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A major challenge for auto industries is reducing NOx and other exhaust gas emissions to meet stringent Euro 7 emission regulations. A urea Selective Catalyst Reduction (SCR) after-treatment system (ATS) commonly uses upstream urea water injection to reduce NOx from the engine exhaust gas. The NOx emission conversion rate in ATSs is high for high exhaust gas temperatures but substantially low for temperatures below 200℃. This study aims to improve the NOx conversion rate using urea pulse injection in a mass-production 2.2 L diesel engine equipped with an SCR ATS operated under low exhaust gas temperature. The engine experimental results show that, under 200℃ exhaust temperature and 3.73x104 h-1 gross hourly space velocity (SV), the NOx conversion rate can be improved by 5% using 5-sec ON and 12-sec OFF (denoted as 5/12 s) urea pulse supply compared to the constant supply under time-averaged 1.0 urea equivalence ratio.

High fuel stratification gasoline compression ignition (HFS-GCI) strategies allow for the use of ignition control methods similar to those used by diesel-fueled compression ignition (CI) engines while offering the emissions benefits of gasoline-like fuels. Despite this benefit, low load GCI operation requires ignition assistance viz. intake boosting, intake heating, cylinder deactivation, etc. for consistent autoignition. A novel ignition assistance methodology using an offset active prechamber (OAP) is proposed in this work to enable low load GCI operation. A 1.5cc OAP with a pressure-sensing spark plug and gaseous fuel injection system is designed and mounted in a medium-duty single-cylinder test engine based on the Cummins ISB engine. The prechamber is provided with two holes designed to ignite the fuel spray from the centrally mounted DI fuel injector. Gasoline was used as the main chamber fuel and methane was used as the prechamber fuel.

In recent years, deposit formation in the fuel systems for heavy-duty engines, using drop-in fuels, have become increasingly common. Drop-in fuels are particularly appealing because as they are compatible with existing engines, allowing for higher proportions of alternative fuels to be blended with conventional fuels. However, the precipitation of insoluble substances from drop-in fuels can result in fuel filter clogging and the formation of internal injector deposits, leading to higher fuel consumption and issues with engine drivability. The precise reasons behind the formation of these deposits in the fuel system remain unclear, with factors such as operating conditions, fuel quality, and fuel contamination all suggested as potential contributors. In order to reproduce and study the formation of internal injector deposits, for heavy-duty engines under controlled conditions, facilitating a more precise comparison to field trials, a novel injector test rig has been developed.

The combustion of hydrogen (H2) as a fuel is attractive due to its clean combustion or combustion-enhancing properties when used as a supplement to other fuels. However, the challenge of using H2 as a fuel for transportation applications is the difficulty of onboard storage. Cracking onboard stored ammonia (NH3) into H2 can also improve combustion performance and emissions in mobile applications fuelled with zero and carbon-neutral fuels. However, the reforming process is not always 100 % efficient which can lead to the presence of NH3 in the combustion process. The presence of NH3 can influence engine performance, combustion and emissions. Therefore, this experimental study reports the effect of H2 and H2/NH3/N2 fuel blends added to gasoline in a dual-fuel operation under both stoichiometric (λ=1.0) and lean-burn (λ>1.0) operating conditions in a spark ignition (SI) engine.

The objective of the project was to evaluate the energy efficiency of a hybrid electric tractor-semi-trailer combination prototype. The prototype was developed for log hauling application by integrating an existing tractor with an electric semi-trailer to improve fuel consumption and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. One of the conventional axles of the quad axle semi-trailer was replaced with a drive axle powered by an electric motor. Tests were conducted on a 105 km test route with a maximum difference in elevation of 355 m, including a hilly section with a length of 89 km. The results indicated fuel savings ranging from 10.5% to 14% per test run, with an average fuel savings of 12% when the electric drive axle was engaged. The hybrid electric tractor semi-trailer consumed 17.5% less fuel up-hill and 9.4% less down-hill. Throughout each test run, the battery’s state of charge fluctuated, averaging between 88% at the start and 52% at the end.

Selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technology is currently one of the most effective methods to reduce NOx emissions for engine. In order to cope with the energy crisis and environmental pollution problems, hydrogen engines have been widely studied in recent years. However, high NOx emissions under some working conditions still need to be further solved. NH3-SCR technology is considered to be the most promising hydrogen engine after-treatment device. This paper used Cu-SSZ-13, which is widely commercially available, as the research object, and explored the relationship between micron and nanoscale grain sizes through experimental methods such as BET, XRD, NH3-TPD, UV-vis-DRS and activity testing, the influence mechanism of micron-scale and nano-scale grain size on the morphology and properties of Cu-SSZ-13 catalyst was explored.

