• Journal of Power System Engineering
• /
• v.19 no.2
• /
• pp.49-56
• /
• 2015

As an alternative fuel that can be used in SI engine, LPG is one of clean fuels with larger H/C ratio compared to gasoline, low $CO_2$ emission, and small amount of pollutants such as sulfur compounds. When LPG is used in spark ignition engine, volumetric efficiency of the engine can be improved and pumping loss can be reduced by performing direct injection into the combustion chamber instead of port fuel injection. LPG-DI engine allows for lean combustion and stratified combustion under low load. In case of stratified combustion, air fuel ratio can be greatly increased compared to theoretic mixture ratio combustion. Improved thermal efficiency of the engine and reduced pumping loss can be expected from stratified combustion. Accordingly in this study, an experimental apparatus for visualization was designed and manufactured to study the combustion process of LPG after injection and ignition, intended to examine ignition probability and combustion characteristics of spark ignition direct injection(SIDI) LPG fuel. Ambient pressure, ambient temperature and fuel injection pressure were found as important variables that affect ignition probability and flame propagation characteristics of LPG-air mixture. Also, it was verified that the injected LPG fuel can be directly ignited by spark plug under appropriate ambient conditions.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
• /
• v.9 no.1
• /
• pp.45-56
• /
• 2001

A constant volume combustion chamber is employed to investigate the initial flame kernel development and flame propagation of gasoline-air mixtures with various ignition systems, ignition energy and spark plug electrodes. To do this research, four ignition systems are designed and manufactured, and the ignition energy is controlled by varying the dwell time. Several kinds of spark plugs are also made to analyze the effects of electrodes on flame kernel development. The velocity of flame propagation is measured by the laser deflection method. The output laser beam from He-Ne laser is divided into three parallel beams by a beam splitter. The splitted beams pass through the combustion chamber. They are deflected when contacted with flame front, and the voltage signals from photodiodes change due to deflection. The results show that higher ignition energy raises the flame propagation speed especially under the fuel lean operation. The wider electrode gap, smaller electrode diameter and sharper electrode tip make the speed of the initial flame propagation faster. The speed of the initial flame propagation is affected by electrode material as well. Electrode material with lower melting temperature help the initial flame propagation.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
• /
• v.24 no.11
• /
• pp.1486-1496
• /
• 2000

The initial flame kernel development and flame propagation in a constant volume combustion chamber is analyzed by the heat release rate and the mass fraction burnt. The combustion pressure is measured with a piezoelectric type pressure sensor. In order to evaluate the effects of ignition system and ignition energy on the flame propagation, four different ignition systems are designed and tested, and the ignition energy is varied by the dwell time. Several different spark plugs are also tested and examined to analysis the effects of electrodes on flame kernel development. The results show that the when the dwell time is increased, and when the spark plug gap is extended, heat release rate and the mass burnt fraction are increased. The materials and shapes of electrodes affect the flame development, because they change the energy transfer efficiency from electrical energy to chemical energy. The diameter of electrodes influences not only the heat release rate but also the mass burnt fraction as well.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
• /
• v.11 no.3
• /
• pp.92-98
• /
• 2003

An LPG engine for heavy-duty vehicles has been developed using liquid phase LPG injection (hereafter LPLi) system which has regarded as one of the next generation LPG fuel supply systems. In this wort to investigate the lean bum characteristics of heavy-duty LPLi engine, various injection timing (SOI, start of injection) and double ignition method were tested. The results showed that lean misfire limit of LPLi engine could be extended. by 0.2 $\lambda$ value, using the optimal SOI timing in LPLi system. Double ignition method test was carried out by installing the second spark plug and modified ignition circuit to ignite two spark plugs simultaneously. Double ignition resulted in the stable combustion under ultra lean bum condition, below $\lambda=1.7$, and extension of lean misfire limit compare to ordinary case. Therefore, LPLi engine with optimal SOI and double ignition method could be normally operated at around $\lambda=1.9$ and showed higher engine performance.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
• /
• v.22 no.11
• /
• pp.1530-1537
• /
• 1998

