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In the recent years, the interest in heavy-duty engines fueled with Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) is increasing due to the necessity to comply with the stringent CO2 limitation imposed by national and international regulations. Indeed, the reduced number of carbon atoms of the NG molecule allows to reduce the CO2 emissions compared to a conventional fuel. The possibility to produce synthetic methane from renewable energy sources, or bio-methane from agricultural biomass and/or animal waste, contributes to support the switch from conventional fuel to CNG. To drive the engine development and reduce the time-to-market, the employment of numerical analysis is mandatory. This requires a continuous improvement of the simulation models toward real predictive analyses able to reduce the experimental R&D efforts. In this framework, 1D numerical codes are fundamental tools for system design, energy management optimization, and so on.

In this work, various techniques are numerically applied to a base engine - vehicle system to estimate their potential CO2 emission reduction. The reference thermal unit is a downsized turbocharged spark-ignition Variable Valve Actuation (VVA) engine, with a Compression Ratio (CR) of 10. In order to improve its fuel consumption, preserving the original full-load torque, various technologies are considered, including an increased CR, an external low-pressure cooled EGR, and a ported Water Injection (WI). The analyses are carried out by a 1D commercial software (GT-Power™), enhanced by refined user-models for the description of in-cylinder processes, namely turbulence, combustion, heat transfer and knock. The latter were validated with reference to the base engine architecture in previous activities. To minimize the Brake Specific Fuel Consumption (BSFC) all over the engine operating plane, the control parameters of the base and modified engines are calibrated based on PID controllers.

It is commonly recognized that the paths for improving fuel consumption (BSFC) in a spark-ignition engine at part-load require more advanced valve actuation strategies, which largely affect the pumping work. Since several years, many different solutions have been proposed, characterized by different levels of complexity, effectiveness, and cost. Valve systems currently available on the market allow for variable phasing (VVT - Variable Valve Timing), and/or lift (VVA - Variable Valve Actuation). Usually VVT devices are applied on intake and exhaust camshafts, in the “phased” or “unphased” configuration, as well. VVA devices are instead commonly mounted on the intake camshaft. More recent VVA systems also allow for a double intake valve lift during a single engine cycle (multi-lift), or may include a small intake pre-lift during the exhaust stroke. The latter solutions may determine further BSFC reductions. Alternatively, an external-EGR circuit can be considered, as well.

Turbocharging technique will play a fundamental role in the near future not only to improve automotive engine performance, but also to reduce fuel consumption and exhaust emissions both in Spark Ignition and Compression Ignition engines. To this end, one-dimensional (1D) modelling is usually employed to compute the engine-turbocharger matching, to select the boost level in different operating conditions and to estimate low end torque level and transient response. However, 1D modeling of a turbocharged engine requires the availability of the turbine and compressor characteristic maps. This leads to some typical drawbacks: performance maps of the turbocharger device are usually limited to a reduced number of rotational speeds, pressure ratios and mass flow rates.

Recently, a growing interest in the development of more accurate phenomenological turbulence models is observed, since this is a key pre-requisite to properly describe the burn rate in quasi-dimensional combustion models. The latter are increasingly utilized to predict engine performance in very different operating conditions, also including unconventional valve control strategies, such as EIVC or LIVC. Therefore, a reliable phenomenological turbulence model should be able to physically relate the actuated valve strategy to turbulence level during the engine cycle, with particular care in the angular phase when the combustion takes place.

In recent years, internal combustion engine (ICE) downsizing coupled with turbocharging was considered the most effective path to improve engine efficiency at low load, without penalizing rated power/torque performance at full load. On the other side, issues related to knocking combustion and excessive exhaust gas temperatures obliged adopting countermeasures that highly affect the efficiency, such as fuel enrichment and delayed combustion. Powertrain electrification allows operating the ICE mostly at medium/high loads, shifting design needs and constraints towards targeting high efficiency under those operating conditions. Conversely, engine efficiency at low loads becomes a less important issue. In this track, the aim of this work is the investigation of the potential of the oversizing of a small Variable Valve ActuationSpark Ignition gasoline engine towards efficiency increase and tailpipe emission reduction.

Nowadays different technical solutions have been proposed to improve the performance of internal combustion engines, especially in terms of Brake Specific Fuel Consumption (BSFC). Its reduction of course contributes to comply with the CO2 emissions legislation for vehicle homologation. Concerning the spark ignition engines, the downsizing coupled to turbocharging demonstrated a proper effectiveness to improve the BSFC at part load. On the other hand, at high load, the above solution highly penalizes the fuel consumption mainly because of knock onset, that obliges to degrade the combustion phasing and/or enrich the air/fuel mixture. A promising technique to cope with the above drawbacks consists in the Variable Compression Ratio (VCR) concept. An optimal Compression Ratio (CR) selection, in fact, allows for further improvements of the thermodynamic efficiency at part load, while at high load, it permits to mitigate knock propensity, resulting in more optimized combustions.

