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Heavy-duty vehicles face increasing demands of emission regulations. Reduced carbon-dioxide (CO2) emission targets motivate decreased fuel consumption for fossil fuel engines. Increased engine efficiency contributes to lower fuel consumption and can be achieved by lower heat transfer, friction and exhaust losses. The double compression expansion engine (DCEE) concept achieves higher efficiency, as it utilizes a split-cycle approach to increase the in-cylinder pressure and recover the normally wasted exhaust energy. However, the DCEE concept suffers heat losses from the high-pressure approach. This study utilizes up to three injectors to reduce the wall-gas temperature gradient rendering lower convective heat losses. The injector configuration consists of a standard central injector and two side-injectors placed at the rim of the bowl. An increased distance from side-injector to the wall delivered lower heat losses by centralizing hot gases in the combustion chamber.

Partially Premixed Combustion (PPC) is a promising combustion concept with high thermodynamic efficiency and low emission level, and also with minimal modification of standard engine hardware. To use PPC in a production oriented engine, the optimal intake charge conditions for PPC should be included in the analysis. The experiments in this paper investigated and confirmed that the optimal intake conditions of net indicated efficiency for PPC are EGR between 50% and 55% as possible and the lambda close to 1.4. Heat-transfer energy and exhaust gas waste-energy contribute to the majority of the energy loss in the engine. The low EGR region has high heat-transfer and low exhaust gas enthalpy-waste, while the high EGR region has low heat-transfer and high exhaust gas waste-enthalpy. The optimal EGR condition is around 50% where the smallest energy loss is found as a trade-off between heat transfer and exhaust-gas enthalpy-waste.

Combustion initiation in an HCCI engine is dependent of several parameters that are not easily controlled like the temperature and pressure history in the cylinder. So achieving the same ignition condition in all the cylinders in a multi-cylinder engine is difficult. Factors as gas exchange, compression ratio, cylinder cooling, fuel supply, and inlet air temperature can differ from cylinder-to-cylinder. These differences cause both combustion phasing and load variations between the cylinders, which in the end affect the engine performance. Operating range in terms of speed and load is also affected by the cylinder imbalance, since misfiring or too fast combustion in the worst cylinders limits the load. The cylinder-to-cylinder variations are investigated in a multi-cylinder Variable Compression Ratio (VCR) engine, and the effect it has on the engine performance.

Earlier studies on efficiency improvement in CI engines have suggested that heat transfer losses contribute largely to the total energy losses. Fuel impingement on the cylinder walls is typically associated with high heat transfer. This study proposes a two-injector concept to reduce heat losses and thereby improve efficiency. The two injectors are placed at the rim of the bowl to change the spray pattern. Computational simulations based on the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes approach have been performed for four different fuel injection timings in order to quantify the reduction in heat losses for the proposed concept. Two-injector concepts were compared to reference cases using only one centrally mounted injector. All simulations were performed in a double compression expansion engine (DCEE) concept using the Volvo D13 single-cylinder engine. In the DCEE, a large portion of the exhaust energy is re-used in the second expansion, thus increasing the thermodynamic efficiency.

A new concept utilizing multiple fuel injectors was proven effective at reducing heat transfer losses by directing spray plumes further away from the combustion chamber walls. In this concept, two injectors are mounted close to the rim of the piston bowl and point in opposite directions to generate swirling in-cylinder bulk motion. Moreover, a new flat-bowl piston design was also proposed in combination with the multiple fuel injectors for even larger improvements in thermal efficiency. However, all tests were performed at low-to-medium load conditions with no significant EGR. Modern engine concepts, such as the double compression-expansion engine (DCEE), have demonstrated higher thermal efficiency when operated at high-load conditions with a large amount of EGR for NOx control. Thus, this study aims to assess the effectiveness of the multiple-fuel-injector system under such conditions. In this study, a number of 3-D CFD simulations are performed using the RANS technique in CONVERGE.

The Double compression expansion engine (DCEE) concept has exhibited a potential for achieving high brake thermal efficiencies (BTE). The effect of different engine components on system efficiency was evaluated in this work using GT Power simulations. A parametric study on piston insulation, convection heat transfer multiplier, expander head insulation, insulation of connecting pipes, ports and tanks, and the expander intake valve lift profiles was conducted to understand the critical parameters that affected engine efficiency. The simulations were constrained to a constant peak cylinder pressure of 300 bar, and a fixed combustion phasing. The results from this study would be useful in making technology choices that will help realise the potential of this engine concept.

High-pressure internal combustion engines promise high efficiency, but a proper injection strategy to minimize heat losses and pollutant emissions remain a challenge. Previous studies have concluded that two injectors, placed at the piston bowl's rim, simultaneously improve the mixing and reduce the heat losses. The two-injector configuration further improves air utilization while keeping hot zones away from the cylinder walls. This study investigates how the two-injector concept delivers even higher efficiency by providing additional control of spray -and injection angles. Three-dimensional Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes simulations examined several umbrella angles, spray-to-spray angles, and injection orientations by comparing the two-injector cases with a reference one-injector case. The study focused on heat transfer reduction, where the two-injector approach reduces the heat transfer losses by up to 14.3 % compared to the reference case.

