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Effects of n-butanol on the combustion process in a direct injection spark ignition engine were investigated through flame visualization and spectroscopy. An optically accessible engine was equipped for the trials with a commercial cylinder head and wall guided injection system. Injection pressure (100 bar) and engine speed (2000 rpm) were fixed while injection timing and duration were changed to realise stoichiometric and lean fuelling in homogenous charge conditions. Specifically, UV-visible digital imaging was applied in order to study the flame front inception and propagation with particular interest in the early combustion stages. UV-visible natural emission spectroscopy was applied to investigate the formation and the evolution of the main chemical compounds characterizing the spark ignition and combustion processes. Detailed image processing allowed to correlate the morphology and the local flame front curvature with thermodynamic data.

Investigation of both intake valve deposit (IVD) formation tendency and the effect of surrounding conditions (e.g. atmospheric temperature) on IVD formation was conducted using poly aromatics-rich gasoline in a port fuel injected (PFI) engine. The IVD mostly consisted of carbonaceous deposit and this was shown to be derived from the heavier poly aromatic fuel molecules and engine oil. Analysis also indicated that some metals in the deposit structure came from additives of lubricating oil and the wear and/or corrosion within the engine. In this engine test, there was a significant effect of room temperature where higher room temperatures correlated with higher levels of IVDs. These results illustrate the importance of the surrounding condition in order to understand the IVD issues, higher IVDs weights will result under hotter driving (e.g. in summer) condition.

Hydrogen can be produced by electrolyzation with renewable electricity and reduce the combustion products from hydrogen mixture don't include CO, CO2 and unburned hydrocarbon components. We focused on these characteristics of hydrogen and high thermal efficiency of diesel engine and acquired the performance of hydrogen diesel dual fuel (DDF) engine. We changed proportion of hydrogen to total input energy and studied basic combustion and exhaust gas emission performance of hydrogen DDF operation. In addition, we studied the effects of advancement of diesel fuel injection timing and EGR on combustion behavior and improvement of NOx emission. Especially, EGR improved NOx emission from hydrogen DDF operation drastically without a decrease in thermal efficiency. Under hydrogen DDF operation with EGR, diesel fuel injection timing was advanced for stable combustion and it inhibited the degradation of thermal efficiency.

The large eddy simulation (LES) with Volume of Fluid (VOF) interface tracking method in Ansys-FLUENT has been used to study the effects of nozzle hole geometrical parameters on gasoline direct injection (GDI) fuel injectors, namely the effect of inner hole length/diameter (L/D) ratio and counter-bore diameters on near field spray characteristics. Using iso-octane as a model fuel at the fuel injection pressure of 200 bar, the results showed that the L/D ratio variation of the inner hole has a more significant influence on the spray characteristics than the counter-bore diameter variation. Reducing the L/D ratio effectively increases the mass flow rate, velocity, spray angle and reduces the droplet size and breakup length. The increased spray angle results in wall impingements inside the counter-bore cavity, particularly for L/D=1 which can potentially lead to increased deposit accumulation inside fuel injectors.

This paper explores the use of rate of injection (ROI) and rate of momentum (ROM) to characterize the internal flow of an ECN gasoline direct injector. Rate of momentum has been successfully used in diesel injectors with this objective and for the first time, the measurements have been made on a GDi injector. The paper focuses on the experimental setup used and the different uncertainties and difficulties to translate the typically measured diesel technique to a gasoline injector.

The introduction of ice-phobic coatings promises to allow passive ice protection systems to be developed particularly for rotating systems such as propellers. The centrifugal force field combined with reduced adhesive strength can produce a self-shed capability limiting the amount of ice build-up. The size and shed time of ice shed from a propeller is predicted using a process that determines ice shape, ice growth rate and both internal and ice-structure interface stresses. A simple failure model is used to predict the onset of local failure and to propagate damage in the ice until local ice shedding is obtained. Recommendations are made on developing the model further.

The entire process from ice accretion to ice impact with ice shedding in between still needs refinement. This paper presents key points illustrating the need for improvements in understanding the mechanical properties of ice accretion on helicopter rotor systems.

