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Powertrain electrification is becoming increasingly common in the transportation sector to address the challenges of global warming and deteriorating air quality. This paper introduces a novel “Build Your Hybrid” approach to experience and test various hybrid powertrain concepts. This approach is applied to the light commercial vehicles (LCV) segment due to the attractive combination of a Diesel engine and a partly electrified powertrain. For this purpose, a demonstrator vehicle has been set up with a flexible P02 hybrid topology and a prototype Hybrid Control Unit (HCU). Based on user input, the HCU software modifies the control functions and simulation models to emulate different sub-topologies and levels of hybridization in the demonstrator vehicle. Three powertrain concepts are considered for LCVs: HV P2, 48V P2 and 48V P0 hybrid. Dedicated hybrid control strategies are developed to take full advantage of the synergies of the electrical system and reduce CO2 and NOx emissions.

Downsizing is an effective way to further improve the efficiency of SI engines. To make most of this concept, the compression ratio has to be adjusted during engine operation. Thus, the efficiency disadvantages during part load can be eliminated. A fuel consumption reduction of up to 30% can be realized compared to naturally aspirated engines of the same power. After the assessment of several known concepts it turned out that the eccentric crankshaft positioning represents an appropriate solution which meets the requirements of good adjustability, unaltered inertia forces, low power demand of the positioning device and reasonable design effort. The basic challenges posed by the eccentric crankshaft positioning have been tackled, namely the crankshaft bearing and the integration of the newly developed power take-offs which have almost no influence on the base design.

The present work is a continuation of the earlier published results by authors on the investigation of Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil (HVO) on a High Efficiency Diesel Combustion System (SAE Int. J. Fuels Lubr. Paper No. 2013-01-1677 and JSAE Paper No. 283-20145128). In order to further validate and interpret the previously published results of soot microstructure and its consequences on oxidation behavior, the test program was extended to analyze the impact of soot composition, optical properties, and physical properties such as size, concentration etc. on the oxidation behavior. The experiments were performed with pure HVO as well as with petroleum based diesel and today's biofuel (i.e. FAME) as baseline fuels. The soot samples for the different analyses were collected under constant engine operating conditions at indicated raw NOx emissions of Euro 6 level using closed loop combustion control methodology.

By variation of the compression ratio the fuel consumption of high boosted gasoline engines can be reduced, due to operating with higher compression ratios at low load compared to an engine with fixed compression ratio. The two-stage VCR-system enables a high share of fuel saving potential relative to full variable systems. Considering a low cost manufacturability and a beneficial integratability into common engine architectures the length-adjustable conrod using an eccentric piston pin in the small eye has proved as the best concept. The adjustment is performed by a combination of gas and mass forces. This article describes the design of such a two-stage VCR-system as well as the functional testing under motored and fired engine operating conditions.

The problem with traditional drive cycle fuel economy analysis is that kinematic (backward looking) models do not account for transient differences in charge air handling systems. Therefore, dynamic (forward looking) 1D performance simulation models were created to predict drive cycle fuel economy which encompass all the transient elements of fully detailed engine and vehicle models. The transient-capable technology of primary interest was mechanical supercharging which has the benefit of improved boost response and "time to torque." The benefits of a supercharger clutch have also been evaluated. The current US class 6-8 commercial vehicle market exclusively uses turbocharged diesel engines. Three vehicles and baseline powertrains were selected based on a high-level review of vehicle sales and the used truck marketplace. Fuel economy over drive cycles was the principal output of the simulation work. All powertrains are based on EPA 2010 emission regulations.

While significant progress has been made in recent years to develop hybrid and battery electric vehicles for passenger car and light-duty applications to meet future fuel economy targets, the application of hybrid powertrains to heavy-duty truck applications has been very limited. The relatively lower energy and power density of batteries in comparison to diesel fuel and the operating profiles of most heavy-duty trucks, combine to make the application of hybrid powertrain for these applications more challenging. The high torque and power requirements of heavy-duty trucks over a long operating range, the majority of which is at constant cruise point, along with a high payback period, complexity, cost, weight and range anxiety, make the hybrid and battery electric solution less attractive than a conventional powertrain.

Regulated emissions, CO2-values, comfort, good driveability, high reliability and costs, this is the main frame for all future powertrain developments. In this frame, the diesel powertrain, not only for passenger cars, but also for commercial vehicle applications, faces some challenges in order to fulfil the future European and current US emission legislations while keeping the fuel consumption benefit, good driveability and an acceptable cost frame. One of these challenges is the varying fuel qualities of diesel fuel in different countries including different cetane number, volatility, sulphur content and different molecular composition. In addition to that in the future, more and more alternative fuels with various fuel qualities and properties will be launched into the market for economical and environmental reasons. At present, the control algorithms of the injection system applied in most diesel engines is open loop control.

