Effect of Intake Pressure on Emissions and Performance in Low Temperature Combustion Operation of a Diesel Engine

Abstract: One of the effective ways to reduce both NOx and PM at the same time in a diesel CI engine is to operate the engine in low temperature combustion (LTC) regimes. In general, two strategies are used to realize the LTC operation-dilution controlled LTC and late injection LTC- and in this study, the former approach was used. In the dilution controlled regime, LTC is achieved by supplying a large amount of EGR to the cylinder. The significant EGR gas increases the heat capacity of in-cylinder charge mixture while decreasing oxygen concentration of the charge, activating low temperature oxidation reaction and lowering PM and NOx emissions. However, use of high EGR levels also deteriorates combustion efficiency and engine power output. Therefore, it is widely considered to use increased intake pressure as a way to resolve this issue. In this study, the effects of intake pressure variations on performance and emission characteristics of a single cylinder diesel engine operated in LTC regimes were examined. LTC operation was achieved in less than 8 % O2 concentration and thus a simultaneous reduction of both PM and NOx emission was confirmed. As intake pressure increased, combustion efficiency was improved so that THC and CO emissions were decreased. A shift of the peak Soot location was also observed to lower O2 concentration while NOx levels were kept nearly zero. In addition, an elevation of intake pressure enhanced engine power output as well as indicated thermal efficiency in LTC regimes. All these result