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DOE OSTI2023

Method of transient control for robust enrichment operation in low temperature combustion engine

A method of transient control for enrichment operation in a low-temperature combustion engine. The method includes determining if a current mode of the low-temperature combustion (LTC) engine is a positive valve overlap (PVO) mode. Determining if a previous mode of the LTC engine was also the PVO mode when the current mode is the PVO mode, wherein the previous mode is immediately prior to the current mode. Determining if the previous mode of the LTC engine was a negative valve overlap (NVO) mode when the previous mode was not the PVO mode. Initiating a predetermined enrichment PVO mode for the LTC engine based on the previous mode of the LTC engine. The predetermined enrichment PVO mode includes initiating a deep enrichment PVO mode, when the previous mode of the LTC engine was the NVO mode, and initiating a shallow enrichment PVO mode, when the previous mode of the LTC engine was not the NVO mode.

Yun, Hanho↗

DOE OSTI2025

Efficiency and emissions of NH3-diesel/bio-pilot dual-fuel combustion in a high-speed four-stroke engine

While dual-fuel ammonia engines are starting to be commercialized for the large low-speed 2-stroke marine engine market, there are still challenges with utilizing ammonia on 4-stroke engines used as auxiliary engines for ocean going vessels and within inland and coastal marine applications. The shorter timescales for high-speed engines pose a particular challenge for low-cetane, high ignition energy fuels like ammonia. In addition to achieving maximum ammonia substitution levels, N2O emissions are a key factor that needs to be understood. This paper reports the results of experiments using a single-cylinder 107mm bore Cummins B-series diesel engine modified for port-fuel injection of gaseous anhydrous ammonia with a direct injection of diesel fuel near-TDC to ignite the premixed ammonia. Combustion data as well as emissions data from an FTIR including NO, NO2, N2O, and unburned ammonia are presented for selected operating points with a focus on high-load operation at 1200rpm with high ammonia energy substitution (over 95% by fuel energy). Several air/fuel ratio conditions are included, sweeping from diesel-like airflow to stoichiometric conditions. The impact of biofuels (biodiesel and renewable diesel) as pilot fuels is also considered. Comparisons for emissions, greenhouse gas performance, and efficiency are made with a conventional diesel combustion baseline. The impact of fuel injection strategy on NOx, N2O, and NH3 emissions is quantified, and the dual-fuel ammonia results on this high-speed 4-stroke engine are expected to provide fundamental insights into further combustion development opportunities for the larger engines used across marine applications.

Kaul, Brian [ORNL] (ORCID:0000000184813620)↗

DOE OSTI2022

Impact of coolant temperature on the combustion characteristics and emissions of a stratified-charge direct-injection spark-ignition engine fueled with E30

The direct injection spark ignition (DISI) engine has received considerable attention due to its potential to increase the power density of traditional spark ignition engines while significantly improving fuel economy through lean, unthrottled combustion. However, the market introduction of DISI engines operated in a lean combustion mode is inhibited by their unsatisfactory emissions, especially during cold start conditions that make proper mixture formation more challenging. Ethanol-blended gasoline, now a widely used fuel, makes the cold start of a DISI engine more difficult, leading to higher HC and soot emissions because of the high latent heat of vaporization of ethanol relative to gasoline. This work investigated the impact of coolant temperature on the characteristics of combustion and emissions in a stratified-charge DISI engine fueled with an E30 fuel (i.e. 30% ethanol in gasoline), while the coolant temperature was alternated between four levels (45, 60, 75, and 90 °C) to simulate different conditions throughout the warm-up process. The experiments showed that the coolant temperature affected the post-spark inflammation time, as well as the speed, intensity, and stability of the combustion process in the engine. When the coolant temperature rose, the engine produced more NOX and less CO, PM and HC. In addition, high-speed direct photography was used to obtain crank-angle resolved images of fuel sprays and flames in the cylinder. As the coolant temperature rose, the liquid spray lengths became shorter, reducing the possibility of wall wetting, and reduced irradiance from soot particles also indicated less nonpremixed combustion. The in-cylinder imaging results are consistent with the observed combustion and emission characteristics and shed light on the underlying processes. Finally, some potential solutions to the emissions challenges faced here could be either raising in-cylinder temperatures by using trapped residuals or modifying the injection schedule, for example by increasing the number of injections or to inject later in the cycle into a higher-density environment.

