Managed by UT-Battellefor the Department of Energy
Enhanced Ethanol EngineAnd Vehicle Efficiency
(Agreement 13425)
Presented by Brian West
Shean Huff, John Thomas,Robert Wagner, Jim Szybist,
Dean Edwards
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Kevin Stork, Dennis Smith, Lee SlezakVehicle Technologies
U.S. Department of Energy
2008 Office of Vehicle Technologies Annual Merit Review Bethesda, Maryland
This presentation does not contain any proprietary or confidential information
February 27, 2008
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Goals and Objectives (Purpose)
• Presidential 20-in-10 initiative and EISA (Energy Independence and Security Act) aim to reduce gasoline consumption • Ethanol a key component to strategy
• Enable reduction of petroleum imports through more efficient use of ethanol
Market Barrier: Tank mileage ofethanol vehicles needs improvement
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Barrier: E85 has 30% lower energy density than gasolineEthanol Fuel Economy Shows Expected Decrease for US FFV Fleet25-30% drop in tank mileage is common consumer complaint about E85
1:1 line
0
5
10
15
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35
0 10 20 30 40 50
2000-2007 EPA Unadjusted Data
Hwy E85
City E85
y = 0.10 + 0.737x R= 0.9842
y = 0.17 + 0.73x R= 0.9778
Etha
nol (
E85)
Fue
l Eco
nom
y (m
pg)
Gasoline Fuel Economy (mpg)
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Optimized FFVs using E85 can displace more gasoline than E10 or conventional FFVs
0.55
0.60
0.65
0.70
0.75
0.80
EtOH in E10Any gasoline vehicle
EtOH in E85Conventional FFVs
EtOH in E85Optimized FFVs
Gal
lons
Gas
olin
e D
ispl
aced
Per g
allo
n Et
hano
l
3% better ηth20
% better ηth
Gallons of gasolinedisplaced per gallonof ethanol
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Approach: Exploit ethanol properties to enhance efficiency
Favorable Properties• High octane number• High latent heat of vaporization• Extended lean combustion limit• Ideal reductant for certain HC SCR
lean NOx control technology
Technologies listed can be combined to close fuel economy gap, provide consumer incentive to use E85, lower petroleum use
Engine Technologies• Turbo or supercharging• Increased compression ratio• Direct injection• Variable valve timing• Cylinder deactivation• Lean burn with advanced lean
NOx catalysts
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Reviewing two projects today with common purpose
• CRADA with Delphi: “Enabling High Efficiency Ethanol Engines”– ORNL/Delphi CRADA focused on modeling and more
fundamental engine experiments• Stoichiometric combustion• ORNL’s variable C/R engine• Delphi SIDI engine
• “Open” (non-CRADA) DOE project on improving Flex-Fuel Vehicle efficiency– Initial focus on lean combustion– Current platform is Saab BioPower FFV
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Ethanol R&D activities underway in multiple labs at ORNL/FEERC NTRC building
New engine cell under development for Delphi Ethanol CRADA. Scheduled completion summer 2008.
Lean-Burn FFV activity in Vehicle Research Lab
Variable Compression Ratio EngineSupporting first phase of Delphi CRADA
Analytical Lab: Exhaust speciation support
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Support – 2/3rd Non-Petroleum Based Fuels R&D,1/3rd Vehicle Systems R&D
Project Start – FY 2008
DELPHI/ORNL CRADA: Enabling High Efficiency Ethanol Engines
Specifics include:
• Stoichiometric combustion
• Variable C/R engine experiments and simulations to explore opportunities of ethanol and blends
• Develop multi-cylinder engine platform– Direct injection, cam-phasing with variable valve lift, Cylinder Pressure
Development Controller (CDPC)– Explore efficiency opportunities identified in earlier simulations and
VCR experiments
• Drive-cycle estimations of efficiency and emissions for conventional and hybrid ethanol-fueled vehicles using Powertrain Systems Analysis Toolkit (PSAT)
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Technical Status & Accomplishments (Delphi CRADA)
• Engine Cell under construction at ORNL to support Delphi CRADA
• Engine build (at Delphi) in progress with expected delivery to ORNL of June 2008
• GT Power and AVL FIRE models developed and in-use to support engine design and operating strategies
• Variable C/R engine at ORNL undergoing conversion to DI. Experiments expected to begin in Spring 2008.
