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Tula’s Dynamic Skip Fire (DSF®) technology combines highly responsive torque control with cylinder deactivation to optimize fuel consumption of spark ignited engines. Through careful control of individual combustion events, engine operation occurs at peak efficiency over the full range of torque demand. A challenge with skip-fire operation is avoiding objectionable noise and vibration. Tula’s DSF technology uses sophisticated firing control algorithms which manage the skip-fire sequence to avoid excitation of the powertrain and vehicle at sensitive frequencies. DSF enables a production-quality driving experience while reducing CO2 emissions by 8-15% with no impact on regulated toxic emissions. Moreover, DSF presents a high value solution for meeting global emissions mandates, with estimated cost less than $40 per percent gain in fuel efficiency.

The newly proposed Euro 7 emission standards have added regulations limiting ammonia emissions for gasoline vehicles. This paper proposes a new emissions-control strategy to satisfy the regulated ammonia emission levels, using deceleration cylinder cut-off (DCCO) to reduce or eliminate conventional deceleration fuel cutoff (DFCO) and the associated lean-rich excursions in the three-way catalyst during oxygen saturation and desaturation. The improved air-fuel ratio management closer to stoichiometry lowers the ratio of CO to NOx and thus the ammonia (NH3) formation rate inside catalytic converter. Tests show more than 80% reduction of ammonia emission on the WLTC drive cycle without increasing other regulated emissions.

Cylinder deactivation is a fuel consumption reduction technology for throttled internal combustion engines and other engines with thermal efficiency loss at part cylinder load. Recent production implementations, deactivating fixed sets of cylinders under part-load operating conditions, have had limited “fly zones” due to issues with drivability and noise, vibration and harshness (NVH). Dynamic skip firing, which in its ultimate form incorporates anytime, any-cylinder deactivation, continuously varies the number of firing cylinders, along with cylinder load, obtaining flexible control of acoustic and vibrational excitations from the engine, and allowing an expanded operational envelope with fewer drive ability/NVH issues. This paper outlines design considerations of dynamic skip fire operational strategies, discusses implementation of the system on a vehicle, and presents benefits to fuel economy and NVH.

Dynamic skip fire is a control method for internal combustion engines in which engine cylinders are selectively fired or skipped to meet driver torque demand. In this type of engine operation, fueling, and possibly intake and exhaust valves of each cylinder are actuated on an individual firing opportunity basis. The ability to operate each cylinder at or near its best thermal efficiency, and to achieve flexible control of acoustic and vibrational excitations has been described in previous publications. Due to intermittent induction and exhaust events, air induction and torque production in a DSF engine can vary more than conventional engines on a cycle-to-cycle basis. This paper describes engine thermofluid modeling for this type of operation for purposes of air flow and torque prediction.

Cylinder deactivation is a fuel consumption and CO2 reduction technology for internal combustion engines that deactivates cylinders at light to moderate loads, allowing the remaining firing cylinders to operate near optimum efficiency. Dynamic Skip Fire (DSF) uses full-authority cylinder deactivation that allows any cylinder of the engine to be deactivated in sequence. In previous SAE papers, both DSF technology and the synergies between DSF and electrification (eDSF) have been described. Recent engine technology includes deactivation mechanisms that do not effectively incorporate individual cylinder control. Nevertheless, it is still quite possible to improve the efficiency of engines equipped with these ganged-deactivation mechanisms. By grouping all cylinders into a deactivation mode, no air is pumped through the cylinders as it would be during the corresponding conventional operation that deactivates fuel alone.