Start Of Injection Research Articles

Computational study on the impact of gasoline-ethanol blending on autoignition and soot/NOx emissions under low-load gasoline compression ignition conditions

In the present work, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of a single-cylinder gasoline compression ignition (GCI) engine are performed to investigate the impact of gasoline-ethanol blending on autoignition, nitrogen oxide (NOx), and soot emissions under low-load conditions. In order to represent the test gasoline (RD5-87), a four-component toluene primary reference fuel (TPRF)+ethanol (ETPRF) surrogate (with 10% ethanol by volume; E10) is employed. A three-dimensional (3D) engine CFD model employing finite-rate chemistry with a skeletal kinetic mechanism (including NOx sub-mechanism), adaptive mesh refinement (AMR), and hybrid method of moments (HMOM) is adopted to capture the in-cylinder combustion phenomena and soot/NOx emissions. The engine CFD model is validated against experimental data for three gasoline-ethanol blends: E10, E30 and E100, with varying ethanol content by volume. Model validation is carried out for a broad range of start-of-injection (SOI) timings (−21, −27, −36, and −45 crank angle degrees (°CA) after top-dead-center (aTDC)) with respect to in-cylinder pressure, heat release rate, combustion phasing, NOx and soot emissions. For relatively later injection timings (−21 and −27 °CA aTDC), E30 yields higher amount of soot than E10; while the trend reverses for early injection cases (−36 and −45 °CA aTDC ). On the other hand, E100 yields the lowest amount of soot among all fuels irrespective of SOI timing. Further, E10 shows a non-monotonic trend in soot emissions with SOI timing: SOI-36>SOI-45>SOI-21>SOI-27, while soot emissions from E30 exhibit monotonic decrease with advancing SOI timing. NOx emissions from various fuels follow a trend of E10>E30>E100. On the other hand, NOx emissions increase as SOI timing is advanced for all fuels, with an anomaly for E10 and E100 where NOx decreases when SOI is advanced beyond −36 °CA aTDC. Detailed analysis of the numerical results is performed to investigate the soot/NOx emission trends and elucidate the impact of chemical composition and physical properties on autoignition and emissions characteristics.

Effect of Fuel Injection Parameters on Engine Performance in A Conventional Single Cylinder Spark Ignition Engine

In this study, a 1D model was created using the Ricardo-Wave program for a single-cylinder, spark ignition, four-stroke, direct injection engine with a stroke volume of 398 cc. Air-fuel ratio (AFR), mixture temperature (MT), and start of injection (SOI) were used as fuel injection parameters. Using these parameters, 343 different cases were created. Brake power, thermal efficiency, and fuel consumption were used as engine performance parameters. By holding one injection parameter constant, a contour plot was created to examine the effect of the other two parameters on the engine performance parameter. According to the results, the effect of MT and SOI on brake power is 1%, the effect of AFR on brake power is 9.6%, the effect of MT and SOI on thermal efficiency is 1%, and the effect of AFR on thermal efficiency is 12.8%. The effect of MT and SOI on fuel consumption is 0.04%, the effect of AFR on fuel consumption is 22.9%, and the effect of AFR on brake specific fuel consumption is 22.9%. These results indicate that the most significant effect is provided by AFR, while MT and SOI also have a slight impact on engine performance.

Effects of ammonia energy ratio and PODE injection timing on combustion and emissions in a PODE/ammonia RCCI engine

The application of ammonia as an alternative carbon-free fuel has attracted increasing attention. In this paper, the effects and mechanisms of ammonia energy ratio (AER) and polyoxymethylene dimethyl ethers (PODE) injection timing on the combustion and emissions characteristics of a PODE/ammonia RCCI engine are investigated by both experimental and numerical methods. Results show that increasing AER from 10% to 40% leads to the delayed low temperature heat release (LTHR) due to reduced OH radical generated by PODE and the competition between PODE and ammonia for OH radical consumption. The larger AER increases the indicated thermal efficiency (ITE) by lowering combustion temperature and reducing heat transfer losses at the cost of higher hydrocarbon (HC), carbon monoxide (CO), and unburned NH3 emissions. The reduction of fuel-based nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions with a larger AER is attributed to the enhanced in-cylinder thermal denitrification reactions. The delayed start of injection (SOI) from −60 °CA ATDC to −45 °CA ATDC leads to the higher peak in-cylinder pressure and temperature, resulting in the larger heat transfer losses and lower ITE. The impact of retarding SOI on NOx is insignificant under the combined effect of more thermal NO formation, less fuel-based NO generation, and weakened denitrification reactions. Additionally, nitrous oxide (N2O) shows dominant effects on the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and increasing AER or advancing injection timing produces more GHG. Under low loads and low AERs, although the introduction of ammonia helps to improve ITE, more researches are required to further reduce exhaust emissions.

