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This study experimentally investigates the control system and the algorithm after constructing a HCCI combustion control system for the development of a small HCCI engine fuelled with Dimethyl Ether (DME). This system can control four throttles for the mixing ratio of three gases of in-cylinder (stoichiometric pre-mixture, hot EGR gas and cold EGR gas). At first, the combustion behavior for combustion phasing retarded operation with cold and hot EGR was examined. Then, the potential of model-based and feed back control for HCCI combustion with change of the demand of IMEP was investigated. In the end, the limit of combustion-phasing retard for IMEP and PRR was explored. Results shows that to get high IMEP with acceptable PRR and low coefficient of variation of IMEP, crank angle of 50% heat release (CA50) should be controlled at constant phasing in the expansion stroke. CA50 can be controlled by changing the ratio of pre-mixture, hot EGR gas and cold EGR gas with throttles.

Recently, a potentiality of Dedicated EGR (D-EGR) concept SI engine has been studied. This concept engine had four cylinders and operated with exhaust gas supplied from the single cylinder to the intake manifold. Compared with conventional SI engines, it was able to increase thermal efficiency and decrease CO, HC, and NOx emission by the high D-EGR ratio 0.25. In this study, numerical analysis of a SI engine with D-EGR system with various D-EGR ratios was conducted for detailed understanding the potentiality of this concept in terms of thermal efficiency and NOx emission. #1 cylinder of assumed engine was used as D-EGR cylinder that equivalence ratio varied from 0.6 to 3.4. Entire exhaust gas from #1 cylinder was recirculated to the other cylinders. The other cylinders run with this exhaust gas and new premixed air and fuel with various equivalence ratios from 0.6-1.0.

In recent years, catalyst systems such as a lean NOx trap (LNT) catalyst system and a urea selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system have been developed to obtain cleaner diesel emissions. At Nissan, we developed an emission control system for meeting Tier 2 Bin 5 requirements in 2003. On the basis of that technology, a new HC-NOx trap catalyst system has now been developed that complies with the SULEV standards without increasing the catalyst volume and precious metal loading. Compliance with the SULEV standards requires a further reduction of HC (NMHC) emissions by 84% and NOx by 60% compared with the emission performance Tier 2 Bin 5 compliant catalyst system. Consequently high conversion performance for both HCs and NOx is needed. An investigation of HC emission behavior under the FTP75 mode showed that a reduction of cold-phase HCs was critical for meeting the standard. Large quantities of HCs above C4 are emitted in the cold state.

This study computationally investigates the combined effects of EGR and boost pressure on HCCI autoignition using iso-octane, PRF50 and n-heptane. The computations were conducted using the single-zone model of CHEMKIN included in CHEMKIN-PRO with detailed chemical-kinetics mechanisms for iso-octane, PRF and n-heptane from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). To better reproduce the state of EGR addition in real engine, the EGR composition is determined after several combustion cycles under the constant amount of fuel. All data points were acquired with a CA50 of 5°CA aTDC by adjusting initial temperature to remove the effect of combustion phasing, which can influence on HCCI autoignition from any effect of the EGR and boost pressure themselves. The results show that EGR increases the burn duration and reduces the maximum pressure-rise rate with lower peak of maximum heat-release rates for all fuels even for a boost pressure, which accelerates a HCCI autoignition propensity.

This study has been computationally investigated how the DME autoignition reactivity is affected by EGR and intake-pressure boost over various engine speed. CHEMKIN-PRO was used as a solver and chemical-kinetics mechanism for DME was utilized from Curran's model. We examined first the influence of EGR addition on autoignition reactivity using contribution matrix. Investigations concentrate on the HCCI combustion of DME at wide ranges of engine speeds and intake-pressure boost with EGR rates and their effects on variations of autoignition timings, combustion durations in two-stage combustion process in-detail including reaction rates of dominant reactions involved in autoignition process. The results show that EGR addition increases the combustion duration by lowering reaction rates.

The HCCI engine could offer low NOx, PM emissions and high efficiency. However the operation region of the HCCI combustion is limited because of the knocking at high load and the misfire at low load. Moreover the HCCI principle lacks direct combustion control and needs a system to control the combustion phasing with high accuracy. Today there exists various ways to control the HCCI combustion, such as Variable Valve Train, Variable Compression Ratio, Inlet Air Heating and Dual Fuels. However such variable mechanisms and Inlet Air Heating tend to be heavy and complex. Dual Fuels method needs two types of fuels and has a challenge in infrastructure. In this study, in order to develop a small and light HCCI engine, a simple HCCI combustion control system is proposed. DME (Di-methyl Ether) is used as the fuel to keep the structure small and light. In this system, the mixing ratio of three gases: stoichiometric pre-mixture, hot EGR gas and cold EGR gas is changed by only throttles.

