Spray Formation from Spark-Eroded and Laser-Drilled Injectors for DISI Engines with Gasoline and Alcohol Fuels

Copyright © 2014 SAE International.One of the latest advancements in injector technology is laser drilling of the nozzle holes. In this context, the spray formation and atomisation characteristics of gasoline, ethanol and 1-butanol were investigated for a 7-hole spark eroded (SE) injector and its ‘direct replacement’ Laser-drilled (LD) injector using optical techniques. In the first step of the optical investigation, high-speed spray imaging was performed in a quiescent injection chamber with global illumination using diffused Laser light. The images were statistically analyzed to obtain spray penetration, spray tip velocity and spray ‘cone’ angles. Furthermore, droplet sizing was undertaken using Phase Doppler Anemometry (PDA). A single spray plume was isolated for this analysis and measurements were obtained across the plume at a fixed distance from the nozzle exit. The droplet measurements were grouped into bins and maps were created showing droplet sizes and velocities against time and position during and post injection. All tests were performed at 120 bar fuel pressure, two injection chamber ‘back’ pressures (0.5 bar and 1 bar) and two injector temperatures (20 °C and 80 °C), to examine effects relevant to typical engine operating conditions with early intake stroke injection strategies, including fuel flash boiling

Developing Low Gasoline Particulate Emission Engines Through Improved Fuel Delivery

Particulate emissions are of growing concern due to health impacts. Many urban areas around the world currently have particulate matter levels exceeding the World Health Organisation safe limits. Gasoline engines, especially when equipped with direct injection systems, contribute to this pollution. In recognition of this fact European limits on particulate mass and number are being introduced. A number of ways to meet these new stringent limits have been under investigation. The focus of this paper is on particulate emissions reduction through improvements in fuel delivery. This investigation is part of the author's ongoing particulate research and development that includes optical engine spray and combustion visualisation, CFD method development, engine and vehicle testing with the aim to move particulate emission development upstream in the development process. As part of this work, a spark eroded and a laser drilled injector were fully characterised in a spray vessel under key engine running conditions. Injector nozzle geometries and mass flow data were also measured in great detail. This paper demonstrates using both steady state and transient engine testing that very significant improvements in particulate emissions can be made. Control strategies enabling multiple injections of smaller volumes of fuel per injection are the most promising technology. The MAHLE Flexible ECU (MFE) combined with injector testing allowed early stage development and demonstrated these effects for a number of key engine operating conditions. Most notably it was found that particulate matter emissions could be reduced by 80-90% during the catalyst light off phase. A new approach was developed (MASTER) to simultaneously assess the effects of calibration changes on all emissions to increase testing efficiency and hence get to more optimised solutions faster. This approach was successfully tested on a production engine comparing two injectors achieving 82% reduction in particulate number emissions during the first 200seconds of the NEDC relative to the EU5b baseline. Finally it was found that both fuel properties and injector deposits can have a significant effect on particulate emissions

The production and marketing of greenhouse tomatoes in the Knoxville, Tennessee, area

The objective of this study was to explore the profitability of producing tomatoes for the fresh market in a greenhouse covered with polyethylene in the Knoxville, Tennessee area. Opinions of competent observers on the desirability of producing greenhouse tomatoes for sale in the local market differed widely at the beginning of the experiment. Some felt that the annual replacement cost of the polyethylene and the fuel costs of producing a warm season crop in such a structure would make the endeavor unprofitable; others felt the demand for this high quality product would not be sufficient to justify the high costs of production. Procedures which have furnished data for this report were designed in an attempt to find more conclusive evidence to answer those questions. These procedures are outlined in Chapter III

(SNP014) Edward D. Freeland interviewed by Darwin Lambert, transcribed by Chelsea Gutshall