Determination of cyclic air-fuel ratio and analysis of low and high-frequency variations in dual-fuel RCCI engine

Higher cyclic variations (CVs) in the engine affect the performance, emissions and drivability of the vehicle. Higher CVs are one of the challenges in dual-fuel reactivity-controlled compression ignition (RCCI) engines, mainly at lower loads. Cyclic disparities in the charge preparation, such as air-fuel ratio (AFR), result in CVs in the combustion parameters. The pressure moment method (PMM) is employed in the gasoline/methanol-diesel RCCI engine to estimate cyclic disparities in AFR. The logged cyclic in-cylinder pressure is used to calculate the cyclic AFR. After determining the cyclic AFR, statistical analysis and return maps are applied for the analyses of variations in the AFR, CA10, CA50, pmax and IMEP. For examining the low and high-frequency disparities in cyclic [Formula: see text] and its relationship with CA10, Wavelet transform (WT) is further applied. A good relationship is found between the estimated mean AFR and the experimental mean AFR. Return maps signify that for the earlier start of injection (SOI), the data points of AFR are more scattered correspondingly, the data points for CA10, CA50, pmax and IMEP are more scattered. WT analysis shows that both high-frequency and low-frequency variations are present in dual-fuel RCCI combustion. It is found that high-frequency discrepancies in the AFR are consistent throughout the engine cycles for all the tested injection timings. Wavelet results confirm that high-frequency fluctuations in AFR result in disparities in CA10 and IMEP.

Effect of injection strategy on the hydrogen mixture distribution and combustion of the hydrogen-fueled engine with passive pre-chamber ignition under lean burn condition

Turbulent jet ignition (TJI) effectively achieves lean and stable combustion in hydrogen engines. However, research on injection strategies for TJI hydrogen engines is still lacking. In this study, experimental methods investigated the effects of single and split injection strategies on the combustion and emissions of TJI hydrogen engines under medium loads. The numerical simulation reveals the operational characteristics of fuel distribution, ignition capability, and energy conversion in the pre-chamber at different injection times in a single injection strategy. This work is conducted at 1600 rpm with a manifold absolute pressure of 70 kPa. The experimental results indicate that the delay of the start of injection (SOI) can enhance the performance of the TJI hydrogen engine. However, as SOI approaches TDC, emissions worsen, and combustion stability decreases. When SOI is 90°CA BTDC, the brake mean effective pressure (BMEP) and brake thermal efficiency (BTE) can achieve 3.1 bar and 32.9 %, with the coefficient of variation of the IMEP (COVIMEP) of 1.6 % and lower emissions. For the split injection strategy, delaying the secondary end of injection (SEOI) can increase BMEP and BTE. As SEOI gradually delays the TDC, emissions deteriorate sharply. Under the split injection strategy, COVIMEP is higher, which is unfavorable for hydrogen engine applications.

Experimental and simulation research on the lean combustion characteristics of direct-injection hydrogen engine

At a constant engine speed of 2000 r/min and 5 bar gross indicated mean effective pressure, experiments were carried out on a 1.5 L engine with a variable geometry turbocharger to examine the combustion and emission characteristics of a direct injection hydrogen engine under lean combustion conditions. Additionally, a CFD simulation model was established to investigate the formation process of the air-fuel mixture and the generation of nitrogen oxides (NOx). The findings demonstrated that the uniformity of the hydrogen-air mixture in the cylinder descended with a delay in SOI (start of injection), and that the thermal efficiency often rose initially before declining. When SOI was set at −80°CA ATDC, the engine achieved maximum indicated thermal efficiency, brake thermal efficiency, and output torque values of 40.8%, 36.22%, and 61.2 Nm, respectively. However, as the SOI was delayed, the combustion variability ascended, and when the SOI was delayed to −20°CA ATDC, there was a significant chance that abnormal phenomena like pre-ignition would occur. BTE achieves a maximum of 36.38% when λ is 2.2 and SOI is −40°CA ATDC. Under lean combustion conditions, temperature was a major factor in the generation of NOx, and homogenous combustion can substantially reduce NOx emissions. NOx emissions are always less than 100 ppm when SOI is before −80°CA ATDC.

