Engine Research Laboratory

The major facilities available are a Ricardo Hydra single cylinder research engine, a Detroit Diesel 6V-92TA turbocharged diesel engine, a Detroit Diesel 1-71 diesel engine and a CFR variable compression ratio engine. The Ricardo Hydra engine can be run either as a spark-ignition engine or as a direct-injection diesel engine and may also be motored by the DC dynamometer/motor unit for measurements of gas velocities in the combustion chamber. A computerised data acquisition system records both engine performance data as well as measurements of cylinder pressure and data from a hot-wire anemometer in the combustion chamber. An emissions-measurement trolley for measuring exhaust emissions from each of the engines is in the laboratory. Fundamental studies of engine combustion are also conducted in a separate combustion laboratory which contains several combustion bombs and a rapid intake and compression machine. Research is concerned with the effects of combustion chamber turbulence on the combustion process. A Laser Doppler Anemometer is available for measurement of turbulence parameters in combustion facilities.