Effect of the Fuel Injection Strategy on Diesel Particulate Filter Regeneration in a Single-Cylinder Diesel Engine

Stringent emission regulations (e.g., Euro-6) have forced automotive manufacturers to equip a diesel particulate filter (DPF) on diesel cars. Generally, postinjection is used as a method to regenerate the DPF. However, it is known that postinjection deteriorates the specific fuel consumption and causes oil dilution for some operating conditions. Thus, an injection strategy for regeneration is one of the key technologies for diesel powertrains equipped with a DPF. This paper presents correlations between the fuel injection strategy and exhaust gas temperature for DPF regeneration. The experimental apparatus consists of a single-cylinder diesel engine, a DC dynamometer, an emission test bench, and an engine control system. In the present study, the postinjection timing was in the range of 40 deg aTDC to 110 deg aTDC and double postinjection was considered. In addition, the effects of the injection pressure were investigated. The engine load was varied among low load to midload conditions, and the amount of fuel of postinjection was increased up to 10 mg/stk. The oil dilution during the fuel injection and combustion processes was estimated by the diesel loss measured by comparing two global equivalences ratios: one measured from a lambda sensor installed at the exhaust port and one estimated from the intake air mass and injected fuel mass. In the present study, the differences of the global equivalence ratios were mainly caused by the oil dilution during postinjection. The experimental results of the present study suggest optimal engine operating conditions including the fuel injection strategy to obtain an appropriate exhaust gas temperature for DPF regeneration. The experimental results of the exhaust gas temperature distributions for various engine operating conditions are discussed. In addition, it was revealed that the amount of oil dilution was reduced by splitting the postinjection (i.e., double postinjection). The effects of the injection pressure on the exhaust gas temperature were dependent on the combustion phasing and injection strategies.