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Catalyzed gasoline particulate filter (cGPF) is the prime technology to meet future stringent regulations for particulates from gasoline direct injection (GDI) engines. One of the technical concerns is the ultimate durability of cGPF in regards to engine lubricant formulations. This study investigated two tailored lubricant formulations on catalyzed GPFs which were aged on engine followed by emission testing on vehicle. An engine accelerated aging protocol was developed for cGPFs to simulate thermal aging, ash and soot loading that is at least equivalent to 200,000 km durability requirement. Evaluations include tailpipe emission levels, backpressure, catalytic performance, and post-mortem analysis. Both formulations have demonstrated a high level of cGPF performance retention; performance being assessed in terms of emission level at the end of durability demonstration testing. These formulations provide flexibility in selecting robust lubricant to meet various system requirements.

Because of the increased use of gasoline direct engine (GDI) in the automobile industry, there is a significant need to control particulates from GDI engines based on emission regulations. One potential technical approach is the utilization of a gasoline particulate filter (GPF). The successful adoption of this emission control technology needs to take many aspects into consideration and requires a system approach for optimization. This study conducted research to investigate the impact of vehicle driving cycles, fuel properties and catalyst coating on the performance of GPF. It was found that driving cycle has significant impact on particulate emission. Fuel quality still plays a role in particulate emissions, and can affect the GPF performance. Catalyzed GPF is preferred for soot regeneration, especially for the case that the vehicle operation is dominated by congested city driving condition, i.e. low operating temperatures. The details of the study are presented in the paper.

Low Speed Pre-Ignition (LSPI), also referred to as superknock or mega-knock is an undesirable turbocharged engine combustion phenomenon limiting fuel economy, drivability, emissions and durability performance. Numerous researchers have previously reported that the frequency of Superknock is sensitive to engine oil and fuel composition as well as engine conditions in controlled laboratory and engine-based studies. Recent studies by Toyota and Tsinghua University have demonstrated that controlled induction of particles into the combustion chamber can induce pre-ignition and superknock. Afton and Tsinghua recently developed a multi-physics approach which was able to realistically model all of the elementary processes known to be involved in deposit induced pre-ignition. The approach was able to successfully simulate deposit induced pre-ignition at conditions where the phenomenon has been experimentally observed.

Mobile source emissions standards are becoming more stringent and particulate emissions from gasoline direct injection (GDI) engines represent a particular challenge. Gasoline particulate filter (GPF) is deemed as one possible technical solution for particulate emissions reduction. In this work, a study was conducted on eight formulations of lubricants to determine their effect on GDI engine particulate emissions and GPF performance. Accelerated ash loading tests were conducted on a 2.4L GDI engine with engine oil injection in gasoline fuel by 2%. The matrix of eight formulations was designed with changing levels of sulfated ash (SASH) level, Zinc dialkyldithiophosphates (ZDDP) level and detergent type. Comprehensive evaluations of particulates included mass, number, size distribution, composition, morphology and soot oxidation properties. GPF performance was assessed through filtration efficiency, back pressure and morphology.

A conceptual approach to help understand and simulate droplet induced pre-ignition is presented. The complex phenomenon of oil-fuel droplet induced pre-ignition has been decomposed to its elementary processes. This approach helps identify the key fluid properties and engine parameters that affect the pre-ignition phenomenon, and could be used to control LSPI. Based on the conceptual model, a 3D CFD engine simulation has been developed which is able to realistically model all of the elementary processes involved in droplet induced pre-ignition. The simulation was successfully able to predict droplet induced pre-ignition at conditions where the phenomenon has been experimentally observed. The simulation has been able to help explain the observation of pre-ignition advancement relative to injection timing as experimentally observed in a previous study [6].