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A viable option to reduce global warming related to internal combustion engines is to use renewable fuels, for example methanol. However, the risk of knocking combustion limits the achievable efficiency of SI engines. Hence, most high load operation is run at sub-optimal conditions to suppress knock. Normally the fuel is a limiting factor, however when running on high octane fuels such as methanol, other factors also become important. For example, oil droplets entering the combustion chamber have the possibility to locally impact both temperature and chemical composition. This may create spots with reduced octane number, hence making the engine more prone to knock. Previous research has confirmed a connection between oil droplets in the combustion chamber and knock. Furthermore, previous research has confirmed a connection between oil droplets in the combustion chamber and exhaust particle emissions.

Stoichiometric operation of a Port Fueled Injection (PFI) Spark-Ignited (SI) engine with a three-way catalytic converter offers excellent CO2 reduction when run on renewable fuel. The main drawbacks with stoichiometric operation are the increased knock propensity, high exhaust temperature and reduced efficiency. Knock is typically mitigated with a reactive knock controller, with retarded ignition timing whenever knock is detected and the timing then slowly advanced until knock is detected again. This will cause some cycles to operate with non-ideal ignition timing. The current work evaluates the possibility to predict knock using the measured and modelled temperatures at Inlet Valve Closing (IVC) and Top Dead Center (TDC). Feedback effects are studied beyond steady state operation by using induced ignition timing disturbances.

In this paper, a High-Temperature Electrical Low-Pressure Impactor (HT-ELPI+) was used to measure particles from a light-duty direct injected spark ignited (DISI) engine fueled with gasoline and ethanol. The HT-ELPI+ measured volatile and non-volatile particle emissions down to 6 nm without the need for dilution. Particle emissions were measured at four operating points while sweeping the end of injection, and at idle operation. The total particle number (PN) and particle size distribution (number and mass) for both non-volatile and volatile emissions were measured with the HT-ELPI+ and compared to the measured PN using two 71.4 times diluted Condensation Particle Counters (CPCs) with two different cut-off sizes, with 23 nm and 7 nm cut-off, respectively. The results show an increase in particle emissions in terms of particle mass and total particle number for ethanol compared to gasoline. The difference in soot mass emissions is small between the fuels.

A method developed in SAE 2019-01-0058 to correct for deviations from quasi-steady exhaust valve flow is implemented on a single-cylinder GT-Power model and the effects on pumping work and blowdown pulse characteristics are investigated. The valve flow area is always reduced compared to the reference quasi-steady case. It decreases with higher pressure ratios over the valve and increases with higher engines speeds. The reduced flow area increases pumping work with load and engine speed, though primarily with engine speed. The magnitude of the blowdown pulse is reduced and the peak is shifted to a later crank angle.

Global warming and climate change have led to a greater interest in the implementation of biofuels in internal combustion engines. In spark ignited engines, biofuels have been shown to improve efficiency and knock resistance while decreasing emissions of unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and particles. This study investigates the effect of biofuels on SI engine combustion through a graphical compilation of previously reported results. Experimental data from 88 articles were used to evaluate the trends of the addition of different biofuels in gasoline. Graphs illustrating engine performance, combustion phasing and emissions are presented in conjunction with data on the physiochemical properties of each biofuel component to understand the observed trends. Internal combustion engines have the ability to handle a wide variety of fuels resulting in a broad range of biofuel candidates.

Typically the combustion in a direct injected compression ignited internal combustion engine is open-loop controlled. The introduction of a cylinder pressure sensor opens up the possibility of a virtual combustion sensor which could enable closed-loop combustion control and thus the potential to counteract effects such as engine part to part variation, component ageing and fuel quality diversity. Closed-loop combustion control requires precise, robust and preferably cheap sensors. This paper presents a virtual cylinder pressure sensor based on the signal from the inexpensive but well proven knock sensor. The method used to convert the knock sensor signal into a pressure estimate included the stages: Phase correcting the raw signal, Filtering the raw signal, Scaling the signal to known thermodynamic laws and provided engine sensors signals and Reconstructing parts of the signal with other known models and assumptions.

