Optimization of Mode Switching Timing Control for a Lean-Burn Gasoline Engine With a Prototype Passive SCR System

Author(s):  
Dakota Strange ◽  
Pingen Chen ◽  
Vitaly Y. Prikhodko ◽  
James E. Parks

Passive selective catalytic reduction (SCR) has emerged as a promising NOx reduction technology for highly-efficient lean-burn gasoline engines to meet stringent NOx emission regulation in a cost-effective manner. In this study, a prototype passive SCR which includes an upstream three-way catalyst (TWC) with added NOx storage component, and a downstream urealess SCR catalyst, was investigated. Engine experiments were conducted to investigate and quantify the dynamic NOx storage/release behaviors as well as dynamic NH3 generation behavior on the new TWC with added NOx storage component. Then, the lean/rich mode-switching timing control was optimized to minimize the fuel penalty associated with passive SCR operation. Simulation results show that, compared to the baseline mode-switching timing control, the optimized control can reduce the passive SCR-related fuel penalty by 6.7%. Such an optimized mode-switching timing control strategy is rather instrumental in realizing significant fuel efficiency benefits for lean-burn gasoline engines coupled with cost-effective passive SCR systems.

Author(s):  
Qinghua Lin ◽  
Pingen Chen ◽  
Vitaly Y. Prikhodko ◽  
James E. Parks

Passive selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems have been considered as a promising technology for reducing NOx emissions for highly-efficient lean burn gasoline engines. Since passive SCR requires intermittent rich operation for self-generating ammonia (NH3) for NOx reduction in the lean phase, the fuel penalty associated with NH3 generation may be significant. To address this issue, a new prototype passive SCR system with NOx storage capability was recently investigated. The three-way catalyst (TWC) with added NOx storage capability is able to enhance NH3 production rate by utilizing pre-stored NOx and thus reduce the fuel cost related to NH3 production. The main purpose of this study is to reduce the ammonia generation cost by: 1) proposing a new passive SCR system architecture that includes two TWC stages; and 2) developing and optimizing a novel non-uniform cylinder-to-cylinder combustion (NUCCC) control. Optimization results based on the experimental data from a physical engine platform, demonstrate that the new passive SCR system (with NOx storage components on TWCs), in conjunction with optimized NUCCC control, is capable of reducing ammonia specific fuel consumption (ASFC) by 30.2%, when compared to a uniform cylinder-to-cylinder combustion (UCCC)-controlled baseline passive SCR system. Such a novel NUCCC control and innovative passive SCR configuration, will be very instrumental in creating cost-effective lean NOx emission control solutions for lean-burn engines in the future.


2019 ◽  
Vol 141 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Qinghua Lin ◽  
Pingen Chen ◽  
Vitaly Y. Prikhodko

Lean-burn gasoline engines have demonstrated 10–20% engine efficiency gain over stoichiometric engines and are widely considered as a promising technology for meeting the 54.5 miles-per-gallon (mpg) corporate average fuel economy standard by 2025. Nevertheless, nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions control for lean-burn gasoline for meeting the stringent Environmental Protection Agency tier 3 emission standards has been one of the main challenges toward the commercialization of highly efficient lean-burn gasoline engines in the United States. Passive selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems, which consist of a three-way catalyst (TWC) and SCR, have demonstrated great potentials of effectively reducing NOx emissions for lean gasoline engines at low cost. However, passive SCR operation may cause significant fuel penalty since rich engine combustion is required for ammonia generation. The purpose of this study is to develop a model-predictive control (MPC) scheme for a lean-burn gasoline engine coupled with a passive SCR system to minimize the total equivalent fuel penalty associated with passive SCR operation while satisfying stringent NOx and ammonia (NH3) emissions requirements. Simulation results demonstrate that the MPC approach can reduce the fuel penalty by 43.9% in a simulated US06 cycle and 28.0% in a simulated urban dynamometer driving schedule (UDDS) cycle, respectively, compared to the baseline control, while achieving over 97% DeNOx efficiency and less than 15 ppm tailpipe ammonia slip. The proposed MPC controller can potentially enable highly efficient lean-burn gasoline engines while meeting the stringent Environmental Protection Agency tier 3 emission standards.


