Liquid Atomizing Fuel Injector for Heavy Fuel Internal Combustion Engine

There is great interest, particularly in military applications, for small internal combustion engines capable of operating on heavy fuels such as diesel or JP-8. This has been impeded, however, by the limitations of compression ignition in small engines and the challenges in achieving droplets small enough in atomized sprays for spark ignition. Busek has developed a novel fuel injector capable of generating atomized sprays of heavy fuels, such as JP-8, at Sauter mean diameters of 5-10 microns at flowrates suitable for small (<10hp) spark-ignited internal combustion engines. Intended for continuous injection into an intake manifold, the injector attains its performance without the penalties associated with the high fuel pressures required by other approaches, requiring only a fraction (approximately 10%) of combustion intake air at pressures <15psi. For the Phase II development effort, Busek shall test its injector concept with an engine for proof-of-concept testing and, in parallel, investigate techniques for facilitating intake manifold operation and perform detailed combustion kinetics experiments. The studies shall promote more complete understanding of the process for transfer of the technology to a variety of engine sizes and types.