MIT Libraries logoDSpace@MIT

MIT
View Item 
  • DSpace@MIT Home
  • MIT Libraries
  • MIT Theses
  • Doctoral Theses
  • View Item
  • DSpace@MIT Home
  • MIT Libraries
  • MIT Theses
  • Doctoral Theses
  • View Item
JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

Control strategy for hydrocarbon emissions in turbocharged direct injection spark ignition engines during cold-start

Author(s)
Cedrone, Kevin David
Thumbnail
DownloadFull printable version (20.08Mb)
Other Contributors
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering.
Advisor
Wai K. Cheng.
Terms of use
M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582
Metadata
Show full item record
Abstract
Gasoline consumption and pollutant emissions from transportation are costly and have serious, demonstrated environmental and health impacts. Downsized, turbocharged direct-injection spark ignition (DISI) gasoline engines consume less fuel and achieve superior performance compared with conventional port fuel injected spark ignition (PFI-SI) engines. Although more efficient, turbocharged DISI engines have new emissions challenges during cold start. DISI fuel injection delivers more liquid fuel into the combustion chamber, increasing the emissions of unburned hydrocarbons. The turbocharger slows down activation (warm-up) of the catalytic exhaust after-treatment system. The objective of this research is to find a control strategy that: 1. Accelerates warm-up of the catalyst, and 2. Maintains low emissions of unburned hydrocarbons (UBHCs) during the catalyst warm-up process. This research includes a broad experimental survey of engine behaviour and emission response for a modern turbocharged DISI engine. The study focuses on the idle period during cold-start for which DISI engine emissions are worst. Engine experiments and simulations show that late and slow combustion lead to high exhaust gas temperatures and mass flow rate for fast warm-up. However, late and slow combustion increase the risk of partial-burn misfire. At the misfire limit for each parameter, the following conclusions are drawn: 1. Late ignition timing is the most effective way to increase exhaust enthalpy flow rate for fast catalyst warm-up. 2. By creating a favourable spatial fuel-air mixture stratification, split fuel injection can simultaneously retard and stabilize combustion to improve emissions and prevent partial-burn misfire. 3. Excessive trapped residuals from long valve overlap limit the potential for valve timing to reduce cold-start emissions. 4. Despite their more challenging evaporation characteristics, fuel blends with high ethanol content showed reasonable emissions behaviour and greater tolerance to late combustion than neat gasoline. 5. Higher exhaust back-pressure leads to high exhaust temperature during the exhaust stroke, leading to significantly more post-flame oxidation. 6. Post-flame oxidation in the combustion chamber and exhaust system play a critical role in decreasing the quantity of catalyst-in emissions due to hydrocarbons that escape primary (flame) combustion. A cold start strategy combining late ignition, 15% excess air, and high exhaust backpressure yielded the lowest cumulative hydrocarbon emissions during cold start.
Description
Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2013.
 
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
 
Includes bibliographical references (p. 185-191).
 
Date issued
2013
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/81693
Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Keywords
Mechanical Engineering.

Collections
  • Doctoral Theses

Browse

All of DSpaceCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionBy Issue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects

My Account

Login

Statistics

OA StatisticsStatistics by CountryStatistics by Department
MIT Libraries
PrivacyPermissionsAccessibilityContact us
MIT
Content created by the MIT Libraries, CC BY-NC unless otherwise noted. Notify us about copyright concerns.