Influence of Variable Speed Limit Control on Fuel and Electric Energy Consumption, and Exhaust Gas Emissions in Mixed Traffic Flows

Modern urban mobility needs new solutions to resolve high-complexity demands on urban traffic-control systems, including reducing congestion, fuel and energy consumption, and exhaust gas emissions. One example is urban motorways as key segments of the urban traffic network that do not achieve a satisfactory level of service to serve the increasing traffic demand. Another complex need arises by introducing the connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) and accompanying additional challenges that modern control systems must cope with. This study addresses the problem of decreasing the negative environmental aspects of traffic, which includes reducing congestion, fuel and energy consumption, and exhaust gas emissions. We applied a variable speed limit (VSL) based on Q-Learning that utilizes electric CAVs as speed-limit actuators in the control loop. The Q-Learning algorithm was combined with the two-step temporal difference target to increase the algorithm’s effectiveness for learning the VSL control policy for mixed traffic flows. We analyzed two different optimization criteria: total time spent on all vehicles in the traffic network and total energy consumption. Various mixed traffic flow scenarios were addressed with varying CAV penetration rates, and the obtained results were compared with a baseline no-control scenario and a rule-based VSL. The data about vehicle-emission class and the share of gasoline and diesel human-driven vehicles were taken from the actual data from the Croatian Bureau of Statistics. The obtained results show that Q-Learning-based VSL can learn the control policy and improve the macroscopic traffic parameters and total energy consumption and can reduce exhaust gas emissions for different electric CAV penetration rates. The results are most apparent in cases with low CAV penetration rates. Additionally, the results indicate that for the analyzed traffic demand, the increase in the CAV penetration rate alleviates the need to impose VSL control on an urban motorway.

A Review on Self-Cleaning Coatings for Tunnels

Self-cleaning coatings for tunnels can effectively remove dust and stains accumulated over the surface of tunnel linings and their appurtenances due to the closed environment and poor ventilation. This paper systematically introduces the current research status of self-cleaning coatings for tunnels, focusing on the development of super-hydrophobic self-cleaning coatings, superamphiphobic self-cleaning coatings, exhaust gas degradation coatings, fire retardant coatings, and tunnel de-icing coatings. The advantages and disadvantages of the five functional coatings are then briefly described, and the problems of self-cleaning coatings for tunnels at the present stage are pointed out. Finally, the development direction of self-cleaning coatings for tunnels is proposed to provide a reference for the research and application of self-cleaning coatings for tunnels.

Sustainable Electrochemical NO Capture and Storage System Based on the Reversible Fe2+/Fe3+-EDTA Redox Reaction

The removal of nitric oxide (NO), which is an aggregation agent for fine dust that causes air pollution, from exhaust gas has been considered an important treatment in the context of environmental conservation. Herein, we propose a sustainable electrochemical NO removal system based on the reversible Fe2+/Fe3+-ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) redox reaction, which enables continuous NO capture and storage at ambient temperature without the addition of any sacrificial agents. We have designed a flow-type reaction system in which the NO absorption and emission can be separately conducted in the individual reservoirs of the catholyte and anolyte with the continuous regeneration of Fe2+-EDTA by the electrochemical reduction in Fe3+-EDTA. A continuous flow reaction using a silver cathode and glassy carbon anode showed that the concentrations of Fe2+ and Fe3+-EDTA in the electrolyte were successfully maintained at a 1:1 ratio, which demonstrates that the proposed system can be applied for continuous NO capture and storage.

Fundamental Study on Hydrogen Low-NOx Combustion Using Exhaust Gas Self-Recirculation

Hydrogen is expected to be a next-generation energy source that does not emit carbon dioxide, but when used as a fuel, the issue is the increase in the amount of NOx that is caused by the increase in flame temperature. In this study, we experimentally investigated NOx emissions rate when hydrogen was burned in a hydrocarbon gas burner, which is used in a wide temperature range. As a result of the experiments, the amount of NOx when burning hydrogen in a nozzle mixed burner was twice as high as when burning city gas. However, by increasing the flow velocity of the combustion air, the amount of NOx could be reduced. In addition, by reducing the number of combustion air nozzles rather than decreasing the diameter of the air nozzles, a larger recirculation flow could be formed into the furnace, and the amount of NOx could be reduced by up to 51%. Furthermore, the amount of exhaust gas recirculation was estimated from the reduction rate of NOx, and the validity was confirmed by the relationship between adiabatic flame temperature and NOx calculated from the equilibrium calculation by chemical kinetics simulator software.

The Potential of a Separated Electric Compound Spark Ignition Engine for Hybrid Vehicle Application

In-cylinder expansion of internal combustion engines based on Diesel or Otto cycles cannot be completely brought down to ambient pressure, causing a 20% theoretical energy loss. Several systems have been implemented to recover and use this energy such as turbocharging, turbo-mechanical and turbo-electrical compounding, or the implementation of Miller Cycles. In all these cases however, the amount of energy recovered is limited allowing the engine to reach an overall efficiency incremental improvement between 4% and 9%. Implementing an adequately designed expander-generator unit could efficiently recover the unexpanded exhaust gas energy and improve efficiency. In this work, the application of the expander-generator unit to a hybrid propulsion vehicle is considered, where the onboard energy storage receives power produced by an expander-generator, which could hence be employed for vehicle propulsion through an electric drivetrain. Starting from these considerations, a simple but effective modelling approach is used to evaluate the energetic potential of a spark-ignition engine electrically supercharged and equipped with an exhaust gas expander connected to an electric generator. The overall efficiency was compared to a reference turbocharged engine within a hybrid vehicle architecture. It was found that, if adequately recovered, the unexpanded gas energy could reduce engine fuel consumption and related pollutant emissions by 4% to 12%, depending on overall power output.