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The 2023 FISITA White Paper (for which the author was a contributor) on managing in-service emissions and transportation options, to reduce CO2 (CO2-e or carbon footprint) from the existing vehicle fleet, proposed 6 levers which could be activated to complement the rapid transition to vehicles using only renewable energy sources. Another management opportunity reported here is optimizing the vehicle’s life in-service to minimize the life-cycle CO2 impact of a range of present and upcoming vehicles. This study of the US vehicle fleet has quite different travel and composition characteristics to European (EU27) vehicles. In addition, the embodied CO2 is based on ANL’s GREET data rather than EU27 SimaPro methodology. It is demonstrated that in-service, whole-of-life mileage has a significant influence on the optimum life cycle CO2 for BEVs and H2 fuelled FCEVs, as well as ICEs and PHEVs.

The US American government introduced a law to mandatorily equip passenger vehicles with rear view cameras. Furthermore, US NCAP presented a test for passenger vehicles to brake on pedestrians while back up. These two circumstances lead to main motivation of the development of the Comfort Backup Assist (CBUA). Nevertheless, more and more passenger cars in general are being equipped with rear view cameras. Rear view system (RVS) allows to deliver a rear-view camera system including a braking functionality which is intended to make the driving mission safer and reduce the number of accidents in parking driving situations. RVS also focus on vehicle safety by reducing accidents while taking reversing/parking scenarios and to provides slow de-acceleration of the vehicle gradually to avoid jerk and increase the ride comfort.

Automated driving systems (ADSs) for road vehicles are being developed that can perform the entire dynamic driving task without a human driver in the loop. However, current regulatory frameworks for assuring vehicle safety may restrict the deployment of ADSs that can use machine learning to modify their functionality while in service. A review was undertaken to identify and assess key initiatives and research relevant to the safety assurance of adaptive safety-critical systems that use machine learning, and to highlight assurance concepts that could benefit from further research. The primary objective was to produce findings and recommendations that can inform policy and regulatory reform relating to ADS safety assurance.

Global automotive fuel economy and emissions pressures mean that 48 V hybridisation will become a significant presence in the passenger car market. The complexity of powertrain solutions is increasing in order to further improve fuel economy for hybrid vehicles and maintain robust emissions performance. However, this results in complex interactions between technologies which are difficult to identify through traditional development approaches, resulting in sub-optimal solutions for either vehicle attributes or cost. The results presented in this paper are from a simulation programme focussed on the optimisation of various advanced powertrain technologies on 48 V hybrid vehicle platforms. The technologies assessed include an electrically heated catalyst, an insulated turbocharger, an electric water pump and a thermal management module.

The introduction of new light-duty vehicle emission limits to comply under real driving conditions (RDE) is pushing the diesel engine manufacturers to identify and improve the technologies and strategies for further emission reduction. The latest technology advancements on the after-treatment systems have permitted to achieve very low emission conformity factors over the RDE, and therefore, the biggest challenge of the diesel engine development is maintaining its competitiveness in the trade-off “CO2-system cost” in comparison to other propulsion systems. In this regard, diesel engines can continue to play an important role, in the short-medium term, to enable cost-effective compliance of CO2-fleet emission targets, either in conventional or hybrid propulsion systems configuration. This is especially true for large-size cars, SUVs and light commercial vehicles.

Since several decades, passenger cars and light duty vehicles (LDV) with spark-ignited engines reach full pollutant conversion during warm up conditions; the major challenge has been represented by the cold start and warming up strategies. The focus on technology developments of exhaust after treatment systems have been done in the thermal management in order to reach the warm up conditions as soon as possible. A new challenge is now represented by the Real Driving Emission (RDE) Regulation as this bring more various, and not any longer cycle defined, cold start conditions. On the other hand, once the full conversion has been reached, it would be beneficial for many Exhaust After Treatment System (EATS) components, e.g. for overall durability if the exhaust gas temperature could be lowered. To take significant further emission steps, approaching e.g. zero emission concepts, we investigate the use of Electrical Heating Catalyst (EHC) also including pre-heating.

Compressed natural gas (CNG) is an attractive, alternative fuel for spark-ignited (SI), internal combustion (IC) engines due to its high octane rating, and low energy-specific CO2 emissions compared with gasoline. Directly-injected (DI) CNG in SI engines has the potential to dramatically decrease vehicles’ carbon emissions; however, optimization of DI CNG fueling systems requires a thorough understanding of the behavior of CNG jets in an engine environment. This paper therefore presents an experimental and modeling study of DI gaseous jets, using methane as a surrogate for CNG. Experiments are conducted in a non-reacting, constant volume chamber (CVC) using prototype injector hardware at conditions relevant to modern DI engines. The schlieren imaging technique is employed to investigate how the extent of methane jets is impacted by changing thermodynamic conditions in the fuel rail and chamber.