42 ENGINEERING↗

DOE OSTI2021

Numerical Analysis of Fuel Effects on Advanced Compression Ignition Using a Cooperative Fuel Research Engine Computational Fluid Dynamics Model

Growing environmental concerns and demand for a better fuel economy are driving forces that motivate the research for more advanced engines. Multi-mode combustion strategies have gained attention for their potential to provide high thermal efficiency and low emissions for light-duty applications. These strategies target optimizing the engine performance by correlating different combustion modes to load operating conditions. The extension from boosted spark ignition (SI) mode at high loads to advanced compression ignition (ACI) mode at low loads can be achieved by increasing the compression ratio and utilizing intake air heating. Further, in order to enable an accurate control of intake charge condition for ACI mode and rapid mode-switches, it is essential to gain fundamental insights into the autoignition process. Within the scope of ACI, homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) mode is of significant interest. It is known for its potential benefits, operation at low fuel consumption, low NOx, and particulate matter (PM) emissions. In the present work, a virtual Cooperative Fuel Research (CFR) engine model is used to analyze fuel effects on ACI combustion. In particular, the effect of fuel octane sensitivity (S) (at constant Research Octane Number (RON)) on autoignition propensity is assessed under beyond-RON (BRON) and beyond-MON (BMON) ACI conditions. The three-dimensional CFR engine computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model employs a finite-rate chemistry approach with a multi-zone binning strategy to capture autoignition. Two binary blends with Research Octane Number (RON) of 90 are chosen for this study: primary reference fuel (PRF) with S = 0 and toluene–heptane (TH) blend with S = 10.8, representing paraffinic and aromatic gasoline surrogates. Reduced mechanisms for these blends are generated from a detailed gasoline surrogate kinetic mechanism. Simulation results with the reduced mechanisms are validated against experimental data from an in-house CFR engine, with respect to in-cylinder pressure, heat release rate, and combustion phasing. Thereafter, the sensitivity of combustion behavior to ACI operating condition (BRON versus BMON), air-fuel ratio (λ = 2 and 3), and engine speed (600 and 900 rpm) is analyzed for both fuels. It is shown that the sensitivity of a fuel’s autoignition characteristics to λ and engine speed significantly differs at BRON and BMON conditions. Moreover, this sensitivity is found to vary among fuels, despite the same RON. It is also observed that the presence of low-temperature heat release (LTHR) under BRON condition leads to more sequential autoignition and longer combustion duration than BMON condition. Finally, the study indicates that the octane index (OI) fails to capture the trend in the variation of autoignition propensity with S under the BMON condition.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗

DOE OSTI2025

Simultaneous Control of Unburned NH 3 and NO x Emissions From High Load Dual-Fuel Ammonia Operation on a High-Speed Diesel Engine Using a Cu-SCR System

Dual-fuel ammonia strategies are being investigated as a promising way to utilize NH 3 as an alternative fuel for internal combustion engines in the maritime sector. One of the remaining barriers to implementing dual-fuel NH 3 combustion strategies is understanding ways to minimize unburned NH 3 and nitrogen oxide (NO x ) emissions from these engines, both of which are elevated relative to a conventional diesel baseline. Selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems are widely used for lean NO x emission controls for engines across transportation and stationary energy applications. SCR systems use a reducing agent, such as NH 3 , to react with NO x in the exhaust, converting it into nitrogen and water. Typically, NH 3 is injected into the exhaust as a urea solution. In dual-fuel NH 3 engines, where unburned NH 3 is present in the exhaust, an SCR system could be used to mitigate both NH 3 and NO x emissions. The presented work evaluates a commercial copper-zeolite SCR and ammonia slip catalyst system, designed for on-road diesel engine applications, for controlling unburned NH 3 and NO x emissions from a dual-fuel NH 3 combustion engine. The aftertreatment system was installed downstream of a single-cylinder four-stroke diesel engine that has been modified for dual-fuel ammonia use. Furthermore, the emissions were characterized by using a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer for both late- and early-injection diesel pilot strategies over three air–fuel equivalence ratios spanning from 1.6 to 1.0 at 1200 rpm and 12.6 bar IMEP g condition (with greater than 95% ammonia energy fraction). Initial findings indicate that the SCR achieves more than 99% NO x conversion with less than 50 ppm NH 3 slip at air–fuel equivalence ratios greater than 1.4 at the operating conditions investigated. However, these benefits are accompanied by additional N 2 O emissions that are formed over the Cu-SCR.

