• Nice
• HyIce
• Green
• Timecop-AE
• Hi-Ceps
• Ipsy
• Pagode
• Eco-Engines
• Ulysses

NICE

Efforts to cut automobile pollutant and CO2 emissions led to a timeline mapping out powertrain-technology targets through 2015. Europe’s automotive industry tendered its New Integrated Combustion System for Future Passenger Car Engines (NICE) program – its contribution to the first four-year stage in that timeline – in 2003.

The main goal, here, is to fine-tune a new combustion system that will enhance diesel-engine efficiency to the maximum feasible extent (43%) without increasing polluting emissions. Doing so will involve breaking new ground in five areas, and thereby attaining a solution beyond established diesel and Otto cycle limitations. These five key areas follow:

• HCCI diesel oil combustion,
• innovative engine technologies for fine-turning combustion processes,
• combustion with gaseous fuels,
• alternative fuels,
• numerical modeling and forecasting tools.

IFP’s role in the NICE project involves pooling its expertise in the field of combustion (streamlining engine-fuel combinations, principally) and its experience developing 3D models for engine combustion (ECFM3z for example).

Numerical-calculation analysis followed by tests on a single-cylinder engine honed the specs for a new chamber that proved conducive to homogeneous diesel combustion. This chamber provides an extended HCCI range and paves the transition towards the conventional combustion area. Combined with alternative fuels of the right cetane number, it enhances homogeneous combustion utilization potential by broadening the range while reducing consumption and mitigating pollutant emissions. The next step involved transposing this chamber onto a multi-cylinder Renault engine with a high-efficiency Delphi injection system and an original Mechadyne variable-valve system. This should lead to optimum parameter calibration and thereby achieve NVH-compliant emission and consumption levels. Renault will then build a demonstrator.

HyICE

IFP was involved in HyICE, another European project, alongside nine partners (BMW, Hoerbiger Valve Tech., Man, Mecel Engine Systems, University of the German Federal Armed Forces Munich, Volvo Tech. Corp., University of Graz, Ford Germany and ANSYS Germany). Irion Management Consulting served as the lead.

This three-year-long (January 2004 through January 2007) FP6 project’s mandate involved developing expertise to run conventional combustion engines on hydrogen, and to supply suitable associated components and development tools. It worked on two injection strategies (one for each storage solution):

• direct gaseous hydrogen injection (a concept completely unrelated to standard liquid fuel injection),
• indirect cryogenic hydrogen injection.

The 3D simulation teams at IFP’s Energy Applications Techniques Division worked on this project developing models to simulate hydrogen-air mix formation and combustion, and NOx formation. HyICE engine tests then corroborated model findings. Comparing model and test results showed that IFP models provided accurate engine-behavior forecasts on both direct injection and indirect (cryogenic) injection alike.

GREEN

IFP is also working on GREEN (Green Heavy Duty Engine), a Volvo-run European project. This project’s partners include:

• industrial firms (Volvo, Bosch, Fiat, Daimler Chrysler, Delphi, Ford, Iveco, Johnson Mattey, etc.),
• research centers (IFP, FEV, AVL, Ricardo, etc.),
• universities (Valencia, Turin, Athens, Zurich).

This project involves engineering a new generation of heavy-duty diesel engines. The targets (cutting back NOx emissions down to 0.5 g/kW.h and particulate emissions down to 0.002 g/kW.h) are tantamount to dividing the toughest existing targets by four and ten respectively. Doing so while keeping – or indeed reducing – fuel consumption is another goal.

Partners are broaching the challenge from several angles (using natural gas, enhancing fuel ratings, improving intake-air utilization, and highly versatile injection and/or valve-timing systems).

IFP’s role involves appraising fuels and how they can impact emissions and efficiency in a heavy-duty homogeneous-combustion engine.

TIMECOP-AE

TIMECOP-AE, another FP6 project, kicked off in June 2006 for a four-year period. It counts:

• 6 industrial firms (Turbomeca, Rolls-Royce Germany, Rolls Royce, MTU Aero Engines, SNECMA and AVIO),
• 9 research centers (IFP, CERFACS, ONERA, DLR, Toulouse INP, CNRS, CRSA, ICEHT and CIEMAT),
• 8 universities (Cambridge, Darmstadt, Karlsruhe, Eindhoven, Imperial College, Loughborough, Czestochowa and Rome).

