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VW's Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI) Research

Engine

Herbert Schapertons, Klaus-Dieter Emmenthal, Hans-Joachim Grabe, and Winfried

Oppermann
Volkswagen Research
Wolfsburg, Germany

The Engineering Society

eA =For Advancing Mobility International congress and Exposition
Detroit, Michigan
and sea ~ iand
r Space,
February 25-March 1,1991

4 0 0 C O M M O N W E A L T H D R I V E , W A R R E N D A L E , P A 1 5 0 9 6 - 0 0 0 1 U.S.A.
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VW's Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI) Research
Engine
Herbert Schapertons, Klaus-Dieter Emmenthal, Hans-Joachim Grabe, and Winfried
ABSTRACT
Volkswagen's research team created
a prototype vehicle called "FUTURA". The
power unit is a low-consumption, low-
emission unthrottled petrol engine em-
ploying a high-pressure pump to inject
petrol directly into the combustion
chamber. At partial load, evaporation
cooling additonally helps to reduce con-
sumption because component and oil tem-
peratures are regulated to suit engine
output. This concept represents a solu-
tion to CO, problems in spark igniton
engines. At this stage, it is impossible
to say whether this concept could be
developed into a mass-production engine.
INTRODUCTION
In designing the power unit for the
FUTURA research vehicle, attention was
focused on the requirements placed on
future passenger-car engines, i.e. ex-
tremely low fuel consumption, exhaust
emission at least below US limit values,
minimized particulate emission. They are
also expected to match the smoothness of
present-day spark ignition engines, with
less importance being attached to per-
formance owing to enhanced areodynarnics
and the anticipated increase in traffic
density. Low consumption would result in
low CO, emission.
The availability of alternative
fuels, and potential methods of produc-
ing them, are still subject to contro-
versy. Environmental pollution and en-
ergy consumed in fuel production must
also be considered. As discussion has
not given rise to any clear favourite,
conventional fuel was initially to be
used in the research car, especially
since combustion methods for alcohol
Oppermann
Volkswagen Research
Wolfsburg,Germany
fuels can be derived from petrol-based
concepts. However, the engine was to
make less demands on fuel quality.
In terms of fuel economy and emis-
sion improvement, a standard diesel en-
gine with particle filter would repre-
sent a solution to the research task in
hand. However, achieving the objectives
with regular-grade petrol is a far
greater challenge because US limit val-
ues are presently only met by engines
regulated to stoichiometric mixture.
Consumption, however, is 20 to 30 %
higher than for diesel in an urban
driving cycle (FTP).
The following describes the FUTURA
engine, which features direct petrol in-
jection and incorporated further con-
sumption-reducing systems: Hot cooling
with evaporation cooling, and a two-
stage drive for some of the auxiliaries.
Moreover, brief consideration is given
to the "transparent" engine and accom-
panying three-dimensional calculations,
which are very helpful in developing the
combustion system.
COMBUSTION SYSTEM
At partial load there is a striking
difference in consumption between spark-
ignition and diesel engines. This can
essentially be ascribed to the low
charge-cycle losses of the unthrottled
diesel principle as well as the thermo-
dynamically favourable high compression
of a very lean mixture. Owing to its
camshaft timing, which is rated for low
nominal speed, the diesel engine addi-