Catalysts↗

DOE OSTI2018

Impact of Injection Strategies on Combustion Characteristics, Efficiency and Emissions of Gasoline Compression Ignition Operation in a Heavy-duty Multi-cylinder Engine

Gasoline compression ignition using a single gasoline-type fuel for direct/port injection has been shown as a method to achieve low-temperature combustion with low engine-out NO(x)and soot emissions and high indicated thermal efficiency. However, key technical barriers to achieving low-temperature combustion on multi-cylinder engines include the air handling system (limited amount of exhaust gas recirculation) as well as mechanical engine limitations (e.g. peak pressure rise rate). In light of these limitations, high-temperature combustion with reduced amounts of exhaust gas recirculation appears more practical. Furthermore, for high-temperature gasoline compression ignition, an effective aftertreatment system allows high thermal efficiency with low tailpipe-out emissions. In this work, experimental testing was conducted on a 12.4 L multi-cylinder heavy-duty diesel engine operating with high-temperature gasoline compression ignition combustion with port and direct injection. Additionally, engine testing was conducted at an engine speed of 1038 r/min and brake mean effective pressure of 1.4 MPa for three injection strategies, late pilot injection, early pilot injection, and port/direct fuel injection. Furthermore, the impact on engine performance and emissions with respect to varying the combustion phasing were quantified within this study. At the same combustion phasing, early pilot injection and port/direct fuel injection had an earlier start of combustion and higher maximum pressure rise rates than late pilot injection attributable to more premixed fuel from pilot or port injection; however, brake thermal efficiencies were higher with late pilot injection due to reduced heat transfer. Early pilot injection also exhibited the highest cylinder-to-cylinder variations due to differences in injector behavior as well as the spray/wall interactions affecting mixing and evaporation process. Overall, peak brake thermal efficiency of 46.1% and 46% for late pilot injection and port/direct fuel injection was achieved comparable to diesel baseline (45.9%), while early pilot injection showed the lowest brake thermal efficiency (45.3%).

42 ENGINEERING↗

NASA NTRS2004

State analysis requirements database for engineering complex embedded systems

It has become clear that spacecraft system complexity is reaching a threshold where customary methods of control are no longer affordable or sufficiently reliable. At the heart of this problem are the conventional approaches to systems and software engineering based on subsystem-level functional decomposition, which fail to scale in the tangled web of interactions typically encountered in complex spacecraft designs. Furthermore, there is a fundamental gap between the requirements on software specified by systems engineers and the implementation of these requirements by software engineers. Software engineers must perform the translation of requirements into software code, hoping to accurately capture the systems engineer's understanding of the system behavior, which is not always explicitly specified. This gap opens up the possibility for misinterpretation of the systems engineer's intent, potentially leading to software errors. This problem is addressed by a systems engineering tool called the State Analysis Database, which provides a tool for capturing system and software requirements in the form of explicit models. This paper describes how requirements for complex aerospace systems can be developed using the State Analysis Database.

model base engineering↗

NASA NTRS1951

Analysis of Experimental Sea-level Transient Data and Analog Method of Obtaining Altitude Response for Turbine-propeller Engine with Relay-type Speed Control

Correlation has been established between transient engine and control data obtained experimentally and data obtained by simulating the engine and control with an analog computer. This correlation was established at sea-level conditions for a turbine-propeller engine with a relay-type speed control. The behavior of the controlled engine at altitudes of 20,000 and 35,000 feet was determined with an analog computer using the altitude pressure and temperature generalization factors to calculate the new engine constants for these altitudes. Because the engine response varies considerably at altitude some type of compensation appears desirable and four methods of compensation are discussed.

