W argon laser was used as the beam source and an E-10 high-speed camera was used for continuously observing the elastic-scatter liquid phase image. Meanwhile, the compression ratio can be kept as the real engines by this method. Through this method, the effects such as injection pressure, nozzle specification, intake air boost and temperature on liquid phase penetration before ignition were investigated. Reducing nozzle hole diameter decreased the length of the liquid phase. Increasing injection pressure hastened the evolution of liquid phase, while the liquid phase length varied complexly. Increasing intake air boost considerably shortened the liquid phase penetration and ignition delay.

In this study, we investigated the combustion technology for the direct injection (DI) methanol engine for a heavy-duty vehicle that makes use of the fuel characteristics of methanol and achieves smokeless burning with high efficiency and low NOx emissions under the heavy load condition. A 3.3-liter 4-cylinder spark-assisted DI methanol engine was tested to investigate the combustion and NOx emission characteristics under the full load condition with supercharging and/or EGR. We believe that supercharging suppressed the stratified charge combustion, but accelerated the premixed combustion to increase the indicated mean effective pressure. Moreover, supercharging was helpful in carrying out EGR under the full load condition without deteriorating the thermal efficiency. Furthermore, heavy EGR during supercharging reduced the NOx emissions dramatically while maintaining the high thermal efficiency and controlling the unburned hydrocarbons emissions.

The cycle-resolved fuel concentration near the spark plug in a firing SI engine has been measured using an infrared fiber optic instrumented spark plug probe. The probe can measure in-cylinder concentrations of hydrocarbons in the pre-combustion regions of the engine cycle and give qualitative results for unburned hydrocarbons in the post-combustion regions. The device consists of a spark plug body that has been modified to accept a pair of sapphire optical fibers in addition to a spark electrode. Radiation from an infrared source is coupled into one fiber and reflected from a minor on the spark plug ground electrode to the other fiber which carries the signal to a detector and data acquisition system. The probe measures the attenuation of the infrared radiation transmitted through a region in the vicinity of the spark gap. The attenuation results from the absorption of radiation by the fuel. The measurements were made in a CFR engine at 600 rpm using propane fuel.

Industrial grade ethanol, in concentrations ranging from 130 proof to 200 proof, can be used as a feedstock for a 50kWe advanced fuel processor developed by Arthur D. Little, Inc. for fuel cell vehicles. At 180 proof concentration, hydrated ethanol showed no performance degradation compared with both 200 proof (pure) ethanol and E95 (95% ethanol and 5% gasoline) at equivalence ratios ranging from 3.0 to 4.0. Environmental benefits associated with the use of ethanol in fuel cell power systems include its production from renewable biological sources, low toxicity in the event of an accidental spill, and recycling of carbon dioxide released by the process back to the plant matter used as ethanol feedstock. Cost savings associated with the use of hydrated ethanol are expected to include lower production costs, lower distribution costs, and lower powerplant costs due to the possibility of system simplification.

This paper presents some experimental results of air velocity measurements near high pressure diesel sprays. The measurements were made using a moderately high pressure (90 MPa) common rail injector in a pressurized spray chamber. The chamber was operated at ambient temperature (25°C) and was pressurized with Argon to produce a chamber gas density of about 27 kg/m3, similar to densities found in a large turbocharged diesel near TDC. The gas phase was tagged using water droplets doped with Stilbene 420, with an estimated droplet size of 18 μm. The atomized water-Stilbene droplets were illuminated with the third harmonic of a pair of Nd:YAG lasers which caused the Stilbene to fluoresce at about 420 nm. To reduce the competing fluorescence from the injected fuel, the injector was fueled with Jet-A fuel. Using the two lasers, double exposures of the small droplets were recorded on film. The laser pulse lengths were about 6 ns, and typical times between pulses were 100 μs.