Temperature stratification plays an important role in HCCI combustion. The onsets of auto-ignition and combustion duration are sensitive to the temperature field in the engine cylinder. Numerical simulations of HCCI engine combustion are affected by the use of wall boundary conditions, especially the temperature condition at the cylinder and piston walls. This paper reports on numerical studies and experiments of the temperature field in an optical experimental engine in motored run conditions aiming at improved understanding of the evolution of temperature stratification in the cylinder. The simulations were based on Large-Eddy-Simulation approach which resolves the unsteady energetic large eddy and large scale swirl and tumble structures. Two dimensional temperature experiments were carried out using laser induced phosphorescence with thermographic phosphors seeded to the gas in the cylinder.

This study applies Closed-Loop Combustion Control (CLCC) using Fast Thermal Management (FTM) on a multi cylinder Variable Compression Ratio (VCR) engine together with load control, to achieve a favorable combustion phasing and load at all times. Step changes of set points for combustion phasing, Compression Ratio (CR), and load together with ramps of engine speed with either constant load, i.e. load control enabled, or constant fuel amount are investigated. Performances of the controllers are investigated by running the engine and comparing the result with CLCC using VCR, which was used in an earlier test. Commercial RON/MON 92/82 gasoline, which corresponds to US regular, is used in the transient tests. Limitations to the speed ramps are further examined and it is found that choice of fuel and its low temperature reaction properties has large impact on how the CLCC perform.

In a previous study, it was shown that isobaric combustion cycle, achieved by multiple injection strategy, is more favorable than conventional diesel cycle for the double compression expansion engine (DCEE) concept. In spite of lower effective expansion ratio, the indicated efficiencies of isobaric cycles were approximately equal to those of a conventional diesel cycle. Isobaric cycles had lower heat transfer losses and higher exhaust losses which are advantageous for DCEE since additional exhaust energy can be converted into useful work in the expander. In this study, the performance of low-pressure isobaric combustion (IsoL) and high-pressure isobaric combustion (IsoH) in terms of gross indicated efficiency, energy flow distribution and engine-out emissions is compared to the conventional diesel combustion (CDC) but at a relatively lower compression ratio of 11.5. The experiments are conducted in a Volvo D13C500 single-cylinder heavy-duty engine using standard EU diesel fuel.

The efficiency of an internal combustion engine is highly dependent on the peak pressure at which the engine operates. A new compound engine concept, the double compression expansion engine (DCEE), utilizes a two-stage compression and expansion cycle to reach ultrahigh efficiencies. This engine takes advantage of its high-integrity structure, which is adapted to high pressures, and the peak motored pressure reaches up to 300 bar. However, this makes the use of conventional combustion cycles, such as the Seiliger-Sabathe (mixed) or Otto (isochoric) cycles, not feasible as they involve a further pressure rise due to combustion. This study investigates the concept of isobaric combustion at relatively high peak pressures and compares this concept with traditional diesel combustion cycles in terms of efficiency and emissions. Multiple consecutive injections through a single injector are used for controlling the heat release rate profile to achieve isobaric heat addition.

In order to further improve the energy conversion efficiency in reciprocating engines, detailed knowledge about the involved processes is required. One major loss source in internal combustion engines is heat loss through the cylinder walls. In order to increase the understanding of heat transfer processes and to validate and generate new heat transfer correlation models it is desirable, or even necessary, to have crank-angle resolved data on in-cylinder wall temperature. Laser-Induced Phosphorescence has proved to be a useful tool for surface thermometry also in such harsh environments as running engines. However, the ceramic structure of most phosphor coatings might introduce an error, due to its thermal insulation properties, when being exposed to rapidly changing temperatures. In this article the measurement technique is evaluated concerning the impact from the thickness of the phosphorescent layer on the measured temperature.

Partially Premixed Combustion (PPC) has demonstrated substantially higher efficiency compared to conventional diesel combustion (CDC) and gasoline engines (SI). By combining experiments and modeling the presented work investigates the underlying reasons for the improved efficiency, and quantifies the loss terms. The results indicate that it is possible to operate a HD-PPC engine with a production two-stage boost system over the European Stationary Cycle while likely meeting Euro VI and US10 emissions with a peak brake efficiency above 48%. A majority of the ESC can be operated with brake efficiency above 44%. The loss analysis reveals that low in-cylinder heat transfer losses are the most important reason for the high efficiencies of PPC. In-cylinder heat losses are basically halved in PPC compared to CDC, as a consequence of substantially reduced combustion temperature gradients, especially close to the combustion chamber walls.

