Parametric Investigation of Methanol Spray Combustion Under Direct-Injection Conditions

This study presents a systematic mapping of methanol spray autoignition, lift-off, and flame development across an engine-relevant range of ambient temperatures (1000–1200 K), injection pressures (70–130 MPa), and O2 concentrations (21–15 vol.%), using a single fixed injector and optical configuration. In addition, the study reports a dual-fuel strategy to address the low-temperature instability challenges highlighted by the mapping. Within this dataset, ignition delay increases with a lower ambient temperature, reduced injection pressure, or a lower O2 concentration, while the lift-off length increases with a lower temperature and higher injection pressure. Schlieren imaging consistently captures ignition in the mid-axial region of the jet, softening of spray-head gradients before high-temperature ignition, and occasional upstream ignition sites during the diffusion-controlled phase that affect the flame base position. At the lowest tested temperature of 1000 K, methanol autoignites over a wide ignition-delay range (±1.33 ms), with combustion occurring outside the chamber’s field of view. The corresponding heat-release profile cannot be interpreted conclusively under the current test configuration. Introducing a pilot jet at this condition enables methanol to ignite shortly after the start of injection over a much narrower range (∼±0.10 ms). The resulting combustion event remains within the field of view and occurs much closer to the nozzle compared with its autoignition counterpart.