Browse Topic: On-board energy sources

Items (52,490)

Quantitative Analysis of a Hybrid Electric HMMWV for Fuel Economy Improvement

2024-01-3356

04/23/2025

ABSTRACT This paper presents a quantitative analysis and comparison of fuel economy and performance of a series hybrid electric HMMWV (High Mobility Multi-purpose Wheeled Vehicle) military vehicle with a conventional HMMWV of equivalent size. Hybrid vehicle powertrains show improved fuel economy gains due to optimized engine operation and regenerative braking. In this paper, a methodology is presented by which the fuel economy gains due to optimized engine are isolated from the fuel economy gains due to regenerative braking. Validated vehicle models as well as data collected on test tracks are used in the quantitative analysis. The regenerative braking of the hybrid HMMWV is analyzed in terms of efficiency from the kinetic energy at the wheels to the portion of regenerative power which is retrievable by the battery. The engine operation of both the series hybrid and conventional HMMWV are analyzed using a 2-D bin analysis methodology. Finally, the vehicle model is used to make

Nedungadi, Ashok, Masrur, Abul, Khalil, Gus

Mixed Wettability Influence on Water Droplet Behaviour in a PEM Fuel Cell Channel

2024-32-003704/18/2025

The utilization of hydrogen in low-temperature Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs) stands out as a compelling prospect for driving a widespread shift towards green industry practices. Despite significant advancements, a comprehensive understanding of water behaviour and dynamics within PEMFCs remains crucial for their extensive integration in propulsion applications. Striking a delicate balance between flooding and drying conditions poses a challenge for achieving stable and efficient PEMFC operation. In this study, a preliminary experimental investigation was conducted focusing on carbon-paper Gas Diffusion Layer (GDL) and gas channel walls. The static, advancing and receding contact angles were measured and utilized as boundary conditions for simulations. The influence of membrane humidity was also examined during the experimental campaign. 3D CFD simulations were performed on a straight portion of a PEMFC channel with a selected domain length of 5 mm and a section of 1x1 mm

Merola, S. S., Antetomaso, C., Irimescu, A., Vaglieco, B. M., Jannelli, E.

Virtual Calibration Approach to the Development of Control Systems and Strategies for Hybrid L-Category Vehicles

2024-32-006604/18/2025

Hybrid powertrain for motorcycles has not been widely adopted to date but has recently shown significant increased interest and it is believed to have great potential for fuel economy containment in real driving conditions. Moreover, this technology is suitable for the expected new legislations, reduced emissions and enables riding in Zero Emissions Zones, so towards a more carbon neutral society while still guaranteeing “motorcycle passion” for the product [1, 2]. Several simulation tools and methods are available for the concept phase of the hybrid system design, allowing definition of the hybrid components and the basic hybrid strategies, but they are not able to properly represent the real on-road behaviour of the hybrid vehicle and its specific control system, making the fine tuning and validation work very difficult. Motorcycle riders are used to expect instant significant torque delivery on their demand, that is not properly represented in legislative cycles (e.g. WMTC); rider

Antoniutti, Christian, Sweet, David, Hounsham, Sandra

Development of Cylinder Deactivation Control during Idle for Conventional Engines

2024-32-001904/18/2025

This report examines the advancement and utilization of cylinder deactivation technology that enhances fuel efficiency in conventional engines without hardware modifications. It operates by halting fuel supply to some of the cylinders in multi-cylinder engines and increasing the output power of the remaining active cylinders to maintain an idle state. By implementing this technology in the mass-produced 90° V-twin engine, the U502, and deactivating one of its two cylinders, fuel consumption during idling is reduced by over 30%. The focus of this study is on the technology developed to minimize engine speed fluctuations during the transition to cylinder deactivation and reactivation for the engine. By making various modifications to the fuel injection control sequence and optimizing the throttle opening of each cylinder in idle and driving conditions, engine speed fluctuations were minimized. This allows users to reduce fuel consumption while maintaining the engine’s original

YANAGIDA, Shoji

Development of the Mild Hybrid System for Off-Road Machinery

2024-32-006704/18/2025

In recent years, the importance of achieving carbon neutrality has been highlighted in response to the escalating severity of climate change. In the leading automobile market, the share of electric vehicles is gradually expanding, especially in passenger car sector. However, it is not same in commercial vehicle sector. In the off-road machinery market, as with electrification in commercial vehicles, the factors such as the need to install charging infrastructure and the requirement for large batteries to expand operating duration are significant challenge to full electrification. As one of the realistic solutions toward carbon neutrality for off-road machines, methods to utilize both internal combustion engines (ICE) and their applied products are being reconsidered. Under the circumstances, we have developed a mild-hybrid (MH) system for small off-road machinery. This system adopts a 48V power supply in order to minimize size of the system offers as a “Drop-in” package solution. This

