Combustion Measurements and Modelling in the Rover K4 Engine

A four valve pent-roof combustion chamber spark ignition engine with optical access has been used for a range of combustion studies. Direct light photography has been used of flame growth analysis, and CARS has been used for burnt gas temperature measurements. A colour CCD camera technique has been developed for soot temperature and loading measurements, and fast response surface thermocouple temperature measurements from which the instantaneous heat flux has been deduced. A mass fraction burn analysis has been extended to include a completeness of combustion parameter, and this has been shown to be important in the modeling of cycle-by-cycle variations in combustion. Methane, methanol, iso-octane and toluene have been used for fuelling the engine, and this has led to unexpected data on burn rates. Finally, comparisons have been made between measurements and predictions of NO on cycle resolved basis.