Search Results

The volatile organic compounds (VOC) from diesel engines, including formaldehyde and benzene, are concerned and remain as unregulated harmful substances. The substances are positively correlated with THC emissions, but the VOC and aldehyde compounds at light load or idling conditions are more significant than THC. When coolant temperatures are low at light loads, there are notable increases in formaldehyde and acetaldehyde, and with lower coolant temperatures the increase in aldehydes is more significant than the increase in THC. When using ultra high EGR so that the intake oxygen content decreases below 10%, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, benzene, and 1,3-butadiene increase significantly while smokeless and ultra low Nox combustion is possible.

In order to clarify future automobile technologies and fuel qualities to improve air quality, second phase of Japan Clean Air Program (JCAPII) had been conducted from 2002 to 2007. Predicting improvement in air quality that might be attained by introducing new emission control technologies and determining fuel qualities required for the technologies is one of the main issues of this program. Unregulated material WG of JCAPII had studied unregulated emissions from gasoline and diesel engines. Eight gaseous hydrocarbons (HC), four Aldehydes and three polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were evaluated as unregulated emissions. Specifically, emissions of the following components were measured: 1,3-Butadiene, Benzene, Toluene, Xylene, Ethylbenzene, 1,3,5-Trimethyl-benzene, n-Hexane, Styrene as gaseous HCs, Formaldehyde, Acetaldehyde, Acrolein, Benzaldehyde as Aldehydes, and Benzo(a)pyrene, Benzo(b)fluoranthene, Benzo(k)fluoranthene as PAHs.

This paper introduces the Japanese standards and regulations of automobiles with brakes as the central subject and clarifies the difference from those of Europe and USA by comparison. Further, this paper describes not only the application status of the standards and regulations in Japan but also the features of structure and performance of Japanese trucks that are designed and produced under such standards and regulations. It can be said that the Japanese trucks are comparatively simple in structure but are in a level equal to or higher than European and USA automobiles in respect of performance. Also in respect of the international harmonization, the internationalization of standards is being conducted in Japan on the basis of ISO and the internationalization for regulations is considered to be under preparation.

To comply with increasingly strict emission regulations, diesel vehicles are equipped with Diesel Particulate Filters (DPF) to capture fine particulate matter (PM) from exhaust gas. However, due to the limited capacity of DPF to capture soot, periodic regeneration processing is required to burn it off. The ash created by metal-based additives in engine oil accumulates in DPF, leading to issues such as increased regeneration frequency and decreased fuel efficiency. To solve this problem, researchers have developed diesel engine oil with reduced ash content. However, the authors are taking it a step further and developing a diesel engine oil without metal-based detergents and anti-wear additives, for even more significant environmental impact reduction. This paper describes the development of an ashless engine oil with DH-2 performance, the effects of the developed engine oil on DPF, and the results of engine and actual field tests.

The superior fuel economy of diesel engines compared to gasoline engines is favorable in reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. On the other hand, the reductions in nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter (PM) emissions are technically difficult, thus the improvement in the emission reduction technologies is important. Although the cooled exhaust gas recirculation (cooled-EGR) is the effective method to reduce NOx emissions, it is known to have durability and reliability problems, especially of the increased wear of piston rings and cylinder liners. Therefore, the degree of cooling and amount of EGR are both limited. To apply the cooled-EGR more effectively, the wear reduction technology for such components are indispensable. In this study, the negative effects of cooled-EGR on the wear are quantified by using a heavy-duty diesel engine, and its wear mechanism is identified.

Since in-cylinder flame temperature has a direct effect on an engine's NOx characteristics, these phenomena have been studied in detail in a DI diesel engine using a newly developed method allowing the in-cylinder temperature distribution to be measured by the two color method. The flame light introduced from the visualized combustion chamber of the engine is divided into two colors by filters. The images of combustion phenomena using the two wavelengths are recorded with a framing streak camera which includes a CCD camera. The flame temperature is immediately calculated by a computer using two color images from the CCD camera. A parameter study was then carried out to determine the influence of intake valve number of the engine, and fuel injection rate (pilot injection) on the in-cylinder temperature distribution.

To reduce ultra fine particle number concentration from a heavy-duty diesel engine, the effects of diesel fuel property and after-treatment systems were studied. The reduction of ultra fine particle number concentration over steady state mode using an 8 liter turbocharged and after-cooled diesel engine was evaluated. PM size distribution was measured by a scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS). The evaluation used a commercially available current diesel fuel (Sulfur Content: 0.0036 wt%), high sulfur diesel fuel (Sulfur Content: 0.046 wt%) and low sulfur diesel fuel (Sulfur Content: 0.007 wt%). The after-treatment systems were an oxidation catalyst, a wire-mesh type DPF (Diesel Particle Filter) and a wall-flow type catalyzed DPF. The results show that fine particle number concentration is reduced with a low sulfur fuel, an oxidation catalyst, a wire-mesh type DPF (Diesel Particulate Filter) and wall flow type catalyzed DPF, respectively.

