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Exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) can be used to mitigate knock in SI engines. However, experiments have shown that the effectiveness of various EGR constituents to suppress knock varies with fuel type and compression ratio (CR). To understand some of the underlying mechanisms by which fuel composition, octane sensitivity (S), and CR affect the knock-mitigation effectiveness of EGR constituents, the current paper presents results from a chemical-kinetics modeling study. The numerical study was conducted with CHEMKIN, imposing experimentally acquired pressure traces on a closed reactor model. Simulated conditions include combinations of three RON-98 (Research Octane Number) fuels with two octane sensitivities and distinctive compositions, three EGR diluents, and two CRs (12:1 and 10:1). The experimental results point to the important role of thermal stratification in the end-gas to smooth peak heat-release rate (HRR) and prevent acoustic noise.

The engine in the new fourth generation Prius carries over the same basic structure as the 2ZR-FXE used in the third generation and incorporates various refinements to enhance fuel efficiency. Called the ESTEC 2ZR-FXE, the new engine incorporates various fuel efficient technologies to improve combustion characteristics, knocking, and heat management, while also reducing friction. As a result of this meticulous approach to enhancing fuel efficiency, the new engine is the first gasoline engine in the world to achieve a maximum thermal efficiency of 40%. This paper describes the fuel efficient technologies incorporated into this engine.

The new Nissan 1.7 liter 4 cylinder diesel engine has been developed to meet the social requirements for energy conservation. The main objective was to improve fuel economy without sacrificing driveability, and this has been achieved by minimizing engine weight, reducing mechanical friction loss and optimizing the combustion system. The CA series gasoline engine, which is known for its light weight, was chosen as the base engine for dieselization. The swirl chamber combustion system used for the LD28 engine was modified to satisfy the requirements for high power, good fuel economy and low noise. Engine noise has been reduced with the aid of several analytical methods such as laser holography. Special attention has been paid to the reduction of diesel knock which is most offensive to the ear. To install this engine in a small FWD vehicle transversely, much effort went into the minimizing of the engine length and width.

Recently, global warming and energy security have received significant attention. Thus an improvement of the vehicle fuel economy is strongly required. For engines, one effective way is to improve the engine thermal efficiency. Raising compression ratio [1] or turbo charging technologies have potential to achieve high thermal efficiency. However knock does not allow the high thermal efficiency. Knock depends on the fuel composition and the pressure and temperature history of unburnt end-gas [2-3]. For fuels, RON is well known for describing the anti knock quality. High RON fuels have high anti knock quality and result in higher thermal efficiency. This paper investigates the impact of high RON fuels on the thermal efficiency by using high compression ratio engine, turbo charged engine, and lean boosted engine [4]. Finally, it is shown that the high thermal efficiency can be approached with high RON gasoline and ethanol.

Methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl (MMT) is used as an octane-enhancing metallic additive for unleaded gasoline which can prevent engine knock by proactive reaction with the hydrocarbon free radicals before starting the auto-ignition of hydrocarbons. However it has been pointed out that MMT causes automotive catalysts clogging and spark plug severely fouling. Therefore, many countries have fuel standards that prohibit or limit the usage of MMT. Nevertheless, some countries still use MMT as there are no restrictions imposed by fuel standards. As mentioned in several papers, metallic additives of engine oil such as calcium cause an abnormal combustion phenomenon called low-speed pre-ignition (LSPI) in turbocharged spark ignition engines. In contrast, the effect of metallic additives of gasoline such as MMT on LSPI has not been studied.

The effects of lubricant oil and fuel properties on low speed pre-ignition (LSPI) occurrence in boosted S.I. engines were experimentally evaluated with multi-cylinder engine and de-correlated oil and fuel matrices. Further, the auto-ignitability of fuel spray droplets and evaporated homogeneous fuel/oil mixtures were evaluated in a combustion bomb and pressure differential scanning calorimetry (PDSC) tests to analyze the fundamental ignition process. The work investigated the effect of engine conditions, fuel volatility and various lubricant additives on LSPI occurrence. The results support the validity of aspects of the LSPI mechanism hypothesis based on the phenomenon of droplets of lubricant oil/fuel mixture (caused by adhesion of fuel spray on the liner wall) flying into the chamber and autoigniting before spark ignition.

The quantity of heavy components in fuel is increasing as automotive fuels diversify, and engine oil formulations are becoming more complex. These trends result in the formation of larger amounts of carbon deposits as reaction byproducts during combustion, potentially worsening the susceptibility of the engine to knock [1]. The research described in this paper aimed to identify the mechanism that causes knocking to deteriorate due to carbon deposits in low to medium engine load ranges, which are mainly used when the vehicle drives off and accelerates. With this objective, the cylinder temperature and pressure with and without deposits were measured, and it was found that knocking deteriorates in a certain range of ignition timing.

