Turbo-Discharging Turbocharged Internal Combustion Engines

A.M. Williams, A.T. Baker, C.P. Garner and R. Vijayakumar

Wolfson School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering

Loughborough University, Leicestershire LE11 3TU, UK

Abstract

Turbo-discharging is a novel approach that can better utilise the energy recoverable by

a turbine (or series of turbines) mounted in the exhaust flow of internal combustion (IC)

engines. The recovery of blowdown pulse energy in isolation of displacement pulse

energy allows the discharging (depressurisation) of the exhaust system to reduce

engine pumping work and improve engine fuel economy. This is a novel approach to

air system optimisation that has previously been studied for naturally aspirated engines.

However, to be successful, turbo-discharging should be applicable to turbocharged

engines as downsizing is a promising direction for future powertrain systems.

This study uses one-dimensional gas dynamics modelling to explore the effect of turbo-

discharging on a turbocharged gasoline engine, particularly focusing on the interaction

with the turbocharging system. The results show that the peak engine torque is

increased at low to mid speeds with high speed torque slightly reduced due to

restrictions in engine breathing with low lift exhaust valves. The engine peak torque as

a function of speed with a larger turbocharger with turbo-discharging was comparable

1
to that of the smaller turbocharger without turbo-discharging. Fuel economy

improvements were evident over most part load regions of the engine map with peak

values varying from 2 to >7% depending on the baseline engine air system strategy.

Hot trapped residual mass was consistently reduced across a large fraction of the

engine map with the exception of high power conditions where the valve pressure drop

effect dominated.

The results from this study are promising and show that the use of some of the

available exhaust gas energy for turbo-discharging in preference to turbocharging can

have a positive effect on both part load and full load engine performance. There

remains significant potential for further optimisation with application of variable valve

actuation and turbocharger control systems (e.g. variable geometry turbines and

waste-gating).

1. Introduction

Internal combustion (IC) engines are used widely due to their high power density, low

cost, robustness and their ability to run on a variety of high energy density fuels derived

from multiple sources[1]. Significant deviations from the use of IC engines as the prime

energy conversion technologies for transportation, machinery and power generation

such as full electric vehicles and fuel cells do not yet offer all of these advantages.

Therefore, IC engines are widely accepted to be an integral part of the international

energy system for the foreseeable future[2]. Increased powertrain electrification will

enable significant energy flow optimisation, however, the conversion of liquid fuels to

2
mechanical work still has significant potential for energy conversion efficiency

improvements in support of wider efforts to reduce impact on resource depletion and

climate change. Indeed, the industry is responding with advancements in a number of

ways including control strategies; reduction of ancillary demand; parasitic losses; waste

energy recovery and thermodynamic improvements[3][4][5][6]. This paper describes the

latest research into turbo-discharging, a novel air system technology that, as far as the

authors are aware, is a unique approach to achieving fundamental thermodynamic

improvements to IC engine operation.

The interaction of engine air systems (both intake and exhaust gas pathways) with the

thermodynamic performance of the engine and the overall thermal efficiency is multi-

faceted. The intake air system is considered here to include the air filtration system, the

turbocharging system, the cooled exhaust gas recirculation system (if applicable) and

the intake valves. The exhaust gas system is considered here to include the exhaust

valves, turbocharging system, aftertreatment system and flow tuning and noise control

systems. The engine’s air system has a significant impact on the peak engine torque

and power, the cycle temperatures (and therefore emissions), and the thermal

efficiency of the engine. A turbine mounted in the exhaust flow recovers energy from

the exhaust gas that is passing through it, however, it is important to recognise that

only a fraction of the energy available to the turbine can be considered ‘normally

wasted’ energy. Figure 1 shows the idealised thermodynamic properties on a pressure-

volume diagram. Area (a) shows the normally wasted energy that is in the exhaust gas

at end of expansion. The presence of the turbine typically results in a higher manifold

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pressure than if it were not present which leads to increased pumping work shown as

area (b). Smaller turbines have increased pumping work compared to larger turbines

and therefore larger turbines are preferred where transient response and low speed

torque targets can still be achieved. The increased pumping work manifests itself as

additional work available to the turbine that would not have normally been wasted. For

this reason, turbines that maximise energy recovery during the blowdown pulse while

minimising cylinder pressure during the displacement pulse offer fundamental

improvements in the thermodynamic cost of the energy extraction. In practice, this

effect can be seen with the use of larger turbines at high engine speeds in preference

to smaller turbines (or the use of variable geometry turbines, VGTs) for fuel economy.

