Internal Combustion Engine Cars Research Articles

KEY MATERIALS CHALLENGES FOR ELECTROCHEMICAL ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEMS

Batteries are in most people's mind devices to power small-scale mobile applications ranging from children's toys, cell phones and cameras to tablet computers and laptops, but we hardly think about the considerably wider range of electrochemical energy storage (EES) down to microbatteries that deliver milliwatts for smart-card devices or up via 10 30 kWh batteries powering electric drive vehicles to utility-scale stationary EES system that need to store tens to hundreds of MWh to locally balance demand in the power grid with energy supply from renewable sources. Currently it is the two latter applications, electromobility in battery electric vehicles (BEV) or plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) and load leveling of power grids based on renewable sources, that appear to pose the key challenges to materials scientists and drive advancement of electrochemical energy storage technology. Due to their high energy density, rechargeable lithium ion batteries (LIBs) based on layered electrode materials [LiCoO2 as cathode (positive electrode), graphite as anode (negative electrode)] and organic liquid or polymeric gel electrolytes are the present-day choice as EES for small-scale portable appliances. LIBs possess high working voltage ( 3.6V) and thereby high energy-density compared to earlier rechargeable battery technologies such as Ni-Cd, NiMH and lead acid batteries. Global production (mostly in Asia) grows by 30% per year so that LIBs steadily increase their share of the also expanding battery market, that is estimated to reach 86 billion US$ in 2016. Road transportation constitutes a signi cant portion of energy consumption in Singapore as in most industrialized countries, 5 and the fast rise of vehicle population in developing countries is one of the main drivers of petroleum price increases. Provided that energy storage systems are technically and economically viable, high e±ciency electric vehicles (EV) have a number of advantages over current internal combustion engine cars:

손익분기점 분석을 이용한 전기차의 보조금 정책 연구

2020년을 목표로 한 국내 중기 온실가스 감축목표가 2009년에 발표된 이후 다양한 온실가스 방안들이 제시되고 있다. 국내 중기 온실가스 감축목표에서는 수송부문의 경우, 현재의 경제성장률을 감안하여 2020년에 약 30% 정도의 배출가스를 줄여야 한다. 수송부문 중에서도 승용차 부문의 주요 감축수단으로서 전기차가 고려되고 있다. 본 연구에서는 손익분기점 분석을 통해 기존 내연기관차와 전기차에 대하여 다양한 시나리오별 분석을 실시하였다. 이를 통해 단기적으로 내연기관차에 비해 경제성 면에서 불리한 전기차에 대한 보조금 정책 도입의 타당성을 제시하였다. Since the release of mid-term domestic GHG goals until 2020, in 2009, some various GHG reduction policies have been proposed. In case of the transportation sector for the mid-term domestic GHG goals, it targets to reduce about 30% regarding the doemstic economic growth until 2020. A major reduction method in passenger cars considers an electric car. In this study we analyze some various scenarios to compare between internal combustion engine car and electric car using break-even analysis. Through the analysis we suggest a subsidy policy for electric car.

Life Cycle Cost Analysis of Different Vehicle Technologies in Singapore

Singapore is a diamond-shaped island with several surrounding smaller islets. It has a flat coastline with a land area of 710 km2 in 2009. With a highly urbanized city and limited land space, Singapore has been faced with problems of road congestion and rapid growth in car population. Electric vehicles (EVs) provide low emission urban transportation. Even taking into account the emissions from power plants needed to fuel EVs, the use of EVs still reduce carbon dioxide emissions significantly. From the energy aspect, EVs are efficient. EVs are promising alternative fuel vehicles that can reduce energy consumptions and carbon dioxide emissions in Singapore. A life cycle cost model was built to calculate life cycle costs of EVs and internal combustion engine cars in Singapore. It was found that EV is the most expensive car under current Green Vehicle Rebate scheme. The EV will be economically viable in Singapore if there is a breakthrough at batteries to cut EV prices.

Contribution of Li-Ion Batteries to the Environmental Impact of Electric Vehicles

Battery-powered electric cars (BEVs) play a key role in future mobility scenarios. However, little is known about the environmental impacts of the production, use and disposal of the lithium ion (Li-ion) battery. This makes it difficult to compare the environmental impacts of BEVs with those of internal combustion engine cars (ICEVs). Consequently, a detailed lifecycle inventory of a Li-ion battery and a rough LCA of BEV based mobility were compiled. The study shows that the environmental burdens of mobility are dominated by the operation phase regardless of whether a gasoline-fueled ICEV or a European electricity fueled BEV is used. The share of the total environmental impact of E-mobility caused by the battery (measured in Ecoindicator 99 points) is 15%. The impact caused by the extraction of lithium for the components of the Li-ion battery is less than 2.3% (Ecoindicator 99 points). The major contributor to the environmental burden caused by the battery is the supply of copper and aluminum for the production of the anode and the cathode, plus the required cables or the battery management system. This study provides a sound basis for more detailed environmental assessments of battery based E-mobility.

