Patent ID: 8105537

Claim:
A fuel quality evaluation apparatus comprising: a combustion chamber which causes a fuel injected from an injection nozzle to combust; a light intensity measurement means which measures a light intensity of a flame caused by a combustion in the interior of the combustion chamber; and at least one processor and a memory storing computer-readable instructions that cause the at least one processor to function as: a temperature control means which adjusts a temperature of an interior of the combustion chamber before an injection of the fuel; an injection control means which controls the injection of the fuel from the injection nozzle; and an analysis means which analyzes a result of a measurement with the light intensity measurement means, and evaluates a quality of the fuel, wherein the analysis means is configured, by controlling the temperature control means and the injection control means, to cause the fuel to combust a plurality of times with the interior of the combustion chamber at a predetermined temperature, to identify a transformation of a flame light intensity which increases along with an elapsing of time after a start of the combustion, and to evaluate the quality of the fuel based on a variation in the light intensity transformations for each combustion, and the analysis means is also configured, in a case where there is no variation in the transformation of the flame light intensity, to cause the fuel to combust a plurality of times with the interior of the combustion chamber at a temperature lower than the predetermined temperature, to identify a transformation of a flame light intensity which increases along with an elapsing of time after a start of the combustion, and to evaluate the quality of the fuel based on a variation in the flame light intensity transformations for each combustion.