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Continued improvement in the combustion process of internal combustion engines is necessary to reduce fuel consumption, CO2 emissions, and criteria emissions for automotive transportation around the world. In this paper, test results for the Gen3X Gasoline Direct Injection Compression Ignition (GDCI) engine are presented. The engine is a 2.2L, four-cylinder, double overhead cam engine with compression ratio ~17. It features a “wetless” combustion system with a high-pressure direct injection fuel system. At low load, exhaust rebreathing and increased intake air temperature were used to promote autoignition and elevate exhaust temperatures to maintain high catalyst conversion efficiency. For medium-to-high loads, a new GDCI-diffusion combustion strategy was combined with advanced single-stage turbocharging to produce excellent low-end torque and power. Time-to-torque (TT) simulations indicated 90% load response in less than 1.5 seconds without a supercharger.

The automotive industry is facing tremendous challenges to improve fuel economy and emissions of the internal combustion engine. In the US, 2025 standards for fuel economy and CO2 emissions are extremely stringent. Simultaneously, vehicles must comply with new US Tier 3 emissions standards. In all market segments, there is a need for very clean and efficient engines operating on gasoline fuels. Gasoline Direct Injection Compression Ignition (GDCI) has been under development for several years and significant progress has been realized. As part of two US DOE programs, Delphi has developed a third generation GDCI engine that utilizes partially premixed compression ignition. The engine features an innovative “wetless”, low-temperature, combustion system with the latest high-pressure GDi injection system. The system was developed using extensive simulation and engine testing.

Recent advancements in the combustion control of new generation engines can benefit from real time, precise sensing of the cylinder pressure profile to facilitate successful combustion feedback. Currently, even laboratory-grade pressure sensors can deliver pressure traces with insufficient signal-to-noise quality due to electrical or combustion-induced signal interference. Consequently, for example, calculation of compression and expansion polytropic indices may require statistical averaging over several cycles to deliver required information. This lag in the resultant feedback may become a concern when the calculated combustion metric is used for feedback control, especially in the case of transients. The method described in this paper involves a special digital filter offering excellent performance which facilitates reduced-error calculation of individual polytropic indices.

Three jet fuel surrogates were compared against their target fuels in a compression ignited optical engine under a range of start-of-injection temperatures and densities. The jet fuel surrogates are representative of petroleum-based Jet-A POSF-4658, natural gas-derived S-8 POSF-4734 and coal-derived Sasol IPK POSF-5642, and were prepared from a palette of n-dodecane, n-decane, decalin, toluene, iso-octane and iso-cetane. Optical chemiluminescence and liquid penetration length measurements as well as cylinder pressure-based combustion analyses were applied to examine fuel behavior during the injection and combustion process. HCHO* emissions obtained from broadband UV imaging were used as a marker for low temperature reactivity, while 309 nm narrow band filtered imaging was applied to identify the occurrence of OH*, autoignition and high temperature reactivity.

The second generation 1.8L Gasoline Direct Injection Compression Ignition (GDCI) engine was built and tested using RON91 gasoline. The engine is intended to meet stringent US Tier 3 emissions standards with diesel-like fuel efficiency. The engine utilizes a fulltime, partially premixed combustion process without combustion mode switching. The second generation engine features a pentroof combustion chamber, 400 bar central-mounted injector, 15:1 compression ratio, and low swirl and squish. Improvements were made to all engine subsystems including fuel injection, valve train, thermal management, piston and ring pack, lubrication, EGR, boost, and aftertreatment. Low firing friction was a major engine design objective. Preliminary test results indicated good improvement in brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) over the first generation GDCI engines, while meeting targets for engine out emissions, combustion noise and stability.

A 1.8L Gasoline Direct Injection Compression Ignition (GDCI) engine was tested over a wide range of engine speeds and loads using RON91 gasoline. The engine was operated with a new partially premixed combustion process without combustion mode switching. Injection parameters were used to control mixture stratification and combustion phasing using a multiple-late injection strategy with GDi-like injection pressures. At idle and low loads, rebreathing of hot exhaust gases provided stable compression ignition with very low engine-out NOx and PM emissions. Rebreathing enabled reduced boost pressure, while increasing exhaust temperatures greatly. Hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emissions after the oxidation catalyst were very low. Brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) of 267 g/kWh was measured at the 2000 rpm-2bar BMEP global test point.

The progressive trend towards the GDi engine downsizing, the focus on better fuel efficiency and performance, and the regulatory requirements with respect to the combustion emissions have brought the focus of attention on strategies for improvement of in-cylinder mixture preparation and identification and elimination of the sources of combustion emissions, in particular the in-cylinder particulate formation. This paper discusses the fuel system components, injector dynamics, spray characteristics and the single cylinder engine combustion investigation of a 40 [MPa] capable conventional GDi inwardly-opening multi-hole fuel injection system. It provides results of a study of the influence of fuel system pressure increase between 5 [MPa] to 40 [MPa], in conjunction with the injector static flow and spray pattern, on the combustion characteristics, specifically the particulate and gaseous emissions and the fuel economy.