tionally ensures good fuel economy in
the close-to-idle range.
*Numbers in parentheses designate refer-
ences at end of paper.
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Whereas diesel fuel ignites spon-
taneously after appropriate compression,
even with any amount of excess air, pe-
trol engines with external ignition are
subject to the restriction that a com-
bustible mixture must be available at
the plug on firing, producing a flame to
ignite all the fuel present in the com-
bustion chamber. Failure of this process
will result in high HC emissions (e.g.
[I]). The combustion system described
below is a further stage of the work
presented in [ 2 ] which, in turn, also
referred to earlier studies on devided
combustion chambers and low-pressure
injection.
In the open combustion chamber,
charge stratification is necessary near
the spark plug at partial load. At high-
er loads, excess air reduces NOx emis-
sions and adequate power is provided by
super-charging. The configuration of the
combustion chamber was selected within
the framework of the aiven 2-valve en-
gine in such a way that a small injector
sprays fuel tangentially into a piston
bowl, Fig. 1. The electrodes of a spark
plug project into the outer spray cone
so that they are always able to ignite
combustible mixture. Mixture formation
at higher loading is supported by strong
swirl produced in the intake port. Dur-
ing compression, the swirling air is
forced into the small bowl, Fig. 2, pro-
ducing an intense movement of air which
mixes with the film of fuel coating the
wall.
Fig. 1 Combustion chamber configuration
Injection may only take place di-
rectly before ignition to ensure that a
combustible mixture is present at the
spark plug. Hence, at partial load the
injection or ignition timing is close to
TDC. However, at full load, injection
cannot commence much earlier because at
the high compression ratio of 1:16 spon-
taneous ignition would occur. Here there
Fig. 2 Piston with clearance for spark
plug and injection spray
is a conflict of aims. Although the pos-
sible early injection at lower compres-
sion would greatly facilitate homogeni-
sation, operation at lower compression,
and with very small injected quantities,
could lead to greatly increased hydro-
carbon emissions. This was experienced
to an even greater extent in engines
with cone-spray injection nozzles.
Reports have recently been pub-
lished on air-assisted direct fuel in-
jection applied to two-stroke engines
[31. In four-stroke engines, the use of
such injection system could also be an
interesting alternative to the method of
high-pressure injection presented here.
OPTIMIZATION - Common experimental
measurement techniques can at most infer
the combustion process by cylinder pres-
sure indication, but local analysis of
the internal processes taking place
within the combustion chamber is not
possible. State-of-the-art technology
must therefore be used to optimize
charge movement, injection spray and
combustion chamber configuration.
The geometry of the piston bowl
and, in particular, the influence of its
eccentric position on flow form, were
analysed using the CATS [ 4 1 calculation
method. CATS breaks up the three-dimen-
sional combustion chamber with around
30.000 volume cells and provides time-
related results for local flow veloci-
ties and turbulence. Injection and com-
bustion can also be simulated. This will
be covered in a separate publication. By
way of illustration, Fig. 3 shows the
turbulence intensity in a vertical
cross-section through the combustion
chamber .
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Zig. 3 Computed turbulence intensity