Some systems work towards this optimum by physically isolating the blowdown pulse

from the displacement pulse e.g. turbo-discharging[7] and Divided Exhaust Period

(DEP)[8].

Figure 1. Idealised P-v diagram showing (a) ‘normally wasted’ energy recoverable by a

turbine and (b) additional crankshaft work available to the turbine

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Energy extracted from exhaust gases using turbines is often used to compress the

intake charge and, therefore, allow more fuel to be burnt i.e. turbocharging. This

enabled increased engine power density with comparatively small additional cost and

bill of materials. For this reason turbocharging technology is now dominant in the

transport diesel engine market. A more recent trend for throttled gasoline engines is

that of downsizing. The increased engine specific torque allows a smaller engine to be

used for the same application meaning that for a given torque demand, there is less

throttling and consequently reduced pumping losses and improved engine efficiency.

The fuel economy benefits are reported to be >15% and is therefore a likely technology

direction for future gasoline engines.

Much incremental development of turbocharger technology is evident with

advancement in material properties and manufacturing processes allowing higher

temperature turbine and compressor operation[9] reducing the need for overfuelling to

reduce turbine inlet temperatures at high engine power conditions and increasing

durability of multiple boost systems. Optimisation of turbocharger geometry for engine

condition lends itself well to the use of variable geometry turbines with next generation

systems considering high speed optimisation[10] to maximise performance. Such

developments are important to continue to advance whole powertrain system

efficiencies. The general direction of the energy flow through the air system continues

to be from the exhaust to the intake with some efforts to move energy from the exhaust

system to the drivetrain (i.e. turbocompounding). This paper considers more

fundamentally the energy flows and interactions in the air system with a third energy

5
flow path – to the exhaust system. The options for how to use the exhaust energy

recovered through a turbine can therefore be categorised as:

1. Turbocharging: use of turbine extracted energy to pressurise the intake charge

2. Turbocompounding: use of turbine extracted energy to contribute directly to

crankshaft work

3. Turbo-discharging: use of turbine extracted energy to depressurise the exhaust

manifold[7]

Figure 2 shows diagrammatically the fundamental air flow pathways for these

categories in relation to the engine cylinders. The fuel economy benefits of turbo-

charged gasoline engines by downsizing (>15%) is significantly higher than the

expected benefits from either turbocompounding or turbo-discharging (~4%) used in

isolation. Therefore, prevalence of turbo-charged IC engines is likely to increase in the

near future. Both turbocompounding and turbo-discharging, however, offer benefits at

part load that if used in conjunction with charging systems have the potential to deliver

noticeable improvements to vehicle drive cycle fuel economy. Turbo-discharging in

particular has a much shorter history and the full potential of this technology is yet to be

defined. Its interaction with turbocharging systems and turbo-compounding systems is

complex, however, turbo-discharging has been shown to offer some potentially

significant benefits including:

1. reduced pumping work and therefore improved fuel economy;

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 2. relatively small effect on the combustion system, therefore existing calibration

methods are still valid;

3. reduced in-cylinder trapped residual fraction leading to extended knock

boundary and, therefore, potential for combustion advance and/or compression

ratio increase ultimately leading to fuel economy and performance

improvements;

4. it is widely applicable, i.e. to any engine architecture with a blowdown pulse;

5. it requires no significant changes to core engine architecture.

Figure 2. Schematic of air flow pathways for turbocharging, turbocompounding and

turbo-discharging systems in isolation

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Turbo-discharging has been previously investigated in detail in the context of naturally

aspirated gasoline engines[7]. With most current interest in turbocharged engines it is

important to evaluate the potential of turbo-discharging in the context of turbocharged

engine architecture. Figure 3 shows a schematic of the turbo-discharged system

applied to a turbocharged gasoline engine. The system utilises two exhaust ports. One

is routed through the turbo-discharging turbine whilst the other by-passes it. With

appropriate valve timings, this allows the temporal separation of the blowdown pulse

flow and the displacement pulse flow. The turbo-charging system however, requires

maximum energy recovery to achieve the required peak engine torque and, therefore,

is exposed to the entire exhaust flow. The energy extracted from the turbo-discharging

turbine is then routed to a pump located downstream in the exhaust flow path leading

to a depressurisation of the exhaust system and either an increased expansion ratio

across the turbocharging turbine, or a lower manifold pressure leading to reduced

pumping work and hot trapped in-cylinder residual fraction. The potentially increased

turbine pressure ratio is beneficial for higher engine torques and improved engine

breathing for part load operation. In addition, the potential for reduced in-cylinder hot

residuals may allow spark timing to be advanced, compression ratio increased or

reduce the required quantity of cooled exhaust gas recirculation (EGR). Each of these

potential interactions is of significant current interest.

