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Synthetic fuels can significantly improve the combustion and emission characteristics of heavy-duty diesel engines toward decarbonizing heavy-duty propulsion systems. This work analyzes the effects of engine operating conditions and synthetic fuel properties on spray, combustion, and emissions (soot, NOx) using a supercharging single-cylinder engine experiment and KIVA-4 code combined with CHEMKIN-II and in-house phenomenological soot model. The blended fuel ratio is fixed at 80% diesel and 20% n-paraffin by volume (hereafter DP). Diesel, DP1 (diesel with n-pentane C5H12), DP2 (diesel with n-hexane C6H14), and DP3 (diesel with n-heptane C7H16) are used in engine-like-condition constant volume chamber (CVC) and engine experiments. Boosted engine experiments (1080 rpm, common-rail injection pressure 160 MPa, multi-pulse injection) are performed using the same DP fuel groups under various main injection timings, pulse-injection intervals, and EGR = 0-40%.

A swirl-chamber diesel engine has an indirect injection system in which fuel is injected into a pre-chamber called the swirl-chamber that is separated from the main chamber. Indirect fuel injection systems can be directly mechanically controlled by the camshaft, which is cheaper than electronic control. For these reasons, they are used in diverse industrial applications and automobiles. However, optimization of the swirl-chamber shape and performance tests have been mainly experimental, and there has been insufficient verification of the accuracy of simulations. Thus, we have attempted to verify simulations using a rapid compression and expansion machine that can reproduce the combustion in one engine cycle, with a chamber like a swirl chamber in the cylinder head to visualize the behavior of evaporative sprays and the combustion process. In this study, the authors focused on the wall impingement of the fuel spray and took photos of its liquid phase and ignition.

Among industrial engines, vortex chamber diesel engines are mainly used in small engines with output of less than 19 kW, and they employ an indirect injection system in which fuel is injected into a sub-chamber called a vortex chamber. The throttle-type nozzle used in swirl-chamber diesel engines is expected to change its spraying behavior depending on ambient conditions because the pressure fluctuations in the nozzle cause the needle valve to lift, and the injection amount is controlled by the amount of lift of the needle valve. In addition, the dimensions of the vortex chamber of a vortex chamber diesel engine are smaller than the spray development distance, and wall impingement of the spray is expected. In this study, spraying and combustion experiments were conducted using a constant volume chamber to understand the behavior of the spray from a throttle-type nozzle.

Soot mass production was investigated in high-boosted diesel engine tests by changing various operating parameters. A mixed timescale subgrid model of large eddy simulation (LES) was applied to simulate the detailed mixture formation, combustion and soot formation influenced by turbulence in diesel engine combustion. The combustion model used a direct integration approach with an explicit ordinary differential equation (ODE) solver and additional parallelization by OpenMP. Soot mass production within a computation cell was determined from a phenomenological soot formation model developed by WASEDA University. The model was combined with the LES code and included the following important steps: particle inception, in which naphthalene was assumed to grow irreversibly to form soot; surface growth with the addition of C2H2; surface oxidation due to OH radicals and O2 attack; particle coagulation; and particle agglomeration.

Performance predictions of advanced turbocharged engines are becoming difficult because conventional engine models are built using performance map data of turbochargers with a proportional integral derivative (PID) controller. Improving prediction capabilities under transient test cycles or real driving conditions is a challenging task. This study applies a machine learning technique to predict turbocharger performances with high accuracy under steady-state and transient conditions. The manipulated signals of engine speed and torque created based on Compressed High-Intensity Radiated Pulse (Chirp signal) and Amplitude-modulated Pseudo-Random Binary Signal (APRBS) are used as inputs to the engine testbed. Data from the engine experiments are used as training data for the AI-based turbocharger model. High prediction accuracy of the AI turbocharger model is achieved with the co-efficient of determination in the model, and cross-validation results are higher than 0.8.

Emission regulations are becoming tighter, and Real Driving Emissions (RDE) is proposed as a testing cycle for evaluating modern engine emissions under a wide operation range. For this reason, engine manufacturers have been developing a method to effectively assess engine performances and emissions under a wide range of transient conditions. Transient engine performances can be evaluated efficiently by applying time-series data created by chirp signals. However, when the time-series data produced by the chirp signal are used directly, the engine hardware may damage, and emission performances deteriorate drastically. It is therefore essential to develop a method to avoid these undesirable operating conditions. This work aims to develop an algorithm to avoid such unrealistic operation conditions for engine performance evaluation. A virtual diesel engine (VDE) model is developed based on a four-cylinder engine using GT-POWER software.