Koyama, Kazuaki, Kimura, Ryota, Nagamori, Yuko, Horita, Tatsuhiko, Nosaka, Kento

Statistical Analysis of Data Acquired from Propagating Flames in Gasoline Engines Using a Multiple Ion Probe

2024-32-003504/18/2025

Multiple-ion-probe method consists of multiple ion probes placed on the combustion chamber wall, where each individual ion probe detects flame contact and records the time of contact. From the recorded data, it is also possible to indirectly visualize the inside of the combustion chamber, for example, as a motion animation of moving flame front. In this study, a thirty-two ion probes were used to record flames propagating in a two-stroke gasoline engine. The experiment recorded the combustion state in the engine for about 3 seconds under full load at about 6500 rpm, and about 300 cycles were recorded in one experiment. Twelve experiments were conducted under the same experimental conditions, and a total of 4,164 cycles of signal data were obtained in the twelve experiments. Two types of analysis were performed on this data: statistical analysis and machine learning analysis using a linear regression model. Statistical analysis calculated the average flame detection time and standard

Yatsufusa, Tomoaki, Okahira, Takehiro, Nagashige, Kohei

Experimental Investigation of n-C7H16/Ethanol Blended Fuels on Auto-ignition and Flame Propagation in High Temperature/Pressure Constant-Volume Combustion Vessel

2024-32-005004/18/2025

This study aims to investigate the effect of ethanol blends on flame propagation and auto-ignition under high pressure and high temperature conditions. Experimental investigations are conducted using n-C7H16 / ethanol blends at various blending ratios (0, 5, 10, 20, 40, 70, and 100 vol%). The blends are premixed with air at stoichiometric ratios and ignited centrally in a cylindrical constant-volume combustion chamber (20-mm inner diameter, 80-mm long) under elevated temperature (500 K) and pressure (1.0 MPa) conditions. The results show that auto-ignition occurs at an ethanol blend ratio of 10% or less and ceases above 20%. Increasing the ethanol blend to 70% results in a slight change in flame propagation speed, with a noticeable delay at 100%. The pressure measurements show a peak of about 5.6 MPa at a blend ratio of 5%, which gradually decreases with increasing ratios. High-pass filtering reveals the maximum pressure fluctuation amplitude at the 5% blend ratio, indicating increased

Tateishi, Tokua, Yamaguchi, Riki, Shimokuri, Daisuke, Terashima, Hiroshi, Hara, Takaya, Honda, Yuya, Kawano, Michiharu

Enhancing Low Temperature Lean Combustion of CH4-H2 Blends through a Prechamber Equipped Engine

2024-32-004404/18/2025

The use of hydrogen as a sustainable fuel in the short term is hampered by the impossibility of large scale use due low availability. In order to promote decarbonization, complementary solution for a smooth transition is to dilute it in a mixture with methane, in a current Port Fuel Injection (PFI) internal combustion engine (ICE). This can be done as a retrofit after limited structural modifications, such as the introduction of a passive prechamber. Such a solution allows a reduction of the carbon footprint of traditional ICEs through more efficient combustion (both the prechamber technology and the hydrogen fuel properties promote an increase in combustion speed) and a reduced carbon content in the fuel. The present research activity has been carried out through numerical investigation based on three-dimensional CFD analyses to simulate the behavior of a natural gas engine fueled with CH4-H2 blends. The combustion mechanism for the fuel blend was validated against measurements of the

Balduzzi, Francesco, Ferrara, Giovanni, Di Iorio, Silvana, Sementa, Paolo

Model-Based Calibration of ECU for Small Motorcycles

2024-32-002404/18/2025

To deal with the emission regulations it is necessary to produce ECU control maps that maintain balance of emissions of HC, NOX, CO, engine power output and fuel consumption during the motorcycle development. We have recently introduced the Model-Based Calibration (hereafter as MBC) for calibration of ECU control maps for small motorcycles, which share a big chunk of the market. When introducing we aimed at such a method that can simulate stable temperature conditions necessary for the measurement in order to make it applicable to air-cooled engines predominantly used in small motorcycles. To decrease performance difference between the prototype and the mass-production, the newly developed method allows rewriting of control parameters such as the ignition timing using the mass-production ECU. The fully automated data acquisition along with the application of MBC permits continuous test operations even in nighttime and on holidays. Moreover, the MBC flow was made such a manner that