8
 Figure 3. Schematic of a turbo-discharged turbocharged IC engine air system. QIC is

the heat removed by the intercooler and Qoptional is the heat rejected from the exhaust

system.

Turbo-discharging uses energy to improve engine breathing and improve pumping

work. Turbo-charging has a similar effect on pumping work, however, can achieve

significantly higher engine torques due to the increased charge air density. The

optimum energy split between the intake and exhaust is not clear and is explored in

this paper. The benefits of turbo-discharging are more apparent in under conditions

where the energy would otherwise not contribute to improving engine pumping work.

For example, part load throttled SI engine conditions (with turbocharging) would

observe an increased exhaust back pressure due to the turbine energy recovered

without the associated increase in intake manifold pressure due to the throttle based

load control. It will, therefore, be more efficient to use the available energy in the

exhaust system where it can contribute to improvements in pumping work and engine

9
breathing. Likewise, at very high levels of single stage boost, a unit of energy

recovered from the turbine will have a smaller benefit to pumping work on the intake

side when compared to the exhaust side due to the higher stage pressure ratio.

Therefore, at mid to high loads, some benefit is expected from a combination of

turbocharging and turbo-discharging. With this in mind, two markets stand out for which

turbo-discharging would be of most benefit:

1. Passenger car throttled gasoline engines, specifically at part load operation

where available exhaust gas energy cannot readily be used for improving

pumping work through the turbocharging system.

2. Power generation, where the value of incremental fuel economy benefits at part,

mid and high loads is high.

This paper focuses on the application of turbo-discharging to highly turbocharged

passenger car gasoline engines to explore, for the first time, the interaction between

the turbo- systems and to quantify the potential benefit. One-dimensional gas dynamic

simulations in Ricardo WAVE have been used unconstrained by present combustion

limitations to fully explore the effects of turbo-discharging future turbocharged engines.

2. Simulation Method

A 1-D gas dynamics simulation of a naturally aspirated (NA) 1.39 litre gasoline engine

has previously been used in Ricardo WAVE to study characteristics of an isolated

turbo-discharging system[7]. This model represents an engine installed at

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Loughborough University allowing experimental validation and demonstration of turbo-

discharging on a NA engine. This base model has been modified with a reduced

compression ratio and single stage turbocharging system with the engine specification

shown in Table 1. The simulations presented here retain the standard valve diameters

to avoid significantly increasing thermal stresses in this region of the engine assembly.

This does reduce performance and is an area for potential further improvement.

Table 1. Engine Specification

To explore the effect of the turbo-discharging system on the turbocharging system,

cam profiles, valve timings and combustion characteristics were fixed as speed and

engine load was varied. The combustion model was based on a single homogeneous

zone with heat release and gas properties as a function of a pre-defined burn rate with

a 50% mass fraction burn point of 8 degrees crank angle after top dead centre and a

10-90% burn duration of 20 degrees crank angle. The air-fuel ratio was fixed at

stoichiometric conditions to maintain exhaust gas properties appropriate for 3-way

catalysts.

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The valve flow coefficients on the NA engine were measured on a Superflow SF600E

steady flow test rig across the range of typical valve lifts. The optimisation of valve

timings for the temporally split high and low pressure manifold valve events requires

shorter valve durations and (for a cam driven system) a lower valve lift. A study of

realistic cam profiles was undertaken for a range of valve durations considering

geometrical limitations and an acceleration limit of 1.6 times the NA engine base

design. The relationship between valve lift and valve opening duration is shown in

Figure 4.

Figure 4. Relationship between valve event duration and maximum lift

The turbocharger and turbo-discharger were simulated using mapless flow elements in

Ricardo WAVE with specified effective nozzle diameters for the turbine. Effective

nozzle diameters for the turbocharger were chosen to behave similarly to the torque

curve for the large and small turbochargers investigated in [11] in which no high-load

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EGR was used. The heat exchangers were modelled as multiple tubes with fixed wall

temperature. The charge air cooler cooled the intake flow to 50oC and an exhaust heat

exchanger upstream of the turbo-discharger pump cooled the gas to typically 130oC.

