Flow- and concentration variation between the cylinders of a diesel engine

The demands on tomorrows diesel engines regarding fuel consumption and emission levels keep getting more difficult to fulfill. Due to this fact, the control demand is getting bigger and bigger. To be able to comply with the Euro 6 standards, it is believed that engine control need to be conducted individually from cylinder to cylinder if the need for after-treatment systems should be minimized. Scania’s approach to handle emission levels so far has been to use exhaust gas recirculation (EGR). To be able to optimize the use of EGR it is necessary to know how the inert gases, water and carbon dioxide, are distributed between the cylinders. The distribution variation become even more difficult to predict since the EGR is cooled, sometimes leading to condensation of some of the water content. The condensation of water and its behavior in the inlet manifold is studied in this thesis. Different ways of measuring non-uniformity in the gas composition between cylinders with respect to EGR in general and water content in particular are evaluated. Using these results, measurements have been conducted on an engine and conclusions are drawn from them. The conclusions are that uneven distribution of above all liquid water, due to puddle formation, have an impact on emission formation that should be accounted for in some of the examined operating conditions