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A promising SCR-only solution is presented to meet post-2010 NOx emission targets for heavy duty applications. The proposed concept is based on an engine from a EURO IV SCR application, which is considered optimal with respect to fuel economy and costs. The addition of advanced SCR after treatment comprising a standard and a close-coupled SCR catalyst offers a feasible emission solution, especially suited for EURO VI. In this paper, results of a simulation study are presented. This study concentrates on optimizing SCR deNOx performance. Simulation results of cold start FTP and WHTC test cycles are presented to demonstrate the potential of the close-coupled SCR concept. Comparison with measured engine out emissions of an EGR engine shows that a close-coupled SCR catalyst potentially has NOx reduction performance as good as EGR. Practical issues regarding the use of an SCR catalyst in close-coupled position will be addressed, as well as engine and exhaust layout.

In this study, tailpipe-sampling was used to sample the exhaust aerosol of a Stage IV tractor equipped with Diesel Oxidation Catalyst (DOC) and Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) aftertreatment systems. The particle emissions were characterized in terms of number concentration (particle size of > 2.5 nm), mass concentration (particle size of 6-612 nm) BC mass concentration and chemical composition (particle size of > 30 nm). The measurements were conducted on-road by setting a mobile laboratory on a trailer and pulling it with the tractor. In addition to driving, heavy-lift work cycles were tested, where separate lifts of a 1000 kg weight were conducted with the front fork of the tractor with two minutes of idling between consecutive lifts. Both a Porous Tube Diluter (PTD) with ambient temperature dilution air as well as an ejector diluter with hot dilution air were used to sample the exhaust aerosol.

Heavy-duty diesel engines are used in different application areas, like long-haul, city distribution, dump truck and building and construction industry. For these wide variety of areas, the engine performance needs to comply with the real-world legislation limits and should simultaneously have a low fuel consumption and good drivability. Meeting these requirements takes substantial development and calibration effort, where an optimal fuel consumption for each application is not always met in practice. TNO's Integrated Emission Management (IEM) strategy, is able to deal with these variations in operating conditions, while meeting legislation limits and obtaining on-line cost optimization. Based on the actual state of the engine and aftertreatment, optimal air-path setpoints are computed, which balances EGR and SCR usage.

Modern ‘DOC-cDPF’ systems for diesel exhaust are employing Pt-, Pd- as well as Pt/Pd alloy- based coatings to ensure high conversion efficiency of CO, HC even at low temperatures. Depending on the target application, these coatings should be also optimized towards NO2 generation which is involved in low temperature soot oxidation as well as in SCR-based deNOx. Zeolite materials are also frequently used to control cold-start HC emissions. Considering the wide variety of vehicles, engines and emission targets, there is no single optimum coating technology. The main target is therefore to maximize synergies rather than to optimize single components. At the same time, the system designer has nowadays a wide range of technologies to choose from, including PGM alloyed combinations (Pt/Pd), multiple layers and zones applicable to both DOCs and DPFs.

In this article we present a design of a new miniaturized sensor with the capacity to measure exhaust particle concentrations on board vehicles and engines. The sensor is characterized by ultra-fast response time, high sensitivity, and a wide dynamic range. In addition, the physical dimensions of the sensor enable its placement along the exhaust line. The concentration response and temporal performance of a prototype sensor are discussed and characterized with aerosol laboratory test measurements. The sensor performance was also tested with actual engine exhaust in both chassis and engine dynamometer measurements. These measurements demonstrate that the sensor has the potential to meet and even exceed any requirements around the world in terms of on-board diagnostic (OBD) sensitivity and frequency of monitoring.

A new cost-based control strategy is presented that optimizes engine-aftertreatment performance under all operating conditions. This Integrated Emission Management strategy minimizes fuel consumption within the set emission limits by on-line adjustment of air management based on the actual state of the exhaust gas aftertreatment system. Following a model-based approach, Integrated Emission Management offers a framework for future control strategy development. This approach alleviates calibration complexity, since it allows to make optimal trade-offs in an operational cost sense. The potential of the presented cost-optimal control strategy is demonstrated for a modern heavy-duty Euro VI engine. The studied diesel engine is equipped with cooled EGR, Variable Geometry Turbocharger, and a DPF-SCR aftertreatment system.

The goal of this work was to investigate the possibilities of applying high EGR rates with low NOx and PM emission levels on a two-stage turbocharged 12 liter heavy duty diesel engine. The EGR is applied by using a long and short route EGR system. For the ESC operating points A25 and C100 EGR is applied, such that the NOx emission is 0.5 g/kWh. Lowest PM level and BSFC are achieved when long route EGR is applied in A25 and short route is applied in C100. Increasing the fuel line pressure is an effective way to reduce PM at high EGR rate engine running conditions. At a fuel line pressure of 2400 bar PM emission are 0.06 g/kWh for A25 and 0.54 g/kWh for C100. At C100 the PM reduction coincides with also a significant fuel consumption improvement. Retarding the injection timing at C100 can improve the PM emission further to a level of 0.13 g/kWh at the expense of an increase in BSFC.