In previous work, Gasoline Direct Injection Compression Ignition (GDCI) has demonstrated good potential for high fuel efficiency, low NOx, and low PM over the speed-load range using RON91 gasoline. In the current work, a four-cylinder, 1.8L engine was designed and built based on extensive simulations and single-cylinder engine tests. The engine features a pent roof combustion chamber, central-mounted injector, 15:1 compression ratio, and zero swirl and squish. A new piston was developed and matched with the injection system. The fuel injection, valvetrain, and boost systems were key technology enablers. Engine dynamometer tests were conducted at idle, part-load, and full-load operating conditions. For all operating conditions, the engine was operated with partially premixed compression ignition without mode switching or diffusion controlled combustion.

Development of in-cylinder spray targeting, plume penetration and atomization of the gasoline direct-injection (GDi) multi-hole injector is a critical component of combustion developments, especially in the context of the engine downsizing and turbo-charging trend that has been adopted in order to achieve the European target CO2, US CAFE, and concomitant stringent emissions standards. Significant R&D efforts are directed towards the optimization of injector nozzle designs in order to improve spray characteristics. Development of accurate predictive models is desired to understand the impact of nozzle design parameters as well as the underlying physical fluid dynamic mechanisms resulting in the injector spray characteristics. This publication reports Large Eddy Simulation (LES) analyses of GDi single-hole skew-angled nozzles, with β=30° skew (bend) angle and different nozzle geometries.

Natural gas has been considered to be one of the most promising alternative fuels due to its lower NOx and soot emissions, less carbon footprint as well as attractive price. Furthermore, higher octane number makes it suitable for high compression ratio application compared with other gaseous fuels. For better economical and lower emissions, a turbocharged, four strokes, direct injection, high pressure common rail diesel engine has been converted into a diesel/natural gas dual-fuel engine. For dual-fuel engine operation, natural gas as the main fuel is sequentially injected into intake manifold, and a very small amount of diesel is directly injected into cylinder as the ignition source. In this paper, a dual-fuel electronic control unit (ECU) based on the PowerPC 32-bit microprocessor was developed. It cooperates with the original diesel ECU to control the fuel injection of the diesel/natural gas dual-fuel engine.

Measurements of ignition behavior, homogeneous reactor simulations employing detailed kinetics, and quantitative in-cylinder imaging of fuel-air distributions are used to delineate the impact of temperature, dilution, pilot injection mass, and injection pressure on the pilot ignition process. For dilute, low-temperature conditions characterized by a lengthy ignition delay, pilot ignition is impeded by the formation of excessively lean mixture. Under these conditions, smaller pilot mass or higher injection pressures further lengthen the pilot ignition delay. Similarly, excessively rich mixtures formed under relatively short ignition delay conditions typical of conventional diesel combustion will also prolong the ignition delay. In this latter case, smaller pilot mass or higher injection pressures will shorten the ignition delay. The minimum charge temperature required to effect a robust pilot ignition event is strongly dependent on charge O2 concentration.

This paper describes a computer simulation of Diesel spray formation and the locations of self-ignition nuclei. The spray is divided into small elementary volumes in which the amounts of fuel and fuel vapours, air, mean, maximum and minimum fuel droplet diameter are calculated, as well as their number. The total air-fuel and air-fuel vapour ratios are calculated for each elementary volume. The paper introduces a new criterion for determining self-ignition nuclei, based on assumptions that the strongest self-ignition probability lies in those elementary volumes containing the stoichiometric air ratio, where the fuel is evaporated or the fuel droplet diameter is equal to or lower than 0.0065 mm. The most efficient combustion in regard to consumption and emission will be in those elementary volumes containing stoichiometric air ratio, and fuel droplets with the lowest mean diameters. Measurements of injection and combustion were carried out in a transparent research engine.

The influence of fuel composition on sprays was studied in an injection chamber at DISI conditions with late injection timing. Fuels with high, mid and low volatility (n-hexane, n-heptane, n-decane) and a 3-component mixture with similar fuel properties like gasoline were investigated. The injection conditions were chosen to model suppressed or rapid evaporation. Mie scattering imaging and phase Doppler anemometry were used to investigate the liquid spray structure. A spray model was set up applying the CFD-Code OpenFOAM. The atomization was found to be different for n-decane that showed a smaller average droplet size due to viscosity dependence of injected mass. And for evaporating conditions, a stratification of the vapor components in the 3-component fuel spray was observed.

Multi-hole DI injectors are being adopted in the advanced downsized DISI ICE powertrain in the automotive industry worldwide because of their robustness and cost-performance. Although their injector design and spray resembles those of DI diesel injectors, there are many basic but distinct differences due to different injection pressure and fuel properties, the sac design, lower L/D aspect ratios in the nozzle hole, closer spray-to-spray angle and hense interactions. This paper used Phase-Contrast X ray techniques to visualize the spray near a 3-hole DI gasoline research model injector exit and compared to the visible light visualization and the internal flow predictions using with multi-dimensional multi-phase CFD simulations. The results show that strong interactions of the vortex strings, cavitation, and turbulence in and near the nozzles make the multi-phase turbulent flow very complicated and dominate the near nozzle breakup mechanisms quite unlike those of diesel injections.

