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Fundamental understanding of the sources of fuel-derived Unburned Hydrocarbon (UHC) emissions in heavy duty diesel engines is a key piece of knowledge that impacts engine combustion system development. Current emissions regulations for hydrocarbons can be difficult to meet in-cylinder and thus after treatment technologies such as oxidation catalysts are typically used, which can be costly. In this work, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations are combined with engine experiments in an effort to build an understanding of hydrocarbon sources. In the experiments, the combustion system design was varied through injector style, injector rate shape, combustion chamber geometry, and calibration, to study the impact on UHC emissions from mixing-controlled diesel combustion.

A number of oxidation catalysts have been prepared using different types of advanced support materials such as ceria-zirconia, silica-titania, spinels and perovskites. Active metals such as Pd and Au-Pd were loaded by conventional impregnation techniques and/or deposition-precipitation methods. A liquid hydrocarbon delivery system was designed and implemented for the catalyst test benches in order to simulate the diesel engine exhaust environment. The activity of fresh (no degreening) catalysts was evaluated with traditional CO and light hydrocarbons (C2H4, C3H6) as well as with heavy hydrocarbons such as C10 H22.

Various gold catalysts were prepared using commercial and in-house fabricated advanced catalyst supports that included mesoporous silica, mesoporous alumina, sol-gel alumina, and transition metal oxides. Gold nanoparticles were loaded on the supports by co-precipitation, deposition-precipitation, ion exchange and surface functionalization techniques. The average gold particle size was ∼20nm or less. The oxidation activity of the prepared catalysts was studied using carbon monoxide and light hydrocarbons (ethylene, propylene and propane) in presence of water and CO2 and the results are presented.

The effects of an oxidation catalytic converter (OCC), an emulsified fuel, and their combined effects on particle number and volume concentrations compared to those obtained when using a basefuel were studied. Particle size and particulate emission measurements were conducted at three operating conditions; idle (850 rpm, 35 Nm), Mode 11 (1900 rpm, 277 Nm) and Mode 9 (1900 rpm, 831 Nm) of the EPA 13 mode cycle. The individual effects of the emulsified fuel and the OCC as well as their combined effects on particle number and volume concentrations were studied at two different particle size ranges; the nuclei (less than or equal to 50 nm) and accumulation (greater than 50 nm) modes. An OCC loaded with 10 g/ft3 platinum metal (OCC1) and a 20% emulsified fuel were used for this study and a notable influence on the particle size with respect to number and volume distributions was observed.

A study was conducted to assess the effects of a water-diesel fuel emulsion with and without an oxidation catalytic converter (OCC) on steady-state heavy-duty diesel engine emissions. Two OCCs with different metal loading levels were used in this study. A 1988 Cummins L10-300 heavy-duty diesel engine was operated at the rated speed of 1900 rpm and at 75% and 25% load conditions (EPA modes 9 and 11 respectively) of the 13 mode steady-state test as well as at idle. Raw exhaust emissions' measurements included total hydrocarbons (HC), oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and nitric oxide (NO). Diluted exhaust measurements included total particulate matter (TPM) and its primary constituents, the soluble organic (SOF), sulfate (SO42-) and the carbonaceous solids (SOL) fractions. Vapor phase organic compounds (XOC) were also analyzed. The SOF and XOC samples were analyzed for selected polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).

China has become the world’s largest vehicle market in terms of sales volume. Automobiles sales keep growing in recent years despite the declining economic growth rate. Due to the increasing attention given to the environmental impact, more stringent emission regulations are being drafted to control traditional internal combustion engine emissions. In order to reduce vehicle emissions, environmentally-friendly new-energy vehicles, such as electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles, are being promoted by government policies. The Chinese government plans to boost sales of new-energy cars to account for about five percent of China’s total vehicle sales. It is well known that more electric and electronic components will be integrated into a vehicle platform during vehicle electrification.

Diesel engine downsizing aimed at reducing fuel consumption while meeting stringent exhaust emissions regulations is currently in high demand. The boost system architecture plays an essential role in providing adequate air flow rate for diesel fuel combustion while avoiding impaired transient response of the downsized engine. Electric Turbocharger Assist (ETA) technology integrates an electric motor/generator with the turbocharger to provide electrical power to assist compressor work or to electrically recover excess turbine power. Additionally, a variable geometry turbine (VGT) is able to bring an extra degree of freedom for the boost system optimization. The electrically-assisted turbocharger, coupled with VGT, provides an illuminating opportunity to increase the diesel engine power density and enhance the downsized engine transient response. This paper assesses the potential benefits of the electrically-assisted turbocharger with VGT to enable heavy-duty diesel engine downsizing.

