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Alcohol-based fuels are a viable alternative to fossil fuels for powering vehicles. As a drop-in fuel, an oxygenated fuel blend containing the C8 alcohol 2-ethylhexanol (isomer of octanol), hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) and rapeseed methyl ester (RME) can reduce soot and NOx emissions whilst maintaining engine performance. However, fuel injection strategy significantly affects combustion and hence has been investigated with a view to reducing emissions whilst maintaining engine efficiency. In a single cylinder light-duty compression ignition research engine, the effect of different injection strategies (main, main/post, double pre/main, double pre/main/post injection) and EGR levels (0%, 19%) on specifically NOx, soot emissions and particle size distribution was investigated for three different fuels: fossil diesel fuel, HVO and the oxygenated blend. The blend was designed to have diesel-like combustion properties (cetane number of 52) and had an oxygen content of 5.4% by mass.

Spray characteristics of fossil Diesel fuel, hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) and two oxygenated fuel blends were studied to elucidate the combustion process. The fuels were studied in an optically accessible high-pressure/high-temperature chamber under non-combusting (623 K, 4.69 MPa) and combusting (823 K, 6.04 MPa) conditions. The fuel blends contained the long-chain alcohol 2-ethylhexanol (EH), HVO and either 20 vol.% Diesel or 7 vol.% rapeseed methyl ester (RME) and were designed to have a Diesel-like cetane number (CN). Injection pressures were set to 120 MPa and 180 MPa and the gas density was held constant at 26 kg/m3. Under non-combusting conditions, shadow imaging revealed the penetration length of the liquid and vapor phase of the spray. Under combusting conditions, the lift-off length and soot volume fraction were measured by simultaneously recording time-resolved two-dimensional laser extinction, flame luminosity and OH* chemiluminescence images.

The effects of using n-butanol, n-octanol, fossil Diesel, hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), and blends of these fuels on spray penetration, flame and soot characteristics were investigated in a high-pressure high-temperature constant volume combustion chamber designed to mimic a heavy duty Diesel engine. Backlight illumination was used to capture liquid and vapor phase spray images with a high-speed camera. The flame lift-off length (LOL) and ignition delay were determined by analyzing OH* chemiluminescence images. Laser extinction diagnostics were used to measure the spatially and temporally resolved soot volume fraction. The spray experiments were performed by injecting fuels under non-combusting (623 K) and combusting (823 K) conditions at a fixed ambient air density of 26 kg/m3. A Scania 0.19 mm single straight hole injector and Scania XPI common rail fuel supply system were used to produce injection pressures of 120 MPa and 180 MPa.

With progressing electrification of automotive powertrains and demands to meet increasingly stringent emission regulations, a combination of an electric motor and downsized turbocharged spark-ignited engine has been recognized as a viable solution. The SI engine must be optimized, and preferentially downsized, to reduce tailpipe CO2 and other emissions. However, drives to increase BMEP (Brake Mean Effective Pressure) and compression ratio/thermal efficiency increase propensities of knocking (auto-ignition of residual unburnt charge before the propagating flame reaches it) in downsized engines. Currently, knock is mitigated by retarding the ignition timing, but this has several limitations. Another option identified in the last decade (following trials of similar technology in aircraft combustion engines) is water injection, which suppresses knocking largely by reducing local in-cylinder mixture temperatures due to its latent heat of vaporization.

This work utilizes previously developed VSB2 (VSB2 Stochastic Blob and Bubble) multicomponent fuel spray model to study significance of using non-ideal thermodynamics for droplet evaporation under direct injection engine like operating conditions. Non-ideal thermodynamics is used to account for vapor-liquid equilibrium arising from evaporation of multicomponent fuel droplets. In specific, the evaporation of ethanol/iso-octane blend is studied in this work. Two compositions of the blend are tested, E-10 and E-85 respectively (the number denotes percentage of ethanol in blend). The VSB2 spray model is implemented into OpenFoam CFD code which is used to study evaporation of the blend in constant volume combustion vessel. Liquid and vapor penetration lengths for the E-10 case are calculated and compared with the experiment. The simulation results show reasonable agreement with the experiment. Simulation is performed with two methods- ideal and non-ideal thermodynamics respectively.

In this paper, computation fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations are employed to describe the effect of flow parameters on the formation of soot and NOx in a heavy duty engine under low load and high load. The complexity of diesel combustion, specially when soot, NOx and other emissions are of interest, requires using a detailed chemical mechanism to have a correct estimation of temperature and species distribution. In this work, Multiple Representative Interactive Flamelets (MRIF) method is employed to describe the chemical reactions, ignition, flame propagation and emissions in the engine. A phenomenological model for soot formation, including soot nucleation, coagulation and oxidation with O2 and OH is incorporated into the flamelet combustion model. Different strategies for modelling NOx are chosen to take into account the longer time scale for NOx formation. The numerical results are compared with experimental data to show the validity of the model for the cases under study.