Recuperated low-pressure-ratio split-cycle engines represent a promising engine configuration for applications like transportation and stand-alone power generation by offering a potential efficiency as high as 60%. However, it can be challenging to achieve the stringent NOx emission standard, such as Euro 6 limit of 0.4 gNOx/kWh, due to the exhaust cylinder high intake temperature. This paper presents experimental investigation of hydrogen-air combustion NOx emissions for such engines for the first time. Experiments are carried out using a simplified constant-volume combustion chamber with glow-plug ignition. Two fuel injection techniques are performed: direct injection and injection via a novel convergent-divergent injector. For the direct injection scenario, NOx levels are unsatisfactory with respect to the Euro 6 standards over a range of operating temperatures from 200 °C to 550 °C.

A comprehensive experimental study of hydrogen–diesel dual-fuel and hydrogen-hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) dual-fuel operations was conducted in a single-cylinder diesel engine (bore 85.0 mm, stroke 96.9 mm, and compression ratio 14.3) equipped with a common rail fuel injection system and a supercharger. The hydrogen flow rate was manipulated by varying the hydrogen excess air ratio from 2.5 to 4.0 in 0.5 increments. Hydrogen was introduced into the intake pipe using a gas injector. Diesel fuel and HVO were injected as pilot fuels at a fixed injection pressure of 80 MPa. The quantity of pilot fuel was set to 3, 6, and 13 mm3/cycle. The intake and exhaust pressures were set in the range of 100–220 kPa in 20 kPa increments. The engine was operated at a constant speed of 1,800 rpm under all conditions. The pilot injection timing was varied such that the ignition timing was constant at the TDC under all conditions.

Because it can be produced in a green form, methanol is envisioned as a potential fuel to replace conventional diesel fuel and directly reduce the greenhouse gas (GHG) impact of maritime transportation. For these reasons, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) working on marine applications are focusing on making methanol easily usable in Compression Ignition (CI) engines. While it is an easy-to-use substance with manageable energy content, methanol has a few drawbacks, including a high latent heat of vaporization and a high auto-ignition temperature, all of which affect combustion quality. Therefore, solutions have been found or are still under study to give it Diesel-like behavior. One solution is to use a pilot fuel for ignition in significant quantities. A previous study conducted at the PRISME laboratory highlighted the possibility of using a Combustion Enhancer based on Nitrates (CEN) as an additive.

The Advanced Fuel Ignition Delay Analyzer (AFIDA) apparatus can measure the ignition delay times with high repeatability within very short time. The device also requires small quantities of fuel samples. During AFIDA experiments, liquid fuel is injected into a hot and constant-volume chamber at high pressure. This way the ignition of the spray combines the effects of realistic influences like liquid evaporation and combustion chemistry. The present work investigates the effects of blending ethanol and 2,5-dimethylfuran with primary reference fuels (i.e., mixtures of iso-octane and n-heptane). The primary motivation of this study is to show the differences in ignition delay times of different gasoline-ethanol and gasoline-2,5-dimethylfuran blends where both physical mixing and chemical kinetics have considerable influences. The primary reference fuel is considered as the gasoline surrogate in this work. The study has been conducted at a range of temperatures and pressures.

Modern automotive powertrains are operated using many control devices under a wide range of environmental conditions. The exhaust temperature must be controlled within a specific range to ensure low exhaust-gas emissions and engine-component protection. In this regard, physics-based exhaust-temperature prediction models are advantageous compared with the conventional exhaust-temperature map-based model developed using engine dyno testing results. This is because physics-based models can predict exhaust-temperature behavior in conditions not measured for calibration. However, increasing the computational load to illustrate all physical phenomena in the engine air path, including combustion in the cylinder, may not fully leverage the advantages of physical models for the performance of electric control units (ECUs).

In today’s competitive automotive market, customers are now looking for system efficiency as one of the important design parameters of system performance along with durability and reliability. It is essential to ensure products are designed to utilize maximum input power and have better system efficiency. In automotives, transmission and axle systems are power transmitting elements from prime mover to wheels and are one of the main contributors to overall vehicle efficiency. Hence, predicting and assessing overall system efficiency of these aggregates is of paramount importance. System efficiency is driven by component power losses for various speeds and torques, which are arising out of component design parameters, complex interaction within system, operating conditions, lubrication, temperatures etc. To capture multi-physics of speed and torque dependent losses of automotive axle, multidisciplinary and integrated approach is proposed in this paper.

Combustion in conventional and advanced diesel engines is an intricate process that encompasses interaction among fuel injection, fuel-air mixing, combustion, heat transfer, and engine geometry. Manipulation of fuel injection strategies has been recognized as a promising approach for optimizing diesel engine combustion. Although numerous studies have investigated this topic, the underlying physics behind flame interactions from multiple fuel injections, spray-flame-wall interaction and their effects on reaction zones, and NOx/soot emissions are still not well understood. To this end, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) study is performed to investigate the effects of pilot and post injections on in-cylinder combustion process and emissions (NOx and soot) formation in a heavy-duty (HD) diesel engine.

