On-road chasing measurement of exhaust particle emissions from diesel,CNG, LPG,and DME-fueled vehicles using a mobile emission laboratory

We designed and applied a mobile emission laboratory for on-road measurements of exhaust particles emitted from conventional diesel, compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and dimethyl ether (DME)-fueled vehicles. Fuel type and vehicle driving conditions significantly affected the particle size distribution and the number concentrations of the nucleation mode. For all buses, the size distributions of particles in the exhaust under idling conditions had larger mode diameters than at constant speed conditions of 50 km/h or 80 km/h. The nucleation mode (< 50 nm) fraction of diesel, CNG, LPG, and DME at a constant speed of 50 km/h was 53%, 63%, 79%, and 99%, respectively, indicating that the DME-fueled bus emitted the most nanoparticles. As the vehicle speed increased from 50 km/h to 80 km/h, the nucleation mode fraction of diesel, CNG, LPG, and DME changed to 43%, 99%, 99%, and 99%, representing a significant increase in the number concentrations of nanoparticles in the CNG and LPG-fueled vehicles. The particle size distributions in the exhaust of diesel, CNG, LPG, and DME-fueled vehicles were not affected by increase in the chasing distance.     

Characteristics on NOx adsorption and intermediates of LNT catalyst

Several NOx reduction technologies under development in recent years have now been commercialized, including selective catalytic reduction (SCR) with NH₃ or hydrocarbons, and Lean NOx Trap. The aim of the present study is to investigate characteristics on NOx adsorption according to the oxygen concentration, de-NOx performance according to lean/rich injection cycle and toxic intermediates at LNT downstram for lean-burn gasoline engine. Under oxygen of 6%, NOx storage capacity was the highest, showed the highest NOx conversion of 98%. The reason for this phenomena is because the excited oxygen atoms at high oxygen concentration increased oxidizing power of NO. Under low temperature of 205°C, LNT catalyst showed the least NOx conversion of 14% because its activity became lower, while the generation rate of toxic HNCO was highest as CO which is generated during the rich condition, reacts with NOx stored on Ba site.     

On the structure of weekly activity/travel patterns

Understanding the process of activity scheduling is a critical pre-requisite to an understanding of changes in travel behavior. To examine this process, a computerized survey instrument was developed to collect household activity scheduling data. The instrument is unique in that it records the evolution of activity schedules from intentions to final outcomes for a weekly period. This paper summarizes an investigation of the structure of activity/travel patterns based on data collected from a pilot study of the instrument. The term “structure” refers to the sequence by which various activities enter one’s daily activity scheduling process. Results of the empirical analyses show that activities of shorter duration were more likely to be opportunistically inserted in a schedule already anchored by their longer duration counterparts. Additionally, analysis of travel patterns reveals that many trip-chains were formed opportunistically. Travel time required to reach an activity was positively related to the scheduling horizon for the activity, with more distant stops being planned earlier than closer locations.     

Viable combined cycle design for automotive applications

A relatively new approach for improving fuel economy and automotive engine performance involves the use of automotive combined cycle generation technologies. The combined cycle generation, a process widely used in existing power plants, has become a viable option for automotive applications due to advances in materials science, nanotechnology, and MEMS (Mico-Electro Mechanical Systems) devices. The waste heat generated from automotive engine exhaust and coolant is a feasible heat source for a combined cycle generation system, which is basically a Rankine cycle in the context of this study. However, there are still numerous technical issues that need to be solved before the technology can be implemented in automobiles. A simulation was performed to examine the amount of waste energy that could be recovered through the use of a combined cycle system. A simulation model of the Rankine cycle was developed using Cycle-Tempo software. The simulation model was ultimately used to evaluate the rate of waste heat recovery and the consequential increase in the overall thermal efficiency of the engine with the combined cycle generation system under typical engine operating conditions. The most effective automotive combined cycle system recovered 68% of the waste heat from the exhaust and coolant, resulting in a 6% improvement in engine efficiency. The results are expected to be beneficial for evaluating the feasibility of combined cycle generation systems in automotive applications.     

