Development and application of a twin CCD camera system for in-cylinder fuel spray analysis

This paper describes the development of a CCD based system for the study of fuel sprays within a direct injection, spark ignition, internal combustion engine. A fully flexible twin camera system was designed and built that could capture images from inside a cylinder while the engine was firing. The camera system is asynchronous and fully digital permitting rapid observation of the results, allowing immediate modification of the engine or light source as required, something not possible with existing imaging systems used for this work. The design and operation of the camera system is described and a description of the optically accessed engine is also given. The paper concludes with examples of images of fuels sprays within the engine.