Fuel 268 (2020) 117376

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Full Length Article

Effect of water injection on the knock, combustion, and emissions of a direct T

injection gasoline engine
⁎
Aqian Lia, Zhaolei Zhenga, , Tao Pengb
a
Key Laboratory of Low-grade Energy Utilization Technologies and System, Ministry of Education, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China
b
China National Heavy Duty Truck Croup Chongqing Fuel System Co., LTD, Chongqing 400044, China

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: A turbocharged downsizing spark ignition (SI) engine cooperating with in-cylinder direct injection technology is
Water injection one of the most effective ways to improve the fuel economy and to reduce the emissions of gasoline engines, but
Direct injection gasoline engine knock combustion limits the application and development of downsizing of SI engines in practice. In this re-
Knock search, a numerical simulation method was used to study the feasibility of in-cylinder direct water injection
Emission
technology to weaken the knock tendency of a turbocharged direct injection gasoline (GDI) engine and improve
Combustion
its combustion emission performance. First, the knock of a certain type of turbocharged direct injection gasoline
engine was induced by increasing the spark timing, thereby determining the position at which the end mixture
was spontaneously ignited. Then, at a given water injection moment, the influence of the amount of water
injection on the knock and emissions of the turbocharged direct injection gasoline engine was investigated. The
results show that the knock intensity gradually decreased with the increase of the water injection quality. For the
cyclic work, the amount of circulating work decreased with the increase of the water injection quality. Water
injection is beneficial for reducing the emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOX), carbon monoxide (CO), and unburned
hydrocarbons (UHC). However, the soot emissions will increase as the amount of water injection increases.

1. Introduction buses. Later, due to the emergence of intercoolers, researchers’ atten-

Vehicles powered by internal combustion engines account for more
than 95% of total vehicles. In order to reduce oil consumption and
emissions, efficient and clean engine technology must be developed.
From a global perspective, spark ignition engines are still the main
source of power, and the share of gasoline-powered passenger cars is
about 98%. Improving the efficiency of gasoline engines and reducing
emissions is a big problem that is being faced by engine researchers.
Currently, a turbocharged downsizing SI engine cooperating with in-
cylinder direct injection technology has the greatest potential to solve
the above-mentioned problems [1–3]. However, from the current point
of view, there are few engines with a unit power exceeding 110 kW/L in
the gasoline engine market. The reason for this is that the turbocharged
downsizing technology increases the thermal load in the cylinder and
increases the pressure in the cylinder. This causes the intensification of
the abnormal combustion phenomenon of SI engines-knock. Therefore,
knock is the main limitation for the further performance improvement
and downsizing of SI engines [4–7].
In order to suppress knock, Ricardo proposed water injection tech-
nology in the 1930s. This technology was applied to racing cars and
tion on water injection technology gradually disappeared. However, the
cooling effect of an intercooler on the intake air could meet the demand
for the development of a turbocharged downsizing SI engine. At pre-
sent, water injection technology is receiving the attention of re-
searchers. Compared with an intercooler, water injection technology
can absorb a large amount of heat and reduce the temperature in a
cylinder, thereby replacing the method of enriching the mixture and
improving fuel economy. At the same time, due to the reduction of the
maximum temperature in the cylinder, the generation of NOX is re-
duced, and the heat transfer of the wall surface can be reduced. The
injected water directly absorbs the heat released by the combustion in
the cylinder, reduces the combustion temperature in the cylinder, re-
duces heat exchange loss in the cylinder, and it can suppress knock and
improve effective heat efficiency [8–10].
There are three ways to apply water injection technology to an
engine: First, the inlet/intake pipe injecting water, second, water being
injected in the cylinder, and third, fuel-water emulsified mixing and re-
injection. Inlet water injection dominates current research [11]. The
main advantage of the inlet water injection compared to the other two
injection methods is that the engine structure is hardly changed [12].

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: zhengzhaolei@cqu.edu.cn (Z. Zheng).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2020.117376
Received 13 October 2019; Received in revised form 27 December 2019; Accepted 10 February 2020
Available online 21 February 2020
0016-2361/ © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
A. Li, et al. Fuel 268 (2020) 117376

