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A direct injection system in which fuel was injected through the cylinder wall was developed and detailed investigation was made for the purpose of reducing short-circuit of fuel in 2-stroke engines. As a result of dynamo tests using 430cc single cylinder engine, it was found that the injector was best attached at a location as close to TDC as possible on the rear transfer port side, and that the entire amount of fuel should be injected towards the piston top surface. Emissions were worsened if fuel was injected towards the exhaust port or spark plug. Although the higher injection pressure resulted in large emissions reduction effects, it did not have a significant effect on fuel consumption. When a butterfly exhaust valve, known to be effective against irregular combustion in the light load range, was applied, it was found to lead to further reductions in HC emission and fuel consumption while also improving combustion stability.

The CBR [1] (Controlled Burn Rate) is a port deactivation concept developed by AVL and is already applied in series production cars. The benefit of this concept is the low engine-out emission (CO, HC and NOx) and good fuel economy. By creating turbulent kinetic energy at the correct time and place in the combustion chamber a rapid and stable combustion occurs which allows to run the engine well above a Lambda Excess Air Ratio of 1.5. The CBR system features two different intake ports, one charge motion port and one filling port. Additionally a device for port-deactivation (slider, butterfly) is applied. At part load points and lower engine speeds the filling port is switched off. The CBR concept was now evoluted for compact engines as CCBR - with carburetor and as CBR Light - for engines with electronic fuel injection. CCBR stands for Carbureted Controlled Burn Rate.

A fast time-scale 1-D dynamic diesel particulate filter model capable of resolving the pressure pulsations due to individual cylinder firing events is presented. The purpose of this model is to investigate changes in the firing frequency component of the pulsating exhaust flow at different particulate loadings. Experimental validation data and simulation results clearly show that the magnitude and phase of the firing frequency components are directly correlated to the mass of particulate stored in a diesel particulate filter. This dynamic pressure signal information may prove particularly useful for monitoring particulate load during vehicle operation.

The road transportation sector is undergoing significant changes, and new green scenarios for sustainable mobility are being proposed. In this context, a diversification of the vehicles’ propulsion, based on electric powertrains and/or alternative fuels and technological improvements of the electric vehicles charging stations, are necessary to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The adoption of internal combustion engines operating with alternative fuels, like methanol, may represent a viable solution for overcoming the limitations of actual grid connected charging infrastructure, giving the possibility to realize off-grid charging stations. This work aims, therefore, at investigating this last aspect, by evaluating the performance of an internal combustion engine fueled with methanol for stationary applications, in order to fulfill the potential demand of an on off-grid charging station.

In many countries of the world, carburetor motorcycles are the major transportation system for people. The large volumes of these motorcycles contribute to high levels of urban emissions and this fact promotes the relevant emissions regulations to become more stringent. This paper presents an approach to satisfy various new emissions regulations such as Euro-III and Taiwan 4th generation emissions regulations by optimizing the 4-stroke PFI (Port Fuel Injection) engine management system (EMS) and after-treatment system.

Direct fuel injection is becoming mandatory in two-stroke S.I. engines, since it prevents one of the major problems of these engines, that is fuel loss from the exhaust port. Another important problem is combustion irregularity at light loads, due to excessive presence of residual gas in the charge, and can be solved by charge stratification. High-pressure liquid fuel injection is able to control the mixing process inside the cylinder for getting either stratified charge at partial loads or quasi-stoichiometric conditions, as it is required at full load. This paper shows the development of this solution for a small engine for moped and light scooter, using numeric and experimental tools. In order to obtain the best charge characteristics at every load and engine speed, different combustion chambers have been conceived and studied, examining the effects of combustion chamber geometry, together with injector position and injection timing

The challenge for the diesel engines today is to reduce harmful emissions, such as particulate matter (PM) and Nitrogen oxides (NOx), and enhance the fuel efficiency and power, which are its main advantages. To meet this challenge, DENSO has developed an advanced common rail system (CRS) that uses piezo actuated fuel injectors capable of delivering up to five injection events per combustion cycle at 180MPa, currently the world's highest commercially available diesel fuel injection pressure. The DENSO piezo injector incorporates an internally developed piezoelectric element that energizes quicker than its solenoid counterpart, thereby reducing the transition time for the start and end of the fuel injection event. The piezoelectric element and unique passage structure of the DENSO injector combine to provide a highly reliable and responsive fuel injection event.

