Influence of spray-to-spray interaction after wall impingement of spray flames on diesel combustion characteristics

The influence of spray-to-spray interaction after wall impingement of spray flames on the combustion characteristics in high pressure and high temperature ambient gas like in combustion chambers of diesel engines was examined with a constant volume vessel. Fuel was injected onto a flat wall from two nozzles to form two parallel, adjacent sprays in the vessel, causing the spray-to-spray interaction after the wall impingement. The combustion was analyzed with the rate of heat release calculated from the pressure transition in the vessel and the spray flame was visualized by high-speed video. The 310 nm UV light images of the chemiluminescence from OH radicals are recorded to demonstrate the reaction activity in the spray flame. The images of transmitted light throughout the constant volume vessel were recorded to visualize the soot formation and oxidation processes as well as to quantify the soot concentrations as the KL factors. The results showed that the rate of heat release from the main combustion decreases and the afterburning increases with the spray-to-spray interaction after the wall impingement of the spray flame. Combustion suppression with the spray-to-spray interaction occurred in all the conditions of the experiments here when changing the distance from the nozzle to the impinging wall between 25 and 40 mm and the fuel injection pressures between 100 and 200 MPa. Inside the spray-to-spray interaction zone, the chemiluminescence from OH radicals is weaker, supporting the inactive combustion due to difficulties of the air entrainment, and the lower transmitted light intensities with larger KL factors, indicating higher soot concentrations. The spray-to-spray interaction zone on the impingement wall advances toward the inside of the vessel between the sprays and it moves away from the wall, entraining the unutilized air and causing a relatively active combustion as well as rapid soot oxidation during the late afterburning stage.