Laws concerning emissions from heavy duty (HD) internal combustion engines are becoming increasingly stringent. New engine technologies are needed to satisfy these new requirements and to reduce fossil fuel dependency. One way to achieve both objectives can be to partially replace fossil fuels with alternatives that are sustainable with respect to emissions of greenhouse gases, particulates and nitrogen oxides (NOx). A suitable candidate is methanol. The aim of the study presented here was to investigate the possible advantages of combusting methanol in a heavy duty Diesel engine. Those are, among others, lower particulate emissions and thereby bypassing the NOx-soot trade-off. Because of methanol’s poor auto-ignition properties, Diesel was used as an igniting sources and both fuels were separately direct injected. Therefore, two separate standard common rail Diesel injection systems were used together with a newly designed cylinder head and adapted injection nozzles.

Owing to increased interest in blended fuels for automotive applications, a great deal of understanding is sought for the behavior of multicomponent fuel sprays. This sets a new requirement on spray model since the volatility of the fuel components in a blend can vary substantially. It calls for careful solution to implement the differential evaporation process concerning thermodynamic equilibrium while maintaining a robust solution. This work presents the Volvo Stochastic Blob and Bubble (VSB2) spray model for multicomponent fuels. A direct numerical method is used to calculate the evaporation of multicomponent fuel droplets. The multicomponent fuel model is implemented into OpenFoam CFD code and the case simulated is a constant volume combustion vessel. The CFD code is used to calculate liquid penetration length for surrogate diesel (n-dodecane)-gasoline (iso-octane) blend and the result is compared with experimental data.

When developing new combustion concepts, CFD simulations is a powerful tool. The modeling of spray formation is a challenging but important part when it comes to CFD modelling of non-premixed combustion. There is a large difference in the accuracy and robustness among different spray models and their implementation in different CFD codes. In the work presented in this paper a spray model, designated as VSB2 has been implemented in OpenFOAM. VSB2 differ from traditional spray models by replacing the Lagrangian parcels with stochastic blobs. The stochastic blobs consists of a droplet size distribution rather than equal sized droplets, as is the case with the traditional parcel. The VSB2 model has previously been thoroughly validated for spray formation and combustion of n-heptane. The aim of this study was to validate the VSB2 spray model for ethanol spray formation and combustion as a step in modelling dual-fuel combustion with alcohol and diesel.

Reducing emissions and improving efficiency are major goals of modern internal combustion engine research. The use of biomass-derived fuels in Diesel engines is an effective way of reducing well-to-wheels (WTW) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Moreover, partially premixed combustion (PPC) makes it possible to achieve very efficient combustion with low emissions of soot and NOx. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of using alcohol/Diesel blends or neat alcohols on emissions and thermal efficiency during PPC. Four alcohols were evaluated: n-butanol, isobutanol, n-octanol, and 2-ethylhexanol. The alcohols were blended with fossil Diesel fuel to produce mixtures with low cetane numbers (26-36) suitable for PPC. The blends were then tested in a single cylinder light duty (LD) engine. To optimize combustion, the exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) level, lambda, and injection strategy were tuned.

This paper describes a novel design and verification process for analytical methods used in the development of advanced combustion strategies in internal combustion engines (ICE). The objective was to improve brake thermal efficiency (BTE) as part of the US Department of Energy SuperTruck program. The tools and methods herein discussed consider spray formation and injection schedule along with piston bowl design to optimize combustion efficiency, air utilization, heat transfer, emission, and BTE. The methodology uses a suite of tools to optimize engine performance, including 1D engine simulation, high-fidelity CFD, and lab-scale fluid mechanic experiments. First, a wide range of engine operating conditions are analyzed using 1-D engine simulations in GT Power to thoroughly define a baseline for the chosen advanced engine concept; secondly, an optimization and down-select step is completed where further improvements in engine geometries and spray configurations are considered.

Laws concerning to emissions from heavy duty (HD) internal combustion engines are becoming increasingly stringent. New engine technologies are therefore needed to satisfy these new legal requirements and reduce fossil fuel dependency. One way to achieve both objectives is to partially replace fossil fuels with alternatives that are more sustainable with respect to emissions of greenhouse gas, particulates and NOx. As a first step towards the development of a direct injected dual fuel engine using diesel fuel and renewable alcohols such as methanol or ethanol, we have studied ethanol (E100) sprays generated with a standard high pressure diesel fuel injection system in a high pressure/temperature spray chamber with optical access. The experiments were performed at a gas density of ∼27kg/m3 at ∼550 °C and ∼60 bar, representing typical operating conditions for a HD engine at low loads.

The emissions from a parallel hybrid combustion engine and electric powertrain operated on a modified New European Drive Cycle (NEDC) was investigated in order to determine the relation between emissions and the road and engine load profile. The effect of simulated electric motor assistance during accelerations on emissions was investigated as a means to reduce particulate and gaseous emissions. The time resolved particulate number and size distribution was measured in addition to gaseous emissions. The combustion engine was a downsized, three cylinder spark ignited direct injection (SIDI) turbocharged engine fuelled with gasoline. Electric motor assistance during accelerations was simulated by reduction of the vehicle mass. This reduced engine load during accelerations. Fuel rich engine transients occurred during accelerations. NOx emissions were reduced with electric assistance due to a reduction in engine load.

