The Effects of Cylinder Deactivation on the Thermal Behaviour and Performance of a Three Cylinder Spark Ignition Engine

Abstract

Michael (2016) The effects of cylinder deactivation on the thermal behaviour and performance of a three cylinder spark ignition engine. SAE International Journal of Engines, 9 (4). ISSN 1946-3944 Access from the University of Nottingham repository: http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/40940/1/2016-01-2160.pdf Copyright and reuse:The Nottingham ePrints service makes this work by researchers of the University of Nottingham available open access under the following conditions. This article is made available under the University of Nottingham End User licence and may be reused according to the conditions of the licence. For more details see: http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/end_user_agreement.pdf A note on versions:The version presented here may differ from the published version or from the version of record. If you wish to cite this item you are advised to consult the publisher's version. Please see the repository url above for details on accessing the published version and note that access may require a subscription.For more information, please contact eprints@nottingham.ac.uk INTRODUCTIONIn recent years, the downsizing of direct injection spark ignition engines for light duty automotive applications has made a major contribution to improving the fuel economy of private passenger vehicles. Turbocharging and direct injection fuelling have been key technologies which allow smaller capacity engines to be used to meet required power and torque output requirements. These smaller engines operate at higher cylinder mean effective pressures across the load range than the engines they supersede. At part-load, throttling losses are reduced, gross indicated thermal efficiency is improved and reductions in engine capacity reduce friction power losses. The improvements under part-load conditions make a strong contribution to improving vehicle fuel consumption over drive cycles such as the New European Drive Cycle (NEDC).Downsized engines with a swept capacity of around 1.0litre are most commonly three-cylinder designs. Further downsizing by reducing cylinder capacity or the number of cylinders is possible, but other directions of technical innovation may be preferred for the next generation of small engines. One area of technology receiving attention is cylinder deactivation as a means of reducing the effective cylinder displacement for light load operation. Past applications in the automotive area have commonly been to relatively large displacement engines with six or more cylinders [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. Since 2012, however, VW have produced a 1.4l, 4 cylinder TSI engine with Active Cylinder Technology [2]. This enables the deactivation of two of the four cylinders within an envelope of light load operating conditions. Ford have also reported exploring the application of cylinder deactivation to the three cylinder 1.0l Ford EcoBoost engine [3], [9].Various systems for deactivating cylinders have been described in the literature, including systems which eliminate piston reciprocation to reduce friction [10] or deactivate all cylin...

Impact of Cylinder Deactivation Strategies on Three-Way Catalyst Performance in High Efficiency Low Emissions Engines

“…Each test was completed at steady state conditions at an engine speed of 2000 rpm and a load of 30 Nm. This part load condition was selected as it is typical of urban vehicle operation where CDA benefits have been observed previously [12]. The experimental conditions are shown in Table 1 both for the open-loop and closed-loop lambda for each fuel cut duration.…”

Overview of the potential and limitations of cylinder deactivation

“…There are thermodynamic losses resulting from motoring deactivated cylinders. Simulations of a downsized three-cylinder engine with a displacement of 1.0 l showed that these losses are quite low, 2.2-3.2 J/rev [68]. One of the biggest challenges is frictional losses with their nonlinear dependence on engine load.…”

“…Another consequence of CDA is an increase in the temperature of the components. The biggest temperature changes on 1.0 l three-cylinder engine occur in the upper section of the cylinder liners and the lower part of the exhaust valves, where the temperature reached 397°C [68]. The highest boundary friction occurs at TDC of the deactivated cylinder, therefore, CDA can cause higher wear, especially due to reduced lubricant film thickness and pressure peaks inside the cylinder [72].…”

Combustion and Exhaust Emission Improvement in a 3-Cylinder Mpfi Engine Through Downsizing

“…Boretti and Scalco reported that the Cadillac "Modulated Displacement" engine, which operates in V-8-6-4 modes, was initially introduced by General Motors in 1981 (Boretti and Scalco 2011). A deactivated cylinder is chosen based on engine features such as thermal, dynamic, metallurgical, and packaging issues (Bech, Shayler, and McGhee 2016). At part load, the turbocharged spark ignition and 4-cylinder compression ignition engines reduce exhaust emissions.…”