High Speed Particle Image Velocimetry in a Large Engine Prechamber

Abstract

Planar velocity measurements using the particle image velocimetry technique have been performed at a repetition rate of 10 kHz in the prechamber of a large bore gas engine mounted on a rapid compression machine (RCM), to visualize the velocity fields in the non-reacting gas flow during a compression stroke. The prechamber investigated in this work is a prototype with modifications made to facilitate optical access, and it is mounted axially on the RCM combustion chamber. The parameters of the compression stroke in the RCM are set to achieve a compression ratio of 10. After removing outlying data based on pressure and piston displacement curves, PIV data from compression strokes were analyzed. The time-resolved velocity fields capture the formation and motion of a tumble vortex in the imaged plane. Mean flow fields obtained by phase averaging across the datasets are presented, showing the development of the flow field in the prechamber throughout the compression stroke. The data obtained will be used to validate CFD simulations.