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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.

Electric power steering systems (EPS) are characterized by high inertia and therefore by a considerably damped transmission behaviour. While this is desirable for comfort-oriented designs, EPS do not provide enough feedback of the driving conditions, especially for drivers with a sporty driving style. The systematic actuation of the electric motor of an EPS makes it possible to specifically increment the intensity of the response. In this context, the road-sided induced forces of the tie rod and the steering rack force provide all the information for the steering system’s response. Former concepts differentiate between use and disturbance information by defining frequency ranges. Since these ranges overlap strongly, this differentiation does not segment distinctively. The presented article describes a method to identify useful information in the feedback path of the steering system depending on the driving situation.

There is an increasing recognition of injector deposit (ID) formation in fuel injection equipment as direct injection spark ignition (DISI) engine technologies advance to meet increasingly stringent emission legislation and fuel economy requirements. While it is known that the phenomena of ID in DISI engines can be influenced by changes in fuel composition, including increasing usage of aliphatic alcohols and additive chemistries to enhance fuel performance, there is however still a great deal of uncertainty regarding the physical and chemical structure of these deposits, and the mechanisms of deposit formation. In this study, a mechanical cracking sample preparation technique was developed to assess the deposits across DISI injectors fuelled with gasoline and blends of 85% ethanol (E85).

Increasingly strict government emissions regulations in combination with consumer demand for high performance vehicles is driving gasoline engine development towards highly downsized, boosted direct injection technologies. In these engines, fuel consumption is improved by reducing pumping, friction and heat losses, yet performance is maintained by operating at higher brake mean effective pressure. However, the in-cylinder conditions of these engines continue to diverge from traditional naturally aspirated technologies, and especially from the Cooperative Fuels Research engine used to define the octane rating scales. Engine concepts are thus key platforms with which to screen the influence of fundamental fuel properties on future engine performance.

In Gasoline Direct Injection engines, direct exposure of the injector to the flame can cause combustion products to accumulate on the nozzle, which can result in increased particulate emissions. This research observes the impact of injector fouling on particulate emissions and the associated injector spray pattern and shows how both can be reversed by utilising fuel detergency. For this purpose multi-hole injectors were deliberately fouled in a four-cylinder test engine with two different base fuels. During a four hour injector fouling cycle particulate numbers (PN) increased by up to two orders of magnitude. The drift could be reversed by switching to a fuel blend that contained a detergent additive. In addition, it was possible to completely avoid any PN increase, when the detergent containing fuel was used from the beginning of the test. Microscopy showed that increased injector fouling coincided with increased particulate emissions.

Control of NOx and Particulate Matter (PM) emissions from diesel engines remains a significant challenge. One approach to reduce both emissions simultaneously without fuel economy penalty is the reformed exhaust gas recirculation (REGR) technique, where part of the fuel is catalytically reacted with hot engine exhaust gas to produce a hydrogen-rich combustible gas that is then fed to the engine. On the contrary to fuel cell technology where the reforming requirements are to produce a reformate with maximized H2 concentration and minimized (virtually zero) CO concentration, the key requirement of the application of the exhaust gas fuel reforming technique in engines is the efficient on-demand generation of a reformate with only a relatively low concentration of hydrogen (typically up to 20%).

Several different possibilities will be described and discussed on the processes of reducing NOx in lean-burn gasoline and diesel engines. In-company studies were conducted on zeolitic catalysts. With lean-burn spark-ignition engines, hydrocarbons in the exhaust gas act as a reducing agent. In stationary conditions at λ = 1.2, NOx conversion rates of approx. 45 % were achieved. With diesel engines, the only promising variant is SCR technology using urea as a reducing agent. The remaining problems are still the low space velocity and the narrow temperature window of the catalyst. The production of reaction products and secondary reactions of urea with other components in the diesel exhaust gas are still unclarified.

