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The coming Diesel powertrains will remain as key technology in Europe to achieve the stringent 2025 CO2 emission targets. Especially for applications which are unlikely to be powered by pure EV technology like Light Duty vehicles and C/D segment vehicles which require a long driving range this is the case. To cope with these low CO2 targets the amount of electrification e.g. in form of 48V Belt-driven integrated Starter Generator (BSG) systems will increase. On the other hand the efficiency of the Diesel engine will increase which will result in lower exhaust gas temperatures resulting in a challenge to keep the required NOx reduction system efficiencies under Real Drive Emissions (RDE) driving conditions. In order to comply with the RDE legislation down to -7 °C ambient an efficient thermal management is one potential approach. Commonly utilized means to increase exhaust gas temperature are late injection and/or intake throttling, which enable sufficient NOx reduction efficiency.

A methodology for simulating effect of international variations in fuel compositions on spray combustion is proposed. The methodology is validated with spray combustion experiments with real fuels from three different countries. The compositions of those fuels were analyzed through GC×GC and H-NMR. It was found that ignition delay times, flame region and flame luminosity were significantly affected by the compositional variations. For the simulation, an evaporation surrogate consisting of twenty two species, covering basic molecular types and a wide range of carbon numbers, is developed. Each species in the evaporation surrogate is then virtually converted to a reaction surrogate consisting of n-hexadecane, methylcyclohexane and 1,2,4-trimethyl benzene so that combustion reactions can be calculated with a published kinetic model. The virtual species conversion (VSC) is made so as to take over combustion-related properties of each species of evaporation surrogates.

Tightening global emissions standards are driving automotive Original Equipment Manufacturer’s (OEM’s) to utilize Three Way Catalyst (TWC) aftertreatment systems that can perform with greater efficiency and greater measured control of Precious Group Metals (PGM) use. At the same time, TWC aftertreatment systems minimize exhaust system pressure drops. This study will determine the influence of catalyst substrate cell geometry on emission and PGM usage. Additionally, a study of lightoff and backpressure comparisons will be conducted. The two substrate configurations used are hex/750cpsi and square/750cpsi.

In order to comply with emission regulation, reach their profitability targets and minimise the in-use cost of their vehicles, OEMs are seeking solutions to optimise their aftertreatment systems. For Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) system engineers, one of the most important challenges is to reduce the system's cost, while keeping its high level of NOx emission reduction performance. Ways to achieve this cost reduction include 1. using an engine out NOx estimation model instead of a NOx sensor upstream of the SDPF (DPF coated with SCR) catalyst and 2. eliminating the Ammonia Slip Catalyst (ASC) downstream of the SDPF catalyst. Achieving these challenging targets requires actions on the complete SCR system, from the optimisation of mixing and uniformity in the SDPF catalyst to the development of robust controls. To face these challenges, a novel exhaust reverse flow concept with a blade mixer was developed.

New 2A/F systems different from usual A/F-O2 systems are being developed to cope with strict regulation of exhaust gas. In the 2A/F systems, 2A/F sensors are equipped in front and rear of a three-way catalyst. The A/F-O2 systems are ideas which use a rear O2 to detect exhaust gas leaked from three-way catalyst early and feed back. On the other hand, the 2A/F systems are ideas which use a rear A/F sensor to detect nearly stoichiometric gas discharged from the three-way catalyst accurately, and to prevent leakage of exhaust gas from the three-way catalyst. Therefore, accurate detection of nearly stoichiometric gas by the rear A/F sensor is the most importrant for the 2A/F systems. In general, the A/F sensors can be classified into two types, so called, one-cell type and two-cell type. Because the one-cell type A/F sensors don’t have hysteresis, they have potential for higher accuracy.

Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) systems reduce exhaust emissions and improve fuel efficiency. Recently, the number of EGR system installed vehicles has been increasing, especially for gasoline engine systems. One of the major causes of decreasing EGR function is deposit accumulation on a gas passage. The deposit consists mainly of hydrocarbons which are degradation products of fuel, thus the amount of deposit seems to be strongly affected by fuel compositions. Unfortunately there are not as many studies on EGR deposits with gasoline fuel as there are with diesel fuel. In this study, the influence of gasoline fuel compositions, especially aromatics which are major components of EGR gas, on chemical structures of the deposit were investigated. To clarify the accumulation mechanism of EGR deposits, a thermal oxidative degradation test with an autoclave unit and an actual gasoline engine test were employed.

