Identification of Potential Efficiency Opportunities in Internal Combustion Engines Using a Detailed Thermodynamic Analysis of Engine Simulation Results

Current political and environmental concerns are driving renewed efforts to develop techniques for improving the efficiency of internal combustion engines. A detailed thermodynamic analysis of an engine and its components from a 1^st and 2^nd Law perspective is necessary to characterize system losses and to identify efficiency opportunities. We have developed a method for performing this analysis using simulation results from commercially available engine-modeling software packages such as WAVE^® from Ricardo, Inc., and GT-Power™ from Gamma Technologies, Inc. Results from the simulation are post-processed to compute thermodynamic properties such as internal energy, enthalpy, entropy, and availability (or exergy) which are required to perform energy and availability balances for the system. This analysis is performed for all major engine components (turbocharger, intercooler, EGR cooler, etc.) and for the engine as a whole as a function of crank angle over an entire engine cycle. With this information, we are able to identify potential efficiency opportunities as well as guide engine experiments for exploring new technologies for recovering system losses.