Optical measurement techniques are

being used experimentally in the "trans-
parent engine" [5], F i g . 4, to assist
process optimization. This is a four-
cylinder engine with an intermidiate
housing, which accomodates lengthened
pistons with glass heads. Using the
laser shadow method, it is possible to
observe the injected mixture as a dark
cloud, as well as the luminous combus-
tion in high-speed films. By way of
example, the sequence in F i g . 5 shows
(in columns from top to bottom) the
ignition spark, followed by the spray
cloud and then combustion. This obser- Fig. 4 Transparent engine
vation technique is very helpful in
evaluating electrode and injection-
nozzle designs.
ENGINE AND COMPONENTS
The FUTURA power unit is derived
from the 1.6-litre VW diesel engine,
with displacement having been increased
to 1.7 litres (79.5 mm bore, 86.4 mm
stroke). The long piston necessitates a
12 mm increase in block height. The pis-
ton bowl is rotationally symmetrical and
has two recesses to ensure the spark-
plug and injection spray clearance (also
refer to Fig. 2). The cylinder head does
not have a trough for the combustion
chamber, and could be derived from a
variant of the spark-ignition engine.
Fig. 5 Film sequence form the
INJECTION EQUIPMENT -
The opening transparent engine
pressure of the fuel-injection system
must exceed the compression of an un-
throttled, supercharged engine, and in-
ject both the well-prepared idling and Development of a high-pressure
full-load mixture within a short space fuel-injection pump for a long time
of time. If an inwardly opening throt- hindered the development of a high-
tling-pintle nozzle is used, it must pressure, open-chamber petrol injection
remain tight when exposed to combustion engine since unlike diesel oil, petrol
pressure. Owing to their poorly repro- has no lubricating qualities, resulting
ducible injection cone, outwardly open- in greater leakage losses. Cooperation
ing nozzles have proven unsuccessful with Stanadyne led to the development of
because combustible mixture was not prototype distributor fuel-injection
always present at the spark plug. pumps which, using ceramic materials,
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are petrol-tight up to an engine speed
of 5.000 rpm, F i g . 6. The pump can prod-
uce approximately 450 bar and deliver
adequate quantities. In addition to dur-
ability, development was mainly focused
on coordinating delivery quantity (which
is related to charge pressure), provid-
ing sufficient start quantities for cold
and hot starts, governing idling speed
and optimizing an overrun fuel cutoff.
The Stanadyne injection nozzles,
Fig. 6, are not only distinguished by
their small size, but also by the two-
stage system, F i g . 7 . At idle and par-
tial load, only a narrow ring cross-
section is released, whereas with high
injection quantities the nozzle needle
moves higher releasing a greater cross-
section in the pintle area.
Fig. 6 Components: fuel-injection pump
and nozzle, spark plug, piston
Idle Full Load
0
Fig. 7 Stroke curve for the fuel-
injection valve
IGNITION SYSTEM - A spark ignition
system is used in order to achieve a
controllable and optimal combustion pro-
cess. The confined space in the combus-
tion chamber, coupled with the necessity
to position the spark discharge on the
periphery of the injection spray, result
in a spark plug design with long elec-
trodes. The high compression ratio of
E = 16 requires the use of an ignition
system with small electrode gaps. Dura-
bility is improved by three mass elec-
trodes.
Instead of distributing high ten-
sion by mechanical means, a double spark
ignition system is used, in which two
plugs are connected to one coil, so that
the .spark plugs also ignite in the ex-
haust stroke. A sensor passes a signal
to a control unit when a cylinder in-
jects, F i g . 8. A ring gear sensor relays
the current angle position to the con-
trol unit which then punctually triggers
the ignition for all cylinders via the
output stages. Moreover, the control
unit receives a signal from the quantity
adjusting lever and activates electro-
magnetic valves for overrun fuel cutoff.
Fig. 8 Ignition Management
The engine has an excellent cold
start ability. Even at very low temper-
atures (-30 O C ) it starts very quickly
and gives power immediately. This per-
formance is better than for conventional
gasoline and diesel engines.
AUXILIARY ASSEMBLY DRIVE - The
auxiliary assemblies, in particular the
alternator, are generally driven in pro-
portion to engine speed. Resulting from
the rating for lower speed ranges, in
which an adequate supply must be en-
sured, efficiency is adversely affected
at higher engine speeds because although
power output of the assemblies increases
in proportion to speed, it is not re-
qui red.
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An intermediate automatic gear box EVAPORATION COOLING - The positive

