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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.

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.

The operating range in HCCI mode is limited by the excessive pressure rise rate and therefore high combustion induced noise. The HCCI range can be extended with turbocharging which enables increased dilution of the charge and thus a reduction of combustion noise. When the engine is turbocharged the intake charge will have a high temperature at increased boost pressure and can then be regulated in a cooling circuit. Limitations and benefits are examed at 2250 rpm and 400 kPa indicated mean effective pressure. It is shown that combustion stability, combustion noise and engine efficiency have to be balanced since they have optimums at different intake temperatures and combustion timings. The span for combustion timings with high combustion stability is narrower at some intake temperatures and the usage of external EGR can improve the combustion stability. It is found that the standard deviation of combustion timing is a useful tool for evaluating cycle to cycle variations.

Combination of right EGR rates with turbocharging has been identified as a promising way to increase the maximum load and efficiency of heavy duty spark-ignited natural gas engines. With stoichiometric conditions a three way catalyst can be used which means that regulated emissions can be kept at very low levels. However dilution limit is limited in these types of engines because of the lower burnings rate of natural gas with higher EGR rates. One way to extend the dilution limit of a natural gas engine is to run the engine with Hythane (natural gas+ some percentage hydrogen). Previously benefits of hydrogen addition to a Lean Burn natural-gas fueled engine was investigated [1] however a complete study for stoichiometric operation was not performed. This paper presents measurements made on a heavy duty 6-cylinder natural gas engine.

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 and injection timings sufficiently early or late to extend the ignition delay so that air and fuel mix extensively prior to combustion. This paper investigates the operating region of single injection diesel PPC in a multi cylinder heavy duty engine resembling a standard build production engine. Limits in emissions and fuel consumption are defined and the highest load that fulfills these requirements is determined. Experiments are carried out at different engine speeds and a comparison of open and closed loop combustion control are made as well as evaluation of an extended EGR-cooling system designed to reduce the EGR temperature. In this study the PPC operating range proved to be limited.

This paper offers a two-zone NOx model suitable for vehicle on-board, on-line implementation. Similar NOx modeling attempts have previously been undertaken. The hereby suggested method does however offer clear and important benefits over the previously methods, utilizing a significantly different method to handle temperature calculations within the (two) different zones avoiding iterative computation. The new method significantly improves calculation speed and, most important of all, reduces implementation complexity while still maintaining reasonable accuracy and the physical interpretation of earlier suggested methods. The equations commonly used to compute NOx emissions is also rewritten in order to suit a two-zone NOx model. An algorithm which can be used to compute NOx emissions is presented and the intended contribution of the paper is a NOx model, implementation feasible for an embedded system, e.g. embedded processor or embedded electronic hardware (FPGA).

In the study presented in this paper, experimental data from a pneumatic hybrid has been compared to the results from a simulation of the engine in GT-Power. 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 during 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. There is also a possibility to use the stored pressurized air in order to supercharge the engine when there is a need for high torque, like for instance at take off after a standstill or during an overtake maneuver.

Homogenous charge compression ignition (HCCI) has been identified as a promising way to increase the efficiency of the spark-ignited engine, while maintaining low emissions. The challenge with HCCI combustion is excessive pressure rise rate, quantified here with Ringing Intensity. Turbocharging enables increased dilution of the charge and thus a reduction of the Ringing Intensity. The engine used is an SI four cylinder base with 2.2L displacement and is equipped with a turbocharger. Combustion phasing control is achieved with individual intake/ exhaust cam phasing. Fuel injection with spray guided design is used. Cycle resolved combustion state is monitored and used for controlling the engine either in closed or open loop where balancing of cylinder to cylinder variations has to be done to run the engine at high HCCI load. When load is increased the NOx levels rise, the engine is then run in stoichiometric HCCI mode to be able to use a simple three-way catalyst.