Non-reacting spray behaviors of the Engine Combustion Network “Spray G” gasoline fuel injector were investigated at flash and non-flash boiling conditions in an optically accessible single cylinder engine and a constant volume spray chamber. High-speed Mie-scattering imaging was used to determine transient liquid-phase spray penetration distances and observe general spray behaviors. The standardized “G2” and “G3” test conditions recommended by the Engine Combustion Network were matched in this work and the fuel was pure iso-octane. Results from the constant volume chamber represented the zero (stationary piston) engine speed condition and single cylinder engine speeds ranged from 300 to 2,000 RPM. As expected, the present results indicated the general spray behaviors differed significantly between the spray chamber and engine. The differences must be thoughtfully considered when applying spray chamber results to guide spray model development for engine applications.

Combustion in modern spark-ignition (SI) engines is increasingly knock-limited with the wide adoption of downsizing and turbocharging technologies. Fuel autoignition conditions are different in these engines compared to the standard Research Octane Number (RON) and Motor Octane Numbers (MON) tests. The Octane Index, OI = RON - K(RON-MON), has been proposed as a means to characterize the actual fuel anti-knock performance in modern engines. The K-factor, by definition equal to 0 and 1 for the RON and MON tests respectively, is intended to characterize the deviation of modern engine operation from these standard octane tests. Accurate knowledge of K is of central importance to the OI model; however, a single method for determining K has not been well accepted in the literature.

The focus of internal combustion (IC) engine research is the improvement of fuel economy and the reduction of the tailpipe emissions of CO2 and other regulated pollutants. Promising solutions to this challenge include the use of both direct-injection (DI) and alternative fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). This study uses Mie-scattering and schlieren imaging to resolve the liquid and vapor phases of propane and iso-octane, which serve as surrogates for LPG and gasoline respectively. These fuels are imaged in a constant volume chamber at conditions that are relevant to both naturally aspirated and boosted, gasoline direct injection (GDI) engines. It is observed that propane and iso-octane have different spray behaviors across these conditions. Iso-octane is subject to conventional spray breakup and evaporation in nearly all cases, while propane is heavily flash-boiling throughout the GDI operating map.

This paper presents a combined experimental and numerical method for analysing energy flows within a spark ignition engine. Engine dynamometer data is combined with physical models of in-cylinder convection and the engine's thermal impedances, allowing closure of the First Law of Thermodynamics over the entire engine system. In contrast to almost all previous works, the coolant and metal temperatures are not assumed constant, but rather are outputs from this approach. This method is therefore expected to be most useful for lean burn engines, whose temperatures should depart most from normal experience. As an example of this method, the effects of normalised air-fuel ratio (λ), compression ratio and combustion chamber geometry are examined using a hydrogen-fueled engine operating from λ = 1.5 to λ = 6. This shows large variations in the in-cylinder wall temperatures and heat transfer with respect to λ.

This paper presents a numerical study of trace knocking combustion of ethanol/gasoline blends in a modern, single cylinder SI engine. Results are compared to experimental data from a prior, published work [1]. The engine is modeled using GT-Power and a two-zone combustion model containing detailed kinetic models. The two zone model uses a gasoline surrogate model [2] combined with a sub-model for nitric oxide (NO) [3] to simulate end-gas autoignition. Upstream, pre-vaporized fuel injection (UFI) and direct injection (DI) are modeled and compared to characterize ethanol's low autoignition reactivity and high charge cooling effects. Three ethanol/gasoline blends are studied: E0, E20, and E50. The modeled and experimental results demonstrate some systematic differences in the spark timing for trace knock across all three fuels, but the relative trends with engine load and ethanol content are consistent. Possible reasons causing the differences are discussed.

The efforts of the ISO “Test Variability Task Force” have been aimed at improving the understanding and at reducing brake dynamometer test variability during performance testing. In addition, dynamometer test results have been compared and correlated to vehicle testing. Even though there is already a vast amount of anecdotal evidence confirming the fact that different procedures generate different friction coefficients on the same brake corner, the availability of supporting data to the industry has been elusive up to this point. To overcome this issue, this paper focuses on assessing friction levels, friction coefficient sensitivity, and repeatability under ECE, GB, ISO, JASO, and SAE laboratory friction evaluation tests.