Two major trends can be identified for powertrain control in the next decade. The legislation will more and more focus on in-use emissions. Together with the global trend to reduce the CO₂ emissions, this will lead to an integral drive train approach. To develop and validate this integral drive train approach, the need for a new chapter in powertrain testing arises. The climatic-altitude chamber, suited for heavy vehicles, serves a wide variety of testing needs. Ambient temperature can be controlled between -45°C and +55°C and ambient pressure can be reduced up to a level found at an altitude to 4000 meters. The chamber's dynamometers enable transient testing of heavy-duty engines and vehicles and the chamber is equipped with a comprehensive array of emission measurement capabilities, working under extreme conditions.

This paper reports on a study of the TNO venturi EGR system and the Johnson Matthey CRT particulates trap on a DAF 355 kW engine. The results obtained indicate that this EGR-CRT combination is an effective means to achieve EURO-4 emission level, while maintaining good fuel economy. EGR strategy, injection timing and air-fuel ratio were optimised in such a way that good regeneration conditions were obtained across most of the engine operating map. Also transient EGR control is optimised to combine low NOx emission during the ETC with good driveability and good engine out particulates emission. The size of the oxidation catalyst in the CRT was investigated. It appeared that the larger oxidation catalyst showed a better regeneration performance during a low temperature duty-cycle. Negative aspects of a larger oxidation catalyst are increased costs and increased NO2 emission (because of the catalyst ability to oxidise more NO into NO2).

The application of SCR deNOx aftertreatment was studied on two about 12 liter class heavy-duty diesel engines within a consortium project. Basically, the system consists of a dosage system for aqueous urea injection and a vanadia based SCR catalyst, without an upstream or downstream oxidation catalyst. The urea injection system for a DAF and a Renault V.I. (Véhicules Industriels) diesel engine was calibrated on the engine test bench taking into account dynamic effects of the catalyst. For both engine applications NOx reduction was 81% to 84% over the ESC and 72% over the ETC. CO emission increased up to 27%. PM emission is reduced by 4 to 23% and HC emission is reduced by more than 80%. These results are achieved with standard diesel fuel with about 350 ppm sulfur. The test engines and SCR deNOx systems were built into a DAF FT95 truck and a Renault V.I. Magnum truck.

The performance of a three-way catalytic converter under transient operation can be improved by controlling the level of oxygen stored on ceria at some optimal level. A model-based controller, with the model estimating the level of ceria coverage by oxygen, can achieve this goal. A simple, dynamic model is based on step responses of the converter and is used to train the controller off-line. The controller is a neuro-fuzzy approximation of a model predictive controller. Thus, it retains a high performance while being less computationally involving. The system performance has been experimentally tested by a specially designed, highly transient test cycle.

The rare occurrence during city driving of the exhaust temperature levels required for ceramic trap regeneration without catalytic aid, seems to be the main reason of delay in wide application of the trap. The use of catalysts seems to be more or less necessary. Study of the catalytic activity during trap regeneration had not been very effective so far. This holds equally true for the case of catalyzed trap as for the case of catalytic fuel additives. The lack of a satisfactory theory for the explanation and prediction of catalytic activity, directed international research and development towards the quest of the optimum catalyst, which could support a very simple and low-cost regeneration system. The new approach to the explanation of catalytic activity presented in this paper, denies the above assumption.

The first two of a series of traps retrofitted on a pilot fleet of 110 buses of the Athens Bus Corporation were removed for examination after 100,000 km of revenue service. These buses were gradually equipped with the ELBO Trap Oxidiser since the beginning of 1989 and are constantly operated on Cerium based fuel additive. The physical properties and the chemical composition of filters and ash residues were analysed by the filter manufacturers and the fuel additive producer. The results have shown that after two years of operation the filter material remained intact and the ash deposits (consisting mainly of CeO2) exhibit a limited interaction with the cordierite. More than 94% of these deposits are filtered by the monoliths and could be removed to a large extent with the application of conventional methods.

A light duty truck with a naturally aspirated engine was equipped with a DPF (changing the exhaust pipe and eliminating the muffler) and operated on fuel doped with a cerium based additive in various concentrations. Tests were carried out on chassis dynamometer using the European urban cycle, but also under city driving conditions with maximum speeds up to 50 km/h and exhaust gas temperature up to 300°C. Under these conditions, it was observed that filter regeneration was always possible at relatively high particulate accumulation in the filter, while the effect on fuel consumption (as measured over the emission test cycles) was not detectable, compared to baseline data of the vehicle. Change in driving conditions from slow urban to highway with highly loaded trap led to spontaneous trap regeneration at higher temperatures, without effect on fuel consumption. This paper documents the operation of a fully passive DPF system for diesel light duty vehicles.