Mixture formation is one of the significant factors to improve combustion performance of an spark ignition engine. This is affected by spray and atomization characteristics of injector. In the case of EGI system, air-fuel mixing period is so short that a lot of fuel-film and liquid-fuel flow into cylinder. Since this fuel-film is not burnt perfectly in cylinder, it is exhausted in the form of HC emission. In this paper, three measurement techniques were utilized to measure spray characteristics and the amount of fuel-film in the cylinder. At first, PMAS was used to measure the spray characteristics such as size distributions, SMD, and spray angle. Secondly the amount and distribution of fuel-film which flow into through intake valve could be measured quantitatively using the fuel-film measuring device. And lastly, by optical fiber type spark plug used to detect the diffusion flame, the amount of unburned HC was measured. As the result of these experiments, the information of optimal spray characteristics and injection condition to minimize fuel-film could be built up.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
• /
• v.16 no.11
• /
• pp.1457-1469
• /
• 2002

This paper is the first of several companion papers, which investigate axial stratification process and its effects in an Sl engine. The axial stratification is very sophisticate phenomenon, which results from combination of fuel injection, port and in-cylinder flow and mixing. Because of the inherent unsteady condition in the reciprocating engine, it Is impossible to understand the mechanism through the analytical method. In this paper, the ports were characterized by swir and tumble number in steady flow bench test. After this, lean misfire limit of the engines, which had different port characteristic, were investigated as a function of swirl ratio and injection timing for confirming the existence of stratification. In addition, gas fuel was used for verifying whether this phenomenon depends on bulk air motion of cylinder or on evaporation of fuel. High-speed gas sampling and analysis was also performed to estimate stratification charging effect. The results show that the AFR at the spark plug and LML are very closely related and the AFR is the results of bulk air motion.

• Journal of Power System Engineering
• /
• v.13 no.2
• /
• pp.5-10
• /
• 2009

In recently, studies concerned to the diesel engine uses a natural gas as a fuel oil whose infra has been built already was approached to PCCI or HCCI with keeping a high thermal efficiency and reducing NOx and PM have been researching actively in normally single cylinder. An ignition source is required to bum the natural gas by a spark plug in gasoline engines, due to a higher auto-ignition temperature of natural gas. Then gas oil and DME were introduced as the ignition source. In this study as basic data for practical use of natural gas PCCI and HCCI engines, combustion characteristics and emission characteristics on 4-cylinders natural gas PCCI and HCCI engines with gas oil and DME as ignition sources were analyzed and the engine load range that is main object for practical use of PCCI and HCCI engines was made clearly by empirical experiment.

• Journal of ILASS-Korea
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.76-81
• /
• 2015

Swirl flow has an impact on the stabilization of the flame by the recirculation flow, improvement of the combustion efficiency. The swirl flow in the gun type burner is created by the spinner which is inside the airtube that guide the combustion air. Burner has generally the combustion device composed electronic spark plug, injection nozzle, combustion device adaptor, and spinner. These inner components change the air flow behavior passing through airtube. So, this study analyzed exhaust flow characteristics of the gun type burner according to the ratio of airtube diameter. Turbulence characteristics by the spinner was mean velocity, turbulence intensity, kinetic energy, shear stress and flattness factor of the air flow of axial direction and tangential direction from the exit of the airtube.

• Journal of ILASS-Korea
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.70-75
• /
• 2015

Swirl flow in the gun type burner has an impact on the stabilization of the flame, improvement of the combustion efficiency. The swirl flow is created by the spinner which is inside the airtube that guide the combustion air. Gun type burner has generally the inner devices composed electronic spark plug, injection nozzle, combustion device adaptor, and spinner. These inner components change the air flow behavior passing through airtube. So, this study conducted the measurement using by hot-wire anemometer and analyzed effect of the swirl number of spinner on the exhaust air of gun type burner. Turbulence characteristics come up in this study was mean velocity, turbulence intensity, kinetic energy, shear stress and flattness factor of the air flow with the change of the distance of axial direction and tangential direction from the exit of the airtube.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
• /
• v.4 no.6
• /
• pp.11-17
• /
• 1996

Many researches on natural gas engines, with lean mixtures are being conducted for the purpose of preservation of global environment. Lean combustion is one of the most promising method for increasing engine efficiency and reducing the emission from SI engines. Due to the possibility of partial burn and misfire, however, under lean burn operation, stable flame kernel formation and fast burn rate, by use of swirl or tumble flow, are needed to guarantee a successful subsequent combustion. Experimental data were obtained on a 4-stroke, natural gas fueled SI engine to investigate the effect of compression ratio, swirl and spark plug electrode rotation on efficiency and emission under lean burn condition. Experimental results have displayed that higher compression ratio, presence of swirl vane and favorable direction of electrode gap brougth about the improvements in engine efficiency and its operational stability.