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Exhaust gas recirculation technology is one of the main methods to reduce engine emissions. The pressure of the intake pipe of turbocharged direct-injection diesel engine is high, and it is difficult to realize EGR technology. The application of Venturi tube can easily solve this problem. In this paper, the working principle of guide-injection Venturi tube is introduced, the EGR system and structure of a turbocharged diesel engine using the guide-injection Venturi tube are studied. According to the working principle of EGR system of turbocharged diesel engine, the model of guide-injection Venturi tube is established, the calculation grid is divided, and it is carried out by using Computational Fluid Dynamics method that the three-dimensional numerical simulation of the internal flow of Venturi tube under different EGR rates injection.

The design of engine intake system affects the intake uniformity of each cylinder of the engine, which in turn has an important impact on the engine performance, the uniform distribution of EGR exhaust gas and the combustion process of each cylinder. In this paper, the constant-pressure supercharged diesel engine intake pipe is used as the research model to study the intake air flow unevenness of the intake pipe of the supercharged diesel engine. The pressure boundary condition at the outlet of each intake manifold is set as the dynamic pressure change condition. The three-dimensional numerical simulation of the transient flow process in the intake manifold of diesel engine is simulated and analyzed by using numerical method, and the change of the Intake air flow field in the intake manifold under different working conditions during the intake overlapping period is discussed.

The authors have developed a new partial flow dilution tunnel (hereafter referred to as PPFT), whose principal device is a flux splitting gas divider, as a new means of measuring particulate emissions which can be applied to transient cycle testing of diesel engines. The advantage of this system is that it can achieve perfect constant velocity splitting by means of its structure, and theoretically can also maintain high splitting performance despite fluctuations in the exhaust flow rate, including those due to engine exhaust pulsation. We compared this system with a full tunnel by analyzing the basic performance of the system and measuring particulate matter (PM) using an actual vehicle engine.

This paper presents a study of LPG lean burn in a motorcycle SI engine. The lean burn limits are compared by several ways. The relations of lean burn limit with the parameters, such as engine speed, compression ratio and advanced spark ignition etc. are tested. The experimental results show that larger throttle opening, lower engine speed, earlier spark ignition timing, larger electrode gap and higher compression ratio will extend the lean burn limit of LPG. The emission of a LPG engine, especially on NOx emission, can be significantly reduced by means of the lean burn technology.

In the conventional approval test method of fuel consumption for heavy-duty diesel vehicles currently in use in Japan, the fuel consumption under the transient test cycle is calculated by integrating the instantaneous fuel consumption rate referred from a look-up table of fuel consumptions measured under the steady state conditions of the engine. Therefore, the transient engine performance is not considered in this conventional method. In this study, a highly accurate test method for fuel consumption in which the map-based fuel consumption rate is corrected using the transient characteristics of individual engines was developed. The method and its applicability for a heavy-duty diesel engine that complied with the Japanese 2009 emission regulation were validated.

Next-generation vehicles which include Electric Vehicles and Hybrid Electric Vehicles are studied and expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. The number of small delivery hybrid trucks has increased in the commercial vehicle class. The engine load of a commercial hybrid truck is reduced by using an electric motor. Fuel economy of the hybrid truck is improved with the assist. On the other hand, exhaust-gas temperature is decreased, and it has a negative effect on the purification performance of aftertreatment system. In this report, the fuel performance and emission gas characteristics of marketed small hybrid trucks were surveyed using the chassis dynamometer test system.

Active control of low-frequency engine order noise helps to improve the passenger’s sense of hearing, so it has become one of the hot topics in the automotive field. Depth improvement of active noise control (ANC) performance from the perspective of novel algorithms has attracted the attention of researchers. The conventional notch dual-channel filtered-x least mean square (NDFxLMS) algorithm shows acceptable noise reduction for the elimination of engine order noise. To further enhance the steady-state ANC effect, this paper proposed two new notch algorithms: the notch dual-channel filtered-x recursive least square (NDFxRLS) algorithm and the notch dual-channel affine projection (NDAP) algorithm. Vehicle simulation tests show that both the proposed algorithms, especially the NDFxRLS algorithm, have a satisfying performance for the cancellation of interior noise from the engine.