Increasing vehicle efficiency has been one of the key drivers of the automotive industry worldwide due to new government emission legislations and rising fuel costs. While original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are responding with innovative hardware designs for new models, lubricant companies are developing additive solutions to reduce frictional losses in the engine thereby increasing fuel economy of both new and existing vehicles. Fuel efficiency of the vehicle can be measured in a variety of driving cycles, including the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC), Japanese JC-08, and FTP-75 (Federal Test Procedure). The type of vehicle used in fuel economy evaluation in the same cycle plays a significant role. Fuel consumption rates for the same vehicle measured in these driving cycles vary due to the differences in the cycles. Thus, to assess the effect of the lubricant on fuel efficiency in various cycles, the fuel consumption is measured relative to a reference oil.

In this study the interaction of diesel sprays with thin oil films is optically investigated under engine relevant conditions. Oil films of a few micrometer thickness are generated using a novel high-pressure spin coater. The behavior of spray impingement on a dry and a wetted wall is compared using high-speed visualizations, interferometry and Phase Doppler Anemometry. On this basis, the influence of film presence before interaction on macroscopic spray properties, droplet diameters, droplet velocities and film thickness after interaction is studied.

Diesel engines are widely used to reduce CO2 emission due to its higher thermal efficiency over gasoline engines. Considering long term CO2 targets, as well as tighter gas emission, especially NOx, diesel engines must become cleaner and more efficient. However, there is a tradeoff between CO2 and NOx and, naturally, engine developers choose lower CO2 because NOx can be reduced by a catalytic converter, such as a SCR catalyst. Lower CO2 engine calibration, unfortunately, leads to lower exhaust gas temperatures, which delays the activation of the catalytic converter. In order to overcome both problems, higher engine out NOx emission and lower exhaust gas temperatures, close-coupled a diesel particulate filter (DPF) system with integration of SCR catalyst technology is preferred. For SCR catalyst activity, it is known that the catalyst loading amount has an influence on NOx performance, so a high SCR catalyst loading will be required.

In this paper, the characteristics of particle size distribution in the exhaust of a turbocharged 5.9 liter Cummins gas engine lubricated by two commonly used oils of different viscometrics (15W-40 and 20W-50) have been investigated. The study also attempts to differentiate the performance of the lubricants on the basis of fuel economy. A test procedure developed in- house was used for the evaluation, wherein the engine was operated at various speeds (1200-2800rpm) and load (25 %, 50% & 75%) conditions. Particle size distribution is measured using Engine Exhaust Particle Sizing Spectrometer (TSI EEPS Model 3090). Results indicate that a majority of the particle emissions are observed in the nucleation region (particle diameter < 50nm) and particle size distribution is found to significantly vary with engine speed.

Urea selective catalyst reduction (SCR) systems have a high NOx conversion rate because the ammonia formed by the hydrolyzing urea solution reacts with NOx efficiently as a reducing agent. Systems combining urea-SCR and a diesel particulate filter (DPF) have been adopted in heavy duty vehicles to meet the post new long term emissions regulations in Japan. This study examined the emissions reduction performance of these systems after 160,000 km. The emissions that were examined included both regulated emissions (NOx, PM, HC, and CO) and unregulated emissions. As a result, the cleanness of diesel emissions from a urea-SCR and DPF system was confirmed.

This study reports a novel alternative technique that can achieve simultaneous two-dimensional temperature and velocity measurements in gas flow. This method is combining phosphor thermometry and PIV operated by a single laser unit. The temperature distribution was obtained from phosphorescence by using two-color method, and the velocity distribution was obtained from two phosphor particle images which were taken in time series during the persistence of the phosphorescence. The measured temperature and velocity were agreed with that measured by thermocouple and that expected as theoretical distribution in the high-temperature gas flows, respectively.

Retrofitting current and legacy diesel vehicles with Diesel Particulate Filters (DPFs) and associated aftertreatment technology has long been an option to enable vehicles with older engines to meet specific regional emissions legislation. A major positive is the ability for enforced vehicle retrofitting to have an immediate impact on the local air quality in urban environments without vehicle owners having to purchase new vehicles. Retrofit in China in comparison to Europe, for example, is in its relative infancy as China's emission legislation rapidly moves towards adopting European like limits whilst available diesel fuel continues to have variable sulphur concentrations. This paper details the results from a two phase retrofit-study conducted to investigate the ability for Fuel Borne Catalyst (FBC) technology to regenerate DPFs in retrofitted Light Duty (LD) vehicles in China.