The results of the experimental analyses, described in Part 1, are here employed to build up an innovative numerical approach for the 1D modeling of combustion, cycle-by-cycle variations and knock of a high performance 12-cylinder spark-ignition engine. The whole engine is schematized in detail in a 1D framework simulation, developed in the GT-Power™ environment. Proper “in-house developed” sub-models are used to describe the combustion process, turbulence phenomenon, cycle-by-cycle variations (CCV) and knock occurrence. In particular, the knock onset is evaluated by a chemical kinetic scheme for a toluene reference fuel, able to detect the presence of auto-ignition reactions in the end-gas zone. In a first stage, the engine model is validated in terms of overall performance parameter and ensemble averaged pressure cycles, for various full and part load operating points and spark timings.

In this paper, a high performance V12 spark-ignition engine is experimentally investigated at test-bench in order to fully characterize its behavior in terms of both average parameters, cycle-by-cycle variations and knock tendency, for different operating conditions. In particular, for each considered operating point, a spark advance sweep is actuated, starting from a knock-free calibration, up to intense knock operation. Sequences of 300 consecutive pressure cycles are measured for each cylinder, together with the main overall engine performance, including fuel flow, torque, and fuel consumption. Acquired data are statistically analyzed to derive the distributions of main indicated parameters, in order to find proper correlations with ensemble-averaged quantities. In particular, the Coefficient of Variation (CoV) of IMEP and of the in-cylinder peak pressure (pmax) are correlated to the average combustion phasing and duration (MFB50 and Δθb), with a good coefficient of determination.

It is well known that the downsizing philosophy allows the improvement of Brake Specific Fuel Consumption (BSFC) at part load operation for spark ignition engines. On the other hand, the BSFC is penalized at high/full load operation because of the knock occurrence and of further limitations on the Turbine Inlet Temperature (TIT). Knock control forces the adoption of a late combustion phasing, causing a deterioration of the thermodynamic efficiency, while TIT control requires enrichment of the Air-to-Fuel (A/F) ratio, with additional BSFC drawbacks. In this work, a promising technique, consisting of the introduction of a low-pressure cooled exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) system, is analyzed by means of a 1D numerical approach with reference to a downsized turbocharged SI engine. Proper “in-house developed” sub-models are used to describe the combustion process, turbulence phenomenon and the knock occurrence.

Modern internal combustion engines show complex architectures in order to improve their performance in terms of brake torque and fuel consumption. Concerning naturally-aspirated engines, an optimization of the intake port geometry, together with the selection of a proper valve timing, allow to improve the cylinder filling and hence the performance. The identification of an optimal calibration strategy at test bench usually requires long and expensive experimental activities. Numerical tools can help to support engine calibration, especially in the early design phases. In the present work, a 12-cylinder naturally aspirated spark ignition engine is investigated. The engine is experimentally tested under full and part load operations. Main performance parameters, in-cylinder pressure cycles and raw pollutant emissions are measured.

Modern VVA systems offer new potentialities in improving the fuel consumption for spark-ignition engines at low and medium load, meanwhile they grant a higher volumetric efficiency and performance at high load. Recently introduced systems enhance this concept through the possibility of concurrently modifying the intake valve opening, closing and lift leading to the development of almost "throttle-less" engines. However, at very low loads, the control of the air-flow motion and the turbulence intensity inside the cylinder may require to select a proper combination of the butterfly throttling and the intake valve control, to get the highest BSFC (Brake Specific Fuel Consumption) reduction. Moreover, a low throttling, while improving the fuel consumption, may also produce an increased gas-dynamic noise at the intake mouth. In highly "downsized" engines, the intake valve control is also linked to the turbocharger operating point, which may be changed by acting on the waste-gate valve.

The technique of liquid Water Injection (WI) at the intake port of downsized boosted SI engines is a promising solution to improve the knock resistance at high loads. In this work, an existing 1D engine model has been extended to improve its ability to simulate the effects of the water injection on the flame propagation speed and knock onset. The new features of the 1D model include an improved treatment of the heat subtracted by the water evaporation, a newly developed correlation for the laminar flame speed, explicitly considering the amount of water in the unburned mixture, and a more detailed kinetic mechanism to predict the auto-ignition characteristics of fuel/air/water mixture. The extended 1D model is validated against experimental data collected at different engine speeds and loads, including knock-limited operation, for a twin-cylinder turbocharged SI engine.