The centenary patent – Single-sleeve valve engines

This article commemorates the centenary of the grant of a key patent in the development of the single-sleeve valve (often referred to as the Burt–McCollum sleeve valve). This emerged as an alternative to the conventional spring-loaded poppet-valve systems in internal combustion engines in automobiles, especially in applications where their smoother and quieter characteristics are significant. The rivalry and litigation resulting from several inventors patenting similar systems at about the same time is described, together with the later application of the single-sleeve valve system to aero engines.

Electromagnetic unit with improved dynamic characteristics

A new design of an electromagnetic unit with improved dynamic characteristics and the procedure for its control have been developed. Electromagnet of the new design controlled by the procedure proposed in the article can be used in the control system of internal combustion engines in automobiles.

Are hybrid cars too quiet?

The increase in availability of alternative fuel vehicles has elicited concerns for pedestrians who might not hear the approach of these quieter cars. Three experiments tested the relative audibility of hybrid vehicles (in their electric mode) and internal combustion engine (ICE) cars. Binaural recordings were made of the cars approaching from either the right or left, at 5 mph. Subjects were asked to listen to these recordings over headphones and press one of two buttons indicating from which direction the car approached. Subjects’ accuracies and reaction times were measured. The first experiment revealed that (sighted) subjects were able to determine the approach direction of the ICE cars substantially sooner than the hybrid cars. A second experiment added the natural background sounds of idling engines to the stimuli. The addition of background sound disproportionately hindered perception of the hybrid cars, so that they could not be localized until very close. A final experiment testing both sets of stimuli with blind subjects revealed the same pattern of results. Implications of these results for pedestrian safety will be discussed. [Work supported by a grant from the National Federation for the Blind.]

Thermoelectric automotive waste heat energy recovery using maximum power point tracking

This paper proposes and implements a thermoelectric waste heat energy recovery system for internal combustion engine automobiles, including gasoline vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles. The key is to directly convert the heat energy from automotive waste heat to electrical energy using a thermoelectric generator, which is then regulated by a DC–DC Ćuk converter to charge a battery using maximum power point tracking. Hence, the electrical power stored in the battery can be maximized. Both analysis and experimental results demonstrate that the proposed system can work well under different working conditions, and is promising for automotive industry.

Hydrogen in Fueled Systems and the Significance of Hydrogen in Vehicular Transportation

Hydrogen is not a primary fuel; it must be manufactured from water with either fossil or nonfossil energy sources. Benefits include cleaner air, cleaner water, and better health. Hydrogen can be used as a engine fuel, whereas neither nuclear nor solar energy can be used directly. It has good properties as a fuel for internal combustion engines in automobiles. The main disadvantages of using hydrogen as a fuel for automobiles are huge on-board storage tanks which are required because of hydrogen's extremely low density. Hydrogen will also solve air pollution and planet-warming problems in the future. The combustion of hydrogen does not produce CO2, CO, SO2, VOC and particles, but entails emission of vapor and NOx.

A New Development of Internal Combustion Engine Air-Fuel Ratio Control With Second-Order Sliding Mode

A novel application of a second-order sliding mode control (SMC) scheme to the air-fuel ratio (AFR) control of automobile internal combustion engines is developed in this paper. In this scheme, the sliding surface S[x(t)] is steered to zero in finite time by using the discontinuous first-order derivative of a control variable u̇c(t), and the corresponding actual control variable uc(t) turns out to be continuous, which significantly reduces the undesired chattering. Its sliding gain is adjusted by a novel radial basis function network based adaptation method derived using the Lyapunov theory. It not only avoids handling the unavailable parameters and variables, but also saves the unnecessary manual adjusting time of the second-order SMC. The proposed method is applied to a widely used engine benchmark, the mean value engine model for evaluation. The simulation results show substantially improved AFR control performance compared with the conventional SMC.

