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The CRC Fuels for Advanced Combustion Engines working group has worked to identify a matrix of research diesel fuels for use in advanced combustion research applications. Nine fuels were specified and formulated to investigate the effects of cetane number aromatic content and 90% distillation fraction. Standard ASTM analyses were performed on the fuels as well as GC/MS and1H/13C NMR analyses and thermodynamic characterizations. Details of the actual results of the fuel formulations compared with the design values are presented, as well as results from standard analyses, such as heating value, viscosity and density. Cetane number characterizations were accomplished by using both the engine method and the Ignition Quality Tester (IQT™) apparatus.

A prototype 2007 ISL Cummins diesel engine equipped with a diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC), diesel particle filter (DPF), variable geometry turbocharger (VGT), and cooled exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) was tested at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) under a high-load accelerated durability cycle for 1000 hours with B20 soy-based biodiesel blends and ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) fuel to determine the impact of B20 on engine durability, performance, emissions, and fuel consumption. At the completion of the 1000-hour test, a thorough engine teardown evaluation of the overhead, power transfer, cylinder, cooling, lube, air handling, gaskets, aftertreatment, and fuel system parts was performed. The engine operated successfully with no biodiesel-related failures. Results indicate that engine performance was essentially the same when tested at 125 and 1000 hours of accumulated durability operation.

This paper reports the development of new fuel ignition quality and combustion experiments performed using the Ignition Quality Tester (IQT). Prior SAE papers (961182, 971636, 1999-01-3591, and 2001-01-3527) documented the development of the IQT constant volume combustion chamber experimental apparatus to measure ignition qualities of diesel-type fuels. The ASTM International test method D6890 was developed around the IQT device to allow the rapid determination of derived cetane number (DCN). Interest in chemical kinetic models for the ignition of diesel and biodiesel model compounds is increasing to support the development of advanced engines and fuels. However, rigorous experimental validation of these kinetic models has been limited for a variety of reasons. Shock tubes and rapid compression machines are typically limited to premixed gas-phase studies, for example.

It is widely understood that cold ambient temperatures increase vehicle fuel consumption due to heat transfer losses, increased friction (increased viscosity lubricants), and enrichment strategies (accelerated catalyst heating). However, relatively little effort has been dedicated to thoroughly quantifying these impacts across a large set of real world drive cycle data and ambient conditions. This work leverages experimental dynamometer vehicle data collected under various drive cycles and ambient conditions to develop a simplified modeling framework for quantifying thermal effects on vehicle energy consumption. These models are applied over a wide array of real-world usage profiles and typical meteorological data to develop estimates of in-use fuel economy. The paper concludes with a discussion of how this integrated testing/modeling approach may be applied to quantify real-world, off-cycle fuel economy benefits of various technologies.

National concerns over energy consumption and emissions from the transportation sector have prompted regulatory agencies to implement aggressive fuel economy targets for light-duty vehicles through the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration/Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) program. Automotive manufacturers have responded by bringing competitive technologies to market that maximize efficiency while meeting or exceeding consumer performance and comfort expectations. In a collaborative effort among Toyota Motor Corporation, Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the real-world savings of one such technology is evaluated. A commercially available Toyota Highlander equipped with two-phase cold storage technology was tested at ANL’s chassis dynamometer testing facility.

When operated, the cabin climate control system is the largest auxiliary load on a vehicle. This load has significant impact on fuel economy for conventional and hybrid vehicles, and it drastically reduces the driving range of all-electric vehicles (EVs). Heating is even more detrimental to EV range than cooling because no engine waste heat is available. Reducing the thermal loads on the vehicle climate control system will extend driving range and increase the market penetration of EVs. Researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory have evaluated strategies for vehicle climate control load reduction with special attention toward grid-connected electric vehicles. Outdoor vehicle thermal testing and computational modeling were used to assess potential strategies for improved thermal management and to evaluate the effectiveness of thermal load reduction technologies. A human physiology model was also used to evaluate the impact on occupant thermal comfort.

The latent heat-of-vaporization (HoV) of blends of biofuel and hydrocarbon components into gasolines has recently experienced expanded interest because of the potential for increased HoV to increase fuel knock resistance in direct-injection (DI) engines. Several studies have been conducted, with some studies identifying an additional anti-knock benefit from HoV and others failing to arrive at the same conclusion. Consideration of these studies holistically shows that they can be grouped according to the level of fuel octane sensitivity variation within their fuel matrices. When comparing fuels of different octane sensitivity significant additional anti-knock benefits associated with HoV are sometimes observed. Studies that fix the octane sensitivity find that HoV does not produce additional anti-knock benefit. New studies were performed at ORNL and NREL to further investigate the relationship between HoV and octane sensitivity.

