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Abstract Energy management strategies for charge-sustaining hybrid electric vehicles reduce fuel consumption and maintain battery pack state of charge while meeting driver output power demand. The equivalent consumption minimization strategy is a real-time energy management strategy that makes use of an equivalence ratio to quantify electric power consumption in terms of fuel power consumption. The magnitude of the equivalence ratio determines the hybrid electric vehicle mode of operation and influences the ability of the energy management strategy to reduce fuel consumption as well as maintain the battery pack state of charge. The equivalent consumption minimization strategy in this article uses three Willans line models, which have an associated marginal efficiency and constant offset, to model the performance in the hybrid electric vehicle controller.

Abstract With the reduction in PM emission standards for light duty vehicles to 3 mg/mi for current Federal and California standards and subsequently to 1 mg/mi in 2025 for California, the required PM measurements are approaching the detection limits of the gravimetric method. A “filter survey” was conducted with 11 laboratories, representing industry, agencies, research institutes, and academic institutions to analyze the accuracy of the current gravimetric filter measurement method under controlled conditions. The reference filter variability, measured within a given day over periods as short as an hour, ranged from 0.61 μg to 2 μg to 5.0 μg for the 5th, 50th, 95th percentiles (n > 40,000 weights, 317 reference objects), with a laboratory average of 2.5 μg.

Abstract To reduce fuel consumption and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from mobile air conditioning (A/C) systems, “U.S. Light-Duty Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards” identified solar/thermal technologies such as solar control glazings, solar reflective paint, and active and passive cabin ventilation in an off-cycle credit menu. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) researchers developed a sophisticated analysis process to calculate U.S. light-duty A/C fuel use that was used to assess the impact of these technologies, leveraging thermal and vehicle simulation analysis tools developed under previous U.S. Department of Energy projects. Representative U.S. light-duty driving behaviors and weighting factors including time-of-day of travel, trip duration, and time between trips were characterized and integrated into the analysis.

Abstract Autonomy and connectivity are considered among the most promising technologies to improve safety and mobility and reduce fuel consumption and travel delay in transportation systems. In this paper, we devise an optimal control-based trajectory planning model that can provide safe and efficient trajectories for the subject vehicle while incorporating platoon formation and lane-changing decisions. We embed this trajectory planning model in a simulation framework to quantify its fuel efficiency and travel time reduction benefits for the subject vehicle in a dynamic traffic environment. Specifically, we compare and analyze the statistical performance of different controller designs in which lane changing or platooning may be enabled, under different values of time (VoTs) for travelers.

Abstract The wide application of Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI) engines and the increasingly stringent Particulate Matter (PM) and Particulate Number (PN) regulations make Gasoline Particulate Filters (GPFs) with high filtration efficiency and low pressure drop highly desirable. However, due to the specifics of GDI operation and GDI PM, the design of these filters is even more challenging as compared to their diesel counterparts. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) studies have been shown to be an effective way to investigate filter performance. In particular, our previous two-dimensional (2D) CFD study explicated the pore size and pore-size distribution effects on GPF filtration efficiency and pressure drop. The “throat unit collector” model developed in this study furthers this work in order to characterize the GPF wall microstructure more precisely.

Abstract Uncertainty of fuel reserves, environmental crisis, and health concerns arise from transport demands and reliance on fossil fuels. Downsized gasoline turbocharged direct injection (GTDI) engines have been developed and applied to most modern gasoline vehicles, delivering superior efficiency in high-load operation, reduced friction, and weight. But fuel enrichment and late combustion phasing to mitigate knocking combustion have hindered the efficiency benefits at higher loads with high boost. Furthermore, the wide valve-overlap with a three-cylinder setup for the maximum scavenging efficiency produces bursts of short-circuit (SC) air to cause underestimation of the equivalence ratio by the oxygen sensor, resulting in higher tailpipe nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions with three-way catalyst (TWC) exhaust aftertreatment. Reducing the valve overlap to limit short-circuiting and enrichment will recover the combustion efficiency and the engine ER, but at the cost of high knock onset.

Abstract To protect ship equipment of river and sea transport, it is suggested to use polymeric protective coatings based on epoxy diane oligomer ED-20, polyethylene polyamine (PEPA) curing agent and filler, which is a departure from industrial production. Thus the purpose of the work is analysis of major dependency of the properties on the content of fillers that allowed to revealed the critical filler content (furnace black) in composites to form a protective coating with the required set of characteristics. The infrared (IR) spectral analysis was used to investigate the presence of bonds on the surface of particles of the PM-75 furnace black, which allows us to assess the degree of cross-linking of the polymer. The influence of the content of dispersed furnace black on the physicomechanical and thermophysical properties and the structure of the protective coating is investigated.

