Efficiency improvements with low heat rejection concepts applied to low temperature combustion

摘要

With increasingly stringent governmental regulations on engine emissions such as oxides of nitrogen and particulate matter, there is a strong motivation to decrease the production and release of these harmful substances from internal combustion engines. Simultaneously, there are on-going efforts to increase fuel efficiency to curb usage of natural resources and emission of carbon. In general, improvements in one of these areas comes at the cost of the other; however, the results of a previous computational study have indicated that emissions can be decreased while simultaneously increasing efficiency through the application of low heat rejection (LHR) techniques to low temperature combustion (LTC). The goal of this study is to experimentally validate these findings using a light duty, multi-cylinder diesel engine. LTC is realized through high levels of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) and retarded injection timings while different degrees of LHR are achieved by means of higher coolant temperatures which should serve to decrease the temperature gradients across the cylinder walls. An energy balance is conducted on the engine to ensure the validity of the efficiency findings. The purpose of this preliminary reporting is to show the LTC mode that will be studied with LHR.