Modeling and simulation are crucial in the development of advanced energy efficient control strategies. Utilizing real-world driving data as the underlying basis for control design and simulation lends veracity to projected real-world energy savings. Standardized drive cycles are limited in their utility for evaluating advanced driving strategies that utilize connectivity and on-vehicle sensing, primarily because they are typically intended for evaluating emissions and fuel economy under controlled conditions. Real-world driving data, because of its scale, is a useful representation of various road types, driving styles, and driving environments. The scale of real-world data also presents challenges in effectively using it in simulations. A fast and efficient simulation methodology is necessary to handle the large number of simulations performed for design analysis and impact evaluation of control strategies.

Due to raising interest in diesel powered passenger cars in the U.S. in combination with a desire to reduce dependency on imported petroleum, there has been increased attention to the operation of diesel vehicles on fuels blended with biodiesel. One of several factors to be considered when operating a vehicle on biodiesel blends is understanding the impact and performance of the fuel on the emission control system. This paper documents the impact of the biodiesel blends on engine-out emissions as well as the overall system performance in terms of emission control system calibration and the overall system efficiency. The testing platform is a light-duty HSDI diesel engine with a Euro 4 base calibration in a 1700 kg sedan vehicle. It employs 2nd generation common-rail injection system with peak pressure of 1600 bar as well as cooled high-pressure EGR. The study includes 3 different fuels (U.S.

Raising interest in Diesel powered passenger cars in the United States in combination with the government mandated policy to reduce dependency of foreign oil, leads to the desire of operating Diesel vehicles with Biodiesel fuel blends. There is only limited information related to the impact of Biodiesel fuels on the performance of advanced emission control systems. In this project the implementation of a NOx storage and a SCR emission control system and the development for optimal performance are evaluated. The main focus remains on the discussion of the differences between the fuels which is done for the development as well as useful life aged components. From emission control standpoint only marginal effects could be observed as a result of the Biodiesel operation. The NOx storage catalyst results showed lower tailpipe emissions which were attributed to the lower exhaust temperature profile during the test cycle. The SCR catalyst tailpipe results were fuel neutral.

Experiments were conducted with ultra low sulfur diesel (ULSD) and 20% biodiesel blends (B20) to compare lube oil dilution levels and lubricant properties for systems using late in-cylinder fuel injection for aftertreatment regeneration. Lube oil dilution was measured by gas chromatography (GC) following ASTM method D3524 to measure diesel content, by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometry following a modified ASTM method D7371 to measure biodiesel content, and by a newly developed back-flush GC method that simultaneously measures both diesel and biodiesel. Heavy-duty (HD) engine testing was conducted on a 2008 6.7L Cummins ISB equipped with a diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC) and diesel particle filter (DPF). Stage one of engine testing consisted of 10 consecutive repeats of a forced DPF regeneration event. This continuous operation with late in-cylinder fuel injection served as a method to accelerate lube-oil dilution.

While it is well known that “MPG will vary” based on how one drives, little independent research exists on the aggregate fuel savings potential of improving driver efficiency and on the best ways to motivate driver behavior changes. This paper finds that reasonable driving style changes could deliver significant national petroleum savings, but that current feedback approaches may be insufficient to convince many people to adopt efficient driving habits. To quantify the outer bound fuel savings for drive cycle modification, the project examines completely eliminating stop-and-go driving plus unnecessary idling, and adjusting acceleration rates and cruising speeds to ideal levels. Even without changing the vehicle powertrain, such extreme adjustments result in dramatic fuel savings of over 30%, but would in reality only be achievable through automated control of vehicles and traffic flow.

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.

In some studies, a relationship has been observed between increasing ethanol content in gasoline and increased particulate matter (PM) emissions from vehicles equipped with spark ignition engines. The fundamental cause of the PM increase seen for moderate ethanol concentrations is not well understood. Ethanol features a greater heat of vaporization (HOV) than gasoline and also influences vaporization by altering the liquid and vapor composition throughout the distillation process. A droplet vaporization model was developed to explore ethanol’s effect on the evaporation of aromatic compounds known to be PM precursors. The evolving droplet composition is modeled as a distillation process, with non-ideal interactions between oxygenates and hydrocarbons accounted for using UNIFAC group contribution theory. Predicted composition and distillation curves were validated by experiments.