Electronics has greatly contributed to the operation of internal combustion engines. This is especially evident in the benefits that it has brought to drivers, such as enhancing the “Fun to Drive” experience and in reducing the cost of fuel. Moreover, this progress has resulted in minimizing environmental degradation, and yet continuing to support improvements in performance. In the diesel engine, which has superb fuel economy, the innovative progress has been achieved by the common rail technology. The common rail system has the features of high injection pressure control in all engine speed range, highly precise injection control and multiple injections per combustion cycle. The latest 2nd generation of the DENSO common rail system features 1800 bar injection pressure, and five times multiple injection with fully electronic control to ensure precise small injection quantities. This technology has been commercialized into passenger car products in the European market.

In SI engines with port injection system, the injected fuel spray adheres surely on the port wall and the inlet valve, consequently, the spray-wall interaction process leads to the generation of unburned hydrocarbons and uncontrollable mixture formation. This paper deals with the fuel mixture preparation process including basic research on characteristics of the wall-wetted fuel film on a flat wall inside a constant volume vessel. In the experiments, iso-octane mixed with biacetyl as a tracer dopant was injected through a pintle type injector against a flat glass wall under the ambient conditions of atmospheric pressure and room temperature. The thickness of the adhered fuel film on the wall was quantitatively measured by using laser induced fluorescence (LIF) technique, which provides 2-D distribution information with high special resolution as a function of the injection duration, the impingement distance from the injector to the wall, and the impingement angle against the wall.

Fuel atomization is known as an effective means of reducing exhaust emissions from internal combustion engines. In this study, we present a cost-effective atomization method for multiple-hole nozzle gasoline injection systems that requires no auxiliary device or external energy source to carry out atomization. While many studies have been conducted before on the atomization mechanism, most assume that the key to atomization lies in the nozzle configuration or the interaction between the fuel spray and ambient air. We, on the other hand, paid particular attention to the fuel nozzle upstream flow and found how it plays a crucial role in fuel atomization. In case of using multiple-hole nozzle in particular, atomization is greatly influenced by impingement of upstream flow of the fuel nozzle, which leads to rapid directional change in the fuel flow.

Global exhaust emission regulations are becoming stricter, and vehicles equipped with the idle stop system (ISS) are increasing. Recently, starters for vehicles equipped with ISS are required to improve operation feel when speedily restarted. To satisfy this demand, starters must rotate at higher rotational speeds, and heavier wear in their brushes may cause problems. Tribofilm formed on commutators surface by the brush sliding is an important factor in the brush commutator wear, because tribofilm is said to have a property to increase lubricity and decrease mechanical wear in brushes and commutator, as well as to improve commutation and decrease arc wear. Therefore, for reducing brush commutator wear, it is considered effective to promote film formation by improving materials. However, few researches have been conducted to evaluate the relationship between brush materials and tribofilm formation.

With the global adoption of diesel common rail systems and the wide variation in composition of local commercial fuels, modern fuel injection systems must be robust against diverse fuel properties. To bridge the knowledge gap on the effects of compositional variation for real commercial fuels on spray combustion characteristics, the present work quantifies ignition and soot formation/oxidation in three unique, international diesel blends. Schlieren imaging, excited-state hydroxyl radical (OH*) chemiluminescence imaging and diffused back-illumination extinction imaging were employed to quantify vapor penetration, ignition, and soot formation and oxidation for high-pressure sprays in a constant-volume, pre-burn chamber. The three fuels were procured from Finland, Japan and Brazil and have cetane numbers of 64.1, 56.1 and 45.4, respectively.

Continuous improvement of gasoline engine emissions performance is required to further protect the global environment and also the impact of emissions on a local level. During real world driving, transient engine operation and variation in fuel injection, airflow, and wall temperature are key factors to be controlled. Due to the limited opportunity for optimization of engine control, generation of a well-mixed fuel spray is necessary to create a suitable combustion environment to minimize emissions. Optimum spray performance achieves minimum surface wetting as well as promoting evaporation and diffusion if wetting occurs. Improvement in spray homogeneity is an important step to achieve this. Higher fuel pressure is initially considered to achieve improvements, as it is expected to improve mixture formation by reduction of wall wetting due to high atomization and lower penetration, as well as improvement in spray homogeneity.

