Search Results

Ammonia/urea-SCR is a mature technology, applied worldwide for the control of NOx emissions in combustion exhausts from thermal power plants, cogeneration units, incinerators and stationary diesel engines and more recently also from mobile sources. However a greater DeNOx activity at low temperatures is desired in order to meet more and more restrictive legislations. In this paper we report transient and steady state data collected over commercial Fe-ZSM-5 and V₂O₅-WO₃/TiO₂ catalysts showing high NOx reduction efficiencies in the 200 - 350°C T-range when NO and ammonia react with nitrates, e.g., in the form of an aqueous solution of ammonium nitrate. Under such conditions a new reaction occurs, the so-called "Enhanced SCR" reaction, 2 NH₃ + 2 NO + NH₄NO₃ → 3 N₂ + 5 H₂O.

Fuel lean combustion and exhaust gas dilution are known to increase the thermal efficiency and reduce NOx emissions. In this study, experiments are performed to understand the effect of equivalence ratio on flame kernel formation and flame propagation around the spark plug for different low turbulent velocities. A series of experiments are carried out for propane-air mixtures to simulate engine-like conditions. For these experiments, equivalence ratios of 0.7 and 0.9 are tested with 20 percent mass-based exhaust gas recirculation (EGR). Turbulence is generated by a shrouded fan design in the vicinity of J-spark plug. A closed loop feedback control system is used for the fan to generate a consistent flow field. The flow profile is characterized by using Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) technique. High-speed Schlieren visualization is used for the spark formation and flame propagation.

Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) systems are nowadays widely applied for the reduction of NOx emitted from Diesel engines. The typical process is based on the injection of aqueous urea in the exhaust gases before the SCR catalyst, which determines the production of the ammonia needed for the catalytic reduction of NOx. However, this technology is affected by two main limitations: a) the evaporation of the urea water solution (UWS) requires a sufficiently high temperature of the exhaust gases and b) the formation of solid deposits during the UWS evaporation is a frequent phenomenon which compromise the correct operation of the system. In this context, to overcome these issues, a technology based on the injection of gaseous ammonia has been recently proposed: in this case, ammonia is stored at the solid state in a cartridge containing a Strontium Chloride salt and it is desorbed by means of electrical heating.

A computational, three-dimensional approach to investigate the behavior of diesel soot particles in the micro-channels of wall-flow Diesel Particulate Filters is presented. The KIVA3V CFD code, already extended to solve the 2D conservation equations for porous media materials [1], has been enhanced to solve in 2-D and 3-D the governing equations for reacting and compressible flows through porous media in non axes-symmetric geometries. With respect to previous work [1], a different mathematical approach has been followed in the implementation of the numerical solver for porous media, in order to achieve a faster convergency as source terms were added to the governing equations. The Darcy pressure drop has been included in the Navier-Stokes equations and the energy equation has been extended to account for the thermal exchange between the gas flow and the porous wall.

Transient and steady-state kinetic data are herein presented to analyze the inhibiting effect of ammonia on the NH₃-SCR of NO at low temperatures over a Fe-zeolite commercial catalyst for vehicles. It is shown that in SCR converter models a rate expression accounting for NH₃ inhibition of the Standard SCR reaction is needed in order to predict the specific dynamics observed both in lab-scale and in engine test bench runs upon switching on and off the ammonia feed. Two redox, dual site kinetic models are developed which ascribe such inhibition to the spill-over of ammonia from its adsorption sites, associated with the zeolite, to the redox sites, associated with the Fe promoter. Better agreement both with lab-scale intrinsic kinetic runs and with engine test-bench data, particularly during transients associated with dosing of ammonia to the SCR catalyst, is obtained assuming slow migration of NH₃ between the two sites.

In the last decades the continuously tightening limitations on pollutant emissions has led to an extensive adoption of after-treatment devices on the exhaust systems of modern internal combustion engines. While these devices are primarily introduced for reducing and controlling the emissions, they also play an important role influencing the wave motion inside the exhaust system and so affecting the acoustics and the performances of the engine. In this paper a novel approach is proposed for the modeling of two after-treatment devices: the catalyst and the Diesel Particulate Filter. The models are based on a fast quasi-3D approach, named 3Dcell, originally developed by the authors for the acoustic modeling of silencers. This approach allows to model the wave motion by solving the momentum equation along the three directions.

Modern diesel vehicles utilize two technologies, one fuel based and one hardware based, that have been motivated by recent European legislation: diesel fuel blends containing Fatty Acid Methyl Esters (FAME) and Diesel Particulate Filters (DPF). Oxygenates, like FAME, are known to reduce PM formation in the combustion chamber and reduce the amount of soot that must be filtered from the engine exhaust by the DPF. This effect is also expected to lengthen the time between DPF regenerations and reduce the fuel consumption penalty that is associated with soot loading and regeneration. This study investigated the effect of FAME content, up to 50% v/v (B50), in diesel fuel on the DPF regeneration frequency by repeatedly running a Euro 5 multi-cylinder bench engine over the European regulatory cycle (NEDC) until a specified soot loading limit had been reached.