ENGINES, CONTROL↗

DOE OSTI2023

A computational parametric study of ducted fuel injection implementation in a heavy-duty diesel engine

Experiments have shown that ducted fuel injection (DFI) effectively reduces soot emissions from direct-injection diesel engines. Although many computational studies have evaluated DFI’s spray development and soot reduction mechanisms in constant volume chambers, only limited computational work on internal combustion engines exists. The DFI duct assembly changes the engine’s in-cylinder flow, spray, and combustion development. Therefore, current production engine designs might not be optimal for achieving the best engine performance with DFI. Here, this work conducted an extensive numerical study to evaluate how parameter changes affect DFI performance. The parameters include swirl ratio, piston geometry, compression ratio (CR), number of injector orifices, split injection strategy, and exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) in a heavy-duty diesel engine utilizing DFI. The combustion and soot emission data from the Sandia compression ignition optical research engine were used for model validation. Simulations showed that an increased swirl ratio resulted in more intense jet flame-piston interaction, slowing down the combustion heat release during the late combustion stage and leading to lower indicated thermal efficiency (ITE) due to higher exhaust losses. A piston-bowl design with a reentrant inner piston edge yielded the highest thermal efficiency, due to the reduced cylinder head heat transfer loss. Additional injector orifices led to higher efficiency owing to a more advanced combustion phasing. Nevertheless, the maximum pressure rise rate (MPRR) and oxides of nitrogen (NO x ) emissions also increased with the number of injector orifices due to more rapid heat release and higher combustion temperature. Implementation of a split injection strategy combined with a higher EGR rate effectively inhibited the excessive MPRR and NO x formation. In general, the study concluded that DFI is not sensitive to most parameter changes but will benefit from future parameter optimization.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗

DOE OSTI2023

Bayesian, Multifidelity Operator Learning for Complex Engineering Systems–A Position Paper

Abstract Deep learning has significantly improved the state-of-the-art in computer vision and natural language processing, and holds great potential to design effective tools for predicting and simulating complex engineering systems. In particular, scientific machine learning seeks to apply the power of deep learning to scientific and engineering tasks, with operator learning (OL) emerging as a particularly effective tool. OL can approximate nonlinear operators arising in complex engineering systems, making it useful for simulating, designing, and controlling those systems. In this position paper, we provide a comprehensive overview of OL, including its potential applications to complex engineering domains. We cover three variations of OL approaches: deterministic OL for modeling nonautonomous systems, OL with uncertainty quantification (UQ) capabilities, and multifidelity OL. For each variation, we discuss drawbacks and potential applications to engineering, in addition to providing a detailed explanation. We also highlight how multifidelity OL approaches with UQ capabilities can be used to design, optimize, and control engineering systems. Finally, we outline some potential challenges for OL within the engineering domain.

Computer Science↗

DOE OSTI2019

Predicting Cycle-to-Cycle Variation With Concurrent Cycles in a Gasoline Direct Injected Engine With Large Eddy Simulations