Author(s):  
Qinghua Lin ◽  
Pingen Chen ◽  
Vitaly Y. Prikhodko

Lean-burn gasoline engines have demonstrated 10–20% engine efficiency gain over stoichiometric engines and are widely considered as a promising technology for meeting the 54.5 miles-per-gallon (mpg) Corporate Average Fuel Economy standard by 2025. Nevertheless, NOx emissions control for lean-burn gasoline for meeting the stringent EPA Tier 3 emission standards has been one of the main challenges towards the commercialization of highly-efficient lean-burn gasoline engines in the United States. Passive selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems, which consist of a three-way catalyst and SCR, have demonstrated great potentials of effectively reducing NOx emissions for lean gasoline engines but may cause significant fuel penalty due to ammonia generation via rich engine combustion. The purpose of this study is to develop a model-predictive control (MPC) scheme for a lean-burn gasoline engine coupled with a passive SCR system to minimize the fuel penalty associated with passive SCR operation while satisfying stringent NOx and NH3 emissions requirements. Simulation results demonstrate that the MPC-based control can reduce the fuel penalty by 47.7% in a simulated US06 cycle and 32.0% in a simulated UDDS cycle, compared to the baseline control, while achieving over 96% deNOx efficiency and less than 15 ppm tailpipe ammonia slip. The proposed MPC control can potentially enable high engine efficiency gain for highly-efficient lean-burn gasoline engine while meeting the stringent EPA Tier 3 emission standards.


Author(s):  
Myoungjin Kim ◽  
Sihun Lee ◽  
Wootae Kim

In-cylinder flows such as tumble and swirl have an important role on the engine combustion efficiencies and emission formations. In particular, the tumble flow, which is dominant in-cylinder flow in current high performance gasoline engines, has an important effect on the fuel consumptions and exhaust emissions under part load conditions. Therefore, it is important to know the effect of the tumble ratio on the part load performance and optimize the tumble ratio of a gasoline engine for better fuel economy and exhaust emissions. First step in optimizing a tumble flow is to measure a tumble ratio accurately. In this research the tumble flow was measured, compared and correlated using three different measurement methods: steady flow rig, 2-Dimensional PIV, and 3-Dimensional PTV. Engine dynamometer test was performed to find out the effect of the tumble ratio on the part load performance. Dynamometer test results of high tumble ratio engine showed faster combustion speed, retarded MBT timing, higher exhaust emissions, and a better lean burn combustion stability. Lean limit of the baseline engine was expanded from A/F=18:1 to A/F=21:1 by increasing a tumble ratio using MTV.


Author(s):  
Paul Ragaller ◽  
Josh Mandelbaum ◽  
Luc Lapenta ◽  
Alexander Sappok ◽  
Josh Pihl ◽  
...  

Abstract Lean gasoline engine operation provides clear efficiency benefits relative to conventional stoichiometric combustion approaches. One of the key hurdles to the widespread, practical implementation of lean gasoline combustion remains the challenge of lean NOx control. One of the potential approaches for controlling NOx emission from lean gasoline engines is the so-called passive selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system. In such systems, periods of rich operation generate ammonia over a three-way catalyst (TWC), which is then adsorbed on the downstream SCR and consumed during lean operation. Brief periods of rich operation must occur in response to the depletion of stored ammonia on the SCR, which requires reliable measurements of the SCR ammonia inventory. Presently, lean exhaust system controls rely on a variety of gas sensors mounted up- and downstream of the catalysts, and which only provide an indirect inference of the operation state. In this study, a radio frequency (RF) sensor was used to provide a direction measurement of the amount of ammonia adsorbed on the SCR in real-time. The RF sensor was calibrated and deployed on a BMW N43B20 4-cylinder lean gasoline engine equipped with a passive SCR system. Brief periods of rich operation performed at lambda values between 0.98 and 0.99 generated the ammonia, subsequently stored on the SCR for consumption during periods of lean operation. The experiments compared real-time measurements of SCR ammonia inventory from the RF sensor with estimates of ammonia coverage derived from exhaust gas composition measurements upstream and downstream of the catalyst. The results showed a high degree of correlation between the RF measurements and SCR ammonia storage inventory, and demonstrated NOx conversion efficiencies above 98%, confirming the feasibility of the concept. Relative to stoichiometric operation, lean-gasoline operation resulted in fuel efficiency gains of up to 10%, which may be further improved through direct feedback control from the RF sensor to optimize lean–rich cycling based on actual, measured SCR ammonia levels.


2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kinichi Iwachido ◽  
Takayuki Onodera ◽  
Tetsuya Watanabe ◽  
Mariko Koyama ◽  
Akihisa Okumura ◽  
...  

1995 ◽  
Vol 61 (583) ◽  
pp. 1201-1206
Author(s):  
Hideo Yoshikawa ◽  
Hajime Iwase ◽  
Takashi Ochiai ◽  
Hiroshi Matsui

