Size-Resolved Density Measurements of Particle Emissions from an Advanced Combustion Diesel Engine: Effect of Aggregate Morphology

Abstract

We report the first in situ size-resolved density measurements of particles produced by premixed charge compression ignition (PCCI) combustion and compare these with conventional diesel exhaust particles. The effective densities (ρ eff ) of size-classified particles were determined by measurements with a differential mobility analyzer (DMA) and an aerosol particle mass analyzer (APM). Particle inherent densities (ρ i ) were calculated using an expression for particle mass given by idealized aggregate (IA) theory, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) measurements of primary particle diameter ( d pp ), and a comparison of the measured number of particles in each size class with that predicted by a proposed DMA-APM response function for aggregates. The ρ eff of PCCI and conventional diesel particles were similar over a range of diameters characteristic of their number-size distributions. The ρ eff were 0.89, 0.58, and 0.51 g/cm 3 for conventional diesel and 0.90, 0.62, and 0.42 g/cm 3 for PCCI particles with 50, 100, and 150 nm electrical mobility diameters ( d m ), respectively. The error associated with ρ eff was about one percent of each measurement. The lowest ρ eff were observed for exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) levels somewhat lower than that required for PCCI operation. The ρ i of 50 and 100 nm conventional diesel particles were 1.22 ± 0.14 and 1.77 ± 0.29 g/cm 3, which is in good agreement with previously reported values. PCCI ρ i for these size classes did not differ significantly (1.27 ± 0.16 and 2.10 ± 0.20 g/cm 3 ), suggesting like amounts of adsorbed liquid hydrocarbons. In addition, for 150 nm particles, the PCCI and conventional ρ i were the same (2.20 ± 0.34 g/cm 3 ). Given the close density values, we expect that particulate emissions control with diesel particulate filters (DPFs) would not be adversely affected by PCCI particle physical properties.