For the purpose of coping with the strengthening of NOx exhaust gas control and fuel consumption control, it is indispensable to improve the NOx purification capacity. In view of this, vehicle manufacturers are in the course of developing high performance SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) systems [1, 2]. For such SCR systems to be realized, high precision NOx sensors for carrying out urea injection quantity control and SCR degradation diagnosis are absolutely indispensable. Detection of NOx concentration by means of a NOx sensor is generally performed as follows: O2 is discharged by means of an O2 detection electrode; remaining NOx is decomposed by a NOx detection electrode; NOx concentration is then detected as electric current that flows when oxygen ions are conduct through solid electrolyte. In order to detect NOx of ppm-order, it is necessary to detect minute current of nA-order with high accuracy.

With the economic development of countries around the world led by BRICs(Brazil, Russia, India, China), the total number of automobiles in the world continues to rise. From the standpoint of preserving limited petroleum resources and reducing CO2 emissions, improved fuel consumption is necessary if we are to continue enjoying the use of automobiles. In Europe, significant development of diesel engine technology as a power source for automobiles has taken place to reduce fuel consumption and to enhance the “Fun to Drive” experience, and market share of diesel engines has increased in this area. However, with increasing environmental awareness worldwide, all areas of the globe are seeing tightened regulations for not only fuel consumption, but also exhaust emissions, including those for PM(Particulate Matter) and NOx. Of these regulations, the requirement for vehicles to satisfy the US Tier 2 Bin 5 rating, regardless of whether they are gasoline or dieselpowered, is the most stringent.

This study investigates if particulates from a GDI engine can be significantly suppressed by use of ultra-high injection pressures under 2 different engine conditions known to be associated with high particulate numbers (PN): warm-up and transients. Experiments were carried out in a single-cylinder GDI engine equipped with an endoscope connected to a high-speed camera to enable combustion visualization. To mimic the warming-up, the coolant temperature was varied between 20 °C and 90 °C. A Diesel injector with modified nozzle was used and the injection pressures were varied between 400 and 1500 bar. The results revealed that increasing the fuel injection pressure decreased engine out HC and PN under warming-up conditions. However, the coolant water temperature was the most dominant factor affecting the emissions. For coolant temperature of 20 °C, the use of 1500 bar fuel injection pressure in comparison to lower fuel pressures resulted in significantly lower PN.

This paper presents an improvement in the accuracy of NOx sensors at high NOx concentration regions by optimizing the manufacturing process, sensor electrode materials and structure, in order to suppress the deterioration mechanism of sensor electrodes. Though NOx sensors generally consist of Pt/Au alloy based oxygen pump electrodes and Pt/Rh alloy based sensor electrodes, detailed experimental analysis of aged NOx sensors showed changes in the surface composition and morphology of the sensor electrode. The surface of the sensor electrode was covered with Au, which is not originally contained in the electrode, resulting in a diminished active site for NOx detection on the sensor electrode and a decrease in sensor output. Theoretical analysis using CAE with molecular dynamics supported that Au tends to be concentrated on the surface of the sensor electrode.

A new exhaust emission control system has been developed which complies with the world's most severe emission standard: CARB PZEV. Leaner combustion in cold condition was enabled and rapid warm-up of a close-coupled catalyst was realized by utilizing a newly developed Intake Air Control Valve (IACV) system and hyper-atomization fuel injector. In addition, the newly developed HC adsorbing type 3-way catalyst realized cold HC reduction at lower cost. For further reduction of the exhaust emission, the Variable Valve Timing-Intelligent (VVT-i) system was positively operated immediately after the cold start. By the suitable operation of Variable Valve Timing (VVT), the blow-back from the cylinder enhanced the fuel atomization and re-burning of remaining unburned hydrocarbons (HCs), and increased in-cylinder residual gas reduces NOx.

Emission regulations in many countries and regions around the world are becoming stricter in reaction to the increasing awareness of environment protections, and it has now become necessary to improve the performance of catalytic converters to achieve these goals. A catalytic converter is composed of a catalytically active material coated onto a ceramic honeycomb-structured substrate. Honeycomb substrates play the role of ensuring intimate contact between the exhaust gas and the catalyst within the substrate’s flow channels. In recent years, high-load test cycles have been introduced which require increased robustness to maintain low emissions during the wide range of load changes. Therefore, it is extremely important to increase the probability of contact between the exhaust gas and catalyst. To achieve this contact, several measures were considered such as increasing active sites or geometrical surface areas by utilizing substrates with higher cell densities or larger volumes.