An Experimental and Numerical Investigation on Characteristics of Methanol and Ethanol Sprays from a Multi-hole DISI Injector

The objective of this study is to investigate the characteristics of methanol and ethanol sprays from a multi-hole injector for DISI engines. An optical diagnostic technique based on instantaneous LaVision laser sheet imaging system was used to observe the sprays under various injection pressures and chamber ambient pressures in a constant volume chamber. The effects of fuel type on liquid atomization and spray characteristics in terms of penetration and cone angle were examined and analyzed. On the other hand, a spray model based on AVL FIRE software was used to predict the spray characteristics of methanol, ethanol and gasoline fuels. The model was validated by use of these experimental results. As a result, the difference in spray characteristics of these three fuels and the effect of the in-cylinder flow on fuel distributions were clarified.