The exhaust system included a wall conduction model to determine exhaust flow heat

transfer and exhaust wall temperatures. It consisted of a 1.6 mm thick stainless steel

single wall with natural convection to a 300oC ambient environment.

The valve timings were optimised for 8 bar BMEP operation by comparison of

simulations with 70%, 80%, 90% and 100% of the standard engine valve event

durations. The valve lift was scaled as shown in Figure 4. The low pressure valve

closing was set to 5 degrees crank after the intake valve opening and the high pressure

valve opening was varied in 10 degree crank intervals. Further optimisation potential

exists with the valve overlap period particularly with VVA systems which will allow

variation as a function of engine speed and load. The simulation results shown are

based on fixed valve timings across the entire speed and load range, shown in Figure 5

for the low lift valve events. The intake valve timing and profile was constant throughout

all simulations to ensure the predicted effect on engine fuel economy was due to the

exhaust system and the turbocharging system only.

13
 Figure 5. Example low lift valve timings used for simulations

3. System Characteristics

Figures 6 and 7 show cylinder and manifold pressures for a part load (8 bar BMEP)

and peak load case respectively at 2000 rpm. These plots show the blowdown pulse

recovery through the high pressure manifold and turbine. For the part load case, the

turbocharging turbine has been intentionally bypassed as turbocharging under these

conditions contributes negatively to engine losses (i.e. pumping work). Figure 6 is

comparable to previous work on NA engines[7] whereas Figure 7 shows effects unique

to turbocharged engines. At high load, the blowdown energy pulse can be seen to be

effectively routed through the turbo-discharging turbine while retaining a significant

pressure drop across the turbocharging turbine. This is required to achieve required

boost levels. In the peak load case shown, the energy split is such that the

turbocharger turbine outlet pressure is ~0.7 bar (absolute) leading to >30% increase in

14
pressure ratio for a given upstream pressure when compared to the conventional

engine.

Figure 6 Cylinder pressure and exhaust manifold pressures for part load operation (8

bar BMEP, 2000 rpm)

15
Figure 7 Cylinder pressure, exhaust manifold pressures and post turbocharger turbine

pressure for full load operation (2000 rpm)

The mass flux through each valve is shown for the low valve lift conditions in Figure 8.

The mass flux during the blowdown pulse is significantly higher than that during the

displacement pulse for both part load and high load operation. At very low loads, the

blowdown pulse can reduced to negligible levels and even be reversed due to the

degree of throttling.

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 Figure 8 Instantaneous mass flux into the exhaust manifolds from cylinder 1 for

part load and full load operation (2000 rpm)

The most important control approach for determining the air system behaviour is the

energy split between the two turbines. At part load, additional energy to the boost

system results in increased exhaust system back pressure for little gain in pumping

work due to the throttle based load control. Under such low/no boost conditions the

optimum energy split is to have maximum energy flow to the exhaust system. In

practice, this could be achieved by bypassing the turbine or varying its geometry to

reduce the turbocharger turbine pressure drop (VGTs).

At full load conditions the engine power is primarily determined by the amount of air

available to oxidise the fuel and therefore a function of the boost pressure. As turbo-

17
discharging reduces pumping work, in isolation it is fundamentally limited to an MEP

benefit of less than the standard engine exhaust system absolute pressure and is

therefore not capable of achieving required engine power densities without combination

with a boost system. For this reason it is expected that most of the available energy will

need to be used for turbocharging enabled by waste-gating, variable geometry turbo-

discharger or variable valve actuation (particularly timing). Turbo-discharging reduces

the upstream pressure and temperature of the turbocharging turbine (acting to reduce

the boost pressure) while reducing the turbine outlet pressure (acting to increase the

boost pressure). Simulations of the effect of turbo-discharger size and valve profiles

were used to explore this effect. The valve event shown in Figure 5 is referred to as the

low lift valves whereas the standard engine valve event refers to a more conventional

cam profile and timing.

