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Lean combustion has been well known to be an effective method to improve the thermal efficiency. However, leaner mixture is prone to cause the unstable combustion and poorer unburned hydrocarbon (UTHC) emissions. Pre-chamber turbulent jet combustion has been proved to enhance the combustion stability under ultra-lean conditions. However, more NOx is formed during the combustion, resulting in the fact that the tailpipe NOx emission is too high to be still not available for the real application. In this report, in order to achieve a higher air excess ratio while keeping lower UTHC emissions, and especially NOx emission, a new combustion technique which combined pre-chamber jet combustion with fuel reforming was proposed and experimentally demonstrated on a pre-chamber engine.

In a natural gas fueled engine ignited by diesel fuel, the addition of hydrogen to the engine could be a possible way to improve thermal efficiency and reduce unburned methane which has a warming potential many times that of carbon dioxide as it promotes a more rapid and complete combustion. This study carried out engine experiments using a single cylinder engine with natural gas and hydrogen delivered separately into the intake pipe, and with pilot-injection of diesel fuel. The percentages of hydrogen in the natural gas-hydrogen mixtures were varied from 0% to 50% of the heat value. The results showed that the hydrogen addition has an insignificant effect on the ignition delay of the diesel fuel and that it shortens the combustion duration. The increase in the hydrogen ratio decreased the unburned hydrocarbon emissions more than the reduction of the amount of natural gas that was replaced by the hydrogen.

To prevent global warming, further reductions in carbon dioxide are required. It is therefore important to promote the spread of electric vehicles powered by internal combustion engines and electric vehicles without internal combustion engines. As a result, emissions from hybrid electric vehicles equipped with internal combustion engines should be further reduced. Interest in catalytic reactions in an electric field with a higher catalytic activity compared to conventional catalysts has increased because this technology consumes less energy than other electrical heating devices. This study was therefore undertaken to apply a catalytic reaction in an electric field to an exhaust emission control. First, the original experimental equipment was built with a high voltage system used to conduct catalytic activity tests.

A fuel reforming technology using a low temperature oxidation was developed to improve a NOx reduction performance of HC-SCR (Hydrocarbons Selective Catalytic Reduction) system, which does not require urea. The low-temperature oxidization of a diesel fuel in gas phase produces NOx reduction agents with high NOx reduction ability such as aldehydes and ketones. A pre-evaporation-premixing-type reformer was adopted in order to generate a uniform temperature field and a uniform fuel/air premixed gas, and to promote the low temperature oxidation efficiently. As a fundamental study, elementary reaction analysis for n-hexadecane/air premixtures was carried out to investigate the suitable reformer temperature and fuel/air equivalence ratio for generation of oxygenated hydrocarbons. It was found that the reforming efficiency was highest at the reforming temperature around 623 to 673K, and aldehydes and ketones were produced.

The reduction of particulate emissions is one of the most important challenges facing the development of future gasoline engines. Several studies have demonstrated the impact of fuel chemical composition on the emissions of particulate matter, more particularly, the detrimental effect of high boiling point components such as heavy aromatics. Fuel contamination is likely to become a critical issue as new regulations such as Real Driving Emissions RDE involves the use of market fuel. The objective of this study is to investigate several experimental approaches to detect the presence of Diesel contamination in Gasoline which is likely to alter pollutant emissions. To achieve this, a fuel matrix composed of 12 fuels was built presenting diesel fuel in varying concentrations from 0.1 to 2% v/v. The fuel matrix was characterized using several original techniques developed in this study.

An on board burner that enables DPF regeneration even when an engine is at standstill has been researched. By employing pre evaporative combustion with a wick burner, miniaturization of the burner system was successfully accomplished as well as stable ignition and combustion. Total heat necessary for DPF regeneration was reduced in comparison to the active DPF regeneration by means of engine control and an oxidation catalyst. Uneven temperature distribution in DPF and excessive temperature rise, which had been recognized as issues in the regeneration of a DPF while engine is at standstill, were solved by increase of combustion air amount and multi-step control of regeneration temperature and reliable regeneration was accomplished.

A spark assist system was installed in a gasoline direct-injection single-cylinder test engine with the aim of controlling the ignition timing and accomplishing combustion of gasoline fuel by auto/compression ignition. A primary reference fuel having an octane number of 90 (PRF 90) was used to evaluate experimentally the spark assist function for gasoline auto/compression ignition and to examine the feasibility of combustion with a short ignition delay equivalent to conventional diesel combustion using the engine system. An optically accessible single-cylinder test engine was also used to evaluate and investigate spark-assisted auto/compression ignition. Ignition timing controllability with combinations of spark and injection timings for gasoline auto/compression ignition was also investigated under different operating load conditions.