Modeling and control of an anti-lock brake and steering system for cooperative control on split-mu surfaces

The brake and steering systems in vehicles are the most effective actuators that directly affect the vehicle dynamics. In general, the brake system affects the longitudinal dynamics and the steering system affects the lateral dynamics; however, their effects are coupled when the vehicle is braking on a non-homogenous surface, such as a split-mu road. The yaw moment compensation of the steering control on a split-mu road is one of the basic functions of integrated or coordinated chassis control systems and has been demonstrated by several chassis suppliers. However, the disturbance yaw moment is generally compensated for using the yaw rate feedback or using wheel brake pressure measurement. Access to the wheel brake pressure through physical sensors is not cost effective; therefore, we modeled the hydraulic brake system to avoid using physical sensors and to estimate the brake pressure. The steering angle controller was designed to mitigate the non-symmetric braking force effect and to stabilize the yaw rate dynamics of the vehicle. An H-infinity design synthesis was used to take the system model and the estimation errors into account, and the designed controller was evaluated using vehicle tests.     

Analysis of a large injection-molded body using knowledge-based flow process technology

A knowledge-based flow process is presented for large injection-molded body technology (LIMBT). Injection molding of a large body is a difficult technique because of the many factors and their interactions during the molding process. The proposed flow process can support LIMBT through integration of CAE(Computer-Aided Engineering), CAI (Computer-Aided Inspection), and monitoring systems. CAE and DOE (Design of Experiment) are used to construct an optimal mold design in terms of gates and runners and to identify working conditions for the molding process. CAI and monitoring systems with temperature sensors and pressure sensors can be used to inspect the physical molding process and the molded parts. The flow process of a large body is systematically planned and constructed using a knowledge-based flow process with DOE and computer-aided technologies. The proposed flow process is implemented for the molding process of an automobile front bumper fascia.     

Lateral controller design for an unmanned vehicle via Kalman filtering

This paper proposes a lateral control system for an unmanned vehicle that is designed to improve the responsiveness of the system with the use of a PD control. The vehicle heading error can be stabilized, and the transient response characteristics can be improved using the proposed controller. A mathematical model of the vehicle dynamics using two degrees of freedom was developed for the controller design. The waypoint tracking method for autonomous navigation was tested with incorporation of the Point-to-Point algorithm with position and heading measurements received from GPS receivers via Kalman filtering. The performance of the designed controller was verified through experiments with a real vehicle.     

Current sensorless drive method for electric power steering

This paper proposes a current sensorless drive method by using the mathematical modeling of a surface-mounted permanent magnet synchronous motor (SPMSM) and a dead-time compensation method to reduce the calculated current error caused by differences between real output voltages and voltage commands. The proposed method is implemented by using only a processor algorithm internally, i.e., without any voltage-sensing circuit hardware, such as filtering circuits and current sensor feedback circuits. To show the effectiveness of the proposed method, MATLAB simulations are carried out with an Electric Power Steering (EPS) System containing an SPMSM, a motor drive system and a mechanical gear system. The result shows the validity of the proposed method.     

Hydrodynamic hull form optimization using parametric models

Hydrodynamic optimizations of ship hull forms have been carried out employing parametric curves generated by fairness-optimized B-Spline form parameter curves, labeled as F-Spline. Two functionalities of the parametric geometry models are used in the present study: a constrained transformation function to account for hull form variations and a geometric entity used in full parametric hull form design. The present F-Spline based optimization procedure is applied to two distinct hydrodynamic hull form optimizations: the global shape optimization of an ultra-large container ship and the forebody hull form for the hydrodynamic optimization of an LPG carrier. Improvements of ship performance achieved by the proposed F-Spline procedure are demonstrated through numerical experiments and through correlations with experimental data. The ultra-large containership was built and delivered to the ship owner. The present study validates the effectiveness of the proposed hydrodynamic optimization procedure, ushering in process automation and performance improvement in practical ship design practices.     

STUDY OF EFFECT OF SURFACE-OPTICAL PHONON ON BIPOLARON IN QUANTUM-WELL WIRE

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