Investigation of the effect of injection rate shaping on combustion and emissions in heavy-duty diesel engine under steady and transient conditions

The fuel injection rate (ROI) is a crucial factor that affects the combustion and emissions of diesel engines. This study focuses on the injection pressure in a common rail system, which is divided into a high-pressure section and a low-pressure section. A control-oriented ROI shaping (ROIs) model is developed based on the switching strategy between high and low injection pressure. Three types of ROI were generated, namely ROIB (conventional ROI), boot-ROI (low followed by high injection pressure), and anti-boot-ROI (high followed by low injection pressure) respectively. The 1-D and 3-D numerical simulations are conducted to analyze the impact of the shaped ROI on combustion and emissions for steady condition and transient condition. In terms of overall results, boot-ROI shows significant advantage among the three types of ROI. For the steady condition, the boot-ROI was able to increase the IMEP (indicated mean effective pressure) (1.57 bar) at high load conditions with almost unchanged NOx emission. For low load conditions with delayed SOI (start of injection), the exhaust temperature is close to that of the ROIB with a reduction of 0.51 g/kW·h in NOx emissions. For transient condition, the boot-ROI also shows its advantage. It was found to improve the BSFC (brake specific fuel consumption) with almost unchanged NOx emission during load-down process. And in load-up process, the BSFC and soot emission also could be improved with slightly increase in NOx emission through advance of SOI when boot-ROI was adopted. The one-dimensional model using boot-ROI reduces fuel consumption by 2 g/kW·h in experiment with WHTC cycles, with slightly higher soot emission and similar NOx emission.

Effects of split injection strategy on combustion characteristics and NOx emissions performance in dual-fuel marine engine

In order to address environmental concerns and promote sustainable development, the maritime industry is facing a demand to reduce emissions from ship engines. To address this, a growing trend in the development of diesel natural gas dual-fuel marine engine involves implementing more flexible diesel injection strategies, with the aim of enhancing performance and minimizing harmful emissions. This study utilized a numerical investigation based on the Large Eddy Simulation (LES) method to examine pilot diesel injection strategies in a dual-fuel marine engine operating at a high degree of natural gas substitution rate. Specifically, the analysis focused on the start of injection (SOI) in the single injection strategy and the first start of injection (SOI1) in the split injection strategy for pilot diesel. The findings highlight distinct trade-off relationships between these two injection strategies regarding their impact on indicated specific fuel consumption (ISFC) and NOx emissions. Compared to the optimized single injection strategy (Case A: SOI = -15°CA ATDC), the optimized split injection strategy (Case B: SOI1 = -60°CA ATDC, SOI2 = -10°CA ATDC) increases thermal efficiency by 0.77 % while reducing NOx emissions by 36.3 %. The split injection strategy induces low-temperature reactions of n-heptane in the squish region, resulting in the generation of active free radicals such as CH2O and OH, thereby accelerating the propagation speed of the flame in the squish region. Meanwhile, the split injection strategy diminishes pilot diesel accumulation in the piston bowl region, narrows the distribution range of high-temperature areas surpassing 2400 K, consequently leading to a reduction in NOx emissions.

Study on backfire characteristics of port fuel injection single-cylinder hydrogen internal combustion engine