Catalytic converters have been developed to reduce diesel engine emissions to aid in meeting the 1994 EPA on-highway standards for heavy duty (above 8,500 pound gross vehicle weight) trucks. As converters are made available for on-highway applications, questions inevitably arise as to their applicability to larger off-highway equipment. This paper covers the application of catalytic converters to a Caterpillar 785 off-highway truck operating in a diamond mine in Siberia. Targeted emissions for this application were unburned hydrocarbons (HC) (especially aldehydes), and carbon monoxide (CO). Experience from the on-highway converter development indicated oxidation catalysts could reduce these emissions. This paper addresses the development and selection of a catalytic converter for the 785 truck. Tradeoffs of vehicle modifications vs. catalytic converter performance and design are discussed.

The growth of auto sales in emerging markets provides a good opportunity for automakers. Cost is a key factor for any automaker to win in an emerging market. This paper analyzes risks and opportunities in a low cost manufacturing environment. The Chinese auto market is used as an example and three categories of risks are analyzed. A typical risk assessment for cost reduction includes the analysis of environment risks, process risks and strategic risks associated with all phases of a product life. In an emerging market, emission regulations are a rapidly-evolving environment variable, since most countries with less regulated emission codes try to catch up with the newly- developed technologies to meet sustainable growth targets. Emission regulations have a huge impact on product design, manufacturing and maintenance in the automotive industry, and hence the related cost reduction must be thoroughly analyzed during risk assessment.

Ducted fuel injection (DFI) was tested for the first time in a heavy-duty diesel metal engine. It was implemented on a Caterpillar 2.5-liter single-cylinder heavy-duty diesel engine fitted with a common rail fuel system and a Tier 4 final production piston. Engine tests consisted of single-injection timing sweeps at A100 and C100, where rail pressure and exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) were also varied. A 6-hole fuel injector tip with 205 am orifices was used with a 130° spray angle and rail pressures up to 250 MPa. The ducts were 14 mm long, had a 2.5 mm inner diameter, and were placed 3.8 mm away from the orifice exits. The ducts were attached to a base, which in turn was attached to the cylinder head with bolts. Furthermore, alignment of the ducts and their corresponding fuel jets was accomplished.

The increased availability of natural gas (NG) in the United States (US) and its relatively low cost compared to diesel fuel has heightened interest in the conversion of medium duty (MD) and heavy duty (HD) engines to NG fueled combustion systems. The aim for development for these NG engines is to realize fuel cost savings and reduce harmful emissions while maintaining durability. Transforming part of the vehicle fleet to NG is a path to reduce dependence on crude oil. Traditionally, port-fuel injection (PFI) or premixed NG spark-ignited (SI) combustion systems have been used for MD and HD engines with widespread use in the US and Europe. But this technology exhibits poor cycle efficiency and is load limited due to knock phenomenon. Direct Injection of NG during the compression stroke promises to deliver improved thermal efficiency by avoiding excessive premixing and extending the lean limits which helps to extend the knock limit.

Fuel properties impact the engine-out emission directly. For some geographic regions where diesel engines can meet emission regulations without aftertreatment, the change of fuel properties will lead to final tailpipe emission variation. Aftertreatment systems such as Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) and Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) are required for diesel engines to meet stringent regulations. These regulations include off-road Tier 4 Final emission regulations in the USA or the corresponding Stage IV emission regulations in Europe. As an engine with an aftertreatment system, the change of fuel properties will also affect the system conversion efficiency and regeneration cycle. Previous research works focus on prediction of engine-out emission, and many are based on chemical reactions. Due to the complex mixing, pyrolysis and reaction process in heterogeneous combustion, it is not cost-effective to find a general model to predict emission shifting due to fuel variation.

The use of numerical simulations in the development processes of engineering products has been more frequent, since it enables prediction of premature failures and study of new promising concepts. In industry, numerical simulation has the function of reducing the necessary number of validation tests prior to spending resources on alternatives with lower likelihood of success. The internal combustion Diesel engine plays an important role in Brazil, since they are used extensively in automotive applications and commercial cargo transportation, mainly due to their relevant advantage in fuel consumption and reliability. In this case, the most critical pollutants are oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and particulate matter (PM) or soot. The reduction of their levels without affecting the engine performance is not a simple task. This paper presents a methodology for guiding the combustion analysis by the prediction of NOx emissions and soot using numerical simulation.

While significant progress has been made in recent years to develop hybrid and battery electric vehicles for passenger car and light-duty applications to meet future fuel economy targets, the application of hybrid powertrains to heavy-duty truck applications has been very limited. The relatively lower energy and power density of batteries in comparison to diesel fuel and the operating profiles of most heavy-duty trucks, combine to make the application of hybrid powertrain for these applications more challenging. The high torque and power requirements of heavy-duty trucks over a long operating range, the majority of which is at constant cruise point, along with a high payback period, complexity, cost, weight and range anxiety, make the hybrid and battery electric solution less attractive than a conventional powertrain.