Three-way catalyst (TWC) converters can purify harmful substances, such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and hydrocarbons, from the exhaust gases of gasoline engines. However, large amounts of these substances may be emitted before the TWC reaches its light-off temperature during cold starts, and its performance may be impaired by thermal deterioration during high-load driving. In this work, a simulation model was developed using axisuite commercial software by Exothermia S.A to predict the light-off conversion performance of Pd/CeO2-ZrO2-Al2O3 catalysts with different degrees of thermal deterioration. The model considered detailed surface reactions and the main factor of the deterioration mechanism. In the detailed reaction mechanism, adsorption, desorption, and surface reactions of each gas species at active sites of the platinum group metal (PGM) particles were considered based on the Langmuir-Hinshelwood mechanism.

To identify ways of achieving good mixture formation and heat release in diesel spray combustion, we have performed Large Eddy Simulation (LES) using a detailed chemical reaction mechanism to study the temporal and spatial distribution of the local equivalence ratios and heat release rate. Here we characterize the effect of the fuel injection rate profile on these processes in the combustion chamber of a diesel engine. Two injection rate profiles are considered: a standard (STD) profile, which is a typical modern common rail injection profile, and the inverse delta (IVD) profile, which has the potential to suppress rich mixture formation in the spray tip region. Experimental data indicate that the formation of such mixtures may extend the duration of the late combustion period and thus reduce thermal efficiency.

A mixed timescale subgrid model of a large eddy simulation was used to simulate the turbulence regime in diesel engine combustion. The combustion model used the direct integration approach with a diesel oil surrogate mechanism (developed at Chalmers University of Technology and consisting of 70 species and 309 reactions). Additional reactions for the generation and consumption of OH*, CO2*, and CH* species were added from recent kinetic studies. Collisional quenching and spontaneous emission resulted in de-excitation of the excited state radical. A phenomenological soot formation model (developed at Waseda University) was combined with the LES code. The following important steps were considered in the soot model: particle inception where naphthalene grows irreversibly to form soot, surface growth with the addition of C2H2, surface oxidation (induced by OH radicals and O2 attack), and particle coagulation.

In the conventional approval test method of fuel consumption for heavy-duty diesel vehicles currently in use in Japan, the fuel consumption under the transient test cycle is calculated by integrating the instantaneous fuel consumption rate referred from a look-up table of fuel consumptions measured under the steady state conditions of the engine. Therefore, the transient engine performance is not considered in this conventional method. In this study, a highly accurate test method for fuel consumption in which the map-based fuel consumption rate is corrected using the transient characteristics of individual engines was developed. The method and its applicability for a heavy-duty diesel engine that complied with the Japanese 2009 emission regulation were validated.

A mixed time-scale subgrid large eddy simulation was used to simulate mixture formation, combustion and soot formation under the influence of turbulence during diesel engine combustion. To account for the effects of engine wall heat transfer on combustion, the KIVA code's standard wall model was replaced to accommodate more realistic boundary conditions. This were carried out by implementing the non-isothermal wall model of Angelberger et al. with modifications and incorporating the log law from Pope's method to account for the wall surface roughness. Soot and NOx emissions predicted with the new model are compared to experimental data acquired under various EGR conditions.

Experimental and numerical studies were conducted on diesel particulate filters (DPFs) under different soot loading conditions and DPF configurations. Pressure drops across DPFs with various mean pore diameters loaded with soots having different mean particle diameters were measured by introducing exhaust gases from a 2.2 liter inline four-cylinder, TCI diesel engine designed for use in passenger cars. A mechanistic hypothesis was then proposed to explain the observed trends, accounting for the effects of the soot loading regime in the wall and the soot cake layer on the pressure drop. This hypothesis was used to guide the development and validation of a numerical model for predicting the pressure drop in the DPF. The relationship between the permeability and the porosity of the wall and soot cake layer was modeled under various soot loading conditions.

The reduced chemical reaction scheme which can take the effect of major fuel components on auto ignition timing into account has been developed. This reaction scheme was based on the reduced reaction mechanism for the primary reference fuels (PRF) proposed by Tsurushima [1] with 33 species and 38 reactions. Some pre-exponential factors were modified by using Particle Swarm Optimization to match the ignition delay time versus reciprocal temperature which was calculated by the detailed scheme with 2,301 species and 11,116 elementary chemical reactions. The result using the present reaction scheme shows good agreements with that using the detailed scheme for the effects of EGR, fuel components, and radical species on the ignition timing under homogeneous charge compression ignition combustion (HCCI) conditions.

