Search Results

With increasingly stringent emissions regulations and concurrent requirements for enhanced engine thermal efficiency, a comprehensive characterization of the automotive gasoline fuel spray has become essential. The acquisition of accurate and repeatable spray data is even more critical when a combustion strategy such as gasoline direct injection is to be utilized. Without industry-wide standardization of testing procedures, large variablilities have been experienced in attempts to verify the claimed spray performance values for the Sauter mean diameter, Dv90, tip penetration and cone angle of many types of fuel sprays. A new SAE Recommended Practice document, J2715, has been developed by the SAE Gasoline Fuel Injection Standards Committee (GFISC) and is now available for the measurement and characterization of the fuel sprays from both gasoline direct injection and port fuel injection injectors.

Accurate evaluation of vehicles' transient total power requirement helps achieving further improvements in vehicle fuel efficiency. When operated, the air-conditioning (A/C) system is the largest auxiliary load on a vehicle, therefore accurate evaluation of the load it places on the vehicle's engine and/or energy storage system is especially important. Vehicle simulation models, such as "Autonomie," have been used by OEMs to evaluate vehicles' energy performance. However, the load from the A/C system on the engine or on the energy storage system has not always been modeled in sufficient detail. A transient A/C simulation tool incorporated into vehicle simulation models would also provide a tool for developing more efficient A/C systems through a thorough consideration of the transient A/C system performance. The dynamic system simulation software MATLAB/Simulink® is frequently used by vehicle controls engineers to develop new and more efficient vehicle energy system controls.

Launch vehicles that use electric actuators for thrust vector or flight control require a safe, reliable and lightweight source of electrical power. Honeywell, working with NASA Glenn Research Center and Lockheed Martin Space Systems, has developed and successfully tested a turbine-driven electric power generation system which meets these needs. This Turbine Power Unit (TPU) uses hydrogen and oxygen propellants which react catalytically to drive a shaft-speed turboalternator mounted on foil bearings. A high-reactance permanent-magnet machine (HRPMM) was selected for this application. The power conditioning and control electronics can be located within the TPU housing and the hydrogen fuel can be used to pressurize the bearings and electronics and to regeneratively cool the machine. A brassboard unit incorporating many of these features was successfully tested at output power levels from 0 to 138 kilowatts (kW).

As OEMs race to build their sales fleets to meet ever more stringent California Air Resources Board (CARB) mobile source evaporative emissions requirements, new technologies are emerging to control pollution. Evaporative emissions emanating from sources up-stream in the induction flow and venting through the ducts of the engine air induction system (EIS) need to be controlled in order classify a salable vehicle as a Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle (PZEV) in the state of California. As other states explore adopting California's pollution control standards, demand for emissions control measures in the induction system is expected to increase. This paper documents some of the considerations of designing an adsorbent evaporative emissions device in to a 2007 production passenger car for the North American and Asian markets. This new evaporative emissions device will be permanently installed in the vehicle's air cleaner cover without requiring service for 150K miles (expected vehicle life).

The traditional method of engine knock detection is to compare the knock intensity with a predetermined threshold. The calibration of this threshold is complex and difficult. A statistical knock detection method is proposed in this paper to reduce the effort of calibration. This method dynamically calculates the knock threshold to determine the knock event. Theoretically, this method will not only adapt to different fuels but also cope with engine aging and engine-to-engine variation without re-calibration. This method is demonstrated by modeling and evaluation using real-time engine dynamometer test data.

The requirement of reduced emissions and improved fuel economy led the introduction of direct-injection (DI) spark-ignited (SI) engines. Dual-fuel injection system (direct-injection and port-fuel-injection (PFI)) was also used to improve engine performance at high load and speed. Ethanol is one of the several alternative transportation fuels considered for replacing fossil fuels such as gasoline and diesel. Ethanol offers high octane quality but with lower energy density than fossil fuels. This paper presents the combustion characteristics of a single cylinder dual-fuel injection SI engine with the following fueling cases: a) gasoline for PFI and DI, b) PFI gasoline and DI ethanol, and c) PFI ethanol and DI gasoline. For this study, the DI fueling portion varied from 0 to 100 percentage of the total fueling over different engine operational conditions while the engine air-to-fuel ratio remained at a constant level.

