Investigation of Injection Pressure Effects on Medium Speed Diesel Engine Emissions

As with most internal combustion engines, the locomotive diesel is subjected to increasingly stringent regulatory emissions standards. Currently, diesel electric freight locomotives are regulated by the Tier 1 emission standards that went into effect January 1, 2002 as ruled by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Beginning January 1, 2005 the US EPA Tier 2 diesel locomotive emissions standards will become effective. To achieve the new emissions standards an extensive engine development program was initiated. This paper will present a portion of the development conducted on a single cylinder engine (SCE) investigating the effects of injection pressure on emissions. The experimental results are presented with a discussion of the possible mechanisms leading to the results with supporting evidence from existing literature and analysis. This paper will focus on the effect of injection pressure as generated by pump capacity and nozzle cup hydraulic flow.