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Increasingly stringent tailpipe emissions regulations have prompted renewed interest in catalyst heating technology – where an integrated device supplies supplemental heat to accelerate catalyst ‘light-off’. Bosch and Boysen, following a collaborative multi-year effort, have developed a Rapid Catalyst Heating System (RCH) for gasoline-fueled applications. The RCH system provides upwards of 25 kW of thermal power, greatly enhancing catalyst performance and robustness. Additional benefits include reduction of precious metal loading (versus a ‘PGM-only’ approach) and avoidance of near-engine catalyst placement (limiting the need for enrichment strategies). The following paper provides a technical overview of the Bosch/Boysen (BOB) Rapid Catalyst Heating system – including a detailed review of the system’s architecture, key performance characteristics, and the associated impact on vehicle-level emissions.

Acoustics and vibrations are amongst the foremost indicators in perceiving the quality of drive units. Analyzing these factors is vital for improve the performances of electro-mechanical systems. This paper deals with the study of vibro-acoustic behavior concerning the drivetrain components using system modeling and Finite Element calculations. A generic simulation methodology within system modeling is proposed enabling the vibro-acoustic simulation of electro-mechanical drivetrains. Excitations for these systems mostly arise from the electric motor and mechanical gears. The paper initially depicts the system model for gear whining considering the associated nonlinearities of the mesh. The results obtained from the gear mesh submodel, together with the excitations resulting from the motor, aid in the comprehension of the forces at the bearings and of the vibrations at the housings.

The fuel spray behavior in the near nozzle region of a gasoline injector is challenging to predict due to existing pressure gradients and turbulences of the internal flow and in-nozzle cavitation. Therefore, statistical parameters for spray characterization through experiments must be considered. The characterization of spray velocity fields in the near-nozzle region is of particular importance as the velocity information is crucial in understanding the hydrodynamic processes which take place further downstream during fuel atomization and mixture formation. This knowledge is needed in order to optimize injector nozzles for future requirements. In this study, the results of three experimental approaches for determination of spray velocity in the near-nozzle region are presented. Two different injector nozzle types were measured through high-speed shadowgraph imaging, Laser Doppler Anemometry (LDA) and X-ray imaging.

To satisfy future emission classes, e.g. EU6c, the particulate number (PN) of Direct-Injection Spark-Ignition (DISI) engines must be reduced. For these engines, different components influence the combustion process and thus also the formation of soot particles and deposits. Along with other engine components, the injector nozzle influences the particulate number and deposits in both fuel spray behavior and nozzle “tip wetting”. In case of non-optimized nozzle layouts, fuel may impinge on the piston and the liner in an unfavorable way, which implies low-oxygen diffusive combustion by retarded vaporizing wall films. For the tip wetting, wall films are present on the actual surface of the nozzle tip, which is also caused by unadapted nozzles. For non-optimized nozzles, the latter effect can become quite dominant. This paper deals with systematic nozzle development activities towards low-deposit nozzle tips and thus decreasing PN values.

CNG direct injection is a promising technology to promote the acceptance of natural gas engines. Among the beneficial properties of CNG, like reduced pollutants and CO2 emissions, the direct injection contributes to a higher volumetric efficiency and thus to a better driveability, one of the most limiting drawbacks of today’s CNG vehicles. But such a combustion concept increases the demands on the injection system and mixture formation. Among other things it requires a much higher flow rate at low injection pressure. This can be only provided by an outward-opening nozzle due to its large cross-section. Nevertheless its hollow cone jet with a specific propagation behavior leads to an adverse fuel-air distribution especially at higher loads under scavenging conditions. This paper covers numerical and experimental analysis of CNG direct injection to understand its mixture formation.

This paper looks at the underlying fundamentals of diesel fuel system lubrication for the highly-loaded contacts found in fuel injection equipment like high-pressure pumps. These types of contacts are already occurring in modern systems and their severity is likely to increase in future applications due to the requirement for increased fuel pressure. The aim of the work was to characterise the tribological behavior of these contacts when lubricated with diesel fuel and diesel fuel treated with lubricity additives and model nitrogen and sulphur compounds of different chemical composition. It is essential to understand the role of diesel fuel and of lubricity additives to ensure that future, more severely-loaded systems, will be free of any wear problem in the field.

