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UV-absorption measurements are sparse in diesel(-like) combustion, particularly close to the premixed burn. Thus, such measurements are conducted in diesel-like jets in a high-pressure vessel in this work, using 1D spontaneous Raman scattering (SRS) from N2. Stokes (~263 nm) and anti-Stokes (~235 nm) SRS induced by a krypton fluoride excimer (KrF*) laser (~248 nm) is exploited. Anti-Stokes SRS can be directly used for attenuation correction of laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) from NO at ~236 nm. Results show the importance of attenuation correction, although the jets are largely non-sooting. To identify absorbers, effects of SRS wavelength, measurement time in the injection event, location in the flame, jet width (JW), temperature, CO concentration, and injection pressure are considered. Particularly strong attenuation observed around the time of second-stage ignition appears to be primarily caused by combustion intermediates such as partially oxidized fuel.

During a thermal regeneration of a Diesel particulate filter (DPF) the temperature inside the DPF may raise above critical thresholds in an uncontrolled way (thermal shock). Especially driving conditions with a comparable low exhaust gas mass flow and high oxygen content like idle speed may create a thermal shock. This paper presents a concept for an ECU software structure to prevent the DPF from reaching improper temperatures and the methodology in order to calibrate this ECU structure. The concept deals in general with a closed-loop control of the exhaust gas air-fuel-ratio during the critical engine operation phases. Those critical operation phases are identified at the engine test bench during “Drop-to-Idle” and “Drop-to-Overrun” experiments. The experiments show that those phases are critical having on the one hand a low exhaust gas mass flow and on the other hand a high oxygen percentage in the exhaust gas.

High levels of exhaust temperature or rich mixtures are necessary for the regeneration of today's diesel particulate filters or NOx catalysts. Therefore, late main injection or post injection is an effective strategy but leads to the well-known problem of lubricating oil dilution depending on the geometry, rail pressure and injection strategy. In this paper a method is developed to simulate fuel entrainment into the lubricating oil wall film in the diesel combustion chamber to predict oil dilution in an early design stage prior to hardware availability for durability testing. The simulation method integrates a newly developed droplet-film interaction model and is compared to results of an optical single-cylinder diesel engine and a similar thermodynamic single-cylinder test engine. Phenomena of diesel post injection like igniting early post injection or split post injections with short energizing times are considered in this paper.

Exhaust aftertreatment systems must function sufficiently over the full useful life of a vehicle. In Europe this is currently defined as 160.000 km. With the introduction of Euro 7 it is expected that the required mileage will be extended to 240.000 km. This will then be consistent with the US legislation. In order to quantify the emission impact of exhaust system degradation, an Euro 7 exhaust aftertreatment system is aged by different accelerated approaches: application of the Standard Bench Cycle, the ZDAKW cycle, a novel ash loading method and borderline aging. The results depict the impact of oil ash on the oxygen storage capacity. For tailpipe emissions, the maximum peak temperatures are the dominant aging factor. The cold start performance is effected by both, thermal degradation and ash accumulation. An evaluation of this emission increase requires appropriate benchmarks.

Future Diesel engines must meet extended requirements regarding air-fuel ratio, exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) capability, and tailored exhaust gas temperatures in the complete engine map to comply with the future pollutant emission standards. In this respect, parallel turbines combined with two separate exhaust manifolds have the potential to increase the exhaust gas temperature upstream of the exhaust aftertreatment system and reduce the catalyst light-off time. Furthermore, variable exhaust valve (EV) lifts enable new control strategies of the boosting system without additional actuators. Therefore, hardware robustness can be improved. This article focuses on the parallel-sequential boosting concept (PSBC) for a high-performance four-cylinder Diesel engine with separated exhaust manifolds combined with EV deactivation. One EV per cylinder is connected to one of the separated exhaust manifolds and, thus, connected to one of the turbines.

Oxygenated fuels such as polyoxymethylene dimethyl ethers (OME) offer a chance to significantly decrease emissions while switching to renewable fuels. However, compared to conventional diesel fuel, they have lower heating values and different evaporation behaviors which lead to differences in spray, mixture formation as well as ignition delay. In order to determine the mixture formation characteristics and the combustion behavior of neat OME3-5, optical investigations have been carried out in a high-pressure-chamber using shadowgraphy, mie-scatterlight and OH-radiation recordings. Liquid penetration length, gaseous penetration length, lift off length, spray cone angle and ignition delay have been determined and compared to those measured with diesel-fuel over a variety of pressures, temperatures, rail pressures and injection durations.