There has been an increasing interest in exploring the potential to reduce energy consumption of future connected and automated vehicles. People have extensively studied various eco-driving implementations that leverage preview information provided by on-board sensors and connectivity, as well as the control authority enabled by automation. Quantitative real-world evaluation of eco-driving benefits is a challenging task. The standard regulatory driving cycles used for measuring exhaust emissions and fuel economy are not truly representative of real-world driving, nor for capturing how connectivity and automation might influence driving trajectories. To adequately consider real-world driving behavior and potential “off-cycle” impacts, this paper presents four collaborative evaluation methods: large-scale simulation, in-depth simulation, vehicle-in-the-loop testing, and vehicle road testing.

The goal of this project was to demonstrate a low emissions, high efficiency heavy-duty on-highway natural gas engine. The emissions targets for this project are to demonstrate US 2010 emissions standards on the 13-mode steady state test. To meet this goal, a chemically correct combustion (stoichiometric) natural gas engine with exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) and a three way catalyst (TWC) was developed. In addition, a Sturman Industries, Inc. camless Hydraulic Valve Actuation (HVA) system was used to improve efficiency. A Volvo 11 liter diesel engine was converted to operate as a stoichiometric natural gas engine. Operating a natural gas engine with stoichiometric combustion allows for the effective use of a TWC, which can simultaneously oxidize hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide and reduce NOx. High conversion efficiencies are possible through proper control of air-fuel ratio.

The air-conditioning (A/C) compressor load significantly impacts the fuel economy of conventional vehicles and the fuel use/range of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV). A National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) vehicle performance analysis shows the operation of the air conditioner reduces the charge depletion range of a 40-mile range PHEV from 18% to 30% in a worst case hot environment. Designing for air conditioning electrical loads impacts PHEV and electric vehicle (EV) energy storage system size and cost. While automobile manufacturers have climate control procedures to assess A/C performance, and the U.S. EPA has the SCO3 drive cycle to measure indirect A/C emissions, there is no automotive industry consensus on a vehicle level A/C fuel use test procedure. With increasing attention on A/C fuel use due to increased regulatory activities and the development of PHEVs and EVs, a test procedure is needed to accurately assess the impact of climate control loads.

Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) appear to be a promising solution for the future of clean and efficient personal transportation. Issues of how to generate the hydrogen and then store it on-board to provide satisfactory driving range must still be resolved before they can compete with conventional vehicles. Alternatively, FCVs could obtain hydrogen from on-board reforming of gasoline or other fuels such as methanol or ethanol. On-board reformers convert fuel into a hydrogen-rich fuel stream through catalytic reactions in several stages. The high temperatures associated with fuel processing present an engineering challenge to warm up the reformer quickly and efficiently in a vehicle environment. Without a special warmup phase or vehicle hybridization, the reformer and fuel cell system must provide all power to move the vehicle, including ¼ power in 30 s, and ½ power in 3 min to satisfy the Federal Test Procedure (FTP) cycle demands.

Increasing fuel costs and the desire for reduced dependence on foreign oil has brought the diesel engine to the forefront of future medium-duty vehicle applications in the United States due to its higher thermal efficiency and superior durability. The main obstacle to the increased use of diesel engines in this platform is the upcoming extremely stringent, Tier 2 emission standard. In order to succeed, diesel vehicles must comply with emissions standards while maintaining their excellent fuel economy. The availability of technologies such as common rail fuel injection systems, low sulfur diesel fuel, NOX adsorber catalysts (NAC), and diesel particle filters (DPFs) allow the development of powertrain systems that have the potential to comply with these future requirements. In meeting the Tier 2 emissions standards, the heavy light-duty trucks (HLDTs) and medium-duty passenger vehicles (MDPVs) will face the greatest technological challenges. In support of this, the U.S.

Increasing fuel costs and the desire for reduced dependence on foreign oil has brought the diesel engine to the forefront of future medium-duty vehicle applications in the United States due to its higher thermal efficiency and superior durability. The main obstacle to the increased use of diesel engines in this platform is the upcoming extremely stringent, Tier 2 emission standard. In order to succeed, diesel vehicles must comply with emissions standards while maintaining their excellent fuel economy. The availability of technologies such as common rail fuel injection systems, low sulfur diesel fuel, NOX adsorber catalysts (NAC), and diesel particle filters (DPFs) allow the development of powertrain systems that have the potential to comply with these future requirements. In meeting the Tier 2 emissions standards, the heavy light-duty trucks (HLDTs) and medium-duty passenger vehicles (MDPVs) will face the greatest technological challenges. In support of this, the U.S.