Acetone-Butanol-Ethanol (ABE), an intermediate product in the ABE fermentation process for producing bio-butanol, is considered a promising alternative fuel because it not only preserves the advantages of oxygenated fuel which typically emit less pollutants compared to conventional diesel, but also lowers the cost of fuel recovery for each individual component during the fermentation. With the development of advanced ABE fermentation technology, the volumetric percentage of acetone, butanol and ethanol in the bio-solvents can be precisely controlled. In this respect, it is desirable to estimate the performance of different ABE blends to determine the best blend and optimize the production process accordingly. ABE fuels with different component ratio, (A: B: E: 6:3:1; 3:6:1; 0:10:0, vol. %), were blended with diesel and tested in a constant volume chamber.

Autoignition in the homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) process typically exhibits heat release in two stages called cool flame and thermal flame. The mechanisms governing these two stages were investigated using a DME-fueled HCCI engine and numerical simulations. Composition analysis after cool flame showed that the cool flame is explained by a chain reaction mechanism in which the chain terminator is the intermediate species formed in cool flame. In the case of thermal flame, although the chain reaction mechanism is complex, the behavior is clearly described by thermal explosion theory in which the rate-determining reaction is H2O2 decomposition.

The 1997 Kyoto protocol came into effect in February, 2005 to reduce greenhouse gases within the period 2008-2012 by at least 5 % with respect to 1990 levels. Application of biodiesel fuel (BDF) to diesel engine is very effective to reduce CO2 emission, because BDF is carbon neutral in principle. The purpose of this project is to produce a light-duty biodiesel truck which can be suitable for emission regulation in next generation. The effect of BDF on the performance and emissions of modern diesel engine which was equipped with the aftertreatment for PM and NOx emissions was investigated without modifications of engine components and parameters, as a first step for research and development of biodiesel engine. Rapeseed oil methyl ester (RME) was selected in behalf of BDF, and combustion characteristics, engine performance and exhaust emissions were made a comparison between RME and petroleum diesel fuel by steady operation and Japan transient mode (JE05) tests.

For the purpose of predicting the interior noise of a passenger automobile at middle and high frequency, an energy finite element analysis (EFEA) model of the automobile was created using EFEA method. The excitations including engine mount excitation and road excitation were measured by road experiment at a speed of 120 km/h. The sound excitation was measured in a semi-anechoic chamber. And the wind excitation was calculated utilizing numeric computation method of computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The sound pressure level (SPL) and energy density contours of the interior acoustic cavity of the automobile were presented at 2000 Hz. Meanwhile, the flexural energy density and flexural velocity of body plates were calculated. The SPL of interior noise was predicted and compared with the corresponding value of experiment.

This paper presents experimental studies of particulate emissions in a small SI engine fueled with LPG and gasoline fuels. A single cylinder, four-stroke, water-cooled, 125cc EFI engine with gasoline fuel is used as the baseline engine. Characteristics of the particulate emissions of the two fuels are compared. Test results show that: there are great quantities of particulate emissions for both fuels, but the total numbers of particulate emissions for the two fuels are generally in the same level. The distribution of the particulate sizes is in bimodal type for the gasoline, but for the LPG its first peak is not markedly in some conditions. The particulate sizes of the second peak for the two fuels appear at about the same size. At middle loads and 3000r/min, the particulate emissions for both of the two fuels are the greatest.

Compared with petroleum fuel, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) demonstrates advantages in low CO2 emission because of propane and butane, which are the main components of LPG, making H/C ratio higher. In addition, LPG is suitable for high efficient operation of a spark ignition (SI) engine due to its higher research octane number (RON). Because of these advantages, that is, diversity of energy source and reduction of CO2, in the past several years, LPG vehicles have widely used as the alternate to gasoline vehicles all over the world. Consequently, it is absolutely essential for the performance increase of LPG vehicles to comprehend the combustion characteristics of LPG and to obtain the guideline for engine design and calibration. In this study, an LPG-SI engine was built up by converting fuel supply system of an in-line 4-cylinder gasoline engine, which has 1997 cm3 displacement with MPI system, to LPG liquid fuel injection system [1].

This paper presents an experimental study of the emission characteristics of a small Spark-Ignited, LPG engine. A single cylinder, four-stroke, water-cooled, 125cc SI engine for motorcycle is modified for using LPG fuel. The power output of LPG is above 95% power output of gasoline. The emission characteristics of LPG are compared with the gasoline. The test result shows that LPG for small SI engine will help to reduce the emission level of motorcycles. The HC and CO emission level can be reduced greatly, but NOx emissions are increased. The emission of motorcycle using LPG shows the potential to meet the more strict regulation.

