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Advanced Engine and Vehicle Control Energy Management and Combustion Technologies

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A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "F: Electrical Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 August 2021) | Viewed by 27551

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Prof. Dr. Octavio Armas

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Departamento de Mecánica Aplicada e Ingeniería de Proyectos, Escuela de Ingeniería Industrial, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Av. Carlos III, s/n, 45071 Toledo, Spain
Interests: diesel; combustion process; fuels; pollutant emissions; engines and vehicles; fuel injection; energy recovery; thermoelectric generator applications

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Among the most important challenges of modern society is the obligation to offer efficient and environmentally-friendly mobility in such a way that the means of industrial and passenger transport are as sustainable as possible.

It is difficult to achieve such an ambitious challenge without the contribution of technological developments to the improvement and/or replacement of the propulsion systems of current land vehicles, for light-duty passenger cars and for passenger and industrial heavy-duty vehicles.

The aim of this Special Issue is to offer the engineering and scientific community a compendium of the most innovative works related to the different new technologies to achieve this goal: from processes of fuel injection and its less polluting combustion, through the recovery of residual energies from engines and/or vehicles and its transformation into clean and reusable energy, to the possibility of developing and optimizing the operation of hybrid vehicles.

We also believe that this Special Issue would not be complete if the research lines dedicated to the technical–economic assessment of the different technologies through the determination of energy and/or exergy balances were not included within the content of this issue.

Taking into account these circumstances, I take this opportunity to invite you to participate with your contribution in this Special Issue offered by Energies.

Prof. Dr. Octavio Armas
Guest Editor

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Keywords

Control strategies applied to injection and combustion processes
Active and passive technologies for pollution control
After-treatment devices development, application, and evolution
Waste energy recovery in engines and vehicles
Thermoelectric generators applied to engines and vehicles
Conversion of waste energies into electricity and its management
Automation of energy recovery systems in engines and vehicles
Thermoacoustic engines. Development and applications
Hybrid vehicles
Energy and exergy balance applied to new engine technologies

Published Papers (13 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 20297 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Experimental Comparison of Hub- and Roller-Type Chassis Dynamometers for Vehicle Exhaust Emissions

by Barouch Giechaskiel, Fabrizio Forloni, Marcos Otura, Christian Engström and Per Öberg

Energies 2022, 15(7), 2402; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15072402 - 24 Mar 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2461

Abstract

The emissions of vehicles are measured in laboratories with roller-type chassis dynamometers, which simulate road driving resistances. Hub-coupled dynamometers, which are not included in the regulations for emission measurements, are commonly used for research and development purposes, for example, to assess powertrain capabilities, simulate on-road trips, and calibrate the control of individual wheels. As they do not need particular infrastructure and offer a wider range of applications, they could be a more economical alternative, especially if they could also be used for emission measurements for the type approval of vehicles. Nevertheless, the two types have not been directly compared in the literature, and, thus, their equivalency, especially regarding emission measurements, is not known. In this study, the emissions of a diesel and a gasoline plug-in vehicle were compared using the same analytical equipment and by switching only the roller and hub dynamometers. The diesel vehicle was further tested on a second roller-type dynamometer with the same driver and a second driver. The results of the two dynamometer types were very close, even though the repeatability of the measurements was very narrow. The main message of this work is that hub-type dynamometers can be used interchangeably with roller-type dynamometers. The points that need to be addressed, such as the determination of dynamic wheel radius and tire slip level, are also discussed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Engine and Vehicle Control Energy Management and Combustion Technologies)

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23 pages, 1441 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Optimal Integrated Emission Management through Variable Engine Calibration

by Johannes Ritzmann, Oscar Chinellato, Richard Hutter and Christopher Onder

Energies 2021, 14(22), 7606; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14227606 - 14 Nov 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1513