Fujiwara, Hirofumi, Maruyama, Atsushi, Kasai, Yoshiyuki

Enhancements in Hydrogen Low Pressure Injection on Small Two-Stroke Engines

2024-32-004704/18/2025

The use of small 2-stroke crankcase scavenged engines running on hydrogen is very attractive for low power rates, when low cost and compact dimensions are the fundamental design constraints. However, achieving optimal performance with hydrogen fuel presents challenges, including uneven air-fuel mixtures, fuel losses, and crankcase backfiring. This research focuses on a small 50cc 2-stroke loop-scavenged engine equipped with a patented Low-Pressure Direct Injection (LPDI) system, modified for hydrogen use. Experimental results demonstrate performance comparable to the gasoline counterpart, but further optimizations are needed. Consequently, CFD-3D simulations are employed to analyses the injection process and guide engine development. The numerical analysis focuses on a fixed operating condition: 6000 rpm, Wide Open Throttle (WOT), with a slightly lean mixture and injection pressure fixed at 5 bar. A numerical model of the entire engine is set up with the primary objective of improving

Caprioli, Stefano, Schoegl, Oliver, Oswald, Roland, Kirchberger, Roland, Mattarelli, Enrico, Rinaldini, Carlo Alberto

Basic Investigation of Thermodynamic Effects on a Hydrogen Two-Stroke Engine

2024-32-003904/18/2025

The spark ignited two-stroke engine, as a cost-efficient power unit with low maintenance demand, is used millionfold for the propulsion of hand-held application, motorcycles, scooters, boats and others. The outstanding power to weight ratio is the key advantage for two-stroke engines. However, poor exhaust emissions, caused by high scavenge losses, especially on port controlled two-stroke engines, and a low efficiency are disadvantages of this combustion process. Under the aspect of increasing environment- and health awareness, the two-stroke technology driven with fossil resources, shows no future advantage. The anthropogenic climate change force for sustainable development of combustion engines whereby reduction of fuel consumption or usage of alternative fuels is an important factor. Best way of a decarbonization to fulfil future climate goals is the utilization of non-carbon fuels. In this field of fuels, hydrogen, with its high energy content and close inexhaustible availability

Yasuda, Terutaka, Oswald, Roland, Kirchberger, Roland

Studying the Lean Burn Operation in Two-Wheelers to Increase Fuel Efficiency and Investigate the Use of Lean NOx Trap Catalyst (LNT) for Lean Burn System

2024-32-005804/18/2025

This study offers an overview of the impact of lean burn technology in two-wheeler vehicles, specifically concentrating on enhancing the fuel economy and addressing the challenges associated with its adoption. Lean burn systems, characterized by a fuel-air mixture with a higher air content than stoichiometric ratio. The study focuses on technology which meets stringent emission standards while enabling the optimization of fuel efficiency. The lean burn system employs strategies to optimize air-fuel ratio using electronic fuel injection, ignition timing control, and advanced engine control algorithms like - updated torque modulation control algorithm for drivability, lambda control algorithm for rich and lean switch and NOx modelling algorithm for LNT catalyst efficiency tracking. The challenges related to lean burn systems, includes issues related to combustion stability, nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions, and their impact on drivability, is summarized in the study. Mitigation strategies

Somasundaram, Karthikeyan, Sivaji, Purushothaman, John Derin, C, Vishal, Karwa, Manoj Kumar, S, Maynal, Rajesh

Experimental Investigations of a Hydrogen Fueled Natural Gas Engine and Ion Current Measurement for Combustion Diagnostics in Pure Hydrogen Operationwith Water Injection

2024-32-006504/18/2025

In the ongoing effort to decarbonize energy supply, a notable shift involves the conversion or retrofitting of combined heat and power plants to operate on hydrogen as an alternative to natural gas. In this transformative landscape, extensive research is underway to develop and explore innovative combustion processes for hydrogen-fueled engines, aiming to comprehend and optimize combustion processes concerning both engine performance and emissions. Among the various methods available for monitoring the combustion process and engine control, ion current sensing presents itself as a viable option. A unique feature of this research lies in utilizing the engine's spark plug itself as an electrical sensor, measuring the ion current generated during the flame development and combustion processes. Given the limited research on ion current sensing for hydrogen combustion processes, a series of experiments were conducted and presented in this work. These experiments involved sweeps of water-to

Salim, Naqib, Beltaifa, Youssef, Kettner, Maurice, Loose, Oliver, Weißgerber, Tycho

Impact of Ordinal Proximity of Frequency Components on the Auditory Perception of Engine Knocking

