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Title: Thermally Stratified Compression Ignition: A new advanced low temperature combustion mode with load flexibility

Journal Article · · Applied Energy
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [2]
  1. Stony Brook Univ., NY (United States)
  2. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
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We introduce a new advanced combustion mode, called Thermally Stratified Compression Ignition (TSCI), which uses direct water injection to control both the average temperature and the temperature distribution prior to ignition, thereby providing cycle-to-cycle control over the start and rate of heat release in Low Temperature Combustion (LTC). Experiments were conducted to fundamentally understand the effects of water injection on heat release in LTC. Our results show that water injection retards the start of combustion due to the latent heat of vaporization of the injected water. Furthermore, for start of water injection timings between 20 and 70 degrees before top dead center, combustion is significantly elongated compared to without water injection. The 10–90% burn duration with 6.6 and 9.0 mg of water per cycle was 77% and 146% longer than without water injection, respectively. Forced thermal stratification result from a direct water injection which reduces the heat release rate by local evaporative cooling. Finally, the load limits with and without water injection were determined experimentally. Without water injection, the load range was 2.3–3.6 bar gross IMEP. By using water injection to control heat release, the load range in TSCI was 2.3–8.4 bar gross IMEP, which is a range expansion of over 350%. These results demonstrate that direct water injection can provide significant improvements to both controllability and the range of operability of LTC, thereby resolving the major challenges associated with HCCI.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Fuels, Engines and Emissions Research Center (FEERC); Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). National Transportation Research Center (NTRC)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC05-00OR22725
OSTI ID:
1342679
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1413332
Journal Information:
Applied Energy, Vol. 189, Issue C; ISSN 0306-2619
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 54 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (9)

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Thermal efficiency improvement of super-lean burn spark ignition engine by stratified water insulation on piston top surface journal April 2020
Advanced combustion free-piston engines: A comprehensive review journal October 2018
Effect of engine size, speed, and dilution method on thermal stratification of premixed homogeneous charge compression–ignition engines: A large eddy simulation study journal January 2019
Investigation of thermal stratification in premixed homogeneous charge compression ignition engines: A Large Eddy Simulation study journal August 2018
Effects of exhaust gas recirculation composition and temperature on microscopic mechanical properties of particles in a diesel engine journal October 2018
Computational fluid dynamics investigations of the effect of water injection timing on thermal stratification and heat release in thermally stratified compression ignition combustion journal April 2018
A split injection of wet ethanol to enable thermally stratified compression ignition journal November 2018
Improving the controllability of partial fuel stratification at low boost levels by applying a double late injection strategy journal January 2020

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Low temperature combustion
Advanced combustion
HCCI
Heat release
Thermal stratification