Abstract

In this work, the potential for improving the trade-off between fuel consumption and tailpipe NO_x emissions through variable engine calibration (VEC) is demonstrated for both conventional and hybrid electric vehicles (HEV). First, a preoptimization procedure for the engine operation is proposed to address the challenge posed by the large number of engine control inputs. By excluding infeasible and suboptimal operation offline, an engine model is developed that can be evaluated efficiently during online optimization. Next, dynamic programming is used to find the optimal trade-off between fuel consumption and tailpipe NO_x emissions for various vehicle configurations and driving missions. Simulation results show that for a conventional vehicle equipped with VEC and gear optimization run on the worldwide harmonized light vehicles test cycle (WLTC), the fuel consumption can be reduced by 5.4% at equivalent NO_x emissions. At equivalent fuel consumption, the NO_x emissions can be reduced by 80%. For an HEV, the introduction of VEC, in addition to the optimization of the torque split and the gear selection, drastically extended the achievable trade-off between fuel consumption and tailpipe NO_x emissions in simulations. Most notably, the region with very low NO_x emissions could only be reached with VEC. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Engine and Vehicle Control Energy Management and Combustion Technologies)

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11 pages, 2110 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Influence of Cavitation in Common-Rail Diesel Nozzles on the Soot Formation Process through Measuring Soot Emissions

by José Javier López, Oscar A. de la Garza, Joaquín De la Morena and Simón Martínez-Martínez

Energies 2021, 14(19), 6267; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14196267 - 01 Oct 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1558

Abstract

The influence of cavitation in common-rail diesel nozzles on the soot formation process has been analysed experimentally. The soot formation process was characterized by measuring soot emissions in a single-cylinder engine, which was mounted on a test bench equipped with an opacimeter. In order to do this, operating conditions where the soot oxidation process was equivalent were chosen, whereby differences in the soot formation process were possible to be analysed. The results achieved confirm that cavitation provokes a soot formation process reduction. This reduction can be attributed by combining results of three effects: a reduction of the effective diameter, an increase in effective injection velocity, and an increase in turbulence level inside the nozzle orifice leading to a longer lift-off length. The three effects lead to a decrease in relative fuel/air ratio at the lift-off, therefore explaining the soot formation reduction. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Engine and Vehicle Control Energy Management and Combustion Technologies)

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15 pages, 5001 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Simulation of Optimal Driving for Minimization of Fuel Consumption or NOx Emissions in a Diesel Vehicle

by Pablo Fernández-Yáñez, José A. Soriano, Carmen Mata, Octavio Armas, Benjamín Pla and Vicente Bermúdez

Energies 2021, 14(17), 5513; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14175513 - 03 Sep 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1526

Abstract

Significant reduction in fuel consumption and NOx emissions can be achieved just by changing the driving along the road. In this paper, dynamic programming is employed to find two different driving profiles optimized for fuel consumption and NOx creation minimization in a diesel vehicle. Results, show that the fuel reduction driving cycle leads to fuel savings of 4% compared with the average consumption with arbitrary driving. The NOx reduction driving profile improves the emissions of arbitrary driving by a 34.5%. NOx oriented driving profile improves the emissions of the fuel-oriented cycle by a 38% at the expense of a fuel consumption penalty of 10%. This result points out the difficulty of a simultaneous NOx and fuel consumption reduction, stressing the efforts to be done in this field during the following years. Strategies followed and conclusions drawn from this paper are relevant concerning vehicle autonomy integration. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Engine and Vehicle Control Energy Management and Combustion Technologies)

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21 pages, 10729 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Impact of Combustion Variance on Sustainability of Free-Piston Linear Generator during Steady-State Generation

by Ahsan Bashir, Saiful A. Zulkifli, Abd Rashid Abd Aziz and Ezrann ZZ Abidin

Energies 2021, 14(14), 4081; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14144081 - 06 Jul 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1970

