Advanced Power Systems Research Group
Current research highlights:
High Pressure Combustion Laboratory Development: The focal point of the laboratory will be a configurable high-pressure combustion vessel with optical access. The lab will provide the foundation for basic and applied research for clean and efficient combustion with petroleum-based and alternative fuels, including biodiesel and ethanol. The laboratory will also facilitate the examination of the flammability and combustion characteristics of hydrogen and other fuels at elevated pressures and temperature to improve safety standards and handling.
Wood-to-Wheels: Wood-to-Wheels goal is to increase the overall efficiency of converting solar energy captured in forest and other biomass resources into products for transportation using ethanol, biodiesel, and green diesel as high energy-density carriers. Wood-to-Wheels is identifying and addressing the technical and societal barriers to sustainably producing forest resources, processing biomass to create ethanol, biodiesel and other co-products, and then utilizing the bio-fuels and co-products in vehicle and engine applications.
Investigation of In-Cylinder Ionization and Examination of Stochastic Analysis of SI Engine Combustion Knock: Ionized gases in gasoline engine combustion chambers produce signals that are rich in content, which can potentially be used to measure quality and state of combustion with sensing through standard spark plugs. However, in-house laboratory experiments have indicated significantly high variability in these ion signals. Existing literature contains wide ranging claims for ion signals with the appropriate signal processing. Investigation will determine if existing stochastic analysis of mechanical knock signals is appropriate and applicable to ion signal content. Enhance and develop models to capture and optimize opportunities for gasoline engine control, especially air-fuel ratio control in conjunction with transient compensation algorithms.
Selective Catalytic Reduction (SRC) Catalyst Modeling and Active Control for NOx Reduction in Diesel Engine Exhaust Aftertreatment Systems: The development of experimentally validated simulation tools and model-based control strategies for urea SCR catalysts. The primary research goals are: (1) an experimentally validated predictive model of an SCR catalyst / urea injection system, (2) a near-real-time parameter identification strategy suitable for both model validation and control system calibration, (3) an experimentally validated closed-loop urea injection strategy.
