Skip to main content
OSTI.GOVU.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information
 

Modeling and control of fuel distribution in a dual-fuel internal combustion engine leveraging late intake valve closings

Journal Article · · International Journal of Engine Research
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [2]
  1. Mechanical, Materials, and Aerospace Engineering Department, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL, USA
  2. Fuels, Engine and Aftertreatment Research, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL, USA
+ Show Author Affiliations

In internal combustion engines, cycle-to-cycle and cylinder-to-cylinder variations of the combustion process have been shown to negatively impact the fuel efficiency of the engine and lead to higher exhaust emissions. The combustion variations are generally tied to differences in the composition and condition of the trapped mass throughout each cycle and across individual cylinders. Thus, advanced engines featuring exhaust gas recirculation, flexible valve actuation systems, advanced fueling strategies, and turbocharging systems are prone to exhibit higher variations in the combustion process. In this study, the cylinder-to-cylinder variations of the combustion process in a dual-fuel internal combustion engine leveraging late intake valve closing are investigated and a model to predict and address one of the root causes for these variations across cylinders is developed. The study is conducted on an inline six-cylinder heavy-duty dual-fuel engine equipped with exhaust gas recirculation, a variable geometry turbocharger, and a fully flexible variable intake valve actuation system. The engine is operated with late intake valve closure timings in a dual-fuel combustion mode in which a high reactivity fuel is directly injected into the cylinders and a low reactivity fuel is port injected into the cylinders. The cylinder-to-cylinder variations observed in the study have been associated with the maldistribution of the port-injected fuel, which is exacerbated at late intake valve timings. The resulting difference in indicated mean effective pressure between the cylinders ranges from 9% at an intake valve closing of 570° after top dead center to 38% at an intake valve closing of 620° after top dead center and indicates an increasingly uneven fuel distribution. The study leverages both experimental and simulation studies to investigate the distribution of the port-injected fuel and its impact on cylinder-to-cylinder variation. The effects of intake valve closing as well as the impact of intake runner length on fuel distribution were quantitatively analyzed, and a model was developed that can be used to accurately predict the fuel distribution of the port-injected fuel at different operating conditions with an average estimation error of 1.5% in cylinder-specific fuel flow. A model-based control strategy is implemented to adjust the fueling at each port and shown to significantly reduce the cylinder-to-cylinder variations in fuel distribution.

Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
EE0003303
OSTI ID:
1437693
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1429855
OSTI ID: 1459663
Journal Information:
International Journal of Engine Research, Journal Name: International Journal of Engine Research Journal Issue: 8 Vol. 18; ISSN 1468-0874
Publisher:
SAGE PublicationsCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United Kingdom
Language:
English

References (21)

Study of fuel economy improvement through control of intake valve closing timing: cause of combustion deterioration and improvement journal January 1995
The effect of injection timing and intake valve close timing on performance and emissions of diesel PCCI engine with a full engine cycle CFD simulation journal September 2011
Combustion and exhaust emission characteristics of a dual fuel compression ignition engine operated with pilot Diesel fuel and natural gas journal November 2004
Heavy-Duty Truck Emissions in the South Coast Air Basin of California journal August 2013
Comparison of Life Cycle Greenhouse Gases from Natural Gas Pathways for Medium and Heavy-Duty Vehicles journal May 2015
Performance and Emissions of a Heavy-Duty Truck during the UDDS Driving Cycle: Simulation Analysis journal June 2016
Combustion in Gas Fueled Compression: Ignition Engines of the Dual Fuel Type journal July 2003
Effects of Intake Valve Closing Timing on Gasoline Engine Performance and Emissions conference September 2001
Dual-Fuel PCI Combustion Controlled by In-Cylinder Stratification of Ignitability conference April 2006
HCCI Operation of a Passenger Car DI Diesel Engine with an Adjustable Valve Train conference April 2006
PCCI Investigation Using Variable Intake Valve Closing in a Heavy Duty Diesel Engine conference April 2007
Late Intake Valve Closing as an Emissions Control Strategy at Tier 2 Bin 5 Engine-Out NOx Level journal April 2008
Experiments and Modeling of Dual-Fuel HCCI and PCCI Combustion Using In-Cylinder Fuel Blending journal October 2009
An Experimental Investigation of Fuel Reactivity Controlled PCCI Combustion in a Heavy-Duty Engine journal April 2010
Development of Dual-Fuel Low Temperature Combustion Strategy in a Multi-Cylinder Heavy-Duty Compression Ignition Engine Using Conventional and Alternative Fuels journal May 2013
Numerical and Experimental Investigation of Combustion Regimes in a Dual Fuel Engine conference September 2013
Impact of Cetane Number on Combustion of a Gasoline-Diesel Dual-Fuel Heavy-Duty Multi-Cylinder Engine journal April 2014
In-Cylinder Oxygen Mass Fraction Estimation Method for Minimizing Cylinder-to-Cylinder Variations conference April 2015
Impact of Effective Compression Ratio on Gasoline-Diesel Dual-Fuel Combustion in a Heavy-Duty Engine Using Variable Valve Actuation conference September 2015
Cylinder-to-Cylinder Variations in Power Production in a Dual Fuel Internal Combustion Engine Leveraging Late Intake Valve Closings journal April 2016
Combustion and Exhaust Emissions in a Direct-injection Diesel Engine Dual-Fueled with Natural Gas conference February 1995

Similar Records

Modeling and control of fuel distribution in a dual-fuel internal combustion engine leveraging late intake valve closings
Journal Article · Fri Oct 07 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · International Journal of Engine Research · OSTI ID:1429855
Cylinder-to-Cylinder Variations in Power Production in a Dual Fuel Internal Combustion Engine Leveraging Late Intake Valve Closings
Conference · Fri Apr 01 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · OSTI ID:1502851
Cylinder head for double overhead cam engine
Patent · Mon Nov 10 23:00:00 EST 1986 · OSTI ID:7153655

Related Subjects