Abstract

A free-piston linear generator (FPLG) has a number of advantages compared to a traditional crank-slider internal combustion engine, including better thermal and mechanical efficiencies, different fuel compatibility, and a higher power-to-weight ratio. For electric vehicle propulsion and generation of portable power, an FPLG is a very attractive alternative source of energy. This paper presents the development of an FPLG simulation model using MATLAB-Simulink and investigates the impact of combustion variance on its operation. Results provided insight into various characteristics of system behavior through variation of structural dimension and operational parameters. In steady-state operation with fixed electrical load and fixed ignition for combustion, it was found that consecutively low combustion pressures can easily lead to engine stoppage, pointing to the significance of control for continuous operation. Due to the absence of the moment of inertia and flywheel character of the rotating engine, a linear engine-generator is subject to ceased operation even after two consecutively low combustions under 10% variance. This will not be a fundamental problem in an ordinary crank-slider engine-generator, but in a linear engine-generator, control measure will be necessary to ensure sustained operation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Engine and Vehicle Control Energy Management and Combustion Technologies)

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15 pages, 5089 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Electrical Modelling and Mismatch Effects of Thermoelectric Modules on Performance of a Thermoelectric Generator for Energy Recovery in Diesel Exhaust Systems

by Samir Ezzitouni, Pablo Fernández-Yáñez, Luis Sánchez Rodríguez, Octavio Armas, Javier de las Morenas, Eduard Massaguer and Albert Massaguer

Energies 2021, 14(11), 3189; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14113189 - 29 May 2021

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2266

Abstract

Thermoelectric generators harvesting energy from exhaust gases usually present a temperature mismatch between modules, due to the gradual cooling of the gases along the flow direction. The way modules that produce unequal voltages are connected has a deep impact on the overall power output. A further step in the prediction of thermoelectric production is to consider the complete layout of the thermoelectric modules and not consider them as isolated systems. In this work, a model to predict the electric behavior of thermoelectric generators for automotive applications at different points of operation is presented. The model allows testing of serial-parallel connection configurations. The results present good agreement with experimental data. This model could be used on similar light duty vehicles with similar engines as the engine used in this work and using similar configuration of thermoelectric generators. Simulated scenarios considering realistic operating conditions in a light duty vehicle allow stating that thermoelectric modules interconnection under heterogenous thermal surface conditions has a significant negative effect (more than 17%) on electric energy production. Moreover, the proposed model shows the need to protect the electric circuit of the thermoelectric generator to avoid the negative effect of possible malfunction of some thermoelectric modules. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Engine and Vehicle Control Energy Management and Combustion Technologies)

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11 pages, 2352 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Hydraulic Interactions between Injection Events Using Multiple Injection Strategies and a Solenoid Diesel Injector

by Simón Martínez-Martínez, Oscar A. de la Garza, Miguel García-Yera, Ricardo Martínez-Carrillo and Fausto A. Sánchez-Cruz

Energies 2021, 14(11), 3087; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14113087 - 26 May 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2469

Abstract

An experimental study was performed to explore the influence of dwell time on the hydraulic interactions between injection events using pilot injection strategy, split injection strategy, post injection strategy and a solenoid diesel injector. To do so, a sweep of dwell time from 0.55 up to 2 ms using all multiple injection strategies and levels of rail pressure, of 80, 100 and 120 MPa, and single level of back pressure, of 5 MPa, was performed. The hydraulic interactions between injection events were characterized through the second injection hydraulic delay and second injection mass in an injection discharge curve indicator equipped with all the components required for its operation and control. In order to define the operating conditions of the multiple injection strategies, to ensure the same injected fuel mass in all cases, the characteristic curves of injection rate for the solenoid diesel injector studied were obtained. The second injection hydraulic delay increases with dwell time values in the range of 0.55–0.9 ms for all multiple injection strategies and levels of rail pressure tested. Conversely, the second injection hydraulic delay decreases with dwell time values higher than 0.9 ms. Moreover, the second hydraulic delay depends mainly on the dwell time and not on the injected fuel mass during the first injection event. The second injection mass increases with dwell values less than 0.6 ms. By contrast, the second injection mass is not significantly affected by that of the first injection at a dwell time higher than 0.6 ms. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Engine and Vehicle Control Energy Management and Combustion Technologies)

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25 pages, 10242 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Open Dual Cycle with Composition Change and Limited Pressure for Prediction of Miller Engines Performance and Its Turbine Temperature

by Antonio Lecuona, José I. Nogueira and Antonio Famiglietti

Energies 2021, 14(10), 2870; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14102870 - 16 May 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2757

