Overview
The aeronautics industry is paying attention to breakthrough powertrains as technical solutions to meet the objectives set by the Advisor Council for Aviation Research and Innovation in Europe (ACARE) to reduce drastically CO2 and NOx emissions, as well as noise emitted from air transport sector in 2020. One of the considered technical solutions consists in using highly supercharged Diesel Internal Combustion Engines (ICEs), eventually embedded in an hybrid powertrain, to be applied both for light aircrafts (helicopters, general and business aviation aircrafts, drones) or for auxiliaries power units (APU) in airliners.
The optimization of these complex technologies, from the point of view of performance, consumption, pollutant emissions and noise, both in stabilized and transient conditions, is a common interest between the automotive and aeronautical domains. In this very constrained context, it is essential to understand and control the impact of the physicochemical properties of fuels on the operation of the internal combustion engine. This is even more important when jet engines are concerned, which properties differ considerably from those of conventional gas oil, covering ranges of products with very variable properties. More generally, the control of the combustion of alternative hydrocarbons is also crucial for the evaluation of alternative fuels in both the automobile and aeronautics.
The MACH2 project aims to develop and use tools to improve knowledge and conception of Diesel ICEs operating with light fuels (aircraft and alternative fuels for automotive and aeronautics sectors).
These tools will be the result of a research study coupling experimental studies, detailed 3D simulations of diesel thermodynamic cycles, carried out in steady state and transient operating conditions on a highly boosted single cylinder engine capable of very high specific performances.
The objective is to cover the whole applications of automotive and aeronautics sector.
This study will be based on fundamental experimental study about auto-ignition kinetic characterisation, pollutant formation, injection and Diesel spray evolution.