Ignition in Convective-Diffusive Systems
Abstract
Motivation for this program stems from the Army's interest in understanding and increasing the performance of diesel engines which serve as the main powerplant for its tactical vehicles. Since ignition initiates the entire combustion process in a diesel engine, a good understanding of the ignition process is crucial to the overall performance of the engine in terms of its combustion efficiency as well as the knock and emission characteristics. The ignition event is clearly controlled by the chemical reactions of fuel oxidation and the fluid mechanics of convective and diffusive transport. Most of the studies involved the counterflow configuration created by impinging a cold fuel jet against a hot oxidizer jet, and utilized laser-based experimentation, computation with detailed chemistry and transport, and mathematical analysis with activation energy asymptotics. The study has qualitatively identified some very unique ignition phenomena, and quantitatively determined the states of ignition in terms of the fuel, the heated air temperature, the system pressure, and the strain rate of the flow. The report discusses highlights of the findings and lists the journal articles in which they are documented in detail.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 28, 1999
- Accession Number
- ADA370017
Entities
People
- Chung K. Law
Organizations
- Princeton University