High EGR rates combined with turbocharging has been identified as a promising way to increase the maximum load and efficiency of heavy duty spark ignition engines. With stoichiometric conditions a three way catalyst can be used which means that regulated emissions can be kept at very low levels. Obtaining reliable spark ignition is difficult however with high pressure and dilution. There will be a limit to the amount of EGR that can be tolerated for each operating point. Open loop operation based on steady state maps is difficult since there is substantial dynamics both from the turbocharger and from the wall heat interaction. The proposed approach applies standard closed loop lambda control for controlling the overall air/fuel ratio. Furthermore, ion-current based dilution limit control is applied on the EGR in order to maximize EGR rate as long as combustion stability is preserved.

The paper describes a novel method for calculating the residual gas fraction and the trapping efficiency in a 2 stroke engine. Assuming one dimensional compressible flow through the inlet and exhaust ports, the method estimates the instantaneous mass flowing in and out from the combustion chamber; later the residual gas fraction and trapping efficiency are estimated combining together the perfect displacement and perfect mixing scavenging models. It is assumed that when the intake port opens, the fresh mixture is pushing out the burned charge without any mixing and after a multiple of the time needed for the largest eddy to perform one rotation, the two gasses are instantly mixed up together and expelled. The result is a very simple algorithm that does not require much computational time and is able to estimate with high level of precision the trapping efficiency and the residual gas fraction in 2 stroke engines.

Partially Premixed Combustion (PPC) has shown its potential by combining high combustion controllability with emission characteristics that are close to those of an HCCI engine. In order to get PPC the ignition delay needs to be long enough for the fuel and air to mix prior to combustion. This can be achieved by injecting the fuel sufficiently early while running with high EGR. In order to find out where and how PPC occurs a map that shows the changes in combustion characteristics with injection timing and EGR was created. The combustion characteristics were studied in a six cylinder heavy duty engine where the Start of Injection (SOI) was swept from early to late injection over a wide range of EGR levels. The emissions were monitored during the sweeps and in the most promising regions, with low emissions and high efficiency, additional changes in injection pressure and engine speed were applied to get a more versatile picture of the combustion.

High EGR rates combined with turbocharging has been identified as a promising way to increase the maximum load and efficiency of heavy duty spark ignition engines. With stoichiometric conditions a three way catalyst can be used which means that regulated emissions can be kept at very low levels. Obtaining reliable spark ignition is difficult however with high pressure and dilution. There will be a limit to the amount of EGR that can be tolerated for each operating point. Open loop operation based on steady state maps is difficult since there is substantial dynamics both from the turbocharger and from the wall heat interaction. The proposed approach applies standard closed loop lambda control for controlling the overall air/fuel ratio for a heavy duty 6-cylinder port injected natural gas engine. A closed loop load control is also applied for keeping the load at a constant level when using EGR.

The present paper shows the validation of a self tuning heat release method with no need to model heat losses, crevice losses and blow by. Using the pressure and volume traces the method estimates the polytropic exponents (before, during and after the combustion event), by the use of the emission values and amount of fuel injected per cycle the algorithm calculates the total heat release. These four inputs are subsequently used for computing the heat release trace. The result is a user independent algorithm which results in more objective comparisons among operating points and different engines. In the present paper the heat release calculated with this novel method has been compared with the one computed using the Woschni correlation for modeling the heat transfer. The comparison has been made using different fuels (PRF0, PRF80, ethanol and iso-octane) making sweeps in relative air-fuel ratio, engine speed, EGR and CA 50.

The Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) principle holds promise to increase efficiency and to reduce emissions from internal combustion engines. As HCCI combustion lacks direct ignition timing control and auto-ignition depends on the operating condition, control of auto-ignition is necessary. Since auto-ignition of a homogeneous mixture is very sensitive to operating conditions, a fast combustion phasing control is necessary for reliable operation. To this purpose, HCCI modeling and model-based control with experimental validation were studied. A six-cylinder heavy-duty HCCI engine was controlled on a cycle-to-cycle basis in real time by applying in-cylinder pressure feedback. A low-complexity physical model was developed, aiming at describing the major thermodynamic and chemical interactions in the course of an engine stroke. The model shows the importance of thermal interaction between the combustion and the cylinder walls.