• Baseline ethanol PSAT vehicle model under development
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ORNL 2-cylinder VC/R engine to investigate compression ratio and efficiency limits with ethanol blends (Delphi CRADA)
• Acura Integra head being modified with GDI capability to investigate ethanol charge cooling, anti-knock properties
• 8.5 to 17.5 compression ratio range in PFI configuration, estimated maximum compression ratio of 16.0 in GDI configuration
• Knock-prone conditions to be investigated in experimental matrix (unthrottled, 1000-3000 rpm)
GDI between intake valves
Injector sleeves through coolant
Factory fuel rail modified for 2
cylinders GDI fuel pump
VCR engine
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Lean-Burn opportunities being studied in non-CRADA vehicle project
Approach• Improve efficiency through lean
combustion– Baseline target FFV on E85 and gasoline
– Develop means for closed-loop lean operation
• Assess and address NOx emissions– Acquire Ag/Al2O3 catalysts and develop in-
pipe fuel spray system
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Guidance from FY 2007 review• High scores: Overall score 3.56 out of 4• Positive Comments:
– Excellent industrial partnership in this program – Great progress for a new project…great promise for success– Continued research in E85 optimization is necessary to fully take
advantage of E85 fuel properties– Good collaboration with automotive OEMs to give specific
pertinent feedback on existing powertrains• Weaknesses:
– No mention of ethanol composition/quality. Will that be considered?
– Efforts are needed to promote the availability of E85 in concertwith this sort of vehicle research. If E85 is not made available then there is no need to optimize vehicles for use with E85.
– Try to partner with automotive industry (GM/Saab) to get ECM calibration codes and algorithms where possible.
• Recommendations:– Continue …E85 FFV studies to demonstrate other powertrain
performance areas….gain enhanced performance, particularly fuel economy
Using ASTM grade ethanol and Federal Certification Fuel. Outside
scope to consider effects of contaminants or other quality issues
Not within scope of this project, but 20 in 10 and EISA are promoting
ethanol availability.
Have interest from Saab to try and help with engine controls
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Technical Accomplishments Summary• Demonstrated 3-6% fuel economy improvement in
preliminary lean-burn experiments on 2 FFVs• Acquired and baselined 2007 Saab 9-5 BioPower
FFV (leveraged with OBP)• Fuel economy, emissions, HC speciation• Presentation at SAE Government/Industry Meeting• Transactions paper presented at Fall Powertrain Fluids
Meeting (2007-01-3994)
• Developed intercept control to operate Saab in closed-loop lean mode
• Initial evaluation of Ag/Al2O3 catalysts for lean-burn NOx control
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Saab ECU
Intercept control developed for closed-loop lean operation
Factory EGO
Engine
Factory EGO
Catalyst
Catalyst
Intercept Controller
Saab ECU
Switchbox
UEGO
UEGO
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Intercept control used to accomplish closed-loop lean operation in Saab vehicle
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Time (s)
Spee
d (m
ph)
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1.0
1.1
1.2
1.3
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Lam
bda
( ) λ
Speed(FTP)
Stoich lambda
Lean lambda
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Benefits of Lean-burn to be assessed on Saab BioPower FFV• Wide-range UEGOs
adjacent to factory EGO sensors– Factory EGO signals
intercepted by LabVIEW, biased signals returned to ECU
• Steady cruise and FTP cycle experiments conducted with and without Lean NOxcatalysts
• Need to acquire spark control
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Closed-loop lean burn experiments net improved fuel economy. Lack of spark control limits benefits of lean operation
17.7
18.118.3
