Partially-Premixed Flames in Internal Combustion Engines

摘要

This was a joint university-industry research program funded by the Partnerships for the Academic-Industrial Research Program (PAIR). The research examined partially premixed flames in laboratory and internal combustion engine environments at Vanderbilt University, University of Michigan, and General Motors Research and Development. At Vanderbilt University, stretched and curved ''tubular'' premixed flames were measured in a unique optically accessible burner with laser-induced spontaneous Raman scattering. Comparisons of optically measured temperature and species concentration profiles to detailed transport, complex chemistry simulations showed good correspondence at low-stretch conditions in the tubular flame. However, there were significant discrepancies at high-stretch conditions near flame extinction. The tubular flame predictions were found to be very sensitive to the specific hydrogen-air chemical kinetic mechanism and four different mechanisms were compared. In addition, the thermo-diffusive properties of the deficient reactant, H2, strongly affected the tubular flame structure. The poor prediction near extinction is most likely due to deficiencies in the chemical kinetic mechanisms near extinction. At the University of Michigan, an optical direct-injected engine was built up for laser-induced fluorescence imaging experiments on mixing and combustion under stratified charge combustion conditions with the assistance of General Motors. Laser attenuation effects were characterized both experimentally and numerically to improve laser imaging during the initial phase of the gasoline-air mixture development. Toluene was added to the isooctane fuel to image the fuel-air equivalence ratio in an optically accessible direct-injected gasoline engine. Temperature effects on the toluene imaging of fuel-air equivalence ratio were characterized. For the first time, oxygen imaging was accomplished in an internal combustion engine by combination of two fluorescence trackers, toluene and 3-pentanone. With this method, oxygen, fuel and equivalence ratio were measured in the cylinder. At General Motors, graduate students from the University of Michigan and Vanderbilt University worked with GM researchers to develop high-speed imaging methods for optically accessible direct-injection engines. Spark-emission spectroscopy was combined with high-speed spectrally-resolved combustion imaging in a direct-injected engine.