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In this article, the development challenges of a fuel cell system are explained using the example of the BREEZE! fuel cell range extender (FC-REX) applied in an FEV Liiona. The FEV Liiona is a battery electric vehicle based on a Fiat 500 developed by FEV. The BREEZE! system is the first applied 30 kW low temperature polymer electrolyte membrane (LT PEM) fuel cell system in the subcompact vehicle class. Due to the highly integrated system approach and dry cathode operation, a compact design of the range extender module with a system power density of 0.45 kW/l can be achieved so that the vehicle interior including trunk remains completely usable. System development for fuel cells significantly influences performance, efficiency, package, durability, and required maintenance effort of a fuel cell electric powertrain. In order to ensure safe and reliable operation, the fuel cell system has to be supplied with sufficient amounts of air, hydrogen, and coolant flows.

Sustainable and energy-efficient consumption is a main concern in contemporary society. Driven by more stringent international requirements, automobile manufacturers have shifted the focus of development into new technologies such as Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs). These powertrains offer significant improvements in the efficiency of the propulsion system compared to conventional vehicles, but they also lead to higher complexities in the design process and in the control strategy. In order to obtain an optimum powertrain configuration, each component has to be laid out considering the best powertrain efficiency. With such a perspective, a simulation study was performed for the purpose of minimizing well-to-wheel CO2 emissions of a city car through electrification. Three different innovative systems, a Series Hybrid Electric Vehicle (SHEV), a Mixed Hybrid Electric Vehicle (MHEV) and a Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) were compared to a conventional one.

An experimental analysis was executed on a NA (Natural Aspirated) 4-stroke gasoline engine to investigate the potential of exhaust waste energy recovery using power turbine technology for light duty application. Restrictions with decreasing diameter were mounted in the exhaust to simulate different vane positions of a VGT (Variable Geometry Turbine) and in-cylinder pressure measurements were performed to evaluate the effect of increased exhaust back pressure on intake- and exhaust pumping losses and on engine performance. Test points in the engine map were chosen on the basis of high residence time for the vehicle during the NEDC (New European Driving Cycle). The theoretically retrievable power was calculated in case a turbine is mounted instead of a restriction and the net balance was obtained between pumping power losses and recovered energy.

The optimization study presented herein is aimed to minimize the fuel consumption and engine-out emissions using commercially available EN15940 compatible HVO (Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil) fuel. The investigations were carried out on FEV’s 3rd generation HECS (High Efficiency Combustion System) multi-cylinder engine (1.6L, 4 Cylinder, Euro 6). Using a global DOE approach, the effects of calibration parameters on efficiency and emissions were obtained and analyzed. This was followed by a global optimization procedure to obtain a dedicated calibration for HVO. The study was aiming for efficiency improvement and it was found that at lower loads, higher fractions of low pressure EGR in combination with lower fuel injection pressures were favorable. At higher loads, a combustion center advancement, increase of injection pressure and reduced pilot injection quantities were possible without exceeding the noise and NOx levels of the baseline Diesel.

Owing to environmental and health concerns, tetraethyl lead was gradually phased out from the early 1970's to mid-1990's in most developed countries. Advances in refining, leading to more aromatics (via reformate) and iso-paraffins such as iso-octane, along with the introduction of (bio) oxygenates such as MTBE, ETBE and ethanol, facilitated the removal of lead without sacrificing RON and MON. In recent years, however, legislation has been moving in the direction of curbing aromatic and olefin content in gasoline, owing to similar concerns as was the case for lead. Meanwhile, concerns over global warming and energy security have motivated research into renewable fuels. Amongst which are those derived from biomass. The feedstock of interest in this study is lignin, which, together with hemicellulose and cellulose, is amongst the most abundant organic compounds on the planet.

The HSDI Diesel engine contributes substantially to the decrease of fleet fuel consumption thus to the reduction of CO2 emissions. This results in the rising market acceptance which is supported by desirable driving performance as well as greatly improved NVH behavior. In addition to the above mentioned requirements on driving performance, fuel economy and NVH behavior, continuously increasing demands on emissions performance have to be met. From today's view the Diesel particulate trap presents a safe technology to achieve the required reduction of the particle emission of more than 95%. However, according to today's knowledge a further, substantial NOx engine-out emission reduction for the Diesel engine is counteracts with the other goal of reduced fuel consumption. To comply with current and future emission standards, Diesel engines will require DeNOx technologies.

Due to the complex powertrain layout in hybrid vehicles, different configurations concerning internal combustion engine, electric motor and transmission can be combined - as is demonstrated by currently produced hybrid vehicles ([1], [2]). At the Institute for Combustion Engines (VKA) at RWTH Aachen University a combination of simulation, Design of Experiments (DoE) and numerical optimization methods was used to optimize the combustion engine, the powertrain configuration and the operation strategy in hybrid powertrains. A parametric description allows a variation of the main hybrid parameters. Parallel as well as power-split hybrid powertrain configurations were optimized with regard to minimum fuel consumption in the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC). Besides the definition of the optimum configuration for engine, powertrain and operation strategy this approach offers the possibility to predict the fuel consumption for any modifications of the hybrid powertrains.

