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Described herein is the tuning of the combustion system of a direct injection type diesel engine to obtain low emission level and better fuel economy. Though the most important method of emission control for a direct injection system is considered to be timing retardation, it brings a higher level of smoke density and fuel consumption. In order to remove these faults, the authors developed a new combustion system based on a newly designed intake port which provides a favorable local mixing of fuel droplets and air in the combustion chamber for ignition by means of air turbulence. This new combustion system was analyzed with high speed photographs which were taken from the underside of the piston to enable observing the whole combustion chamber. Favorable characteristics of ignition and burning pattern of the new system were recognized by this analysis.

Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) has become a key technology in modern diesel vehicles to achieve low emissions, and the performance of DPFs has been improved through considerable efforts by manufacturers. While DPF is essential to meeting the stringent regulations for particulate matter (PM), it has a negative impact on fuel efficiency (FE) due to its periodical regeneration for burning off the accumulated PM in DPF. Hence, detailed assessments on the FE impact of DPF regeneration technologies are necessary to better understand the FE potential of diesel vehicles. However, few quantitative FE studies have been reported regarding the DPF regeneration technologies applied to vehicles introduced into the market. We investigated the influence of the DPF regeneration on FE performance using three new diesel vehicles with different DPF regeneration technologies.

For better understanding of diesel emissions in real world, the effects of driving conditions and fuel properties on diesel emissions were studied. A diesel engine system that is compliant to the Japanese New Short Term Regulation (J-2003 regulation) was used in this study. Major technologies for emission reduction were a common-rail high-pressure fuel injection equipment system, a cooled exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) system and a diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC). Various driving modes with a wide range of average vehicle speeds and accelerations were selected, including US FTP, US Highway, Japanese JC08, Japanese JE05, Tokyo Metropolitan Government #2, #5 and #8. Several kinds of test fuels of which characteristics were drastically changed in distillation range, aromatics content and sulfur content were used. A test fuel that complies with the Category-4 Specification of the World-Wide Fuel Charter (WWFC) was included.

The objective of this program was to improve the HCCI combustion process on a single-cylinder VCR engine by calibrating engine and HCCI operation specific factors such as EGR flow rates, intake air pressure, intake air temperature, compression ratio, etc. Due to the large number of factors to be investigated, a statistical design of experiments method (DoE) was utilized in order to reduce the number of test combinations in the calibration test matrix and, thus, the duration of the engine calibration task. Upon completion of the HCCI engine calibration, the engine was operated through a steady-state test matrix representing vehicle certification test cycles. Weighting factors for each of the test points were applied to estimate the engine performance and emissions in respect to certification requirements.

The impact of fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) blended diesel fuel on engine/vehicle systems was comprehensively investigated by vehicle, laboratory and engine tests. In this study, 20% FAME blended fuel (B20) was mainly used and soy bean oil methyl ester (SME) was primarily selected as the FAME. Vehicle testing with long-term fuel storage in vehicle fuel tanks was conducted, considering the most severe conditions in market use. Laboratory and engine tests were also conducted to better understand the vehicle test results. In the vehicle test, engine startability, idle roughness and fuel injection control were evaluated using nine vehicles with plastic or metal fuel tanks. All vehicles showed no problems up to 7 months. While five vehicles with plastic fuel tank did not show any problems throughout the test period up to 18 months, four vehicles with metal fuel tanks experienced malfunctions in engine start or fuel injection control following 8, 13, 13 and 18 months respectively.

Exhaust emissions from diesel vehicles equipped with advanced emission reduction technologies including the most up-to-date aftertreatment devices were examined from the viewpoint of fuel properties effects. Three kinds of diesel trucks with different emission levels were used: Vehicle A: compliant to the Japanese Long Term Regulation (J-1998 Regulation) Vehicle B: compliant to the Japanese New Short Term Regulation (J-2003 Regulation) Vehicle C: compliant to the J-2003 Regulation with NOx and PM emissions lowered by 75% and 85%, respectively, from the emissions standard values. Eight kinds of test fuels were used with their characteristics changed parametrically in distillation ranges, aromatics contents and sulfur content. Among them were those conforming to the Category-4 Specifications of the World Wide Fuel Charter (WWFC). Emissions of PM, NOx, THC, NMHC, CO and CO2 and fuel economy were examined.

The effect of sulfur concentration in gasoline fuel on emissions from vehicles equipped with lean NOx catalyst (LNC) was studied. The durability of the emission control systems against sulfur poisoning was evaluated using three recently launched vehicles under mileage accumulation tests. The major elements for the NOx trap function of the lean NOx catalysts evaluated in this study were Ba, Na and/or K. The range of sulfur contents of the test fuels was 3 to 80 ppm. The mileage accumulation was conducted up to 10,000 km mainly with Japanese 11 lap mileage accumulation driving cycle where the average and maximum velocities are 46 and 100 km/h respectively. The effects of vehicle velocity on emissions were also investigated by modifying the mileage accumulation driving cycle. As a result, it was found that the durability of the emission control systems against sulfur poisoning has been remarkably improved with the recently launched vehicles.

The effect of eight kinds of oxygenated agents added to diesel fuels on the combustion and emissions was investigated in a DI diesel engine. The results showed significant smoke and particulate suppression without increases in NOx with every oxygenated agent. The emissions decreased linearly with increasing oxygen content in the fuels, almost regardless of the kind of oxygenated agent. The improvement in smoke and particulate emissions with the oxygenated agent addition was more significant for lower volatility fuels. Combustion analysis with the two-dimensional two color method showed that soot concentration in the flame during the combustion process decreased with the addition of the oxygenated agent while the flame temperature distribution was almost unchanged.