As part of the 1997 Propane Vehicle Challenge, a team of twelve UTEP students converted a 1996 Dodge Grand Caravan with a 3.3 L V6 engine to dedicated Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) operation according to the 1997 Propane Vehicle Challenge (PVC) competition rules (16). The 1997 UTEP team developed an LPG liquid phase port fuel injection (LPP-FI) system for the minivan. The UTEP design strategy combines simplicity and sound engineering practices with the effective use of heat resistant materials to maintain the LPG in the liquid phase at temperatures encountered in the fuel delivery system. The team identified two options for fuel storage with in-tank fuel pumps. The competition vehicle incorporates a five-manifold eight inch diameter Sleegers Engineering LPG tank fitted with a Walbro LPTS in-tank pump system, providing a calculated range of 310 city miles and 438 highway miles.

A student team from Minnesota State University, Mankato's Automotive Engineering Technology program entered the Clean Snowmobile Challenge 2000. A 1998 Polaris Indy Trail was converted to indirect fuel injection running on a computer controlled closed loop fuel system. Also chassis, exhaust, and hood design modifications were made. The snowmobile was designed to compete in eight events. These events included acceleration, emissions, hill climb, cold start, noise, fuel economy/range, handling/driveability, and static display. The snowmobile modifications involved every aspect of the snowmobile with special emphasis on emissions and noise. Laboratory testing led to the final design. This paper details the modifications and test results.

Using a holistic 1D engine simulation approach for the modelling of full-transient engine operation, allows analyzing future engine concepts, including its exhaust gas aftertreatment technology, early in the development process. Thus, this approach enables the investigation of both important fields - the thermodynamic engine process and the aftertreatment system, together with their interaction in a single simulation environment. Regarding the aftertreatment system, the kinetic reaction behavior of state-of-the-art and advanced components, such as Diesel Oxidation Catalysts (DOC) or Selective Catalytic Reduction Soot Filters (SCRF), is being modelled. Furthermore, the authors present the use of the 1D engine and exhaust gas aftertreatment model on use cases of variable valve train (VVT) applications on passenger car (PC) diesel engines.

The Injection Rate Shaping consists in a novel injection strategy to control air-fuel mixing quality via a suitable variation of injection timing that affects the injection rate profile. This strategy has already provided to be useful to increase combustion efficiency and reduce pollutant emissions in the modern compression ignition engines fed with fossil Diesel fuel. But nowadays, the ever more rigorous emission targets are enhancing a search for alternative fuels and/or new blends to replace conventional ones, leading, in turn, a change in the air-fuel mixture formation. In this work, a 1D model of spray injection aims to investigate the combined effects of both Injection Rate Shaping and alternative fuels on the air-fuel mixture formation in a compression ignition engine. In a first step, a ready-made model for conventional injection strategies has been set up for the Injection Rate Shaping.

The present work focuses on the simulation of the hydrodynamics, transient filtration/loading and catalytic/NO2-assisted regeneration of Diesel after-treatment systems. A 1D unsteady model for compressible and reacting flows for the numerical simulation of the behavior of Diesel Oxidation Catalysts (DOCs) and Diesel Particulate Filters (DPFs) has been developed. The numerical model is able to keep track of the amount of soot in the flow; the increasing of back-pressure through the exhaust system (mainly due to the Diesel Particulate Filter) can be predicted by the calculation of the permeability variation of the porous wall, as the soot particles goes inside the DPF. A sub-model for the regeneration of the collected soot has been developed: the collected particulate is oxidized by the Oxygen (O2) and by the Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2).

The in-cylinder direct injection of fuels can be a further step towards cleaner and more efficient internal combustion engines. However, the injector design and its characterization, both experimental and from numerical simulation require accurate diagnostics and efficient models. This work aims to simulate the complex behavior of the gaseous and liquid jets through an outwardly opening injector characterized by optical diagnostics using a one-dimensional model without using three dimensional models. The behavior of the jet from an outwardly opening injector changes according to the type of fuel. In the case of the gas, the experimental investigations put in evidence three main jet regions: 1) near-field region where the jet shows a complex gas-dynamic structure; 2) transition region characterized by intense mixing; 3) far-field region characterized by a fully developed subsonic turbulent jet.

