SBIR-STTR Award

The Phase I research aim is to demonstrate how the Army’s objectives; increased fuel economy, power density, and reduced specific heat rejection of high output diesel engines required to operate on battlefield available fuels, are achievable with Sturman technology. To maintain battlefield superiority, future military vehicles require engines with higher specific power output while maintaining or reducing specific heat rejection and fuel consumption. Enabling technology in air-fuel delivery for optimized combustion and advanced combustion strategies is required. Future engines will integrate high-pressure multi-mode fuel injection with fully flexible camless hydraulic valve actuation (HVA), operated and optimized with advanced electronic control algorithms utilizing in-cylinder pressure sensing for combustion feedback. Phase 1 will utilize Sturman’s advanced modeling and analysis techniques, and existing test data, to demonstrate feasibility of this concept. Potential improvements to existing Sturman hardware will be evaluated to optimize performance demonstration in Phase 2. Converting Phase 1 analytical work to practice is the Phase 2 focus; emphasizing quantification of engine performance improvements through dynamometer testing. Achieving the Army’s future engine goals requires utilization of Sturman’s existing technology and knowledge to create a bridge to an advanced control system that fully integrates air and fuel to optimize the combustion process.

Benefits:
Demonstrating the ability to provide superior battlefield engine performance is the overriding benefit of this program. Flexible engine operating modes that can quickly provide an immediate power increase while optimizing cooling efficiency, or enable improved fuel economy and other engine operating objectives, will bring the value needed for future military vehicle power requirements. This level of flexibility provides great advantage to a combat vehicle in the field. Sturman fuel injection technology is currently in production via the G2 injector utilized by International Truck and Engine (ITEC) on the 6.0L V8, 7.6L I6, and 9.3L I6 diesel engines. The G2 injector is being produced under license by Siemens Diesel Systems Technology (SDST) in Columbia, SC. The ITEC 6.0L V8 is sold to Ford Motor Company for widespread use in Ford’s F-series trucks and E-series vans. Sturman is actively involved with numerous engine and vehicle original equipment manufacturers (OEM) and Tier I suppliers who are evaluating the performance benefits and commercial potential for camless HVA. Fully integrating HVA with high pressure fuel injection could greatly extend the benefits of the technologies applied individually; increasing the commercial benefit of the integrated system.

Keywords:
High Pressure Fuel Injection, Camless Hydraulic Valve Actuation, Closed Loop Combustion Control, High Power Density, Emissions, In-Cylinder Pressure Sensor, Diesel Engine, Variable Valve Timing

To maintain battlefield superiority, future military vehicles require engines with higher specific power output while maintaining or reducing specific heat rejection and fuel consumption. To that goal, enabling technologies in air-fuel delivery for optimized combustion and advanced combustion strategies are required. A future engine will integrate high pressure fully flexible fuel injection and camless hydraulic valve actuation subsystems operated by an electronic controller. As a further step, such an engine can also utilize an advanced electronic controller employing in-cylinder pressure sensing for combustion feedback. Such a controller would facilitate various engine management strategies that can lead to improved engine performance beyond the current state-of-the-art. With analytical tools, the Phase I effort identified two strategies that fit the scope of a Phase II effort for implementation. The Phase II effort will carry out the detailed design and procurement of the controller hardware, and the design and programming of the controller software. It will also demonstrate the realized benefits through dynamometer engine testing. Sturman Industries, Inc. is uniquely positioned to procure and to successfully demonstrate this closed loop engine controller due to its available injection, HVA, and controls technologies and its long experience in the field.

Keywords:
High Pressure Fuel Injection, Hydraulic Valve Actuation, Closed Loop Combustion Control, High Power Density, Camless Engine, In-Cylinder Pressure Sens