Comfort of car seats is becoming an increasingly important issue in the design of vehicles for professional use as well as for personal use. People using cars professionally, like drivers of taxis, trucks, and busses, often have to drive for prolonged periods sometimes leading to physical complaints, like e.g. low back pain. Apart from experimental investigations, virtual testing is becoming more important to get more insight in the problem of low back pain. This paper presents a finite element (FE) model of the lumbar spine (L1-L5). The model contains a detailed geometric description of the lumbar spine and realistic material properties. On a segmental level and as a whole, the model's response was verified for quasi-static and dynamic conditions based on experimental data published in literature. The quasi-static segmental validation comprised of compression, posterior, anterior and lateral shear, flexion and extension, lateral bending and axial torque.

The relationship between ethanol and iso-butanol fuel concentrations and vehicle particulate matter emissions was investigated. This study utilized a gasoline direct injection (GDI) flexible fuel vehicle (FFV) with wall-guided fueling system tested with four fuels, including E10, E51, E83, and an iso-butanol blend at a proportion of 55% by volume. Emission measurements were conducted over the Federal Test Procedure (FTP) driving cycle on a chassis dynamometer with an emphasis on the physical and chemical characterization of particulate matter (PM) emissions. The results indicated that the addition of higher ethanol blends and the iso-butanol blend resulted in large reductions in PM mass, soot, and total and solid particle number emissions. PM emissions for the baseline E10 fuel were characterized by a higher fraction of elemental carbon (EC), whereas the PM emissions for the higher ethanol blends were more organic carbon (OC) in nature.

Premixed combustion concepts like PCCI and RCCI have attracted much attention, since these concepts offer possibilities to reduce engine out emissions to a low level, while still achieving good efficiency. Most RCCI studies use a combination of a high-cetane fuel like diesel, and gasoline as low-cetane fuel. Limited results have been published using natural gas as low-cetane fuel; especially full scale engine results. This study presents results from an experimental study of diesel-CNG RCCI operation on a 6 cylinder, 8 l heavy duty engine with cooled EGR. This standard Tier4f diesel engine was equipped with a gas injection system, which used single point injection and mixed the gaseous fuel with air upstream of the intake manifold. For this engine configuration, RCCI operating limits have been explored. In the 1200-1800 rpm range, RCCI operation with Euro-VI engine out NOx and soot emissions was achieved between 2 and 9 bar BMEP without EGR.

The present work investigates a number of recalibration possibilities of a common rail turbocharged diesel engine, aiming at the improvement of its emissions performance and fuel consumption (FC), with Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO). Initially, steady-state experimental data with nominal engine settings revealed HVO benefits as a drop-in fuel. Under these conditions, pure HVO results in lower engine-out PM emissions, lower CO2 emissions, and lower mass-based FC, while the respective NOx emissions present a mixed trend. In mid loads and speeds NOx emissions of HVO are lower while at higher loads and speeds are slightly higher compared to conventional diesel. At a second step, a combustion model was developed, in order to investigate the possible re-adjustments of IT (Injection Timing) and EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) settings in order to exploit HVO’s properties for further reduction of emissions and FC.

The Vehicle Energy Consumption calculation Tool (VECTO) is used for the official calculation and reporting of CO2 emissions of HDVs in Europe. It uses certified input data in the form of energy or torque loss maps of driveline components and engine fuel consumption maps. Such data are proprietary and are not disclosed. Any further analysis of the fleet performance and CO2 emissions evolution using VECTO would require generic inputs or reconstructing realistic component input data. The current study attempts to address this issue by developing a process that would create VECTO input files based as much as possible on publicly available data. The core of the process is a series of models that calculate the vehicle component efficiency maps and produce the necessary VECTO input data. The process was applied to generate vehicle input files for rigid trucks and tractor-trailers of HDV Classes 4, 5, 9 and 10.

The Vehicle Energy Consumption calculation Tool (VECTO) is used in Europe for calculating standardised energy consumption and CO2 emissions from Heavy-Duty Trucks (HDTs) for certification purposes. The tool requires detailed vehicle technical specifications and a series of component efficiency maps, which are difficult to retrieve for those that are outside of the manufacturing industry. In the context of quantifying HDT CO2 emissions, the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission received VECTO simulation data of the 2016 vehicle fleet from the vehicle manufacturers. In previous work, this simulation data has been normalised to compensate for differences and issues in the quality of the input data used to run the simulations. This work, which is a continuation of the previous exercise, focuses on the deeper meaning of the data received to understand the factors contributing to energy and fuel consumption.