In order to reduce particulate and NOx emission from the direct injection diesel engine, most researchers have been expecting the utilization of higher injection pressure and injection rate for improvement of diesel combustion. In the case of pump-line-nozzle system, the injection pipe line is very important with regard to the high injection pressure. Namely, the pipe line must be able to resist not only high pressure but also cavitation erosion. In this paper, the effect of high injection pressure, injection rate and sharp cutting at the end of fuel injection are discussed along with cavitation phenomena on the injection pipe line. And durability tests on the pipe line system under high injection pressure using a test rig are also described. Regarding durability tests, several measures have been taken for the injection pipe. As a result, the authors have found that the best solution for the injection pipe is a composite pipe made with SUS and steel.

1 A novel analysis approach called “Regression Density method” was developed for better understanding of fuel property effects on exhaust emission. The approach was applied to diesel emission data obtained in JCAP programs and emission models were conducted to analyze the effects of fuel properties and engine conditions on emissions. By introducing this analysis method, the relationship between density factor and aromatics factor (chemical composition factor) was identified, however, they have been reported previously as dominant factors in fuel properties. The effects of engine conditions and fuel properties on emissions were investigated quantitatively based on the statistically conducted emission models to clarify universal ways to emission reduction. The mechanism of emission formation of vehicles and engines with characteristic behavior was also examined.

The spray formation for a heavy duty diesel engine is calculated and compared with the direct and Schlieren photography. The calculation is performed by three dimensional numerical analysis based on KIVA computer program. The discrete particle technique is used for the spray modeling. The drag force of the spray droplet in the calculation is adjusted to have a same penetration with the experiment. The calculations are performed to investigate the influence of the evaporation, combustion, and coalesence for the development of the spray. The results of the calculation are visualized using three dimensional iso-surface to compare with the photograph. The comparison shows that the calculated reaults gives the similar feature on the distribution of each property with the experiment.

Bioethanol is being used as an alternative fuel throughout the world based on considerations of reduction of CO2 emissions and sustainability. It is widely known that ethanol has an advantage of high anti-knock quality. In order to use the ethanol in ethanol-blended gasoline to control knocking, the research discussed in this paper sought to develop a fuel separation system that would separate ethanol-blended gasoline into a high-octane-number fuel (high-ethanol-concentration fuel) and a low-octane-number fuel (low-ethanol-concentration fuel) in the vehicle. The research developed a small fuel separation system, and employed a layout in which the system was fitted in the fuel tank based on considerations of reducing the effect on cabin space and maintaining safety in the event of a collision. The total volume of the components fitted in the fuel tank is 6.6 liters.

Since in-cylinder flame temperature has a direct effect on an engine's NOx characteristics, this phenomena has been studied in detail in a multi-cylinder DI diesel engine using a new method allowing the in-cylider temperature distribution to be measured by the two color method. An endoscope is installed in the combustion chamber and flame light introduced from the endoscope is divided into two colors by filters. The images of combustion phenomena using the two wavelengths are recorded with a framing streak camera which includes a CCD camera. The flame temperature and KL factor are immediately calculated by a computer using the two color images from the CCD camera. In the case of EGR, the test was conducted under 75% load conditions. The flame temperature was reduced according to an increase of EGR rate.

Diesel combustion and exhaust gas emissions under transient operation (when fuel amounts abruptly increased) were investigated under a wide range of operating conditions with a newly developed gas sampling system. The relation between gas emissions and piston wall temperatures was also investigated. The results indicated that after the start of acceleration NOx, THC and smoke showed transient behaviors before reaching the steady state condition. Of the three gases, THC was most affected by piston wall temperature; its concentration decreased as the wall temperature increased throughout the acceleration except immediately after the start of acceleration. The number of cycles, at which gas concentrations reach the steady-state value after the start of acceleration, were about 1.2 times the cycle constant of the piston wall temperature for THC, and 2.3 times for smoke.

Amidst the rising demand to reduce CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions in recent years, gasoline homogeneous-charge compression ignition (HCCI) has gained attention as a technology that achieves both low NOx emissions and high thermal efficiency by means of lean combustion. However, gasoline HCCI has low robustness toward intracylinder temperature variations, therefore the problems of knocking and misfiring tend to occur during transient operation. The authors verified the transient operation control of HCCI by using a 4-stroke natural aspiration (NA) gasoline engine provided with direct injection (DI) and a variable valve timing and a lift electronic control system (VTEC) for intake air and exhaust optimized for HCCI combustion. This report describes stoichiometry spark ignition (SI) to which external exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) was introduced, HCCI ignition switch control, and changes in the load and number of engine revolutions in the HCCI region.

Low NOx and soot free premixed diesel combustion can be realized by increasing ignition delays in low oxygen atmospheres, as well as the combustion here also depends on fuel ignitability. In this report single intermittent spray combustion with primary reference fuels and a normal heptane-toluene blend fuel under several oxygen concentrations in a constant volume combustion vessel was analyzed with high-speed color video and pressure data. Temperature and KL factor distributions are displayed with a 2-D two-color method. The results show that premixing is promoted with a decrease in oxygen concentration, and the local high temperature regions, above 2200 K, as well as the duration of their appearance decreases with the oxygen concentration. With normal heptane, mild premixed diesel combustion can be realized at 15 vol% oxygen and there is little luminous flame.