Advanced valvetrain coupled with Direct Injection (DI) provides an opportunity to simultaneous reduction of fuel consumption and emissions. Because of their robustness and cost performance, multi-hole injectors are being adopted as gasoline DI fuel injectors. Ethanol and ethanol-gasoline blends synergistically improve the performance of a turbo-charged DI gasoline engine, especially in down-sized, down-sped and variable-valvetrain engine architecture. This paper presents Mie-scattering spray imaging results taken with an Optical Accessible Engine (OAE). OAE offers dynamic and realistic in-cylinder charge motion with direct imaging capability, and the interaction with the ethanol spray with the intake air is studied. Two types of cams which are designed for Early Intake Valve Close (EIVC) and Later Intake Valve Close (LIVC) are tested, and the effect of variable valve profile and deactivation of one of the intake valves are discussed.

Flexible and multiple injections are an important strategy to fulfill today's exhaust emission regulations. To optimize injection processes with an increasing number of adjustable parameters knowledge about the basic mechanisms of spray breakup, propagation, evaporation and ignition is mandatory. In the present investigation the focus is set on spray formation and ignition. In order to simulate current diesel-engine conditions measurements were carried out in a high-temperature (1000 K) and high-pressure (10 MPa) vessel with optical accesses. A piezo servo-hydraulic injector pressurized up to 200 MPa was used to compare four single injection durations and four multi-injection patterns in the ignition phase. All measurements were performed with CEC RF-03-06, a legislative reference fuel. For the spray measurements, a program of 16 to 18 different operating points was chosen to simulate engine conditions from cold start to full load.

Advances in engine technology including Gasoline Direct injection (GDi), Dual Independent Cam Phasing (DICP), advanced valvetrain and boosting have allowed the simultaneous reductions of fuel consumption and emissions with increased engine power density. The utilization of fuels containing ethanol provides additional improvements in power density and potential for lower emissions due to the high octane rating and evaporative cooling of ethanol in the fuel. In this paper results are presented from a flexible fuel engine capable of operating with blends from E0-E85. The increased geometric compression ratio, (from 9.2 to 11.85) can be reduced to a lower effective compression ratio using advanced valvetrain operating on an Early Intake Valve Closing (EIVC) or Late Intake Valve Closing (LIVC) strategy. DICP with a high authority intake phaser is used to enable compression ratio management.

Requirements for reduced fuel consumption with simultaneous reductions in regulated emissions require more efficient operation of Spark Ignited (SI) engines. An advanced valvetrain coupled with Gasoline Direct injection (GDi) provide an opportunity to simultaneously reduce fuel consumption and emissions. Work on a flex fuel GDi engine has identified significant potential to reduce throttling by using Early Intake Valve Closing (EIVC) and Late Intake Valve Closing (LIVC) strategies to control knock and load. High loads were problematic when operating on gasoline for particulate emissions, and low loads were not able to fully minimize throttling due to poor charge motion for the EIVC strategy. The use of valve deactivation was successful at reducing high load particulate emissions without a significant airflow penalty below 3000 RPM. Valve deactivation did increase the knocking tendency for knock limited fuels, due to increased heat transfer that increased charge temperature.

Because of their robustness and cost performance, multi-hole gasoline injectors are being adopted as the direct injection (DI) fuel injector of choice as vehicle manufacturers look for ways to reduce fuel consumption without sacrificing power and emission performance. To realize the full benefits of direct injection, the resulting spray needs to be well targeted, atomized, and appropriately mixed with charge air for the desirable fuel vapor concentration distributions in the combustion chamber. Ethanol and ethanol-gasoline blends synergistically improve the turbo-charged DI gasoline performance, especially in down-sized, down-sped and variable-valve-train engine architecture. This paper presents the spray imaging results from two multi-hole DI gasoline injectors with different design, fueled with pure ethanol (E100) or gasoline (E0), under homogeneous and stratified-charge conditions that represent typical engine operating points.

Operation of flex fuel vehicles requires operation with a range of fuel properties. The significant differences in the heat of vaporization and energy density of E0-E100 fuels and the effect on spray development need to be fully comprehended when developing engine control strategies. Limited enthalpy for fuel vaporization needs to be accounted for when developing injection strategies for cold start, homogeneous and stratified operation. Spray imaging of multi-hole gasoline injectors with fuels ranging from E0 to E100 and environmental conditions that represent engine operating points from ambient cold start to hot conditions was performed in a spray chamber. Schlieren visualization technique was used to characterize the sprays and the results were compared with Laser Mie scattering and Back-lighting technique. Open chamber experiments were utilized to provide input and validation of a CFD model.