Figure 9 shows the peak engine torque for three cases when the smaller turbocharger

was used, targeting low speed torque. The effect of turbo-discharging with low valve

lifts was to marginally increase low speed engine torque at 2000 rpm crossing over

around 3000 rpm before reducing engine torque at higher speeds, by ~11% at 5000

rpm. With the larger turbocharger, shown in Figure 10, the same effect can be

observed; however, the increase at 2000 rpm is significantly more prominent with 65%

increased engine torque. In both cases, the switching of the exhaust valves to a more

conventional lift profile reduces the impact of turbo-discharging to levels that result in

typically less than 5% torque detriment at high engine speeds.

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Figure 9 Engine torque curve for baseline and turbo-discharged engines using a small

turbocharger

Figure 10 Engine torque curve for baseline and turbo-discharged engines using a

relatively large turbocharger

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The torque benefit at low engine speeds can be seen to relate closely with the boost

pressure shown in Figure 11. For both the larger and smaller turbochargers the

achieved boost pressures below 3000 rpm are higher with turbo-discharging than the

standard engine with the same turbocharger as a direct response to the reduced

turbine outlet pressure. As seen in the torque curves, the boost pressure with turbo-

discharging crosses that of the standard engine around 3000 rpm.

Figure 11 Effect of valve events and turbo-discharging on intake manifold (boost)

pressures.

The clearest secondary effect is that of the residual fraction at part load, shown in

Figure 12. At 1000 rpm hot trapped residual fraction is reduced by >30% by the

addition of turbo-discharging allowing more fresh charge into the cylinder for a given

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boost pressure and, thereby, increasing the energy available to both exhaust turbines.

At higher engine speeds the residual fraction is higher in the case of the lower valve

lifts indicating the restricted breathing effect of the reduced valve duration and lift;

however, with the standard engine valve lifts the residual fraction is consistently

reduced by 3-10% across the entire speed range (at full load) owing to the reduced

exhaust manifold pressure around exhaust valve closing.

Figure 12 Effect of turbo-discharging on full load in-cylinder trapped residuals

The effect of turbo-discharging and valve timings on pumping work, shown in Figure 13,

is not as definitive and is strongly linked with tuning effects of the exhaust system. The

PMEP tends to be best with the standard valve timings and turbo-discharging, however,

21
the effect is small in comparison to the effect on residual fraction and boost pressure.

As anticipated, the pumping work for the smaller turbocharger (effectively a more

narrow restriction) is noticeably higher in all cases when compared to the larger

turbocharger.

Figure 13 Effect of turbo-discharging on full load pumping mean effective pressure

(PMEP)

The desire to operate turbo-discharging with standard valve timings is somewhat

counterintuitive when considering the idealised operation of the system described

earlier. The pressure loss across the valves is a function of the flow rate through the

valves which itself is a function of the pressure ratio across the valves and the down-

stream flow resistance. Below the choking pressure ratio across the valves, the turbo-

22
discharging flow path has an additional turbine resulting in an increased flow resistance

and thereby a reduced flow rate and a higher upstream pressure than that in the low

pressure manifold. When choking occurs across the valves, the high pressure manifold

fills quicker than the low pressure manifold due to the presence of the additional turbine.

Both of these cases result in a pressure differential between the high and low pressure

manifold. Therefore, with standard valve timings and high flows (i.e. when valve flow

restriction is more significant) the turbo-discharging system is capable of discharging

the exhaust despite the apparent loss of the temporal isolation of the blowdown

pulsation between the manifolds.

The effect of by-passing the turbo-discharging turbine and reverting to standard valve

lifts will result in a turbocharging system operating in isolation thereby minimising high

speed torque detriment. The main difference between the standard engine setup and

such an engine would be the manifold volume upstream of the turbocharging turbine.

The effect would be a marginal reduction in low-speed engine torque due to the slower

pressure charging rate of the manifold and, therefore, increased valve losses.

At part load operation, one of the main aims of turbo-discharging can be to reduce the

fuel consumption. Figure 14 and Figure 15 show the fuel consumption for the baseline

and turbo-discharged engines with the small and large turbochargers respectively. It

can be seen that the effect on fuel economy is significant, particularly at low speeds

and relatively light loads (~25% of peak load) where more than a 4% fuel economy

benefit was predicted. At lower loads the blowdown pulse reduces in magnitude

23
meaning less energy is available to the turbo-discharging system and the fuel economy

gain reduces. At higher speeds the turbo-discharging offers reduced pumping losses

and improved fuel economy by significantly more than the 4% at part load.