In this work, a promising technique, consisting of a liquid Water Injection (WI) at the intake ports, is investigated to overcome over-fueling and delayed combustions typical of downsized boosted engines, operating at high loads. In a first stage, experimental tests are carried out in a spark-ignition twin-cylinder turbocharged engine at a fixed rotational speed and medium-high loads. In particular, a spark timing and a water-to-fuel ratio sweep are both specified, to analyze the WI capability in increasing the knock-limited spark advance. In a second stage, the considered engine is schematized in a 1D framework. The model, developed in the GT-Power™ environment, includes user defined procedures for the description of combustion and knock phenomena. Computed results are compared with collected data for all the considered operating conditions, in terms of average performance parameters, in-cylinder pressure cycles, burn rate profiles, and knock propensity, as well.

Increasingly stringent pollutant and CO2 emission standards require the car manufacturers to investigate innovative solutions to further improve the fuel economy and environmental impact of their fleets. Nowadays, NOx emissions standards are stringent for spark-ignition (SI) internal combustion engines (ICEs) and many techniques are investigated to limit these emissions. Among these, an extremely lean combustion has a large potential to simultaneously reduce the NOx raw emissions and the fuel consumption of SI ICEs. Engines with pre-chamber ignition system are promising solutions for realizing a high air-fuel ratio which is both ignitable and with an adequate combustion speed. In this work, the combustion characteristics of an active pre-chamber system are experimentally investigated using a single-cylinder research engine. The engine under exam is a large bore heavy-duty unit with an active pre-chamber fuelled with compressed natural gas.

Recently, the car manufacturers are moving towards innovative Spark Ignition (SI) engine architectures with unconventional combustion concepts, aiming to comply with the stringent regulation imposed by EU and other legislators. The introduction of burdensome cycles for vehicle homologation, indeed, requires an engine characterized by a high efficiency in the most of its operating conditions, for which a conventional SI engine results to be ineffective. Combustion systems which work with very lean air/fuel mixture have demonstrated to be a promising solution to this concern. Higher specific heat ratio, minor heat losses and increased knock resistance indeed allow improving fuel consumption. Additionally, the lower combustion temperatures enable to reduce NOX production. Since conventional SI engines can work with a limited amount of excess air, alternative solutions are being developed to overcome this constraint and reach the above benefit.

Downsizing is widely considered one of the main path to reduce the fuel consumption of spark ignition internal combustion engines. As known, despite the reduced size, the required torque and power targets can be attained thanks to an adequate boost level provided by a turbocharger. However, some drawbacks usually arise when the engine operates at full load and low speeds. In fact, in the above conditions, the boost pressure and the engine performance is limited since the compressor experiences close-to-surge operation. This occurrence is even greater in case of extremely downsized engines with a reduced number of cylinders and a small intake circuit volume, where the compressor works under strongly unsteady flow conditions and its instantaneous operating point most likely overcomes the steady surge margin. In the paper, both experimental and numerical approaches are followed to describe the unsteady behavior of a small in-series turbocharger compressor.

The optimal control of hybrid powertrains represents one of the most challenging tasks for the compliance with the legislation concerning CO2 and pollutant emission of vehicles. Most common off-line optimization strategies (Pontryagin minimum principle - PMP - or dynamic programming) allow to identify the optimal control along a predefined driving mission at the expense of a quite relevant computational effort. On-line strategies, suitable for on-vehicle implementation, involve a certain performance degradation depending on their degree of simplification and computational effort. In this work, a simplified control strategy is presented, where the conventional power-split logics, typical of the above-mentioned strategies, is here replaced with an alternative utilization of the thermal and electric units for the vehicle driving (Efficient Thermal Electric Skipping Strategy - ETESS).

In recent years automobile manufacturers focused on an increasing degree of electrification of the powertrains with the aim to reduce pollutants and CO2 emissions. Despite more complex design processes and control strategies, these powertrains offer improved fuel exploitation compared to conventional vehicles thanks to intelligent energy management. A simulation study is here presented aiming at developing a new control strategy for a P3 parallel plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. The simulation model is implemented using vehicle modeling and simulation toolboxes in MATLAB/Simulink. The proposed control strategy is based on an alternative utilization of the electric motor and thermal engine to satisfy the vehicle power demand at the wheels (Efficient Thermal/Electric Skipping Strategy - ETESS). The choice between the two units is realized through a comparison between two equivalent fuel rates, one related to the thermal engine and the other related to the electric consumption.

This study proposes a predictive equivalent consumption minimization strategy (P-ECMS), based on short-term velocity prediction for a heavy-duty fuel cell vehicle while considering fuel cell degradation. The long-short term memory (LSTM) based predictor has been trained on data deriving from realistic driving cycles. The P-ECMS is compared with a typical adaptive-ECMS from the literature, the optimal ECMS, and a rule-based strategy for two different driving cycles in terms of battery SOC sustenance, equivalence factor evolution, hydrogen consumption, and fuel cell degradation. Results show that P-ECMS can reduce hydrogen consumption by up to 3% compared to the reference A-ECMS. It also reduces fuel cell degradation in relation to the optimal ECMS.