Abstract

An improved thermodynamic open Dual cycle is proposed to simulate the working of internal combustion engines. It covers both spark ignition and Diesel types through a sequential heat release. This study proposes a procedure that includes (i) the composition change caused by internal combustion, (ii) the temperature excursions, (iii) the combustion efficiency, (iv) heat and pressure losses, and (v) the intake valve timing, following well-established methodologies. The result leads to simple analytical expressions, valid for portable models, optimization studies, engine transformations, and teaching. The proposed simplified model also provides the working gas properties and the amount of trapped mass in the cylinder resulting from the exhaust and intake processes. This allows us to yield explicit equations for cycle work and efficiency, as well as exhaust temperature for turbocharging. The model covers Atkinson and Miller cycles as particular cases and can include irreversibilities in compression, expansion, intake, and exhaust. Results are consistent with the real influence of the fuel-air ratio, overcoming limitations of standard air cycles without the complex calculation of fuel-air cycles. It includes Exhaust Gas Recirculation, EGR, external irreversibilities, and contemporary high-efficiency and low-polluting technologies. Correlations for heat ratio γ are given, including renewable fuels. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Engine and Vehicle Control Energy Management and Combustion Technologies)

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15 pages, 55790 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effect of Energy Consumption Reduction on the Decrease of CO₂ Emissions during the Aircraft’s Flight

by Małgorzata Pawlak

Energies 2021, 14(9), 2638; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14092638 - 05 May 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1745

Abstract

Climate change requires the reduction of energy consumption in transport and the associated fuel consumption, and emission of pollutants into the atmosphere. This issue is particularly relevant to air transport. Referring to the current legislative actions aimed at reducing the negative impact of air transport on the environment, the paper describes the possibilities of reducing energy consumption and related emissions. The Boeing 737 aircraft equipped with Snecma CFM 56C engines was adopted for the research. The research problem focused on determining a cruising trajectory characterized by the shortest cruising time and the lowest energy consumption by the aircraft during the flight between two selected European airports in given meteorological conditions. In the analysis, the Dijsktra’s algorithm was applied and built-in MATLAB functions were used. Based on the studied case, it was shown that it was possible to reduce both energy consumption and CO₂ emissions by 10%. The novelty of the research described in the paper is the use of the energy approach and tying the energy parameters of the aircraft to the flight duration and pollutants emission in the cruise phase. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Engine and Vehicle Control Energy Management and Combustion Technologies)

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16 pages, 34352 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effects of Module Spatial Distribution on the Energy Efficiency and Electrical Output of Automotive Thermoelectric Generators

by Ivan Ruiz Cózar, Toni Pujol, Eduard Massaguer, Albert Massaguer, Lino Montoro, Jose Ramon González, Martí Comamala and Samir Ezzitouni

Energies 2021, 14(8), 2232; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14082232 - 16 Apr 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1523

Abstract

Automotive thermoelectric generators (ATEGs) are devices used to harvest waste energy from the exhaust gases of internal combustion engines. An ATEG is essentially formed by three main elements: (1) heat absorber in contact with exhaust gases; (2) thermoelectric modules that directly convert heat into electricity; (3) heat sink to increase the heat transfer through the system. Thermoelectric modules (TEM) are commonly based on small-scale commercial units, with tenths of them needed to assemble a full ATEG device. Thus, several thermal and electrical connections between TEMs can be implemented. Previous studies focused on the implications on the output power. Here, we investigated the effects of using different module connections on the energy efficiency and on the electrical outputs (voltage and current). The study was carried out numerically with ATEGs that used from 4 to 100 individual TEMs. Series, parallel and square connections were investigated under two different engine operating points. The maximum output power was obtained with overall energy conversion efficiencies on the order of 3%. Though the series connection provided the highest output power, the square configuration was the best compromise between output power and electrical characteristics (voltage and current) to successfully integrate the ATEG into the vehicle management system. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Engine and Vehicle Control Energy Management and Combustion Technologies)

