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In order to correspond to the exhaust emissions regulations that become severe every year, more advanced engine control becomes necessary. Engine engineers are concerned about the Hydrocarbons (HCs) that flow through the air-intake ports and that are difficult to precisely control. The main sources of the HCs are, the canister purge, PCV, back-flow gas through the intake valves, and Air / Fuel ratio (A/F) may be aggravated when they flow into the combustion chambers. The influences HCs give on the A/F may also grow even greater, which is due to the increasingly stringent EVAP emission regulations, by more effective ventilation in the crankcase, and also by the growth of the VVT-operated angle and timing, respectively. In order to control the A/F more correctly, it is important to estimate the amount of HCs that are difficult to manage, and seek for suitable controls over fuel injection and so on.

CARB (California Air Resources Board) has required the evaporative emissions to be restricted to 1/4th of the parameter stated in the 1995 regulations. Furthermore, hydrocarbons (hereafter, HC) from the fuel system must be reduced to near 0.0 grams, according to the PZEV (Partial Zero Emission Vehicle) regulations enforced from 2003. The wet film in intake ports and fuel leaking from the injector nozzles evaporate and diffuse while the car is parked, and consequently may cause HC to leak the air cleaner inlet. The air cleaner which prevents HC leakage from the air intake system is already in mass production. In the course of designing this product to be installed in a vehicle, the authors developed a method to estimate the amount of HC that reaches the air cleaner. Based on detailed investigation on HC distribution and the changes that occur during parking, the HC amount reaching the air cleaner was calculated by both the equation of diffusion and the equation of state.

The authors have developed an instrument that measures the CO2 concentration in engine combustion chambers using the infrared absorption method. The characteristics of this technology are as follows: 1 Measuring can be carried out while the engine is running at 600r/min to more than 3000r/min, full load operation. (Applicable to all EGR conditions) 2 Quick response; 2ms 3 High linearity; ±1% Full Scale and under (FS: 10%) 4 No aggravation is caused to the intake/exhaust performance of engines This technology contributes to the improvement of the in-cylinder EGR system using, for instance, a variable valve-timing mechanism that is now expanding in number of applications, and also the conventional EGR system.

Authors have developed an apparatus which measures the piston temperature using electromagnetic induction. The characteristics of this apparatus are as follows; 1 Applicable to 6 points per cylinder and all cylinders 2 Capable of measuring while the engine is running from start to 6000r/min full-load operation 3 Wide measuring range; from -30 to 400 °C 4 High accuracy; ±2.5 °C 5 Quick and easy setup 6 High durability This technology contributes to realizing the best balance of piston reliability and matching of combustion conditions. In this report, authors analyzed its influences upon piston temperature when the ignition timing,the oil/water temperature or the oil flow from piston jet were changed, respectively.

Recently, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has proposed a new set of evaporative emissions and “Useful Life” standards, called LEVII EVAP regulations, which are more stringent than those of the enhanced EVAP emissions regulations. If the new regulations are enforced, it will become increasingly important for the carbon canister to reduce Diurnal Breathing Loss (DBL) and to prevent deterioration of the canister. Therefore, careful studies have been made on the techniques to meet these regulations by clarifying the working capacity deterioration mechanism and the phenomenon of DBL in a carbon canister. It has been found that the deterioration of working capacity would occur if high boiling hydrocarbons, which are difficult to purge, fill up the micropores of the activated carbon, and Useful Life could be estimated more accurately according to the saturated adsorption mass of the activated carbon and the canister purge volume.

We have developed a method by which the oil flow rate can be measured by using a hot-wire sensor that could be installed in the passages of actual engine lubricant oil. This measuring method proves to have a ±5% accuracy and a 40kHz response that enables ‘real time’ function. Thus, observation of (1) the effect of bearing clearance, and (2) the fluctuating mechanism of the oil flow per 1 degree crank angle from the point of engine start-up to 6000r/min and full load can be achieved, and the timing and quantity of intermittent oil-jet from the oil hole in connecting rod were ascertained.