Although the water injection cooling effect of the inlet can increase the
volumetric efficiency, if the amount of water injected is large, the liquid
water or the vapor generated by the evaporation still occupies a part of
the space, affecting the volumetric efficiency. Therefore, the water in-
jection method of the inlet is limited by the maximum amount of water
injected [13–16]. In addition to the cooling effect, which is similar to
the water injection method of the inlet, the direct water injection
method in the cylinder has other advantages. The water is injected
directly into the cylinder, which can flexibly adjust the amount of water
injected and the time of injection without affecting the volumetric ef-
ficiency, and its cooling effect is better than the cooling effect of the
inlet water injection [17–19]. For the third method, the emulsification
and mixing of fuel and water is a complex process. There is still a lot of
work to be done in the selection of the emulsifiers and the stability of
the emulsion fuels. Compared with gasoline-water emulsion fuel, the
application of direct water injection in the cylinder is more convenient.
Therefore, the method of direct water spray in the cylinder was selected
in this research [20,21].
Boretti [22] studied the effect of inlet water injection on a direct-
injection spark plug ignition supercharged engine through simulation.
The conclusions were that inlet water injection could improve the
charge efficiency, reduce the tendency to knock, control the tempera-
ture of the exhaust turbine, and increase the thermal efficiency peak Fig. 1. Geometry model of the engine.
and output torque under partial load. Direct water injection could in-
crease fuel conversion efficiency more than water injection in the inlet.
cylinder, suppress knock, and improve thermal efficiency. The main
Wei et al. [23] used three-dimensional computational fluid dy-
purpose of this research was to determine the appropriate ratio of water
namics (CFD) to study the combustion and emission performance of
injection for suppressing knock, improving thermal efficiency, and ex-
water injection in a cylinder for the low-load condition of a direct in-
ploring the effects of water injection on emissions.
jection gasoline engine. The results showed that by optimizing the
amount of water injection, not only could better engine performance be
achieved, but also NOx emissions and soot emissions could be reduced. 2. Verification of the numerical models
Gadallah et al. [24] studied the influence of in-cylinder water in-
jection on the discharge performance of a direct-injection hydrogen In this research, a numerical model was established for the D20T
engine. The research showed that the effect of injecting water into the direct injection gasoline engine and the numerical model was verified
cylinder during the expansion stroke had little effect on the NOx with the corresponding experimental data. The experimental data came
emissions. The main reason for this was that a large amount of the NOX from the Changan Automobile (Group) Co.
was generated before injection. The effect of the water injection on the
compression stroke of the emissions was better. The amount of water 2.1. Geometric model and calculation model of the direct injection gasoline
injected and the time of injection had a great influence on NOX emis- engine
sions.
Hoppe et al. [25] explored the potential of direct water injection in 2.1.1. Geometric model and operating conditions of the direct injection
a cylinder to reduce the knock tendency and improve the efficiency of a gasoline engine
direct injection gasoline engine. The results showed that during a Miller The geometric model, basic parameters, and operating conditions of
cycle and exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) conditions, the efficiency of a the GDI engine are shown in Fig. 1, Table 1, and Table 2, respectively.
direct injection gasoline engine increased by 3.3–3.8%. Using water
injection technology under lean burn conditions, the efficiency of a 2.1.2. Selection of the numerical model submodel
direct injection gasoline engine increased by 4.5%. Hoppe et al. did not In the numerical simulation of the engine, each submodel needed to
analyze the reasons for the direct injection of water in the cylinder to be determined, such as the turbulence model, combustion model, spray
improve the efficiency of the direct injection gasoline engine. The effect model, etc. The flow in the engine cylinder was very complicated due to
of water injection on the knock was also not clearly stated. not only fluid flow, but also chemical reactions as well as heat and mass
As can be seen from the foregoing discussion, direct water injection transfer. In order to truly reflect the flow of fluids and chemical reac-
in a cylinder has great potential for reducing the knock tendency, im- tions in the cylinder, a suitable selection of models was required.
proving engine performance, improving fuel economy, and reducing The turbulence model chosen in this paper was the RNG k-ε two-
emissions. However, direct water injection technology in a cylinder is equation model. Krishna et al. [26] used STAR-CD software to explore
used less under high load conditions for a turbocharged downsizing SI the in-cylinder flow field of a single-cylinder two-stroke engine using
engine. Specifically, the physical chemistry mechanism of water on
combustion is not clear. The laws governing the effects of specific water Table 1
injection parameters on the knock and emissions of a turbocharged Basic parameters of the GDI of the engine.
downsizing SI engine are not known. Therefore, further research on
Parameter Numerical Value
direct water injection technology in a cylinder is needed.
In this research, a numerical simulation method was used to study Number of cylinders 1
the effect of water injection technology on the suppression of the knock, Bore diameter/mm 86
combustion, and emission performance under high speed and high load Stroke/mm 86
Compression ratio 9.5
conditions. The injected water directly absorbed the heat released by
Link length/mm 142.8
the combustion in the cylinder and reduced the combustion tempera- Displacement/L 0.5
ture in the cylinder. This could reduce the heat exchange loss in the

2
A. Li, et al. Fuel 268 (2020) 117376

Table 2
Operating condition of the GDI of the engine.
Parameter Numerical Value

Rotating speed 5500 r/min

Fuel injection moment −337.99 °CA
Fuel injection duration 160.908 °CA
Fuel injection 82.31 mg
Ignition moment −11 °CA
Mean effective pressure 17.53 bar

Table 3
Choice of numerical model.
Model Setting

Turbulence model K-ε double equation model

Fuel fracture model RT-KH (ReyleigtTaylor-Kehrin Helmholz) fracture model
Collision model NTC(No Time Counter) collision model
Fuel wall model Wall film model Fig. 3. Comparison of the experimental and simulated average pressure results.
Combustion model SAGE model
Nitrogen oxide model Extended Zeldovich model
Soot model Hiroyasu model Table5
Basic parameters of the engine.
Parameter Value
Table 4
Initial condition. Number of cylinders 1
Parameter Numerical Value Cylinder bore/mm 95
Stroke/mm 114
Cylinder temperature/K 1099.0 Compression ratio 17
Cylinder pressure/Pa 276871.0 Link length/mm 255
Composition of various substances in the O2, N2 (Quality score:0.23, Intake valve opening timing/°CA 225
cylinder 0.77) Intake valve closing timing/°CA 15
Inlet temperature/K 316.0 Exhaust valve opening timing/°CA 15
Inlet pressure/Pa 173196.74 Exhaust valve closing timing/°CA 225
Exhaust channel temperature/K 1029.0
Exhaust pressure/Pa 220310.7
Turbulent energy/m2/s2 1.0 combustion model in this research was the one-component mechanism.
Stimulating energy dissipation/m2/s2 100.0 This mechanism was the SAGE combustion model coupled with the
IC8H18 (isooctane) proposed by Jia Ming [28]. Compared with other
reaction mechanisms, this mechanism can react better to the in-cylinder
combustion reaction.
The selection of each model is shown in Table 3.

2.1.3. Initial and boundary conditions

The initial conditions and boundary condition values were calcu-
lated from experiments and one-dimensional GT-Power software. The
initial conditions are shown in Table 4. The boundary conditions were:
The top temperature of the piston was 585 K, the wall temperature of
the combustion chamber was 550 K, the temperature of the spark plug
was 1050 K, the static pressure of the exhaust port was 101325 Pa, and
similar parameters.