Fully Variable Valve Actuation (FVVA) systems enable to employ a wide range of combustion strategies by providing the actuation of a gas exchange valve at an arbitrary point in time, with variable lift and adjustable ramps for opening and closing. Making such a system ready for the market requires appropriate fault-diagnostic functionality. Here, we focus on diagnosis possibilities by using air intake system sensors such as Manifold Absolute Pressure (MAP) sensors. Results obtained on a 4-cylinder test bench engine are presented for the early intake opening strategy under different loads, and at medium range rotational speeds on steady-state conditions. It is shown that detection and identification of the different critical faults on each actuator is possible by using a Fourier series signal model of the MAP sensor.

The reduction of nitrous oxides in the exhaust gases of internal combustion engines using a urea water solution is gaining more and more importance. While maintaining the future exhaust gas emission regulations, like the Euro 6 for passenger cars and the Euro 5 for commercial vehicles, urea dosing allows the engine management to be modified to improve fuel economy as well. The system manufacturer Robert Bosch has started early to develop the necessary dosing systems for the urea water solution. More than 300.000 Units have been delivered in 2007 for heavy duty applications. Typical dosing quantities for those systems are in the range of 0.01 l/h for passenger car systems and up to 10 l/h for commercial vehicles. During the first years of development and application of urea dosing systems, instantaneous flow measuring devices were used, which were not operating fully satisfactory.

Today's wide range oxygen sensors are based on the limiting current principle, where an applied voltage induces electrochemical reactions in a ceramic cell. Since the diffusive transport of exhaust gas to the electrodes is limited by a transport barrier, the resulting electric current can be related to the exhaust gas composition. A model is presented which describes the transient transport of gas mixtures from the bulk exhaust gas to the electrodes of an oxygen sensor at variable pressure and composition. The internal structure of the transport barrier was accounted for by geometrical parameters. A variety of numerical results are compared with experimental data.

Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) requirements and the effort to fulfill them are increasing steadily in automotive applications. This paper demonstrates the usage of virtual prototyping to efficiently investigate the EMC behavior of a gasoline direct injection system. While the system worked functionally as designed, tests indicated that current and especially future client-specific EMC limits could not be met. The goal of this investigation was to identify and eliminate the cause of EMC emissions using a virtual software prototype including the controller ASIC, boost converter, pi filter, injection valves and wire harness. Applying virtual prototyping techniques it was possible to capture the motor control system in a simulation model which reproduced EMC measurements in the frequency ranges of interest.

Meeting current exhaust emission standards requires rapid catalyst light-off. Closed-coupled catalysts are commonly used to reduce light-off time by minimizing exhaust heat loss between the engine and catalyst. However, this exhaust gas system design leads to a coupling of catalyst heating and engine operation. An engine-independent exhaust gas aftertreatment can be realized by combining a burner heated catalyst system (BHC) with an underfloor catalyst located far away from the engine. This paper describes some basic characteristics of such a BHC system and the results of fitting this system into a Volkswagen Touareg where a single catalyst was located about 1.8 m downstream of the engine. Nevertheless, it was possible to reach about 50% of the current European emission standard EU 4 without additional fuel consumption caused by the BHC system.

In mobile R-744 A/C units mechanical expansion devices (e.g. orifice tubes) or electronic valves (e.g. PWM-valves) can be used. Besides the costs, aspects like coefficient of performance (COP), cooling capacity or control behavior - especially for extreme conditions - influence the choice of the valve type. This paper will present a comparison between an ideal electronic valve and a two stage mechanical orifice tube under full load and part load conditions. The influence of the expansion valve on COP and cooling capacity in different ambient conditions can be sufficiently described with steady-state simulations. The simulation tools used for this work are based on Modelica/Dymola. The simulation results show that for European climate conditions the use of two-stage orifices might increase fuel consumption.

The study presented in this paper focuses on measures to minimize exhaust gas emissions to meet SULEV targets on a V6 engine by using a cost efficient system configuration. The study consists of three parts. A) In the first stage, the influence of engine management both on raw emissions and catalyst light off performance was optimized. B) Afterwards, the predefined high cell density catalyst system was tested on an engine test bench. In this stage, thermal data and engine out emissions were used for modeling and prediction of light-off performance for further optimized catalyst concepts. C) In the final stage of the program, the emission performance of the test matrix, including high cell density as well as multifunctional single substrate systems, are studied during the FTP cycle. The presented results show the approach to achieve SULEV emission compliance with innovative engine control strategies in combination with a cost effective metallic catalyst design.