Power supply systems play a very important role in applications of everyday life. Mainly, for low power generation, there are two ways of producing energy: electrochemical batteries and small engines. In the last few years many improvements have been carried out in order to obtain lighter batteries with longer duration but unfortunately the energy density of 1 MJ/kg seems to be an asymptotic value. If the energy source is an organic fuel with an energy density of around 29 MJ/kg and a minimum overall efficiency of only 3.5%, this device can surpass the batteries. Nowadays the most efficient combustion process is HCCI combustion which is able to combine high energy conversion efficiency and low emission levels with a very low fuel consumption. In this paper, an investigation has been carried out concerning the effects of the compression ratio on the performance and emissions of a mini, Vd = 4.11 [cm3], HCCI engine fueled with diethyl ether.

Power supply systems play a very important role in everyday life applications. There are mainly two ways of producing energy for low power generation: electrochemical batteries and small engines. In the last few years, many improvements have been carried out in order to obtain lighter batteries with longer durations but unfortunately the energy density of 1 MJ/kg seems to be an asymptotic value. An energy source constituted of an organic fuel with an energy density around 29 MJ/kg and a minimum overall efficiency of only 3.5% could surpass batteries. Nowadays, the most efficient combustion process is HCCI combustion which has the ability to combine a high energy conversion efficiency with low emission levels and a very low fuel consumption. The present paper describes an investigation carried out on a modified model airplane engine, on how a pure HCCI combustion behaves in a small volume, Vd = 4.11 cm3, at very high engine speeds (up to 17,500 [rpm]).

Engine tests have been performed on a 9.6 liter spark-ignited engine fueled by natural gas and a mixture of 25/75 hydrogen/natural gas by volume. The scope of the work was to test two strategies for low emissions of harmful gases; lean burn operation and stoichiometric operation with EGR and a three-way catalyst. Most gas engines today, used in city buses, utilize the lean burn approach to achieve low NOx formation and high thermal efficiency. However, the lean burn approach may not be sufficient for future emissions legislation. One way to improve the lean burn strategy is to add hydrogen to the fuel to increase the lean limit and thus reduce the NOx formation without increasing the emissions of HC. Even so, the best commercially available technology for low emissions of NOx, HC and CO today is stoichiometric operation with a three-way catalyst as used in passenger cars.

In this paper the combustion chamber wall temperature was measured by the use of thermographic phosphor. The temperature was monitored over a large time window covering a load transient. Wall temperature measurement provide helpful information in all engines. This temperature is for example needed when calculating heat losses to the walls. Most important is however the effect of the wall temperature on combustion. The walls can not heat up instantaneously and the slowly increasing wall temperature following a load transient will affect the combustion events sucseeding the transient. The HCCI combustion process is, due to its dependence on chemical kinetics more sensitive to wall temperature than Otto or Diesel engines. In depth knowledge about transient wall temperature could increase the understanding of transient HCCI control. A “black box” state space model was derived which is useful when predicting transient wall temperature.

Exhaust Emissions from lean burn natural gas engines may not always be as low as the potential permits, especially engines with open loop lambda control. These engines can produce much higher emissions than a comparable diesel engine without exhaust gas after treatment. Even if the engine has closed loop lambda control, emissions are often unacceptably high for future emission regulations. A three way catalyst is, today, the best way to reduce hazardous emissions. The drawback is that the engine has to operate with a stoichiometric mixture and this leads to; higher heat losses, higher pumping work at low to medium loads, higher thermal stress on the engine and higher knock tendency (requiring lower compression ratio, and thus lower brake efficiency). One way to reduce these drawbacks is to dilute the stoichiometric mixture with EGR. This paper compares lean burn operation with operation at stoichiometric conditions diluted with EGR, and using a three way catalyst.