Publisher's Synopsis
Although internal combustion engines have been used for more than a century, significant improvements in energy efficiency and emissions reduction are still possible. In fact, boosting the efficiency of internal combustion engines is one of the most promising and cost-effective approaches to increasing vehicle fuel economy. Over the past several years, road transportation has seen some significant advances in what are considered alternative technologies. Energy storage, electric drive systems, and fuel cell technology all seem to be poised to find a significant place in the automotive marketplace. But it would be a mistake to believe that such technologies will completely sweep aside what has come before. Instead, the internal combustion engine will continue to be integral to the transportation of people and goods for the foreseeable future. That is not to say that things will stay as they are now. The engine is undergoing a significant evolution of its own, as new fuel economy and emissions standards in the light-duty and heavy-duty sectors push the development of new technologies on an unprecedented scale toward the theoretical limits of engine operation. Coupled with continuing research into fundamental engine processes, the introduction of affordable high-performance computing, and the adoption of advanced manufacturing techniques throughout industry, those new technologies are leading to potentially disruptive opportunities for the introduction of engines with extraordinarily high efficiencies. How these new engines perform and how they will be integrated into new vehicle architectures will be the story of personal mobility for this half of the 21st century. Advances in Internal Combustion Engines and Fuel Technologies emphasizes the imperative need for more efficient and environment friendly combustion technologies that utilize renewable fuels to be continuously developed and adopted. In the future and across the developed and emerging markets of the world, the range of fuels used will significantly increase as biofuels, new fossil fuel feedstock and processing methods, as well as variations in fuel standards continue to influence all combustion technologies used now and in coming streams. This presents a challenge requiring better understanding of how the fuel mix influences the combustion processes in various systems. The book allows extremes of the theme to be covered in a simple yet progressive way. The internal combustion engine has seen a remarkable evolution over the past century. Before 1970 the evolution of engine design was driven by a quest for performance and an increase in octane in the fuel supply. Since then, however, the imperative was the need to meet new emissions and fuel economy regulations. Game-changing advances in recent years are improvements in engine technologies, sensors, and onboard computing power. This combination of technologies will enable unprecedented control of the combustion process, which in turn will enable real-world implementations of low-temperature combustion and other advanced strategies as well as improved robustness and fuel flexibility. In fact, technological advances are blurring our historical distinction between spark-ignition and compression-ignition engines. Although internal combustion engines have been used for more than a century, significant improvements in energy efficiency and emissions reduction are still possible. In fact, boosting the efficiency of internal combustion engines is one of the most promising and cost-effective approaches to increasing vehicle fuel economy. Over the past several years, road transportation has seen some significant advances in what are considered alternative technologies. Energy storage, electric drive systems, and fuel cell technology all seem to be poised to find a significant place in the automotive marketplace. But it would be a mistake to believe that such technologies will completely sweep aside what has come before. Instead, the internal combustion engine will continue to be integral to the transportation of people and goods for the foreseeable future. That is not to say that things will stay as they are now. The engine is undergoing a significant evolution of its own, as new fuel economy and emissions standards in the light-duty and heavy-duty sectors push the development of new technologies on an unprecedented scale toward the theoretical limits of engine operation. Coupled with continuing research into fundamental engine processes, the introduction of affordable high-performance computing, and the adoption of advanced manufacturing techniques throughout industry, those new technologies are leading to potentially disruptive opportunities for the introduction of engines with extraordinarily high efficiencies. How these new engines perform and how they will be integrated into new vehicle architectures will be the story of personal mobility for this half of the 21st century. Advances in Internal Combustion Engines and Fuel Technologies emphasizes the imperative need for more efficient and environment friendly combustion technologies that utilize renewable fuels to be continuously developed and adopted. In the future and across the developed and emerging markets of the world, the range of fuels used will significantly increase as biofuels, new fossil fuel feedstock and processing methods, as well as variations in fuel standards continue to influence all combustion technologies used now and in coming streams. This presents a challenge requiring better understanding of how the fuel mix influences the combustion processes in various systems. The book allows extremes of the theme to be covered in a simple yet progressive way. The internal combustion engine has seen a remarkable evolution over the past century. Before 1970 the evolution of engine design was driven by a quest for performance and an increase in octane in the fuel supply. Since then, however, the imperative was the need to meet new emissions and fuel economy regulations. Game-changing advances in recent years are improvements in engine technologies, sensors, and onboard computing power. This combination of technologies will enable unprecedented control of the combustion process, which in turn will enable real-world implementations of low-temperature combustion and other advanced strategies as well as improved robustness and fuel flexibility. In fact, technological advances are blurring our historical distinction between spark-ignition and compression-ignition engines. Although internal combustion engines have been used for more than a century, significant improvements in energy efficiency and emissions reduction are still possible. In fact, boosting the efficiency of internal combustion engines is one of the most promising and cost-effective approaches to increasing vehicle fuel economy. Over the past several years, road transportation has seen some significant advances in what are considered alternative technologies. Energy storage, electric drive systems, and fuel cell technology all seem to be poised to find a significant place in the automotive marketplace. But it would be a mistake to believe that such technologies will completely sweep aside what has come before. Instead, the internal combustion engine will continue to be integral to the transportation of people and goods for the foreseeable future. That is not to say that things will stay as they are now. The engine is undergoing a significant evolution of its own, as new fuel economy and emissions standards in the light-duty and heavy-duty sectors push the development of new technologies on an unprecedented scale toward the theoretical limits of engine operation. Coupled with continuing research into fundamental engine processes, the introduction of affordable high-performance computing, and the adoption of advanced manufacturing techniques throughout industry, those new technologies are leading to potentially disruptive opportunities for the introduction of engines with extraordinarily high efficiencies. How these new engines perform and how they will be integrated into new vehicle architectures will be the story of personal mobility for this half of the 21st century. Advances in Internal Combustion Engines and Fuel Technologies emphasizes the imperative need for more efficient and environment friendly combustion technologies that utilize renewable fuels to be continuously developed and adopted. In the future and across the developed and emerging markets of the world, the range of fuels used will significantly increase as biofuels, new fossil fuel feedstock and processing methods, as well as variations in fuel standards continue to influence all combustion technologies used now and in coming streams. This presents a challenge requiring better understanding of how the fuel mix influences the combustion processes in various systems. The book allows extremes of the theme to be covered in a simple yet progressive way. The internal combustion engine has seen a remarkable evolution over the past century. Before 1970 the evolution of engine design was driven by a quest for performance and an increase in octane in the fuel supply. Since then, however, the imperative was the need to meet new emissions and fuel economy regulations. Game-changing advances in recent years are improvements in engine technologies, sensors, and onboard computing power. This combination of technologies will enable unprecedented control of the combustion process, which in turn will enable real-world implementations of low-temperature combustion and other advanced strategies as well as improved robustness and fuel flexibility. In fact, technological advances are blurring our historical distinction between spark-ignition and compression-ignition engines.