2.2. Numerical simulation model verification

The software had adaptive encryption to encrypt or coarsen the

Fig. 2. Number of Calculation model meshes.
different turbulence models (standard two-equation model, Chen two-
equation model, and RNG k-ε two-equation model), and compared the
results with the in-cylinder velocity field measured by particle image
velocimetry (PIV). The results showed that the RNG k-ɛ two-equation
model was closer to the experimental measurements than the other two
models. Pomraning et al. [27] believe that the RNG k-ɛ two-equation
model coupled with a detailed chemical reaction in the numerical si-
mulation of an internal combustion engines could effectively predict
the turbulent flow field in a cylinder.
The unique SAGE combustion model in the software can adapt to
various reaction mechanisms well, and the calculation speed is fast. The
mesh at the specified time and space, which could greatly save com-
puting time. The grid size was not uniform. A coarse grid was used for
the intake and exhaust channels. Fine mesh was used for the intake and
exhaust valves, pistons, spark plugs, cylinder heads, etc. Adaptive en-
cryption was applied to the flow and temperature of the entire cylinder.
When the temperature and pressure gradient in the cylinder area ex-
ceeded the limit value, the area automatically encrypted the grid.
To make the numerical simulation model accurately reflect the ac-
tual operating conditions of the direct injection gasoline engine, the
numerical simulation results were compared with the experiment.
Knock is prone to occur under high load conditions, so high speed and
full throttle operating conditions were selected for the numerical si-
mulation and experimental conditions. To obtain the initial conditions
that could not be accurately given by the experiment, the one-

3
A. Li, et al.
Fig. 4. Experiment and simulated average pressures under different water injection quality (equivalent ratio = 1, compression ration = 17).
(a) Average pressures in the cylinder
at different spark timings
Fig. 5. Average pressures and temperatures in the cylinder at different spark timings (n = 5500 rpm, equivalence ratio = 1.1).
Table 6
Engine operating conditions.
Parameter Numerical Value
Rotating speed/r/min 5500
Ignition moment/°CA −21
Equivalent ratio 1.1 ± 0.01
dimensional simulation software GT-Power was used to simulate the
working state of the direct injection gasoline engine in order to obtain
accurate initial conditions. The simulation calculation started at
−366 °CA and the termination time was 150 °CA. Fig. 2 shows the
curve of the number of grids in the calculation model. As can be seen
from the figure, the grid peak was about 2.6 million grids. Fig. 3 is a
comparison of the experimental cylinder pressure curve and the nu-
merical simulation pressure curve. It can be clearly seen from the figure
that the experimental values were very close to the results of the 3D
simulation software. The simulation results were generally consistent
with the pressure traces in the experiment, with few differences. In the
mechanism of the combustion model in this research, to develop ske-
letal chemical kinetic models, a semidecoupling methodology was
presented and applied in order to construct an enhanced skeletal model
4
Fuel 268 (2020) 117376
(b) Average temperatures in the
cylinder at different spark timings
for primary reference fuel (PRF) oxidation. In view of the successful
exploration of the improvement of a skeletal model on PRF and iso-
octane, the semidecoupling methodology presented was considered
reliable and generally applicable for different alkane fuels. However,
for a skeletal chemical model, due to the omission of some intermediate
reaction processes, it might perform well in one reactor while per-
forming poorly in another. This might cause the simulation and ex-
perimental values to differ slightly. In other research studies, the
comparison with three engine experiments showed that the simulated
pressure trace was in excellent agreement with the experiment [28]. In
addition, the experimental results were accidental. Due to various un-
certainties, the simulation results and experimental results might not be
exactly the same. The difference between simulation results and ex-
perimental results is within 5%, so it can be considered that the cal-
culation model was realistic and it could simulate the operating con-
ditions of the direct injection gasoline engine.
Based on the above pressure verification, a set of experimental and
simulation comparison picture of the average pressure in the engine
cylinder under different water injection qualities is also added. The
parameters of the engine are shown in the table below. Water injection
quality is 50 mg and 90 mg, respectively. The equivalent ratio is 1
(Table5).
It can be seen from the Fig. 4 that the experimental and simulated
A. Li, et al.
Fig. 6. Schematic diagram of monitoring points.
values of the average pressure in the cylinder are basically the same
under different water injection quality. Their differences are small, so it
can be considered that the calculation model can effectively simulate
the operating conditions of gasoline engines.
3. Numerical simulation of the knock of a direct injection gasoline
engine
3.1. Determination of the knock conditions
The calculation and verification conditions in this research are high
speed and high load conditions. According to the relevant literature
[29–31], when the equivalent ratio of the mixture in the cylinder was
between 0.9 and 1.1, the knock tendency was obvious, and the ten-
dency of knock was the largest. Under the experimental conditions, the
equivalent ratio was 1.1, so the equivalence ratio was selected as 1.1 in
the numerical simulation process. The spark timing of the engine under
experimental conditions was −11 °CA, at which time the engine had
the best power and economy without knock. In order to further induce
the occurrence of knock of the direct injection gasoline engine, the
initial conditions, boundary conditions, fuel injection amount, and si-
milar parameters given above were maintained, and the spark timing
was increased to −21 °CA. To explore the relationship between the
spark timing and the knock trend, three different spark timings were
set: −11 °CA, −16 °CA, and −21 °CA.
Fig. 5(a) shows the average in-cylinder pressure corresponding to
different ignition timings. As the spark timing increased, the average
pressure peak in the cylinder rose and the time to reach the pressure
peak gradually decreased, indicating that the rate of change in the
pressure increased and the tendency to knock increased. Fig. 5(b) shows
the average temperature in the cylinder at different spark timings. It
can be seen from the figure that the average temperature was consistent
with the change of the average pressure in the cylinder. With the in-
crease of the spark timing, the average temperature in the cylinder rose
before the crank angle of 30 °CA, the possibility of the spontaneous
combustion of the end mixture increased, and the tendency to knock
increased. It can also be seen that as the spark timing increased, the
knock tendency increased. In addition, the spark timing was appro-
priately increased and the maximum combustion pressure and tem-
perature of the gas in the cylinder increased. The position where the
maximum combustion pressure and temperature appeared gradually
5
Fuel 268 (2020) 117376
approached the top dead center (TDC) and the engine power increased.
The final ignition advance was selected at −21 °CA. As can be seen
from the following content, when the spark timing was −21 °CA, knock
occurred in the cylinder without injecting water.
The operating parameters of the direct injection gasoline engine are
shown in Table 6.
For the strength of the knock trend, a parameter needed to be de-
fined to measure the intensity of the knock. This parameter was defined
as [30]:
N
1
KI =
N
∑ PPmax,n
1
In the formula, KI indicates the intensity of the knock. The cause of
the knock was that the flame that formed near the spark plug propa-
gated to the end mixture for a longer time than the end mixture formed
the center of the flame and ignited. Therefore, the vicinity of the wall
surface of the combustion chamber, which was far away from the spark
plug, was more prone to knock [7,32–35]. The monitoring points were
all placed in the vicinity of the wall of the combustion chamber and
away from the spark plug, as shown in Fig. 6.
3.2. Analysis of the spontaneous combustion of the end mixture and
determination of the knock position
It can be determined from the knock theory that knock is caused by
a sharp increase in the local pressure caused by the spontaneous com-
bustion of the end mixture, and the knock position can be determined
according to the change of the temperature field in the cylinder or the
change of free radicals of some of the components [36–39]. Simona
et al. [40] used chemiluminescence to detect the free radicals HCO, OH,
and CH that were generated during the knock of a single-cylinder vi-
sualized spark plug ignition gasoline engine. The results showed that
the occurrence of free radical HCO in the end combustible mixture
often marked the starting point of the knock, and then the HCO radical
decreased and the OH radical increased. According to Simona's theory,
it is only necessary to know the distribution of HCO radicals in a cy-
linder to determine where the knock occurs.
The pressure field, HCO radical distribution, and OH radical dis-
tribution at the time of knock in this research are shown in Fig. 7. It can
be seen from Fig. 7(a) that when the knocking occurred, the area with
the highest pressure was concentrated in the monitoring points of No. 4,
No. 1, and No. 2, wherein the pressure peak exceeded 15 MPa, and the
possibility of knock was the largest in this part. The OH was con-
centrated in the area near the spark plug and monitoring point area 3,
which indicates that the area near the spark plug and monitoring point
area No. 3 had become burned areas. At the same time, a large amount
of HCO appeared near the OH region. The appearance of HCO marked
the beginning of the low-temperature reaction. After the HCO region
appeared, the end combustible mixture was about to undergo knock
combustion. In the HCO radical distribution map, it can be found that
during the process of gradually decreasing the HCO concentration for
the monitoring points of No. 4 and No. 1, the pressure at the monitoring
points of No. 4 and No. 1 sharply increased. This shows that knock had
occurred in the monitoring points of No. 4 and No. 1. The results of the
numerical simulation were consistent with the Simona experimental
results. That is, when knock occurred, HCO radicals appeared, and then
HCO radicals gradually decreased and OH radicals appeared in large
quantities.
The velocity field in the cylinder during the knock process is shown
in Fig. 8. Before the occurrence of knocking, the flow velocity in the
cylinder was generally below 75 m/s, and the flow field was essentially
symmetrically distributed with respect to the horizontal axis. The
monitoring point area of No. 4 was the squeezing zone, and there were
a large amount of high temperature and high-pressure gas flows to the
monitoring point No. 4. After the knock occurred, the velocity field in
A. Li, et al. Fuel 268 (2020) 117376