Figure 14 Comparison of BSFC for the small turbocharger (kg kWh-1). The numbers in

circles represent the fuel economy advantage of the turbo-discharging system (%)

compared to the baseline.

The larger turbocharger, however, offers improved baseline engine breathing at higher

engine speeds. The results shown in Figure 15 show that fuel economy across most of

the engine map is improved. Below 2000 rpm the benefit is negligible until higher loads

are reached, however, at higher speeds the benefit is in excess of 4%. A fuel economy

detriment is observed only at speeds above 3000 rpm and close to peak engine load.

24
This is indicative of the onset of significant effects of the reduced valve lift that also

manifests itself in the reduced peak engine torque under these conditions. This is the

location that is expected to require switching to more conventional valve timings to

achieve comparable or better engine performance. At most other conditions, the single

valve timings used for this study demonstrate improvement which could be enhanced

with the implementation of variable valve timing or variable valve actuation systems.

Figure 15 Comparison of BSFC for the relatively large turbocharger (kg kWh-1)

The fuel economy benefit shown in Figure 14 and Figure 15 was due to the reductions

in pumping work associated with lower exhaust manifold pressures during the

displacement stroke when comparing the use of available exhaust energy in either the

intake system or exhaust system. This is one extreme of the possible comparison

strategies with the other extreme being that of a baseline with minimum boost under all

conditions. This would act to reduce the pumping work on the turbo-charged baseline

25
case and demonstrate a lower limit to the predicted benefit of turbo-discharging. Figure

16 shows the comparison of fuel economy benefit based on the two baseline cases

indicating an upper and lower bound for the potential benefit of turbo-discharging. The

fuel economy benefit of turbo-discharging with a minimum boost baseline strategy is

typically between 1 and 2% and covers a wide range of the engine operating map. At

lower loads, as predicted in all simulations, the fuel economy benefit reduces.

Importantly, in both baseline cases, fuel economy benefit is demonstrated under both

low/no boost conditions and under boosted conditions (quantified here at 20 bar

BMEP).

Figure 16 Comparison of fuel economy benefit of turbo-discharging based on different

turbocharger sizes and baseline turbocharger part load bypass strategy

26
The tendency of turbo-discharging to reduce the hot trapped residual fraction with the

earlier comparison is shown in Figure 17 and Figure 18 for the small and large

turbochargers respectively. This effect will tend to support emission efforts and avoid SI

engine knock with residual fraction reductions of up to 60% at low speeds. Such

reductions in residual fraction also result in increased throttling to control the amount of

fresh charge and achieve the demand MEP. However, reduced residual fraction is

expected to extend the engine’s knock limit and potentially allow additional spark

advance and/or compression ratio increase. To help understand these potential

secondary benefits the simulation was used to predict the sensitivity of the setup to

variations in spark timing and compression ratio. Compression ratio increases of 0.5

and spark advance of 5 degrees crank had the potential to improve fuel economy by ~1%

at part load conditions (8 bar BMEP, 2000 rpm) beyond those due to pumping work

improvements. High loads above 3000 rpm showed increased hot residuals due to the

low lift valve events. More optimised valve timings under these conditions would be

closer to the original engine valve events.

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 Figure 17 Comparison of trapped residual fraction for the small turbocharger (%).

Circled values represent the reduction in residual fraction (%) at that point.

Figure 18 Comparison of trapped residual fraction for the relatively large turbocharger

The engine’s transient response is an important consideration in air system design and

much effort by the industry has been put towards minimising air system inertia. During

28
turbo-discharging operation under no/low boost conditions the energy is recovered and

used to depressurise the exhaust system. As a full load demand transient could result

in bypassing the turbo-discharger the turbocharging system will (for a short time) have

a significantly lower turbine outlet pressure and therefore significantly higher

instantaneous power extraction. The transient response potential of a turbo-discharged

turbocharged engine is therefore unique and will be evaluated in more detail in future

studies once optimum turbocharger sizing and exhaust system geometry have been

more clearly defined.

Although the work presented here has focused on a separate turbocharger and turbo-

discharger the concept of using turbine extracted energy to depressurise the exhaust in

addition to pressurising the intake can be applied more widely. For example,

incorporation of electric machines to the turbo system[12] will enable effective energy

flow control. The potential also exists to operate the discharger directly from crankshaft

work, however, the conversion efficiency of useful fuel energy to useful compressor

work is significantly lower than that of the turbo-discharging system investigated here.