Urea SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) exhaust after-treatment systems are one of the most promising measures to reduce NOx emissions from diesel engines. Both Cu-zeolite (Cu-SCR) and Fe-zeolite (Fe-SCR) urea SCR systems have been studied extensively but not many detailed studies have been conducted on the combination of both systems. Thus, we carried out studies on such Combined-SCR systems and their capability to reduce NOx under various engine operating conditions. We also conducted transient engine tests using different catalyst systems to compare their performance. The results show that combined-SCR systems can reduce NOx more effectively than Fe-SCR or Cu-SCR alone. The best NOx reduction performance was achieved at a Cu ratio of 0.667 (i.e. Fe: Cu =1: 2). Combined-SCR thus apparently benefits from the characteristics of both Cu-SCR and Fe-SCR, allowing it to reduce NOx over a wide range of operating conditions.

In the past we developed an injection-rate detector, however, it becomes no more applicable to modern high-pressure piezoelectric injection systems having functions of multi-stage injection due to the following problems: High-pressure injection generates shockwaves that induce pressure fluctuation, whose amplitudes of high-frequency components could be not effectively attenuated with a low-pass filter, in the detector. High-pressure injection also causes heterogeneous distribution of temperature in the detector, because the pattern of fuel flow from the injection nozzle to the discharge valve at fuel-discharging process is inappropriate. Accordingly, fuel temperature, which is necessary for identifying bulk modulus of fuel, in the detector could not be precisely obtained, thereby causing an unacceptable level of scattering for determining injection quantity. Hence, we developed a new detector in modifying its constructive design to solve the problems.

In this paper, an internal combustion engine coolant temperature model has been developed for control and diagnostics development and validation purpose. We propose an approach of using both physical laws and dynamic data to develop the dynamic model of the cooling system. The parameters of the equations for the selected components are collected from vehicle under test and from available literature. The unknown parameters are estimated using a constrained non-linear optimization formulation and dynamic data measured from the test vehicle. The results obtained by the proposed model are closely matching with the actual Engine Coolant Temperature responses for various drive cycles.

In this paper, we outline past, present and future applications of automotive security for engine ECUs. Electronic immobilizers and anti-tuning countermeasures have been used for several years. Recently, OEMs and suppliers are facing more and more powerful attackers, and as a result, have introduced stronger countermeasures based on hardware security. Finally, with the advent of connected cars, it is expected that many things that currently require a physical connection will be done remotely in a near future. This includes remote diagnostics, reprogramming and engine calibration.

The level of boost pressure has a significant effect on optimizing the steady-state and transient performance of turbocharged diesel engines. However the problem of matching the wide speed range diesel engine and the high pressure turbocharging system has to be resolved. The regulated two-stage (RTS) system is an effective method to improve the fuel economy, transient response and smoke emissions. Compared with the difficult matching problem of the RTS system, the problem of boost pressure control is more complex due to the frequently changing operating conditions. To overcome the limitations of an open-loop control strategy, a closed-loop boost pressure control strategy was studied numerically using a mean value model of a diesel engine with RTS system. The system identification was conducted for the transient response from the turbine bypass opening command to the boost pressure.

The concept of regulated two-stage turbocharging system is proposed to provide high boost pressure level over a wide range of engine speed by regulating the energy distribution of two turbochargers. However, the control strategy of turbine bypass valve becomes more complicated due to the frequently changing working of vehicle diesel engines. In this paper, a two-stage turbocharging system was matched for D6114 diesel engine to improve the low-speed torque. The effect of valve opening on the steady-state and transient performance was analyzed, and two different regulating laws were determined according to the different optimum aims. Then the transient response characteristics of two different regulating laws were studied and optimized at three speeds with the transient loading test. For steady-state performance, the output power and fuel efficiency were increased with the matched turbocharging system.