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Using alternative fuels like Natural Gas (NG) has shown good potentials on heavy duty engines. Heavy duty NG engines can be operated either lean or stoichiometric diluted with EGR. Extending Dilution limit has been identified as a beneficial strategy for increasing efficiency and decreasing emissions. However dilution limit is limited in these types of engines because of the lower burnings rate of NG. One way to extend the dilution limit of a NG engine is to run the engine on Hythane (natural gas + some percentage hydrogen). Previously effects of Hythane with 10% hydrogen by volume in a stoichiometric heavy duty NG engine were studied and no significant changes in terms of efficiency and emissions were observed. This paper presents results from measurements made on a heavy duty 6-cylinder NG engine. The engine is operated with NG and Hythane with 25% hydrogen by volume and the effects of these fuels on the engine performance are studied.

A diesel engine developed for an international market must be able to run on different fuels considering the diesel fuel qualities and the increasing selection of biofuels in the world. This leads to the question of how different fuels perform relative to a standard diesel fuel when not changing the hardware settings. In this study five fuels (Japanese diesel, MK3, EN590 with 10% RME, EN590 with 30% RME and pure RME) have been compared to a reference diesel fuel (Swedish MK1) when run on three different speeds and three different loads at each speed. The experiments are run on a Scania 13l Euro5 engine with standard settings for Swedish MK1 diesel. In general the differences were not large between the fuels. NO x usually increased compared to MK1 and then soot decreased as would be expected. The combustion efficiency increased with increased RME contents of the fuel but the indicated efficiency was not influenced by RME except for at higher loads.

The behavior of Ethanol and seven fuels in the boiling point range of gasoline but with an Octane Number spanning from 69 to 99 was investigated in Partially Premixed Combustion. A load sweep was performed from 5 to 18 bar gross IMEP at 1300 rpm. The engine used in the experiments was a single cylinder Scania D12. To allow high load operations and achieve sufficient mixing, the compression ratio was decreased from the standard 18:1 to 14.3:1. It was shown that by using only 50% of EGR it is possible to achieve NOx below 0.30 g/kWh even at high loads. At 18 bar IMEP soot was in the range of 1-2 FSN for the gasoline fuels while it was below 0.06 FSN with Ethanol. The use of high boost combined with relatively short combustion duration allowed reaching gross indicated efficiencies in the range of 54 - 56%. At high load the partial stratified mixture allowed to keep the maximum pressure rise rate below 15 bar/CAD with most of the fuels.

In the study presented in this paper, a vehicle driving cycle simulation of the pneumatic hybrid has been conducted. The pneumatic hybrid powertrain has been modeled in GT-Power and validated against experimental data. The GT-Power engine model has been linked with a MATLAB/simulink vehicle model. The engine in question is a single-cylinder Scania D12 diesel engine, which has been converted to work as a pneumatic hybrid. The base engine model, provided by Scania, is made in GT-power and it is based on the same engine configuration as the one used in real engine testing. During pneumatic hybrid operation the engine can be used as a 2-stroke compressor for generation of compressed air during vehicle deceleration and during vehicle acceleration the engine can be operated as a 2-stroke air-motor driven by the previously stored pressurized air.

The current research focuses in understanding how inlet pressure, EGR, combustion phasing, engine speed and pilot main ratio are affecting the main parameters of the combustion (e.g. efficiency, NOx, soot, maximum pressure rise rate) in the novel concept of injecting high octane number fuels in partially premixed combustion. The influence of the above mentioned parameters was studied by performing detailed sweeps at 32 bar fuel MEP (c.a. 16-18 bar gross IMEP); three different kinds of gasoline were tested (RON: 99, 89 and 69). The experiments were ran in a single cylinder heavy duty engine; Scania D12. At the end of these sweeps the optimized settings were computed in order to understand how to achieve high efficiency, low emissions and acceptable maximum pressure rise rate.

The aim of this paper is to compile the state of the art of engine control and develop scenarios for improvements in a number of applications of engine control where the pace of technology change is at its most marked. The first application is control of downsized engines with enhancement of combustion using direct injection, variable valve actuation and turbo charging. The second application is electrification of the powertrain with its impact on engine control. Various architectures are explored such as micro, mild, full hybrid and range extenders. The third application is exhaust gas after-treatment, with a focus on the trade-off between engine and after-treatment control. The fourth application is implementation of powertrain control systems, hardware, software, methods, and tools. The paper summarizes several examples where the performance depends on the availability of control systems for automotive applications.