In addition, a large fraction of the energy recovered by turbo-discharging is normally

waste energy whereas crankshaft driven work can be considered normally useful work.

4. Synergous Technologies

The optimum fraction of the energy to each turbine varies depending on the engine

condition and overall objective. Table 2 summarises the key potential benefits of turbo-

29
discharging and the optimum approach as a function of engine speed and load. The

possible objectives are considered to be one or more of the following:

1. Reduced residual fraction: The hot trapped residual fraction is strongly

dependent on the cylinder pressure at exhaust valve closing and, therefore, the

exhaust manifold pressure. At low speeds and low loads this relationship

dominates and significant reductions in residual fraction can be achieved by

maximising turbo-discharger depressurisation. This in turn is achieved by

maximising turbo-discharger turbine flow with the low valve lift strategies, while

maintaining enough boost for engine torque and transient response

requirements. At high speeds, however, the valve restriction represents a

significant pressure loss in the system and if a low lift valve strategy is used,

results in increased in-cylinder pressures and an increase in hot residual

fraction. Under these conditions the ideal valve lift would be longer duration and

higher lift, yet still benefiting from maximum levels of depressurisation due to

the effects previously discussed. When boost is required, the energy flow split

between the turbo machines can be controlled using conventional technologies

such as by-passing, wastegating or variable geometry turbines.

2. Full load torque: When the primary objective is to achieve full load torque the

strategy should vary between low and high speeds. At low speeds the benefit of

turbo-discharging is significant and the energy flow should be balanced to

achieve maximum boost by varying both inlet and outlet turbocharger turbine

pressures. At high speeds, longer valve events are required to deliver the flow

30
 effectively from the cylinder to the exhaust system which with further

optimisation through wastegating or variable geometry turbines should be

capable of delivering higher low speed torque and comparable high speed

torque to a more conventional engine.

3. Engine fuel economy: Optimisation of engine fuel economy can be separated

into two main categories. Reducing part load fuel consumption for passenger

car applications requires the maximum energy flow to the turbo-discharging

system while maintaining engine torque. The results presented consider a

single set of exhaust valve timings aimed at achieving part load fuel economy at

8 bar BMEP. Variable valve actuation will allow optimisation across a much

wider range of the engine load map. At full load, engine fuel economy

optimisation is a more complex balance of turbocharger and turbo-discharger

energy flows, typically using maximum turbo-discharger flow with minimum

boost for the required engine load.

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Table 2. Summary of approach valve strategy and air system energy flow strategy as a function
of engine speed, load and overall aim.
Main turbo-system
Aim: Condition: Valve strategy:
energy flow:
Maximum turbo-
Part load Low valve lift
discharger flow
Potentially partial
High load, low bypass of turbo-
Low valve lift
Reduced residual speed discharger (or
fraction partially open VGT)
Potentially partial
High load, high bypass of turbo-
High valve lift
speed discharger (or
partially open VGT)
Potentially partial
bypass of turbo-
Low speed Low valve lift
discharger (or
Full load torque partially open VGT)
Full turbo-
High speed High valve lift discharger bypass
(or open VGT)
Maximum turbo-
Part load Low valve lift
discharger flow
Fuel economy Subject to
Maximum turbo-
High load turbocharger size
discharger flow
and engine speed

Turbo-discharging has been explored previously in isolation as a technology that can

significantly improve engine fuel economy and torque when applied to NA IC engines.

In combination with downsized turbocharged engines it is apparent that optimum

operation of the whole system will benefit from synergous technologies. In particular,

the use of air flow control methods including variable valve actuation (e.g. cam profile

switching, ‘cam-in-cam’[13] or variable exhaust valve timing) and turbine technologies

such as VGT and wastegating. VVA and VGTs in particular will give scope for

optimisation of whole system performance beyond that presented. Of particular interest

32
is the effect of turbo-discharging on low speed torque with (relatively) larger

turbochargers shown in Figure 10. The simulation results suggest that a single

turbocharger in conjunction with a single turbo-discharger is capable of achieving

comparable engine low speed torque as that of a twin turbocharger arrangement.

However, it also offers the additional benefits of reduced residual fraction and improved

fuel economy. The implementation of turbo-discharging on heavily boosted downsized

gasoline engines may not, therefore, require an additional turbomachine, but instead,

replacing one of the turbochargers with a turbo-discharger.