Recovery of potable water from wastewater is essential for the success of long-term manned missions to the moon and Mars. Honeywell International and the team consisting of Thermodistillation Company (Kyiv, Ukraine) and NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) Crew and Thermal Systems Division are developing a wastewater processing subsystem that is based on centrifugal vacuum distillation. The Wastewater Processing Cascade Distillation Subsystem (CDS) utilizes an innovative and efficient multi-stage thermodynamic process to produce purified water. The rotary centrifugal design of the system also provides gas/liquid phase separation and liquid transport under microgravity conditions. A five-stage prototype of the subsystem was built, delivered and integrated into the NASA JSC Advanced Water Recovery Systems Development Facility for development testing.

This paper focuses on the numerical investigation of the mixing and combustion of ethanol and gasoline in a single-cylinder 3-valve direct-injection spark-ignition engine. The numerical simulations are conducted with the KIVA code with global reaction models. However, an ignition delay model mitigates some of the deficiencies of the global one-step reaction model and is implemented via a two-dimensional look-up table, which was created using available detailed kinetics models. Simulations demonstrate the problems faced by ethanol operated engines and indicate that some of the strategies used for emission control and downsizing of gasoline engines can be employed for enhancing the combustion efficiency of ethanol operated engines.

Because combustion engine equipped vehicles must conform to stringent hydrocarbon (HC) emission requirements, many of them on the road today are equipped with an engine air intake system that utilizes a hydrocarbon adsorber. Also known as HC traps, these devices capture environmentally dangerous gasoline vapors before they can enter the atmosphere. A majority of these adsorbers use activated carbon as it is cost effective and has excellent adsorption characteristics. Many of the procedures for evaluating the adsorbtive performance of these emissions devices use mass gain as the measurand. It is well known that activated carbon also has an affinity for water vapor; therefore it is useful to understand how well humidity must be controlled in a laboratory environment. This paper outlines investigations that were conducted to study how relative humidity levels affect an activated carbon hydrocarbon adsorber.

In association with NASA Glenn Research Center and Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Honeywell has developed and successfully tested an electric power generation system that uses non-toxic hydrogen and oxygen propellants that are reacted catalytically. The resulting fuel-rich gases drive a turbogenerator. Speed control of this system is challenging due to highly variable electric load profile. Discrete two-position valves were used to control the propellant flow for improved reliability compared to proportional valves. This “bang-bang” speed control method exhibits variation in turbine acceleration and deceleration with load. The control thresholds for the turbine speed are adjusted based on load so as to compensate for increased speed overshoot and undershoot.

Recovery of potable water from wastewater is essential to the success of long-duration human missions to the moon and Mars. Honeywell International and a team from the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) are developing a wastewater processing subsystem that is based on centrifugal vacuum distillation. The wastewater processor, which is referred to as the cascade distillation subsystem (CDS), uses an efficient multistage thermodynamic process to produce purified water. A CDS unit employing a five-stage distiller engine was designed, built, and delivered to the NASA JSC Advanced Water Recovery Systems Development Facility for performance testing; an initial round of testing was completed in fiscal year 2008 (FY08). Based, in part, on FY08 testing, the system is now in development to support an Exploration Life Support Project distillation comparison test that is expected to begin in 2009.

Internal combustion engines are designed to maximize power subject to meeting exhaust emission requirements and minimizing fuel consumption. Maximizing engine power and fuel economy is limited by engine knock for a given air-to-fuel charge. Therefore, the ability to detect engine knock and run the engine at its knock limit is a key for the best power and fuel economy. This paper shows inaudible knock detection ability using in-cylinder ionization signals over the entire engine speed and load map. This is especially important at high engine speed and high EGR rates. The knock detection ability is compared between three sensors: production knock (accelerometer) sensor, in-cylinder pressure and ionization sensors. The test data shows that the ionization signals can be used to detect inaudible engine knock while the conventional knock sensor cannot under some engine operational conditions.

MBT timing for an internal combustion engine is also called minimum spark timing for best torque or the spark timing for maximum brake torque. Unless engine spark timing is limited by engine knock or emission requirements at a certain operational condition, there exists an MBT timing that yields the maximum work for a given air-to-fuel mixture. Traditionally, MBT timing for a particular engine is determined by conducting a spark sweep process that requires a substantial amount of time to obtain an MBT calibration. Recently, on-line MBT timing detection schemes have been proposed based upon cylinder pressure or ionization signals using peak cylinder pressure location, 50 percent fuel mass fraction burn location, pressure ratio, and so on. Because these criteria are solely based upon data correlation and observation, both of them may change at different engine operational conditions. Therefore, calibration is still required for each MBT detection scheme.