In this work an integration between a 1D code (Gasdyn) with a CFD code (OpenFOAM®) has been applied to improve the performance of a Moto3 engine. The four-stroke, single cylinder S.I. engine was modeled, in order to predict the wave motion in the intake and exhaust systems and to study how it affects the cylinder gas exchange process. The engine considered was characterized by having an air induction system with integrated filter cartridge, air-box and intake runner, including two fuel injectors, resulting in a complex air-path from the intake mouth to the intake valves, which presents critical aspects when a 1D modeling is addressed. The exhaust and intake systems have been optimized form the point of view of the wave action. However, due to the high revolution speed reached by this type of engine, the interaction between the gas stream and the fuel spray becomes a key aspect to be addressed in order to achieve the best performance at the desired operating condition.

Although in-cylinder optical diagnostics have provided significant understanding of conventional diesel combustion, most alternative combustion strategies have not yet been explored to the same extent. In an effort to build the knowledge base for alternative low-temperature combustion strategies, this paper presents a comparison of three alternative low-temperature combustion strategies to two high-temperature conventional diesel combustion conditions. The baseline conditions, representative of conventional high-temperature diesel combustion, have either a short or a long ignition delay. The other three conditions are representative of some alternative combustion strategies, employing significant charge-gas dilution along with either early or late fuel injection, or a combination of both (double-injection).

To measure the fuel vapor concentration in an unsteady evaporating spray injected into nitrogen atmosphere, the exciplex-forming method, which produces spectrally separated fluorescence from the liquid and vapor phase, was applied in this study. Two experiments were conducted to investigate the qualitative and quantitative applicability of the technique in a high temperature and high pressure atmosphere during the fuel injection period. One is to examine the thermal decomposition of TMPD dopant at a high temperature and a high pressure nitrogen atmosphere during a short period of time. The other is to calibrate the relationship between fluorescence intensity and vapor concentration of TMPD at different vapor temperatures. And then, the qualitative measurement of fuel vapor concentration distributions in diesel sprays was made by applying the technique.

Cross-sectional distributions of the liquid phase temperatures in fuel sprays were measured using a laser-induced fluorescence technique. The liquid fuel (n-hexadecane or squalane) was doped with pyrene(C16H10). The fluorescence intensity ratios of the pyrene monomer and excimer emissions has temperature dependence, and were used to determine the liquid phase temperatures in the fuel sprays. The measurements were performed on two kinds of sprays. One was performed on pre-heated fuel sprays injected into surrounding gas at atmospheric conditions. The other was performed on fuel sprays exposed to hot gas flow. The spray was excited by laser radiation at 266nm, and the resulting fluorescence was imaged by an intensified CCD camera. The cross-sectional distribution of the liquid phase temperature was estimated from the fluorescence image by the temperature dependence of the intensity ratio.

A sheet of laser light from a frequency-doubled Nd-YAG laser (λ = 532 nm) approximately 150 μm thick is shone through the cylinder of a single cylinder internal combustion engine. The light scattered by the fuel spray is collected through a quartz window in the cylinder and is imaged on a 100 × 100 diode array camera. The signal from the diode array is then sent to a microcomputer for background subtraction and image enhancement. The laser pulse is synchronized with the crank shaft of the engine so that a picture of the spray distribution within the engine at different times during injection and the penetration and development of the spray may be observed. The extent of the spray at different positions within the chamber is determined by varying the position and angle of the laser sheet with respect to the piston and the injector.

We have developed a small-displacement gasoline direct-injection engine (1.3L). Gasoline direct-injection engines rely on ultra-lean stratified combustion to deliver significantly better fuel economy, and are already used in many practical applications. When gasoline direct-injection is applied to a small-displacement engine, however, the amount of wall wetting of fuel on the piston surface will increase because the traveled length of the fuel spray is short. This may result in problems such as smoke production, high emissions of unburned HC, and poor combustion efficiency.

Today turbo-diesel powertrains offering low fuel consumption and good low-end torque comprise a significant fraction of the light-duty vehicle market in Europe. Global CO₂ regulation and customer fuel prices are expected to continue providing pressure for powertrain fuel efficiency. However, regulated emissions for NO and particulate matter have the potential to further expand the incremental cost of diesel powertrain applications. Vehicle segments with the most cost sensitivity like compacts under 1400 kg weight look for alternatives to meet the CO₂ challenge but maintain an attractive customer offering. In this paper the concepts of downsizing and downspeeding gasoline engines are explored while meeting performance needs through increased BMEP to maintain good driveability and vehicle launch dynamics. A critical enabler for the solution is adoption of gasoline direct injection (GDi) fuel systems.