Due to its high efficiency and superior durability the diesel engine is again becoming a prime candidate for future light-duty vehicle applications within the United States. While in Europe the overall diesel share exceeds 40%, the current diesel share in the U.S. is 1%. Despite the current situation and the very stringent Tier 2 emission standards, efforts are being made to introduce the diesel engine back into the U.S. market. In order to succeed, these vehicles have to comply with emissions standards over a 120,000 miles distance while maintaining their excellent fuel economy. The availability of technologies such as high-pressure common-rail fuel systems, low sulfur diesel fuel, NOx adsorber catalysts (NAC), and diesel particle filters (DPFs) allow the development of powertrain systems that have the potential to comply with the light-duty Tier 2 emission requirements. In support of this, the U.S.

Controlled Auto Ignition (CAI) as a promising future combustion process is a concept to strongly reduce fuel consumption as well as NOx emissions. The acceptance and the potential of this combustion process depends on the possible CAI operation range in the engine map and the fuel consumption benefit, as well as the complexity of the variable valve train which is necessary to realize the CAI combustion process. The thermodynamic investigations presented in this paper were done on an engine equipped with an electromechanical valve train (EMVT), featuring Port Fuel Injection (PFI) and direct Injection. They show that the electromechanical valve train is an excellent platform for developing the CAI process. Controlled Auto Ignition has been realized with port fuel injection in a speed range between 1000 and 4500 rpm and in a load range between approximately 1 and 6 bar BMEP (about 5 bar BMEP for pressure gradients lower than 3 bar/°CA) depending on engine speed.

The demand for fuel-efficient, low-displacement engines for future passenger car applications led to investigations with small DI diesel engines in the advanced engineering department at Mercedes-Benz. Single-cylinder tests were carried out to compare a 2-valve concept with 241 cm3 displacement with a 422 cm3 4-valve design, both operated with a common rail injection system. Mean effective pressures at full load were about 10 % lower with the smaller displacement. With such engines a specific power of 40 kW/I and a specific torque of about 140 Nm/I should be possible. In the current stage of optimization, penalties in fuel economy could be reduced down to values below 3 %. The “4-cylinder DI diesel engine with 1 liter displacement” is an interesting alternative to small 3 cylinder concepts with higher displacement per cylinder. An introduction into series production will not only depend on the potential for further improvement in fuel economy of such small cylinder units.

Within the Cluster of Excellence “Tailor-Made Fuels from Biomass” at RWTH Aachen University, the Institute for Combustion Engines carried out an investigation program to explore the potential of future biofuel components in Diesel blends. In this paper, thermodynamic single cylinder engine results of today's and future biofuel components are presented with respect to their engine-out emissions and engine efficiency. The investigations were divided into two phases: In the first phase, investigations were performed with rapeseed oil methyl ester (B100) and an Ethanol-Gasoline blend (E85). In order to analyze the impact of different fuel blends, mixtures with 10 vol-% of B100 or E85 and 90 vol-% of standardized EN590 Diesel were investigated. Due to the low cetane number of E85, it cannot be used purely in a Diesel engine.

Measures for reducing engine friction within the powertrain are assessed in this paper. The included measures work in combination with several new technologies such as new combustion technologies, downsizing and alternative fuels. The friction reduction measures are discussed for a typical gasoline vehicle. If powertrain friction could be eliminated completely, a reduction of 15% in CO2 emissions could be achieved. In order to comply with more demanding CO2 legislations, new technologies have to be considered to meet these targets. The additional cost for friction reduction measures are often lower than those of other new technologies. Therefore, these measures are worth following up in detail.

Fuels derived from biomass will most likely contain oxygen due to the high amount of hydrogen needed to remove oxygen in the production process. Today, alcohol fuels (e. g. ethanol) are well understood for spark ignition engines. The Institute for Combustion Engines at RWTH Aachen University carried out a fuel investigation program to explore the potential of alcohol fuels as candidates for future compression ignition engines to reduce engine-out emissions while maintaining engine efficiency and an acceptable noise level. The soot formation and oxidation process when using alcohol fuels in diesel engines is not yet sufficiently understood. Depending on the chain length, alcohol fuels vary in cetane number and boiling temperature. Decanol possesses a diesel-like cetane number and a boiling point in the range of the diesel boiling curve. Thus, decanol was selected as an alcohol representative to investigate the influence of the oxygen content of an alcohol on the combustion performance.

