The Potential Fuel Consumption of a Truck Engine plus Rankine Cycle System, derived from Performance Measurements over Steady State and Transient Test Cycles at Constant Emissions Levels

摘要

A significant driver for the development of future commercial vehicles is the introduction offuel consumption related legislation around the world. The application of a waste heatrecovery system, via the Rankine Cycle, is seen as a possible technology, amongst many,to help achieve this legislation.Following on from the results of theoretical studies, which were presented at the ViennaMotorsymposium in 2009, a representative heavy duty commercial vehicle engine runningon the test bed at Euro VI emissions levels has been fitted with a complete prototypeRankine Cycle system. This combination has been tested successfully under steady stateand transient conditions in order to establish the feasibility and potential of the technology.With these prototype components and a system using heat from the EGR and tailpipeexhaust gas downstream of the aftertreatment, it has been found that the expansionmachine can generate up to 5% of the primary engine power: proving the potential of thetechnology to deliver significant vehicle fuel consumption improvements under realisticoperating conditions.The results of these investigations are presented in this paper along with an outlook for thefuture, discussing the issues related to bringing this technology into the market and itsinteraction with other aspects, such as the vehicle cooling system, the emissions strategyand possible electrical hybridization.