A significant drawback to HCCI engines is the knocking caused by rapid increases in pressure. Such knocking limits the capacity for high-load operation. To solve this problem, thermal stratification in the combustion chamber has been suggested as possible solution. Thermal stratification has the potential to reduce the maximum value of the rate of pressure increase combustion by affecting the local combustion start time and extending the duration of combustion. The purpose of this study was to experimentally obtain fundamental knowledge about the effect of thermal stratification on the HCCI combustion process. Experiments were conducted in a rapid compression machine (RCM) equipped with a quartz window to provide optical access to the combustion chamber. The machine was fueled with DME, n-Butane, n-Heptane and iso-Octane, all of which are currently being investigated as alternative fuels and have different low temperature characteristics.

As a research of low temperature regeneration of DPF, combustion mechanism of diesel particulate matter (PM) trapped in DPF was investigated. For the assumption of PM combustion mechanism, the relationship between PM combustion characteristics and the physical properties of PM particles was investigated by using thermal and spectroscopic analysis methods. Experimental PM samples were produced under typical engine operating conditions using three representative fuels, two commercial diesel fuels containing aromatics (JIS-2 and Class 1) and a paraffin fuel that was prepared in a gas-to-liquid (GTL) process and did not contain any aromatics. Based upon these characteristics and combustion test results of the PM samples, a mechanism of the PM combustion was assumed. And the crystallinity of PM particles and existence of some surface functional groups containing oxygen are thought to be the important factors to lower the temperature of PM combustion., independent of the fuel type.

The process of forming mixtures of injected fuels and ambient air has significant effects on the ignition and combustion process in the direct injection engine. In these engines fuel is injected intermittently and fuel jet impinges on a combustion chamber wall. This study deals with a fundamental experiment on the mixing process of the transient gas jet together with the instantaneous concentration measurement and statistical analysis of the transient turbulent mixing process in the jet. Helium or carbon dioxide is injected at constant pressure into quiescent atmosphere through the single shot device. This paper presents a laboratory automation system for measuring the characteristics of transient gas jet and processing the data. A discussion on the process of mixture formation of transient gas jets impinging on a wall is carried out with time- and space- resolved concentration distribution.

The Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) engine is possible to achieve high thermal efficiency and low emissions. One of the main challenges with HCCI engines is structuring the systems to control combustion phasing, crank angle of 50% heat release (CA50), for keeping high thermal efficiency and avoiding an excessive rate of pressure rise which causes knocking, when operating conditions vary. Though some HCCI combustion control systems, for example Variable Valve Timing System and Variable Compression Ratio System, have been suggested, these control systems are complex and heavy. In this study, for the development of a lightweight and small-sized generator HCCI engine fuelled with Dimethyl Ether (DME) which is low-emission and easy to autoignite, a simple HCCI combustion control system is suggested, and the control system is evaluated experimentally.

The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of the effects of in-cylinder gas temperature stratification on reducing the pressure-rise rate in HCCI combustion. HCCI combustion was investigated using an optically accessible engine and direct visualization of the combustion chemiluminescence. The engine was fueled with Di-Methyl Ether. Computational work was conducted on the gas compression and expansion strokes in HCCI engine with simple 0-dimensinal multi-zones model. When fuel inhomogeneous charging in experiment, maximum heat release rate decreased. Combustion duration got longer. Maximum pressure-rise rate decreased. Chemiluminescence, of which transition was identified from the side of intake valve to the side of exhaust valve, was observed. It is need for total moderate heat release to get local moderate combustion with not overall but continuous combustion in chamber.

Nitrogen oxides, collectively called NOx, from diesel vehicles are considered to be accumulated by particular area of roadsides, so-called "Hot-spot," and result in harmful influence to pedestrians and residents by roadsides. Japanese regulations over emissions of diesel vehicles have been tightened year by year and adopting regulations, emissions in mode test on chassis dynamometer or engine dynamometer have reduced. In this research, it was investigated the effect of introduce of transient mode test, Japanese JE05 mode, to NOx emission in real world and to roadside NOx pollution by road test using on-board measurement system. As test vehicles, 2 ton diesel vehicle which is adopted for Long Term Regulation (steady-state mode test, Diesel 31 mode test, 1998) and 3 ton diesel vehicle adopted for New Long Term Regulation (transient mode test, Japanese JE05 mode, 2005) with on-board measurement system was used.

For the reduction of greenhouse gas emission in the transportation sector, various countermeasures against CO₂ emission have been taken. The eco-driving has been paid attention because of its immediate effect on the CO₂ reduction. Eco-driving is defined as a driving method with various driving techniques to save fuel economy. The eco-driving method has been promoted to the common drivers as well as the drivers of carriers. Additionally, there are many researches about improvement of fuel efficiency and CO₂ reduction. However, the eco-driving will have the reduction effect of CO₂ emission, the influence of the eco-driving on air pollutant emission such as NOx is not yet clear. In this study, the effect of the eco-driving on real-world emission has been analyzed using the diesel freight vehicle with the on-board measurement system.