The high-speed Dl-diesel engine has made a significant advance since the beginning of the 90's in the Western European passenger car market. Apart from the traditional advantage in fuel economy, further factors contributing to this success have been significantly improved performance and power density, as well as the permanent progress made in acoustics and comfort. In addition to the efforts to improve efficiency of automotive powertrains, the requirement for cleaner air increases through the continuous worldwide restriction of emissions by legislative regulations for diesel engines. Against the backdrop of global climate change, significant reduction of CO2 is observed. Hence, for the future, engine and vehicle concepts are needed, that, while maintaining the well-established attractive market attributes, compare more favorably with regard to fuel consumption.

The technology used in hybrid vehicle concepts is significantly different from conventional vehicle technology with consequences also for the noise and vibration behavior. In conventional vehicles, certain noise phenomena are masked by the engine noise. In situations where the combustion engine is turned off in hybrid vehicle concepts, these noise components can become dominant and annoying. In hybrid concepts, the driving condition is often decoupled from the operation state of the combustion engine, which leads to unusual and unexpected acoustical behavior. New acoustic phenomena such as magnetic noise due to recuperation occur, caused by new components and driving conditions. The analysis of this recuperation noise by means of interior noise simulation shows, that it is not only induced by the powertrain radiation but also by the noise path via the powertrain mounts. The additional degrees of freedom of the hybrid drive train can also be used to improve the vibrational behavior.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of spray-bowl interaction on combustion, and pollutants formation at one specific high-load point of a single-cylinder small-bore diesel engine through computational analysis. The simulations are performed using Representative Interactive Flamelet (RIF) model with detailed chemical kinetics. Detailed chemistry-based soot model is used for the prediction of soot emissions. The simulations are performed for five different injection timings. Model-predicted cylinder pressure and exhaust emissions are validated against the measured data for all the injection timings. A new method - Two-part analysis - is then applied to investigate the spray-bowl interaction. Two-part analysis splits the volume of the combustion chamber into two, namely the piston bowl and the squish volume. Through analysis, among others the histories of soot, carbon monoxide (CO) and nitric oxide (NO ) emissions inside both volumes are shown.

Since the CO2 emissions of passenger car traffic and their greenhouse potential are in the public interest, natural gas (CNG) is discussed as an attractive alternative fuel. The engine concepts that have been applied to date are mainly based upon common gasoline engine technology. In addition, in mono-fuel applications, it is made use of an increased compression ratio -thanks to the RON (Research Octane Number) potential of CNG-, which allows for thermodynamic benefits. This paper presents advanced engine concepts that make further use of the potentials linked to CNG. Above all, the improved knock tolerance, which can be particularly utilized in turbocharged engine concepts. For bi-fuel (CNG/gasoline) power trains, the realization of variable compression ratio is of special interest. Moreover, lean burn technology is a perfect match for CNG engines. Fuel economy and emission level are evaluated basing on test bench and vehicle investigations.

The demand for lower CO2 emissions requires not just the optimization of every single component but the complete system. For a transmission system, it is important to optimize the transmission hardware as we well as the interaction of powertrain components. For automatic transmission with wide ratio spreads, the main losses are caused by the actuation system, which can be reduced with use of ondemand actuation systems. In this paper, a new on-demand electromechanical actuation system with validation results on a clutch test bench is presented. The electro-mechanical actuator shows an increase in the efficiency of 4.1 % compared to the conventional hydraulic actuation in a simulated NEDC (New European Driving Cycle) cycle. This increase is based on the powerless end positions of the actuator (engaged and disengaged clutch). The thermal tension and wear are compensated with a disk spring. This allows a stable control over service life.

The Free Space Parameter (FSP) is evaluated as a predictor for the efficiency of a Variable Geometry Turbine (VGT). Experiments show an optimum value at 2 times the vane height. However, the optimum was found to be dependent on the pressure ratio, yielding an optimum closer to 2.5 at pressures of 2 and 2.5 bar. After this validation the FSP of a conventional VGT is evaluated and an attempt is made to improve the efficiency of this turbine using the FSP. A new geometry is proposed which yields more favorable FSP values. Experiments show that at the original design point the efficiency is unchanged. However, at both larger and smaller nozzle area’s the turbine efficiency improves as predicted by the FSP values. A relative efficiency improvement of 3 to 28 % is attained.