The present study uses a numerical model to investigate the effects of flow turbulence on premixed iso-octane HCCI engine combustion. Different levels of in-cylinder turbulence are generated by using different piston geometries, namely a disc-shape versus a square-shape bowl. The numerical model is based on the KIVA code which is modified to use CHEMKIN as the chemistry solver. A detailed reaction mechanism is used to simulate the fuel chemistry. It is found that turbulence has significant effects on HCCI combustion. In the current engine setup, the main effect of turbulence is to affect the wall heat transfer, and hence to change the mixture temperature which, in turn, influences the ignition timing and combustion duration. The model also predicts that the combustion duration in the square bowl case is longer than that in the disc piston case which agrees with the measurements.

Heat losses are known to decrease the efficiency of CI engines largely. Here, multiple injectors have been suggested to shrink these losses through reduction of spray wall impingement. Studies on multiple injectors have proven the concept’s heat transfer reduction but also highlighted the difficulty of using a standard piston bowl. This study proposes a two-injector concept combined with a flat bowl to reduce heat losses further. To change the spray pattern, the two injectors are injecting in a swirling motion while placed at the rim of the bowl. Four injection timings have been investigated using Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes simulations. This computational method quantified the amount of heat loss reduction possible. A conventional single injector concept is compared to two injector concepts with a standard and flat bowl. A Double Compression Expansion Engine (DCEE) concept, based on a modified Volvo D13 single-cylinder engine, was the base for all simulations.

The Homogenous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) operating range in terms of speed and load does not cover contemporary driving cycles, e.g. the European driving cycle EC2000, without increased engine displacement, supercharging, or without excessive noise and high NOx emissions. Hence, the maximum achievable load with HCCI is too low for high load vehicle operation and a combustion mode transfer from HCCI to spark ignited (SI) has to be done. At some operating conditions spark assisted HCCI combustion is possible, which makes a mixed combustion mode and controlled combustion mode transfers possible. The mixed combustion region and the operating conditions are investigated in this paper from lean SI limit to pure HCCI without SI assistance. Parameters as compression ratio, inlet air pressure, inlet air temperature, and lambda are used for controlling the mixed combustion mode. A strategy for closed-loop combustion mode transfer is discussed.

The concept of double compression, and double expansion engine (DCEE) for improving the efficiency of piston reciprocating engines was introduced in SAE Paper 2015-01-1260. This engine configuration has separate high, and low pressure units thereby effectively reducing friction losses for high effective compression ratios. The presence of an additional expander stage also theoretically allows an extra degree of freedom to manipulate the combustion heat release rate so as to achieve better optimum between heat transfer, and friction losses. This paper presents a 1-D modeling study of the engine concept in GT-Power for assessing the sensitivity of engine losses to heat release rate. The simulations were constrained by limiting the maximum pressure to 300 bar.

This paper is the follow up of a previous work and its target is to demonstrate that the best fuel for a Compression Ignition engine has to be with high Octane Number. An advanced injection strategy was designed in order to run Gasoline in a CI engine. At high load it consisted in injecting 54 % of the fuel very early in the pilot and the remaining around TDC; the second injection is used as ignition trigger and an appropriate amount of cool EGR has to be used in order to avoid pre-ignition of the pilot. Substantially lower NOx, soot and specific fuel consumption were achieved at 16.56 bar gross IMEP as compared to Diesel. The pressure rise rate did not constitute any problem thanks to the stratification created by the main injection and a partial overlap between start of the combustion and main injection. Ethanol gave excellent results too; with this fuel the maximum load was limited at 14.80 bar gross IMEP because of hardware issues.

This work has focused on studying the in-cylinder pressure fluctuations caused by rapid HCCI combustion and determine what they consist of. Inhomogeneous autoignition sets up pressure waves traversing the combustion chamber. These pressure waves induce high gas velocities which causes increased heat transfer to the walls or in worst case engine damage. In order to study the pressure fluctuations a number of pressure transducers were mounted in the combustion chamber. The multi transducer arrangement was such that six transducers were placed circumferentially, one placed near the centre and one at a slight offset in the combustion chamber. The fitting of six transducers circumferentially was enabled by a spacer design and the two top mounted transducers were fitted in a modified cylinder head. During testing a disc shaped combustion chamber was used. The results of the tests conducted were that the in-cylinder pressure experienced during rapid HCCI-combustion is inhomogeneous.

In this work the pre- to main chamber ignition process is studied in a Wärtsilä 34SG spark-ignited lean burn four-stroke large bore optical engine (bore 340 mm) operating on natural gas. Unburnt and burnt gas regions in planar cross-sections of the combustion chamber are identified by means of planar laser induced fluorescence (PLIF) from acetone seeded to the fuel. The emerging jets from the pre-chamber, the ignition process and early flame propagation are studied. Measurements reveal the presence of a significant temporal delay between the occurrence of a pressure difference across the pre-chamber holes and the appearance of hot burnt/burning gases at the nozzle exit. Variations in the delay affect the combustion timing and duration. The combustion rate in the pre-chamber does not influence the jet propagation speed, although it still has an effect on the overall combustion duration.