Abstract Different aftertreatment systems consisting of a combination of selective catalytic reduction (SCR) and SCR catalyst on a diesel particulate filter (DPF) (SCR-F) are being developed to meet future oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions standards being set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the California Air Resources Board (CARB). One such system consisting of a SCRF® with a downstream SCR was used in this research to determine the system NOx reduction performance using experimental data from a 2013 Cummins 6.7L ISB diesel engine and model data. The contribution of the three SCR reactions on NOx reduction performance in the SCR-F and the SCR was determined based on the modeling work. The performance of a SCR was simulated with a one-dimensional (1D) SCR model. A NO2/NOx ratio of 0.5 was found to be optimum for maximizing the NOx reduction and minimizing NH3 slip for the SCR for a given value of ammonia-to-NOx ratio (ANR).

Abstract This study implements Flame Image Velocimetry (FIV), a diagnostic technique based on post-processing of high-speed soot luminosity images, to show the in-flame flow field development impacted by after-injection in a single-cylinder, small-bore optical diesel engine. Two after-injection cases with different dwell times between the main injection and after-injection, namely, close-coupled and long-dwell, as well as a main-injection-only case are compared regarding flow fields, flow vector magnitude, and turbulence intensity distribution. For each case, high-speed soot luminosity movies from 100 individual combustion cycles are recorded at a high frame rate of 45 kHz for FIV processing. The Reynolds decomposition using a spatial filtering method is applied to the obtained flow vectors so that bulk flow structures and turbulence intensity distributions can be discussed.

Abstract TOC

Abstract Gasoline direct-injection (GDI) engines are increasing market penetration. They are attractive because they substantially decrease CO2 emissions and can increase fuel economy. However, due to their design, GDI engines are prone to increases in soot production. Blends of alcohols with gasoline have been observed to decrease soot production in GDI engines. However, results have been mixed, with publications suggesting either a decrease or an increase in soot production. Recent publications have indicated that increases in soot production are tied to fuel impingement onto the cylinder head during high-load engine periods. The work presented here utilizes an equation of state (EoS) model to understand the volatility characteristics of oxygenate-surrogate fuel blends, focusing on the volatility of aromatics. EoS calculations are rapid, and allow for the simulation of a broad range of temperatures and pressures.

Abstract This study proposes a real-time control for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) based on dynamic programming (DP). In order to obtain the optimal controls, DP is first used to solve the driving cycle, and a model-based calibration (MBC) tool is used to generate the optimal maps from the optimal trajectories. Further, a feedback energy management system (FEMS) is developed with the SoC as the feedback variable, which considers the charge and discharge reaction of the battery. To make full use of the energy stored in the battery, combined with the charge depletion-charge sustain (CDCS) strategy, the reference SoC is introduced. Finally, comparative simulation of the proposed real-time controller and DP is performed. The obtained results show that the fuel consumption of the real-time controller is 4.82 L/100 km in the worldwide harmonized light-duty vehicles’ test cycles, which is close to the fuel consumption with DP at 4.69 L/100 km.

Abstract High fuel injection pressure systems for Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI) engines have become widely used in passenger car engines to reduce emissions of particulates and pollutant gases. Current commercial systems operate at pressures of up to 450 bar, but several studies have examined the use of injection pressures above 600 bar, and some have even used pressures around 1500 bar. These works revealed that high injection pressures have numerous benefits including reduced particulate emissions, but there is still a need for more data on the possible benefits of injection pressures above 1000 bar. This article presents spray and engine data from a comprehensive study using several measurement techniques in a spray chamber and optical and metal engines. Shadowgraph imaging and Phase Doppler Interferometry (PDI) were used in a constant volume chamber to interpret spray behavior. Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) was used to capture near-nozzle air entrainment.

Abstract Previous studies have shown that injector aging adversely affects the diesel engine spray formation and combustion. It has also been shown that the oxygenated fuel additive tripropylene glycol monomethyl ether (TPGME) can lower soot emissions. In this study, the effects of injector aging and TPGME on the late-cycle oxidation of soot were investigated using laser diagnostic techniques in a light-duty optical diesel engine at two load conditions. The engine was equipped with a quartz piston with the same complex piston geometry as a production engine. Planar laser-induced incandescence (LII) was used to obtain semiquantitative in-cylinder two-dimensional (2D) soot volume fraction (fv ) distributions using extinction measurements. The soot oxidation rate was estimated from the decay rate of the in-cylinder soot concentration for differently aged injectors and for cases with and without TPGME in the fuel.