To reduce NOx and Particulate Matter (PM) emissions from a heavy-duty diesel engine, the effects of urea selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems were studied. Proto type urea SCR system was composed of NO oxidation catalyst, SCR catalyst and ammonia (NH3) reduction catalyst. The NOx reduction performance of urea SCR system was improved by a new zeolite type catalyst and mixer for urea distribution at the steady state operating conditions. NOx and PM reduction performance of the urea SCR system with DPF was evaluated over JE05 mode of Japan. The NOx reduction efficiency of the urea SCR catalyst system was 72% at JE05 mode. The PM reduction efficiency of the urea SCR catalyst system with DPF was 93% at JE05 mode. Several kinds of un-regulated matters were detected including NH3 and N2O leak from the exhaust gas. It is necessary to have further study for detailed measurements for un-regulated emissions from urea solution.

To reduce NOx emissions from a heavy-duty engine at low exhaust temperature conditions, the plasma-assisted SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) system was evaluated. The plasma-assisted SCR system is mainly composed of an ammonia gas supply system and a plasma reactor including a pellet type SCR catalyst. The preliminary test with simulated gases of diesel exhaust showed an improvement in the NOx reduction performance by means of the plasma-assisted SCR system, even below 150°C conditions. Furthermore, NOx reduction ratio was improved up to 77% at 110°C with increase in the catalyst volume. Also NOx emissions from a heavy-duty diesel engine over the transient test mode in Japan (JE05) were reduced by the plasma-assisted SCR system. However, unregulated emissions, e.g., aldehydes, were increased with the plasma environment. This paper reports the advantages and disadvantages of the plasma-assisted SCR system for a heavy-duty diesel engine.

The differences between spray models are investigated by comparing calculation results with experimental data. The calculations are performed using the KIVA-II code. The spray models TAB, which is the original model of KIVA-II, and the model developed by Reitz are calculated and compared. A semi-empirical spray model based on the TAB model is also formulated and compared with the other models. The penetration and droplet size distribution are compared with data from constant pressure bomb tests. The calculated ignition delay is compared with actual engine operating data- Each spray model has different characteristics influencing the atomization process. These differences result in discrepancies during the penetration, evaporation, and ignition.

To reduce emissions from diesel engines, the effects of oxidation catalysts on the emissions reductions were studied. The effectiveness of several oxidation catalysts on both the regulated and unregulated emissions was evaluated. The oxidation activity of the catalysts was varied by changing Pt loading. The regulated emissions include particulate (PM), hydrocarbon (HC), and carbon monoxide (CO), and the unregulated emissions include benzene, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, and benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P). An 8 litter, turbocharged and aftercooled diesel engine was operated under the Japan Diesel 13 (D13) mode cycle for the evaluations. As the first step, evaluations were conducted with a commercially available JIS #2 diesel fuel (0.046 wt% sulfur). All the regulated and unregulated emissions except PM were reduced as the Pt loading (i.e. oxidation activity) increased. However, PM emissions were increased by the generation of sulfate when the Pt loading exceeded 0.2 g/l.

The Hino E13C was developed for heavy-duty truck application to meet Japan's 2003 NOx and 2005 particulate emissions standards simultaneously with significant fuel economy improvement. A combined EGR system consisting of an external EGR system with a highly efficient EGR cooler and an internal EGR system with an electronically controlled valve actuation device was newly developed to reduce NOx emissions for all operating conditions without requiring a larger engine coolant radiator. A Hino-developed DPR was installed to achieve extremely low particulate emissions at the tail pipe. Increased strength of engine structural components and a ductile cast iron piston enabled high BMEP operation at lower engine speeds and reductions of both engine size and weight. This paper describes key technologies developed for the E13C as well as the development results.

Recently, deposition of ash derived from engine oil on the surface of a diesel particle filter (DPF) has been reported to worsen the performance of the DPF. It is generally known that phosphorus in engine oil is adsorbed on the surface of an automotive exhaust catalyst and reduces the performance of the catalyst. Thus, the amounts of ash and phosphorus in engine oil have been decreased. We have developed a non-phosphorus and non-ash engine oil (NPNA) that does not contain metal-based detergents and zinc dialkyldithiophosphate (ZnDTP). We performed a performance test for NPNA using an actual engine and reported that the piston detergency and anti-wear performance of NPNA were sufficiently high. However, the piston detergency of NPNA required further improvement when engine running conditions were more severe.