1.50 1.40 1.30 1.20 1.10 (e+007) (Pa)

(a) Pressure map

2.0 1.5 1.0 0.5 0.0 (e-006)

(b) HCO quality score

2.4 1.8 1.2 0.6 0.0 (e-003)

(c) OH quality score
Fig. 7. Field of each specified parameter in the cylinder (n = 5500 rpm, spark timing = −21 °CA).

the cylinder changed drastically. First, the fluid flow rate in monitoring
point area 4 increased sharply and propagated outward rapidly (the
maximum value exceeded 150 m/s), indicating that the area had a
spontaneous combustion reaction, and the pressure and temperature
rose. Then the flow field velocity in the monitoring point area of No. 2
and No. 1 also increased significantly. This indicated that knocking
occurred in the monitoring point areas of No. 2 and No. 1 at this time.
When the ignition timing was −21 °CA, the numerical simulation of
the in-cylinder average pressure curve and the pressure curve of each
monitoring point were as shown in Fig. 9. It can be clearly seen from
the figure that the pressure at monitoring point No. 4 was the largest,
and the pressure at the monitoring points No. 3 and No. 5 was the
smallest. The main reason for the dramatic change in pressure at
monitoring point 4 was that the spark plug was located in the center of
the combustion chamber and the flame traveled the same distance.
However, after the spark plug was ignited, the flame traveled slowly

