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Turbulent Jet Ignition is an advanced spark-initiated pre-chamber combustion system for otherwise standard spark ignition engines. Combustion in the main chamber is initiated by jets of partially combusted (reacting) pre-chamber products which provide a high energy ignition source. The resultant widely distributed ignition sites allow relatively small flame travel distances enabling short combustion durations and high burn rates. Demonstrated benefits include ultra-lean operation (λ≻2) at part load and high-load knock improvement near stoichiometric conditions. Although previous results of this combustion system have been very promising, the main hurdle of this system has been the need for a dual-fuel system, with liquid gasoline used in the main combustion chamber and small fractions of gaseous propane in the pre-chamber.

Turbulent Jet Ignition is an advanced spark-initiated pre-chamber combustion system for otherwise standard spark ignition engines. Combustion in the main chamber is initiated by jets of partially combusted (reacting) pre-chamber products which provide a high energy ignition source. The resultant widely distributed ignition sites allow relatively small flame travel distances enabling short combustion durations and high burn rates. Demonstrated benefits include ultra lean operation (λ≻2) at part load and high load knock limit extension. Previous jet ignition experimental results have highlighted high thermal efficiencies, high load capability and near-zero engine-out NOx emissions in a standard contemporary engine platform. Although previous results of this system have been very promising, the main hurdle has been the need for a dual fuel system, with liquid gasoline used in the main combustion chamber and small fractions of gaseous propane in the pre-chamber.

Turbulent Jet Ignition is an advanced spark initiated pre-chamber combustion system for otherwise standard spark ignition engines found in current passenger vehicles. This next generation pre-chamber design simply replaces the spark plug in a conventional spark ignition engine. Turbulent Jet Ignition enables very fast burn rates due to the ignition system producing multiple, widely distributed ignition sites, which consume the main charge rapidly. This high energy ignition results from the partially combusted (reacting) pre-chamber products initiating combustion in the main chamber. The distributed ignition sites enable relatively small flame travel distances enabling short combustion durations and high burn rates. Multiple benefits include extending the knock limit and initiating combustion in very dilute mixtures (excess air and or EGR), with dilution levels being comparable to other low temperature combustion technologies (HCCI), without the complex control drawbacks.

Turbulent Jet Ignition is an advanced spark initiated pre-chamber combustion system for otherwise standard spark ignition engines found in current passenger vehicles. This next generation pre-chamber design simply replaces the spark plug in a conventional spark ignition engine. Turbulent Jet Ignition enables very fast burn rates due to the ignition system producing multiple, widely distributed ignition sites, which consume the main charge rapidly. This high energy ignition results from the partially combusted (reacting) pre-chamber products initiating combustion in the main chamber. The distributed ignition sites enable relatively small flame travel distances enabling short combustion durations and high burn rates. Multiple benefits include extending the knock limit and initiating combustion in very dilute mixtures (excess air and/or EGR), with dilution levels being comparable to other low temperature combustion technologies (HCCI), without the complex control drawbacks.

This work was concerned with evaluation of the performance and emissions of potential future biofuels during advanced spark ignition engine operation. The fuels prepared included three variants of gasoline, three gasoline-ethanol blends and a gasoline-butanol fuel altogether covering a range of oxygen mass concentrations and octane numbers to identify key influencing parameters. The combustion of the fuels was evaluated in a turbocharged multi-cylinder direct fuel injection research engine equipped with a standard three-way catalyst and an external EGR circuit that allowed use of either cooled or non-cooled EGR. The engine operating effects studied at both part and boosted high load conditions included fuel injection timing and pressure, excess air tolerance, EGR tolerance and spark retard limits. A number of blends were also mapped at suitable sites across the European drive cycle under downsized engine conditions.

Renewable fuels have received more attention in the last few decades since the fuel demand is constantly increasing. In this scenario, fuels from vegetable oils are emerging as an interesting alternative. In this study, biodiesel produced from used cooking oil was studied. Several concentrations of biofuel were tested to evaluate their performance and combustion characteristics i.e. 7% (B07), 17% (B17), 27% (B27), 52% (B52), 77% (B77) and 100% by volume of Biodiesel (B100) on conventional diesel. Tests were conducted in a single cylinder four-stroke compression ignition engine. A 1-D computational model was built and compared to experimental results. The biodiesel concentration in the blends had influence on engine performance by increasing fuel consumption due to its reduced lower heating value. In addition, larger fractions of biodiesel on conventional diesel presented higher peak of heat release.

The forecast scenarios regarding the environmental pollution raises a question whether the current vehicle emission certification is reliable enough to assure fleet agreement with the legal limits. Type approval tests have been performed on chassis dynamometer in order to evaluate the emission factors and fuel consumption for passenger cars. Standardized procedures such as the FTP-75 proposed in the United States (currently incorporated in the Brazilian legislation) and the Worldwide harmonized Light vehicles Test Cycle (WLTC), a transient driving cycle model designed by the European Union to overcome the shortcomings of the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC), are discussed in this paper. Both cycles were performed in a chassis dynamometer with a flex-fuel passenger car running on ethanol blend (E92W08). The driver, vehicle and fuel were kept constant so the comparison between the cycles would not be compromised.