Most of today’s internal combustion engines are turbocharged by combined radial compressors and turbines for downsizing. This mostly leads to reduced orifice noise of both intake and exhaust systems, but the detailed damping mechanisms remain yet unknown. Intake and exhaust systems are developed with 1D-CFD simulations, but validated acoustic sub-models for turbochargers are not yet available. Therefore the aim of this publication is studying the turbocharger’s silencing capabilities and subsequently develop new acoustic turbocharger models. The acoustic properties of the turbocharger can be well described by transmission loss. In addition to thermodynamic variations, parameter variations with wastegate and VTG systems were also performed. A total of four turbochargers of very different sizes were investigated. Low frequency attenuation is dominated by impedance discontinuities, increasing considerably with mass flow and pressure ratio.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of spray-bowl interaction on combustion, and pollutants formation at one specific high-load point of a single-cylinder small-bore diesel engine through computational analysis. The simulations are performed using Representative Interactive Flamelet (RIF) model with detailed chemical kinetics. Detailed chemistry-based soot model is used for the prediction of soot emissions. The simulations are performed for five different injection timings. Model-predicted cylinder pressure and exhaust emissions are validated against the measured data for all the injection timings. A new method - Two-part analysis - is then applied to investigate the spray-bowl interaction. Two-part analysis splits the volume of the combustion chamber into two, namely the piston bowl and the squish volume. Through analysis, among others the histories of soot, carbon monoxide (CO) and nitric oxide (NO ) emissions inside both volumes are shown.

Within a project of the Research Association for Combustion Engines e.V., different measures for rising the temperature of exhaust gas aftertreatment components of both a passenger car and an industrial/commercial vehicle engine were investigated on a test bench as well as in simulation. With the passenger car diesel engine and different catalyst configurations, the potential of internal and external heating measures was evaluated. The configuration consisting of a NOx storage catalyst (NSC) and a diesel particulate filter (DPF) illustrates the potential of an electrically heated NSC. The exhaust aftertreatment system consisting of a diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC) and a DPF shows in simulation how variable valve timing in combination with electric heated DOC can be used to increase the exhaust gas temperature and thus fulfill the EU6 emission limits.

The optimization study presented herein is aimed to minimize the fuel consumption and engine-out emissions using commercially available EN15940 compatible HVO (Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil) fuel. The investigations were carried out on FEV’s 3rd generation HECS (High Efficiency Combustion System) multi-cylinder engine (1.6L, 4 Cylinder, Euro 6). Using a global DOE approach, the effects of calibration parameters on efficiency and emissions were obtained and analyzed. This was followed by a global optimization procedure to obtain a dedicated calibration for HVO. The study was aiming for efficiency improvement and it was found that at lower loads, higher fractions of low pressure EGR in combination with lower fuel injection pressures were favorable. At higher loads, a combustion center advancement, increase of injection pressure and reduced pilot injection quantities were possible without exceeding the noise and NOx levels of the baseline Diesel.

To comply with the new regulations on particulate matter emissions, the manufacturers of light-duty as well as heavy-duty vehicles more commonly use diesel particulate filters (DPF). The regeneration of DPF depends to a significant extent on the properties of the soot stored. Within the Cluster of Excellence "Tailor-Made Fuels from Biomass (TMFB)" at RWTH Aachen University, the Institute for Combustion Engines carried out a detailed investigation program to explore the potential of future biofuel candidates for optimized combustion systems. The experiments for particulate measurements and analysis were conducted on a EURO 6-compliant High Efficiency Diesel Combustion System (HECS) with petroleum-based diesel fuel as reference and a today's commercial biofuel (i.e., FAME) as well as a potential future biomass-derived fuel candidate (i.e., 2-MTHF/DBE). Thermo gravimetric analyzer (TGA) was used in this study to evaluate the oxidative reactivity of the soot.

With Post Euro 6 emission standards in discussion, stricter particulate number (PN) targets as well as a decreased PN cut-off size from 23 to 10 nm are expected. Sub-23 nm particulates are considered particularly harmful to human health, but are not yet taken into account in the current vehicle certification process. Not considering sub-23 nm particulates during the development process could lead to significant additional efforts for Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) to comply with future Post Euro 6 PN emission limits. It is therefore essential to increase knowledge about the formation and filtration of particulates below 23 nm. In the present study, a holistic Gasoline Particulate Filter (GPF) characterization has been carried out on an engine test bench under varying boundary conditions and on a burner bench with a novel ash loading methodology.

Gasoline Controlled Auto-Ignition (GCAI) combustion, which can be categorized under Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI), is a low-temperature combustion process with promising benefits such as ultra-low cylinder-out NOx emissions and reduced brake-specific fuel consumption, which are the critical parameters in any modern engine. Since this technology is based on uncontrolled auto-ignition of a premixed charge, it is very sensitive to any change in boundary conditions during engine operation. Adopting real time valve timing and fuel-injection strategies can enable improved control over GCAI combustion. This work discusses the outcome of collaborative experimental research by the partnering institutes in this direction. Experiments were performed in a single cylinder GCAI engine with variable valve timing and Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI) at constant indicated mean effective pressure (IMEP). In the first phase intake and exhaust valve timing sweeps were investigated.

