Search Results

Heavy-duty diesel engines are used in a wide range of applications. For varying operating environments, the engine and aftertreatment system must comply with the real-world emission legislation limits. Simultaneously, minimal fuel consumption and good drivability are crucial for economic competitiveness and usability. Meeting these requirements takes substantial development and calibration effort, and complying with regulations results in a trade-off between emissions and fuel consumption. TNO's Integrated Emission Management (IEM) strategy finds online, the cost-optimal point in this trade-off and is able to deal with variations in operating conditions, while complying with legislation limits. Based on the actual state of the engine and aftertreatment system, an optimal engine operating point is computed using a model-based optimal-control algorithm.

This paper focusses on the application of bioalcohols (ethanol and butanol) derived from seaweed in Heavy-Duty (HD) Compression Ignition (CI) combustion engines. Seaweed-based fuels do not claim land and are not in competition with the food chain. Currently, the application of high octane bioalcohols is limited to Spark Ignition (SI) engines. The Reactivity Controlled Compression Ignition (RCCI) combustion concept allows the use of these low carbon fuels in CI engines which have higher efficiencies associated with them than SI engines. This contributes to the reduction of tailpipe CO2 emissions as required by (future) legislation and reducing fuel consumption, i.e. Total-Cost-of-Ownership (TCO). Furthermore, it opens the HD transport market for these low carbon bioalcohol fuels from a novel sustainable biomass source. In this paper, both the production of seaweed-based fuels and the application of these fuels in CI engines is discussed.

This paper presents a cylinder pressure-based control (CPBC) system for conventional diesel combustion with high EGR levels. Besides the commonly applied heat release estimation, the CPBC system is extended with a new virtual NOx and PM sensor. Using available cylinder pressure information, these emissions are estimated using a physically based combustion model. This opens the route to advanced On-Board Diagnostics and to optimized fuel consumption and emissions during all operating conditions. The potential of closed-loop CA50 and IMEP control is demonstrated on a multi-cylinder heavy-duty EGR engine. For uncalibrated injectors and fuel variations, the combustion control system makes the engine performance robust for the applied variations and reduces the need for a time-consuming calibration process. Cylinder balancing is shown to enable auto-calibration of fuel injectors and to enhance fuel flexibility.

Increasing efforts to minimize global warming has led to regulation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of automotive applications. The US is frontrunner regarding implementation of GHG related legislation with the introduction of GHG phase 1 and phase 2, ultimately targeting a 40% fuel consumption reduction in 2027 compared to 2010 on vehicle level. More specific, engines are required to reduce CO2 emissions by 6% compared to GHG phase 1 levels. Next to the GHG emission legislation, more stringent legislation is anticipated in the US to further reduce NOx emissions: a further 90% reduction is targeted as soon as 2024 compared to 2010 standard. Meeting these anticipated ultra-low NOx standards within the GHG phase 2 constraints on CO2 poses a great challenge. This paper presents an overview of the main challenges and key aspects regarding meeting ultra-low NOx requirements within the constraints on CO2 and N2O set by GHG phase 2 regulations.

Complying to both the increasingly stringent pollutant emissions as well as (future) GHG emission legislation - with increased focus on in-use real-world emissions - puts a great challenge to the engine/aftertreatment control development process. Control system complexity, calibration and validation effort has increased dramatically over the past decade. A trend that is likely to continue considering the next steps in emission and GHG emission legislation. Control-oriented engine models are valuable tools for efficient development of engine monitoring and control systems. Furthermore, these (predictive) engine models are more and more used as part of control algorithms to ensure legislation compliant and optimized performance over the system lifetime. For these engine models, it is essential that simulation and prediction of system variables during non-nominal engine operation, such as non-standard ambient conditions, is well captured.