Since in-cylinder flame temperature has a direct effect on an engine's NOx characteristics, this phenomena has been studied in detail in a multi-cylinder DI diesel engine using a new method allowing the in-cylider temperature distribution to be measured by the two color method. An endoscope is installed in the combustion chamber and flame light introduced from the endoscope is divided into two colors by filters. The images of combustion phenomena using the two wavelengths are recorded with a framing streak camera which includes a CCD camera. The flame temperature and KL factor are immediately calculated by a computer using the two color images from the CCD camera. In the case of EGR, the test was conducted under 75% load conditions. The flame temperature was reduced according to an increase of EGR rate.

Engine oils normally contain calcium detergents and ZnDTPs to have detergency and antiwear performance. However, it has been recently understood that these additives could deteriorate filter performance in catalyst and DPF. In this background this paper explains the study and the development about new type of engine oil excluding metal detergents and phosphorus compounds. The developed engine oil shows good durability in several JASO engine tests and a fleet test by formulating newly developed additives as substitute for calcium detergents and ZnDTPs.

A 2-LEG NOx Storage-Reduction (NSR) catalyst system is one of potential after-treatment technology to meet stringent NOx and PM emissions standards as Post New Long Term (Japanese 2009 regulation) and US'10. Concerning NOx reduction using NSR catalyst, a secondary fuel injection is necessary to make fuel-rich exhaust condition during the NOx reduction, and causes its fuel penalty. Since fuel injected in the high-temperature (∼250 degrees Celsius) exhaust instantly reacts with oxygen in common diesel exhaust, the proportion of fuel consumption to reduce the NOx stored on NSR catalyst is relatively small. A 2-LEG NSR catalyst system has the decreasing exhaust flow mechanism during NOx reduction, and the potential to improve the NOx reduction and fuel penalty. Therefore, this paper studies the 2-LEG NSR catalyst system. The after-treatment system consists of NSR catalysts, a secondary fuel injection system, flow controlled valves and a Catalyzed Diesel Particulate Filter (CDPF).

Modern formulation in a wide variety of lubricants including engine oils and transmission fluids is designed to control friction through film-forming tribochemical reactions induced by the functional additives mixtures. Although many cases on the synergistic or antagonistic effects of additives on friction have been reported, their mechanisms are poorly understood. This study focused on the influences of metallic detergents on tribochemical reactions. We examined the mechanical properties of detergent-containing lubricants confined at a single-asperity contact and their contributions to tribochemical phenomena. We found that detergents enlarged the confinement space required for generating repulsive force and shear resistance. This means that these detergents provide steric effects under nanoconfinement at interfacial contacts.

A driving simulator system for developing steering road feel has been developed. A new steering gear box or an electronic steering system is installed on the simulator and its road feel and control algorithm are developed according to the characteristics of any vehicle which has been programed into the engineering work-station. The vehicle model programed into the engineering work station runs according to the driver's operations, which are fed through the new steering system to be tested. The steer-restoring torque of the vehicle programed into the engineering work-station is produced by an actuator, and gives the impression through the new system of having been fed back from an actual road.

In a tractor-trailer, ride comfort affected by horizontal human body motions, so called “wavy” and “shaky” feelings, is at issue. Insight about “wavy” and “shaky” feelings which is important for efficient vehicle development is not enough. Experiments using 6-axis motion generator and motion capture and inverse-analysis using multi-body human model indicated the characteristics of each feeling. Motion observation and transfer function indicated that while a bad subjective score of “wavy” feeling corresponds to same-phase roll motion of chest and pelvis up to 0.7Hz, “shaky” correlates to an antiphase of them around 2Hz. By multiple regression, dominant vibration components of the human body and the vehicle to subjective evaluation of the feelings above were identified. Explanatory variables for the “wavy” feeling are roll rate and lateral jerk and those for the “shaky” are lateral acceleration and longitudinal acceleration.

A program with title of “Development of automobile and fuel technologies for air quality improvement (Japan Clean Air Program - abbreviated to JCAP) has been conducted as a five-year program. Under the program, an influence of fuel quality on automobile technology has been evaluated, and effect of air quality improvement due to implementation of automobile exhaust emission regulations has also been evaluated by using air quality models. Through the five years of JCAP activities from FY 1997 to FY 2001, following items have been evaluated: an influence of fuel properties and automobile exhaust emission reduction technologies, an evaluation of aftertreatment devices equipped on in-use vehicles, a detailed analysis of fuel properties and exhaust emissions, a prediction of air quality improvement effects due to the implementation of next stage stringent automobile exhaust emission regulations.