The challenging problem of noise generation and propagation in automotive turbocharging systems is of real interest from both scientific and practical points of view. Robust and fast steady-state fluid flow calculations, complemented by acoustic analogies can represent valuable tools to be used for a quick assessment of the problem during e.g. design phase, and a starting point for more in-depth future unsteady calculations. Thus, as a part of the initial phase of a long-term project, a steady-state Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) flow analysis is carried out for a specific automotive turbocharger compressor geometry. Acoustic data are extracted by means of aeroacoustics models available within the framework of the STAR-CCM+ solver (i.e. Curle and Proudman acoustic analogies, respectively).

Spark Ignition (SI) engines operating on stoichiometric mixtures can employ a simple three-way catalyst as after-treatment to achieve low tailpipe emissions unlike diesel engines. This makes heavy duty (HD) SI engines an attractive proposition for low capital cost and potentially low noise engines, if the power density and efficiency requirement could be met. Specific torque at low speeds is limited in SI engines due to knock. In HD engines, the higher flame travel distances associated with higher bore diameters exacerbates knock due to increased residence time of the end gas. This report reviews the challenges in developing HD SI engines to meet current diesel power density. It also focuses on methods to mitigate them in order to achieve high thermal efficiency while running on stoichiometric condition. High octane renewable fuels are seen as a key enabler to achieve the performance level required in such applications.

On-engine surge detection could help in reducing the safety margin towards surge, thus allowing higher boost pressures and ultimately low-end torque. In this paper, experimental data from a truck turbocharger compressor mounted on the engine is investigated. A short period of compressor surge is provoked through a sudden, large drop in engine load. The compressor housing is equipped with knock accelerometers. Different signal treatments are evaluated for their suitability with respect to on-engine surge detection: the signal root mean square, the power spectral density in the surge frequency band, the recently proposed Hurst exponent, and a closely related concept optimized to detect changes in the underlying scaling behavior of the signal. For validation purposes, a judgement by the test cell operator by visual observation of the air filter vibrations and audible noises, as well as inlet temperature increase, are also used to diagnose surge.

Improving turbocharger performance to increase engine efficiency has the potential to help meet current and upcoming exhaust legislation. One limiting factor is compressor surge, an air flow instability phenomenon capable of causing severe vibration and noise. To avoid surge, the turbocharger is operated with a safety margin (surge margin) which, as well as avoiding surge in steady state operation, unfortunately also lowers engine performance. This paper investigates the possibility of detecting compressor surge with a conventional engine knock sensor. It further recommends a surge detection algorithm based on their signals during transient engine operation. Three knock sensors were mounted on the turbocharger and placed along the axes of three dimensions of movement. The engine was operated in load steps starting from steady state. The steady state points of operation covered the vital parts of the engine speed and load range.

In one dimensional engine simulation software, flow losses over complex geometries such as valves and ports are described using flow coefficients. It is generally assumed that the pressure ratio over the valve has a negligible influence on the flow coefficient. However during the exhaust valve opening the pressure difference between cylinder and port is large which questions the accuracy of this assumption. In this work the influence of pressure ratio on the exhaust valve flow coefficient has been investigated experimentally in a steady-flow test bench. Two cylinder heads, designated A and B, from a Heavy-Duty engine with different valve shapes and valve seat angles have been investigated. The tests were performed with both exhaust valves open and with only one of the two exhaust valves open. The pressure ratio over the exhaust port was varied from 1.1:1 to 5:1. For case A1 with a single exhaust valve open, the flow coefficient decreased significantly with pressure ratio.

