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A comparative study on engine performance and emissions (NOx, soot) formation has been carried out for the Volvo D12C diesel engine fueled by Rapeseed Methyl Ester, RME and conventional diesel oil. The fuel and combustion models used in this paper are the modifications of those described in [1–3]. The numerical results for different load cases illustrate that for both fuels nearly 100% combustion efficiency was predicted; in the case of RME, the cumulative heat release was compared with the RME LHV, 37.2 kJ/g. To minimize soot and NOx emissions, 25–30% EGR levels depending on the engine loads and different injection timings were analyses. To illustrate the optimal engine performance conditions, a special technique based on the time-transient parametric ϕ-T maps [4] has been used.

When increasing EGR from low levels to a level that corresponds to low temperature combustion, soot emissions initially increase due to lower soot oxidation before decreasing to almost zero due to very low soot formation. At the EGR level where soot emissions start to increase, the NOx emissions are low, but not sufficiently low to comply with future emission standards and at the EGR level where low temperature combustion occurs CO and HC emissions are too high. The purpose of this study was to investigate the possibilities for shifting the so-called soot bump (where soot levels are increased) to higher EGR levels, or to reduce the magnitude of the soot bump using very high injection pressures (up to 240 MPa) while reducing the NOx emissions using EGR. The possibility of reducing the CO and HC emissions at high EGR levels due to the increased mixing caused by higher injection pressure was also investigated and the flame was visualized using an endoscope at chosen EGR values.

Gasoline turbocharged direct injection (GTDI) engines, such as EcoBoost™ from Ford, are becoming established as a high value technology solution to improve passenger car and light truck fuel economy. Due to their high specific performance and excellent low-speed torque, improved fuel economy can be realized due to downsizing and downspeeding without sacrificing performance and driveability while meeting the most stringent future emissions standards with an inexpensive three-way catalyst. A logical and synergistic extension of the EcoBoost™ strategy is the use of E85 (approximately 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline) for knock mitigation. Direct injection of E85 is very effective in suppressing knock due to ethanol's high heat of vaporization - which increases the charge cooling benefit of direct injection - and inherently high octane rating. As a result, higher boost levels can be achieved while maintaining optimal combustion phasing giving high thermal efficiency.

The regulations for mobile applications will become stricter in Euro 6 and further emission levels and require the use of active aftertreatment methods for NOX and particulate matter. SCR and LNT have been both used commercially for mobile NOX removal. An alternative system is based on the combination of these two technologies. Developments of catalysts and whole systems as well as final vehicle demonstrations are discussed in this study. The small and full-size catalyst development experiments resulted in PtRh/LNT with optimized noble metal loadings and Cu-SCR catalyst having a high durability and ammonia adsorption capacity. For this study, an aftertreatment system consisting of LNT plus exhaust bypass, passive SCR and engine independent reductant supply by on-board exhaust fuel reforming was developed and investigated. The concept definition considers NOX conversion, CO2 drawback and system complexity.

The high-pressure isobaric combustion has been proposed as the most suitable combustion mode for the double compre4ssion expansion engine (DCEE) concept. Previous experimental and simulation studies have demonstrated an improved efficiency compared to the conventional diesel combustion (CDC) engine. In the current study, isobaric combustion was achieved using a single injector with multiple injections. Since this concept involves complex phenomena such as spray to spray interactions, the computational models were extensively validated against the optical engine experiment data, to ensure high-fidelity simulations. The considered optical diagnostic techniques are Mie-scattering, fuel tracer planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF), and natural flame luminosity imaging. Overall, a good agreement between the numerical and experimental results was obtained.

To avoid frequent regeneration intervals leading to expeditious ageing of the catalyst and substantial fuel penalty for the owner, it is always desired to estimate the soot coming from diesel exhaust emission, the soot accumulated and burnt in the Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF). Certain applications and vehicle duty cycles cannot make use of the differential pressure sensor for estimating the soot loading in the DPF because of the limitations of the sensor tolerance and measurement accuracy. The physical soot model is always active and hence a precise and more accurate model is preferred to calibrate & optimize the regeneration interval. This paper presents the approach to estimate the engine-out soot and the accumulated soot in the DPF using a graphical calculation tool (AVL Concerto CalcGraf™).

To characterize the effects of renewable fuels on particulate emissions from GDI engines, engine experiments were conducted using EN228-compliant gasoline fuel blends containing no oxygenates, 10% ethanol (EtOH), or 22% ethyl tert-butyl ether (ETBE). The experiments were conducted in a single cylinder GDI engine using a 6-hole fuel injector operated at 200 bar injection pressure. Both PN in raw exhaust and solid PN (SPN) were measured at two load points and various start of injection (SOI) timings. Raw PN and SPN results were classified into various size ranges, corresponding to current and future legislations. At early SOI timings, where particulate formation is dominated by diffusion flames on the piston due to liquid film, the oxygenated blends yielded dramatically higher PN and SPN emissions than reference gasoline because of fuel effects.

Emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) from heavy-duty diesel engines are subject to more stringent environmental legislation. Selective catalytic reduction (SCR) over metal ion-exchanged zeolites is in this connection an efficient method to reduce NOx. Understanding durability of the SCR catalyst is crucial for correct design of the aftertreatment system. In the present paper, thermal and chemical ageing of Fe-BEA as NH3-SCR catalyst is studied. Experimental results of hydrothermal ageing, and chemical ageing due to phosphorous and potassium exposure are presented. The catalyst is characterized by flow reactor experiments, nitrogen physisorption, DRIFTS, XRD, and XPS. Based on the experimental results, a multisite kinetic model is developed to describe the activity of the fresh Fe-BEA catalyst.

This paper describes the development of a 0-D-sulfur poisoning model for a NOx storage catalyst (NSC). The model was developed and calibrated using findings and data obtained from a passenger car diesel engine used on testbed. Based on an empirical approach, the developed model is able to predict not only the lower sulfur adsorption with increasing temperature and therefore the higher SOx (SO2 and SO3) slip after NSC, but also the sulfur saturation with increasing sulfur loading, resulting in a decrease of the sulfur adsorption rate with ongoing sulfation. Furthermore, the 0-D sulfur poisoning model was integrated into an existing 1-D NOx storage catalyst kinetic model. The combination of the two models results in an “EAS Model” (exhaust aftertreatment system) able to predict the deterioration of NOx-storage in a NSC with increasing sulfation level, exhibiting higher NOx-emissions after the NSC once it is poisoned.

The current trend toward more fuel efficient vehicles with lower emission levels has prompted development of new combustion techniques for use in gasoline engines. Stratified combustion has been shown to be a promising approach for increasing the fuel efficiency. However, this technique is hampered by drawbacks such as increased particulate and standard emissions. This study attempts to address the issues of increased emission levels by investigating the influence of high frequency ionizing ignition systems, 350 bar fuel injection pressure and various tumble levels on particulate emissions and combustion characteristics in an optical SGDI engine operated in stratified mode on isooctane. Tests were performed at one engine load of 2.63 bar BMEP and speed of 1200 rpm. Combustion was recorded with two high speed color cameras from bottom and side views using optical filters for OH and soot luminescence.

Fuel injection is a key process influencing the performance of Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI) Engines. Injecting fuel at elevated temperature can initiate flash boiling which can lead to faster breakup, reduced penetration, and increased spray-cone angle. Thus, it impacts engine efficiency in terms of combustion quality, CO2, NOx and soot emission levels. This research deals with modelling of flash boiling processes occurring in gasoline fuel injectors. The flashing mass transfer rate is modelled by the advanced Hertz-Knudsen model considering the deviation from the thermodynamic-equilibrium conditions. The effect of nucleation-site density and its variation with degree of superheat is studied. The model is validated against benchmark test cases and a substantiated comparison with experiment is achieved.

Future pressures to reduce the fuel consumption of passenger cars may require the exploitation of alternative combustion strategies for gasoline engines to replace, or use in combination with the conventional stoichiometric spark ignition (SSI) strategy. Possible options include homogeneous lean charge spark ignition (HLCSI), stratified charge spark ignition (SCSI) and homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI), all of which are intended to reduce pumping and thermal losses. In the work presented here four different combustion strategies were evaluated using the same engine: SSI, HLCSI, SCSI and HCCI. HLCSI was achieved by early injection and operating the engine lean, close to its stability limits. SCSI was achieved using the spray-guided technique with a centrally placed multi-hole injector and spark-plug. HCCI was achieved using a negative valve overlap to trap hot residuals and thus generate auto-ignition temperatures at the end of the compression stroke.

In relation to further tightening of the emissions legislation for on-road heavy duty Diesel engines, the future potential of cooled exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) as a result of developments in the cooling systems of such engines has been evaluated. Four basic engine concepts were investigated: an engine with SCR exhaust gas aftertreatment for control of the nitrogen oxides (NOx), an engine with cooled EGR and particulate (PM) filtration, an engine with low pressure EGR and PM filtration and an engine with two stage low temperature cooled EGR also with a particulate filter. A 10.5 litre engine was calibrated and tested under conditions representative for each concept, such that 1.7 g/kWh (1.3 g/bhp-hr) NOx could be achieved over the ESC and ETC. This corresponds to emissions 15% below the Euro 5 legislation level.