The Dual-Fuel (DF) combustion is a promising technology for efficient, low NOx and low exhaust particulate matter (PM) engine operation. To achieve equivalent performance to a DF engine with only the use of conventional liquid fuel, this study proposes the implementation of an on-board fuel reformation process by piston compression. For concept verification, DF combustion tests with representative reformed gas components were conducted. Based on the results, the controllability of the reformed gas composition by variations in the operating conditions of the reformer cylinder were discussed.

The change in the smoke emissions from a diesel engine with the shapes of the combustion chamber and the in-cylinder density was investigated with focuses on the mixing and the soot formation in a spray flame. First, the mixing of the fuel and air between the nozzle exit and the set-off length was used as an indicator for the formation of soot. Although this indicator can explain the influence of the density, it cannot explain the changes in the smoke emissions with a change in the shape of the combustion chamber. Next, by focusing on the soot distribution in a quasi-steady-state spray flame, the soot formed in the high-density condition of an optically accessible engine was investigated by applying two-color method. These results showed that the positional relationship between the maximum soot amount position and the flame impinging position can be a major influence on the smoke emissions.

Historically, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards for vehicles have focused on tailpipe emissions. However, sound environmental policy requires a more holistic well-to-wheels (WTW) assessment that includes both production of the fuel and its use in the vehicle. The present research explores the net change in WTW GHG emissions associated with moving from regular octane (RO) to high octane (HO) gasoline. It considers both potential increases in refinery emissions from producing HO fuel and potential reductions in vehicle emissions through the use of fuel-efficient engines optimized for such fuel. Three refinery configurations of varying complexity and reforming capacity were studied. A set of simulations covering different levels of HO gasoline production were run for each refinery configuration.

This paper presents an improvement in the accuracy of NOx sensors at high NOx concentration regions by optimizing the manufacturing process, sensor electrode materials and structure, in order to suppress the deterioration mechanism of sensor electrodes. Though NOx sensors generally consist of Pt/Au alloy based oxygen pump electrodes and Pt/Rh alloy based sensor electrodes, detailed experimental analysis of aged NOx sensors showed changes in the surface composition and morphology of the sensor electrode. The surface of the sensor electrode was covered with Au, which is not originally contained in the electrode, resulting in a diminished active site for NOx detection on the sensor electrode and a decrease in sensor output. Theoretical analysis using CAE with molecular dynamics supported that Au tends to be concentrated on the surface of the sensor electrode.

Ammonia-selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems have been introduced commercially in diesel vehicles, however catalyst systems with higher conversion efficiency and better control characteristics are required to know the actual emissions during operation and the emissions in random test cycles. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is an effective approach when applied to SCR catalyst development, and many models have been proposed, but these models need experimental verification and are limited in the situations they apply to. Further, taking account of redox cycle is important to have better accuracy in transient operation, however there are few models considering the cycle. Model development considering the redox reactions in a zeolite catalyst, Cu-ZSM-5, is the object of the research here, and the effects of exhaust gas composition on the SCR reaction and NH3 oxidation at high temperatures are investigated.

Nowadays, due to stringent emission regulations, it is imperative to incorporate modeling efforts with experiments. This paper presents the development of a phenomenological model to investigate the effects of various in-cylinder strategies on combustion and emission characteristics of a common-rail direct-injection (CRDI) diesel engine. Experiments were conducted on a single-cylinder, supercharged engine with displacement volume of 0.55 l at different operating conditions with various combinations of injection pressure, number of injections involving single injection and multiple injections with two injection pulses, and EGR. Data obtained from experiments was also used for model validation. The model incorporated detailed phenomenological aspects of spray growth, air entrainment, droplet evaporation, wall impingement, ignition delay, premixed and mixing-controlled combustion rates, and emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and diesel soot.

This report describes the implementation of the spark channel short circuit and blow-out submodels, which were described in the previous report, into a spark ignition model. The spark channel which is modeled by a particle series is elongated by moving individual spark particles along local gas flows. The equation of the spark channel resistance developed by Kim et al. is modified in order to describe the behavior of the current and the voltage in high flow velocity conditions and implemented into the electrical circuit model of the electrical inductive system of the spark plug. Input parameters of the circuit model are the following: initial discharge energy, inductance, internal resistance and capacitance of the spark plug, and the spark channel length obtained by the spark channel model. The instantaneous discharge current and the voltage are obtained as outputs of the circuit model.

