Design and performance evaluation of a novel self-rotating fuel injector using computational fluid dynamics - a preliminary study

Abstract

Improving the performance and reducing emissions in a diesel engine is the single most objective in current research. Various methods of approach have been studied and presented in literature. A novel but not so pursued study is on the performance of a rotating diesel injector. To date, there has been very little study by implementing a rotating injector. Studies have shown an improvement on the performance of an engine, but with a complicated external rotating mechanism. In the present research, a novel self-rotating fuel injector is designed and developed that is expected to improve the performance without the need for a complicated rotating mechanism. The design procedure, CFD simulation along with 3-D printing of a prototype is presented. Numerical modelling and simulation are performed to study the combustion characteristics of the rotating injector viz-a-viz a standard static injector. Comparison based on heat release, efficiency, and emissions are presented. While the proposed 9-hole injector had slight loss in thermal efficiency, the modified 5-hole had a slight increase in thermal efficiency when compared to the static baseline readings. The NOx reduced by 13% and CO increased by 14% compared baseline emissions for the 5-hole version.