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The finite nature and instability of fossil fuel supply has led to an increasing and enduring investigation demand of alternative and regenerative fuels. The Institute for Combustion Engines at the RWTH Aachen University carried out an investigation program to explore the potential of tailor made fuels to reduce engine-out emissions while maintaining engine efficiency and an acceptable noise level. To enable optimum engine performance a range of different hydrocarbons having different fuel properties like cetane number, boiling temperature and different molecular compositions have been investigated. Paraffines and naphthenes were selected in order to better understand the effects of molecular composition and chain length on emissions and performance of an engine that was already optimized for advanced combustion performance. The diesel single-cylinder research engine used in this study will be used to meet Euro 6 emissions limits and beyond.

The future worldwide emission regulations will request a drastic decrease of Diesel engine tailpipe emissions. Depending on the planned application and the real official regulations, a further strong decrease of engine out emissions is necessary, even though the utilized exhaust after-treatment systems are very powerful. To reduce NOx emissions internally, the external exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) is known as the most effective way. Due to the continuously increasing requirements regarding specific power, dynamic behavior and low emissions, future air path systems have to fulfill higher requirements and, consequently, become more and more complex, e.g. arrangements with a 2-stage turbo charging or 2-stage EGR system with different stages of cooling performance.

Controlled Auto Ignition combustion systems have a high potential for fuel consumption and emissions reduction for gasoline engines in part load operation. Controlled auto ignition is initiated by reaching thermal ignition conditions at the end of compression. Combustion of the CAI process is controlled essentially by chemical kinetics, and thus differs significantly from conventional premixed combustion. Consequently, the CAI combustion process is determined by the thermodynamic state, and can be controlled by a high amount of residual gas and stratification of air, residual gas and fuel. In this paper both fundamental and application relevant aspects are investigated in a combined approach. Fundamental knowledge about the auto-ignition process and its dependency on engine operating conditions are required to efficiently develop an application strategy for CAI combustion.

Increased demand for highly fuel efficient propulsion systems drives the engine development community to develop advanced technologies allowing improving the overall thermal efficiency while maintaining low emission levels. In addition to improving the thermal efficiencies of the internal combustion engine itself the developments of fuels that allow improved combustion as well as lower the emissions footprint has intensified recently. This paper will describe the effects of five different fuel types with significantly differing fuel properties on a state-of-the-art light-duty HSDI diesel engine. The fuels cetane number ranges between 26 and 76. These fuels feature significantly differing boiling characteristics as well as heating values. The fuel selection also contains one pure biodiesel (SME - Soy Methyl Ester). This study was conducted in part load and full load operating points using a state of the art HSDI diesel engine.

The main tasks for all future powertrain developments are: regulated emissions, CO2-values, comfort, good drivability, high reliability and affordable costs. One widely discussed approach for fuel consumption improvement within passenger car applications, is to incorporate the downsizing effect. To attain constant engine performance an increase of boost pressure and/or rated speed is mandatory. In both cases, the mass flow rate through the intake and exhaust ports and valves will rise. In this context, the impact of the port layout on the system has to be reassessed. In this paper, the impact of the port layout on a modern diesel combustion system will be discussed and a promising concept shall be described in detail. The investigations shown include flow measurements, PIV measurements of intake flow, CFD simulations of the flow field during intake and results from the thermodynamic test bench. One of the important topics is to prove the impact of the flow quality on the combustion.

A broad range of diesel, kerosene, and gasoline-like fuels has been tested in a single-cylinder diesel engine optimized for advanced combustion performance. These fuels were selected in order to better understand the effects of ignition quality, volatility, and molecular composition on engine-out emissions, performance, and noise levels. Low-level biofuel blends, both biodiesel (FAME) and ethanol, were included in the fuel set in order to test for short-term advantages or disadvantages. The diesel engine optimized in Part 1 of this study included cumulative engine hardware enhancements that are likely to be used to meet Euro 6 emissions limits and beyond, in part by operating under conditions of Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI), at least over some portions of the speed and load map.

Regulated emissions, CO2-values, comfort, good driveability, high reliability and costs, this is the main frame for all future powertrain developments. In this frame, the diesel powertrain, not only for passenger cars, but also for commercial vehicle applications, faces some challenges in order to fulfil the future European and current US emission legislations while keeping the fuel consumption benefit, good driveability and an acceptable cost frame. One of these challenges is the varying fuel qualities of diesel fuel in different countries including different cetane number, volatility, sulphur content and different molecular composition. In addition to that in the future, more and more alternative fuels with various fuel qualities and properties will be launched into the market for economical and environmental reasons. At present, the control algorithms of the injection system applied in most diesel engines is open loop control.

Torque and performance requirements of Diesel engines are continually increasing while lower emissions and fuel consumption are demanded, thus increasing thermal and mechanical loads of the main components. The level of peak firing pressure is approaching 200 bar (even higher in Heavy Duty Diesel engines), consequently, a structural optimization of crankcase, crank train components and in particular of the cylinder head is required to cope with the increasing demands. This report discusses design features of cylinder head concepts which have the capability for increasing thermal and mechanical loads in modern Diesel engines

Based on the TurboDISI engine presented earlier [1], [2], a new Spray Guided Turbo (SGT) concept with enhanced engine performance was developed. The turbocharged engine was modified towards utilizing a spray-guided combustion system with a central piezo injector location. Higher specific power and torque levels were achieved by applying specific design and cooling solutions. The engine was developed utilizing a state-of-the-art newly developed charge motion design (CMD) process in combination with single cylinder investigations. The engine control unit has a modular basis and is realized using rapid prototyping hardware. Additional fuel consumption potentials can be achieved with high load EGR, use of alternative fuels and a hybrid powertrain. The CO2 targets of the EU (120 g/km by 2012 in the NEDC) can be obtained with a mid-size vehicle applying the technologies presented within this paper.