2024-32-003204/18/2025

This study examines the acoustic properties of engine-knocking sounds in gasoline engines, arising from misfires during spark ignition that negatively affect driving performance. The aim was to understand the frequency characteristics of acceleration sounds and their connection to the proximity of the order components. The study also explores “booming,” where two different frequencies of sounds occur simultaneously, potentially linked to the unpleasant nature of engine knocking. Using a sinusoidal model, we generated engine acceleration sound models with 5th-, 10th-, and 15th-order components, including engine knocking. Two types of sound stimuli were created: one with the original amplitude (OA) and one with a constant amplitude (CA) for each component order, emphasizing the order-component proximity in CA sounds. Aural experiments with 10 participants in an anechoic room using headphones and the MUSHRA method revealed an inverse relationship between OA and CA ratings as the component

Suzuki, Ryuhei, Ishimitsu, Shunsuke, Nitta, Misaki, Sakakibara, Mika, Hakozaki, Tomoyuki, Fujikawa, Satoshi, Iwata, Kiyoaki, Matsumoto, Mitsunori, Kikuchi, Masakazu

Investigation on the Applicability of Passive Type Pre-Chamber with One Port Fuel Injection System to Small Gasoline Engines

2024-32-003304/18/2025

Pre-chamber combustion has been applied as a method of low fuel consumption in spark ignition engines, and in recent years the application of pre-chambers to gasoline engines has also been actively studied. In many gasoline engines, stoichiometric combustion is common. We decided that a passive type pre-chamber with only one port fuel injection is sufficient for stoichiometric combustion. The pre-chamber system relatively has two merits of lower cost and ease of installing than other prechamber systems. Therefore, we focused on investigating the effects of improving combustion speed and knock resistance in use of the passive type pre-chamber and the applicability of the pre-chamber system in various operating points. As the concrete approach, we evaluated the heat balance and the knock resistance with and without a pre-chamber in engine bench test. As a result, the knock resistance and the fuel consumption were improved. In addition, as a result of considering lean burn in the passive

Nakao, Yoshinori, Sakurai, Yota, Hisano, Atsushi, Saitou, Masahito, Suzuki, Tomoharu

Optimization of the Numerical Spray Modeling for Polyoxymethylene Dimethyl Ethers for Combustion Prediction in CONVERGE

2025-01-502604/03/2025

Different approaches are undertaken to mitigate the impact of the transport sector on climate change. Alongside electrifying powertrains, sustainable e-fuels such as polyoxymethylene dimethyl ethers (OME) are considered a promising bridging technology for different applications. However, this requires that the engines are optimized for the new fuels. Accordingly, this study aims to optimize the numerical spray modeling of OME in CONVERGE. Based on the KH–RT break-up model, the spray simulations of three different commercial injectors for heavy-duty applications are analyzed regarding the predictability of the liquid and gaseous penetration lengths and the total simulation time. A sensitivity analysis is conducted for the turbulence model, mesh size, and spray parameters prior to optimizing the spray model and validating it with experimental results. While each parameter individually influences the different phases of the injection event, the sensitivity analysis reveals that the break

Zepf, Andreas, Härtl, Martin, Jaensch, Malte

Research and Simulation Implementation of Self-Driving Vehicle Trajectory Optimization in Networked Intersection Environment

2025-01-719402/21/2025

Nowadays, the rapidly developing Connected and Autonomous Vehicle (CAV) provides a new mode of intersection vehicle cooperative control, which can optimize vehicle trajectories and signal phases in real time and reduce intersection delays through the advantages of vehicle-road cooperative information interaction and the high controllability of CAV. In this paper, the intersection of Jintong West Road and Guanghua Road in Beijing is taken as the research object, and the vehicle trajectory constraints, acceleration constraints, speed constraints, safe driving constraints, signal switch constraints and traffic signal control constraints are set up with the minimization of traffic delay as the objective function. The DQN deep reinforcement learning network is constructed based on vehicle states, vehicle actions, reward functions, and update rules, and starts learning and updating to generate the target network. Then, SUMO software is used to simulate and test and compare the trajectory

Xu, Yuting, Zhang, Yong, Wu, Xianyu

AFR Adaptation Strategy Based on Lambda Sensor for a Methanol Engine

2025-01-703901/31/2025

Methanol is an main type clean energy and it taken important part for the future internal combustion engine technology. The Equivalent air-fuel ratio (AFR) is very import for the engine combustion of methanol. And a lot of case the ratio between methanol and gasoline is not the constant number. There are no studies about AFR when fuel ratio is arbitrary in the currently. The AFR changes obviously if the tank was fueled with gasoline by mistake at a methanol spark ignition engine. Emission will be affected heavily at this situation because the AFR of gasoline is 2 times more than methanol. Some fuel trim adaptation error will be detected by engine controller or even the engine will stall if engine controller keep use the previous AFR to do the fuel injection control. The Investigation provide a relevant AFR adaption strategy based on lambda sensor and the fuel pipes configuration. The strategy was proved valid by some simulation cases to reduce lambda disturbance, optimize emission

