Facilities and Resources

The ABC² Laboratory contains numerous experimental systems for quantifying the combustion chemistry, pollutant formation and bulk combustion characteristics of hydrocarbons and advanced biofuels. These systems include low to atmospheric pressure premixed and opposed jet laminar flame burners that enable species measurement and transient compression ignition systems that facilitate combustion studies at conditions relevant to internal combustion engines. Diagnostics systems include direct gas sampling and optical diagnostics including laser induced fluorescence, laser induced incandescence and cavity ringdown spectroscopy. These experimental combustion systems are summarized below:

• Rapid Compression Machine– Manufactured by Marine Technology of Ireland, the rapid compression machine (RCM) simulates a single stroke of a compression ignition engine, enabling the measurement of ignition delay and speciation of homogeneous premixed fuel/air systems. The RCM includes a variety of systems necessary to operate and control the rapid compression process and to measure experimental parameters including instantaneous displacement and position of the piston during compression. The system also enables the measurement of dynamic pressure parameters during firing compression.
• Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition Engine – A 4 cylinder turbocharged, 2.4 liter John Deere 4024T diesel engine, which is rated at 60 HP at 2800 RPM, has been modified to operate as a homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engine.
• Waukesha Fuel Igntion Tester (FIT) – In addition to the ability to perform Derived Cetane Number testing according to ASTM D7170, the FIT apparatus is a useful tool for fundamental combustion research aimed at quantifying low temperature chemistry effects of advanved fuels and/or advanced internal combustion engines.
• CLD 500 System for Fast NOx Measurement– This unique device enables measurement of NO and NO2 with an extremely high response time of 2 ms by locating the chemiluminescence detector in a remote sample head directly at the source. The sample gas is conveyed to the detector through heated capillaries, which minimizes sample gas mixing and yields a very fast response time. The CLD500 system includes two sample heads on tripods with 10 m conduits between the instrument cabinet and the sample point.
• Laser Diagnostics for Measurement of Trace Species in Chemically Reacting Systems– Resources include a SpectraPhysics Lab 150-10 Nd:YAG laser and Sirah Cobra-Stretch tunable dye laser with associated optical instrumentation necessary for planar laser induced fluorescence measurements of NO, OH, CH, CH2O and laser induced incandescence measurements of PM.
• Combustion Gas Analysis – Resources include a Nicolet Magna 560 FTIR and SRI 8610D Gas Chromatograph/FID
• Laminar Flame Burners –Quantitative measurements of radical species and stable intermediates in laminar flames are made using laser induced fluorescence. Capabilities for steady laminar flames include a premixed flat flame burner, opposed jet flat flame burner and 5-slot burner for steady two-dimensional edge flames.
• Vacuum Chamber for Low Pressure Flame Studies –Low-pressure, flat flame burner experiments are an effective means to measure trace species in flames using laser diagnostic techniques. By performing experiments at low pressures, it is possible to expand the thickness of the flame zone to roughly one centimeter in length, which facilitates the measurement of spatially varying concentration profiles of fuel, oxidizer, stable intermediates and radicals. The ABC2 laboratory is equipped with a vacuum chamber for low pressure flame studies. The system consists of a 13.25 inch vacuum chamber cube manufactured by MDC. The vacuum chamber has three 13.25 inch CF flange windows, one 13.25 inch door and multiple 2.5” CF flange feedthroughs. The system has a mechanical roughing pump and a Crytorr 8 vacuum pump that can be isolated from the chamber by a 13.25 inch vacuum gate valve manufactured by VAT.