The automotive industry faces significant obstacles in its efforts to improve fuel economy and reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Current conventional automotive powertrain systems are approaching their technical limits and will not be able to meet future carbon dioxide emission targets as defined by the tank-to-wheel benchmark test. As automakers transition to low-carbon transportation solutions through electrification, there are significant challenges in managing energy and improving overall vehicle efficiency, particularly in real-world driving scenarios. While electrification offers a promising path to low-carbon transportation, it also presents significant challenges in terms of energy management and vehicle efficiency, particularly in real-world scenarios. Battery electric vehicles have a favorable tank-to-wheel balance but are constrained by limited range due to the low battery energy density inherent in their technology.

Hydrogen as a chemical energy carrier is considered as one of the most promising options to achieve effective decarbonization of the transportation sector, due to its carbon-free chemical composition. This is particularly true for applications that rely on internal combustion engines (ICEs), although much research is still needed to achieve stable, reliable, and safe operations of the engine. To this purpose, direct injection (DI) of gaseous hydrogen during the compression stroke offers great potential to avoid backfire and largely reduce preignition issues, as opposed to port-fuel injection. Recently, much research has been dedicated, both experimentally and numerically, to understanding the physics and chemistry connected with hydrogen’s mixing and combustion processes in ICEs. This work presents a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) study of the hydrogen DI process in an optical engine operating at relatively low tumble conditions.

Accurate flywheel torque estimation in combustion engines can be used for monitoring engine performance, creating the potential for lowering emissions and fuel costs. Recently a method was proposed to determine the mean flywheel torque from instantaneous engine speed using the n-th order Fourier series, where n is the number of cylinders firing per crank revolution. However, instantaneous engine speed is affected by two separate torque contributions. The torque resulting from reciprocating masses in the engine, i.e., reciprocating torque, and the torque produced by combustion pressure, i.e., gas torque. Gas torque and reciprocating torque signals have the same frequency but are in opposite phases. Since the resultant torque at the flywheel is the sum of gas and reciprocating torques, there is a need to remove reciprocating torque from the total torque at the flywheel. This requires knowing whether gas or reciprocating torque has a larger amplitude.

To realize a super-leanburn SI engine with a very-high compression ratio, it is required to design a new fuel which could have low ignitability at a low temperature for antiknocking, but high ignitability at a high temperature for stable combustion. Ethane shows a long ignition delay time at a low temperature close to that of methane, but a short ignition delay time at a high temperature close to that of gasoline. In the present study, the antiknocking effect of adding methane with the RON of 120, ethane with the RON of 108, or propane with the RON of 112 to a regular gasoline surrogate fuel with the RON of 90.8 has been investigated. Adding each gaseous fuel by less than 0.4 in heat fraction advances knocking limit in the descending order of SI timing advance of ethane, methane, and propane, and in the descending order of CA 50 advance of ethane, propane, and methane. Adding methane extends combustion duration slightly, but adding ethane or propane shortens it considerably.

This work numerically investigated the methanol compression ignition combustion assisted with a glow plug (GP). The GP was positioned in the middle of the two intake ports. A heating power of 50 W was applied to maintain a quasi-steady temperature of 1323 K for the heating medium. Sensitivity analyses were conducted on various parameters affecting engine combustion characteristics and performance, including radial distance (RD) between the glow plug and injector, relative angle (RA) between the GP and its nearest jet, intake temperature, split ratio of pilot injection, and intake and injection pressures. Due to the complex fuel jet-GP interaction, the optimum RA shifted from 10° at RD = 22.5 mm to 17.5° at RD = 12.5 mm. The optimal RD among the studied values (12.5, 17.5, and 22.5 mm) was found to be 12.5 mm, achieving an indicated thermal efficiency (ITE) of 42.1% at RA = 17.5°.

Catalyst heating operation in compression-ignition engines is critical to ensure rapid light-off of exhaust catalysts during cold-start. This is typically achieved by using late post injections for increased exhaust enthalpy, which retardability is constrained by acceptable CO and unburned hydrocarbons emissions, since they are directly emitted through the tailpipe due to the inactivity of the oxidation catalyst at these conditions. Post-injection retardability has shown to be affected by the cetane number of the fuel [SAE 2022-01-0483], but it is unclear how other fuel properties may affect the ability to retard the combustion. This study aims to understand the impact of the distillation characteristics of the fuel on the performance of catalyst heating operation and on post-injection retardability.

In the context of energy conservation and emission reduction, high power density(HPD) and low fuel consumption are the consistent pursuit of diesel engine development. Among the small-bore diesel, the limited space in the cylinder poses higher challenges and requirements for the arrangement of sprays.The high injection pressure results in a greater impulse when the spray impinges chamber, which allows the combustibles to develop along the chamber wall. Based on these characteristics of small-bore HPD diesel, a reasonable injection scheme is proposed to help flame diffusion surface increasing and thermal efficiency enhancing. This work proposes an optimization path to increase the flame diffusion surface, then improve thermal efficiency. It can be achieved with matching between the injector extension length and the spray spray angle.