operated by centrifugal force and engine effect of hot cooling on consumption has
oil pressure is therefore incorporated, already been described in earlier stud-
which at an initial stage produces a ies, e.g. [ 7 ] . It is essentially a mat-
transmission ratio of 1:3 between drive ter of increasing engine temperature,
and output. The second stage (1:l) be- and in particular that of the oil, to
comes effective above a specific gear levels in the part-load range which are
shift speed. otherwise only reached at high load.
This gear box is driven by the cam- Fig. 10 shows the temperature/speed
shaft at the cylinder head owing to the curve for one point in the engine. Temp-
space available at this point for trans- erature rises as speed and load in-
verse installation. crease. Maximum temperature is achieved
at rated output, whilst only very low
SUPERCHARGING - The supercharging temperatures occur at partial load,
unit is a mechanically driven compressor higher component temperatures are un-
of spiral design. It has already been problematical here and may be increased
described elsewhere as Type G40 [ 6 1 . by hot cooling.
After passing through the air filter,
air is compressed in the G-supercharger Temperature
from where it flows through an inter- 300 cooling system:
cooler and enters the intake manifold,
Fig. 9. If charge pressure is not re- standard
quired in the part-load range, a bypass
valve opens and feeds the air back to
the G-supercharger. When the bypass evaporative
valve is open, the supercharger is sub-
ject to low friction losses; further
Essa
potential could be developed by decon-
necting the G-supercharger at partial
load. At full load, the bypass valve 100
closes resulting in a build-up of charge 1000 2000 3000 4000 llmin 8000
pressure. Engine Speed
The particular environment of the
VW research car necessitates an electro-
nic accelerator pedal sensor to operate Fig. 10 Component temperature at the
the actuating motor at the supply lever upper ring
for the fuel-injection pump, and also an
actuating motor at the bypass valve.
These electronic measures permit optimal
control of the charging system. However, in normal cooling systems,
non-stationary engine operation causes
problems in regulating hot cooling be-
cause pressure increases occur in the
cooling system, and load cycles often
T
7
& Full Load
take place very quickly. A new, self-
regulating cooling system was therefore
designed for the VW research car.
This cooling system absorbs heat by
phase conversion, and is known as "eva-
poration cooling". Fig. 11 shows a com-
parison of these systems. The volume
' 1 ~
GDI -Engine
I I' flow of condensation water is only
around 1/50th of the amount of coolant
usually pumped around the system at
rated output.
The coolant now only fills a "small
circuit", Fig. 12. A small electric con-
densate-pump conveys the coolant through
the heat exchanger to the engine. The
oil/coolant heat exchanger is positioned
Fig. 9 Diagram fo the charging system in the engine overflow, and the liquid
(GDI: gasoline direct injection) phase returns to the pump intake side
through a separator. If engine heat is
sufficient, coolant will boil (at around
110 O C ) ; the vapour is re-condensed in
the condenser. The displaced air volume
escapes into a compensating tank.
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Evaporation Convection
engine engine
Fig. 11 Comparison of cooling systems:
forced convection and evapo-
ration cooling
Fig. 12 Evaporation cooling system
This cooling system leads to in-
creased operating temperature at partial
load, heats up quickly, and works just
as efficiently as conventional cooling
systems at high load. It adapts extreme-
ly well to changes in load conditions.
Improvements of 5 to 8 % in part-load
consumption levels have already been
achieved with different engines. Further
advantages include the low pressure load
on the cooling system, reduced condenser
area and improved operation in exti-eme
conditions (e.g. switching off hot en-
gine) .
OVERALL ENGINE - The complete en-
gine (viewed from the timing side) is
shown in Fig. 13. The camshaft and in-
jection pump are driven by a toothed
belt, while the poly-V-belt serves the
air-conditioning compressor and the G-
supercharger. The toothed belt has been
designed in such a way that it can also
transfer the propulsion power for the
alternator, because on the transmission
side the camshaft drives the two-stage
drive. Space availability meant that the
injection pump had to be installed al-
most horizontally, necessitating venti-
Fig. 13 View of the engine from the
timing side
lation measures. The large vapour mani-
