Search Results

The growing concerns about emissions in internal combustion engines, makes necessary a good prediction of the after-treatment inlet temperature in fast one-dimensional engine simulation codes. Different simple models have been developed during the last years which improve the prediction of the turbocharger heat transfer phenomena. Although these models produce good results when computing the turbine outlet temperature, those models focus on the axial heat transfer paths and lack the capability of producing detailed results about the internal thermal behavior of the turbocharger. In this work, a new version of heat transfer model for automotive turbochargers is presented. This model discretizes the turbocharger in both the radial and axial directions, and computes the heat transfer and temperature at different parts of the machine. Aiming for a low computational cost, it was designed to be compatible with fast one-dimensional engine simulations as a replacement of previous models [1].

In a context of increasing emission regulations, turbocharged gasoline engines are increasingly present in the automotive industry. In particular, the twin-entry and double-entry radial inflow turbines are widespread used technologies to avoid interferences between exhaust process of consecutive firing order cylinders. In this study, a passenger car twin-entry type turbine has been tested under highly pulsating flow conditions by means of a specifically built gas stand, trying to perform pulses with similar features as the ones that can be found in a real reciprocating engine. For this purpose, the turbine has been instrumented with multiple pressure, temperature and mass flow sensors, using a uniquely designed rotating valve for generating the pulses. The test bench setup is flexible enough to perform pulses in both inlet branches separately as well as to use hot or ambient conditions with minimal changes in the installation.

Fuel-to-air ratio stimulation, also called λ cycling or λ modulation, is a natural consequence of controlling fuel-to-air ratio in closed-loop with a switch-type λ-sensor. Nowadays, wideband λ-sensors are broadly extended and fuel-to-air ratio stimulation is an additional option that can or not be implemented in the control strategies to improve TWC conversion efficiency through the increase of the catalyst activity. The present work focus on the suitability of applying fuel-to-air ratio stimulation in a turbocharged GDI engine equipped with a close-coupled TWC. In particular, the influence of the main parameters such as stimulation amplitude and frequency on tailpipe emissions at steady-state conditions is assessed. The potential of λ cycling in order to reduce pollutant emissions in the face of fuel-to-air ratio disturbances has also been evaluated. Results show how a proper λ modulation decreases NOx emissions at lean conditions.