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The spatial distribution of internal exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) is evaluated in an optically accessible direct injection spark ignition engine using near infrared laser absorption to visualize the distribution of the H2O molecule. The obtained overall internal exhaust gas recirculation compares well to gas-exchange cycle calculations and the spatial distributions are consistent with those measured with inverse LIF. The experimental procedures described in this report are designed to be simple and rapidly implemented without the need to resort to unusual optical components. The necessary spectral data of the selected absorption line is obtained from the HITEMP database and is validated with prior experiments carried out in a reference cell. Laser speckle in the images is effectively reduced using a ballistic diffuser.

In the context of the energy transition, CO2-neutral solutions are of enormous importance for all sectors, but especially for the mobility sector. Hydrogen as an energy carrier has therefore been the focus of research and development for some time. However, the development of hydrogen combustion engines is in many respects still in the conception phase. Automotive system providers and engineering companies in the field of software development and simulation are showing great interest in the topic. In a joint project with the industrial partners Robert Bosch GmbH and AVL Germany, combustion in a H2-DI-engine for use in light-duty vehicles was methodically investigated using the CFD tool AVL FIRE®. The collaboration between Robert Bosch GmbH and the Institute for Mobile Systems (IMS) at Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg has produced a model study in which model approaches for the combustion of hydrogen can be analyzed.

Tapping of one or more torques (ranges 10 Nm and 60 Nm) on the steering column for the purpose of servo control must satisfy high accuracy requirements on the one hand and high safety requirements on the other hand. A suggestion for developing a low-cost solution to this problem is described below: Strain gages optimally satisfy both these requirements: However, for cost reasons, these are not applied directly to the steering column but to a prefabricated, flat steel rod which is laser welded to the torque rod of the steering column. The measuring direction of the strain gages is under 45° to the steering column axis. The strain gages are either vacuum metallized onto the support rod as a thin film or laminated in a particularly low-cost way by means of a foil-type intermediate carrier.

The emission of particulate matter from future GDI engines has to be optimized, to comply with more stringent emission standards such as EU6. Therefore, the mechanisms responsible for the formation of particles have to be analyzed in detail. The understanding of the in-cylinder processes, necessary for this purpose, can only be achieved by a complementary use of optically accessible single-cylinder engines as well as the numerical simulation. This however leads to great demands on the 3D flow simulation. In this paper the complete CFD approach, incorporating a detailed description of the entire underlying model chain is shown. Particularly the wall surface temperature and the temperature drop due to the interaction with liquid fuel spray were identified as important parameters influencing the spray-wall interaction and thus also the particulate emissions. Nevertheless, in conventional CFD models, the spray cooling cannot be captured because of an assumed constant wall temperature.

Increasingly stringent tailpipe emissions regulations have prompted renewed interest in catalyst heating technology – where an integrated device supplies supplemental heat to accelerate catalyst ‘light-off’. Bosch and Boysen, following a collaborative multi-year effort, have developed a Rapid Catalyst Heating System (RCH) for gasoline-fueled applications. The RCH system provides upwards of 25 kW of thermal power, greatly enhancing catalyst performance and robustness. Additional benefits include reduction of precious metal loading (versus a ‘PGM-only’ approach) and avoidance of near-engine catalyst placement (limiting the need for enrichment strategies). The following paper provides a technical overview of the Bosch/Boysen (BOB) Rapid Catalyst Heating system – including a detailed review of the system’s architecture, key performance characteristics, and the associated impact on vehicle-level emissions.

Particulate emissions from Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI) engines have been an important topic of recent research interest due to their known environmental effects. This review paper will characterise the influence of different gasoline direct injection fuel systems on particle number (PN) emissions. The findings will be reviewed for engine and vehicle measurements with appropriate driving cycles (especially real driving cycles) to evaluate effects of the fuel injection systems on PN emissions. Recent technological developments alongside the trends of the influence of system pressure and nozzle design on injector tip wetting and deposits will be considered. Besides the engine and fuel system it is known that fuel composition will have an important effect on GDI engine PN emissions. The evaporation qualities of fuels have a substantial influence on mixture preparation, as does the composition of the fuel itself.