In order to deeply investigate and improve the complete path from biofuel production to combustion, the cluster of excellence “Tailor-Made Fuels from Biomass” was installed at RWTH Aachen University in 2007. Recently, new pathways have been discovered to synthesize octanol [1] and di-n-butylether (DNBE). These molecules are identical in the number of included hydrogen, oxygen and carbon atoms, but differ in the molecular structure: for octanol, the oxygen atom is at the end of the molecule, whereas for DNBE it is located in the middle. In this paper the utilization of octanol and DNBE in a state-of-the-art single cylinder diesel research engine will be discussed. The major interest has been on engine emissions (NOx, PM, HC, CO, noise) compared to conventional diesel fuel.

The finite nature and instability of fossil fuel supply has led to an increasing and enduring investigation demand of alternative and regenerative fuels. The Institute for Combustion Engines at the RWTH Aachen University carried out an investigation program to explore the potential of tailor made fuels to reduce engine-out emissions while maintaining engine efficiency and an acceptable noise level. To enable optimum engine performance a range of different hydrocarbons having different fuel properties like cetane number, boiling temperature and different molecular compositions have been investigated. Paraffines and naphthenes were selected in order to better understand the effects of molecular composition and chain length on emissions and performance of an engine that was already optimized for advanced combustion performance. The diesel single-cylinder research engine used in this study will be used to meet Euro 6 emissions limits and beyond.

Downsized direct-injected boosted gasoline engines with high specific power and torque output are leading the way to reduce fuel consumption in passenger car vehicles while maintaining the same performance when compared to applications with larger naturally aspirated engines. These downsized engines reach brake mean effective pressure levels which are in excess of 20 bar. When targeting high output levels at low engine speeds, undesired combustion events called pre-ignition can occur. These pre-ignition events are typically accompanied by very high cylinder peak pressures which can lead to severe damage if the engine is not designed to withstand these high cylinder pressures. Although these pre-ignition events have been reported by numerous other authors, it seems that their occurrence is rather erratic which makes it difficult to investigate or reliably exclude them.

Increasing shortages of energy resources as well as emission legislation development is increasing the pressure to develop more efficient, environmentally friendly propulsion systems for vehicles. Alternatives such as fuel cell systems or hybrid propulsion are in discussion or have already been introduced. This paper gives a survey on the present technical status of internal combustion engines, hybrid concepts and current fuel cell vehicles. Different solutions will be presented, so that an evaluation of advantages and drawbacks can be given. The further potentials of each concept, as well as combinations of different systems are discussed, and an outlook into the future is given.

When considered along with Phase 2 Greenhouse Gas (GHG) requirements, the proposed Air Resource Board (ARB) nitrogen oxide (NOx) emission limit of 0.02 g/bhp-hr will be very challenging to achieve as the trade-off between fuel consumption and NOx emissions is not favorable. To meet any future ultra-low NOx emission regulation, the NOx conversion efficiency during the cold start of the emission test cycles needs to be improved. In such a scenario, apart from changes in aftertreatment layout and formulation, additional heating measures will be required. In this article, a physics-based model for an advanced aftertreatment system comprising of a diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC), an SCR-catalyzed diesel particulate filter (SDPF), a stand-alone selective catalytic reduction (SCR), and an ammonia slip catalyst (ASC) was calibrated against experimental data.

A fuel cell based Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) represents a rather complex technical system consisting of different subsystems, components and low-level controllers. Particularly in the case of gasoline-fueled systems, a sophisticated supervisory control is needed to manage the sequential control and to achieve fault tolerant and fail-safe operation. In this paper, a state machine-based APU control concept is presented, offering a transparent and modular structure. In addition to a superior control system (top level supervisor) that manages the overall strategies and the interaction of all subsystems, each subsystem is equipped with its own subsystem control (second level supervisor). This controller is responsible for all subsystem specific issues. The APU control concept was implemented using Matlab®/Simulink® and applied on a rapid prototyping controller unit.

This paper focuses on start-up technology for fuel processing systems with special emphasis on gasoline fueled burners. Initially two different fuel processing systems, an autothermal reformer with preferential oxidation and a steam reformer with membrane, are introduced and their possible starting strategies are discussed. Energy consumption for preheating up to light-off temperature and the start-up time is estimated. Subsequently electrical preheating is compared with start-up burners and the different types of heat generation are rated with respect to the requirements on start-up systems. Preheating power for fuel cell propulsion systems necessarily reaches up to the magnitude of the electrical fuel cell power output. A gasoline fueled burner with thermal combustion has been build-up, which covers the required preheating power.