Current and future emission legislations require a significant reduction of engine-out emissions for Diesel engines. For a further reduction of engine-out emissions, different measures are necessary such as: Especially an advanced emission and closed-loop combustion control has gained increased significance during the past years.

Representative Interactive Flamelets (RIF) have proven successful in predicting Diesel engine combustion. The RIF concept is based on the assumption that chemistry is fast compared to the smallest turbulent time scales, associated with the turnover time of a Kolmogorov eddy. The assumption of fast chemistry may become questionable with respect to the prediction of pollutant formation; the formation of NOx, for example, is a rather slow process. For this reason, three different approaches to account for NOx emissions within the flamelet approach are presented and discussed in this study. This includes taking the pollutant mass fractions directly from the flamelet equations, a technique based on a three-dimensional transport equation as well as the extended Zeldovich mechanism. Combustion and pollutant emissions in a Common-Rail DI Diesel engine are numerically investigated using the RIF concept. Special emphasis is put on NOx emissions.

Due to the complex powertrain layout in hybrid vehicles, different configurations concerning internal combustion engine, electric motor and transmission can be combined - as is demonstrated by currently produced hybrid vehicles ([1], [2]). At the Institute for Combustion Engines (VKA) at RWTH Aachen University a combination of simulation, Design of Experiments (DoE) and numerical optimization methods was used to optimize the combustion engine, the powertrain configuration and the operation strategy in hybrid powertrains. A parametric description allows a variation of the main hybrid parameters. Parallel as well as power-split hybrid powertrain configurations were optimized with regard to minimum fuel consumption in the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC). Besides the definition of the optimum configuration for engine, powertrain and operation strategy this approach offers the possibility to predict the fuel consumption for any modifications of the hybrid powertrains.

Under city driving conditions, the powertrain represents one of the major vehicle exterior noise sources. Especially at idle and during full load acceleration, the oil pan contributes significantly to the overall powertrain sound emission. The engine oilpan can be a significant contributor to the powertrain radiated sound levels. Passive optimization measures, such as structural optimization and acoustic shielding, can be limited by e.g. light-weight design, package and thermal constraints. Therefore, the potential of the Active Structure Acoustic Control (ASAC) method for noise reduction was investigated within the EU-sponsored project InMAR. The method has proven to have significant noise reduction potential with respect to oil pan vibration induced noise. The paper reports on activities within the InMAR project with regard to a passenger car oil pan application of an ASAC system based on piezo-ceramic foil technology.

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.

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.

Over the last decades, the use of computers has become an integral part of the engine development process. Computer-based tools are increasingly used in the design process, and especially the layout of the various subsystems is conducted by means of simulation models. Computer-aided engineering plays a central role e.g. in the design of the combustion process as well as with regards to work performed in the area of engine mechanics, where CFD, FEM, and MBS are applied. As a parallel trend, it can be observed that various engine performance characteristics such as e.g. the specific power output and the power-to-weight ratio have undergone an enormous increase, a trend which to some extent counteracts the increase in safety against malfunction and failure. As yet, due to the constant need for further optimization, mechanical testing and verification processes have not become redundant, and it is assumed that they will remain indispensable for the foreseeable future.

Increasing shortages of energy resources as well as emission legislation is increasing the pressure to develop more efficient, environmentally friendly propulsion systems for vehicles. Due to its more than 125 years of history with permanent improvements, the internal combustion engine (ICE) has reached a very high development status in terms of efficiency and emissions, but also drivability, handling and comfort. Therefore, the IC engine will be the dominant propulsion system for future generations. This paper gives a survey on the present technical status and future prospects of internal combustion engines, both CI and SI engines, also including alternative fuels. In addition a brief overview of the potential of currently intensely discussed hybrid concepts is given.

In view of limited crude oil resources, alternative fuels for internal combustion engines are currently being intensively researched. Synthetic fuels from natural gas offer a promising interim option before the development of CO2-neutral fuels. Up to a certain degree, these fuels can be tailored to the demands of modern engines, thus allowing a concurrent optimization of both the engine and the fuel. This paper summarizes investigations of a Gas-To-Liquid (GTL) diesel fuel in a modern, post-EURO 4 compliant diesel engine. The focus of the investigations was on power output, emissions performance and fuel economy, as well as acoustic performance, in comparison to a commercial EU diesel fuel. The engine investigations were accompanied by injection laboratory studies in order to assist in the performance analyses.

With rising gasoline prices in the US the need for increasingly fuel efficient powertrain concepts has never been more critical. Evaluation of the market on the other hand shows that the vehicle-buying consumer is unwilling to compromise engine power output for this needed fuel efficiency. Boosted, direct-injected gasoline engines with high specific output and low end torque seem to be the most logical path to satisfying both good part load fuel economy and generous power and torque characteristics. Turbo lag and subsequent lack of torque during transient acceleration (with low initial engine speeds) are characteristics of current turbocharged gasoline engines. These phenomena have prevented successful penetration of these boosted powertrains into the marketplace. Larger displacement, naturally aspirated gasoline engines have been the preferred choice.

Modern powertrain development is targeting to meet challenging, to some degrees contradictory development goals in a short timeframe. Looking to a development time schedule of 36 months from concept to SOP, it becomes a prerequisite that unnecessary design loops have to be avoided by all means. Now, in addition, the experimental development work has to be conducted more efficiently than in the past. In recent years methods for an efficient design process have been successfully applied. Testing and vehicle application work can take advantage of methods empowered by model based approaches. Today, models with different levels of detail are able to significantly improve nearly every development phase. Supported by standardized and automated test bench and vehicle procedures an efficient and comprehensive development process can be established and utilized, which is also necessary to tackle growing complexity.