The paper describes the development of methanol fueled engines for passenger cars and light duty trucks working both on the compression ignition and glow plug assisted ignition principle.
Special emphasis was laid on development and optimization of the combustion process for both the glow plug assisted and the compression ignition system, the application of the engine management system and the development of the exhaust after-treatment under steady state conditions on the engine dynamometer.
The transient engine development in the test car was carried out on chassis dynamometer and under road conditions. The glow plug assisted direct injection methanol engine was in addition equipped with oxidation catalysts for this development program.
Additionally, the main purpose of the DI-methanol engine development was to demonstrate the feasibility for its use as a powertrain for passenger cars and light duty trucks to achieve a high break thermal efficiency equal to the comparable diesel engine.
The emission results show that with both engine types the achievement of US 1994 emission limits will be possible, including a very low aldehyde emission level.