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25 pages, 8154 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Numerical Investigation of an RCCI Engine Fueled with Natural Gas/Dimethyl-Ether in Various Injection Strategies

by Ayat Gharehghani, Alireza Kakoee, Amin Mahmoudzadeh Andwari, Thanos Megaritis and Apostolos Pesyridis

Energies 2021, 14(6), 1638; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14061638 - 15 Mar 2021

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 2017

Abstract

Reactivity control compression ignition engines illustrated suitable abilities in emission reduction beside high thermal efficiency. In this research, nine various direct fuel injection strategies were studied numerically: three cases with single injection strategy and six cases with split injection and different start of injection (SOI). In all simulated cases, equivalence ratio kept constant (i.e., 0.3). Among various strategies, single injection showed higher IMEP as a factor of efficiency with about 5.39 bar that occurred at SOI = 60 before top dead center (bTDC), while lower efficiency was observed for split injection case with 50%-50% injections of fuel in each injection stage. Start of combustion (SOC), burn duration and CA50 as factors for combustion characteristics were affected with SOI changes. In single SOI strategies, more advanced injection caused more advanced SOC where there was about 1.3 CAD advancing from 40 to 80 bTDC injection. Spilt SOI showed more advanced SOC, which, also more advanced, was allocated to 50%-50% split injection strategy. There was also the same trend in CA50 changes during change in SOI. Burn duration variations were insignificant and all of them approximately close to 4.5 CAD. According to the emissions researched in this study (Nitrogen Oxides (NO_x), monoxide carbon (CO) and unburned hydro carbons (UHC)), all of these pollutants are below euro six diesel standards. Contours of emissions show that there were appropriate SOI for each case study, which were 45 degree bTDC for single strategy, 48 degree bTDC for 80%-20% mass injection and 70 degree bTDC for 50%-50% cases. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Engine and Vehicle Control Energy Management and Combustion Technologies)

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25 pages, 12753 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Methodology for Comprehensive Comparison of Energy Harvesting Shock Absorber Systems

by Carlos Gijón-Rivera and José Luis Olazagoitia

Energies 2020, 13(22), 6110; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13226110 - 21 Nov 2020

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 1905

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a lot of work related to Energy Harvesting Shock Absorbers (EHSA). These devices harvest energy from the movement of the vehicle’s shock absorbers caused by road roughness, braking, acceleration and turning. There are different technologies that can be used in these systems, but it is not clear which would be the best option if you want to replace a conventional shock absorber with an EHSA. This article presents a methodology to compare the performance of different EHSA technologies that can replace a shock absorber with a given damping coefficient. The methodology allows to include different analysis options, including different types of driving cycles, computer vehicle models, input signals and road types. The article tests the methodology in selecting the optimal EHSA technology for a particular shock absorber and vehicle, optimizing at the same time energy recovery. In addition, a study of parameters in each type of technology is included to analyze its influence on the final objective. In the example analyzed, the EHSA technology with a rack and pinion system turned out to be the best. The proposed methodology can be extrapolated to other case studies and design objectives. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Engine and Vehicle Control Energy Management and Combustion Technologies)

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12 pages, 4691 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Electromagnetic Shielding Effect of a Canned Permanent Magnet Motor

by Kun Hu, Haijun Zhuang and Qiang Yu

Energies 2020, 13(18), 4666; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13184666 - 08 Sep 2020

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1773

Abstract

Due to use of the metallic cans in the air gap, the electromagnetic shielding effect is formed, which is the prominent characteristic of the canned motor. In the flux field, eddy current induction occurs on both cans that thus affects the characteristic of the air gap flux field, and generates a loss that is the highest loss of the canned motor. In this paper, a combination method is proposed and stressed to analyze the shielding effect, based on a typical canned permanent magnet synchronous motor. First, the

d q

vector decomposition of the eddy current is studied. Second, the effect of the load angle on the loss distribution is studied. Finally, compared with the ordinary motor, the feature of can loss due to rotor speed and conductivity variation is shown. The three-dimensional finite element method is adopted, considering the end effect. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Engine and Vehicle Control Energy Management and Combustion Technologies)

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