6
A. Li, et al.
0 37
Fig. 8. Velocity field of knocking combustion (n = 5500 rpm, spark timing = −21 °CA).
toward monitoring point No. 4, and the flame took longer to reach the
area near monitoring point No. 4, so it had enough time to sponta-
neously ignite.
The peak-to-peak values of each monitoring point are shown in
Fig. 10. It can be intuitively seen that the peak-to-peak value of mon-
itoring point No. 4 was the largest, and the knock intensity KI = 7.01
could be calculated. When the knock strength KI exceeded 2, it in-
dicated that knocking had occurred in the cylinder of the direct injec-
tion gasoline engine. The knock area was mainly concentrated in the
monitoring points of No. 1 and No. 4. In order to reduce knocking in
this area, water needed to be injected into the two areas in order to
effectively reduce the in-cylinder knock intensity.
4. Inhibition of different water injection ratios on the knock under
high load conditions
When the ignition timing was −21 °CA, knock had occurred in the
cylinder, so the spark timing was set to −21 °CA. At the time of the
−80 °CA water injection, the distribution of water droplets in the cy-
linder was the most uniform, and it had the greatest impact on the
pressure fluctuation of monitoring point 4. At this time, the possibility
of suppressing knock was the largest, so the water injection timing was
determined to be −80 °CA. The operating conditions of the direct in-
jection gasoline engine are shown in Table 7.
Considering the structure of the combustion chamber and the shape
of the piston, the water injector and the fuel injector were arranged in
the same plane. The schematic diagram of the water injection position
is shown in Fig. 11.
4.1. Equivalent ratio distribution diagram of different water injection
quantities before the ignition time
Different water injection ratios may have affected the equivalence
ratio of the mixed gas in the cylinder before ignition. Therefore, it was
necessary to explore the distribution of the equivalence ratio in the
cylinder under different water injection conditions before the ignition
Fuel 268 (2020) 117376
75 112 150
(m/s)
time. Based on the equivalent ratio distribution cloud picture, the
equivalent ratio cloud picture under different water injection ratios
were essentially the same. Direct water injection in the cylinder had
almost no effect on the equivalence ratio distribution, which was also
explained by the fact that in the case of limited water injection, direct
water injection in the cylinder could not improve the mixed state of the
fuel and air and the turbulent flow state. At the same time, it can also be
seen from the cloud picture of the equivalent ratio that the fuel dis-
tribution was more uniform (the equivalent ratio was between 0.8 and
1.2). However, the equivalent ratio in the area near the injector was
higher than that in other areas (see Fig. 12).
4.2. The inhibition law of different water injection ratios for the knock
Fig. 13 shows the pressure curves of eight monitoring points for
different water injection rates. It can be seen from the figure that as the
amount of water injection increased, the pressure at each monitoring
point decreased continuously and the monitoring point pressure re-
mained almost constant within a certain crank angle. The monitoring
point pressure curve fluctuated sharply when there was no water in-
jection, and the pressure curve fluctuated slightly when the water in-
jection amount was 25%. This indicates that the knock was completely
suppressed as the amount of water injection increased. When the water
injection amount was 5%, the pressure fluctuations of the monitoring
points No. 3, No. 4, and No. 5 were effectively suppressed, while the
pressure fluctuations of other monitoring points seemed to be only
slightly affected. When the water injection amount was 5%, the water
droplets were mainly concentrated in the left area of the cylinder. That
is, the monitoring points of No. 3, No. 4, and No. 5, so the occurrence of
knock in other areas could not be effectively suppressed. When the
amount of water injection was 10%, the water droplets were partially
distributed in the right side area. The pressure fluctuations in each
monitoring point area were partially suppressed. When the amount of
water injection exceeded 10%, the pressure fluctuation was slight, and
the peak pressure was below 12 MPa. At this time, no knock had oc-
curred in the cylinder. In the case of a lower amount of water injection,
7
A. Li, et al.
Fig. 9. Average pressure curve and pressure curve at each monitoring point (n = 5500 rpm, spark timing = −21 °CA).
it was possible to effectively suppress knock.
The pressure peak-to-peak value of each monitoring point is shown
in Fig. 14. Each point on the polyline represents the maximum value of
the pressure of a certain monitoring point in one of the crank angles for
its water injection ratio. It can also be seen from the figure that the
pressure peak-to-peak values of the monitoring points No. 1, No. 4, and
No. 6 were higher than those of other monitoring points, indicating that
the monitoring points of No. 1, No. 4, and No. 6 were more prone to
knocking. When the amount of water injection increased from 0% to
10%, the peak-to-peak pressure of the monitoring point was sig-
nificantly reduced. When the amount of water injection exceeded 15%,
8
Fuel 268 (2020) 117376
it was difficult to decrease the pressure peak-to-peak value by in-
creasing the amount of water injection. When the water injection
amount was 25%, the peak-to-peak pressure of the monitoring point
was below 0.5 MPa. Fig. 15 shows the knock intensities for different
water injection rates. Each point in the figure represents the knock
intensity for a different water injection ratio. It can be seen from the
figure that as the water injection increased, the knock intensity de-
creased gradually and the decrease speed decreased. In combination
with Fig. 13, it can be seen that although increasing the amount of
water injection could effectively reduce the knock intensity, the in-
crease of the amount of water injection caused the pressure in the
A. Li, et al. Fuel 268 (2020) 117376

Fig. 9. (continued)

Fig. 11. Schematic diagram of water injection position.

Fig. 10. Peak-to-peak pressure of the monitoring point.

of the combustion, the direct injection period of the direct injection

Table 7
gasoline engine was extended, thereby reducing the efficiency of the
Operating conditions of the GDI engine.
direct injection gasoline engine. It can be seen that the knock could
Parameter Numerical Value increase the efficiency of the direct injection gasoline engine to a cer-
Rotating speed/r/min 5500
tain extent.
Ignition moment/°CA −21 As shown in Fig. 17, the direct water injection in the cylinder had no
Equivalent ratio 1.1 ± 0.01 effect on the cumulative heat release in general, and the cumulative
Water injection moment 80 °CA before top dead center heat release amount of the different water injection amounts was about
mass water 0, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%
Water injection ratio/ 2900 J. The effect of the water injection on the instantaneous heat
massIC 8H 18
Fuel injection/mg 82.31 release rate shows that the more water was injected, the longer the time
Water injection pressure/MPa 15 to reach the peak value of the cumulative heat release, and the effect on
Water injection temperature/K 333.15
the total heat release was not large. In addition, the temperature of the
in-cylinder mixture was high and the amount of water injection was
small (up to 25% of the fuel mass), and the temperature reduction of the
cylinder to decrease. This was not conducive to the improvement of the
in-cylinder mixture was limited. Therefore, the low amount of water
efficiency of the direct injection gasoline engine, so it was necessary to
injection did not affect the cumulative heat release.
select an appropriate amount of water injection.
As can be seen from Fig. 18, as the amount of water injection in-
creased, the average temperature in the cylinder gradually decreased.
4.3. The effect of different water injection ratios on the combustion An increase in the amount of water injection causes an increase in the
amount of heat absorbed by the water in the cylinder. Fig. 19 shows the
Fig. 16 shows the instantaneous heat release rates for different average pressure curve of the cylinder for different water injection
water injection conditions. As can be seen from the figure, as the rates. As can be seen from the figure, the smaller the amount of water
amount of water injection increased, the peak value of the in- injected was, the larger the average pressure in the cylinder was and the
stantaneous heat release rate gradually decreased and the peak value earlier the peak appeared. As can be seen from the analysis of Figs. 18
shifted with the back. The in-cylinder water injection reduced the and 19, when the amount of water injection was small, the peak ap-
temperature of the combustible mixture, reduced the flame propagation peared earlier. At that time, the closer the piston was to the TDC, the
speed, caused the instantaneous heat release rate peak to shift back, and smaller the internal volume of the cylinder was, the faster the heat
increased the combustion duration. Due to the increase in the duration

