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In order to meet the requirements in the stringent emission regulations, more and more research work has been focused on homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) and partially premixed combustion (PPC) or partially premixed compression ignition (PCCI) as they have the potential to produce low NOx and soot emissions without adverse effects on engine efficiency. The mixture formation and charge stratification influence the combustion behavior and emissions for PPC/PCCI, significantly. An ultra-high speed burst-mode laser is used to capture the mixture formation process from the start of injection until several CADs after the start of combustion in a single cycle. To the authors’ best knowledge, this is the first time that such a high temporal resolution, i.e. 0.2 CAD, PLIF could be accomplished for imaging of the in-cylinder mixing process. The capability of resolving single cycles allows for the influence of cycle-to-cycle variations to be eliminated.

The double compression expansion engine (DCEE) is a promising concept for high engine efficiency while fulfilling the most stringent European and US emission legislation. The complete thermodynamic cycle of the engine is split among several cylinders. Combustion of fuel occurs in the combustion cylinder and in the expansion cylinder the exhaust gases are over expanded to obtain high efficiency. A high-pressure tank is installed between these two cylinders for after-treatment purposes. One proposal is to utilize thermal reduction of nitrogen oxides (NOx) in the high-pressure tank as exhaust temperatures can be sufficiently high (above 700 °C) for the selective non-catalytic reduction (SNCR) reactions to occur. The exhaust gas residence time at these elevated exhaust temperatures is also long enough for the chemical reactions, as the volume of the high-pressure tank is substantially larger than the volume of the combustion cylinders.

Selective Non-Catalytic Reduction (SNCR), used to reduce the emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx), has been a well-established technology in the power plant industry for several decades. The SNCR technique is an aftertreatment strategy based on thermal reduction of NOx at high temperatures. In the compression ignition engine application, the technology has not been applicable due to low exhaust temperatures, which makes the SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) system essential for efficient nitrogen oxide reduction to fulfill the environment legislation. For a general Double Compression Expansion Engine (DCEE) the complete expansion cycle is split in two separate cycles, i.e. the engine is a split cycle engine. In the first cylinder the combustion occurs and in the second stage the combustion gas is introduced and further expanded in a low-pressure expansion cylinder. The combustion cylinder is connected with the expansion cylinder through a large insulated high-pressure tank.

The double compression-expansion engine concepts (DCEE) are split-cycle concepts where the compression, combustion, expansion and gas exchange strokes occur in two or more different cylinders. Previous simulation studies reveal there is a potential to improve brake efficiency with these engine concepts due to improved thermodynamic and mechanical efficiencies. As a continuation of this project this paper studies an alternative layout of the DCEE-concept. The concept studied in this paper has three different cylinders, a compression, a combustion and an expansion cylinder. Overall system indicated and brake efficiency estimations were based on both engine experiments and simulations. The engine experiments were carried out at 10 different operating points and 5 fuelling rates (between 98.2 and 310.4 mg/cycle injection mass) at an engine speed of 1200 rpm. The inlet manifold pressure was varied between 3 and 5 bar.

The concept of double compression, and double expansion engine (DCEE) for improving the efficiency of piston reciprocating engines was introduced in SAE Paper 2015-01-1260. This engine configuration has separate high, and low pressure units thereby effectively reducing friction losses for high effective compression ratios. The presence of an additional expander stage also theoretically allows an extra degree of freedom to manipulate the combustion heat release rate so as to achieve better optimum between heat transfer, and friction losses. This paper presents a 1-D modeling study of the engine concept in GT-Power for assessing the sensitivity of engine losses to heat release rate. The simulations were constrained by limiting the maximum pressure to 300 bar.

The influence of the ignition quality of diesel-and gasoline-like fuels on the lift-off length of the jet were investigated in an optical heavy duty engine. The engine was operated at a load of 22 bar IMEPg and 1200 rpm. A production type injector with standard holes were used. The lift-off length was recorded with high speed video Different injection pressures and inlet temperatures were used to affect conditions that consequently affect the lift-off length. No matter which fuel used nor injection pressure or inlet temperature, all lift-off lengths showed equal or close to equal lift-off length when stabilized. The higher octane fuel had a longer ignition delay and therefore the fuel penetrate the combustion chamber before auto ignition. This gave a longer lift-off length at the initial stage of combustion before reaching the same stabilized lift-off length. These results indicate that the hot combustion gases are a dominant factor to the lift-off length.

The relatively new combustion concept known as partially premixed combustion (PPC) has high efficiency and low emissions. However, there are still challenges when it comes to fully understanding and implementing PPC. Thus a predictive combustion tool was used to gain further insight into the combustion process in late cycle mixing. The modeling tool is a stochastic reactor model (SRM) based on probability density functions (PDF). The model requires less computational time than a similar study using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). A novel approach with a two-zone SRM was used to capture the behavior of the partially premixed or stratified zones prior to ignition. This study focuses on PPC mixing conditions and the use of an efficient analysis approach.

Double Compression Expansion Engine (DCEE) concepts are split-cycle concepts where the main target is to improve brake efficiency. Previous simulations work [1] suggests these concepts has a potential to significantly improve brake efficiency relative to contemporary engines. However, a high peak efficiency alone might be of limited value. This is because a vehicle must be able to operate in different conditions where the engine load requirements changes significantly. An engine’s ability to deliver high efficiency at the most frequently used load conditions is more important than peak efficiency in a rarely used load condition. The simulations done in this paper studies the efficiency at low, mid and full load for a DCEE concept proposal. Two load control strategies have been used, lambda and Miller (late intake valve closing) strategies. Also, effects from charge air cooling has also been studied.

Internal combustion engine (ICE) fuel efficiency is a balance between good indicated efficiency and mechanical efficiency. High indicated efficiency is reached with a very diluted air/fuel-mixture and high load resulting in high peak cylinder pressure (PCP). On the other hand, high mechanical efficiency is obtained with very low peak cylinder pressure as the piston rings and bearings can be made with less friction. This paper presents studies of a combustion engine which consists of a two stage compression and expansion cycle. By splitting the engine into two different cycles, high-pressure (HP) and low-pressure (LP) cycles respectively, it is possible to reach high levels of both indicated and mechanical efficiency simultaneously. The HP cycle is designed similar to today's turbo-charged diesel engine but with an even higher boost pressure, resulting in high PCP. To cope with high PCP, the engine needs to be rigid.

Observations from engine experiments indicates that the gross indicated efficiency (GIE) increases when the inlet temperature (Tinlet) is lowered. The change in Tinlet affects several important factors, such as the heat release profile (affecting heat and exhaust losses), working fluid properties, combustion efficiency and heat transfer losses. These factors all individually contributes to the resulting change in GIE. However, due to their strong dependency to temperature it is not possible to quantify the contribution from each of these parameters individually. Therefore, a simulation model in GT-power has been created and calibrated to the performed engine experiments. With simulations the temperature dependency can be separated and it becomes possible to evaluate the contribution to GIE from each factor individually. The simulation results indicate that the specific heats of the working medium are the largest contributor.