High cycle-to-cycle variation (CCV) is detrimental to engine performance, as it leads to poor combustion and high noise and vibration. In this work, CCV in a gasoline engine is studied using large eddy simulation (LES). The engine chosen as the basis of this work is a single-cylinder gasoline direct injection (GDI) research engine. Two stoichiometric part-load engine operating points (6 BMEP, 2000 RPM) were evaluated: a non-dilute (0% EGR) case and a dilute (18% EGR) case. The experimental data for both operating conditions had 500 cycles. The measured CCV in IMEP was 1.40% for the non-dilute case and 7.78% for the dilute case. To estimate CCV from simulation, perturbed concurrent cycles of engine simulations were compared to consecutively obtained engine cycles. The motivation behind this is that running consecutive cycles to estimate CCV is quite time-consuming. For example, running 100 consecutive cycles requires 2–3 months (on a typical cluster), however, by running concurrently one can potentially run all 100 cycles at the same time and reduce the overall turnaround time for 100 cycles to the time taken for a single cycle (2 days). The goal of this paper is to statistically determine if concurrent cycles, with a perturbation applied to each individual cycle at the start, can be representative of consecutively obtained cycles and accurately estimate CCV. 100 cycles were run for each case to obtain statistically valid results. The concurrent cycles began at different timings before the combustion event, with the motivation to identify the closest time before spark to minimize the run time. Only a single combustion cycle was run for each concurrent case. The calculated standard deviation of peak pressure and coefficient of variance (COV) of indicated mean effective pressure (IMEP) were compared between the consecutive and concurrent methods to quantify CCV. It was found that the concurrent method could be used to predict CCV with either a velocity or numerical perturbation. Here, a large and small velocity perturbation were compared and both produced correct predictions, implying that the type of perturbation is not important to yield a valid realization. Starting the simulation too close to the combustion event, at intake valve close (IVC) or at spark timing, under-predicted the CCV. When concurrent simulations were initiated during or before the intake even, at start of injection (SOI) or earlier, distinct and valid realizations were obtained to accurately predict CCV for both operating points. By simulating CCV with concurrent cycles, the required wall clock time can be reduced from 2–3 months to 1–2 days. Additionally, the required core-hours can be reduced up to 41%, since only a portion of each cycle needs to be simulated.

42 ENGINEERING↗

DOE OSTI2021

An improved Method for Determining Transient Fuel Dilution of Oil in an Internal-Combustion Engine Using Laser-Induced Florescence and Multivariate Least Square Calibration

An optical diagnostic, based on laser-induced fluorescence (LIF), has been developed for on-engine measurements of real-time fuel dilution of engine oil or fuel in oil (FIO). Fuel dilution of oil is broadly relevant to advancing engine technology including durability, calibration, and catalyst-system management, and believed to promote destructive stochastic pre-ignition (SPI) during high-load engine operations. While standard (e.g., ASTM D3524-90) methods are not capable of real-time transient measurements, the LIF technique resolves transient dilution on the minutes time scale. We have expanded on our original FIO instrument development by introducing an improved analysis based on multivariate least square chemometrics analysis. The measurement uses a fuel dye (180–1300 parts per million, by mass) and monitors for its presence in the oil using 532 nm excitation and LIF. While the original FIO instrument utilized a two-color ratio method for analysis, the improved chemometric analysis uses the fully resolved LIF dye spectra to provide better predictive FIO accuracy (>92%) over a wide FIO range (1.5–14%) typical of engine application. We also investigate the effect of oil temperature on the LIF signal. Limited engine applications for demonstrating and validating the improved FIO instrument are shown, and the related data used to quantify practical detection limit and sensitivity. The improved analysis is insensitive to laser power fluctuation and change in detector integration time, providing an excellent FIO sensitivity (1–2%) and detection limit (0.01 %FIO) over a wide range of loads and injection timings, illustrating this updated approach to be a promising tool for advancing engine technology.

42 ENGINEERING↗

DOE OSTI2019

Engineering Analysis Baseline Model Requirements

The purpose of this document is to set requirements for the development, documentation, implementation, and maintenance of engineering analysis baseline models used by the Advanced Engineering and Analysis group to model and simulate systems. The intended audience of this document is the Engineering Technology and Design division Advanced Engineering and Analysis group—in particular the baseline model owners and users—and the Group Leaders and members of the Systems Engineering groups. Section 1 presents a discussion of general concepts related to engineering analysis models and baseline models, including definitions of common terms used in this requirements document. It also presents the purpose and intentions of creating and using baseline models and exposes some underlying assumptions about what baseline models are supposed to be. Section 2 presents requirements on the general categories of: the Advanced Engineering and Analysis Group Leader and the baseline model owner; parts, materials, and load cases; the process of generating and using the model; and how the baseline model will be stored, maintained, and documented. This document presents requirements on the baseline model as well as some aspects of the development process and the people responsible for the development; it does not address how the results of simulations utilizing these models will be used to make assessments