A three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (3D-CFD) code was combined with a detailed combustion chamber heat transfer model. The established model allowed not only prediction of instantaneous combustion chamber wall surface temperature distributions in practical calculation time but also investigation of the characteristics of combustion, emissions and heat losses affected by the wall temperature distributions. Although zero-dimensional combustion analysis can consider temporal changes in the heat transfer coefficient and in-cylinder gas temperature, it cannot take into account the effect of interactions between spatially distributed charge and wall temperatures. In contrast, 3D-CFD analysis can consider temporal and spatial changes in both parameters. However, in most zero-/multi- dimensional combustion analyses, wall temperatures are assumed to be temporally constant and spatially homogeneous.

The objective of the present research is to analyze the effects of using oxygenated fuels (FAMEs) on diesel engine combustion and emission (NOx and soot). We studied methyl oleate (MO), which is an oxygenated fuel representative of major constituents of many types of biodiesels. Engine tests and numerical simulations were performed for 100% MO (MO100), 40% MO blended with JIS#2 diesel (MO40) and JIS#2 diesel (D100). The effects of MO on diesel combustion and emission characteristics were studied under engine operating conditions typically encountered in passenger car diesel engines, focusing on important parameters such as pilot injection, injection pressure and exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) rate. We used a diesel engine complying with the EURO4 emissions regulation, having a displacement of 2.2 L for passenger car applications. In engine tests comparing MO with diesel fuel, no effect on engine combustion pressure was observed for all conditions tested.

The use of biofuel is essential for the reduction of greenhouse gas emission. This study highlights the use of biodiesel as a means of reducing greenhouse gas emission from the diesel engine of heavy-duty vehicles. Biodiesel is fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) obtained through ester exchange reaction by adding methanol to oil, such as rapeseed oil, soybean oil, palm oil, etc. The CO2 emission from combustion of biodiesel is defined to be equivalent to the CO2 volume absorbed by its raw materials or plants in their course of growth. On the other hand, however, operation of diesel engine with biodiesel is known to increase the NOx emission when compared with that with conventional diesel fuel. Then suppressing this NOx increase is regarded as a critical issue. This paper consists of two parts: comprehending the factors of NOx emission increase and improving this emission performance in a diesel engine fuelled with biodiesel.

N₂O is known to have a significantly high global warming potential. We measured N₂O emissions in engine-bench tests by changing the NO/NH₃ ratio and exhaust gas temperature at the oxidation catalyst inlet in a heavy-duty diesel engine equipped with a urea SCR (selective catalytic reduction) system. The results showed that the peak N₂O production ratio occurred at an exhaust gas temperature of around 200°C and the maximum value was 84%. Moreover, the N₂O production ratio increased with increasing NO/NH₃. Thus, we concluded that N₂O is produced via the NO branching reaction. Based on our results, two methods were proposed to decrease N₂O formation. At low temperatures ~200°C, NO should be reduced by controlling diesel combustion to lower the contribution of NO to N₂O production. This is essential because the SCR system cannot reduce NOx at low temperatures.

The objective of the present research is to investigate the effects on diesel engine combustion and NOx and PM emission characteristics in case of blending the ordinary diesel fuel with biodiesel in passenger car diesel engines. Firstly, we conducted experiments to identify the combustion and emissions characteristics in a modern diesel engine complying with the EURO 4 emission standard. Then, we developed a numerical simulation model to explain and generalize biodiesel combustion phenomena in detail and generalize emission characteristics. The experimental and simulation results are useful to reduce biodiesel emissions by controlling engine operating and design parameters in the diesel engine. Engine tests were conducted and a mathematical model created to investigate the effects of 40% and 100% methyl oleate modeled fuel representing Jatropha-derived biodiesel on diesel combustion and emission characteristics, over a wide range of passenger car DI diesel engine operating conditions.

The use of biofuel is essential for the reduction of greenhouse gas emission. This paper highlights the use of biodiesel as a means of reducing greenhouse gas emission from the diesel engine of heavy-duty vehicles. Biodiesel is fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) obtained through ester exchange reaction by adding methanol to oil, such as rapeseed oil, soybean oil, palm oil, etc. The CO₂ emission from combustion of biodiesel is defined to be equivalent to the CO₂ volume absorbed by its raw materials or plants in their course of growth. On the other hand, however, biodiesel is known to increase the NOx emission when compared with operating with conventional diesel fuel, then suppressing this increase is regarded as a critical issue. This study is intended to identify the fuel properties of biodiesel free from increase in the NOx emission.

Model based control design is an important method for optimizing engine operating conditions so as to simultaneously improve engines' thermal efficiency and emission profiles. Modeling of intake system that includes an intake throttle valve, an EGR valve and a variable geometry turbocharger was constructed based on conservation laws combined with maps. Calculated results were examined the predictive accuracy of fresh charge mass flow, EGR rate and boost pressure.