These partners are working to fine-tune prediction methods that will help engineers develop the aircraft-engine combustion systems of the future, which are facing increasingly stringent pollution-abatement regulations and the need to cut back fuel consumption. IFP’s role in TIMECOP-AE involves developing ignition models that will suit aircraft engines, using an LES (Large Eddy Simulation) approach.

Hi-CEPS

Hi-CEPS (Highly Integrated Combustion Electric Propulsion System), another FP6 project, is investigating innovative and economical hybrid architectures for production vehicles due to reach the European market in 2010/2012.

This project counts three European vehicle manufacturers, five equipment suppliers, three research institutes, six engineering firms and six universities.

They are developing three hybrid-vehicle configurations using three different internal-combustion engines (gasoline, diesel and NGV) and an associated pollution-abatement system, and will be testing them on dedicated benches or hybrid-vehicle prototypes.

IFP has been heavily involved in powertrain-system modeling and simulation for several years now (via the IFP libraries developed in AMESim® environments). IFP’s role in the Hi-CEPS project involves tapping its expertise in this field to fine-tune the hybrid powertrain simulation tools that will be used to run various studies. The tests will mainly focus on assessing different vehicle thermal management solutions (recovering and storing energy, heating and air conditioning, etc.). The findings will provide pointers towards development opportunities in the three configurations under review.

>> More information on the Hi-CEPS project

IPSY

FEV is leading IFP, the Instituto Motori, Valencia, Aix la Chapelle and Krakow universities, the Aerosol and Particulate Technology Laboratory, and CIDAUT on this project.

The goal, here, is to hone down after-treatment technology to cut particulate emissions on tomorrow’s diesel engines – which will have increasingly wide HCCI ranges to meet pending Euro VI standards. Partners are focusing on engineering a filter medium that will maximize soot combustion at low temperatures.

IFP is involved in defining the future systems’ operating conditions (temperature and emission-concentration levels, particulate characteristics and reactivity, etc.). It is also running fine-tuning and final-clearance tests on a bench using an HCCI engine built based on IFP’s NADI^TM concept.

PAGODE

Fiat Research Centre, Johnson Matthey, IFP, Chalmers University, the Aerosol and Particulate Technology Laboratory, and SUPELEC, are pooling their expertise in this project that PSA is running.

They are working together to develop after-treatment technology that will cut unburnt-hydrocarbon and carbon-monoxide emissions on future diesel engines, which will run on broader homogeneous-combustion (HCCI) ranges to meet pending Euro VI standards. Their main focus is optimizing oxidation catalysis (diesel alone and cold plasma-assisted).

IFP is involved in defining these future systems’ operating conditions (temperature and emission-concentration levels, unburnt-hydrocarbon speciation, etc.). It is also running systems through fine-tuning and final-evaluation tests on test benches using an IFP NADITM concept HCCI engine.

ECO-ENGINES

The Eco-Engines network of excellence – which is funded by the EC under FP6 and run by IFP – is charged with federating research on advanced engine combustion systems (HCCI, CAI and CCS, for instance) focusing on alternative and renewable fuels across Europe.

This project fits into the European Commission’s efforts to develop and promote environment-friendlier next-generation road vehicles, using cleaner and renewable energy sources.

Eco-Engines research spans:

• experimental techniques (including optical diagnostics and ultra-low-emission measurement),
• engine combustion simulation (system to 3D),
• fuel/engine couples,
• engine control.

The 23 partners working on this project include universities, research centers, vehicle manufacturers, oil companies, gas companies, and equipment suppliers from nine European countries.

IFP is serving as this network’s coordinator, liaising directly with the European Commission. IFP engineers have taken part reviewing the state of the art and defining best practices in all this network’s research fields. IFP also ran joint efforts to organize European summer workshops on advanced combustion modes in engines. The first workshop took place in July 2006 at IFP, and the 2nd in Valencia, Spain, in July 2007.

>> More information on the Eco-Engines project

ULYSSES

This European coordination program aims to build a platform to facilitate information exchanges and strategic planning for EC-funded research projects dealing with IC-engine-powered ground-propulsion technology.

These new technologies include hybrid concepts with combustion engines, and plans involve stretching them to applications such as rail, sea and river transport. Alternative and renewable fuels rank high on this project’s agenda.

Its goals follow:

• identifying links between projects within its scope,
• promoting project integration to facilitate synergies and generate technology transfer,
• accelerating EC-project result dissemination and analysis.

IFP is pooling its expertise in fuel production and fuel-engine couples, and in tapping fundamental-research findings.

>> More information on the Ulysses project