Lean burn gasoline direct injection (GDI) engines are the most preferred gasoline engines because of their low fuel consumption and high thermal efficiency. However, these engines produce exhaust gases that are particularly rich in oxygen and therefore the present three-way catalytic converter (TWC) is not suitable for converting the generated NOX emission into Nitrogen gases. In this present work, a new method of reducing Nitrogen Oxides emission in a gasoline engine is attempted by using an ordinary oxidation catalyst together with a deNOX(zeolite-based) catalyst. In this work, Na-form of ZSM-5 zeolite was used as a catalyst and cupric chloride (CuCl2) and ferric chloride (FeCl3) where used as transition metals. Cu-ZSM5 and Fe-ZSM5 catalyst were prepared separately in our laboratory. Na+ ion exchange method is used to prepare the catalyst. After that Cu-ZSM% and Fe- ZSM5 catalyst were washcoated separately onto the blank monoliths. Oxidation monoliths ( for oxidation of CO and HC into CO2 and H2O) were purchased directly from market. One oxidation monolith and one zeolite coated monolith were placed in a stainless steel container and canned with inlet and outlet cones ( forming catalytic convertor ). Experiments were conducted on a 2 cylinder Multi Point Port Fuel Injection engine along with a dynamometer. Exhaust emissions such as NOX, CO, HC, O2, CO2 were measured with AVL Di-gas-444 Analyzer. Exhaust gas temperature is measured with the use of a thermocouple. Firstly load tests (4, 7, 10, 13, and 16KW) were conducted on the engine without catalytic convertor was fixed close to the outlet pipe and the test were conducted again with same loading condition as mentioned above. Then by the same above procedure is followed to conduct test with Cu-ZSM5 and Fe-ZSM5 catalytic convertors. From the results it is observed that both Cu and Fe zeolite catalyst minimize emissions than the commercial catalytic converter.


Lean burn gasoline direct injection (GDI) engines are the most preferred gasoline engines because of their low fuel consumption and high thermal efficiency. However, these engines produce exhaust gases that are particularly rich in oxygen and therefore the present three-way catalytic converter (TWC) is not suitable for converting the generated NOX emission into Nitrogen gases. In this present work, a new method of reducing Nitrogen Oxides emission in a gasoline engine is attempted by using an ordinary oxidation catalyst together with a deNOX(zeolite-based) catalyst. In this work, Na-form of ZSM-5 zeolite was used as a catalyst and cupric chloride (CuCl2 ) and ferric chloride (FeCl3 ) where used as transition metals. Cu-ZSM5 and Fe-ZSM5 catalyst were prepared separately in our laboratory. Na+ ion exchange method is used to prepare the catalyst. After that Cu-ZSM% and Fe- ZSM5 catalyst were washcoated separately onto the blank monoliths. Oxidation monoliths ( for oxidation of CO and HC into CO2 and H2O) were purchased directly from market. One oxidation monolith and one zeolite coated monolith were placed in a stainless steel container and canned with inlet and outlet cones ( forming catalytic convertor ). Experiments were conducted on a 2 cylinder Multi Point Port Fuel Injection engine along with a dynamometer. Exhaust emissions such as NOX, CO, HC, O2 , CO2 were measured with AVL Di-gas-444 Analyzer. Exhaust gas temperature is measured with the use of a thermocouple. Firstly load tests (4, 7, 10, 13, and 16KW) were conducted on the engine without catalytic convertor was fixed close to the outlet pipe and the test were conducted again with same loading condition as mentioned above. Then by the same above procedure is followed to conduct test with Cu-ZSM5 and Fe-ZSM5 catalytic convertors. From the results it is observed that both Cu and Fe zeolite catalyst minimize emissions than the commercial catalytic converter.


2020 ◽  
pp. 146808742097454
Author(s):  
Christoph Müller ◽  
Stefan Pischinger ◽  
Sascha Tews ◽  
Andreas Müller ◽  
Knut Habermann

To ensure that private cars can continue to be used in the future, they must become significantly more efficient and at the same time emit considerably less pollutants. In addition to pure electric drives, further optimized gasoline engines in hybrid powertrain configurations still offer major potentials in this respect. A major step toward increasing efficiency can be achieved by extremely lean burn combustion. If, in addition to low fuel consumption, this operation should also simultaneously reduce NOx raw emissions, lean-burn operation with relative air/fuel ratios of λ≥ 2 must be enabled in wide ranges of the engine operation map. Within the scope of this publication, results of experimental investigations with a lean burn pre-chamber ignition system applied to a small gasoline engine with 75 mm bore and 90.5 mm stroke are presented. In this context, the effects of the pre-chamber design on emissions and fuel consumption are examined. By comparing different pre-chamber enrichments with natural gas and conventional RON98 gasoline, it can be shown that with the direct liquid injection of gasoline into the pre-chamber similar good thermodynamic results as with natural gas can be achieved with the advantage of easier integration of a single fuel system. Due to its significantly improved lean burn capability with relative air/fuel rations of up to λ = 3, combined with low specific indicated NOx raw emissions of less than 0.1 g/kWh, the presented lean-burn combustion system offers excellent conditions for further efficiency improvements of electrified powertrains. WLTP cycle simulations based on measured engine maps for the developed combustion process resulted in a fuel consumption reduction of up to 10%. At the same time, NOx raw emissions below the Euro 6d limit of 60 mg/km can be achieved.


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