Predictions of Charge Drift in a Concept Electrosprayed DISI Engine

Limited to nonvaporizing spray cases, this work discusses the transport of charged droplets within a cylinder of a motored axisymmetric model electrosprayed direct injection spark ignition (eDISI) engine with electrified walls. The concept engine investigated here is assumed to operate with an electrostatic atomizer previously studied for application in fuel burners [Yule et al., 1994, Fuel, 74(7), pp. 1094–1103]. A split/multiple injection strategy is employed in which three pulses of $5mg$ each are made at crank angles of 80, 150 and 300 deg ATDC of the intake, which fall within the intervals for stable combustion of either early or late injection modes of operation of DISI engines [Jackson et al., 1997, SAE Paper No. 970543]. The direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) approach embodied in an in-house CFD research code is used to simulate the discrete phase flow with the electrical charge distribution for different instants within the computational cells being computed by simple addition of the droplet charges residing in particular cells at particular instants of time. It is shown in the half engine cycle investigated that the use of charged sprays in eDISI engines may help to reduce the in-cylinder wall-wetting phenomenon. In addition, pockets of highest electrical charge are found to populate the region near the spark plug by 345 deg CA, which may be a path for improved combustion efficiency.