The compressor surge line of automotive turbochargers can limit the low-end torque of an engine. In order to determine how close the compressor operates to its surge limit, the Hurst exponent of the pressure signal has recently been proposed as a criterion. The Hurst exponent quantifies the fractal properties of a time series and its long-term memory. This paper evaluates the outcome of applying Hurst exponent based criterion on time-resolved pressure signals, measured simultaneously at different locations in the compression system. Experiments were performed using a truck-sized turbocharger on a cold gas stand at the University of Cincinnati. The pressure sensors were flush-mounted at different circumferential positions at the inlet of the compressor, in the diffuser and volute, as well as downstream of the compressor.

To obtain realistic noise characteristics from CAA studies of subsonic fans, it is important to prescribe properly constructed turbulent inflow statistics. This is frequently omitted; instead it is assumed that the stochastic characteristics of turbulence, absent at the initial stage, progressively develops as the rotor inflicts the flow field over time and hence that the sound generating mechanism governed by surface pressure fluctuations are asymptotically accounted for. That assumption violates the actual interplay taking place between an ingested flow field and the surface pressure fluctuations exerted by the blades producing noise. The aim of the present study is to examine the coupling effect between synthetically ingested turbulence to sound produced from a subsonic ducted fan. The steady state inflow parameters are mapped from a precursor RANS simulation onto the inflow boundaries of a reduced domain to limit the computational cost.

Turbocharger compressors are limited in their operating range at low mass flows by compressor surge, thus restricting internal combustion engine operation at low engine speeds and high mean effective pressures. Since the exact location of the surge line in the compressor map depends on the whole gas exchange system, a safety margin towards surge must be provided. Accurate early surge detection could reduce this margin. During surge, the compressor outlet pressure fluctuates periodically. The Hurst exponent of the compressor outlet pressure is applied in this paper as an indicator to evaluate how close to the surge limit the compressor operates. It is a measure of the time-series memory that approaches zero for anti-persistence of the time series. That is, a Hurst exponent close to zero means a high statistical preference that a high value is followed by a low value, as during surge.

With alternative fuels having moved more into market in light of their reduction of emissions of CO2 and other air pollutants, the spark ignited internal combustion engine design has only been affected to small extent. The development of combustion engines running on natural gas or Biogas have been focused to maintain driveability on gasoline, creating a multi fuel platform which does not fully utilise the alternative fuels’ potential. However, optimising these concepts on a fundamental level for gas operation shows a great potential to increase the level of utilisation and effectiveness of the engine and thereby meeting the emissions legislation. The project described in this paper has focused on optimising a combustion concept for CNG combustion on a single cylinder research engine. The ICE’s efficiency at full load and the fuels characteristics, including its knock resistance, is of primary interest - together with part load performance and overall fuel consumption.

In order to increase the internal combustion engine efficiency turbocharging is today widely used. The trend, in modern engine technology, is towards higher boost pressures while keeping the combustion pressure raise relatively small. The turbocharger surge occurs if the pressure at the outlet of the compressor is greater than it can maintain, i.e., a reverse flow will be induced. In presence of such flow conditions instabilities will occur which can couple to incident acoustic (pressure) waves and amplify them. The main objective of the present work is to propose a novel method for investigation of turbocharger flow instabilities or surge precursors. The method is based on the determination of the acoustic two-port data. The active part of this data describes the sound generation and the passive part the scattering of sound. The scattering data will contain information about flow-acoustic interaction and amplification of sound that could occur close to surge.

Regulations stipulating the design of motorcycle silencers are strict, especially when the unit incorporates fibrous absorbing materials. Therefore, innovative designs substituting such materials while still preserving acceptable level of characteristic sound are currently of interest. Micro perforated elements are innovative acoustic solutions, which silencing effect is based on the dissipation of the acoustic wave energy in a pattern of sub-millimeter apertures. Similarly to fibrous materials the micro-perforated materials have been proved to provide effective sound absorption in a wide frequency range. Additionally, the silencer is designed as a two-stage system that provides an optimal solution for a variety of exploitation conditions. In this paper a novel design for a cruiser type motorcycle silencer, based on micro-perforated elements, is presented.