In recognition of safety considerations, modern fuel tanks are frequently extremely irregular in shape. This places limits on the application of conventional potentiometric sensors. Required are more universal sensors without mechanically-moving parts. These sensors should also be characterized by especially good resolution and precision in the residual-quantity range, that is, the zero point precision should be of a high order. One type of metal rod can be bent into any of a variety of shapes to provide an effective means of monitoring the fuel level. In this metal rod, the propagation characteristics of a certain type of sound wave, known as bending waves, display major variations according to the level of the surrounding medium: The waves spread more rapidly through the exposed section of the rod than through the area which remains submerged. Thus the rod's characteristic oscillation frequency varies as a function of immersion depth.

Environmental consciousness and tightening emissions legislation push the market share of electronic fuel injection within a dynamically growing world wide small engines market. Similar to automotive engines during late 1980's, this opens up opportunities for original equipment manufacturers (OEM) and suppliers to jointly advance small engines performance in terms of fuel economy, emissions, and drivability. In this context, advanced combustion system analyses from automotive engine testing have been applied to a typical production motorcycle small engine. The 125cc 4-stroke, 2-valve, air-cooled, single-cylinder engine with closed-loop lambda-controlled electronic port fuel injection was investigated in original series configuration on an engine dynamometer. The test cycle fuel consumption simulation provides reasonable best case fuel economy estimates based on stationary map fuel consumption measurements.

This paper presents advanced planar ZrO2 oxygen sensors being developed at Robert Bosch using a modified tetragonal partially stabilized zirconia (TZP) with high ionic conductivity, high phase stability and high thermo-mechanical strength. Green tape technology combined with highly automated thickfilm techniques allows robust and cost effective manufacturing of those novel sensing elements. Standardization of assembling parts reduces the complexity of the assembly line even in the case of different sensing principles. The sensor family meets the new requirements of modern ULEV strategies like fast light off below 10 s and linear control capability as well as high quality assurance standards. High volume production will start in 1997 for European customers.

The present paper concentrates on the option of catalytic autothermal reforming of gasoline for fuel cell applications. Major parameters of this process are the “Steam to Carbon Ratio” S/C and the air to fuel ratio λ. Computations assuming thermodynamic equilibrium in the autothermal reactor outlet (ATR) were carried out to attain information about their proper choice, as failure in adjusting the parameters within narrow limits has severe consequences on the reforming process. In order to quantify velocity distribution just ahead the catalyst and to evaluate mixing uniformity we designed an ATR featuring an optical access: Thus flow visualization using PIV (Particle Image Velocimetry) and LIF (Laser Induced Fluorescence) technique is possible. Preliminary PIV-results are presented and compared with CFD computations (Computational Fluid D ynamics).

This study presents measurements of transient flow field and spray structures inside an optically accessible DISI (direct-injection spark-ignition) internal combustion engine. The flow field has a direct effect upon mixture and combustion processes. Given the need to increase the efficiency and performance of modern IC engines and thus reduce emissions a detailed understanding of the flow field is necessary. The method of choice was high-speed two-component particle image velocimetry (PIV) imaging a large field of view (43 x 44 mm₂). To capture the temporal evolution of the main flow features the repetition rate was set to 6 kHz which resolves one image per 1° crank angle (CA) at 1000 rpm. The crank angle range recorded was the latter half of the compression stroke at various engine speeds as well as various charge motions (neutral, tumble and swirl). Moreover, consecutive cycles were recorded allowing a detailed investigation of cycle-to-cycle variations.

The selective catalytic reduction (SCR) based on urea-water-solution is an effective technique to reduce nitrogen oxides (NOx) emitted from diesel engines. A 3D numerical computer model of the injection of urea-water-solution and their interaction with the exhaust gas flow and exhaust tubing is developed to evaluate different configurations during the development process of such a DeNOx-system. The model accounts for all relevant processes appearing from the injection point to the entrance of the SCR-catalyst: momentum interaction between gas phase and droplets evaporation and thermolysis of droplets hydrolysis of isocyanic acid in gas phase heat transfer between wall and droplets spray/wall-interaction two-component wall film including interaction with gas phase and exhaust tube The single modeling steps are verified with visualizations, patternator measurements, phase-doppler-anemometer results and temperature measurements.

