The Department of Engergy (DOE) has awarded funding to Robert Bosch, LLC as part of 11 research and development projects to improve the efficiency of light-duty vehicle engines. The project will involve Bosch's collaboration with Ricardo, Inc. and the University of Michigan on the development of an optimized flex-fuel vehicle (FFV).
Bosch and its research partners will take a benchmark gasoline-optimized engine with direct injection and turbo charging, and combine hardware modifications with novel sensing and control strategies to build a FFV. The target FFV will be capable of running on any blend of ethanol, up to E-85, with fuel economy close to a conventional gasoline-fueled vehicle, and will meet United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and ultra low emissions vehicle (ULEV) regulations. The DOE award of approximately $1.5 million extends over the three-year project.
"As the global energy sector, which heavily relies on fossil fuels, remains volatile due to security reasons and availability of resources, industries and governments are focusing on alternative energy sources to support our rapidly increasing energy needs," says Hakan Yilmaz, manager of System and Advanced Engineering of Gasoline Systems at Robert Bosch, LLC, and the principle investigator of the project.
Sujit Jain, senior vice president of Powertrain, Gasoline and Transmission Systems at Bosch adds: "Ethanol-based fuels are a reliable and renewable energy source that are especially well-suited for the transportation industry. With Bosch's global expertise in gasoline, ethanol combustion and flexible fuel technologies, we will focus on the U.S. market needs and trends while researching technological advancements to exploit the benefits of ethanol as a fuel."
The DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, through its FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies Program, sponsors research intended to strengthen America's energy security, environmental quality and economic vitality through public-private partnerships. Funding for the Bosch, Ricardo and University of Michigan research program is being provided by the DOE and was chosen through a highly competitive review process of research proposals.
Ricardo will tap its expertise in engine design and engineering services to supplement the research and technology aspects of the FFV program.
"The need to address issues of energy security and climate change through more efficient use of fossil fuels combined with the exploitation of sources of renewable energy is one of the greatest imperatives of our time at both a national and global level," says Dean Harlow, president of Ricardo, Inc. "Ricardo is pleased to be a part of this important research program, which aims to pave the way for the next generation of flex-fuel vehicles."
The University of Michigan will work with Bosch to develop the methodology needed to swiftly estimate the ethanol content of a gasoline-ethanol fuel blend and optimize the engine combustion for the detected fuel blend by adjusting all the critical degrees of freedom available in the engine control unit. The estimation and control development is based on models, and is augmented with feedback laws that ensure robustness to environmental uncertainties, engine component aging and rapid calibration.
"The overall goal is to develop flex-fuel vehicles capable of running on any blend of ethanol—from zero to 85 percent—with minimal or no penalty in usable vehicle range,"says Anna Stefanopoulou, a professor of engineering at the University of Michigan. "This effort will provide the basis for the technological leap required to make flex-fuel vehicles more practical and efficient."
For more information on Robert Bosch, LLC and the flex-fuel vehicle project, visit the compnay's Web site.
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