Due to the increasing pressure to develop small-size and low-cost after-treatment systems meeting the legislative demands it is desirable to integrate multiple functionalities and exploit any possible synergies. Typical examples include DPFs catalyzed with deNOx catalysts, as well as LNT-SCR combinations using layered coating technology. The present paper deals with the modeling challenges involved for the proper simulation of such advanced concepts. Key role in such advanced simulation attempts has the coupling between diffusion-reaction phenomena, which is captured through intra-layer modeling. All investigations in this paper deal with the application of possible combined LNT-SCR system configurations. The simulation results show that a dual bed LNT- passive SCR configuration offers substantial NOx emissions reductions compared to a single LNT catalyst and effectively controls secondary NH3 emissions produced during LNT regeneration phases.

A new fast and efficient parallel numerical solver for reacting and compressible flows through porous media has been developed in the OpenFOAM® (Open Field Operation and Manipulation) CFD Toolbox. With respect to the macroscopic model for porous media originally available in OpenFOAM®, a different mathematical approach has been followed: the new implemented solver makes use of the physical normal components resulting from the velocity expansion in the unit orthogonal vector basis to compute the Darcy pressure drop across the porous medium. Also, an additional sink term to account for the increased flow friction over the porous wall has been included into the momentum equation. In the new solver, the pressure correction equation is still able to achieve a faster convergency at very low permeability of the medium, also when it is associated with grid non-orthogonality.

The purpose of the European « SPACE LIGHT » (Whole SPACE combustion for LIGHT duty diesel vehicles) 3-year project launched in 2001 is to research and develop an innovative Homogeneous internal mixture Charged Compression Ignition (HCCI) for passenger cars diesel engine where the combustion process can take place simultaneously in the whole SPACE of the combustion chamber while providing almost no NOx and particulates emissions. This paper presents the whole project with the main R&D tasks necessary to comply with the industrial and technical objectives of the project. The research approach adopted is briefly described. It is then followed by a detailed description of the most recent progress achieved during the tasks recently undertaken. The methodology adopted starts from the research study of the in-cylinder combustion specifications necessary to achieve HCCI combustion from experimental single cylinder engines testing in premixed charged conditions.

This paper presents a study of the transient behaviour of the turbocharged engine equipped with a diesel particulate trap. The trap is considered to be placed before the turbine, to fully exploit the high regeneration potential of the turbocharged engine. This necessitates some design changes to the exhaust system in front of the turbine, in order to keep a good turbocharger response. The fast temperature response of a light-weight exhaust manifold, partially offsets the effect of the trap thermal inertia. However, the turbocharger lag may deteriorate in some cases, due to the significant modifications produced by the trap dead volume on the pulse turbocharging system operation. This effect varies with trap size and mean pressure drop, and it could necessitate a new turbocharger matching.

Certain diesel fuel specification properties are considered to be environmental parameters according to the European Fuels Quality Directive (FQD, 2009/EC/30) and previous regulations. These limits included in the EN 590 specification were derived from the European Programme on Emissions, Fuels and Engine Technologies (EPEFE) which was carried out in the 1990’s on diesel vehicles meeting Euro 2 emissions standards. These limits could potentially constrain FAME blending levels higher than 7% v/v. In addition, no significant work has been conducted since to investigate whether relaxing these limits would give rise to performance or emissions debits or fuel consumption benefits in more modern vehicles. The objective of this test programme was to evaluate the impact of specific diesel properties on emissions and fuel consumption in Euro 4, Euro 5 and Euro 6 light-duty diesel vehicle technologies.

The development of thermally durable zeolite NH3/Urea-SCR formulations coupled with that of high porosity filters substrates has opened the way to integrate PM and NOx control into a single device, namely an SCR-coated Diesel Particulate Filter (SCRF). A few experimental works are already present in the literature regarding SCRF systems, mainly addressing the DeNOx performances of the system (in both presence and absence of soot) under both steady state and transient conditions. The purpose of the present work is to perform a simulation study focused on phenomena which are expected to play key roles in SCRF systems, such as coupling of reaction and diffusion phenomena, soot effect on DeNOx activity, SCR coating effect on soot regeneration and filtration efficiency and competition between soot oxidation and DeNOx processes involving NO2.

