Modeling the Effect of Variable Timing of the Exhaust Valves on SI Engine Emissions for Greener Vehicles

Abstract

The problem with fixed valve timing that the valve train is set by the automaker for peak efficiency running at a specific point in the engine’s operating range. When the vehicle is moving slower or faster than this ideal operating point the engine’s combustion cycle fails to properly burn the air/fuel mixture leading to considerably compromised engine performance and wastes fuel. Variable Valve Timing (VVT) is a solution developed to overcome this engine deficiency, dynamically altering the valve's opening and closing for optimal performance at any speed. The intension in this work is to contribute towards pursuing the development of variable valve timing (VVT) for improving the engine performance. This investigation covers the effect of exhaust valve opening (EVO), and closing (EVC) angle on engine performance and emissions. The aim is to optimize engine power and brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) where the effect of engine speed has also been considered. Power, BMEP, BSFC, NO, and CO were calculated and presented to show the effect of varying valve timing on them for all the valve timing cases. The calculations of engine performance were carried out using the simulation and analysis engineering software: LOTUS”, and engine emissions were calculated using “ZINOX” program. Sensitivity analysis shows that the reduction of 10% of (EVO) angle gave a reduction of around 2.5% in power and volumetric efficiency, also a slight increase in nitrogen oxide (NO) and carbon monoxide (CO), while a 10% decrease in (EVC) causes around 1% improvement in Power. The effects of different (VVT) from the simulations are analyzed and compared with those in the reviewed literature.