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The mixing and combustion processes of short double Diesel injections are investigated by optical diagnostics. A single hole Common Rail Diesel injector allowing high injection pressure up to 120MPa is used. The spray is observed in a high pressure, high temperature cell that reproduces the thermodynamic conditions which exist in the combustion chamber of a Diesel engine during injection. Three configurations are studied: a single short injection serving as a reference case and two double short injections with short and long dwell time (time between the injections). Several optical diagnostics were performed successively. The mixing process is studied by normalized Laser Induced Exciplex Fluorescence giving access to the vapor fuel concentration fields. In addition, the flow fields both inside and outside the jets are characterized by Particle Imaging Velocimetry.

The simultaneous reduction of engine-out nitrogen oxide (NOx) and particulate emissions via low-temperature combustion (LTC) strategies for compression-ignition engines is generally achieved via the use of high levels of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR). High EGR rates not only result in a drastic reduction of combustion temperatures to mitigate thermal NOx formation but also increases the level of pre-mixing thereby limiting particulate (soot) formation. However, highly pre-mixed combustion strategies such as LTC are usually limited at higher loads by excessively high heat release rates leading to unacceptable levels of combustion noise and particulate emissions. Further increasing the level of charge dilution (via EGR) can help to reduce combustion noise but maximum EGR rates are ultimately restricted by turbocharger and EGR path technologies.

Single cylinder optical engines are used for internal combustion (IC) engine research as they allow for the application of qualitative and quantitative non-intrusive, diagnostic techniques to study in-cylinder flow, mixing, combustion and emissions phenomena. Such experimental data is not only important for the validation of computational models but can also provide a detailed insight into the physical processes occurring in-cylinder which is useful for the further development of new combustion strategies such as gasoline homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) and Diesel low temperature combustion (LTC). In this context, it is therefore important to ensure that the performance of optical engines is comparable to standard all-metal engines. A comparison of optical and all-metal engine combustion and emissions performance was performed within the present study.

Previous research has shown that elevating fuel injection pressure results in better air-fuel mixture formation, allowing for a further increase in maximum exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) rate while consequently reducing NOx emissions. The aim of this paper is to find out whether there is an optimum injection pressure for lowest soot-NOx emissions at a given boost pressure in high-speed diesel engines. Experiments are carried out on a single-cylinder research engine with a prototype common-rail system, capable of more than 200 MPa injection pressure. The effect of injection pressure on soot-NOx formation is investigated for a variety of boost conditions, representing the conditions of single to multi-stage turbocharger systems. Analysis of the data is performed at the application relevant soot to NOx ratio of approximately 1:10. It is observed that above a critical injection pressure, soot-NOx emissions are not reduced any further.

Recent developments on highly downsized spark ignition engines have been focused on knocking behaviour improvement and the most advanced technologies combination can face up to 2.5 MPa IMEP while maintaining acceptable fuel consumption. Unfortunately, knocking is not the only limit that strongly downsized engines have to confront. The improvement of low-end torque is limited by another abnormal combustion which appears as a random pre-ignition. This violent phenomenon which emits a sharp metallic noise is unacceptable even on modern supercharged gasoline engines because of the great pressure rise that it causes in the cylinder (up to 20 MPa). The phases of this abnormal combustion have been analysed and a global mechanism has been identified consisting of a local ignition before the spark, followed by a propagating phase and ended by a massive auto-ignition. This last step finally causes a steep pressure rise and pressure oscillations.

The authors present the supervisory control of a parallel hybrid powertrain, focusing on several issues related to the real-time implementation of optimal control based techniques, such as the Equivalent Consumption Minimization Strategies (ECMS). Real-time implementation is introduced as an intermediate step of a complete chain of tools aimed at investigating the supervisory control problem. These tools comprise an offline optimizer based on Pontryagin Minimum Principle (PMP), a two-layer real-time control structure, and a modular engine-in-the-loop test bench. Control results are presented for a regulatory drive cycle with the aim of illustrating the benefits of optimal control in terms of fuel economy, the role of the optimization constraints dictated by drivability requirements, and the effectiveness of the feedback rule proposed for the adaptation of the equivalence factor (Lagrange multiplier).

The introduction of CO₂-reduction technologies like Start-Stop or the Hybrid-Powertrain and the future emission legislation require a detailed optimization of the engine start-up. The combustion concept development as well as the calibration of the ECU makes an explicit thermodynamic analysis of the combustion process during the start-up necessary. Initially, the well-known thermodynamic analysis of in-cylinder pressure at stationary condition was transmitted to the highly non-stationary engine start-up. There, the current models for calculation of the transient wall heat fluxes were found to be misleading. Therefore, adaptations to the start-up conditions of the known models by Woschni, Hohenberg and Bargende were introduced for calculation of the wall heat transfer coefficient in SI engines with gasoline direct injection. This paper shows how the indicated values can be measured during the engine start-up.