The world of automotive engineering shows a clear direction for upcoming development trends. Stringent fleet average fuel consumption targets and CO2 penalties as well as rising fuel prices and the consumer demand to lower operating costs increases the engineering efforts to optimize fuel economy. Passenger car engines have the benefit of higher degree of technology which can be utilized to reach the challenging targets. Variable valve timing, downsizing and turbo charging, direct gasoline injection, highly sophisticated operating strategies and even more electrification are already common technologies in the automotive industry but can not be directly carried over into a motorcycle application. The major differences like very small packaging space, higher rated speeds, higher power density in combination with lower production numbers and product costs do not allow implementation such high of degree of advanced technology into small-engine applications.

Recently, a particle number (PN) limit was introduced in the European light-duty vehicles legislation. The legislation requires measurement of PN, and particulate mass (PM), from the full dilution tunnel with constant volume sampling (CVS). Furthermore, PN measurements will be introduced in the next stage of the European Heavy-Duty regulation. Heavy-duty engine certification can be done either from the CVS or from a partial flow dilution system (PFDS). For research and development purposes, though, measurements are often conducted from the raw exhaust, thereby avoiding the high installation costs of CVS and PFDS. Although for legislative measurements requirements exist regarding sampling and transport of the aerosol sample, such requirements do not necessarily apply for raw exhaust measurements. Thus, measurement differences are often observed depending on where in the experimental set up sampling occurs.

Particulate emissions cause adverse health effects and for this reason they are regulated since the 80s. Vehicle regulations cover particulate emission measurements of a model before its sale, known as type approval or homologation. For heavy-duty engines the emissions are measured on an engine dynamometer with steady state points and transient cycles. For light-duty vehicles (i.e. the full power train) the particulate emissions are assessed on a chassis dynamometer. The measurement of particulate emissions is conducted either by diluting the whole exhaust in a dilution tunnel with constant volume sampling or by extracting a small proportional part of the exhaust gas and diluting it. Particulate emissions are measured by passing part of the diluted exhaust aerosol through a filter paper. The increase of the weight of the filter is used to calculate the particulate matter mass (PM) emissions.

The particulate emissions of two brake systems were characterized in a dilution tunnel optimized for PM10 measurements. The larger of them employed a fixed caliper (FXC) and the smaller one a floating caliper (FLC). Both used ECE brake pads of the same lining formulation. Measured properties included gravimetric PM2.5 and PM10, Particle Number (PN) concentrations of both untreated and thermally treated (according to exhaust PN regulation) particles using Condensation Particle Counters (CPCs) having 23 and 10 nm cut-off sizes, and an Optical Particle Sizer (OPS). The brakes were tested over a section (trip-10) novel test cycle developed from the database of the Worldwide harmonized Light-Duty vehicles Test Procedure (WLTP). A series of trip-10 tests were performed starting from unconditioned pads, to characterize the evolution of emissions until their stabilization. Selected tests were also performed over a short version of the Los Angeles City Cycle.

In order to investigate the effects of split injection on emission formation and engine performance, experiments were carried out using a heavy duty single cylinder diesel engine. Split injections with varied dwell time and start of injection were investigated and compared with single injection cases. In order to isolate the effect of the selected parameters, other variables were kept constant. In this investigation no EGR was used. The engine was equipped with a common rail injection system with a piezo-electric injector. To interpret the observed phenomena, engine CFD simulations using the KIVA-3V code were also made. The results show that reductions in NOx emissions and brake specific fuel consumption were achieved for short dwell times whereas they both were increased when the dwell time was prolonged. No EGR was used so the soot levels were already very low in the cases of single injections.

Trends towards lower vehicle fuel consumption and smaller environmental impact will increase the share of Diesel hybrids and Diesel Range Extended Vehicles (REV). Because of the Diesel engine presence and the ever tightening soot particle emissions, these vehicles will still require soot particle emissions control systems. Ceramic wall-flow monoliths are currently the key players in the Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) market, offering certain advantages compared to other DPF technologies such as the metal based DPFs. The latter had, in the past, issues with respect to filtration efficiency, available filtration area and, sometimes, their manufacturing cost, the latter factor making them less attractive for most of the conventional Diesel engine powered vehicles. Nevertheless, metal substrate DPFs may find a better position in vehicles like Diesel hybrids and REVs in which high instant power consumption is readily offered enabling electrical filter regeneration.

The optimization of engine NVH is still an important aspect for vehicle interior and exterior noise radiation. To optimize the engine noise / vibration contribution to the vehicle, a complete understanding of the excitation mechanism, the vibration transfer in the engine structure and the radiation efficiency of the individual engine components is required. Concerning the excitation within the engine, a very efficient analysis methodology for the combustion- and mechanical excitation within gasoline and diesel engines has been developed. Out of this methodology a software tool has been designed for a fast, efficient and detailed evaluation of the combustion- and mechanical excitation content of total engine noise. Recently this software tool has been successfully applied in engine NVH optimization work for defining the best optimization strategies for engine NVH reduction and noise quality improvement especially with respect to combustion excitation.