Effects of pilot injection parameters on low temperature combustion diesel engines equipped with solenoid injectors featuring conventional and rate-shaped main injection

• The influence of the principal pilot injection parameters is discussed for low-temperature combustion systems.
• Swirl-sweep and dwell-time sweep results are combined to analyze soot emissions.
• The pilot injection effects are investigated in injection profiles featuring rate-shaped main injections.

The potential of pilot injection has been assessed on a low-temperature combustion diesel engine for automotive applications, which was characterized by a reduced compression-ratio, high EGR rates and postponed main injection timings. Dwell time sweeps have been carried out for pilot injections with distinct energizing times under different representative steady-state working conditions of the medium load and speed area of the New European Driving Cycle. The results of in-cylinder analyses of the pressure, heat-release rate, temperature and emissions are presented.Combustion noise has been shown to decrease significantly when the pilot injected mass increases, while it is scarcely affected by the dwell time between the pilot and main injections. The HC, CO and fuel consumption trends, with respect to both the pilot injection dwell time and mass, are in line with those of conventional combustion systems, and in particular decreasing trends occur as the pilot injection energizing time is increased. Furthermore, a reduced sensitivity of NOx emissions to both dwell time and pilot injected mass has been found, compared to conventional combustion systems. Finally, it has been observed that soot emissions diminish as the energizing time is shortened, and their dependence on dwell time is influenced to a great extent by the presence of local zones with reduced air-to-fuel ratios within the cylinder. A combined analysis of the results of swirl sweeps and dwell time sweeps is here proposed as a methodology for the detection of any possible interference between pilot combustion burned gases and the main injected fuel.The effect of pilot injection on engine performance and emissions has also been assessed in the presence of rate-shaped main injections. These main injection profiles have been implemented with solenoid injectors by designing the injection fusion between a pre injection shot, which is added after the pilot injection, and the main injection. This innovative strategy shows benefits, with respect to combustion noise, although it still results in a reduced impact on NOx emissions. Furthermore, the brake specific fuel consumption and soot levels generally become worse than in the case of the simple pilot–main injection schedules. The injection fusion strategy has a significant impact on the soot versus dwell time dependence, which is influenced by the interference between the main injection and pilot combustion.