Direct-injection internal combustion engine with outwardly opening injection nozzle, and method for operating an internal combustion engine of said type

An engine method, comprising:

• filling an annular gap of an injection nozzle at least partially with fuel, the injection nozzle comprising a nozzle body and a nozzle needle, the nozzle needle having top and bottom ends which contact the nozzle body when the injection nozzle is in a closed position, wherein the annular gap is formed between the top and bottom ends of the nozzle needle and the nozzle body in the closed position of the injection nozzle;
• injecting fuel via the nozzle needle into a combustion chamber in an open position of the injection nozzle;
• with a guide element, guiding a fuel flow into the combustion chamber asymmetrically through the annular gap, wherein the guide element is arranged within and projects into the annular gap in the closed position of the injection nozzle:
• and introducing a fuel cloud into the combustion chamber, the fuel cloud having a non-uniform mass distribution, wherein the injection nozzle is fluidically coupled to a fuel line via a fuel passage which runs through the nozzle needle and has one or more outlets into the annular gap.

An engine system comprising:

• a cylinder including a combustion chamber, a piston, and a piston crown;
• a fuel injector mounted to or within the cylinder and coupled to a fuel line, the fuel injector including a nozzle, the nozzle including a nozzle body encompassing a nozzle needle linearly mobile along a longitudinal axis of the nozzle, where top and bottom ends of the nozzle needle contact the nozzle body when the nozzle is in a closed position;
• an annular gap formed between and fully enclosed by the nozzle body and the top and bottom ends of the nozzle needle, when the nozzle is in the closed position, the annular gap fluidically coupled to the combustion chamber and not fully enclosed by the nozzle body and the top and bottom ends of the nozzle needle when the nozzle is in an open position;
• and a guide element arranged on an inner surface of the nozzle body within the annular gap and projecting asymmetrically into a fuel flow path, wherein the injection nozzle is fluidically coupled to a fuel line via a fuel passage which runs through the nozzle needle and has one or more outlets into the annular gap.