Hydrogen energy is one of the most promising sources of carbon neutrality from well to wheel. Among various applications of hydrogen energy, hydrogen internal combustion engines serve as the critical technical pathway. Nevertheless, several challenges persist, primarily related to abnormal combustion resulting from excessive flame propagation velocity. Of these challenges, backfire emerges as the most recurrent and pressing issue to be resolved in the port fuel-injected hydrogen internal combustion engine (PFI-H2ICE). In order to delve into the characteristics and mechanisms of backfire, this study concentrates on a critical internal parameter, namely the start of injection (SOI), and comprehensively assesses the backfire occurrences under varying lambda and engine speed conditions. Experimental findings reveal that SOI encompasses one of the pivotal factors influencing backfire. Backfire predominantly arises within two ranges of SOI conditions: the region before −430 degCA ATDC (Zone I) and the stretch between −360 degCA ATDC and − 280 degCA ATDC (Zone II). In the process of employing EGR to depress the effects of backfire on subsequent tests, it was incidentally found that the Universal Exhaust Gas Oxygen Sensor (UEGO) installed on the intake manifold for executing EGR rate calculations acted as a hotspot (with temperatures exceeding 100 °C). This not only intensified the backfire strength and the scope in Zone I but also caused the most severe backfire events to occur after −270 degCA ATDC (in Zone III). Despite this, the EGR strategy still demonstrated a significant backfire suppression effect, only exhibiting almost no influence on backfire caused by hotspots within the intake manifold. With an escalation in engine speed, the intensity of backfire diminishes, and the range of backfire occurrence decreases accordingly. By exercising control over SOI within the operating range from -430degCA to -360degCA ATDC (Zone A), the risk of backfire can be dramatically reduced, thereby achieving nearly backfire-free operation. Detailed analysis of cylinder pressure indicates that backfire may also give rise to other abnormal combustions, such as misfire, pre-ignition, and knock, in subsequent cycles. Moreover, this effect amplifies in tandem with an increase in mixture concentration. A certain degree of mutual promotion among diverse abnormal combustions is also observed. This study furnishes the most direct and practical foundation for internal and external strategies in the realm of backfire control.

Effect of multi-injection strategy on characteristics of methanol-fueled direct injection spark ignition engine

Present paper numerically investigates the effect of injection strategy and start of injection (SOI) timing on in-cylinder flow, air–fuel mixing, fuel distribution near spark plug, engine performance, and exhaust emissions for highly stratified methanol-fueled, multi-injection, direct injection spark ignition engine having high compression ratio. SOI is kept constant at −23° crank angle (CA) after top dead center (ATDC) with a spark timing (ST) of −2° crank angle (CA) ATDC. Mass of fuel is divided into pilot and main injection ports having pilot to main fuel injection mass ratio of 1:1, 1:2, and 1:3 at 0° and 2° dwell times between main and pilot injections. As the quantity of fuel in main injection increases, pressure rise rate increases, which results in higher in-cylinder pressure and higher rate of burning that gives higher apparent heat release. Due to higher peak pressure rise rate and faster burning in the case of 2° crank angle (CA) dwell time, shorter combustion duration is achieved compared to 0° crank angle (CA) dwell time. In the case of multi-injection, faster burning rate enhanced in-cylinder temperature; therefore, nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions are higher. Pilot to main fuel mass ratio of 1:3 has resulted highest indicated thermal efficiency, lowest specific fuel consumption, lowest soot, and carbon monoxide (CO) emissions.

Effects of biodiesel injector configuration and its injection timing on performance, combustion and emissions characteristics of liquid ammonia dual direct injection engine

Ammonia is a promising carbon-neutral fuel that can be stored and transported in liquid form, offering a viable alternative to diesel fuel. In addition, it can be used directly in diesel engine in its liquid form in dual fuel mode. Hence, a single-cylinder diesel engine was modified to implement two common rail (CR) injection systems, allowing the direct injection of liquid ammonia with biodiesel. As biodiesel was used for a pilot fuel with lower injected mass, this study aims to investigate the influence of the number of nozzles in the biodiesel injector on the performance, combustion, and emissions characteristics of the liquid ammonia-biodiesel dual direct injection engine. Therefore, the number of holes in the CR injector was closed in various configurations to improve injection parameters. Furthermore, various biodiesel start of injection (SOI) timings were tested, ranging from −24 to −14 CAD, while the SOI of ammonia was kept at −10 CAD with an ammonia mass ratio of 67.2%. The results showed that welding three nozzles from the original six-nozzle injector resulted in a remarkable 29.2% reduction in NH3 and CO emissions. Furthermore, the highest indicated thermal efficiency of 39.7% was obtained for the injector with 3b nozzles. Additionally, late injection of both fuels led to an increase in particulate matter emissions, from 10.5 to 15.2 mg/m3, due to the formation of fuel-rich zones at high temperatures. However, it reduced NOx and CO emissions by 1.4 and 4.4 g/kWh, respectively, compared to the early SOI of biodiesel. Moreover, the lowest N2O emission was measured at 115.0 ppm in the earliest SOI of biodiesel at −24 CAD.