Partially Premixed Combustion (PPC) is a combustion concept by which it is possible to get low smoke and NOx emissions simultaneously. PPC requires high EGR levels to extend the ignition delay so that air and fuel mix prior to combustion to a larger extent than with conventional diesel combustion. This paper investigates the operating region of single injection PPC for three different fuels; Diesel, low octane gasoline with similar characteristics as diesel and higher octane standard gasoline. Limits in emissions are defined and the highest load that fulfills these requirements is determined. The investigation shows the benefits of using high octane number fuel for Multi-Cylinder PPC. With high octane fuel the ignition delay is made longer and the operating region of single injection PPC can be extended significantly. Experiments are carried out on a multi-cylinder heavy-duty engine at low, medium and high speed.

Stoichiometric operation of Spark Ignited (SI) Heavy Duty Natural Gas (HDNG) engines with a three way catalyst results in very low emissions however they suffer from bad gas-exchange efficiency due to use of throttle which results in high throttling losses. Variable Geometry Turbine (VGT) is a good practice to reduce throttling losses in a certain operating region of the engine. VTG technology is extensively used in diesel engines; it is very much ignored in gasoline engines however it is possible and advantageous to be used on HDNG engine due to their relatively low exhaust gas temperature. Exhaust gas temperatures in HDNG engines are low enough (lower than 760 degree Celsius) and tolerable for VGT material. Traditionally HDNG are equipped with a turbocharger with waste-gate but it is easy and simple to replace the by-pass turbocharger with a well-matched VGT.

Partially Premixed Combustion is a concept able to combine low smoke and NOx emissions with high combustion controllability and efficiency. It is of interest to be able to utilize PPC in a large operating region in order to meet the Euro VI emission legislation without relying on NOx aftertreatment. This paper investigates the differences in PPC characteristics for three fuels; Diesel Swedish Mk 1, Low Octane Gasoline (70 Octane) and US Standard Gasoline (87 Octane). Engine operating conditions, combustion characteristics, emissions and efficiency are in focus. The experiments were carried out at a range of operating points on a Volvo MD13 which is a six-cylinder heavy-duty engine. At each operating point three combinations of EGR level and λ-value were evaluated. 1. High EGR/High λ, 2. High EGR/Reduced λ, and 3. Reduced EGR/High λ.

This study investigates mode switching from spark ignited operation with early intake valve closing to residual gas enhanced HCCI using negative valve overlap on a port-fuel injected light-duty diesel engine. A mode switch is demonstrated at 3.5 bar IMEPnet and 1500 rpm. Valve timings and fuel amount have to be selected carefully prior to the mode switch. During mode transition, IMEPnet deviates by up to 0.5 bar from the set point. The time required to return to the set point as well as the transient behavior of the engine load varies depending on which control structure that is used. Both a model-based controller and a PI control approach were implemented and evaluated in experiments. The controllers were active in HCCI mode. The model-based controller achieved a smoother transition and while using it, the transition could be accomplished within three engine cycles.

A comparison between throttled and unthrottled spark ignition combustion with residual enhanced HCCI combustion is made. Early intake valve closing and late intake valve closing valve strategies for unthrottled spark ignition combustion are evaluated and compared. Approximately 3-6 percent relative improvement in net indicated efficiency is seen when comparing unthrottled spark ignition combustion with throttled spark ignition combustion depending on valve strategy and engine speed. The relative improvement in efficiency from spark ignition combustion to HCCI combustion is approximately 20 percent for the conditions presented in this study. The rebreathing strategies have the highest efficiency of the cases in this study.

This work investigates the performance potential of an engine running with partially premixed combustion (PPC) using commercial diesel engine hardware. The engine was a 2.01 SAAB (GM) VGT turbocharged diesel engine and three different fuels were run - RON 70 gasoline, RON 95 Gasoline and MK1 diesel. With the standard hardware an operating range for PPC from idle at 1000 rpm up to a peak load of 1000 kPa IMEPnet at 3000 rpm while maintaining a peak pressure rise rate (PPRR) below 7 bar/CAD was possible with either RON 70 gasoline and MK1 diesel. Relaxing the PPRR requirements, a peak load of 1800 kPa was possible, limited by the standard boosting system. With RON 95 gasoline it was not possible to operate the engine below 400 kPa. Low pressure EGR routing was beneficial for efficiency and combined with a split injection strategy using the maximum possible injection pressure of 1450 bar a peak gross indicated efficiency of above 51% was recorded.

This article deals with application of a pre-chamber type ignition device in a heavy duty engine operated with natural gas. A particular pre-chamber ignition strategy called Avalanche Activated Combustion (originally ‘Lavinia Aktyvatsia Gorenia’ in Russian), commonly referred to as LAG-ignition process, has been studied by performing a parametric study of various pre- and main chamber mixture strength combinations. This strategy was first proposed in 1966 and has been mostly applied in light duty automotive engines. A majority of published data are results from developmental studies but the fundamental mechanism of the LAG-ignition process is unclear to date. To the best of authors' knowledge, the study presented in this article is the first generalized study to gain deeper understanding of the LAG-ignition process in heavy duty engines operating with natural gas as fuel for both chambers.