This paper studies autoignition characteristics and HCCI engine combustion of ketone fuels, which are important constituents of recently discovered fungi-derived biofuels. Two ketone compounds, 2,4-dimethyl-3-pentanone (DMPN) and cyclopentanone (CPN), are systematically investigated in the Sandia HCCI engine, and the results are compared with conventional gasoline and neat ethanol. It is found that CPN has the lowest autoignition reactivity of all the biofuels and gasoline blends tested in this HCCI engine. The combustion timing of CPN is also the most sensitive to intake-temperature (Tin) variations, and it is almost insensitive to intake-pressure (Pin) variations. These characteristics and the overall HCCI performance of CPN are similar to those of ethanol. In contrast, DMPN shows multi-faceted autoignition characteristics. On the one hand, DMPN has strong temperature-sensitivity, even at boosted Pin, which is similar to the low-reactivity ethanol and CPN.

This paper presents an experimental, numerical and theoretical study of the performance of the same spark ignition engine running on four different gaseous fuels: hydrogen, two synthesis gases and natural gas. Measurements of the brake thermal efficiency, the combustion variability, the engine out emissions and the indicated, pumping and friction mean effective pressures are first presented, with particular interest placed on the lean burn performance. Combustion analysis is then undertaken, with the crank angle resolved in-cylinder turbulence and the flame propagation plotted on the so-called ‘Bradley diagram’ for turbulent premixed combustion. The loci of the combustion events on the Bradley diagram are then used to explain the observed, relative performance of the engine running on these four fuels.

This paper presents a study of the performance of a 6-cylinder, spark-ignited, port-fuel-injected, production engine modified for hydrogen fueling. The engine modifications include turbo-charging, multiple fuel injectors per port and charge-dilution control techniques. Pumping losses are reduced through ultra-lean burn and throttle-less operation alongside high charge dilution ratio control achieved by twin independent variable cam timing without external EGR. Lean-burn combustion, engine-out emissions and brake thermal efficiency results are examined in detail. In particular, low NO emissions and brake thermal efficiencies near 38% are observed experimentally at the same operating conditions. The former is explained in terms of the usual thermal NOx pathway. Usage of throttle position, injection timings and cam timings for avoiding preignition and knock over the entire engine map are also discussed.

This paper presents a study of the performance of a lean burn, natural gas-fuelled, naturally aspirated, spark ignition engine for an E class vehicle. Engine performance and exhaust emissions (NO, CO, and UHC) data are first discussed. An energy balance of the engine operating at different loads and air-fuel ratios is then presented, and used to explain why engine efficiency varies with air-fuel ratio. Finally, the hot start drive cycle CO2e (CO2 equivalent) emissions are estimated for a vehicle with this engine. This shows a potential for significant reduction in vehicle greenhouse gas emissions compared to an equivalent gasoline-fuelled vehicle.

The goal of hydrogen engine research is to achieve highest possible efficiency with low NOx emissions. This is necessary for the hydrogen car to remain competitive with the ever-improving efficiency of conventional fuel's use, to take advantage of the increased availability of hydrogen distribution for fuel cells and to achieve better range than battery electric vehicles. This paper examines the special problems of hydrogen engine combustion and ways to improve efficiency. Central to this are the effects of compression ratio (CR) and lambda (excess air ratio) and ignition system. The results demonstrate highest indicated thermal efficiency at ultra lean condition of lambda ≻ 2 and with central ignition. This need for this lean mixture is partly explained by the higher heat transfer losses.

Direct Injection (DI) is believed to be one of the key strategies for maximizing the thermal efficiency of Spark Ignition (SI) engines and meet the ever-tightening emissions regulations. This paper explores the use of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) liquid phase fuel in a 1.5 liter SI four cylinder gasoline engine with double over head camshafts, four valves per cylinder, and centrally located DI injector. The DI injector is a high pressure, fast actuating injector enabling precise multiple injections of the finely atomized fuel sprays. With DI technology, the injection timing can be set to avoid fuel bypassing the engine during valve overlap into the exhaust system prior to combustion. The fuel vaporization associated with DI reduces combustion chamber and charge temperatures, thereby reducing the tendency for knocking. Fuel atomization quality supports an efficient combustion process.

This paper is based on extensive experimental research with lean burn, high compression ratio engines using LPG, CNG and gasoline fuels. It also builds on recent experience with highly boosted spark ignition gasoline and LPG engines and single cylinder engine research used for model calibration. The final experimental foundation is an evaluation of jet assisted ignition that generally allows a lean mixture shift of more than one unit in lambda with consequential benefits of improved thermal efficiency and close to zero NOx. The capability of an ultra lean burn spark ignition engine is described. The concept is operation at air-fuel ratios similar to the diesel engine but with essentially homogenous charge, although some stratification may be desirable. To achieve high thermal efficiency this engine has optimized compression ratio but with variable valve timing which enables reduction in the effective compression ratio when desirable.