9
A. Li, et al.
Equivalent ratio
0.4 0.6
0 5%
15%
Fig. 12. Equivalent ratio distribution diagram of different water injection quantities before ignition timing (n = 5500 rpm, spark timing = −21 °CA).
release rate was, and the higher the average pressure in the cylinder
was. The higher the average pressure was, the stronger the thermal
motion of the molecules in the cylinder was, the higher the in-
tramolecular energy was, and the higher the temperature inside the
cylinder was. The average temperature in the cylinder was affected not
only by the heat absorbed by the water in the cylinder but also by the
slow burning rate of the combustible mixture due to the water injection
in the cylinder.
It can also be seen from Fig. 19 that after 35 °CA, as the amount of
water injection increased, the average pressure in the cylinder also
gradually increased. The main reason for this was that the water ab-
sorbed heat in the cylinder and evaporated into water vapor, which
increased the pressure inside the cylinder. The pressure increase was
determined by the water quality in the cylinder. However, due to the
small amount of water injected, the average pressure difference be-
tween the cylinders was small. Based on the change of the average
pressure curve in the cylinder, direct water injection in the cylinder
could make the average pressure change in the cylinder more stable,
which was beneficial for stabilizing the torque of the direct injection
gasoline engine.
The ignition delay time is defined as the time from the ignition
moment to the moment when the pressure in the cylinder starts to
depart from the pure compression line. The ignition delay time at dif-
ferent water injection ratios is shown in Fig. 20. It can be seen that as
the amount of water injection increases, the ignition delay time in-
creases accordingly. It can be seen that as the amount of water injection
increases, the ignition delay time increases accordingly. It can be seen
from Figs. 18 and 19 that as the water injection amount increases, the
average temperature and pressure in the cylinder gradually decrease,
which is the main reason for the increase in ignition delay time. The
Fuel 268 (2020) 117376
0.8 1 1.2
10%
20% 25%
equivalent ratio, temperature, and pressure in the cylinder could affect
the ignition delay time to a certain extent [41–44].Although the effect
of water injection on the equivalence ratio was small, water injection
would significantly reduce the temperature and pressure in the cy-
linder. Under high temperature conditions, the increase in pressure had
a significant effect on reducing the ignition delay time. As the tem-
perature increased, the overall reaction rate increased and the ignition
delay time decreased. Water injection reduced the temperature and
pressure in the cylinder, which caused an increase in the ignition delay
time.
Fig. 21 (a) shows the P-V plot for different water injection condi-
tions. As the amount of water injection increased, the area enclosed by
the closed curve gradually decreased, indicating that the functional
force was continuously reduced. In order to quantitatively analyze the
functional force for different water injection amounts, the closed curve
in Fig. 21(a) was solved by integrating the area. The amount of work
performed under different injection amounts is shown in Fig. 21(b). It
can be seen from Fig. 21(b) that as the amount of water injection in-
creased, the amount of work done in the cycle was gradually reduced,
and the amount of work done in the cycle was between 1175 J and
1245 J. When the amount of water injection was between 5% and 10%,
the amount of water injection had a lower effect on the amount of work
done in the cycle. The main reason for this was that when the water
injection was 5% or 10%, the instantaneous heat release rate curve and
the average temperature curve in the cylinder were close. Therefore,
the pressure curve in the cylinder was not much different. Although the
knock intensity was the lowest when the water injection was 25%, the
cycle work was too low. Therefore, 25% of the water injection was not
the best choice.
Under the experimental conditions, the cycle work was 1184.57 J.
10
A. Li, et al.
Fig. 13. Pressure change curves of each monitoring point for different water injection qualities (n = 5500 rpm, spark timing = −21 °CA).
When the water injection amount was 10%, the knock was completely
suppressed and the cycle work was 1229.71 J, which was higher than
the experimental condition of 45.14 J. Under high-speed and high-load
conditions, the direct injection gasoline engine efficiency increased by
3.81% when the water injection rate was 10%. Even if the water in-
jection was 20%, the efficiency of the direct injection gasoline engine
increased by 0.068%. At the same time, due to the water injection in the
cylinder, the average pressure curve changed more gently, which was
conducive to the stable output of the direct injection gasoline engine
11
Fuel 268 (2020) 117376
torque.
In order to maximize the water injection benefit and reduce the
dilution effect that the water injection may have on the lubricant, many
water injection parameters must be carefully controlled, such as water
injection pressure, injection timing and number of injections. The
structure of water sprays is influenced by, among other factors, engine
speed, injection timing, in-cylinder flow motion, pressure, and tem-
perature. All these parameters can affect atomization and mixing of the
fuel in substantial ways leading to potential cycle-to-cycle variation in
A. Li, et al.
Fig. 13. (continued)
Fig. 14. Monitoring point pressure Ppmax.
Fig. 15. Knock intensities for different water injection qualities.
combustion performance [45–47]. By adjusting these parameters, the
distribution of Water in the cylinder is adjusted to ensure that water
does not contact the cylinder wall surface or that as little water as
possible hits the wall surface, and to achieve the purpose of suppressing