The blending of oxygenated compounds with gasoline is projected to increase because oxygenate fuels can be produced renewably, and because their high octane rating allows them to be used in substitution of the aromatic fraction in gasoline. Blending oxygenates with gasoline changes the fuels' properties and can have a profound affect on the distillation curve, both of which are known to affect engine-out emissions. In this work, the effect of blending methanol and ethanol with gasoline on unburned hydrocarbon and particulate emissions is experimentally determined in a spray guided direct injection engine. Particulate number concentration and size distribution were measured using a Cambustion DMS500. These data are presented for different air fuel ratios, loads, ignition timings and injection timings. In addition, the ASTM D86 distillation curve was modeled using the binary activity coefficients method for the fuel blends used in the experiments.

In addition to the price factor, the success of an electric vehicle primarily depends on its performance characteristics and operating range. Advances both in vehicle design and better technology help to improve these characteristics, thus providing the customer with a convincing vehicle concept. Three vehicle generations will be examined and the development advances between 1993 and 2003 will be listed by way of comparison. Improvement potential and technical limits will be analyzed from cost aspects. Since the limits of battery technology cannot be extended at will, it is necessary to develop both battery-driven electric vehicles and vehicles fitted with hybrid drive units. Based on the drive technology of purely electric-powered vehicles, concepts of range extender hybrid and fuel-cell hybrid vehicles will be presented.

A new approach to improve the driver's safety is to actively support the driving task and prevent possibly dangerous situations. This paper is about the family of driver assistance systems which will combine three steps of information processing: Automatic collection of data by scanning the environment of the vehicle; Automatic processing of data according to the need of the driver and his driving task; Appropriate presentation of valuable information to the driver. Electronic sensor systems will enlarge the driver's knowledge about what is actually going on around his vehicle. These systems expand the human sensor systems eye and ear for the special purpose "safe driving."

In one-dimensional engine simulation programs the simulation of engine performance is mostly done by parameter fitting in order to match simulations with experimental data. The extensive fitting procedure is especially needed for emissions formation - CO, HC, NO, soot - simulations. An alternative to this approach is, to calculate the emissions based on detailed kinetic models. This however demands that the in-cylinder combustion-flow interaction can be modeled accurately, and that the CPU time needed for the model is still acceptable. PDF based stochastic reactor models offer one possible solution. They usually introduce only one (time dependent) parameter - the mixing time - to model the influence of flow on the chemistry. They offer the prediction of the heat release, together with all emission formation, if the optimum mixing time is given.

The regeneration of a Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) is dependent on both the amount and type of soot present on the filter. The objective of this work is to understand how the fuel can affect this ease with which soot can be oxidized. This soot was produced in a two-cylinder four-stroke direct-injection diesel engine, operated with a matrix of fuels with varying aromatic and sulphur level. Their oxidation behaviour in different environments was determined by Temperature Programmed Oxidation in TGA and a six-flow reactor. Transmission electron microscopy was used to examine the soot morphology. Oxidation with only O2 shows oxidation temperatures strongly dependent on the fuel type. Soot oxidation in the presence of NO and a Pt-catalyst results in a lower oxidation temperature. SO2 has an inhibiting effect leading to higher soot oxidation temperature.

Limits on the total future potential of biodiesel fuel due to the availability of raw materials mean that ambitious 20% fuel replacement targets will need to be met by the use of both first and next generation biodiesel fuels. The use of higher percentage biodiesel blends requires engine recalibration, as it affects engine performance, combustion patterns and emissions. Previous work has shown that the combustion of 50:50 blends of biodiesel fuels (first generation RME and next generation synthetic fuel) can give diesel fuel-like performance (i.e. in-cylinder pressure, fuel injection and heat release patterns). This means engine recalibration can be avoided, plus a reduction in all the regulated emissions. Using a 30% biodiesel blend (with different first and next generation proportions) mixed with Diesel may be a more realistic future fuel.

Synthetic fuels are expected to play an important role for future mobility, because they can be introduced seamlessly alongside conventional fuels without the need for new infrastructure. Thus, understanding the interaction of GTL fuels with modern engines, and aftertreatment systems, is important. The current study investigates potential benefits of GTL fuel in respect of diesel particulate filters (DPF). Experiments were conducted on a Euro 4 TDI engine, comparing the DPF response to two different fuels, normal diesel and GTL fuel. The investigation focused on the accumulation and regeneration behavior of the DPF. Results indicated that GTL fuel reduced particulate formation to such an extent that the regeneration cycle was significantly elongated, by ∼70% compared with conventional diesel. Thus, the engine could operate for this increased time before the DPF reached maximum load and regeneration was needed.