Controlled Auto Ignition (CAI), also known as Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI), is one of the most promising combustion technologies to reduce the fuel consumption and NOx emissions. Most research on CAI/HCCI combustion operations have been carried out in 4-stroke gasoline engines, despite it was originally employed to improve the part-load combustion and emission in the two-stroke gasoline engine. However, conventional ported two-stroke engines suffer from durability and high emissions. In order to take advantage of the high power density of the two-stroke cycle operation and avoid the difficulties of the ported engine, systematic research and development works have been carried out on the two-stroke cycle operation in a 4-valves gasoline engine. CAI combustion was achieved over a large range of operating conditions when the relative air/fuel ratio (lambda) was kept at one as measured by an exhaust lambda sensor.

This paper describes the initial development of a 3 cylinder 1.2l technology demonstrator engine from MAHLE. The purpose of this highly turbocharged direct injection engine is to demonstrate production-ready technologies that enable low CO2 emissions via downsizing by 50%. Downsizing is one of the most proven paths to CO2 emission reduction. By using careful design, a 2.4 l engine can be replaced by a 1.2l engine that has superior torque at all speeds and on-road fuel consumption benefits of 25 - 30%. A two-stage turbocharging system has been developed for the engine to enable good transient response and the high torque levels at all engine speeds demanded by a downsizing approach. Several options were tested and the final system exceeds the 30bar peak BMEP target with stoichiometric fuelling. Indeed, lambda = 1.0 fuelling is maintained over the majority of the full-load line and the 144kW peak power requirement is fulfilled at only 6000 rpm.

The work was concerned with the use of exhaust gas recirculation to minimise CO2 and pollutant emissions over a wide operating range in a multi-cylinder research engine. Under part-load conditions a combination of internal and external EGR was used to invoke controlled auto ignition combustion and improve fuel consumption. Outside the CAI regime, small additional fuel savings could be made by employing reduced EGR rates in spark ignition combustion mode. At boosted high load conditions a comparison of excess fuel, excess air and cooled external EGR charge dilution was made. It was apparent that cooled EGR was a more effective suppressant of knock than excess air, with combustion phasing further advanced towards the optimum and improved combustion stability achieved over a wider operating range. The full load emissions reduction potential of EGR was also demonstrated, with emissions of CO2 reduced by up to 17% and engine-out HC and CO decreased by up to 80%.

Ethanol with high levels of hydration is a low cost fuel that offers the potential to replace fossil fuels and contribute to lower carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. However, it presents several ignition challenges depending on the hydration level and ambient temperature. Advanced combustion concepts such as homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) have shown to be very tolerant to the water content in the fuel due to their non-flame propagating nature. Moreover, HCCI tends to increase engine efficiency while reducing oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions. In this sense, the present research demonstrates the operation of a 3-cylinder power generator engine in which two cylinders operate on conventional diesel combustion (CDC) and provide recycled exhaust gas (EGR) for the last cylinder running on wet ethanol HCCI combustion. At low engine loads the cylinders operating on CDC provide high oxygen content EGR for the dedicated HCCI cylinder.

Low cost ethanol with high levels of hydrations is a fuel that can be easily produced and that offers the potential to replace fossil fuels and contribute to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, it shows several ignition challenges depending on the hydration level, ambient temperature compression ratio and other engine-specific aspects. Advanced combustion concepts such as homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) have shown to be very tolerant to the water content in the fuel due to their non-flame propagating nature. Moreover, HCCI tends to increase engine efficiency while reducing oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions. In this sense, the present research demonstrates the operation of a 3-cylinder power generator engine in which two cylinders operate on conventional diesel combustion (CDC) and provide recycled exhaust gas (EGR) for the last cylinder running on wet ethanol HCCI combustion.

The more strict CO2 emission legislation for internal combustion engines demands higher spark ignition (SI)engine efficiencies. The use of renewable fuels, such as bioethanol, may play a vital role to reduce not only CO2 emissions but also petroleum dependency. An option to increase SI four stroke engine efficiency is to use the so called over-expanded cycle concepts by variation of the valve events. The use of an early or late intake valve closure reduces pumping losses (the main cause of the low part load efficiency in SI engines) but decreases the effective compression ratio. The higher expansion to compression ratio leads to better use of the produced work and also increases engine efficiency. This paper investigates the effects of early and late intake valve closure strategies in the gas exchange process, combustion, emissions and engine efficiency at unthrottled stoichiometric operation.