knock on the premise of the least water into the cylinder. We are cur-
rently studying the effects of water injection timing, temperature, and
pressure on suppressing knocking and water distribution in the
12
Fuel 268 (2020) 117376
Fig. 16. Instantaneous heat release rate for different water spray qualities.
Fig. 17. Cumulative heat releases for different water injection qualities.
cylinder. The water injection parameters are combined with the oper-
ating parameters of the gasoline engine to achieve multi-parameter
optimization and reduce the dilution of the lubricant.
4.4. The effect of different water injection ratios on the emissions
4.4.1. The effect of different water injection ratios on the NOx and soot
Fig. 22 shows the NOx mass change curve and the final NOx
A. Li, et al.
Fig. 18. Average temperatures in the cylinder for different water injection
qualities.
Fig. 19. Average pressures in the cylinder under different water injection
qualities.
Fig. 20. Ignition delay time at different water injection ratios.
production quality in the cylinder under different water injection rates.
It can be clearly seen from Fig. 22(a) that the NOX mass first increased
gradually and then gradually decreased, which was determined by the
NOX generation mechanism. The NOX was rapidly generated in the high
temperature zone. As the piston moved to the top dead center the
temperature in the cylinder decreased. Since the NOX generation
13
Fuel 268 (2020) 117376
reaction was reversible, the reverse reaction played a dominant role in
the process of the piston moving down, so the amount of NOX was re-
duced. When the amount of water injection was 0, the peak of NOX
production was the highest, but at 60 °CA, the amount of NOX produced
was slightly lower than the amount of NOX produced when the amount
of water injection was 5%. It can be seen from Fig. 22(b) that when the
amount of water injection increased from 0 to 5%, the amount of water
injection slightly increased. When the amount of water injection in-
creased from 5% to 25%, the final mass of NOX was gradually reduced.
The variation curve of the soot in the cylinder is shown in Fig. 23(a).
The soot model used a two-step reaction model proposed by Hiroyasu,
which used two overall reactions to describe the formation and oxida-
tion of soot. The formation of soot included the formation and oxidation
of soot. In the early stage of combustion, as the flame propagated, the
fuel burned and decomposed, a large amount of soot was generated,
and then the soot was oxidized and it gradually decreased. From Fig. 23
(a), it can be found that with the increase of the water injection, the
peak of the soot quality change curve gradually moved backward,
which was caused by the slower burning rate caused by water injection.
Fig. 23(b) shows the final production of soot for different water injec-
tion ratios. With the increase of the amount of water injection, the
quality of soot production first decreased and then gradually increased.
The amount of soot produced when the amount of water injected was
25% was slightly higher than the amount of soot produced when water
was not injected. When the amount of water injection was less than
15%, the water injection in the cylinder could reduce soot emissions.
When the water injection ratio was in the range of 5–15%, the soot
generation quality was lower than when there was no water injection.
Based on the peak of the curve of the soot production quality, when the
water injection ratio was in the range of 5–15%, the peak of the soot
gradually increased with the increase of the water injection amount.
When the water injection ratio was in the range of 15–25%, the soot
peak gradually decreased as the water injection quality increased. From
the point of view of the final generation quality, when the water in-
jection ratio was in the range of 5–25%, as the water injection quality
increased, the soot emission increased. By comparing the changes in the
oxygen content for the water injection ratios of 0% and 5% in the cy-
linder, it could be considered that the soot oxidation occupied a
dominant role in the final soot formation quality. The distribution of
oxygen with 0% and 5% water injection at 16 °CA–31 °CA is shown in
Fig. 24. From Fig. 24, it can be clearly found that at the same time, the
oxygen concentration in the cylinder when the water injection amount
was 5% was higher than that when no water was sprayed. At 20 °CA,
the soot content in the cylinder was close when the water injection ratio
was 0% and 5%, and the oxidation rate of the soot with a water in-
jection amount of 5% was higher than that without water injection. The
main reason for this was that the oxygen concentration was directly
proportional to the soot oxidation. The oxygen content when the water
injection amount was 5% was higher than that when the water was not
injected. From the perspective of the oxygen concentration distribution,
oxygen was mainly concentrated in the area where the equivalence
ratio was less than 1 before the ignition time. In the entire area of the
cylinder, the equivalence ratio was more than 1, so the oxygen reaction
could be complete and the content of soot oxide was limited. This led to
higher soot emissions overall. However, the water injection could in-
deed reduce soot emissions to a certain extent. When the water injec-
tion ratio was in the range of 5–25%, as the water injection quality
increased, the temperature in the cylinder decreased, resulting in an
increase in the total amount of soot produced.
4.4.2. Effect of different water injections on UHC and CO emissions
The mass change curves of the unburned hydrocarbons for different
water injection amounts are shown in Fig. 25(a). In the initial com-
bustion stage after ignition of the spark plug, the fuel in the cylinder is
not significantly reduced. As the flame gradually spread outward from
the spark plug, the unburned fuel began to fall rapidly. As the amount
A. Li, et al. Fuel 268 (2020) 117376