Records an interview with Edward D. Freeland, Superintendent of Shenandoah National Park from 1942 to 1950. Mr. Freeland describes conditions at the park at the beginning of World War II. With the onset of the war, the federal government ended the Civilian Conservation Corps project, (CCC), the single largest source of labor for the National Park Service, as most CCC personnel went into the armed services. The CCC laborers were eventually replaced by men from the Civilian Public Service, (CPS), the national program through which conscientious objectors could perform their national service. Gas rationing and travel restrictions greatly reduced the number of visitors to the park during the war years. Discusses the controversy surrounding post-war racial integration of the park, the creation and expansion of Skyline Drive and the Appalachian trail, living conditions among the local mountain people prior to the establishment of the park and the activities of local moonshiners. Numerous individuals associated with Shenandoah National Park, the National Park Service and the Virginia Sky-Line Company are mentioned throughout the interview.https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/snp/1044/thumbnail.jp

Five meter diameter conical furlable antenna

An investigation was made to demonstrate that a 5-meter-diameter, furlable, conical reflector antenna utilizing a line source feed can be fabricated utilizing composite materials and to prove that the antenna can function mechanically and electrically as prototype flight hardware. The design, analysis, and testing of the antenna are described. An RF efficiency of 55% at 8.5 GHz and a surface error of 0.64 mm rms were chosen as basic design requirements. Actual test measurements yielded an efficiency of 53% (49.77 dB gain) and a surface error of 0.61 mm rms. Atmospherically induced corrosion of the reflector mesh resulted in the RF performance degradation. An assessment of the antenna as compared to the current state of the art technology was made. This assessment included cost, surface accuracy and RF performance, structural and mechanical characteristics, and possible applications

QUASAT: An orbiting very long baseline interferometer program using large space antenna systems

QUASAT, which stands for QUASAR SATELLITE, is the name given to a new mission being studied by NASA. The QUASAT mission concept involves a free flying Earth orbiting large radio telescope, which will observe astronomical radio sources simultaneously with ground radio telescopes. The primary goal of QUASAT is to provide a system capable of collecting radio frequency data which will lead to a better understanding of extremely high energy events taking place in a variety of celestial objects including quasars, galactic nuclei, interstellar masers, radio stars and pulsars. QUASAT's unique scientific contribution will be the increased resolution in the emission brightness profile maps of the celestial objects

A unified analysis of converters with resonant switches

Quasi-resonant converters are a recently introduced family of single-switch resonant converters featuring zero-current or zero-voltage switching. Recognition of the topological structure uniting these converters — and the PWM converters on which they are based — leads to general models of their dc and low-frequency ac behavior. An expression is derived that yields the dc conversion ratio of a quasi-resonant converter in terms of the well-known conversion ratio of the underlying PWM topology. A small-signal, low-frequency dynamic model is developed whose parameters also incorporate the PWM conversion ratio. The dc and ac models reveal that any quasi-resonant converter with a full-wave resonant switch has dc and low-frequency behavior identical to that of its PWM parent, with switching frequency control replacing duty ratio control. Converters with half-wave resonant switches act more like PWM converters under current programming or discontinuous conduction mode, exhibiting lossless damping in the small-signal model and output resistance at dc

Boron enrichment in Martian clay

We have detected a concentration of boron in martian clay far in excess of that in any previously reported extra-terrestrial object. This enrichment indicates that the chemistry necessary for the formation of ribose, a key component of RNA, could have existed on Mars since the formation of early clay deposits, contemporary to the emergence of life on Earth. Given the greater similarity of Earth and Mars early in their geological history, and the extensive disruption of Earth's earliest mineralogy by plate tectonics, we suggest that the conditions for prebiotic ribose synthesis may be better understood by further Mars exploration

Induced Ge Spin Polarization at the Fe/Ge Interface

We report direct experimental evidence showing induced magnetic moments on Ge at the interface in an Fe/Ge system. Details of the x-ray magnetic circular dichroism and resonant magnetic scattering at the Ge L edge demonstrate the presence of spin-polarized {\it s} states at the Fermi level, as well as {\it d} character moments at higher energy, which are both oriented antiparallel to the moment of the Fe layer. Use of the sum rules enables extraction of the L/S ratio, which is zero for the {\it s} part and $\sim0.5$ for the {\it d} component. These results are consistent with layer-resolved electronic structure calculations, which estimate the {\it s} and {\it d} components of the Ge moment are anti-parallel to the Fe {\it 3d} moment and have a magnitude of $\sim0.01 \mu_B$.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let