42 ENGINEERING↗

DOE OSTI2018

High-Efficiency VCR Engine with Variable Valve Actuation and New Supercharging Technology

Higher efficiency engines are needed for full size pickup trucks, utility vans and medium duty trucks. The primary objective of the program was to demonstrate the potential for improving the fuel economy of a full-size pickup truck by 40 percent while producing at least 281 horsepower. Commercialization requirements include: 1. High torque values at low vehicle speeds: This capability is needed for accelerating a heavy vehicle from a standstill, accelerating uphill, towing or any combination of these factors. 2. High power output: This capability is needed for accelerating onto a highway or passing at higher speeds. The vehicle may be carrying a heavy load, going uphill and/or towing. 3. Compliance with tailpipe emission regulations: This requirement must be met, and is difficult or costly to attain with diesel engine technology. 4. Low fuel consumption: This capability is needed both for reducing operating costs and to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) vehicle emissions. The capability is also essential for complying with fuel economy standards. 5. Affordability: The powertrain cost must be consistent with mass market pricing. 6. Engine size and weight: The engine must fit in the existing engine bays. Engine weight must also be minimized. 7. Favorable noise vibration and harshness (NVH): The VCR must not present unique NVH challenges. The current program was successful. The efficiency target was achieved and the engine produced 300 horsepower.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗

DOE OSTI2022

Co-optimized Mixed-Mode Engine and Fuel Demonstrator for Improved Fuel Economy while Meeting Emissions Requirements

Progressively increasing regulatory demands on fuel economy and future global emission standards have led to a focus on advanced engine development to improve overall engine efficiency and fulfill emission requirements. Low temperature combustion (LTC) and gasoline compression ignition (GCI) are promising technologies to achieve these goals and have the advantage of using existing refinery infrastructure and subsequent economies of scale for a robust energy supply. By applying spark ignition (SI) for cold start, LTC for low load operations, and GCI for medium to high load operations, a multimode GCI engine concept was proposed and the fuel formation was co-optimized to maximize fuel economy improvement potential while maintaining ULEV 70 emissions standards. HATCI has successfully demonstrated the feasibility of this multimode GCI engine concept, and confirmed the fuel economy improvement over the baseline SI engine by simulating the FTP75 vehicle drive cycle. In this report, the technical approaches, multimode engine control, and engine test results of both steady state and transitions, CFD modeling, fuel testing, and FTP75 drive cycle simulation results are summarized, followed with technical challenges observed, and recommendations for possible follow-up studies.

02 PETROLEUM↗

DOE OSTI2020

Ducted Fuel Injection versus Conventional Diesel Combustion: An Operating-Parameter Sensitivity Study Conducted in an Optical Engine with a Four-Orifice Fuel Injector

Ducted fuel injection (DFI) has been shown to attenuate engine-out soot emissions from diesel engines. The concept is to inject fuel through a small tube within the combustion chamber to enable lower equivalence ratios at the autoignition zone, relative to conventional diesel combustion. Previous experiments have demonstrated that DFI enables significant soot attenuation relative to conventional diesel combustion for a small set of operating conditions at relatively low engine loads. This is the first study to compare DFI to conventional diesel combustion over a wide range of operating conditions and at higher loads (up to 8.5 bar gross indicated mean effective pressure) with a four-orifice fuel injector. This study compares DFI to conventional diesel combustion through sweeps of intakeoxygen mole fraction (XO 2 ), injection duration, intake pressure, start of combustion (SOC) timing, fuel-injection pressure, and intake temperature. DFI is shown to curtail engine-out soot emissions at all tested conditions. Under certain conditions, DFI can attenuate engine-out soot by over a factor of 100. In addition to producing significantly lower engine-out soot emissions, DFI enables the engine to be operated at low-NO x conditions that are not feasible with conventional diesel combustion due to high soot emissions.