Numerical investigation for enhancing HCCI combustion characteristics in DI-CI engine fueled with butanol/diesel blends

The fast depletion of fossil fuels and the hazardous emissions associated with the use of fossil fuels in IC engines is driving the research in the area of renewable fuels. Homogeneous charge combustion ignition (HCCI) is a new mode of engine combustion technology, used for reducing the emissions without compromising the engine performance. The combination of HCCI and alcohol/diesel blends has the potential to simultaneously address the twin problems of depletion of fossil fuels and engine emissions. Butanol is an attractive biofuel, which is produced from agriculture wastes such as sugar cane bagasses and corn stalk etc. This paper presents numerical and modeling analysis on the emission and performance characteristics of a direct injection- compression ignition (DI-CI) engine operated with butanol/diesel blends. Numerical analysis was carried out using CONVERGE CFD software. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used in developing the response models for three output parameters, viz., nitrogen oxides (NOx), soot emissions and indicated specific fuel consumption (ISFC), in terms of the four input parameters, viz., compression ratio (CR), start of injection (SOI), fuel injection pressure (FIP) and exhaust gas recirculation (EGR). Numerical experiments were conducted by varying these four input parameters, i.e., CR from 14 to 19, FIP from 200 to 280 bar, EGR from 0% to 30% and SOI from 17° to 29° CA bTDC, and with four butanol/diesel blends (0, 20%, 30% and 40% of butanol-by volume, designated as Bu00, Bu20, Bu30 and Bu40). The optimum combination of the input parameters for the four test fuels were found with the objective of minimizing the three output parameters (i.e., ISFC, soot and NOx) using desirability approach. The homogeneity of the air-fuel mixture was estimated using equivalence ratio distribution index, i.e., Target fuel distribution index (TFDI). From the numerical analysis, it was found that the TFDI improved for the optimized case by 20.5%, 21.5%, 24.4% and 27.2% for Bu00, Bu20, Bu30 and Bu40 respectively as compared to their respective baseline configuration.

Study of single and split injection strategies on combustion and emissions of hydrogen DISI engine

Hydrogen energy shows excellent potential as an alternative fuel for internal combustion engines (ICE) in terms of cleanliness and efficiency. However, the specificity of hydrogen density and diffusion rate leads to further optimization of the working process of the hydrogen direct injection spark ignition (DISI) engines. In this study, the effects of single injection and split injection strategies on the combustion and emissions of a hydrogen DISI engine were investigated at medium/low load. The specific results showed that premature hydrogen injection could trigger pre-ignition events, and it was appropriate to set the earliest hydrogen injection timing to 180° CA BTDC after the intake valve closing. For the single injection strategy, the brake thermal efficiency (BTE) increased first and then decreased with the delay of the start of injection (SOI). When SOI = 100° CA BTDC, the optimal BTE (36.1 %) could be obtained, and nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions could still be limited to less than 0.1 g/(kW·h). For the split injection strategy, Delaying the secondary end of injection (SEOI) beyond 30° CA BTDC rapidly worsened NOx emissions to over 1.5 g/(kW·h). Delaying SEOI achieved higher efficiency but slightly worse the coefficient of variation COVIMEP than the single injection strategy. In addition, increasing the secondary injection mass fraction (SIMF) to 30 % could achieve an 18 % higher peak heat release rate than a single injection and shorter combustion duration. However, over 20 % SIMF resulted in an increase of NOx emissions to over 4 g/(kW·h). The energy distribution indicated that adjusting the injection strategy to increase BTE was mainly achieved by reducing power of heat loss (PHL).

Progressive strategies to avoid and exploit knock limit for optimal performance and stoichiometric operation of a DI hydrogen engine with high CR at WOT conditions

Knock is one of the crucial challenges facing direct injection (DI) hydrogen engines. In this study, the rational optimization of operating parameters and the proposal of two progressive knock suppression strategies enable the DI hydrogen engine to achieve knock-free operation at wide-open throttle (WOT) and stoichiometric conditions, which may better control the test system’s complexity. The present work uses 0.5 bar knock intensity (KI) as the threshold for occurring knock. The test consists of three parts. In Part 1, KI exceeds 0.5 bar at 1.7 λ. Then, considering the suppression effect of the stratified mixture on knock, a strategy for cooperative control of λ and start of injection (SOI) is proposed in Part 2, which can lower λ to 1.4 within the allowable borderline knocking. However, this strategy fails at 70°CA BTDC SOI. Based on the above results, a strategy to synergistically adjust λ and intake variable valve timing is adopted in Part 3, which suppresses knock mainly by varying the airflow exchange process and effective compression ratio. Finally, the strategies presented in Part 2 and Part 3 allow the engine to control the KI to less than 0.5 bar at WOT and stoichiometric conditions, which ensures power performance.

