Emissions suppression mechanism of premixed diesel combustion with variable valve timing

A variable valve timing (VVT) mechanism is applied to achieve premixed diesel combustion at higher load for low emissions and high thermal efficiency in a light-duty diesel engine. By means of late intake valve closing (LIVC), compressed gas temperatures near the top dead centre are lowered, thereby preventing too early ignition and increasing ignition delay to enhance fuel-air mixing. The variability of an effective compression ratio has significant potential for ignition timing control of conventional diesel fuel mixtures. At the same time, the expansion ratio is kept constant to ensure thermal efficiency. Combining the control of LIVC, exhaust gas recirculation (EGR), supercharging systems, and high-pressure fuel injection equipment can simultaneously reduce NO(x) and smoke. The NO(x) and smoke suppression mechanism in the premixed diesel combustion is analysed using a three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (3D-CFD) code combined with detailed chemistry. LIVC can achieve a significant NO(x) and smoke reduction due to lowering combustion temperatures and avoiding local over-rich regions in the mixtures respectively.