Context
• Design requirements for automotive propulsion, on and off highway; Technical, energy, environmental, policy constraints. Trade-offs between electric-grid-powered vehicles and
combustion-engines.
• Overview of automotive powertrain technologies (combustion engine configurations and after-treatment, battery-electric systems, KERS, hybrids).
Combustion and fuels:
• Flame temperature and governing equations of combustion (revision; absolute enthalpy; species and temperature equations).
• Chemical kinetics and chemistry of combustion (Global and elementary reactions; reaction mechanisms; hydrocarbon chemistry).
• Dissociation and equilibrium (Equilibrium constants; combustion product composition).
• Autoignition (also, the well-stirred reactor).
• Laminar premixed flames (premixed flame theory; laminar burning velocity; spark ignition and flammability limits).
• Laminar non-premixed flames and droplet combustion (Conserved scalars and the mixture fraction; droplet evaporation and combustion).
• Pollution from combustion (Zel’dovich and extended NOx formation chemistry, CO and HC chemistry, particle formation and oxidation mechanisms).
• Flames and turbulence: (characteristic time and space scales; regimes of turbulent combustion; approaches to modelling turbulent combustion).
• Fossil fuels and alternatives: (fuel ratings, knocking and flame speeds; LNG, LPG, gasoline, diesel, methanol, ethanol, bio-diesel, Fischer-Tropsch).
Design and performance of Spark-Ignition (SI) and Compression-Ignition (CI) engines:
• SI performance and limits to performance:
- Mean effective pressure; efficiency; performance maps.
- Limits to efficiency and pressure: autoignition, rate of combustion, heat losses.
•SI enhancing performance and emissions:
- Improving performance: scavenging efficiency, flow exchange processes and tuning, direct injection.
- Emission control; catalysts and cycle control.
• CI performance and limits to performance:
- Mean effective pressure; efficiency; performance maps.
- Limits to efficiency and pressure: autoignition, rate of combustion, heat losses.
• CI enhancing performance and emissions:
- Fuel injection systems and spray structure
- Multiple injection in CI engines.
- Principles and performance of particle trapping and oxidation systems; Selective Catalytic Reduction.
• Turbocharging: Turbocharger technology and intercooling; turbocharger matching.
Low-carbon propulsion:
• Anticipated developments in combustion engines: downsizing; low-temperature combustion / HCCI; alternative fuels; continuous/longer gearing; hybridization.
• Series and parallel hybrids, and power management.
• Electric motor drive technology (review of technology suited to automotive propulsion –induction, permanent magnet brushless, VRPM, SRM, DC) and performance metrics
• Automotive battery and fuel cell systems – balance of plant requirements, performance metrics.
Power-train testing and simulation:
• Experimental investigation of engine design: performance, combustion behaviour, and emissions (engine dynamometer, fuel maps, mini-map testing; chassis-dyno; legislative drive-cycles).
• Emission measurements (HC, CO, NOx and particulate emissions).
• Optical diagnostics: Data required for in cylinder flow structure, Optical diagnostics (PIV, PTV, LIF, LII, etc.)
• Thermodynamics models, CFD models, averaging techniques, in-cylinder flow and combustion models, modelling flame propagation in SI engines, spray structure and modelling techniques
• Calculation of heat transfer (Eichelberg approach, dimensional analysis, Annand and Woschni models.
• Chemical rate kinetics.
• Hybrid propulsion case-study: Southampton University Peace of Mind Series Hybrid Electric Vehicle.
Revision