Partially premixed compression ignition combustion is one of the low temperature combustion techniques which is being actively investigated. This approach provides a significant reduction of both soot and NOx emissions. Comparing to the homogeneous charge compression ignition mode, PPCI combustion provides better control on ignition timing and noise reduction through air-fuel mixture stratification which lowers heat release rate compared to other advanced combustion modes. In this work, CFD simulations were conducted for a low and a high air-fuel mixture stratification cases on a light-duty optical engine operating in PPCI mode. Such conditions for PRF70 as fuel were experimentally achieved by injection timing and spray targeting at similar thermodynamic conditions.

In this paper, computation fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations are employed to describe the effect of flow parameters on the formation of soot and NOx in a heavy duty engine under low load and high load. The complexity of diesel combustion, specially when soot, NOx and other emissions are of interest, requires using a detailed chemical mechanism to have a correct estimation of temperature and species distribution. In this work, Multiple Representative Interactive Flamelets (MRIF) method is employed to describe the chemical reactions, ignition, flame propagation and emissions in the engine. A phenomenological model for soot formation, including soot nucleation, coagulation and oxidation with O2 and OH is incorporated into the flamelet combustion model. Different strategies for modelling NOx are chosen to take into account the longer time scale for NOx formation. The numerical results are compared with experimental data to show the validity of the model for the cases under study.

The paper illustrates and validates a novel predictive combustion model for the estimation of performances and pollutant production in CI engines. The numerical methodology was developed by the authors for near real-time applications, while aiming at an accurate description of the air mixing process by means of a multi-zone approach of the air-fuel mass. Charge stratification is estimated via a 2D representation of the fuel spray distribution that is numerically derived by an axial one-dimensional control-volume description of the direct injection. The radial coordinate of each control volume is reconstructed a posteriori by means of a local distribution function. Fuel mass clustered in each zone is further split in ‘liquid’, ‘unburnt’ and ‘burnt’ sub-zones, given the local properties of the fuel spray control volumes with respect to space-time location of modelled ignition delay, liquid length, and flame lift-off.

The purpose of the ELEVATE (European Low Emission V4 Automotive Two-stroke Engine) industrial research project is to develop a small, compact, light weight, high torque and highly efficient clean gasoline 2-stroke engine of 120 kW which could industrially replace the relatively big existing automotive spark ignition or diesel 4-stroke engine used in the top of the mid size or in the large size vehicles, including the minivan vehicles used for multi people and family transportation. This new gasoline direct injection engine concept is based on the combined implementation on a 4-stroke bottom end of several 2-stroke engine innovative technologies such as the IAPAC compressed air assisted direct fuel injection, the CAI (Controlled Auto-Ignition) combustion process, the D2SC (Dual Delivery Screw SuperCharger) for both low pressure engine scavenging and higher pressure IAPAC air assisted DI and the ETV (Exhaust charge Trapping Valve).

Oxygen enriched air (EA) is a well known industrial mixture in which the content of oxygen is higher respect the atmospheric one, in the range 22-35%. Oxygen EA can be obtained by desorption from water, taking advantage of the higher oxygen solubility in water compared to the nitrogen one, since the Henry constants of this two gases are different. The production of EA by this new approach was already studied by experimental runs and theoretical considerations. New results using salt water are reported. EA promoted combustion is considered as one of the most interesting technologies to improve the performance in diesel engines and to simultaneously control and reduce pollution. This paper explores, by means of 3-dimensional computational fluid dynamics simulations, the effects of EA on the performance and exhaust emissions of a high-speed direct-injection diesel engine.

Especially in view of more and more stringent emission legislation in passenger cars it is required to reduce the amount of pollutants. In the case of Diesel engines mainly NOx and PM are emitted during engine operation. The main influence factors for these pollutants are the in-cylinder oxygen concentration and the injected fuel amount. Typically the engine control task can be divided into two separate main parts, the fuel and the air system. Commonly air system control, consisting of a turbocharger and exhaust gas recirculation control, is used to provide the required amount of oxygen and address the emission targets, whereas the fuel is used to provide the desired torque. Especially in transient maneuvers the different time scales of both systems can lead to emission peaks which are not desired. Against this background in this work instead of the common way to address the air system, the fuel system is considered to reduce emission peaks during transients.

Emissions from motor vehicles are known to be the major contributor of air pollution. Pollutants that are commonly concerned and regulated for petrol engines are Hydrocarbons, Carbon Monoxide, Nitrogen Oxides and Particulate Matter. One of the most important factor that vary these pollutants is the engine operating condition such as cold start, low engine loads and high engine loads which are found during actual driving. In actual driving conditions, particularly in urban areas, vehicles regularly travel at idle, low or medium speeds which signify the engine part load operations. Thus urban driving carries a crucial weight on the overall vehicle fuel economy. Understanding the implications of urban driving conditions on fuel economy will allow for strategic application of key technologies such as cylinder deactivation in the efforts towards better efficiency.