Cyclic fluctuations of the in-cylinder processes in a Direct Injection Spark Ignition (DISI) engine may strongly affect the engine operation causing misfires or variations in the indicated mean effective pressure (imep). Particularly misfires prevent compliance with current or future exhaust emission legislations. Nevertheless, the origin of cyclic fluctuations is not well understood since fluctuations of in-cylinder air flow, fuel injection and wall interaction have to be considered. This paper focusses on a detailed experimental analysis of the origin of cyclic fluctuations in a DISI engine with an air guided combustion process by means of advanced Laser Induced Exciplex Fluorescence (LIEF) measurements. It reveals that cycle-to-cycle variations primarily originate from the air/fuel ratio at the spark plug.

An improved plasma reactor has been designed, built and evaluated. It is characterized by a reduced power per area ratio, relative to previous designs, and includes several improvements to run the whole system safely in a car. The new reactor design includes a concentric inner high voltage electrode, a grounded outer electrode, a shielded high-voltage and high temperature resistant electrical connection. A generator controller has been developed for better control of operating conditions as required during the engine cold start phase. The new generator/reactor system was installed in the exhaust pipe of a gasoline direct injection engine. HC emissions could be reduced up to 30 % in the first 40 seconds of a cold start test. In addition to HC treatment the dielectric barrier discharge has also been investigated as a method for regenerating a diesel particulate trap.

The development and validation of detailed simulation models of in-cylinder combustion, emission formation mechanisms and reaction kinetics in the exhaust system are of crucial importance for the design of future low-emission powertrain concepts. To investigate emission formation mechanisms on one side and to create a solid basis for the validation of simulation methodologies (e.g. 3D-CFD, multi-dimensional in-cylinder models, etc.) on the other side, specific detailed measurements in the exhaust system are required. In particular, the hydrocarbon (HC) emissions are difficult to be investigated in simulation and experimentally, due to their complex composition and their post-oxidation in the exhaust system. In this work, different emission measurement devices were used to track the emission level and composition at different distances from the cylinder along the exhaust manifold, from the exhaust valve onwards.

Depending on a vehicles drive cycle, an improvement of the overall drivetrain efficiency does not necessarily have to go along with an improvement of its mileage. In here the ratio of energy to overcome rolling resistance, aerodynamic drag, acceleration and energy wasted directly in wheel brakes is responsible for potentially differing trends. A detailed knowledge of energy flows, sources and sinks makes up a substantial step into optimizing any drive train. Most fuel energy leaves the drivetrain via exhaust pipes. Next to usable mechanical energy, a big amount is spent to heat up the system directly or to overcome drive train friction, which is converted into heat to warm up the system additionally. An in depth quantification of the most important energy flows for an upper middle-sized class gasoline powered drive train is given as results of warm-up cycle simulations.

Model-based control strategies along with an adapted calibration process become more important in the overall vehicle development process. The main drivers for this development trend are increasing numbers of vehicle variants and more complex engine hardware, which is required to fulfill the more and more stringent emission legislation and fuel consumption norms. Upcoming fundamental changes in the homologation process with EU 6c, covering an extended range of different operational and ambient conditions, are suspected to intensify this trend. One main reason for the increased calibration effort is the use of various complex aftertreatment technologies amongst different vehicle applications, requiring numerous combustion modes. The different combustion modes range from heating strategies for active Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) regeneration or early SCR light-off and rich combustion modes to purge the NOx storage catalyst (NSC) up to partially premixed combustion modes.

The HSDI Diesel engine contributes substantially to the decrease of fleet fuel consumption thus to the reduction of CO2 emissions. This results in the rising market acceptance which is supported by desirable driving performance as well as greatly improved NVH behavior. In addition to the above mentioned requirements on driving performance, fuel economy and NVH behavior, continuously increasing demands on emissions performance have to be met. From today's view the Diesel particulate trap presents a safe technology to achieve the required reduction of the particle emission of more than 95%. However, according to today's knowledge a further, substantial NOx engine-out emission reduction for the Diesel engine is counteracts with the other goal of reduced fuel consumption. To comply with current and future emission standards, Diesel engines will require DeNOx technologies.

Dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) offers the advantage to excite and dissociate molecules in the exhaust gas stream. Those dissociated and excited species are oxidizing or reducing harmful exhaust gas components. The advantage of a plasma chemical system in comparison to a catalytic measure for exhaust gas treatment is the instantaneous activity at ambient temperature from the starting of the engine. The investigations reviewed in this paper are dealing with the plasma chemical oxidation of hydrocarbons in the exhaust gas stream during cold start conditions. The article concerns the design and development of a plasma-system in order to decrease the hydrocarbon emissions from engine start till catalyst light off. Vehicle results in the New European Driving Cycle show a hydrocarbon conversion of more than 42% in the first 11 seconds from engine start. In this period nearly all types of hydrocarbon were reduced.