Relation between particulate emissions and exhaust smoke level in premixed charge compression ignition engine

For simplicity in measurement, the smoke level or opacity of the exhaust gas is often measured in diesel engine tests for the purpose of estimating the level of particulate emissions in the belief that smoke level is proportional to the particulate emissions. Existence of the correlation between these two has been well established in conventional diesel engines, but it is not clear yet whether the linear relationship stays in PCCI engines, which are known to emit significantly less NOx but more hydrocarbons than the conventional diesel engines. The objective of this study was to investigate the existence of the correlation between the smoke level and particulate mass in a directly fuel-injected PCCI engine with a DOC in the exhaust system. The smoke and PM are simultaneously measured before and after the DOC, while the single-cylinder diesel engine is operated in either diesel or PCCI combustion mode under various operation conditions. The study reveals that many more hydrocarbons and particulates are emitted in PCCI combustion than in the diesel combustion, and the strong correlation between the engine-out smoke level and particulate emissions in the diesel combustion does not exist in PCCI combustion. The correlation, however, comes back in the post-DOC measurements where most of SOF contained in PM is removed by the DOC.