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The fulfillment of the aggravated demands on future small-size High-Speed Direct Injection (HSDI) Diesel engines requires next to the optimization of the injection system and the combustion chamber also the generation of an optimal in-cylinder swirl charge motion. To evaluate different port concepts for modern HSDI Diesel engines, usually quantities as the in-cylinder swirl ratio and the flow coefficient are determined, which are measured on a steady-state flow test bench. It has been shown that different valve lift strategies nominally lead to similar swirl levels. However, significant differences in combustion behavior and engine-out emissions give rise to the assumption that local differences in the in-cylinder flow structure caused by different valve lift strategies have noticeable impact. In this study an additional criterion, the homogeneity of the swirl flow, is introduced and a new approach for a quantitative assessment of swirl flow pattern is presented.

A conventional coil ignition system and two breakdown ignition systems with different electrode configurations were compared in M.I.T.'s transparent square piston engine. The purpose was to gain a deeper understanding of how the breakdown and glow discharge phases affect flame development and engine performance. The engine was operated with a standard intake valve and with a shrouded intake valve to vary the characteristic burning rate of the engine. Cylinder pressure data were used to characterize the ignition-system performance. A newly developed schlieren system which provides two orthogonal views of the developing flame was used to define the initial flame growth process. The study shows that ignition systems with higher breakdown energy achieve a faster flame growth during the first 0.5 ms after spark onset for all conditions studied.

Gasoline Controlled Auto Ignition offers a high CO2 emission reduction potential, which is comparable to state-of-the-art, lean stratified operated gasoline engines. Contrary to the latter, GCAI low temperature combustion avoids NOX emissions, thereby trying to avoid extensive exhaust aftertreatment. The challenges remain in a restricted operation range due to combustion instabilities and a high sensitivity towards changing boundary conditions like ambient temperature, intake pressure or fuel properties. Once combustion shows instability, cyclic fluctuations are observed. These appear to have near-chaotic behavior but are characterized by a superposition of clearly deterministic and stochastic effects. Previous works show that the fluctuations can be predicted precisely when taking cycle-tocycle correlations into account. This work extends current approaches by focusing on additional dependencies within one single combustion cycle.

Two-stage variable compression ratio (VCR) systems for spark ignited engines offer a CO2 reduction potential of approx. 5%. Due to their modularity, connecting rod based VCR-systems can be integrated into existing engine assembly systems, where engines can be built in parallel with or without such a system, depending on performance and market requirements. In order to comply with the new RDE emission standards with high specific power engine variants, VCR systems enable high load engine operation without fuel enrichment. The interactions between the hydraulic-, mechanical - and oil supply systems of a VCR-system with variable connecting rod length are complex and require a well-developed and adapted layout of all subsystems. This demands the use of tailored measurement and simulation tools during the development and application phases. In this context, Advanced Functional Pulse Testing enables single-parameter analyses of VCR con rods.

This study investigated dual-fuel operation with a light duty Diesel engine over a wide engine load range. Ethanol was hereby injected into the intake duct, while Diesel was injected directly into the cylinder. At low loads, high ethanol shares are critical in terms of combustion stability and emissions of unburnt hydrocarbons. As the load increases, the rates of heat release become problematic with regard to noise and mechanical stress. At higher loads, an advanced injection of Diesel was found to be beneficial in terms of combustion noise and emissions. For all tests, engine-out NOx emissions were kept within the EU-6.1 limit.

For gasoline engines controlled autoignition provides the vision of enabling the fuel consumption benefit of stratified lean combustion systems without the drawback of additional NOx aftertreatment. In this study the potential of certain biofuels on this combustion system was assessed by single-cylinder engine investigations using the exhaust strategy "combustion chamber recirculation" (CCR). For the engine testing sweeps in the internal EGR rate with different injection strategies as well as load sweeps were performed. Of particular interest was to reveal fuel differences in the achievable maximal load as well as in the NOx emission behavior. Additionally, experiments with a shock tube and a rapid compression machine were conducted in order to determine the ignition delay times of the tested biofuels concerning controlled autoignition-relevant conditions.

In the recent years diesel engine developers and manufacturers achieved a great progress in reducing the most important diesel engine pollutants, NOX and particulates. But nevertheless big efforts in diesel engine development are necessary to meet with the more stringent future emission regulations. To improve the knowledge about particle formation and emission an insight in the cylinder is necessary. By using the fast gas sampling technique samples from the cylinder were taken as a function of crank angle and analyzed regarding the soot particle size distribution and the particle mass. The particle size distribution was measured by a conventional SMPS. Under steady state conditions the influence of aromatic and oxygen content in the fuel on in-cylinder particle size distribution and particle mass inside a modern 4V-CR-DI-diesel-engine were determined. After injection and ignition, mainly small soot particles were formed which grow and in the later combustion phase coagulate.