42 ENGINEERING↗

DOE OSTI2018

Numerical Methodology for Optimization of Compression-Ignited Engines Considering Combustion Noise Control

It is challenging to develop highly efficient and clean engines while meeting user expectations in terms of performance, comfort, and drivability. One of the critical aspects in this regard is combustion noise control. Combustion noise accounts for about 40 percent of the overall engine noise in typical turbocharged diesel engines. The experimental investigation of noise generation is difficult due to its inherent complexity and measurement limitations. Therefore, it is important to develop efficient numerical strategies in order to gain a better understanding of the combustion noise mechanisms. In this work, a novel methodology was developed, combining computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling and genetic algorithm (GA) technique to optimize the combustion system hardware design of a high-speed direct injection (HSDI) diesel engine, with respect to various emissions and performance targets including combustion noise. The CFD model was specifically set up to reproduce the unsteady pressure field inside the combustion chamber, thereby allowing an accurate prediction of the acoustic response of the combustion phenomena. The model was validated by simulating several steady operating conditions and comparing the numerical results against experimental data, in both temporal and frequency domains. Thereafter, a GA optimization was performed with the goal of minimizing indicated specific fuel consumption (ISFC) and combustion noise, while restricting pollutant (soot and NOx) emissions to their respective baseline values. Eight design variables were selected pertaining to piston bowl geometry, nozzle inclusion angle, number of injector nozzle holes, and in-cylinder swirl. An objective merit function (MF) based on the emissions, ISFC, and combustion noise was constructed to quantify the strength of the engine designs and was determined using the CFD model as the function evaluator. The in-cylinder noise level was characterized by the total resonance energy of local pressure oscillations. The optimum engine configuration thus obtained showed a significant improvement in terms of efficiency and combustion noise compared to the baseline system, along with both soot and NOx emissions within their respective constraints. This optimum configuration included a deeper and tighter bowl geometry with higher swirl and larger number of nozzle holes. Subsequently, a more detailed acoustics analysis based on proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) technique was carried out to further explore the combustion noise benefits achieved by the GA optimum. In conclusion, this computational study is a first of its kind (to the best of the authors’ knowledge), which demonstrates a comprehensive framework to incorporate combustion noise into a numerical optimization strategy for engine design.

42 ENGINEERING↗

DOE OSTI2019

Analysis of the Effect of Vehicle Platooning on the Optimal Control of a Heavy Duty Engine Thermal System

One promising method for reducing fuel consumption and emissions, particularly in heavy duty trucks, is platooning. As the distance between vehicles decreases, the following vehicles will experience less aerodynamic drag on the front of the vehicle. However, reducing the velocity of the air contacting the front of the vehicle could have adverse effects on the temperature of the engine. To compensate for this effect, the energy consumption of the engine cooling system might increase, ultimately limiting the overall improvements obtained with platooning. Understanding the coupling between drag reduction and engine cooling load requirement is key for successfully implementing platooning strategies. Additionally, in a Connected and Automated Vehicle (CAV) environment, where information of the future engine load becomes available, the operation of the cooling system can be optimized in order to achieve the maximum fuel consumption reduction. In this paper, a control-oriented physics-based model for the engine cooling loop of a Volvo engine is developed and validated against road data. Starting from the validated model, an optimal control problem for the coolant system is formulated considering the tradeoff between the tracking of the engine temperature setpoint and the corresponding fuel consumption under different trailing distances. To compare the coolant system performance, Dynamic Programming (DP) is used to determine the global optimal solution for the coolant system actuator. The coupling between optimal cooling system operation and reduction in ram air are evaluated by comparing the results obtained from the DP under different platooning conditions against the unrestricted scenario. In addition, the paper analyzes the changes in the tradeoff between fuel consumption and setpoint tracking for different vehicle distances. This analysis will provide useful insight on the sensitivity of the coolant system controller calibration to the platoon distance.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