Abstract Particulate formation was studied under homogeneous-intent stoichiometric operating conditions when ethanol-blended (E10) or methanol-blended (M20) gasoline fuel was injected during intake stroke of a 4-stroke direct-injected engine. The engine was tested at wide open throttle under naturally aspirated conditions for a speed-load of 1500 rev/min and 9.8 bar indicated mean effective pressure. In-cylinder soot observations and exhaust soot measurements were completed for different fuel rail pressures, injection timings, coolant and piston temperatures of the optical engine. Fuel delivery settings were tested with both single and split injections during intake stroke. The target piston temperature of the optical engine was attained using pre-determined number of methane port fuel injection firing cycles. Overall, the in-cylinder soot observations correlated well with the engine-out soot measurements. A warmer cylinder head favored soot reduction for both fuels.

Abstract Commercial vehicles require continual improvements in order to meet fuel consumption standards, improve diesel aftertreatment (AT) system performance, and optimize vehicle fuel economy. Simultaneous reductions in both CO2 and NOX emissions will be required to meet the upcoming regulatory targets for both EPA Phase 2 Greenhouse Gas Standards and new Low NOX Standards being proposed by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). In addition, CARB recently proposed a new certification cycle that will require high NOX conversion while vehicles are operating at lower loads than current regulatory cycles require. Cylinder deactivation (CDA) offers a powerful technology lever for meeting these two regulatory targets on commercial diesel engines. There have been numerous works in the past year showing the benefits of diesel CDA for elevating exhaust temperatures during low-load operation where it is normally too cold for AT to function at peak efficiency.

Abstract KL extinction measurements are an attractive soot measurement method common in the literature concerning soot-producing sprays because of their nonintrusiveness and 2D or 3D results. Unfortunately, these measurements often rely on bold assumptions of uniform and monodisperse spherical soot particles. In this work, a Spray A case is simulated using a highly detailed 3D stochastic soot model capable of predicting soot particle morphology. The measured and simulated soot volume fraction are compared, and although the simulated volume fraction magnitudes are approximately correct, the simulated volume fraction lacks a core of high volume fraction that the measured data shows. Optical models based on simulated particle size and shape are applied to the simulated data to find the local optical thickness.

Abstract The airline industry faces a crisis in the future as consumer demand is increasing, but the environmental effects and depleting resources of kerosene mean that growth is unsustainable. Hydrogen is touted as the leading candidate to replace kerosene, but it needs significant technological and economical endeavors. In such a scenario, cryogenic liquid hydrogen (LH2) is predicted to be the most feasible method of using hydrogen. The major challenge of LH2 as an aircraft fuel is that it requires approximately four times the storage volume of kerosene—due to its lower density. Thus the design of cryogenic storage tanks to handle larger quantities of fuel is becoming increasingly important. But the increase in drag associated with larger storage tanks causes an increase in fuel consumption. Hence, this paper aims to evaluate the aerodynamic performance of different storage configurations and aid in the selection of an economic and efficient storage system.

Abstract This article investigates the ability of data-driven models to estimate instantaneous fuel consumption over 1 km road segments from different routes for different heavy-duty vehicles from the same fleet. Models are created using three different techniques: parametric, linear regression, and artificial neural networks. The proposed models use features derived from vehicle speed, mass, and road grade, which can be easily obtained from telematics devices, in addition to power take-off (PTO) active time, which is needed to capture the power requested by accessories in several heavy-duty vehicles. The robustness of these models with respect to the training data selection is improved by using k-fold cross-validation. Moreover, the inherent underestimation or overestimation bias of the model is calculated and used to offset the fuel consumption estimates for new routes. The study shows that the target application dictates the choice of model features.

Abstract Late-cycle soot oxidation in heavy-duty (HD) diesel engine low-swirl combustion was investigated using single-cylinder engine and spray chamber experiments together with engine combustion simulations. The in-cylinder flow during interactions between adjacent flames (flame-flame events) was shown to have a large impact on late-cycle combustion. To modify the flame-flame flow, a new piston bowl shape with a protrusion (wave) was designed to guide the near-wall flow. This design significantly reduced soot emissions and increased engine thermodynamic efficiency. The wave’s main effect was to enhance late-cycle mixing, as demonstrated by an increase in the apparent rate of heat release after the termination of fuel injection. Combustion simulations showed that the increased mixing is driven by enhanced flow re-circulation, which produces a radial mixing zone (RMZ).