5. Conclusions

Turbo-discharging is a new and unique approach to improving the fuel economy and

performance if IC engines. It has previously been analysed in the context of naturally

aspirated gasoline engines and is expected to be of particular value to the automotive

gasoline engine market and the power generation market. The trend of engine boosting

and downsizing means that the interaction between turbo-discharging and the

turbocharging system is important. This paper has, therefore, applied one-dimensional

gas dynamic engine simulations to understand the effects of turbo-discharging a

turbocharged gasoline engine with a particular emphasis on peak torque and fuel

economy. Combustion timing and limits were fixed so that boundaries of operation

could be identified for future, less constrained combustion systems. The analysis

shows that:

33
 1. Turbo-discharging increased engine low speed torque due to increased boost

by way of lower turbocharger turbine outlet pressure. This was very evident at

2000rpm with the larger turbocharger which achieved boost levels similar to that

of the smaller turbocharger;

2. For a fixed ‘low lift’ valve timing optimised for part load fuel economy, peak

torque at high engine speeds (>3000 rpm) was reduced;

3. The use of more conventional exhaust cam profiles at high speeds and loads

still generated a discharging effect and peak engine torques were more similar

to that of the turbocharged engine;

4. Turbo-discharging demonstrated consistently part load fuel economy benefits.

The magnitude of the improvement was typically between 2 and 7% depending

on the baseline engine air system control strategy.

5. The primary fuel economy benefit was due to improved engine breathing and

reduced pumping work.

6. There was a significant reduction in hot trapped residual mass which could

contribute to additional benefits by extending the knock limit of gasoline engines.

A discussion of the potential synergous technologies and control approaches suggests

that variable valve actuation and conventional turbocharger control mechanisms

(waste-gating and VGT) would improve the performance of the turbocharged, turbo-

discharged engines. The results of this study are extremely positive and support the

case for further exploration of turbo-discharging as an additional dimension to the air

34
system energy flow architecture for optimisation of both fuel economy and combustion

performance through hot trapped residual fraction.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the support of the Engineering and Physical

Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and Technology Strategy Board (TSB) as part of

the Low Carbon Vehicles Integrated Delivery Programme (Grant EP/H050353/1); and

the Royal Academy of Engineering.

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37
List of Captions

Figure 1. Idealised P-v diagram showing (a) ‘normally wasted’ energy recoverable by a

turbine and (b) additional crankshaft work available to the turbine

Figure 2. Schematic of air flow pathways for turbocharging, turbocompounding and

turbo-discharging systems in isolation

Figure 3. Schematic of a turbo-discharged turbocharged IC engine air system. QIC is

the heat removed by the intercooler and Qoptional is the heat rejected from the exhaust

system.

Figure 4. Relationship between valve event duration and maximum lift

Figure 5. Example low lift valve timings used for simulations

Figure 6 Cylinder pressure and exhaust manifold pressures for part load operation (8

bar BMEP, 2000 rpm)

Figure 7 Cylinder pressure, exhaust manifold pressures and post turbocharger turbine

pressure for full load operation (2000 rpm)

Figure 8 Instantaneous mass flux into the exhaust manifolds from cylinder 1 for

part load and full load operation (2000 rpm)

Figure 9 Engine torque curve for baseline and turbo-discharged engines using a small

turbocharger

38
Figure 10 Engine torque curve for baseline and turbo-discharged engines using a

relatively large turbocharger

Figure 11 Effect of valve events and turbo-discharging on intake manifold (boost)

pressures.

Figure 12 Effect of turbo-discharging on full load in-cylinder trapped residuals

Figure 13 Effect of turbo-discharging on full load pumping mean effective pressure

(PMEP)

Figure 14 Comparison of BSFC for the small turbocharger (kg kWh-1). The numbers in

circles represent the fuel economy advantage of the turbo-discharging system (%)

compared to the baseline.

Figure 15 Comparison of BSFC for the relatively large turbocharger (kg kWh-1)

Figure 16 Comparison of fuel economy benefit of turbo-discharging based on different

turbocharger sizes and baseline turbocharger part load bypass strategy

Figure 17 Comparison of trapped residual fraction for the small turbocharger (%).

Circled values represent the reduction in residual fraction (%) at that point.

Figure 18 Comparison of trapped residual fraction for the relatively large turbocharger

39