Theoretically, homogeneous charge compression engines (HCCI) are able to grant a high thermal efficiency, as well as a low NOx and particulate emissions. This ability is mainly due to the combustion process, which, contrary to both Diesel and Gasoline engine, is homogeneous in time and space within the combustion chamber. But despite these advantages, the engine operating condition is limited by the narrow boundaries of misfire at low load and knocking at high load. For that matter, one of the numerous ways of overcoming knocking is to deliberately create fuel inhomogeneities within the combustion chamber, since it has proved to lengthen combustion duration and to drastically reduce maximum pressure rise rate (PRR). Nevertheless, though the global effects of fuel inhomogeneities on PRR have been studied, we lack information that explains this phenomenon.

A new multidimensional calculation method has been developed to simulate the warm-up characteristics of close-coupled catalytic converter systems. First, a one-dimensional gas exchange simulation and a three-dimensional exhaust gas flow calculation are combined to simulate the pulsation gas flow caused by the gas exchange process. The gas flow calculation and a heat transfer calculation are then combined to simulate heat transfer in the exhaust manifold and the catalyst honeycomb under pulsation flow. The predicted warm-up characteristics of the systems examined agreed well with the experimental data. In this simulation, CPU time was reduced greatly through the use of new calculation methods. Finally, the warm-up process of close-coupled catalysts is analyzed in detail with this simulation method. The design requirements for improving warm-up characteristics have been made clear.

Experimental investigations were conducted with a direct-injection diesel engine to improve exhaust emission, especially nitrogen oxide (NOx) and particulate matter (PM), without increasing fuel consumption. As a result of this work, a new combustion concept, called Modulated Kinetics (MK) combustion, has been developed that reduces NOx and smoke simultaneously through low-temperature combustion and premixed combustion, respectively. The characteristics of a new combustion concept were investigated using a single cylinder DI diesel engine and combustion photographs. The low compression ratio, EGR cooling and high injection pressure was applied with a multi-cylinder test engine to accomplish premixed combustion at high load region. Combustion chamber specifications have been optimized to avoid the increase of cold-start HC emissions due to a low compression ratio.

A low-temperature, premixed combustion concept, called Modulated Kinetics (MK) combustion, has been developed that reduces emissions of nitrogen oxide (NOx) and smoke simultaneously. This new combustion concept requires heavy exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) to reduce the NOx emission and combustion noise. However, there is an interaction between the effects of controlling exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) and the variable geometry turbocharger (VGT). This makes controlling both the EGR rate and air mass flow rate more difficult under transient operating conditions. Therefore, the authors investigated a cooperative control of EGR and VGT in an effort to control the accuracy of both the EGR rate and the air mass flow rate. This paper presents an approach through the application of a control system CAD program and rapid prototyping tools to improve transient operating states by referring to a model-based EGR and VGT control algorithm.

In this study, the effects of fuel properties, aromatics content and 90% distillation temperature T90, on flame temperature and soot formation were studied using a rapid compression machine (RCM). Aromatics content and T90 distillation temperature were parameters isolated from influence of each other, and from cetane number. A fuel spray was injected in the RCM combustion chamber by a single nozzle hole. The ignition and combustion processes of diesel spray were observed by a high-speed direct photography. Flame temperature and KL factor (which indicates the soot concentration), were analyzed by the two-color method. The rate of heat release was analyzed from indicated diagrams. The fuels with aromatics content showed higher flame temperature. The fuel with highest T90 distillation temperature showed highest flame temperature.

In this study, effects of nozzle hole diameter and EGR ratio on flame temperature (indication of NO formation) and KL value (indication of soot formation) were investigated. Combustion of a single diesel fuel spray in the cylinder of a rapid compression machine (RCM) was analyzed. Three nozzles with different hole diameter were used corresponding to present, near term and long term heavy duty diesel engine specifications. EGR was simulated through 2%vol. CO2 addition to the inlet air and by increase of in-cylinder surrounding gas temperature. Various types of fuels were used in this. The ignition and combustion processes of diesel fuel spray were observed by a high-speed direct photography and by indicated pressure diagrams. Flame temperature and KL factor were analyzed by a two-color method. With larger nozzle hole diameters there are larger high temperature areas. With smaller nozzle hole diameters there is more soot formed. Introduction of 2% vol.

In the HCCI Engine, inhomogeneity in fuel distribution and temperature in the pre-mixture exists microscopically, and has the possibility of affecting the ignition and combustion process. In this study, the effect of charge inhomogeneity in fuel distribution on the HCCI combustion process was investigated. Two-dimensional images of the chemiluminescence were captured by using a framing camera with an optically accessible engine in order to understand the spatial distribution of the combustion. DME was used as a test fuel. By changing a device for mixing air and fuel in the intake manifold, inhomogeneity in fuel distribution in the pre-mixture was varied. The result shows that luminescence is observed in a very short time in a large part of the combustion chamber under the homogeneous condition, while luminescence appears locally with considerable time differences under the inhomogeneous condition.