Diesel spray experimentation at controlled high-temperature and high-pressure conditions is intended to provide a more fundamental understanding of diesel combustion than can be achieved in engine experiments. This level of understanding is needed to develop the high-fidelity multi-scale CFD models that will be used to optimize future engine designs. Several spray chamber facilities capable of high-temperature, high-pressure conditions typical of engine combustion have been developed, but because of the uniqueness of each facility, there are uncertainties about their operation. For this paper, we describe results from comparative studies using constant-volume vessels at Sandia National Laboratories and IFP.

The introduction of alternative fuels is crucial to limit greenhouse gases. CNG is regarded as one of the most promising clean fuels given its worldwide availability, its low price and its intrinsic properties (high knocking resistance, low carbon content...). One way to optimize dedicated natural gas engines is to improve the CNG slow burning velocity compared to gasoline fuel and allow lean burn combustion mode. Besides optimization of the combustion chamber design, hydrogen addition to CNG is a promising solution to boost the combustion thanks to its fast burning rate, its wide flammability limits and its low quenching gap. This paper presents an investigation of different methane/hydrogen blends between 0% and 40 vol. % hydrogen ratio for three different combustion modes: stoichiometric, lean-burn and stoichiometric with EGR.

With a high thermal efficiency and low CO2 (carbon dioxide) emissions, Diesel engines become leader of transport market. However, the exhaust-gas legislation evolution leads to a drastic reduction of NOx (nitrogen oxide) standards with very low particulate, HC (unburned hydrocarbons) and CO (carbon monoxide) emissions, while combustion noise and fuel consumption must be kept under control. The reduction of the volumetric compression ratio (CR) is a key factor to reach this challenge, but it is today limited by the capabilities to provide acceptable performances during very cold operation: start and idle below −10°C. This paper focuses on the understanding of the main parameter’s impacts on cold operation. Effects of parameters like hardware configuration and calibration optimization are investigated on a real 4 cylinder Diesel 14:1 CR engine, with a combination of specific advanced tools.

Low temperature combustion is a promising way to reach low NOx emissions in Diesel engines but one of its drawbacks, in comparison to conventional Diesel combustion is the drastic increase of Unburned Hydrocarbons (UHC). In this study, the sources of UHC of a low temperature combustion system were investigated in both a standard, all-metal single-cylinder Diesel engine and an equivalent optically-accessible engine. The investigations were conducted under low load operating conditions (2 and 4 bar IMEP). Two piston bowl geometries were tested: a wall-guided and a more conventional Diesel chamber geometry. Engine parameters such as the start of injection (SOI) timing, the level of charge dilution via exhaust gas re-circulation (EGR), intake temperature, injection pressure and engine coolant temperature were varied. Furthermore, the level of swirl and the diameter of the injector nozzle holes were also varied in order to determine and quantify the sources of UHC.

Due to the increasingly stricter emission legislation and growing demands for lower fuel consumption, there have been significant efforts to improve combustion efficiency while satisfying the emission requirements. Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) combined with turbo/supercharging on gasoline engines provides a particularly promising and, at the same time, a challenging approach. Naturally aspirated (n.a.) HCCI has already shown a considerable potential of about 14% in the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) compared with a conventional 4-cylinder 2.0 liter gasoline Port Fuel Injection (PFI) engine without any advanced valve-train technology. The HCCI n.a. operation range is air breathing limited due to the hot residuals required for the self-ignition and to slow down reaction kinetics, and therefore is limited to a part-load operation area.

This paper presents an innovative methodology and the corresponding results of a study whose goal is to identify the main links between in-cylinder charge motion and the development of combustion without taking into consideration how to create this charge motion (shape of the intake ducts, valve timing, etc …). During this study a specific methodology was developed and used. It is based on the calculation of a “3D numerical test bench” matrix planned following the Design Of Experiments method. Many aerodynamic configurations obtained by combining the three main aerodynamic motions with several different intensities (tumble, cross-tumble or swirl) at the intake valve closing were calculated.