Dynamic analysis of loads and stresses in connecting rods

Automobile internal combustion engine connecting rod is a high volume production component subjected to complex loading. Proper optimization of this component, which is critical to the engine fuel efficiency and more vigorously pursued by the automotive industry in recent years, necessitates a detailed understanding of the applied loads and resulting stresses under in-service conditions. In this study, detailed load analysis under service loading conditions was performed for a typical connecting rod, followed by quasi-dynamic finite element analysis (FEA) to capture stress variations over a cycle of operation. On the basis of the resulting stress-time histories, variation of stress ratio, presence of mean and bending stresses, and multi-axiality of stress states in various locations of the connecting rod under service operating conditions were investigated. It was found that even though connecting rods are typically tested and analyzed under axial loading and stress state, bending stresses are significant and a multiaxial stress state exists at the critical regions of connecting rod. A comparison is also made between stresses obtained using static FEA which is commonly performed and stresses using quasi-dynamic FEA. It is shown that considerable differences in obtained stresses exist between the two sets of analyses.

Comparison of Buyers of Hybrid and Conventional Internal Combustion Engine Automobiles: Characteristics, Preferences, and Previously Owned Vehicles

Two factors are important for assessment of the fuel-saving potential of hybrid vehicles. First is the future market share, which depends on the present status of hybrid vehicles in the technology adoption life cycle. The latter can be assessed by examination of characteristics and preferences of hybrid vehicle buyers. Second is consumer behavior, with the key issue being whether the purchase of a new hybrid vehicle is related to abovetrend increases in vehicle size or vehicle ownership. Two groups were surveyed: (a) all buyers of the hybrid car Toyota Prius 2 in Switzerland in the first 9 months after the vehicle entered the market and (b) a control group of buyers of conventional internal combustion engine Toyota Corolla and Avensis. Hybrid car buyers had a significantly higher household income and education level. They rated fuel consumption and technology higher at the expense of other criteria, such as brand preferences and design. It was concluded that hybrid vehicles were still mostly bought by con...

Comparison of Buyers of Hybrid and Conventional Internal Combustion Engine Automobiles

Two factors are important for assessment of the fuel-saving potential of hybrid vehicles. First is the future market share, which depends on the present status of hybrid vehicles in the technology adoption life cycle. The latter can be assessed by examination of characteristics and preferences of hybrid vehicle buyers. Second is consumer behavior, with the key issue being whether the purchase of a new hybrid vehicle is related to above-trend increases in vehicle size or vehicle ownership. Two groups were surveyed: ( a) all buyers of the hybrid car Toyota Prius 2 in Switzerland in the first 9 months after the vehicle entered the market and ( b) a control group of buyers of conventional internal combustion engine Toyota Corolla and Avensis. Hybrid car buyers had a significantly higher household income and education level. They rated fuel consumption and technology higher at the expense of other criteria, such as brand preferences and design. It was concluded that hybrid vehicles were still mostly bought by consumers from the early adopter segment of the market and that hybrid technology had not yet entered the majority market. The survey found neither of the two so-called direct-rebound effects that could possibly occur when buying hybrid cars. The surveyed rate of vehicle purchases for which no previously owned vehicle had been replaced was 13.7% for Prius buyers. This rate was comparable to that for the control group and below the simulated 20% limit taken into account in a population with constant vehicle ownership. It was concluded that hybrid vehicle technology might allow for important fuel savings in the future, once it succeeds in entering the majority car market, as no counteracting rebound effects are to be expected.

New and Renewable Hydrogen Production Processes

The promise of hydrogen as an energy carrier that can provide pollution free, carbon-free power and fuels for buildings, industry, and transport makes it a potentially critical player in our energy future. The acceleration of hydrogen technology development is appropriate and necessary. Hydrogen has been suggested as a convenient, clean-burning fuel. Hydrogen gas may be stored as a compressed gas or as a liquid. Hydrogen has good properties as a fuel for internal combustion engines in automobiles. The main disadvantages of using hydrogen as a fuel for automobiles are huge on-board storage tanks, which are required because of hydrogen's extremely low density.

05/01747 Systems for 42 V mass-market automobiles

In electric vehicles (EVs), only the electric motor powered by the battery transmits motive power to the wheels. They are also called zero emission vehicles as no chemical substances are released in the atmosphere. To compete with internal combustion engine cars, the battery has to store an amount of energy granting a sufficient driving range, and has to be recharged in a relatively short time. However, a discharged battery needs few hours for a full charge, as the charging rate cannot exceed a given limit. A fast charge is possible for high power batteries, but less feasible for the high-energy batteries needed to provide an acceptable driving range. Lead-acid has long been the sole battery system used in EVs, but the limited car range, typically about 60 km, the considerable maintenance requirements and poor cycle life have severely limited its development. For about 20 years, nickel–cadmium has been used in Europe, especially in France, extending the range to about 80 km, and with better life. Nickel-Metal Hydride has been developed for several demonstration programs, improving the energy density and car range (>100 km) with no battery maintenance, but has never actually been commercialized, partly due to high manufacturing costs. The new high-energy density technologies based on Lithium-ion have been studied for this application for more than 10 years, leading to demonstration fleets.