Supercritical water injection in a single cylinder research engine: a PIV study

This work presents the experimental results of a fluid dynamic investigation to characterize the injection of supercritical water in the combustion chamber of an internal combustion engine. Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) analysis is carried out in an optically accessible 2-stroke Diesel engine. A prechamber, equipped with two optical accesses is connected to the main cylinder through a tangential duct so that the piston stroke induces a swirled motion field with angular velocities typical of light duty engines for automotive application. The engine is equipped with an injection system for the production and injection of supercritical water, with the possibility to independently regulate the injection pressure, temperature, duration, and timing. Tests have then been carried out under different operating conditions to evaluate the impact of the fluid dynamics in the combustion chamber on the water spray. First, the airflow velocity field has been characterized at different engine crank train angles. The water spray has been macroscopically characterized for an injection temperature of 300°C and pressure of 30Mpa. Then, the supercritical water/air interaction has been explored, at different injection pressure, temperature, and Start of Injection (SOI) to provide global information in terms of spray morphology, tip penetration, and velocity vector distribution of the water droplets within the combustion chamber for different injection strategies.

An Experimental Comparison of Cyclic Variations in Diesel–Natural Gas and POMDME–Natural Gas Dual Fuel Combustion

Abstract Cyclic variations in internal combustion engines are caused by various factors, including combustion mixture stratification, in-cylinder flows, local fluctuations in air-fuel ratio, etc. Cyclic variations have a profound impact on engine performance and emissions. In this study, cyclic variations in dual fuel combustion are analyzed, comparing diesel–natural gas (NG) and polyoxymethylene dimethyl ether (POMDME)-NG dual fuel combustion. Cyclic variability was initially quantified using the coefficient of variation of gross indicated mean effective pressure (IMEPg) computed from experimental cylinder pressure data. The cases analyzed in this study had a coefficient of variation (COV) of IMEPg greater than or around 5%, which was the lower limit of onset of instability for this engine. Experiments were performed at two fixed start of injection (SOI) of high-cetane fuel: 310 CAD and 350 CAD. For all experiments, a constant load of 5 bar IMEPg was maintained, and the intake boost pressure and rail pressure were fixed at 1.5 bar and 500 bar, respectively. For each case, 1000 cycles of cylinder pressure data were recorded, filtered, and processed using an in-house heat release analysis code for each cycle. A comparison between individual cycles and the “ensemble averaged cycle” was made for both diesel–NG and POMDME–NG combustion. For the early SOI of 310 CAD, the peak cylinder pressure fluctuations of individual cycle were found to be ± 15 bar for both fuel combinations, compared to the ensemble averaged cycle, and < 1/10th of the cycles had an IMEPg lower than 0.05 bar of the ensemble averaged cycle. However, the peak pressure fluctuations were found to be lower for POMDME–NG (±3 bar) than diesel–NG dual fuel combustion at 350 CAD SOI, indicating lower cyclic variations. The higher reactivity of POMDME helped reduce fluctuations in combustion phasing at the retarded SOI. The presence of cycles of deterioration and cycles of recovery were also observed with diesel–NG combustion for 310 CAD SOI, and the scatter in the IMEPg return map was similar for both fuel combinations. The IMEPg return map for POMDME–NG combustion was less scattered at the 350 CAD SOI.

Hierarchical multi-time-scale predictive thermal management and fuel optimization for heavy-duty compression ignition engines

For heavy-duty diesel engines, NOX emissions reduction is strongly constrained by fuel efficiency. This paper presents a hierarchical model predictive controller (H-MPC) for coordinated control of tailpipe NOX emissions and fuel consumption. The H-MPC uses the separation of slow and fast dynamics that exist in the engine and its aftertreatment system. The controller is synthesized with an architecture in which a high-level MPC uses a longer prediction horizon compared to the low-level predictive controller which tracks the high-level controller command and manages the thermal dynamics of the aftertreatment system. Engine load preview enables the high-level controller to estimate the desired catalyst temperature ahead of time and addresses the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) slow thermal dynamics. Calculated by the high-level controller, the intake manifold pressure, and the start of injection (SOI) crank angle is used as reference trajectories in the low-level controller that regulates fast dynamical behaviors such as engine out NOX emissions. Hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) validation of this integrated H-MPC on a rapid prototype controller shows that when the SCR catalyst temperature is above light-off temperature (warmed-up condition), the engine operation is shifted to operate with the best fuel economy since the warmed-up SCR can efficiently reduce the engine-out NOX emissions. Results indicate that up to 0.8% benefit in cycle averaged BSFC along with a 13% reduction in tailpipe NOX compared to a stock engine calibration can be achieved with the coordinated engine and aftertreatment system through H-MPC.