Water condensate retained inside an automotive evaporator has remained as one of the primary sources of unpleasant “odors”, which in turn can drive up the warranty cost for automotive manufacturers. The “wet” evaporator fin can also underperform due to the presence of condensate blocking the air passage. Moreover, condensate retention can be a potential factor of freezing up evaporators. Thus, an evaporator fin must be designed such that it can shed and drain water condensate as well as provide an excellent heat transfer capability. While the importance of water retention is well known, there seems lacking of a comprehensive way to evaluate the water retention characteristics of a particular product. In this work, attempts were made to answer four questions: (1) What is the mechanism that controls water condensate retention characteristics in an automotive evaporator? (2) Can different water retention evaluation methods reveal the same characteristics?

Automotive gear oil development has expanded beyond the historical requirements of emphasizing wear protection to encompass modern needs for fuel economy and limited slip frictional properties. This paper describes the development process of a new generation, fuel efficient gear lubricant for use in light duty vehicles. A systematic formulation approach was used, encompassing fluid viscometrics and additive optimization. Performance testing in both laboratory and vehicle tests is described. Though standard GL-5 tests were used to confirm oxidation, wear and corrosion performance, emphasis is given to those methods used for optimizing fuel economy.

Honeywell Engines and Systems (E&S) Environmental Control Systems (ECS) division has been developing a 50 kW proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell brassboard system for automotive application as part of a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) program. A primary issue in the development of the brassboard is the automatic control of the system. A preferred DOE requirement is dynamic load following from idle to peak power. Since the PEM stacks require precise inlet condition control for both the air and fuel to achieve high efficiency, the control system must provide good dynamic tracking and low steady-state error over the entire operating range. In addition, the controller must provide automatic system start-up and shutdown, built-in-test (BIT) to monitor key system parameters, and take corrective action if those parameters reach an unsafe condition. The purpose of this paper is to present the control system design approach taken by the authors to achieve those goals.

Recycled resins can meet performance requirements on products which were initially designed for virgin materials. Olefinic instrument panel (I/P) scrap is being recycled from the Mazda Tribute and the Ford Escape into glove box bins. As a result, a quality part is being supplied to the customer and Visteon's Saline Plant has realized both increased plant operating efficiencies and landfill cost avoidance. The development process is described including: plant regrind sources, part molding and testing.

System integration is the path to successful entry of hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) technology into the marketplace. A modular solution capable of meeting varying customer requirements is needed. The controller must possess a flexible hierarchical architecture that insures cross-platform compatibility and provides adaptability for various engine, motor, transmission, and battery configurations. A hybrid powertrain supervisory controller (PSC) has been designed for an advanced parallel-type HEV prototype, which uses a continuously variable transmission (CVT). The controller schedules torque commands for the engine and motor and chooses the transmission ratio to meet driver demanded acceleration. The controller is organized around a state machine, which determines how best to employ powertrain components to satisfy the driver while maximizing fuel economy.

The quality of outside air during ground operations was analyzed by comparing airport and engine exhaust data to exposure limits and odor thresholds. The results indicated that the outside air may contain compounds in high enough concentrations to be odorous. If the odor is to be treated, the important design criteria that must be considered include the phase of compounds, compound type, location of treatment device on the aircraft, pressure drop, operating temperature, and maintenance interval. Finally, a control strategy is outlined that monitors the air quality as well as the efficiency of an air treatment system.

The demand for improved vehicle fuel economy drives the auto engineers to look for opportunities in weight reduction of automotive systems and components. This paper presents inventions on the design and development of a lightweight spindle. In this new product, the spindle body is made from an Al alloy for a substantial weight reduction in comparison to the tradition iron spindle body. The shaft of the spindle is made from high strength steel to meet strength requirements. The design shows the unique feature of the joining area between the spindle body and shaft. The related joining process is applied to produce a strong joint between the two parts made of different materials. The testing results will be presented and discussed.