As part of efforts to address climate change and improve energy security, researchers have improved the thermal efficiency of engines by expanding the lean combustion limit. To further expand the lean combustion limit, the authors focused not only on engine technology but the chemical reactivity of various fuel molecules. Furan and anisole were among the fuel molecules selected, based on the idea that promising candidates should enhance the flame propagation speed and have good knocking resistance. Engine testing showed that the lean limit can be expanded by using fuels with the right molecular structures, resulting in higher thermal efficiency.

The knock-suppression effectiveness of exhaust-gas recirculation (EGR) can vary between implementations that take EGR gases after the three-way catalyst and those that use pre-catalyst EGR gases. A main difference between pre-and post-catalyst EGR gases is the level of trace species like NO, UHC, CO and H2. To quantify the role of NO, this experiment-based study employs NO-seeding in the intake tract for select combinations of fuel types and compression ratios, using simulated post-catalyst EGR gases as the diluent. The four investigated gasoline fuels share a common RON of 98, but vary in octane sensitivity and composition. To enable probing effects of near-zero NO levels, a skip-firing operating strategy is developed whereby the residual gases, which contain trace species like NO, are purged from the combustion chamber. Overall, the effects of NO-seeding on knock are consistent with the differences in knock limits for preand post-catalyst EGR gases.

The anti-knock or octane quality of a fuel depends on the fuel composition as well as on the engine design and operating conditions. The true octane quality of practical fuels is defined by the Octane Index, OI = (1-K)RON + KMON where K is a constant for a given operating condition and depends only on the pressure and temperature variation in the engine (it is not a property of the fuel). RON and MON are the Research and Motor Octane numbers respectively, of the fuel. OI is the octane number of the primary reference fuel (PRF) with the same knocking behaviour at the given condition. In this work a wide range of fuels of different RON and MON were tested in prototype direct injection spark ignition (DISI) engines with compression ratios of 11 and 12.5 at different speeds up to 6000 RPM. Knock Limited Spark Advance (KLSA) was used to characterize the anti-knock quality of the fuel. Experiments were also done using two cars with DISI engines equipped with knock sensor systems.

A new auto-ignition combustion model for performing multi-zone engine cycle simulations has been developed to investigate the characteristics of compression ignition combustion in gasoline engines. In this combustion model, the auto-ignition timing is predicted with a modified shell model and combustion speed is calculated with a three-region (burned, ignited and unburned) model. Engine cycle simulations performed with this model were used to analyze the effect of engine operating parameters, i.e., temperature and air-fuel distributions in the cylinder, on combustion characteristics. It was found that the air-fuel distribution in the cylinder has a large impact on combustion characteristics and knocking was prevented by creating a fuel-rich zone at the center of the cylinder under high load conditions. The fuel-rich zone works as an ignition source to ignite the surrounding fuel-lean zone. In this way, two-step combustion is accomplished through two separate auto-ignitions.

In recent years, boosted and downsized engines have gained much attention as a promising technology to improve fuel economy; however, knocking is a common issue of such engines that requires attention. To understand the knocking phenomenon under downsized and boosted engine conditions deeply, fuels with different Research Octane Number (RON) and Motor Octane Number (MON) were prepared, and the knocking performances of these fuels were evaluated using a single cylinder engine, operated under a variety of conditions. Experimental results showed that the knocking performance at boosted conditions depend on both RON and MON. While higher RON showed better anti-knocking performance, lower MON showed better anti-knocking performance. Furthermore, the tendency for a reduced MON to be beneficial became stronger at lower engine speeds and higher boost pressures, in agreement with previously published modelling work.

Mechanism of suddenly occurring behavior of low speed pre-ignition (LSPI) in boosted spark ignition (SI) engines was analyzed with various experimental methodologies. Endoscope-visualized 1st cycle of LSPI showed droplet-like luminous flame kernels as the origin of flame propagation before spark ignition. With the oil lubricated visualization engine, droplets flying were observed only after enough accumulation of fuel at piston crevice. Also, it was confirmed that subsequent cycles of LSPI occur only after enough operation time. These results indicated that local accumulation of liner adhered fuel and saturation of oil dilution can be a contributing factor to the sudden occurrence of LSPI.

To improve available power, tolerance to variation in fuel octane number and high engine speed knock control, an individual cylinder knock control has been developed. Knock are detected by spark plug washer transducers. Which indicate individual cylinder pressures. Last year we read a paper entitled “Cylinder Pressure Vibration Analysis Indicates Accurate Knock Detection”. We read continuously on the following items. Spark plug washer transducers - These are piezoelectric ceramic rings which fit beneath individual spark plugs. These can detect knock at high engine speed, and are very durable. Knock detection and control algorithm - Knock is indicated by the transducer's cylinder pressure vibration signal. When knock occurs in the cylinder, the ignition timing of the cylinder is controlled. During the transient condition, control response is fast by learning control. Fail safe - At transducer trouble, the ignition timing of the cylinder is controlled by other transducer signals.