Global warming driven by “greenhouse gas” emissions is an increasingly serious concern of both the public and legislators. A potentially potent way to reduce these emissions and conserve fossil fuel resources is to use n-butanol, iso-butanol or octanol (2-ethylhexanol) from renewable sources as alternative fuels in diesel engines. The effects of adding these substances to diesel fuel were therefore tested in a single-cylinder heavy duty diesel engine operated using factory settings. These alcohols have better calorific values, flash points, lubricity, cetane numbers and solubility in diesel than shorter-chain alcohols. However, they have lower cetane numbers than diesel, so either hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) or Di-tertiary-butyl peroxide (DTBP) was added to the diesel-alcohol mixtures to generate blends with the same Cetane Number (CN) as diesel.

The EU emission standards for new rail Diesel engines are becoming even more stringent. EGR and SCR technologies can both be used to reduce NOx emissions; however, the use of EGR is usually accompanied by an increase in PM emissions and may require a DPF. On the other hand, the use of SCR requires on-board storage of urea. Thus, it is necessary to study these trade-offs in order to understand how these technologies can best be used in rail applications to meet new emission standards. The present study assesses the application of these technologies in Diesel railcars on a quantitative basis using one and three dimensional numerical simulation tools. In particular, the study considers a 560 kW railcar engine with the use of either EGR or SCR based solutions for NOx reduction. The NOx and PM emissions performances are evaluated over the C1 homologation cycle.

A regular flex-fuel engine can operate on any blend of fuel between pure gasoline and E85. Flex-fuel engines have relatively low efficiency on E85 because the hardware is optimized for gasoline. If instead the engine is optimized for neat ethanol, the efficiency may be much higher, as demonstrated in this paper. The studied two-liter engine was modified with a much higher compression ratio than suitable for gasoline, two-stage turbocharging and direct injection with piezo-actuated outwards-opening injectors, a stratified combustion system and custom in-house control system. The research engine exhibited a wide-open throttle performance similar to that of a naturally aspirated v8, while offering a part-load efficiency comparable to a state-of-the-art two-liter naturally aspirated engine. NOx will be handled by a lean NOx trap. Combustion characteristics were compared between gasoline and neat ethanol.

In order to avoid the high CO and HC emissions associated with low temperature when using high levels of EGR, partially premixed combustion is an interesting possibility. One way to achieve this combustion mode is to increase the ignition delay by adjusting the inlet valve closing timing, and thus the effective compression ratio. The purpose of this study was to investigate experimentally the possibilities of using late and early inlet valve closure to reduce NOx emissions without increasing emissions of soot or unburned hydrocarbons, or fuel consumption. The effect of increasing the swirl number (from 0.2 to 2.5) was also investigated. The combustion timing (CA50) was kept constant by adjusting the start of injection and the possibilities of optimizing combustion using EGR and high injection pressures were investigated. Furthermore, the airflow was kept constant for a given EGR level.

The development of high efficiency powertrains is a key objective for car manufacturers. One approach for improving the efficiency of gasoline engines is based on homogeneous charge compression ignition, HCCI, which provides higher efficiency than conventional strategies. However, HCCI is only currently viable at relatively low loads, primarily because at high loads it involves rapid combustion that generates pressure oscillations in the cylinder (ringing), and partly because it gives rise to relatively high NOX emissions. This paper describes studies aimed at increasing the viability of HCCI combustion at higher loads by using fully flexible valve trains, direct injection with charge stratification (SCCI), and intake air boosting. These approaches were complemented by using EGR to control NOX emissions by stoichiometric operation, which enables the use of a three-way catalyst.

When using dimethyl ether (DME) to fuel diesel engines at high load and speed, applying high amounts of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) to limit NOX emissions, carbon monoxide (CO) emissions are generally high. To address this issue, the combustion and emission processes in such engines were analyzed with the three-dimensional CFD KIVA3V code. The combustion sub-mechanism (76 species and 375 reactions) was validated by comparing simulated ignition delays and flame velocities to reference data under diesel-like and atmospheric conditions, respectively. In addition, simulated and experimentally determined rate of heat release (RoHR) curves and emission data were compared for a heavy-duty single-cylinder DME engine (displaced volume, 2.02 liters) with DME-adapted piston and nozzle geometries. The simulated RoHR curves captured the main features of the experimentally measured curves, but deviated in the premixed (higher peak) and late combustion phases (too high).

The evaporation of different fuels and fuel components in hollow-cone sprays at conditions similar to those at stratified cold start has been investigated using a combination of planar laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) and Mie scattering. Ketones of different volatility were used as fluorescent tracers for different fuel components in gasoline-like model fuels and ethanol-based fuels. LIF and Mie images were compared to evaluate to what extent various fuel components had evaporated and obtained a spatial distribution different from that of the liquid drops, as a function of fuel temperature and time after start of injection. A selective and sequential evaporation of fuel components of different volatility was found.