(a) P-V diagram (b) Cycle power

Fig. 21. Comparison of the amount of work done for different water injection qualities (n = 5500 rpm, spark timing = −21 °CA).

(a) NOX mass change curve in-cylinder (b) The final quality of NOX production
Fig. 22. Comparison of NOX emissions for different water injection qualities (n = 5500 rpm,spark timing = −21 °CA).

(a) Soot mass change curve in-cylinder (b) The final quality of soot production
Fig. 23. Soot mass change curve in the cylinder (n = 5500 rpm,spark timing = −21 °CA).

14
A. Li, et al. Fuel 268 (2020) 117376

Water 0.000e+0 1.250e-002 2.500e-002

injection 6.250e-003 1.875e-002

ratio

0%

5%

16°CA 21°CA 26°CA 31°CA

Fig. 24. Oxygen quality score distributions (n = 5500 rpm,spark timing = −21 °CA).

(a) Unburned hydrocarbons change curve (b) Unburned hydrocarbon emissions

Fig. 25. Unburned hydrocarbon change curves for different water injection qualities.

of water injection increased, the instantaneous heat release rate de-
creased and the burning speed slowed down. Therefore, the rate of
decline of the unburned hydrocarbon fuels became slower. In terms of
the overall emissions of the unburned hydrocarbons, the unburned
hydrocarbon emissions were still at a low level, although the combus-
tible mixture was relatively rich. Fig. 25(b) shows the emissions of
unburned hydrocarbons. When water was injected into the cylinder, the
unburned hydrocarbon emissions were significantly lower than the
hydrocarbon emissions when the water was not injected. This indicates
that the direct water injection in the cylinder had a certain effect on
reducing the unburned hydrocarbon emissions.
The temperature during combustion had a great effect on UHC. In

15
A. Li, et al.
Water temperature
injection 1800 2050 2300
ratio
5%
16°CA 21°CA
Fig. 26. Temperature field in the cylinder (n = 5500 rpm, spark timing = −21 °CA).
Fig. 27. Curve of CO mass changes for different water injection qualities.
order to clarify the reason why the water injection ratio was 5% lower
than the total amount of UHC generated without water injection, the
temperature field in the cylinder in these two cases needed to be ana-
lyzed. Fig. 26 shows the temperature field when the crank angle was in
the range of 16 °CA–31 °CA. It can be seen from the figure that at
16 °CA, the temperature field without water injection was higher than
the temperature field with 5% water injection. However, at 31 °CA,
when the water injection ratio was 5%, the high temperature area
above 2550 K was more than the high temperature area above 2550 K
without water injection. The temperature drop rate in the high-tem-
perature region became slower, which was beneficial to the UHC being
further oxidized in the high-temperature environment of the expansion
stroke and the exhaust stroke. Therefore, when the water injection ratio
was 5%, the temperature in the high temperature area decreased more
slowly than it did when the water was not injected. This was an im-
portant reason why the water injection ratio was 5% lower than the
total amount of UHC generated without water injection. When the
water spray ratio was in the range of 10–25%, due to different water
16
Fuel 268 (2020) 117376
2550 2800 (K)
26°CA 31°CA
injection ratios, the distribution of water in the cylinder during com-
bustion may have been different. This would have had a different de-
gree of influence on the temperature reduction rate in the high-tem-
perature area of the cylinder. Therefore, the total amount of UHC
generated was different for different water injection ratios. In general,
direct water injection in the cylinder would reduce the total UHC
emissions.
It can be seen from Fig. 27 that when the water was directly injected
in the cylinder, the amount of CO generated was significantly lower
than that of the pure gasoline. The process of CO formation included
direct oxidation of the hydrocarbon fuel to CO and CO2 reduction to
form of CO. It can also be intuitively found from Fig. 27 that the CO
decline trend was exactly the same under different water injected
conditions. At this stage, the CO was mainly oxidized to CO2. Since the
oxidation of CO was essentially the same under different water injection
conditions, the peak value of the CO mass in the cylinder determined its
final production. The main source of CO in the cylinder was the de-
composition reaction of the formaldehyde (CH2O) at the high tem-
perature. The CH2O interacted with the OH to form HCO radicals, and
the HCO radicals were further converted into CO. The water injection in
the cylinder reduced the average temperature in the cylinder, which
was not conducive to the conversion of CH2O to CO2. This effectively
inhibited the formation of CO2. In summary, the in-cylinder water in-
jection could effectively reduce CO2 emissions.
5. Conclusion
1. The most severe changes in the monitoring point pressure were the
monitoring point areas No. 1, No. 2, and No. 4, in which the peak
pressure of monitoring point No. 4 exceeded 23 MPa, indicating that
this area was the most prone to knock. Water injection in the cy-
linder could effectively reduce the temperature and pressure in the
cylinder, thus effectively suppressing knock.
2. Under different water injection conditions, the peak value of the
instantaneous heat release rate decreased with the increase of the
water injection quality. However, the cumulative heat releases were
essentially the same, both around 2900 J. The average temperature
A. Li, et al.
and pressure in the cylinder decreased as the water injection ratio
increased. For cyclic work, as the amount of water injection in-
creased, the amount of work done in the cycle was gradually re-
duced, and the speed of the decrease was slow at first and then
became rapid. When the ignition timing was −21 °CA and the water
injection amount was 10%, the cycle work efficiency was 3.81%
higher than that under the experimental conditions. The synergistic
effect of the spark timing and the direct water injection in the cy-
linder had the potential to increase the efficiency of the direct in-
jection gasoline engine.
3. When the amount of water injection was between 5% and 25%, the
NOX emissions would gradually decrease as the amount of water
injection increased. The NOX emissions were slightly lower than the
5% water injection NOX emissions when no water was injected. The
main reason for this was that when the water injection was 5%, the
temperature in the cylinder was higher than when the water was not
injected. When the water injection was between 5% and 25%, the
soot emissions increased gradually with the increase of the water
injection quality. When the water injection was 5%, the soot emis-
sions were lower than the soot emissions of the pure gasoline. The
unburned hydrocarbon emissions for different water injection qua-
lities were all below 0.00225 mg. The CO emission when the water
was not injected was higher than the CO emission when the water
was directly injected in the cylinder, and the direct water injection
in the cylinder could reduce the CO emission.
Acknowledgment
The research is supported by the National Natural Science
Foundation of China Program (Grant No.5177602)
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