Increasing numbers of vehicles equipped with downsized, turbocharged engines have been introduced seeking for better fuel economy. LSPI (low speed pre-ignition), which can damage engine hardware, is a potential risk of the engines. We reported that engine oil formulation affects frequency of LSPI events, and formulating magnesium detergents into oil is a promising option to prevent LSPI events. From the viewpoint of achieving better fuel economy by engine oil, lowering viscosity is being required. However, it causes reduced oil film thickness and will expand boundary lubrication condition regions in some engine parts. Hence, a technology to reduce friction under boundary lubrication becomes important.

Feasibility studies concerning ethanol utilization in direct injection gasoline engines were conducted in order to clarify the effects of ethanol on engine performance, exhaust emissions and injector deposit formation. The investigation results indicate that E100 (100% ethanol fuel) can improve full load engine performance around whole engine speed range in a high compression ratio engine (ε=13:1), compared to that of a base compression ratio engine (ε=11.5:1) operated on a premium gasoline. This was caused by the volumetric efficiency (ηv) improvement and engine knock suppression in the high compression ratio engine. On the other hand, HC emissions remarkably increased under lower engine speeds at a full load condition. This phenomenon suggests that poor combustion occurred due to insufficient mixing of air and E100 fuel under these conditions, in which the amount of ethanol injected was too large and fluidity in the cylinder was weak.

Nitric Oxide (NO) can significantly influence the autoignition reactivity and this can affect knock limits in conventional stoichiometric SI engines. Previous studies also revealed that the role of NO changes with fuel type. Fuels with high RON (Research Octane Number) and high Octane Sensitivity (S = RON - MON (Motor Octane Number)) exhibited monotonically retarding knock-limited combustion phasing (KL-CA50) with increasing NO. In contrast, for a high-RON, low-S fuel, the addition of NO initially resulted in a strongly retarded KL-CA50 but beyond the certain amount of NO, KL-CA50 advanced again. The current study focuses on same high-RON, low-S Alkylate fuel to better understand the mechanisms responsible for the reversal in the effect of NO on KL-CA50 beyond a certain amount of NO.

In recent years, improving the engine thermal efficiency is strongly required. To enhance the engine thermal efficiency, it is important to improve the engine anti-knock quality. Technologies for modifying engine cooling have been developed to improve anti-knocking quality of engines. However, excessive improvement of engine cooling leads to an increase in cooling heat loss. Therefore, it is necessary to clarify the effects of the temperature of each part of the engine such as engine head-cylinder, cylinder-liner, and piston on knocking and cooling heat loss. In this paper, computer aided engineering (CAE) is used to predict the effects of each part of the engine on engine knocking and cooling heat loss. Firstly, the amount of heat energy that air-fuel mixture receives from engine cylinder-head, cylinder-liner, and piston is calculated during the intake stroke. The result shows that the cylinder-liner contributes largest heat energy to air-fuel mixture, especially the exhaust side.

In enhancing the performance of automotive internal combustion engines, increasing the compression ratio offers an effective means of improving engine thermal efficiency. If the compression ratio is increased, however, the problem of knock occurs in exchange for improvement in engine thermal efficiency. In other words, an increase in compression ratio causes in-cylinder compressive end gas temperature to rise, resulting in the occurrence of knock. This in turn requires ignition timing retard to combat the knock. This trade-off makes it difficult to achieve the theoretical maximum combustion efficiency. In this paper, we clarify the feasibility of suppressing the occurrence of knock by increasing the burn rate. Specifically, we increase the burn rate by injecting high-pressure air directly into the combustion chamber, causing highly turbulent in-cylinder flow.

Effects of fuel distillation characteristics and cetane number on premixed charge compression ignition (PCCI) combustion were investigated for the purpose of reducing NOx and PM emissions from a direct injection diesel engine. The test engine had a hole type injection nozzle for conventional diesel combustion at high load operation. A low compression ratio and cooled EGR were applied to the test engine in order to reduce the compression temperature for avoiding pre-ignition. The investigation results show that, in the case of ignition control by EGR, a light fuel with lower distillation characteristics had an advantage of reducing smoke at higher loads. This means that high volatility fuel is effective in promoting lean mixture formation of fuel and air during the ignition delay. Moreover, lowering the cetane number was effective in reducing NOx emissions by suppression of combustion temperature.