Automatic transmission clutches are complex tribological systems. Frictional performance is controlled by the interaction of base fluids, additive components, composition clutches, and steel reaction plates with varying energy inputs and thermal stresses in an oxidizing environment. This paper, rather than addressing fully formulated fluid performance in such a system, takes a more fundamental approach where the number of system variables is reduced and the relative effects of formulation variables on system performance can be better examined. Relationships among observed friction performance, system oxidation, friction member condition, and representative performance additives are explored using a synthetic base fluid and a conventionally refined mineral base fluid.

The Cooperative Lubrication Research (CLR) Oil Test Engine, usually called the L-38, has been used for nearly 25 years to evaluate copper-lead journal bearing protection of gasoline rnotoroils under high-temperature, heavy-duty conditions. The test is sensitive to aggressive surface active additives that may encourage bearing corrosion. The L-38 also provides an estimate of oil durability, assessing the resistance of an oil to the accumulation of acidic by-products of combustion that could attack copper-lead bearings. However, the L-38 engine dynamometer test uses a heavily leaded gasoline that is no longer representative of the commercial fuels available in North America, Europe, or Japan. Rather than discard the L-38, this paper describes work to modify the L-38 procedure to run with unleaded gasoline.

Nylon is used as a material in the design of various components of automatic transmissions. Pump rotor guides and thrust washers are among components designed from nylon. Nylon must be compatible with automatic transmission fluid (ATF). An immersion test using nylon strips in various test fluids was developed. The nylon color change was independent of the physical properties (as measured by change of tensile force) of the material. Testing indicated that nylon color change is catalyzed by oxidation effects, and the change in tensile strength is related to thermal degradation. An automatic transmission fluid (ATF) containing calcium sulfonate detergent showed better oxidation resistance and caused less loss of tensile strength in nylon 6 (PA6).

The fuel effects on throttle transients in PFI spark ignition engines were assessed through experiments with simultaneous step change of the throttle position from part load to WOT and increment of the injected fuel amount. The test matrix consisted of various gasoline/methanol blends from pure gasoline to pure methanol, coolant temperatures at 40C (for cold engine condition) and 80C (for warm engine), and different levels of fuel enrichment at the WOT condition. The x-τ model was used to interpret the engine GIMEP response in the transient. Using the model, a procedure was developed to calculate the parameters of the transient from the data. These parameters were systematically regressed against the fuel distillation points, the increment in injected fuel mass in the transient, and the enthalpy required to evaporate the fuel increment as the explanatory variables.

It is found that a thin and rich mixture layer on a wall is formed after impingement of a gas jet of fuel on the wall. The measured thickness of the mixture layer is about 2 mm. and its dispersion rate after the end of injection is much lower, compared to that of a space gas jet. This phenomenon in a small D.I. diesel engine is known as “wall wetting” or “wall fuel accumulation” which has an important influence on engine fuel consumption and emissions. This paper presents a technique for enhancing the near wall mixing of an impinging jet by means of a bump on the wall. The development of a wall jet formed after an impingement of a gas jet has been investigated by simultaneously measuring the near wall velocity and concentration distribution. It has been found that a wall jet is stripped off the wall and ejected as a secondary jet when the wall jet encounters a bump of the wall.

A computational design of experiments was constructed to analyze two basic nozzle designs. Several geometric features of the nozzles such as cavity height, exit orifice area, turbulence generator area and exit orifice position in addition to the pressure differential across the injector were used in a 2k factorial design study. Performance characteristic which were analyzed in an analysis of variance study included the discharge coefficient. atomization efficiency and predicted spray pattern. The computational design of experiments revealed which of the studied parameters had the greatest influence on a given nozzle performance characteristic. These results were compared to a similar investigation which was later performed experimentally from which similar conclusions were drawn.

In the quest for improved fuel efficiency and reduced CO2 emissions, motor manufacturers are increasingly turning to the High Speed Direct Injection (HSDI) diesel engine for passenger car use. To achieve acceptable levels of noise and emissions at low loads two stage injection is being utilised. Such injection systems are prone to nozzle coking due to the small fuel metering holes, low opening pressures and low fuel flow rates under part load operation. This coking leads to a rapid deterioration of emissions performance. This paper describes work done to investigate conditions leading to this phenomena and the possible mechanisms involved.