Liu, Yiqiang, Zhong, Jun, Qian, Pengfei, Qiao, Zhiwei, Zhu, Delei, Zhong, Shuanglei, Dong, Yanzhao, Yu, Xiuju

Improving the Carbon Footprint of Long-Haul Trucks Running on First-Generation Biodiesel

2025-01-500701/27/2025

Lowering carbon emissions from road-based transport is required to achieve climate targets. In addition to passenger cars, long-haul trucks contribute more than one-third of on-road generated carbon emissions. Therefore, this sector has great potential to reduce such emissions. Numerous options including electrified drivetrains are possible. Nevertheless, the existing fleet of trucks powered by conventional diesel engines also needs to be addressed. Additionally, a ramp-up of green electricity and charging infrastructure is required to ensure carbon-neutral and reliable transport. Heavy-duty diesel engines are typically suitable for use with first-generation biofuels. However, operational restrictions, such as shorter oil drain intervals are mandatory for users. In the case at hand, the oil change was mandatory after only 30,000 km when pure biodiesel (B100) was used instead of 120,000 km when operating on conventional, mineral oil-based diesel. These boundaries counter efforts to

Rohbogner, Christoph J., Heine, Carsten

EDITORIAL: Farewell and thanks, Mr. Birch

21AUTP06_0401/27/2025

“We pay close attention to the SAE magazines because your guy in Europe writes interesting articles,” a BMW engineering executive told me one year at the Frankfurt Motor Show. He was referring to Stuart Birch, our veteran European Editor, who has recently decided - after nearly 37 years of outstanding reporting for SAE International - to hang up his keyboard and spend more time with his wife, Kim, their family and friends in the British countryside, and his classic Porsche 911. Our staff had been dreading the day that Stuart would announce his retirement, foremost because he's been a great friend as well as a colleague. And because journalists with his qualities - professionalism, perspective, a powerful work ethic and great wit - are increasingly rare in the mobility-technology space. As SAE's global audience knew, Stuart Birch delivered compelling technical and business information. He covered product, processes and people with equal poise. And he thrived on the R&D beat: Virtual

Brooke, Lindsay

Performance Analysis of Graphene-Coated Heat Pipe Heat Exchangers for Automobile Exhaust Cooling and Purification

2025-01-500601/23/2025

This research investigates the development of a heat pipe heat exchanger coated with graphene for cooling and purification of automobile exhausts. The heat exchanger directly affects the performance of the engine because proper heat dissipation and transfer can improve engine performance, reduce fuel consumption, and decrease the emission. Moreover, this effect is much more noticeable on coated heat pipes because of the enhanced thermal conductivity and mechanical properties of the graphene films. A heat null emitted by internal combustion engines was used in the experimental setup to test the thermal performance, cooling efficiency, and purification efficiency of the newly designed in-house exhaust simulation system where the new heat pipes were inserted. The results of the experiment show that the heat pipes have very high thermal performance as the efficiency of the heat pipes was calculated to be around 85%. Furthermore, the temperature decrease over the surfaces of the heat

Karthigairajan, M., Seeniappan, Kaliappan, Balaji, N., Natrayan, L., Sheik, Salman Basha, Ravi, D.

SIMULATION FOR VEHICLE-TO-VEHICLE AND VEHICLE-TO-GRID RESOURCE SHARING ANALYSIS

2024-01-3444

11/15/2024

ABSTRACT A simulation capable of modeling grid-tied electrical systems, vehicle-to-grid (V2G) and vehicle-to-vehicle(V2V) resource sharing was developed within the MATLAB/Simulink environment. Using the steady state admittance matrix approach, the unknown currents and voltages within the network are determined at each time step. This eliminates the need for states associated with the distributed system. Each vehicle has two dynamic states: (1) stored energy and (2) fuel consumed while the generators have only a single fuel consumed state. One of its potential uses is to assess the sensitivity of fuel consumption with respect to the control system parameters used to maintain a vehicle-centric bus voltage under dynamic loading conditions.

Jane, Robert S., Parker, Gordon G., Weaver, Wayne W., Goldsmith, Steven Y.