Search Results

The potential for improving the efficiency of a heavy duty turbocharged diesel engine by closed loop Air-Fuel Ratio (AFR) management has been evaluated. Testing conducted on a 12 liter diesel engine, and subsequent data evaluation, has established the feasibility of controlling the performance through electronic control of air management hardware. Furthermore, the feasibility of using direct in-cylinder pressure measurement for control feedback has been established. A compact and robust fiber optics sensor for measuring real time in-cylinder pressure has been demonstrated on a test engine. A preferred method for reducing the cylinder pressure data for control feedback has been established for continued development.

This paper is written to provide information on the fuel efficiency, emissions and energy cost of vehicles ranging from a pure electric (ZEV) to gasoline hybrid vehicles with electric range varying from 30 mi (50km) to 100 mi (160km). The Federal government s PNGV and CARB s ZEV have different goals, this paper explores some possibilities for hybrid-electric vehicle designs to meet both goals with existing technologies and batteries. The SAE/CARB testing procedures for determining energy and emission performance for EV and HEV and CARB s HEV ruling for ZEV credit are also critically evaluated. This paper intends to clarify some confusion over the comparison, discussion and design of electric- hybrid- and conventional- vehicles as well.

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHVs) consume both fossil fuel and grid electricity, which imposes emission testing challenges on the current constant volume sampler (CVS) test method. One reason is that in the charge-depleting cycle, PHVs having all-electric range operate the engine for a small portion of the traction energy need, causing the CVS to overdilute the exhaust gas. The other reason is that the dilution factor (DF) in the EPA calculation has an error caused by ignoring the CO₂ concentration in ambient air. This paper evaluates these challenges by testing a Toyota PHV on the industry standard CVS system combined with additional continuous sampling methodology for continuous diluents, smooth approach orifice (SAO) measurement for ambient air flow, and fuel flow meter (FFM) measurement for fuel consumption. The current EPA DF can produce an error resulting in higher mass calculation.

The relationship between ethanol and iso-butanol fuel concentrations and vehicle particulate matter emissions was investigated. This study utilized a gasoline direct injection (GDI) flexible fuel vehicle (FFV) with wall-guided fueling system tested with four fuels, including E10, E51, E83, and an iso-butanol blend at a proportion of 55% by volume. Emission measurements were conducted over the Federal Test Procedure (FTP) driving cycle on a chassis dynamometer with an emphasis on the physical and chemical characterization of particulate matter (PM) emissions. The results indicated that the addition of higher ethanol blends and the iso-butanol blend resulted in large reductions in PM mass, soot, and total and solid particle number emissions. PM emissions for the baseline E10 fuel were characterized by a higher fraction of elemental carbon (EC), whereas the PM emissions for the higher ethanol blends were more organic carbon (OC) in nature.

Considerations follow [1] on the development of the carbon/epoxy body of the Lamborghini Murcièlago. Laminate lay-up and material selection for stiffness criteria are reviewed. Engineering solutions for tooling operations in order to achieve class A surface certification are analyzed. Design for environmental aging is also discussed and accelerated degradation testing methods are described. Finally, the program that lead to the adoption of hybrid adhesive bonding as sole method of joining the composite body components to the tubular steel frame is reviewed.

Biofuels, such as ethanol and butanol, have been the subject of significant political and scientific attention, owing to concerns about climate change, global energy security, and the decline of world oil resources that is aggravated by the continuous increase in the demand for fossil fuels. This study evaluated the potential emissions impacts of different alcohol blends on a fleet of modern gasoline vehicles. Testing was conducted on a fleet of nine vehicles with different combinations of ten fuel blends over the Federal Test Procedure and Unified Cycle. The vehicles ranged in model year from 2007-2014 and included four vehicles with port fuel injection (PFI) fueling and five vehicles with direct injection (DI) fueling. The ten fuel blends included ethanol blends at concentrations of 10%, 15%, 20%, 51%, and 83% by volume and iso-butanol blends at concentrations of 16%, 24%, 32%, and 55% by volume, and an alcohol mixture giving 10% ethanol and 8% iso-butanol in the final blend.