Using momentum flux measurements to determine the injection rate of a commercial Urea Water Solution injector

Abstract

[EN] The Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) technology allows the transformation of the Nitrous Oxide emissions present in exhaust gases into gaseous nitrogen and water. For a proper operation of the SCR, a urea-water solution (UWS) injector must dose an adequate amount of liquid into the exhaust pipe in order to avoid deposit formation and to guarantee the SCR system efficiency. This task requires the knowledge of the performance of the injector. Then, the goal of this work is to study the hydraulic performance of a UWS injector, by means of measuring the spray momentum flux in order to understand the influence of different variables as injected fluid, injection pressure, counter pressure and cooling temperature of the injector on the flow characteristics. The tested injector was cooled at three different temperatures, 60, 90 and 120 degrees C, the injection pressure of the UWS was set at 5, 7 and 9 bar, with counter pressures of 750, 900, 1000 and 2000 mbar for the two tested fluids, water and UWS. The measurements were carried out using an experimental facility developed at CMT-Motores Termicos for the determination of spray momentum flux, where a piezoelectric pressure sensor was located near the nozzle exit of the injector, which measures the impact force of the spray. Additionally, the proposed methodology allowed to determine the injected mass flow and to capture the transient injection events, such as the opening and closing stages. Moreover, mass flow rate measurements of the injector were performed under the same operating conditions, determining the influence of the injection pressure, cooling temperature, counter pressure and fluid properties. Regarding the pressure, the tendency was as expected, the higher the injection pressure the higher the Momentum flux and flow rate. Results showed that an increment of the cooling temperature of the injector induces the appearance of flash boiling conditions, having an impact on the total injected mass and momentum flux, changing the behaviour of the spray. For the same conditions, water has a higher momentum flux than the UWS due to differences in fluid properties and velocity at the nozzle exit.