• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.14-21
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• 2008

Synthetic gas is defined as reformed gas from hydrocarbon-based fuel and the major chemical species of the synthetic gas are $H_2$, CO and $N_2$. Among them, hydrogen from synthetic gas is very useful species in chemical process such as combustion. It is a main reason that many studies have been performed to develop an effective reforming device. Furthermore, other technologies have been studied for synthetic gas application, such as the ESGI(Exhaust Synthetic Gas Injection) technology. ESGI injects and burns synthetic gas in the exhaust pipe so that heat from hydrogen combustion helps fast warmup of the close-coupled catalyst and reduction of harmful emissions. However, it is very hard to understand combustion characteristic of hydrogen under low oxygen environment and complicated variation in chemical species in exhaust gas. This study focuses on the characteristics of hydrogen combustion under ESGI operating conditions using a CVC(Constant Volume Chamber). Measurements of pressure variation and flame speed have been performed for various oxygen and hydrogen concentrations. Results have been analyzed to understand ignition and combustion characteristics of hydrogen under lower oxygen conditions. The CVC experiments showed that under lower oxygen concentration, amount of active chemicals in the combustion chamber was a crucial factor to influence hydrogen combustion as well as hydrogen/oxygen ratio. It is also found that increase in volume fraction of oxygen is effective for the fast and stable burning of hydrogen by virtue of increase in flame speed.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.629-634
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• 2010

Natural gas is a promising alternative fuel that can be used to satisfy the strict engine emission regulations in many countries. To develop natural-gas engines, low emission, efficient fuel consumption, and increased power ratings have to be realized. In this study, a cylindrical constant-volume combustion chamber (CVCC) was used to investigate natural-gas combustion characteristics for different prechamber design parameters and equivalence ratios. In particular, the maximum combustion pressure and mass fraction of the burned gas were evaluated by considering orifice diameter, volume ratio of prechamber and equivalence ratio. Using this result and by analyzing the changes in combustion characteristics with variations in design parameters, the optimum prechamber parameters were determined.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.18 no.9
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• pp.1623-1629
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• 2004

The objective of this study is the rapid bulk combustion of mixture in a constant volume chamber with a tiny sub-chamber. Some narrow passage holes were arranged to induce simultaneous multi-point ignition in the main chamber by jet of burned and unburned gases including radicals from the sub-chamber, and the equivalence ratios of pre-mixture in the main chamber and the sub-chamber were the same. The principal factors of the Radical Induced Auto-Ignition (RIAI) method are the diameter of the passage holes and the volume of sub-chamber. The relationship between the sub-chamber and diameter of passage hole was represented by the ratios of sub-chamber volume to passage hole volume. The ratios are non-dimensional coefficients for sub-chamber characteristics. As a result, the RIAI method reduced the combustion period, which expanded the lean limit in comparison with SI method.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.1-8
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• 2004

A cylindrical constant volume combustion chamber was used to investigate the exhaust emission characteristics of homogeneous charge, stratified pattern and inhomogeneous charge under various conditions using gas chromatography. In the case of homogeneous charge condition, the $CO_2$ concentration is proportional to excess air ratio and overall charge pressure, the $CO_2$ concentration is proportional to excess air ratio and the UHC concentration is inversely proportional to ignition time and overall charge pressure. In the case of stratified pattern, the RI(rich injection) condition shows better exhaust emission characteristics, especially $CO_2$, than that of HI (homogeneous injection) or LI (lean injection) conditions. In inhomogeneous charge conditions, when initial charge pressure is increased, $CO_2$ and UHC concentration is reduced but $O_2$ concentration is increased. And when the excess air ratio of initial charge mixture is 3.0, UHC and $CO_2$concentration show lowest values.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.45-56
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• 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
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• v.24 no.12
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• pp.1652-1661
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• 2000