Combustion and pollutant formation in a new recently introduced Common-Rail DI Diesel engine concept with roof-shaped combustion chamber and tumble charge motion are numerically investigated using the Representative Interactive Flamelet concept (RIF). A reference case with a cup shaped piston bowl for full load operating conditions is considered in detail. In addition to the reference case, three more cases are investigated with a variation of start of injection (SOI). A surrogate fuel consisting of n-decane (70% liquid volume fraction) and α-methylnaphthalene (30% liquid volume fraction) is used in the simulation. The underlying complete reaction mechanism comprises 506 elementary reactions and 118 chemical species. Special emphasis is put on pollutant formation, in particular on the formation of NOx, where a new technique based on a three-dimensional transport equation within the flamelet framework is applied.

Within the Cluster of Excellence “Tailor-Made Fuels from Biomass” (TMFB) at the RWTH Aachen University, two novel biogenic fuels, namely 1-octanol and its isomer dibutyl ether (DBE), were identified and extensively analyzed in respect of their suitability for combustion in a Diesel engine. Both biofuels feature very different properties, especially regarding their ignitability. In previous works of the research cluster, promising synthesis routes with excellent yields for both fuels were found, using lignocellulosic biomass as source material. Both fuels were investigated as pure components in optical and thermodynamic single cylinder engines (SCE). For 1-octanol at lower part load, almost no soot emission could be measured, while with DBE the soot emissions were only about a quarter of that with conventional Diesel fuel. At high part load (2400 min-1, 14.8 bar IMEP), the soot reduction of 1-octanol was more than 50% and for DBE more than 80 % respectively.

The influence of oil related emissions became more important in the past due to reduced engine-out emissions of combustion engines. Additionally the efficiency of exhaust gas after treatment components is influenced by oil derived components. A balancing of relevant engine oil components (Ca, Mg, Zn, P, S, Mo, B, Fe, Al, Cu) is presented in this paper. The oil components deposited in the combustion chamber, in the exhaust system as well as in the aftertreatment devices were determined and quantified. Therefore a completely cleaned DI Diesel engine with oxidation catalyst, Diesel particulate filter (DPF) and NOx adsorber catalyst (LNT) was operated in different operating conditions for 500 h in a development test cell. The operation included lean/rich cycling for NOx trap regeneration. After finishing the 500 h test procedure the engine was completely disassembled and all deposits were analyzed.

This paper introduces different modeling approaches of crankshafts, compares the refinement levels and discusses the difference between the results of the crankshaft durability calculation methodologies. A V6 crankshaft is considered for the comparison of the refinement levels depending on the deviation between the signals such as main bearing forces and deflection angle. Although a good correlation is observed between the results in low speed range, the deviation is evident through the mid to high speed ranges. The deviation amplitude differs depending on the signal being observed and model being used. An inline 4 crankshaft is considered for the comparison of the durability results. The analysis results show that the durability potential is underestimated with a classical crankshaft calculation approach which leads to a limitation of maximum speed of 5500 rpm.

Within this paper, the two possible alternative and biomass-based fuel candidates Di-n-butyl ether (DNBE) and 1-octanol are investigated with regard to their utilization in a diesel-type engine. In order to asses the fuels emission-reduction potential, both have been tested in a single cylinder engine (SCE) and a high pressure chamber (HPC) in comparison to conventional EN590 diesel at various load points. Due to its reduced reactivity 1-octanol features a longer ignition delay and thus higher degrees of homogenization at start of combustion, whereas DNBE ignites rather rapidly in both the HPC and the engine leading to a predominantly mixing controlled combustion. Thus, both fuels feature completely different combustion characteristics. However, compared to diesel, both fuels contribute to a significant reduction in Filter Smoke Number (FSN) up to a factor of 15.

Due to experimental challenges, combustion of diesel-like jets has rarely been characterized by laser-based quantitative multiscalar measurements. In this work, recently developed laser diagnostics for combustion temperature and the concentrations of CO, O2, and NO are applied to a diesel-like jet, using a highly oxygenated fuel. The diagnostic is based on spontaneous Raman scattering (SRS) and laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) methods. Line imaging yields multiscalar profiles across the jet cross section. Measurements turn out to be particularly accurate, because near-stoichiometric combustion occurs in the central region of the jet. Thereby, experimental cross-influences by light attenuation and interfering emissions are greatly reduced compared to the combustion of conventional, sooting diesel fuel jets. This is achieved by fuel oxygenation and enhanced premixing.

