Sir Harry Ricardo Laboratories

The aim of the project is to optically investigate the influence of fuel composition on diesel spray atomisation and combustion. The research is conducted on optical engine test-cells using high-speed cameras and state-of-the-art laser-based equipment. Of particular interest are the fundamental processes central to fuel atomisation and in-cylinder mixture preparation strategies, and the role that these play in the formation of exhaust emissions.

Champ is a collaborative research project between the University of Brighton, the Institut de Recherche en Systèmes Electroniques Embarqués (IRSEEM, Rouen, France) and the Université de Picardie Jules Verne (Amiens, France) that aims to develop a low-power high efficiency hybrid power unit aimed at urban micro-cars and non-automotive transport applications. It also focuses on advanced control strategies for managing the flow of energy between the various power sources and sinks.

A novel poppet valve 2-stroke controlled auto-ignition combustion engine has been proposed by Brunel and Brighton Universities. The purpose of this proposal is to penetrate and understand the key in-cylinder phenomena and processes involved in the newly proposed poppet valve 2-stroke auto-ignition combustion engine. This will enable the assessment of its potential for leapfrog improvements in performance, fuel economy, and exhaust emissions, as compared to current gasoline engines.

This project study droplet transient heat conduction equation in the presence of evaporation (moving boundary effects) using two different analytical techniques. The solution will be first presented in the integral form. The second approach will be based on the presentation of the solution in the form of converging series. These solutions will be applicable for arbitrary droplets, but the effects they describe will be particularly important for small droplets when the changes of their radii during the time step are comparable with the values of their radii. The project will investigate the applicability of both solutions into the customised in-house version of the KIVA-2 CFD code. The implementation of the CFD code will be validated against experimental data referring to individual droplets provided by Professor F Lemoine (Nancy, France).

This project is concerned with the development of new mathematical models for transient Diesel fuel jets, taking into account their instabilities and acceleration, in a form suitable for implementation into computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes. This stochastic model will be implemented into a customised in-house version of the KIVA-2 CFD code. This code will be used for modelling fluid dynamics, heat transfer and combustion processes in Diesel engines. The results of the modelling will be validated against in-house experimental data. This will open the way to implement new models to other CFD codes, including commercial ones.

The main objective of the project is to establish a cross-channel centre of excellence for low carbon combustion. The purpose of this centre will be to improve the fundamental understanding of combustion processes by developing novel diagnostic techniques and methodologies optimised for renewable fuels used in transport and industry. The research activities will be dedicated to improving fuel efficiency, reducing pollutant emissions and greenhouse gases.

The main objective of the exchanges is to establish a framework for the development of possible collaborative research between Tsinghua University (Beijing, China) and University of Brighton (UK). It is anticipated that this exchange will lead to closer collaboration between the groups and a joint publication in a leading international refereed journal. Additionally, we plan to apply for support for a possible joint project, which would enable both groups to investigate the abovementioned problems further, keeping in mind the practical engineering application of the results.

The main aim of this project is to develop a 'universal' spray model applicable to a wide range of engineering and environmental applications, using the experience of the groups in St Petersburg and Brighton in developing models and their experimental validations for specific applications in fire suppression, liquefied gas depressurization and internal combustion engine research. This project will be focused not just on collaboration between scientists in Russia and the UK, but also on the collaboration between the groups performing complementary research on sprays.

It is anticipated that the research programme will focus on the applicability of the models and numerical methods of multiphase-flow hydrodynamics, developed by Professor Osiptsov and his colleagues, including the problems of hydrodynamic stability of sprays observed in automotive applications. This work will contain the following activities. Identification of a specific engineering problem, referring to the modelling of spray primary break-up, for the solution of which the Osiptsov Lagrangian method can be applied. It is anticipated that this will lead to a joint paper to be submitted to a leading international journal. Discussion of long term collaborative programmes leading to an EPSRC grant application focused on the formation and dynamics of automotive sprays. This work is expected to be performed in parallel with the first task. To the best of our knowledge nobody has attempted to use the Osiptsov Lagrangian method for studying dispersed systems with phase changes, and to apply the multiphase stability theory to modelling spray formation and dynamics. The possible involvement of a representative of the automotive company Ricardo Consulting Engineers is anticipated alongside Professor J Healey, from Keele University who is a collaborator on the previously mentioned EPSRC project.

The main objective of the exchanges is to establish a framework for the development of possible collaborative research between Tsinghua University (Beijing, China) and University of Brighton (UK). It is anticipated that this exchange will lead to closer collaboration between the groups and a joint publication in a leading international refereed journal. Additionally, we plan to apply for support for a possible joint project, which would enable both groups to investigate the abovementioned problems further, keeping in mind the practical engineering application of the results.

The main purpose of the project is to develop new mathematical models for fuel spray evaporation and autoignition in the form suitable for applications by the developers of the new generation of Diesel engines. Although the droplet evaporation process is essentially a kinetic one (its description requires the analysis of the distribution function of molecules), in practical engineering applications its analysis is almost universally based on the hydrodynamic approximation. In this project, we intend to find simple approximations of the kinetic results, which could be potentially implemented into computational fluid dynamics codes suitable for engineering applications. The second direction of the work will be focused on the coupled solution of equations describing spray heating and evaporation and the ignition of fuel vapour/ air mixture.

VERTIGO aims at creating a virtual engineering toolset capability for developing future low-emission combustion-engined vehicles and their control and diagnostic systems. Building on existing state-of-the-art system simulation, CFD, chemical kinetics modelling, combustion diagnostics and model based control, the project will produce a validated, integrated toolset and process tool applicable from concept level through the development cycle to control system virtual calibration.

This project aims to investigate the applicability of a theoretical model for vortex rings, developed by Kaplanski and Rudi (2005), to the analysis of vortex rings observed in direct injection gasoline engines. The investigators will examine the theoretical predictions of vortex ring properties against the values of typical parameters for gasoline engines which will allow a detailed comparison between the predictions of the model and experimental results to be made. The team will investigate the feasibility of developing a vortex ring model, capable of predicting the properties of vortex rings in gasoline engines.

The main focus of this work will be on the development of a new model, taking into account the heat flux in the Knudsen layer and the presence of ambient background gas. It is expected that the temperature at the outer boundary of the Knudsen layer will be found using the condition of matching heat fluxes at the outer boundary of the Knudsen layer. This new model will be applied to the simulation of the evaporation of diesel fuel droplets in the first instance and its wider applicability is anticipated.

The aim of 2/4SIGHT is to demonstrate an engine concept that has the potential to deliver class leading improvements of up to 30% in fuel consumption and CO2 emissions together with performance. The 2/4SIGHT engine combines an innovative combustion system, an advanced fully-variable hydraulic valvetrain and novel control technologies that enable automatic switching between two and four-stroke operation. Brighton was chosen to carry out the important multi-cylinder, steady-state testing of the very first concept demonstrator engine along with combustion and cooling system analyses.

The project is focused on the development of a new physical and mathematical model of spray formation and dynamics with a view of engineering and environmental applications. The work brings together the expertise in mathematical modelling and experimental studies at the SHRL and CORIA (France).

The GREEN project is a prestigious pan-European Framework 6 funded programme that aims to research the development of clean and efficient Heavy Duty Diesel engines. The 26 collaborating partners include leading engineering companies and research institutes across Europe. Brighton was chosen to carry out the single cylinder engine testing using a novel EUI system, with flexible, multiple fuel injection capabilities, that enabled the investigation of a wide range of combustion modes. The results have highlighted important operating strategies, especially through fuel injection control, that can be utilised to achieve realistic emissions and efficiency gains.