Among the challenges for the future facing the development of gasoline engines, one of the most important is the reduction of particles emissions. This study proposes a critical and objective evaluation of the influence of fuel characteristics on gasoline particles emission through the use of Fuel Particle Indices. For this, a selected fuel matrix composed of 22 fuels was built presenting different volatility and chemical composition (content in total aromatics, heavy cuts and ethanol). To represent the fuel sooting tendency, seven Fuel Particle Indices were selected based on a literature review, namely, Particulate Matter Index (PMI), Particulate Number index (PNI), Threshold Sooting index (TSI), Smoke point (SP), Oxygen Extended Sooting Index (OESI), Simplified index 1 and 2 (sPMI 1, sPMI 2). These indices were computed on the fuel matrix and compared on the basis of three main axes. First, the sensitivity to fuel variation.

The use of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) in spark ignition engines has been shown to have a number of beneficial effects under specific operating conditions. These include reducing pumping work under part load conditions, reducing NOx emissions and heat losses by lowering peak combustion temperatures, and by reducing the tendency for engine knock (caused by end-gas autoignition) under certain operating regimes. In this study, the effects of EGR addition on knocking combustion are investigated through a combined experimental and modeling approach. The problem is investigated by considering the effects of individual EGR constituents, such as CO2, N2, and H2O, on knock, both individually and combined, and with and without traces species, such as unburned hydrocarbons and NOx. The effects of engine compression ratio and fuel composition on the effectiveness of knock suppression with EGR addition were also investigated.

The correlation between newly approved EN 15751 and the internal diesel injector deposits (IDID) due to fuel oxidative deterioration has not been made clear. In the present research, the Rancimat method was slightly modified to research the relationship between fuel oxidative deterioration and the deterioration products generated from the fuel. After heating fuel at 120 to 150°C for a set period, insoluble deterioration products (IDID-like substances) were generated and their weights were measured. At the same time, the shifts of the conductivity in trap water were analyzed from a new perspective, and its relationship with the deterioration products was investigated. At 120°C and 130°C, conductivity rising rates after the inflection point (this set of data represents the rate of organic acid generation in the fuel, and we named “Oxidation rate”) exhibited a strong correlation with the quantity of deterioration products.

To extend the operational range of premixed diesel combustion, fuel reformation by piston induced compression of rich homogeneous air-fuel mixtures was conducted in this study. Reformed gas compositions and chemical processes were first simulated with the chemistry dynamics simulation, CHEMKIN Pro, by changing the intake oxygen content, intake air temperature, and compression ratio. A single cylinder diesel engine was utilized to verify the simulation results. With the simulation and experiments, the characteristics of the reformed gas with respect to the reformer cylinder operating condition were obtained. Further, the thermal decomposition and partial oxidation reaction mechanisms of the fuel in extremely low oxygen concentrations were obtained with the characteristics of the gas production at the various reaction temperatures.

In order to adapt to energy security and the changes of global-scale environment, further improvement of fuel economy and adaptation to each country’s severer exhaust gas emission regulation are required in an automotive engine. To achieve higher power performance with lower fuel consumption, the engine’s basic internal design such as an engine block and cylinder head were changed and the combustion speed was dramatically increased. Consequently, stroke-bore ratio and valve layout were optimized. Also, both flow coefficient and intake tumble ratio port were improved by adopting a laser cladded valve seat. In addition, several new technologies were adopted. The Atkinson cycle using a new Electrical VVT (Variable Valve Timing) and new combustion technology adopting new multi-hole type Direct fuel Injector (DI) improved engine power and fuel economy and reduced exhaust emissions.

New 2A/F systems different from usual A/F-O2 systems are being developed to cope with strict regulation of exhaust gas. In the 2A/F systems, 2A/F sensors are equipped in front and rear of a three-way catalyst. The A/F-O2 systems are ideas which use a rear O2 to detect exhaust gas leaked from three-way catalyst early and feed back. On the other hand, the 2A/F systems are ideas which use a rear A/F sensor to detect nearly stoichiometric gas discharged from the three-way catalyst accurately, and to prevent leakage of exhaust gas from the three-way catalyst. Therefore, accurate detection of nearly stoichiometric gas by the rear A/F sensor is the most importrant for the 2A/F systems. In general, the A/F sensors can be classified into two types, so called, one-cell type and two-cell type. Because the one-cell type A/F sensors don’t have hysteresis, they have potential for higher accuracy.