Biofuels for internal combustion engines have been explored worldwide to reduce fossil fuel usage and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, increased spark ignition (SI) engine part load efficiency has been demanded by recent emission legislation for the same purposes. Considering theses aspects, this study investigates the use of non-conventional valve timing strategies in a 0.35 L four valve single cylinder test engine operating with anhydrous ethanol. The engine was equipped with a fully variable valve train system enabling independent valve timing and lift control. Conventional spark ignition operation with throttle load control (tSI) was tested as baseline. A second valve strategy using dethrottling via early intake valve closure (EIVC) was tested to access the possible pumping loss reduction. Two other strategies, negative valve overlap (NVO) and exhaust rebreathing (ER), were investigated as hot residual gas trapping strategies using EIVC as dethrottling technique.

This work was concerned with increasing the attainable load during gasoline controlled auto-ignition combustion in a multi-cylinder direct fuel injection research engine. To extend the peak output under naturally aspirated conditions it proved favourable to combine internal and external exhaust gas recirculation under stoichiometric fuelled conditions. During turbocharged high load operation it was beneficial in terms of fuel economy to dilute the charge with a combination of internally re-circulated exhaust gases and excess air. Replacing a proportion of these diluents with externally re-circulated burned gases appeared to facilitate lower emissions of HC and CO. The highest load generated via boost was limited by increasing peak in-cylinder pressure and falling gas exchange efficiency. Regardless, the use of boost increased the load at which CAI could be invoked without lean NOx after-treatment.

With an increasing global awareness of the need to conserve fuel resources and reduce carbon dioxide emissions, the automotive sector has been seeking gains in engine efficiency. One such method for achieving these gains on a spark ignition (SI) engine platform is through lean burn operation. Ultra-lean operation (λ>2) has demonstrated the ability to increase thermal efficiency and significantly reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) due primarily to lower mean gas temperatures. Turbulent Jet Ignition (TJI), a pre-chamber-based combustion system, is a technology that enables ultra-lean operation. TJI is also an effective knock mitigation system due to the distributed nature of main chamber ignition, resulting in rapid burn rates. Pre-chamber combustors such as that utilized in TJI have been studied extensively for decades, but the interaction of the combustion events between the two chambers is not well understood.

The work was concerned with applying cooled EGR for improved high load fuel economy and reduced pollutant emissions in a turbocharged gasoline engine. While the thermodynamic benefits of EGR were clear, challenges remain to bring the technique to market. A comparison of pre and post compressor EGR supply indicated that post-compressor routing allowed higher compressor efficiencies to be maintained and hence reduced compressor work as the mass flow of EGR was increased. However, with this post-compressor routing, attaining sufficient EGR rate was not possible over the required operating map. Furthermore, at higher engine speeds where the pre-turbine exhaust pressure was greater than the intake plenum pressure, the timing of peak in-cylinder pressure was not as readily advanced towards the optimum.

Due to the ever growing environmental concern regarding global warming and CO₂ emissions, the use of renewable fuels has become increasingly important. Thus, substituting fossil fuels such as diesel by ethanol from sugar cane can be a good alternative. There are, however, several ways of performing it. One of the simplest methods is to use fumigated ethanol with an electronic fuel injection system, operating in dual fuel mode with the original diesel injection, substituting part of the fuel by ethanol. This paper demonstrates the effects of using fumigated ethanol on performance of a standard power generation 4-cylinder turbocharged diesel engine. The research combines simulation results with experimental validation. Initially, a one-dimensional computational model of the original engine running solely on diesel was created and validated for several power levels.

Using Exhaust Gas Recycling (EGR) on internal combustion engines enables the reduction of emissions with a low or even no cost to the engine efficiency at part-load operation. The charge dilution with EGR can even increase the engine efficiency due to de-throttling and reduction of part load pumping losses. This experimental study proposed the use of late exhaust valve closure (LEVC) to achieve internal EGR (increased residual gas trapping). A naturally aspirated single cylinder direct injection spark ignition engine equipped with four electro-hydraulic actuated valves that enabled full valve timing and lift variation. Eight levels of positive valve overlap (PVO) with LEVC were used at the constant load of 6.0 bar IMEP and the speed of 1500 rpm. The results have shown that later exhaust valve closure (EVC) required greater intake pressures to maintain the engine load due to the higher burned gases content. Hence, lower pumping losses and thus higher indicated efficiency were obtained.

Increasingly stringent global fuel economy and carbon dioxide (CO2) legislation for light duty passenger cars has created an interest in unconventional operating modes. One such mode in spark ignition (SI) gasoline engines is lean combustion. While lean operation in SI engines has previously demonstrated the ability to reduce fuel consumption, the degree of enleanment capability of the system is limited by increasingly unstable combustion in the lean region, particularly for homogeneous lean approaches. MAHLE Jet Ignition® (MJI) is a pre-chamber-based combustion system that extends this lean limit beyond the capabilities of modern SI engines by increasing the ignition energy present in the system. This allows the engine to exploit the benefits of homogeneous ultra-lean (λ > ∼1.6) combustion, namely reduced fuel consumption and reduced emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx). Pre-chamber combustors such as that utilized in MJI have been studied extensively for decades.