18.1
17.4
15.4
14.0
14.5
15.0
15.5
16.0
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18.5
1.0 1.1 1.15 1.2 1.3 1.4
Fuel
Eco
nom
y, m
pg
3.3%Hot LA4 cycle
Target Lambda
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Measuring reductant spray rate and exhaust ethanol concentrations critical to understanding catalyst performance and reductant fuel penalty Excellent agreement between gravimetric ethanol spray rate and gas-phase ethanol measurements (Innova ethanol analyzer)
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0.05
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0.15
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0.30
0.35
0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.35Gravimetric Reductant Mass (g/s)
Cal
cula
ted
Red
ucta
nt M
ass
(g/s
)
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Preliminary Ag/Al2O3 catalyst evaluations show good NOx conversion with low fuel penaltyCatalyst Provided by Catalytic SolutionsExhaust generator: Saab BioPower vehicleLambda: 1.2-1.3; Reductant: E85; SV=40-75k
01020
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60
708090
100
0 2 4 6 8 10 12Hydrocarbon:NOx Ratio (C/N)
NO
xC
onve
rsio
n (%
)
Tin=420
Tin=430
Tin=300
Tin= 290
40k SV
75k SV
Typical HC SCRPerformance
~50k SV
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Summary of Lean-burn experiments using Saab vehicle
• Silver-alumina (Ag/Al2O3) catalysts obtained from Catalytic Solutions in May 2007, canned in June.
• Vehicle exhaust modified to accept silver catalyst(s) downstream of factory TWCs
• Ethanol spray system developed for reductantdelivery
– Gravimetric measurement of reductant spray for accurate fuel penalty assessment
• Initial experiments with E85 reductantresulted in high NOx conversion with HC slip. Catalytic Solutions provided oxidation “clean up” catalysts for follow-on experiments
– Plan to evaluate E85, E95 and E100 reductants– May consider on-board approaches to remove
ethanol from gasoline
• Vehicle fueled from offboard tank to enable gravimetric fuel consumption
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Plans for 2008 and beyond
• Parallel paths to demonstrate lean-burn with advanced catalysts– Intercept control of lambda
with aftermarket spark control
– Complete control with aftermarket controller
– Collaboration with Saab
• Oxidation catalysts for tailpipe “clean up”– Examine E85, denatured
ethanol, neat ethanol, and stripped ethanol
Hardware acquired for custom aftermarket control
Oxidation catalysts
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Tech Transfer, Publications, Collaborations and Industry Interactions• Collaboration/communication with GM and Saab on
9-5 BioPower vehicle baseline experiments• Saab exploring means to support spark control
• Presentation at SAE Government/Industry Meeting, May 2007
• SAE paper 2007-01-3994 at Fall Powertrain Fluids Meeting, Oct 2007• Accepted for SAE Transactions
• Lean NOx and oxidation catalysts provided by Catalytic Solutions
• CRADA with Delphi
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• RelevanceIncreased ethanol vehicle efficiency extends benefit of displacing petroleum with ethanol, while also mitigating market barrier related to tank mileage Directly related to President’s 20 in 10 initiative and EISA
• ApproachVehicle and engine-based experiments to develop and demonstrate relevant advanced technologies that exploit properties of ethanol
• AccomplishmentsDemonstrated improved fuel economy with lean-burn in closed-loop operation. Developed Lean NOx system and demonstrated >90% conversion efficiency.Established CRADA with Delphi
• Tech Transfer/CollaborationWorking closely with industry (GM and Saab), Catalytic Solutions; frequent publication, new CRADA with Delphi.
• Future ResearchComplete drive-cycle lean-burn demonstration with advanced lean-NOx catalyst, conduct advanced combustion research with Delphi in CRADA
Brian West865-946-1231
Enhanced Ethanol Engineand Vehicle Efficiency (Closing Summary)