Hydrogen and Boron as Recent Alternative Motor Fuels

Hydrogen can be used as a motor fuel, whereas neither nuclear nor solar energy can be used directly. Hydrogen fuel is hydrogen gas with small amounts of oxygen and other materials added. Benefits include cleaner air, cleaner water, and better health. Hydrogen is also a renewable resource. Hydrogen has good properties as a fuel for internal combustion engines in automobiles. Hydrogen can be used as a fuel directly in an internal combustion engine not much different from the engines used with gasoline. Hydrogen is not a primary fuel; it must be manufactured from water with either fossil or nonfossil energy sources. Boron fuel is made up of the element boron. It is mixed with pure oxygen in the engine. Boron is very safe because it is hard to ignite. It also contains more energy than petroleum. Boron has a very high energy density, much better than that of liquid hydrogen and also a lot safer, so it seems practical as a fuel for a vehicle. Unfortunately, boron is quite a limited resource and pure oxygen is expensive.

Societal lifecycle costs of cars with alternative fuels/engines

Effectively addressing concerns about air pollution (especially health impacts of small-particle air pollution), climate change, and oil supply insecurity will probably require radical changes in automotive engine/fuel technologies in directions that offer both the potential for achieving near-zero emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gases and a diversification of the transport fuel system away from its present exclusive dependence on petroleum. The basis for comparing alternative automotive engine/fuel options in evolving toward these goals in the present analysis is the “societal lifecycle cost” of transportation, including the vehicle first cost (assuming large-scale mass production), fuel costs (assuming a fully developed fuel infrastructure), externality costs for oil supply security, and damage costs for emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gases calculated over the full fuel cycle. Several engine/fuel options are considered—including current gasoline internal combustion engines and a variety of advanced lightweight vehicles: internal combustion engine vehicles fueled with gasoline or hydrogen; internal combustion engine/hybrid electric vehicles fueled with gasoline, compressed natural gas, Diesel, Fischer–Tropsch liquids or hydrogen; and fuel cell vehicles fueled with gasoline, methanol or hydrogen (from natural gas, coal or wind power). To account for large uncertainties inherent in the analysis (for example in environmental damage costs, in oil supply security costs and in projected mass-produced costs of future vehicles), lifecycle costs are estimated for a range of possible future conditions. Under base-case conditions, several advanced options have roughly comparable lifecycle costs that are lower than for today's conventional gasoline internal combustion engine cars, when environmental and oil supply insecurity externalities are counted—including advanced gasoline internal combustion engine cars, internal combustion engine/hybrid electric cars fueled with gasoline, Diesel, Fischer–Tropsch liquids or compressed natural gas, and hydrogen fuel cell cars. The hydrogen fuel cell car stands out as having the lowest externality costs of any option and, when mass produced and with high valuations of externalities, the least projected lifecycle cost. Particular attention is given to strategies that would enhance the prospects that the hydrogen fuel cell car would eventually become the Car of the Future, while pursuing innovations relating to options based on internal combustion engines that would both assist a transition to hydrogen fuel cell cars and provide significant reductions of externality costs in the near term.

Fuel Properties of Hydrogen, Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) for Transportation

Hydrogen has been suggested as a convenient, clean-burning fuel. Hydrogen gas may be stored as a compressed gas or as a liquid. Hydrogen has good properties as a fuel for internal combustion engines in automobiles. Worldwide-liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) production is limited to about 10% of total gasoline and diesel fuel consumption and is used to a great extent for domestic and industrial purposes. Since LPG burns cleaner with less carbon build-up and oil contamination, engine wear is reduced and the life of some components such as rings and bearings is much longer than with gasoline. The high octane of LPG also minimizes wear from engine knock. Natural gas is widely available. CO2 emission of natural gas is lower than both diesel fuel and gasoline, which makes natural gas engines favorable also in terms of the greenhouse effect. Positive contribution of compressed natural gas (CNG) on environmental pollution must also be considered in economical aspects.