The air entrainment of multi-hole diesel injection is investigated by high speed Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) using a multi-hole common rail injector with an injection pressure of 100 MPa. The sprays are observed in a high pressure, high temperature cell that reproduces the thermodynamic conditions which exist in the combustion chamber of a diesel engine during injection. Typical ambient temperature of 800K and ambient density of 25 kg/m3 are chosen. The air entrainment is studied with the PIV technique, giving access to the velocity fields in the surrounding air and/or in the interior of two neighboring jets. High acquisition rate of 5000 Hz, corresponding to 200 μs between two consecutive image pairs is obtained by a high-speed camera coupled with a high-speed Nd:YLF laser. The effect of neighboring jets interaction is studied by comparing four injectors with different numbers of holes (4, 6, 8 and 12) with similar static mass flow rate per hole.

Future emissions standards for passenger cars require a reduction of NOx (nitrogen oxide) and CO₂ (carbon dioxide) emissions of diesel engines. One of the ways to reach this challenge while keeping other emissions under control (CO: carbon monoxide, HC: unburned hydrocarbons and particulates) is to reduce the volumetric compression ratio (CR). Nevertheless complications appear with this CR reduction, notably during very cold operation: start and idle. These complications justify intensifying the work in this area. Investigations were led on a real 4-cylinder diesel 13.7:1 CR engine, using complementary tools: experimental tests, in-cylinder visualizations and CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) calculations. In previous papers, the way the Main combustion takes place according to Pilot combustion behavior was highlighted. This paper, presents an in-depth study of mixture preparation and the subsequent combustion process.

In the context of CO₂ emission regulations and increase of energy prices, the downsizing of engine displacement is a widely discussed solution that allows a reduction of fuel consumption. However, high power density is required in order to maintain the power output and a good driveability. This study demonstrates the potential to strongly increase the specific power of High Speed Diesel Injection (HSDI) diesel engines. It includes the technological requirements to achieve high specific power and the optimal combination of engine settings to maximize specific power. The results are based on experimental work performed with a prototype single-cylinder engine (compression ratio of 14). Tests were conducted at full load, 4000 rpm. Part load requirements are also taken into account in the engine definition to be compatible with the targets of new emission standards.

Faced with the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, diesel engines present the advantage of having low CO₂ emission levels compared to spark-ignited engines. Nevertheless, diesel engines still suffer from the fact that they emit pollutants and, particularly nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulates (PM). One of the most promising ways to meet this challenge is to reduce the compression ratio (CR). However a current limitation in reducing the diesel CR is cold start requirements. In this context, the fuel characteristics such as the cetane number, which represents ignition, and volatility could impact cold start. That is why a matrix of 8 fuels was tested. The cetane number ranges from 47.3 to 70.9 and the volatility, represented by the temperature necessary to distillate 5% of the product (T5%), ranges from 173 to 198°C. The engine tests were carried out at -25°C, on a common rail 4-cylinder diesel engine.

In order to address the CO₂ emissions issue and to diversify the energy for transportation, CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) is considered as one of the most promising alternative fuels given its high octane number. However, gaseous injection decreases volumetric efficiency, impacting directly the maximal torque through a reduction of the cylinder fill-up. To overcome this drawback, both independent natural gas and gasoline indirect injection systems with dedicated engine control were fitted on a RENAULT 2.0L turbocharged SI (Spark Ignition) engine and were adapted for simultaneous operation. The main objective of this innovative combination of gas and liquid fuel injections is to increase the volumetric efficiency without losing the high knocking resistance of methane.

Diversifying energy resources and reducing greenhouse gas emissions are key priorities in the forthcoming years for the automotive industry. Currently, among the different solutions, sustainable biofuels are considered as one of the most attractive answer to these issues. This paper deals with the vehicle application of an innovative diesel fuel formulation using Ethanol to tackle these future challenges. The main goal is to better understand the impact of using biofuel blends on engine behavior, reliability and pollutants emissions. This alternative oxygenated fuel reduces dramatically particulate matter (PM) emissions; this paves the way to improve the NOx/PM/CO₂ trade-off. Another major interest is to avoid adding a particulate filter in the exhaust line and to avoid modifying powertrain and vehicle hardware and therefore to minimize the overall cost to fulfill upcoming emission regulations.

This study deals with a coupled experimental and modeling approach of Diesel Particulate Filter cracking. A coupled model (heat transfer, mass transfer, chemical reactions) is used to predict the temperature field inside the filter during the regeneration steps. This model consists of assembled 1D models and is calibrated using a set of laboratory bench tests. In this set of experiments, laboratory scale filters are tested in different conditions (variation of the oxygen rate and gas flow) and axial/radial thermal gradient are recorded with the use of thermocouples. This model is used to build a second set of laboratory bench tests, which is dedicated to the understanding of the phenomena of Diesel Particulate Filter cracking.