Preinjection—A Measure to Influence Exhaust Quality and Noise in Diesel Engines

The combustion noise generated by DI diesel engines can be clearly reduced during both steady-state and transient operation in applying a pilot injection. After optimization, a slight increase in fuel consumption is found in the upper load range. The pilot injection also tends to reduce the NO_x emissions. An increase in black smoke emissions is considered to be the main drawback with pilot injection. High-speed Schlieren photographs of injection and combustion phenomena within a pressurized chamber show that the higher black smoke emissions may be due to the combustion of the main injection quantity that occurs in a mixture that is insufficiently prepared and with nearly no delay due to the pilot injection. On the basis of these findings, it is concluded that a high degree of atomization and rapid vaporization of the main injection quantity must be accomplished. To achieve these goals better, a separate injection nozzle for the pilot quantity is preferred to an injection system with a single injection nozzle, providing both the pilot and the main quantity. Therefore, rather simple injection systems with a separate pilot injector can be developed that provide a constant pilot quantity and controlled pilot injection time over the entire engine map.