The tightening of Heavy Duty Diesel (HDD) emissions legislation throughout the world is leading to the development of emission control devices to enable HDD engines to meet the new standards. NOx and Particulate Matter (PM) are the key pollutants which these emission control systems need to address. Diesel Particulate Filters (DPFs) are already in use in significant numbers to control PM emissions from HDD vehicles, and Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) is a very promising technology to control NOx emissions. This paper describes the development and performance of the Compact SCR-Trap system - a pollution control device comprising a DPF-based system (the Continuously Regenerating Trap system) upstream of an SCR system. The system has been designed to be as easy to package as possible, by minimising the total volume of the system and by incorporating the SCR catalysts on annular substrates placed around the outside of the DPF-based system.

Time Triggered CAN (TTCAN) is an extension of the well-known CAN protocol, introducing to CAN networks time triggered communication and a system wide global network time with high precision. Time Triggered CAN has been accepted as international standard ISOCD11898-4. The time triggered communication is built upon the unchanged standard CAN protocol. This allows a software implementation of the time triggered function of TTCAN, based on existing CAN ICs. The high precision global time however requires a hardware implementation. A hardware implementation also offers additional functions like time mark interrupts, a stopwatch, and a synchronization to external events, all independent of software latency times. The TTCAN testchip (TTCAN_TC) is a standalone TTCAN controller and has been produced as a solution to the hen/egg problem of hardware availability versus tool support and research.

The Bosch Common Rail Fuel Injection System with the new technologies developed for the Duramax 6600 engine offer numerous performance advantages including exhaust emissions control and noise. The layout of the fuel system components and electrical parts is specifically designed to control fuel injection characteristics. The new injector and nozzle technology was integrated to achieve the required system performance. The new 1600bar fuel pump is also a prerequisite for required system performance.

The present paper concentrates on the option of catalytic autothermal reforming of gasoline for fuel cell applications. Major parameters of this process are the “Steam to Carbon Ratio” S/C and the air to fuel ratio λ. Computations assuming thermodynamic equilibrium in the autothermal reactor outlet (ATR) were carried out to attain information about their proper choice, as failure in adjusting the parameters within narrow limits has severe consequences on the reforming process. In order to quantify velocity distribution just ahead the catalyst and to evaluate mixing uniformity we designed an ATR featuring an optical access: Thus flow visualization using PIV (Particle Image Velocimetry) and LIF (Laser Induced Fluorescence) technique is possible. Preliminary PIV-results are presented and compared with CFD computations (Computational Fluid D ynamics).

The correct timing of the diesel injection pump on engine is of major importance for all functions of the engine and for its exhaust emissions, during production pass off as well as in the field. Within the diesel service workshops a variety of devices exist to test the timing of the injection pump on engine. Most of them operate by clamp-on transducer being fitted to the injection pipe. A large uncertainty exists concerning the accuracy of such timing systems. Most diesel engine manufacturers do not have confidence in the timing devices capability and, therefore, do not recommend their usage. A working group within the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) adopted a method for the validation of these measurement systems, which usually is used to judge the capability of measurement gauges for industrial production processes.

This paper presents the conceptual model and the fundamental mechanisms for software development in the context of the Brite-EuRam project Safety Related Fault Tolerant Systems in Vehicles (nick-named X-By-Wire). The objective of the X-By-Wire project is to achieve a framework for the introduction of safety related fault tolerant electronic systems without mechanical backup in vehicles. To achieve the required level of fault-tolerance, an X-By-Wire system must be designed as a distributed system comprising a number of fault-tolerant units connected by a reliable real-time communication system. For the communication system, the time-triggered TTP/C real-time communication protocol was selected. TTP/C provides fault-tolerance message transfer, state synchronization, reliable detection of node failures, a global time base, and a distributed membership service. Redundancy is used for masking failures of individual processor nodes and hardware peripherals.

The continuing increase in the performance of restraint systems has led to a drastic increase in the number of actuator devices. The individual wiring of the igniters becomes more and more problematic through the accompanied large number of plug connections and cables. Along with demands for weight and volume reduction, there are requirements for EMI and short circuit protection to eliminate erroneous deployment and misuse. As a solution, a new multi-protocol dual wire bus system is described that has the capability to supply energy and address multiple peripheral output stages to simultaneously fire any combination of actuators.