It is well known that the addition of gaseous fuels to the intake manifold of diesel engines can have significant benefits in terms of both reducing emissions of hazardous gases and soot and improving fuel economy. Particularly, the addition of LPG has been investigated in numerous studies. Drawbacks, however, of such dual fuel strategies can be found in storage complexity and end-user inconvenience. It is for this reason that on-board refining of a single fuel (for example, diesel) could be an interesting alternative. A second-generation fuel reformer has been engineered and successfully tested. The reformer can work with both gaseous and liquid fuels and by means of partial oxidation of a rich fuel-air mix, converts these into syngas: a mixture of H₂ and CO. The process occurs as partial oxidation takes place in an adiabatic ceramic reaction chamber. High efficiency is ensured by the high temperature inside the chamber due to heat release.

To improve the mixing of fuel and air in the combustion chamber of current diesel engines, research is carried out regarding injectors with a porous nozzle tip, replacing conventional nozzles with a limited number of holes. Preliminary tests with porous injectors showed that further research concerning spray distribution was necessary due to non-optimal spray shapes and low fuel velocities. Therefore, spray shapes and fuel velocities of porous injectors were examined at atmospheric pressures. These examinations show that the spray shapes can be adjusted by alternating the geometries. Geometrical influences have been studied and compared to conventional injectors, showing that the fuel velocity of the porous injectors has decreased with approximately a factor of 10. Subsequently, research concerning the lifetime of porous nozzles was necessary due to premature failure.

One of the challenges faced when using Li-ion batteries in electric vehicles is to keep the cell temperatures below a given threshold. Mathematical modeling would indeed be an efficient tool to test virtually this requirement and accelerate the battery product lifecycle. Moreover, temperature predicting models could potentially be used on-board to decrease the limitations associated with sensor based temperature feedbacks. Accordingly, we present a complete modeling procedure which was used to calculate the cell temperatures during a given electric vehicle trip. The procedure includes a simple vehicle dynamics model, an equivalent circuit battery model, and a 3D finite element thermal model. Model parameters were identified from measurements taken during constant current and pulse current discharge tests. The cell temperatures corresponding to an actual electric vehicle trip were calculated and compared with measured values.

This paper illustrates the results of an experimental study on the impact of a low cetane number (CN) oxygenated fuel on the combustion process and emissions of a light-duty (LD) single-cylinder research engine. In an earlier study, it was concluded that cyclic oxygenates consistently outperformed their straight and branched counterparts at equal oxygen content and with respect to lowering soot emissions. A clear correlation was reported linking soot and CN, with lower CN fuels leading to more favorable soot levels. It was concluded that a lower CN fuel, when realized by adding low reactive cyclic oxygenates to commercial diesel fuel, manifests in longer ignition delays and thus more premixing. Ultimately, a higher degree of premixing, in turn, was thought to suppress soot formation rates.

In view of limited crude oil resources, alternative fuels for internal combustion engines are currently being intensively researched. Synthetic fuels from natural gas offer a promising interim option before the development of CO2-neutral fuels. Up to a certain degree, these fuels can be tailored to the demands of modern engines, thus allowing a concurrent optimization of both the engine and the fuel. This paper summarizes investigations of a Gas-To-Liquid (GTL) diesel fuel in a modern, post-EURO 4 compliant diesel engine. The focus of the investigations was on power output, emissions performance and fuel economy, as well as acoustic performance, in comparison to a commercial EU diesel fuel. The engine investigations were accompanied by injection laboratory studies in order to assist in the performance analyses.

Cyclic fluctuations of the in-cylinder processes in a Direct Injection Spark Ignition (DISI) engine may strongly affect the engine operation causing misfires or variations in the indicated mean effective pressure (imep). Particularly misfires prevent compliance with current or future exhaust emission legislations. Nevertheless, the origin of cyclic fluctuations is not well understood since fluctuations of in-cylinder air flow, fuel injection and wall interaction have to be considered. This paper focusses on a detailed experimental analysis of the origin of cyclic fluctuations in a DISI engine with an air guided combustion process by means of advanced Laser Induced Exciplex Fluorescence (LIEF) measurements. It reveals that cycle-to-cycle variations primarily originate from the air/fuel ratio at the spark plug.

The use of pistons made of fine grain carbon was investigated in a spark-ignition engine within a European Community funded research project (TPRO-CT92-0008). Pistons were designed and manufactured and then tested in a single cylinder engine. Due to the carbon material's lower coefficient of thermal expansion the top land clearance between piston and cylinder can be reduced by a factor of three in comparison to standard aluminium designs. Under steady-state part-load operating conditions the emission of unburned hydrocarbons can be reduced by more than 15% compared to aluminium pistons, without significant penalties in NOx-emissions. Simultaneously, a small improvement in fuel economy of about 2% is observed. At full-load blow-by leakage flow is reduced by more than 50%. The piston crown temperature is about 30°C higher with the carbon piston than with the standard aluminium piston, due to the lower thermal conductivity of the carbon material.