Fuel-Efficient Emissions Reduction from Diesel Engines via Advanced Gas-Exchange Management

Diesel engine aftertreatment systems are effective in reducing engine-out emissions, but only at catalyst bed temperatures above 200°C. The aftertreatment system needs to be quickly warmed up to its efficient operating temperatures, and maintain elevated temperatures in a fuel-efficient manner, which is a challenge using conventional engine strategies. This study details the use of advanced gas-exchange management, via variable valve actuation, to improve both `warm-up' and `stay-warm' aftertreatment thermal management.

Fast initial warm-up of the aftertreatment system, following a cold engine start, is enabled by strategies such as early exhaust valve opening (EEVO), internal exhaust gas recirculation (iEGR) and late intake valve closure (LIVC). Steady state and drive cycle results of a combination of EEVO and iEGR at idle operation, and a combination of EEVO and LIVC at off-idle conditions below 7.6 bar BMEP, are presented. It is demonstrated that ~ 150°C higher steady state temperatures are achieved at idle, and up to 10.1% reduction in predicted tailpipe-out NOx is achieved at 3.1% fuel penalty over the heavy-duty federal test procedure (HD-FTP) drive cycle.

Fuel-efficient `stay-warm' aftertreatment thermal management is demonstrated to be effectively achieved via cylinder deactivation (CDA), to reduce fuel consumption, elevate engine-outlet temperatures and reduce exhaust flow rates at idle and low load engine operation. Implementation of CDA at idle and low loads below 3 bar BMEP is demonstrated to achieve fuel savings of 4% over the HD-FTP drive cycle, while maintaining similar levels of tailpipe-out NOx emissions. It is demonstrated that lower air flow during CDA at, and near, idle operation does not compromise the transient torque/power capabilities of the engine- a key nding in enabling the practical implementation of CDA in diesel engines.

Some of the practical challenges expected with CDA are studied in detail, and alternate strategies addressing the challenges are introduced. Dynamic cylinder activation (DCA) is introduced as a means to enable greater control over the torsional vibration characteristics of the engine, via selection of appropriate ring patterns, while maintaining similar performance and emissions as xed CDA. A generic strategy to use CDA and an appropriate DCA strategy to operate away from driveline resonant frequencies at different engine speeds is described. Ventilated cylinder cutout (VCC) is introduced as a means to potentially mitigate oil accumulation concerns during CDA, by ventilating the non-ring cylinders to the intake/exhaust manifold(s) by opening the intake/exhaust valves during all the four strokes of the engine cycle. The fuel efficiency and thermal management performance of VCC is assessed for different ventilation congurations and compared with CDA and baseline engine operation.