Modelling an Electrically Turbocharged Engine and Predicting the Performance Under Steady-State Engine

This paper discusses the evaluation of the energy recovery potential of turboshaft separated (decoupled) electric turbocharger and its boosting capability in a spark-ignition engine through simulation-based work and comparing it to a conventional turbocharged engine in terms of fuel consumption. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the amount of energy that can be recovered over a steady state full-load operating conditions and boosting capabilities from a decoupled electric turbocharger of an SI engine using a 1-D engine simulation software. The electric turbocharged system includes two motors and a battery pack to store the recovered electrical energy. Gt-Power engine simulation software was used to model both engines and utilizes each of the components described earlier. The conventional turbocharged engine is first simulated to obtain its performance characteristics. An electric turbocharger is then modelled by separating the turbine from the compressor. The turbine is connected to the generator and battery, whereas the compressor is connected to the motor. This electrically turbocharged engine was modelled at full load and controlled to produce the same brake power (kW) and brake torque (Nm) properties as the similarly sized conventional turbocharged engine. This step was necessary to investigate the effect an electrical turbocharger without a wastegate has on the engine’s BSFC and determine the energy that can be recovered by the electrical boosting components, and cycle-averaged fuel consumption was evaluated. The evaluation of energy recovered from the electrically turbocharged engine from the analysis can assessed in full-load steady state conditions that can be useful for research in part-load and transient studies involving the decoupled electrical turbocharger. The study revealed that a maximum of 21.6 kW of electrical power can be recovered from the decoupled electrical turbocharger system, whereas 2.6% increase in fuel consumption can be observed at 5000 rpm engine speed.

Integral Design of a Turbocharger for Internal Engine Energy Saving: Centrifugal Compressor Design

Energy savings and emission reductions are essential for internal engines. Turbocharger is critical for engine system performance and emission. In this study, the engine simulation program was used to systematically optimize the engine turbocharger system performance. The velocity ratio concept was used in the engine simulation program to consider the performance impacts of the wheel diameter ratio between compressor and turbine. An integral consideration for both compressor and turbine was proposed to design the new turbocharger. An optimization process was used to design the compressor. The final designs employed Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) solvers for the performance and mechanical integrity assessments. The optimized compressor wheel has different features comparing with conventional designs. In this design, the splitter is not located in the middle between main blades; the compressor wheel exit diameter at shroud is larger than hub. The new compressor was tested on both gas stand and engine. The numerical results are fairly agreed with gas stand tests. The tests showed about 1.2% of the engine BSFC reduction without sacrifice the emission and cost. This study demonstrated that a systematic method in simulation and an integral compress design process could optimize the engine system and improve the engine performance.

Effect of Divided Exhaust Period in a High Efficiency TGDI Engine

The divided exhaust period (DEP) concept was applied to a high-efficiency gasoline engine and its impact on various engine performance aspects were investigated. To this end, key design parameters of DEP components were optimized through 1-D engine simulation. The designed DEP components were fabricated and experimental verification was performed through an engine dynamometer test. The developed DEP engine shows suitable performance for electrified vehicles, with a maximum thermal efficiency of 42.5% as well as a wide sweet spot area of efficiency over 40%. The improvement in thermal efficiency was mainly due to a reduction in pumping loss. Notably, the reduction in pumping loss was achieved under high exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) flow conditions, where further improvements in fuel consumption could be achieved through a synergistic combination of DEP implementation and high dilution combustion. Furthermore, a significantly improved catalyst light-off time, uncharacteristic in turbocharged engines, was confirmed through a simulated cold-start catalyst heating engine test.

Important Contributions to Reducing Nitrogen Oxide Emissions from Internal Combustion Engines

Nitrogen oxides are considered significant pollutants because of their effects on ecosystems and human health. The amount of NOx emitted by internal combustion engines can be reduced, mostly by acting on the conditions in which combustion takes place, respectively by lowering the peak flame temperature, reducing the excess of oxygen, etc. The homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engine represents a new technology that can simultaneously reduce NOx emissions and fuel consumption. This article presents these benefits of the HCCI engine by comparing the emissions and fuel consumption of a monocylinder engine when it is operated in a conventional way, with spark ignition, with those obtained when the engine is running in the HCCI mode. Moreover, since engine simulation has become an important tool for investigating the HCCI process and for developing new control strategies for it, this was used in this study to determine the effects of the exhaust gas recirculation on the combustion quality, respectively, on emissions.

A Comparison of Ethanol, Methanol, and Butanol Blending with Gasoline and Its Effect on Engine Performance and Emissions Using Engine Simulation

Air pollution, especially in large cities around the world, is associated with serious problems both with people’s health and the environment. Over the past few years, there has been a particularly intensive demand for alternatives to fossil fuels, because when they are burned, substances that pollute the environment are released. In addition to the smoke from fuels burned for heating and harmful emissions that industrial installations release, the exhaust emissions of vehicles create a large share of the fossil fuel pollution. Alternative fuels, known as non-conventional and advanced fuels, are derived from resources other than fossil fuels. Because alcoholic fuels have several physical and propellant properties similar to those of gasoline, they can be considered as one of the alternative fuels. Alcoholic fuels or alcohol-blended fuels may be used in gasoline engines to reduce exhaust emissions. This study aimed to develop a gasoline engine model to predict the influence of different types of alcohol-blended fuels on performance and emissions. For the purpose of this study, the AVL Boost software was used to analyse characteristics of the gasoline engine when operating with different mixtures of ethanol, methanol, butanol, and gasoline (by volume). Results obtained from different fuel blends showed that when alcohol blends were used, brake power decreased and the brake specific fuel consumption increased compared to when using gasoline, and CO and HC concentrations decreased as the fuel blends percentage increased.

Marine Dual-Fuel Engines Power Smart Management by Hybrid Turbocharging Systems

The performance of a marine dual-fuel engine, equipped with an innovative hybrid turbocharger producing electric power to satisfy part of the ship’s electric load, is presented by a simulation comparison with the traditional turbocharging technology. The two distinct fuel types, combined with the hybrid turbocharger, involve a substantial change in the engine control modes, resulting in more flexible and efficient power management. Therefore, the investigation requires a numerical analysis depending on the engine load variation, in both fuelling modes, to highlight different behaviours. In detail, a dual-fuel engine simulation model is validated for a particular application in order to perform a complete comparison, reported in tabular and graphical form, between the two examined turbocharging solutions. The simulation analysis is presented in terms of the engine working data and overall energy conversion efficiency.

Two-Zone Simulation of an Axial Vane Rotary Engine Cycle

An axial vane rotary engine (AVRE) is a novel type of rotary engines. The engine is a positive displacement mechanism that permits the four “stroke” action to occur in one revolution of the shaft with a minimum number of moving components in comparison to reciprocating engines. In this paper, a two-zone combustion model is developed for a spark ignition AVRE. The combustion chamber is divided into burned and unburned zones and differential equations are developed for the change in pressure and change in temperature in each zone. The modelling is based on equations for energy and mass conservation, equation of state, and burned mass fraction. The assumption is made that both zones are at the same pressure P, and the ignition temperature is the adiabatic flame temperature based on the mixture enthalpy at the onset of combustion. The developed code for engine simulation in MATLAB is applied to another engine and there is a good agreement between results of this code and results related to the engine chosen for validation, so the modelling is independent of configuration.