The HSDI Diesel engine contributes substantially to the decrease of fleet fuel consumption thus to the reduction of CO2 emissions. This results in the rising market acceptance which is supported by desirable driving performance as well as greatly improved NVH behavior. In addition to the above mentioned requirements on driving performance, fuel economy and NVH behavior, continuously increasing demands on emissions performance have to be met. From today's view the Diesel particulate trap presents a safe technology to achieve the required reduction of the particle emission of more than 95%. However, according to today's knowledge a further, substantial NOx engine-out emission reduction for the Diesel engine is counteracts with the other goal of reduced fuel consumption. To comply with current and future emission standards, Diesel engines will require DeNOx technologies.

In order to reduce engine out CO2 emissions, it is a main subject to find new alternative fuels from renewable sources. For identifying the specification of an optimized fuel for engine combustion, it is essential to understand the details of combustion and pollutant formation. For obtaining a better understanding of the flame behavior, dynamic structure large eddy simulations are a method of choice. In the investigation presented in this paper, an n-heptane spray flame is simulated under engine relevant conditions starting at a pressure of 50 bar and a temperature of 800 K. Measurements are conducted at a high-pressure vessel with the same conditions. Liquid penetration length is measured with Mie-Scatterlight, gaseous penetration length with Shadowgraphy and lift-off length as well as ignition delay with OH*-Radiation. In addition to these global high-speed measurement techniques, detailed spectroscopic laser measurements are conducted at the n-heptane flame.

In this paper different compressor/expander concepts including mechanical superchargers, turbochargers and two-stage charging concepts are analysed with regard to their suitability for fuel cell applications. Special attention is focused on system designs which use the energy of the tail gases for driving the compressor. The net efficiencies of different system concepts at full load were calculated with a simulation model, based on Matlab/Simulink‘ and show, that with a single stage turbocharger in combination with a tail gas burner good efficiencies and high power densities can be obtained at a pressure level of more than 2.5 bar.

The presented paper deals with the set-up and performance of a newly developed control system as well as with achieved engine results. This control system is able to control the entire cylinder pressure trace by using a flexible rate shaping injector and iterative learning control (ILC). Standard thermodynamic cycles, like isobaric and Seiliger cycles, and a newly suggested class of cycles are generated and analyzed on a single cylinder engine. With this control system an extremely flexible tool for optimization of combustion processes is available to exploit the full potential of injection rate- shaping on diesel engines.

The increasingly stringent limits on pollutant emissions from internal combustion engine-powered vehicles require the optimization of advanced combustion systems by means of virtual development and simulation tools. Among the gaseous emissions from spark-ignition engines, the unburned hydrocarbon (HC) emissions are the most challenging species to simulate because of the complexity of the multiple physical and chemical mechanisms that contribute to their emission. These mechanisms are mainly three-dimensional (3D) resulting from multi-phase physics - e.g., fuel injection, oil-film layer, etc. - and are difficult to predict even in complex 3D computational fluid-dynamic (CFD) simulations. Phenomenological models describing the relationships between the physical-chemical phenomena are of great interest for the modeling and simplification of such complex mechanisms.

In order to lower friction losses and hence ensure low fuel consumption of internal combustion engines, borderline design of hydrodynamic cranktrain bearings is often unavoidable. To realize this without the risk of failures, detailed modelling of hydrodynamic effects is gaining more and more relevance. In this publication, an approach using flow simulation to couple hydrodynamic bearings with each other, will be introduced. This allows the state variables of the fluid in the supply bore of the crankshaft to be calculated transiently. One important aspect of this concerns the solubility of gas in oil. This paper demonstrates that the gas fractions in the supply bore of the crankshaft influence the pressures at the hydrodynamic bearings. Additionally, simulation results will be shown and also validated with measurement data.

The application of technologies such as direct injection, turbo charging and variable valve timing has caused a significant evolution of the gasoline engine with positive effects on fuel consumption and emissions. The current developments are primarily focused on the realization of improved full load characteristics and fuel consumption reduction with stoichiometric operation, following the downsizing approach in combination with turbo charging and high specific power. The requirements of high specific power in a relatively small cylinder displacement and a wide range of DI injection specifications lead to competing development targets and to a high number of degrees of freedom during engine layout and optimization. One of the major targets is to assess the stability of the combustion system in the early development phase.