Bosch Automotive Semiconductor Unit investigated destroyed semiconductor devices (ASIC) from electronic control unit complaints, which failed due to electrical overstress. It turned out that failure fingerprints could only be reproduced by semiconductor operation far beyond spec limits. One main failure mechanism is caused by hot plugging and bad or late ground connection. In today’s cars some applications are still active for minutes after ignition switch off. So, currents of several amps are delivered and in a typical production or garage environment, hot plugging cannot be avoided completely. Bosch suggests introducing extended ground pins to get an enforced switch on/off sequence during plugging. This poka yoke protection principle is successfully used in other industries for a long time and should now come into cars.

To meet future CO₂ emissions limits and satisfy the bounds set by exhaust gas legislation reducing the engine displacement while maintaining the power output ("Downsizing") becomes of more and more importance in the SI engine development process. The total number of cylinders per engine has to be reduced to keep the thermodynamic disadvantages of a small combustion chamber layout as small as possible. Doing so new challenges arise concerning the mechanical design, the design of the combustion system concept as well as strategies maintaining a satisfying transient torque behavior. To address these challenges a turbocharged 2-cylinder SI engine was designed for research purposes by Weber Motor GmbH and Robert Bosch GmbH. The design process was described in detail in last year's paper SAE 2012-01-0832. Since the engine design is very modular it allows for several different engine layouts which can be examined and evaluated.

A new air quality sensor for climate control in automobiles has been developed. The sensor is designed for use in air conditioning systems with an air intake flap and a charcoal filter. The main indicators for the detection of air pollution are CO and NOx. The sensor elements consist of a SnO2 layer made in thick film technology resulting in small sensor size and high sensitivity at reasonable cost. The sensor elements are packaged together with an evaluation circuit in a water resistant sensor housing for underhood installation. By means of specific dopants the sensor elements have been optimized in order to detect CO and NOx with very low cross-sensitivity. This paper describes the design and production of the sensor. The performance of the complete unit under typical field conditions is presented. The sensor is in serial production.

Passenger car DI Diesel engines need a flexible fuel injection system. Bosch develops a common rail system for this purpose. Besides variation of fuel quantity and start of injection, it permits to choosing freely injection pressure inthe rangeof 150 to 1400 barand injecting fuel in several portions. These new means will contribute to further improvements of DI engines concerning noise, exhaust emissions and engine torque.

Future emission standards for heavy-duty vehicles like Euro 4, Euro 5, US '07 require advanced engine functionality. One contribution to achieve this target is the catalytic reduction of nitrogen oxides by injection of urea water solution to the exhaust gas. An overview on a urea dosing system, also called DENOXTRONIC, is given and a dosing strategy is described.

In this article a new zero-dimensional model is presented for simulating the cylinder pressure in direct injection diesel engines. The model enables the representation of current combustion processes considering multiple injections, high exhaust gas recirculation rates, and turbocharging. In these methods solely cycle-resolved, scalar input variables from the electronic control unit in combination with empirical parameters are required for modeling. The latter are adapted automatically to different engines or modified applications using measured cylinder pressure traces. The verification based on measurements within the entire operating range from engines of different size and type proves the universal applicability and high accuracy of the proposed method.

This study focuses on evaluation of various fuels within a conventional gasoline internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle and the implementation of advanced emissions reduction technology. It shows the robustness of the implemented technology packages for achieving ultra-low tailpipe emissions to different market fuels and demonstrates the potential of future GHG neutral powertrains enabled by drop-in lower carbon fuels (LCF). An ultra-low emission (ULE) sedan vehicle was set up using state-of-the-art engine technology, with advanced vehicle control and exhaust gas aftertreatment system including a prototype rapid catalyst heating (RCH) unit. Currently regulated criteria pollutant emission species were measured at both engine-out and tailpipe locations. Vehicle was run on three different drive cycles at the chassis dynamometer: two standard cycles (WLTC and TfL) at 20°C, and a real driving emission (RDE) cycle at -7°C.

To meet future CO₂ emissions limits and satisfy the bounds set by exhaust gas legislation reducing the engine displacement while maintaining the power output ("Downsizing") becomes of more and more importance to the SI-engine development process. The total number of cylinders per engine has to be reduced to keep the thermodynamic disadvantages of a small combustion chamber layout as small as possible. Doing so leads to new challenges concerning the mechanical design, the design of the combustion system concept as well as strategies maintaining a satisfying transient torque behavior. To address these challenges a turbocharged 2-cylinder SI engine with gasoline direct injection was designed for research purposes by Weber Motor and Bosch. This paper wants to offer an insight in the design process. The mechanical design as well as the combustion system concept process will be discussed.