L'hydrogene pour le transport sur route : réalisations et développements

Hydrogen for road transportation : achievements and developments. At the beginning of this millenium, hydrogen appears as a potential energy carrier for the future. Thus, it could serve as a storage medium for renewable energy forms, which should play an increasing part in the world energy supply. In a closer future, hydrogen could also become a fuel for prospective fuel-cell and internal-combustion vehicles. We present here an inventory of the various technologies related to the use of hydrogen in road transportation : propulsion type (fuel cell and electric motor, or internal combustion engine), hydrogen production, on-board storage, infrastructure. Safety, standardization and regulation aspects will also be addressed. Presently, the majority of hydrogen buses are equipped with polymer membrane fuel cells (PEMFC), directly supplied with hydrogen from pressurized vessels (300 bars). On the other hand, car manufacturers are developing various types of experimental vehicles : internal-combustion engine cars with liquid hydrogen storage, fuel cell (PEMFC) cars with storage of hydrogen (liquid, gaseous, hydride) or of methanol. The type of required infrastructured will depend on the type of fuel chosen by the car makers and on the requirements of the oil companies. Several hydrogen supply stations, of different technologies, have already been set up. They deliver gaseous or liquid hydrogen produced by reforming of natural gas or by electrolysis. The building of a hydrogen-based fueling system requires the development of specific means of production, transportation, storage and delivery. Public acceptance will have to be won by guaranteeing safety, reliability, performance and competitivity. Presently, research and development work is mainly carried out on : on-board storage of hydrogen ; on-board systems for the production of hydrogen from methanol and petrol ; standardization and regulation. En ce début de millénaire, l'hydrogène apparaît comme un vecteur énergétique potentiel du futur. Il pourrait, en effet, servir d'intermédiaire de stockage des énergies renouvelables dont la part dans l'approvisionnement énergétique mondial est amenée à croître. Dans un avenir bien plus proche, l'hydrogène pourrait également devenir un carburant pour les futurs véhicules, équipés de pile à combustible ou de moteur à combustion interne. Nous faisons ici un état des lieux des différentes technologies liées à l'utilisation de l'hydrogène dans le transport sur route : type de propulsion (pile à combustible et moteur électrique ou moteur à combustion interne), production d'hydrogène, stockage embarqué, infrastructure. Les aspects de sécurité, normalisation et réglementation sont également abordés. Actuellement, la majorité des bus à hydrogène est équipée de piles à membrane polymère (PEMFC) alimentées directement en hydrogène, stocké dans des réservoirs sous pression (300 bars). Par contre, les constructeurs d'automobiles développent différents types de prototypes : voitures à moteur à combustion interne avec stockage d'hydrogène liquide, voitures à pile PEM avec stockage d'hydrogène (liquide, gaz, hydrures) ou de méthanol. Le type d'infrastructure dépendra du combustible primaire choisi par les constructeurs d'automobiles et des impératifs des compagnies pétrolières. Plusieurs stations-service hydrogène, de différentes technologies, ont été réalisées. Elles délivrent de l'hydrogène gazeux ou liquide, produit par reformage de gaz naturel ou par électrolyse. La mise en place d'une filière « Hydrogène å nécessite, en effet, le développement de moyens de production, de transport, de distribution et de stockage spécifiques. L'acceptation du public devra être gagnée par des garanties de sécurité, de fiabilité, de performance et de compétitivité. Les travaux de recherche et développement se concentrent actuellement sur : le stockage embarqué d'hydrogène ; les systèmes embarqués de production d'hydrogène à partir de méthanol et d'essence ; la normalisation et la réglementation.

Environmental Implications of Alternative-Fueled Automobiles: Air Quality and Greenhouse Gas Tradeoffs

Alternative fuel-powertrain options for internal combustion engine automobiles are analysed. Fuel/engine efficiency, energy use, pollutant discharges, and greenhouse gas emissions are estimated for spark and compression ignited, direct injected (DI), and indirect injected (II) engines fueled by conventional and reformulated gasoline, reformulated diesel, compressed natural gas (CNG), and alcohols. Since comparisons of fuels and technologies in dissimilar vehicles are misleading, the authors hold emissions level, range (160 and 595 km), vehicle size class, and style (a 1998 Ford Taurus sedan) constant. At present, CNG vehicles have the best exhaust emissions performance while DI diesels have the worst. Compared to a conventional gasoline fueled II automobile, greenhouse gases could be reduced by 40% by a DI CNG automobile and by 25% by a DI diesel. Gasoline- and diesel-fueled automobiles are able to attain long ranges with little weight or fuel economy penalty. CNG vehicles have the highest penalty for increasing range, due to their heavy fuel storage systems, but are the most attractive for a 160-km range. DI engines, particularly diesels, may not be able to meet strict emissions standards, at least not without lowering efficiency. (A)