Analysis of the effect of variations in fuel line pressure in high-speed direct injection diesel engines, with high-pressure common rail fuel injection systems on heat release, cylinder pressure, performance, and NOx emissions

Abstract This paper is a further development of work previously reported on a wholly analytical approach to heat release modelling and is applicable to high-speed direct injection (HSDI) diesel engines operating with high-pressure common rail fuel injection systems under conditions of predominantly mixing-controlled combustion. The key variable in this treatment is the fuel preparation or combustion rate factor WH which, in conjunction with the primary injection variables, i.e. rail pressure, injection velocity and duration, defines the shape and amplitude of the heat release curve. It was shown in a previous paper that by expressing the fuel preparation rate factor WH as a function of time rather than crank angle, i.e. WHt instead of WHθ, the former can be presented as a nearly linear function of the square of injection velocity, i.e. WHt is directly proportional to the kinetic energy of the injected fuel spray, the latter evidently being the primary influence on the rate of the fuel-air mixing process. The analytical treatment developed in the authors' previous paper then allows heat release rates in the engine, dQ/dθ, to be calculated over a wide range of engine speeds and loads, with the aid of the existing engine simulation code ODES (Otto diesel engine simulation) to predict the associated engine performance and emissions, without resorting to further engine testing.