Co-optimization of operating parameters, fuel composition, and piston bowl geometry of gasoline compression ignition (GCI) engine at high loads

Focusing on the gasoline compression ignition (GCI) combustion mode, the operating parameters, fuel composition, and piston bowl geometry were collaboratively optimized at high loads to improve engine performance. A meliorative genetic algorithm coupled with a three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) program was adopted as the optimization tool. The optimal GCI combustion strategy is summarized based on the optimization results, and the key parameters affecting engine performance at high loads are further analyzed. The results show that the employment of the open-type piston bowl, high-reactivity fuel, and late start of injection (SOI) is desirable for GCI engines at high loads. Under this strategy, fuel burns in multiple stages, which can reduce the heat release rate and advance the combustion phase. The width of the piston bowl is the geometric parameter with the most notable impact on GCI combustion. Due to the weaker turbulent kinetic energy and the smaller surface area, the larger piston bowl width is conducive to diminishing the heat transfer losses of the engine and promoting the oxidation of unburned hydrocarbon (HC) emissions. Relative to the optimal case, the strategy with the open-type piston bowl, high-reactivity fuel, and early SOI can reduce fuel consumption but results in a higher in-cylinder pressure rise rate and increased ringing intensity (RI). On the contrary, the re-entrant type piston bowl, low-reactivity fuel, and late SOI can significantly reduce the pressure rise rate and RI while deteriorating thermal efficiency.

Effects of injection pressure and timing on low load low temperature gasoline combustion using LES

Low Temperature Gasoline Combustion is a novel combustion strategy that employs the use of a fuel like gasoline whose autoignition characteristics are sensitive to varying concentrations of fuel. It has the potential to dramatically reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) and soot emissions relative to conventional combustion modes with similar thermal efficiency and has the added production benefit of using a widely available fuel. To address efficiency at low loads, a single direct injection (S-DI) is used that stratifies the fuel enough to get sufficient combustion performance. But with the increased fuel stratification, there is the potential to create undesirable fuel distributions that could increase harmful NOx emissions. This work uses three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (3D-CFD) to investigate the effects of injection parameters including injection pressure, start of injection timing, and intake valve closing temperature on this S-DI strategy using a medium-duty engine at two low load conditions. A computational model was developed and validated to experimental data collected on this engine using Large Eddy Simulations turbulence modeling to resolve the complex flow phenomena and turbulent mixing prevalent in this combustion strategy.Injection pressure was increased in six increments from 120 bar to 342 bar at constant start of injection (SOI) of 45 crank angle degrees before top dead center and the effects on performance and emissions are analyzed at two load operating conditions of 2 and 3 bar. Then, at each injection pressure, the start of injection timing was delayed to analyze its impact on combustion performance. The tradeoffs for performance and emissions with these injection parameters are explored along with suggestions for further investigations to improve this S-DI injection process.

An experimental study of a strategy to improve the combustion process of a hydrogen-blended ammonia engine under lean and WOT conditions

Ammonia and hydrogen are two carbon-free alternative fuels for engines. Considering that there are few studies on improving an ammonia-hydrogen engine's lean combustion performance, this investigation based on an engine with the Miller cycle employs hydrogen direct injection (HDI) and NH3 port injection and then proposes an adjustment strategy to vary the start of injection (SOI) of HDI for affecting the engine combustion process. When ammonia volume share (AVS) is greater than 50%, the engine shows poor performance. Nevertheless, the stratification effect of hydrogen jets may be used to elevate the hydrogen concentration around spark plug by properly delaying SOI and then creating the locally rich mixture with a high hydrogen share, which prominently promotes the flame kernel formation, shortens CA0-90, reduces CoVPmax, and enables the engine to reach approximately 36% BTE. It is notable that very late SOI can slightly deteriorate the heat release process and lower engine performance.