Evaluation of natural and tracer fluorescent emission methods for droplet size measurements in a diesel spray

Spray sizing that records fluorescent emission and scattered light has been widely applied to spray diagnostics over the last two decades. Different experimental strategies have been developed, but comparing the different solutions offered has remained of interest to experimentalists. In this work, a comparison of two fluorescence strategies for measuring droplet size in the liquid phase of a last-generation DI diesel spray is conducted. The natural fluorescent emission of a commercial diesel fuel and the fluorescence emitted by a tracer (Rhodamine B) are compared using theoretical and experimental approaches. The LIF/Mie ratio commonly called Planar Droplet Sizing (PDS) technique is applied in two different ways to elucidate the possible advantages of using a fluorescent dopant. The sprays were injected under non-evaporative conditions into a constant pressure vessel that simulates densities present at the moment of injection in currently used passenger car diesel engines. Characterization of the signal properties was performed by measuring the absorption coefficient, fluorescence emission spectrum, quantum yield and lifetime of both configurations. The scattered light and fluorescence intensities were calculated to verify the dependencies of the droplet surface and volume. When applying the two techniques to quantify droplet size in dense diesel sprays, the results show that signal weakness and lack of control over the properties of natural fluorescence produce distortion in the shape of the spray and cause measurements to be unreliable.