Three-Way Catalyst Light-off During the NEDC Test Cycle: Fully Coupled 0D/1D Simulation of Gasoline Combustion, Pollutant Formation and Aftertreatment Systems

The introduction of more stringent standards for engine emissions requires a steady development of engine control strategies in combination with efforts to optimize in-cylinder combustion and exhaust gas aftertreatment.

With the goal of optimizing the overall emission performance this study presents the comprehensive simulation approach of a virtual vehicle model. A well established 1D gas dynamics and engine simulation model is extended by four key features. These are models for combustion and pollutant production in the cylinder, a model for the conversion of pollutants in a catalyst and a model for the effect of manifold wall wetting and fuel evaporation. The general species transport feature is linking these model together as it allows to transport an arbitrary number of chemical species in the entire system. Finally this highly detailed engine model is integrated into a vehicle model.

The presented model is used to investigate the effect of retarded spark timing on the engine out emissions and the tailpipe emissions during the first 60 seconds of the NEDC emission test cycle. Based on the presented results one can conclude that this simulation approach has the potential to reduce the number of experiments on a roller dynamometer in future.