The use of a newly developed approach results in a highly accurate three dimensional analysis of the occupant movement. The central point of the new method is the calculation of precise body-trajectories by fitting standard sensor-measurements to video analysis data. With the new method the accuracy of the calculated trajectories is better than 5 to 10 millimeters. These body trajectories then form the basis for a new multi-body based numerical method, which allows the three dimensional reconstruction of the dummy kinematics. In addition, forces and moments acting on every single body are determined. In principle, the body movement is reconstructed by prescribing external forces and moments to every single body requiring that it follows the measured trajectory. The newly developed approach provides additional accurate information for the development engineers. For example the motion of dummy body parts not tracked by video analysis can be determined.

Internal combustion engines with lean homogeneous charge and auto-ignition combustion of gasoline fuels have the capability to significantly reduce fuel consumption and realize ultra-low engine-out NOx emissions. Group research of Volkswagen AG has therefore defined the Gasoline Compression Ignition combustion (GCI®) concept. A detailed investigation of this novel combustion process has been carried out on test bench engines and test vehicles by group research of Volkswagen AG and IAV GmbH Gifhorn. Experimental results confirm the theoretically expected potential for improved efficiency and emissions behavior. Volkswagen AG and IAV GmbH will utilize a highly flexible externally supercharged variable valve train (VVT) engine for future investigations to extend the understanding of gas exchange and EGR strategy as well as the boost demands of gasoline auto-ignition combustion processes.

The objective of this paper is to present a simulation model for controlling combustion phasing in order to avoid knock in turbocharged SI engines. An empirically based knock model was integrated in a one-dimensional simulation tool. The empirical knock model was optimized and validated against engine tests for a variety of speeds and λ. This model can be used to optimize control strategies as well as design of new engine concepts. The model is able to predict knock onset with an accuracy of a few crank angle degrees. The phasing of the combustion provides information about optimal engine operating conditions.

A field problem associated with flakes of combustion chamber deposits getting trapped on the exhaust valve seat and causing starting problems has appeared recently. Four fuels have been tested in three different car models using a deposit flaking road test procedure. For each piston top, flaking can be characterised using T1 and T2, the mean deposit thickness on the piston crown before and after flaking respectively. A new measure of deposit flaking, ΔT, the mean of (T1-T2) averaged over all cylinders has been introduced and its variance established for the standard test using one of the models. ΔT quantifies the actual amount of deposits that have flaked and is likely to be a more relevant indicator of flaking for startability problems than Rw, the mean of the ratio of T2 to T1, used in previous work. Deposit flaking is directly related to an increase in valve leakage rates and startability problems.

Flow control by fluidic devices - without moving parts - offers advantages of reliability and low cost. As an example of their automobile application based on authors'' long-time experience the paper describes a fluidic valve for switching exhaust gas flow in a NOx absorber into a by-pass during regeneration phase. The unique feature here is the fluidic valve being of monostable and of axisymmetric design, integrated into the absorber body. After development in aerodynamic laboratory, the final design was tested on engine test stand and finally in a car. This proved that the performance under high temperature and pulsation existing in exhaust systems is reliable and promising. Fluidic valves require, however, close matching with aerodynamic load. To optimize the exhaust system layout for the whole load-speed range and reaching minimum counter- pressure, both the components of exhaust system and control strategy have to be properly adopted.

The well-to-wheel greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and energy use of selected alternative vehicles are compared to those of a conventional gasoline vehicle. The vehicle technologies investigated are internal combustion engine, hybrid and fuel cell technology. The fuels are assumed to be produced from either crude oil or natural gas. Wherever possible real data has been used. The study shows that hybrid vehicles emit a similar amount of greenhouse gas as fuel cell vehicles. The diesel hybrid uses the least primary energy. The least greenhouse gas emissions are produced by natural gas and hydrogen hybrid and fuel cell vehicles.