An air-cooled, four-stroke, 125 cc electronic gasoline fuel injection SI engine for motorcycles is altered to burn ethanol fuel. The effects of nozzle orifice size, fuel injection duration, spark timing and the excess air/ fuel ratio on engine power output, fuel and energy consumptions and engine exhaust emission levels are studied on an engine test bed. The results show that the maximum engine power output is increased by 5.4% and the maximum torque output is increased by 1.9% with the ethanol fuel in comparison with the baseline. At full load and 7000 r/min, HC emission is decreased by 38% and CO emission is decreased 46% on average over the whole engine speed range. However, NOx levels are increased to meet the maximum power output. The experiments of the spark timing show that the levels of HC and NOx emission are decreased markedly by the delay of spark timing.

Particulate Matter (PM) from diesel engines is thought to be seriously hazardous for human health. Generally, it is said that the hazard depends on the total number and surface area of particles rather than total mass of PM. In the conventional gravimetric method, only the total mass of PM is measured. Therefore, it is very important to measure not only the mass of PM but also size and number density of particulates. Laser-Induced Incandescence (LII) is a useful diagnostic for transient measurement of soot particulate volume fraction and primary particle size. On the other hand, Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer (SMPS) is also used to measure the size distribution of soot aggregate particulates at a steady state condition. However, the measurement processes and the phenomena used to acquire the information on soot particulate are quite different between the LII and SMPS methods. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the detailed characteristics of both LII and SMPS.

The continuous improvement of spark-ignition direct-injection (SIDI) engines is largely attributed to the enhanced understanding of air-fuel mixing and combustion processes. The intricate interaction between transient spray behavior and the ambient flow field is important to unveil the airflow dynamics during the spray injection process. This study investigates the fuel-spray boundary interactions under different superheated conditions by analyzing the ambient flow field pattern with constraint-based modeling (CBM). In the experimental setup, superheated conditions are facilitated by adjusting different fuel temperatures and ambient pressures. By adding the tracer particles containing Rhodamine 6G to the ambient air, the combined diagnostic of fluorescent particle image velocimetry (FPIV) and Mie-scattering is implemented to measure the velocity distribution and flow trajectory of the air surrounding the spray formation and propagation.

In order to improve the mode switching performance of parallel hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) and make better use of the dynamics of the vehicle, this paper proposes a three-stage control method for the start-up mode of start-up, speed synchronization, and clutch slip based on the response characteristics of actual vehicle components and the complex working conditions of the actual road. In the speed synchronization phase, a coordinated control method of “engine speed active following + continuously variable transmission (CVT) speed ratio motor speed limiting” is proposed. The real vehicle test results show that the engine starting-up coordinated control method can significantly accelerate the speed synchronization and shorten the starting-up mode duration during the rapid acceleration, so that the vehicle’s power performance can be well played and the ride comfort can be effectively guaranteed.

Since steering wheel torque feedback is one of the crucial factors for drivers to gain road feel and ensure driving safety, it is especially important to simulate the steering torque feedback for a driving simulator. At present, steering wheel feedback torque is mainly simulated by an electric motor with gear transmission. The torque response is typically slow, which can result in drivers’ discomfort and poor driving maneuverability. This paper presents a novel torque feedback device with magnetorheological (MR) fluid and coil spring. A phase separation control method is also proposed to control its feedback torque, including spring and damping torques respectively. The spring torque is generated by coil spring, the angle of coil spring can be adjusted by controlling a brushless DC motor. The damping torque is generated by MR fluid, the damping coefficient of MR fluid can be adjusted by controlling the current of excitation coil.

The new control algorithm for parallel hybrid electric vehicle is presented systematically, in which engine operation points are limited within higher efficient area by the control algorithm and the state of charge (SOC) is limited in a range in order to enhance the batteries' charging and discharging efficiency. In order to determine the ideal operating point of the vehicle's engine, the control strategy uses a lookup table to determine the torque output of the engine. The off-line simulation model of parallel HEV power train is developed which includes the control system and controlled objective (such as engine, electric motor, battery pack and so on). The results show that the control algorithm can effectively limite engine and battery operation points and much more fuel economy can be achieved than that of conventional one.