A visualization study using the schlieren method is adopted in an optically-accessible, cylindrical constant volume combustion chamber to identify the mechanism of ignition energy and ignition system interaction in spark ignited, lean gasoline-air mixture. In order to research the effects of ignition system on flame propagation, two kinds of ignition system are designed, and several kinds of spark plugs are tested and evaluated. To control the discharge energy, the dwell time is varied. The initial flame development is quantified in terms of 2-D images which provides information about the projected flame area and development velocity as a function of ignition system and discharge energy. The results show that high ignition energy and extended spark plug gap can shorten the combustion duration in lean mixtures. The material, diameter and configuration of electrodes the flame development by changing the transfer efficiency from electrical energy to chemical energy and discharge energy. However these factors do not affect of flame development as much a ignition energy or extended gap does.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.389-396
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• 1994

It is very important to clarify the ignition and flame propagation processes of methanol fuel in the Spark-ignition engine. High speed Schlieren photography and pressure trace analyses were used to study on combustion characteristics of methanol fuel in a constant volume chamber. Methanol-air mixtures equivalence rations from lean limit to 1.4 were ignited at initial pressure (0.1, 0.3, 0.5 MPa), temperature (313 343, 373 K) and ignition energy (40, 180 mJ). As the result of this study, we verified the characteristics such as ignition delay, effective thermal efficiency, flame propagation velocity, lean limit, ignitability and combustion duration. Obatained results are as follows. (1) The time to 10% reach of maximum pressure was 40-50% of the total combustion duration for this experimental condition hardly affected by equivalence ratio. (2) The Effective thermal efficiency, as calculated from maximum pressure was the highest when the mixture was slightly lean $({\phi} 0.8-0.9)$ and maximum pressure was the highest when the mixiture was slightly rich $({\phi} 1.2-1.2).$

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.3 no.6
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• pp.112-122
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• 1995

As an alternative fuel producing less exhaust emissions, natural gas is of interest for use both in SI and CI engines. The potential of natural gas fuelled dual-fuel engine is considered high enough. However, much effort has to be made so that gaseous fuel is used efficiently with simultaneous minimum use of pilot oil. Hence, a simplified three-dimensional model, using a finite volume method in cylindrical coordinates, has been developed to facilitate an understanding of the dual-fuel combustion phenomena and to predict the complex interactions between the pilot distillate and natural gas. The computer model was calibrated by comparing it with the experimental results obtained from diesel engine like combustion bomb tests. In the pre-mixed natural gas combustion, the fuel burning was highly reliant on the injection condition and subsequent burning nature of the pilot distillate.

• International Journal of Automotive Technology
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.323-332
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• 2005

A cylindrical constant volume combustion chamber was used to investigate the flow characteristics at the spark electrode gap and the combustion characteristics of a homogeneous charged methane-air mixture under various overall charge pressures, excess air ratios and ignition times. The flow characteristics, including the mean velocity and turbulence intensity, were analyzed with a hot wire anemometer. Combustion pressure development measured by piezoelectric pressure transducer, a flame propagation image acquired by ICCD camera and exhaust emissions measured by 2-valve gas chromatography were used to investigate effects of initial pressures, excess air ratios and ignition times on the combustion characteristics. It was found that the mean velocity and turbulence intensity had the maximum value around 200-300 ms and then decreased gradually to a near-zero value after 3000 ms and that the combustion duration was shorten and the flame speed and laminar burning velocity had the highest value under the condition of an excess air ratio of 1.1, an overall charge pressure of 0.15 MPa and an ignition time of 300 ms in the present study. The $CO_2$ concentration was proportional to the ignition time and overall charge pressure, the $CO_2$ concentration was proportional to the excess air ratio, and the UHC concentration was inversely proportional to the ignition time and overall charge pressure.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.135-146
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• 2015

This paper is the fourth on the combustion characteristics of the landfill gas in a constant volume combustion chamber for a large displacement volume commercial engine and the second dealing with torch ignition. It discusses the combustion characteristics of torch ignition on the basis of the heat release and visualization. The results show that the jet and/or spout from the torch promote combustion by accelerating the flame front in the main combustion chamber. In addition, a hot gas jet exists when the orifice diameter is 4 mm, whereas the flame passes directly through the orifice if the diameter is 6 mm or greater. In addition, the effect of torch ignition differs according to the combination of the methane fraction, torch volume, and orifice size because various combustion processes occur as a result of the interaction of these parameters. Finally, it was found that the most suitable torch should have an orifice diameter of not less than 6 mm and an area ratio of not more than 0.15 to secure a consistent combustion process in a real engine.