Southwest Research Institute 2008 Annual Report, Office of Automotive Engineering

Southwest Research Institute applies and develops innovative technologies to meet client needs, while maintaining superior quality. Our programs in fuels and lubricants research and the ever-growing areas of emissions reduction and fuel economy have served government and industry clients in the United States and abroad for more than 60 years.

Our staff is working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, with assistance from our Beijing staff, to solve problems stemming from the rapidly expanding economy, transportation technology, and energy needs in China and throughout Asia (chinaoffice.swri.org). Working with the U.S. EPA, the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau and China’s State Environmental Protection Administration, we helped retrofit 20 diesel buses with emissions control equipment in Beijing. The three technologies we applied reduced particulates by about 20 percent using diesel oxidation catalysts, 50 percent using flowthrough filters and 90 percent using high-efficiency wallflow filters when combined with low-sulfur fuel. The success of this project led to a similar effort in Pune, India.

From our Ann Arbor location, we are supporting the EPA Clean Automotive Technology program as it strives to improve fuel economy and reduce carbon dioxide emissions (annarbor.swri.org). We developed and installed custom electronic control systems for hydraulic pump motors on prototype hydraulic hybrid vehicles operating as on-road demonstrators, and we are applying emissions reduction technologies that may also help conserve fuel.

Fuels and Lubricants Research

Our staff develops unique test cells and equipment to ensure fluids and components meet client or industry specifications (teststanddevelopment.swri.org). We designed and built a new test cell for a family of prototype diesel engines ranging in size from 325 to 975 horsepower. The system evaluates engine performance, including output power, fuel consumption, response and other engine characteristics. To support the next generation of 30,000-hp heavy-lift helicopters, we also developed a system to test the tail rotor gearbox, meeting challenging space and operational requirements.

Working with the EPA SmartWay Transport Partnership to identify fuel-efficient transportation alternatives, SwRI is studying the environmental performance of heavy-duty diesel trucks, using various test cycles, test equipment and environmental conditions (fueleconomytesting.swri.org). EPA will use the results of this testing, along with related research, analyses and stakeholder input, to develop uniform test procedures and test cycles to evaluate the fuel efficiency and emissions of commercial truck designs and equipment. In the future, this performance-based test method will be used to determine eligibility for EPA SmartWay designation of medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicles.

We collect and analyze fuel samples from across the country, providing valuable information about the quality of fuels available at service stations nationwide (fuelanalysis.swri.org). Recently, we implemented a website that allows select fuel conformance clients immediate access to analysis data, enabling suppliers to rapidly correct problems identified at point-of-sale locations.

Common rail fuel systems are particularly sensitive to premature wear from contamination despite the use of standard filtration systems. For a six-member industry consortium, SwRI is determining the critical abrasive particle size that initiates abrasive wear in these fuel systems in order to develop a filtration rating system and test protocol to improve the durability and performance of these precision fuel injection systems (filtration.swri.org).

SwRI operates the U.S. Army Tank and Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) Fuels and Lubricants Research Facility, a government-owned laboratory that helps the military meet its operational and readiness requirements associated with fuels, lubricants and other vehicle fluids. For the U.S. Army, we are developing a potentially life-saving fire-resistant fuel for ground vehicles. Staff members are incorporating water into fuel in the form of an emulsion so that if the fuel catches fire, the water rises to the surface and extinguishes the flame.

Using our extensive experience designing and operating advanced engine, vehicle and emissions research facilities, we are also helping TARDEC expand a vehicle evaluation facility at its Warren, Michigan, site. The addition will add new space and capabilities for evaluating the next generation of advanced vehicles, including hybrids, and their supporting technologies.

Using internal research funding, our staff evaluated several techniques for extracting pollutants from diesel emission soot, specifically from engines equipped with oxidative catalytic converters. Using a high-resolution gas chromatograph–mass spectrometer and sophisticated measurement techniques, we accurately quantified a substantial number of organic pollutants and identified, for the first time, many oxygen-containing pollutants in the soot. This technique allows researchers to evaluate the types and quantities of minute yet potentially harmful diesel pollutants produced with the use of oxidative catalytic converters.

Engine, Emissions and Vehicle Research

In an era of global warming and rising fuel costs, producing clean, energy-efficient engines is more important than ever. SwRI organizes industry consortia, which allow clients to pool research funds to leverage their investment and share in the intellectual property. Our High-Efficiency Dilute Gasoline Engine (hedge.swri.org) consortium applies proprietary SwRI technology to gasoline engines, resulting in significant fuel efficiency improvements while producing near-zero emissions.

Our heavy-duty diesel engine benchmarking program evaluates competitive engines to characterize their performance, emissions and technology (benchmarking.swri.org). The resulting data sets are of great interest to companies that manufacture or use diesel engines, components and after-treatment systems.

In 2008, SwRI engineers completed an exhaust emissions characterization project known as the Advanced Collaborative Emissions Study. ACES characterized the emissions of four modern (2007) heavy-duty diesel engines made by Caterpillar, Detroit Diesel, Cummins and Volvo, including regulated emissions, ultrafine and nanoparticles, and as many as 800 unregulated gas and particle compounds (emissionsresearch.swri.org). The Coordinating Research Council and the Health Effects Institute, with funding from the Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, Engine Manufacturers Association, California Air Resources Board, American Petroleum Institute, Corning Inc. and ArvinMeritor, sponsored the study.

Amid heightened energy prices, consumers are demanding more fuel-efficient vehicles. To reduce automotive fuel consumption, SwRI is evaluating technologies that could improve automatic transmission efficiency by reducing speed- and torque-dependent drag losses in production drivetrains. Potential concepts are targeting viscous fluid shear losses, pumping losses, bearing and gear losses, transmission architecture, lubrication control strategies and others.

Staff members are designing a new 3.3-liter, four-cylinder diesel engine for off-road vehicles, such as forklift trucks and small construction equipment, to help off-highway equipment manufacturers meet current and future emissions requirements (enginedesign.swri.org). We are now working on the performance and emissions development phase of the new engine, with durability testing slated to begin early in 2009.

Our burner-based catalyst aging system, R-FOCAS®, is making inroads as a low-cost alternative to engine-based aging (focas.swri.org). In addition to selling and deploying systems worldwide, a Detroit-based automotive component testing company is also offering aging services to original equipment manufacturers and suppliers beginning this year. The R-FOCAS uses higher aging temperatures, compared to engine aging systems, to reduce the time required to age catalysts, thereby reducing aging costs while improving test consistency.

Hybrid vehicles have become a core segment of the present and near future automotive market. SwRI is evaluating hybrid vehicle powertrain and energy storage components for current and proposed hybrid vehicle designs (hybrid.swri.org) to characterize components and verify efficiency improvements.

Copyright© 2008 by Southwest Research Institute. All rights reserved under U.S. Copyright Law and International Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, without permission in writing from the publisher. All inquiries should be addressed to the Communications Department, Southwest Research Institute, P.O. Drawer 28510, San Antonio, Texas 78228-0510, phone (210) 522-3305, fax (210) 522-3547.