fold for the evaporation cooling system
is clearly visible centrally above the
engine. Four small pipes lead into the
large tube to ensure optimal vapour re-
moval from each cylinder.
The recessed position of the G-
supercharger, which is driven by an
intermediate shaft, can also be seen.
Arrangement of the auxiliary assemblies
is essentially determined by the space
available in the engine compartment.
MEASUREMENTS AND PROJECTION - The
full-load torque curve results from the
combined effect of fuel-injection equip-
ment, the swirl, charge-air pressure,
charge-air temperature, and the demand
for acceptable NOx emisions, even at
full load. Internal mixture formation
and knock tendency prevent stoichio-
metric operation at full load. If in-
jection occurs too early, the mixture
autoignites. Late injection during
combustion - as required - causes soot
formation beyond certain injection quan-
tities. Hence, it is necessary to work
with sufficient excess air.
In these conditions, 60 kW from a
1.7 litre engine capacity are accept-
able. Torque of 155 Nm is available from
around 2.500 rpm, Fig. 14. At 240 g/kWh,
the full-load consumption is very rea-
sonab.1e. The improvement in consumption
over a mass-produced engine of the same
performance, but regulated to stoichio-
metric mixture ( X = 1 ) is particularly
noticeable in the part-load range. Fuel
savings of between 10 and 25 % were mea-
sured up to 60 Nm.
Hydrocarbon emission is brought be-
low US emission standards by hot cooling
and an oxidation catalyst in the exhaust
flow (FTP: 0,39 g/mi). As a result of
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Torque
I 1 I I 1 I
1000 2000 3000 llmin
Engine Speed
Fig. 14 Consumption map
the unthrottled and very lean operation,
CO emission levels fall well below the
limit values (FTP: 0.08 g/mi).
NOx emissions cannot be reduced by
present-day catalysts because the engine
continually works with extreme excess
air. This is, however, the reason why
the untreated NO emissions are so low
because when installed in the VW Golf,
they fall below the US NOx limit value
(FTP: 0,8 g/mi). The long-term stability
of NOx emission could be favourable with
this concept. Tests have not yet been
made to find out whether a further re-
duction to the Californian limit value
of 0.4 g/mi (e.g. by introducing exhaust
gas recirculation) is possible without
impairing consumption.Particulate emis-
sions are well below the limit (FTP:
0,07 g/mi).
Table 1 gives the projected con-
sumption levels of the research engine,
pressuming that it is installed in a
Golf with 5-gear transmission, for which
the exact road resistances are known.
Table 1
Projected consumption levels for a
Golf with FUTURA GDI-engine.
90 kph cruising speed 4.6 1/100 km
120 kph cruising speed 6.7 1/100 km
ECE urban cycle (warm) 6.7 1/100 km
average (1/3) 6.0 1/100 km
FTP cold start 38 miles/gallon
HDC warm test 52 miles/gallon
SUMMARY
Increasing importance is being at-
tached to reducing environmental pol-
lution by restricting CO, output. For
the last few years, VW has thus been in-
tensively researching gasoline direct
injection (GDI). The priority aim was to
attain consumption levels comparable
with those of the diesel, by moving away
from throttle regulation to quality reg-
ulation. It was possible to achieve this
aim by translating into practice the
progress made in fuel-injection tech-
nology and calculation of flow processes
in the combustion chamber, supported by
the application of optical measurement
evaluation techniques in the "transpar-
ent engine".
Equipping the engine with an evapo-
ration cooling system was another factor
which contributed to reducing consump-
tion and CO, emission. This cooling sys-
tem not only shortens the warm-up phase,
which is a cause of increased consump-
tion, but also reduces friction losses
I I in the engine, particularly at partial
5000 load, and thus also consumption and
emission from warm engines.
Part of the auxiliary assemblies is
driven by a two-stage drive to ensure a
suitable expenditure of energy; this
also has a positive effect on fuel con-
sumption and emission-behaviour.
The spark-ignition engine with gas-
oline direct-injection naturally meets
the exhaust standards with an oxidation
catalyst being installed to burn hydro-
carbon emission. The advantage of this
system is that it is highly unsuscep-
tible to ageing.
Since the main aims of the project
were to attain lowest possible consump-
tion and undercut all pollutant limit
values, the spark-ignition engine with
direct fuel-injection delivers a lower
specific power output than spark-igni-
tion engines with intake-manifold injec-
tion. However, to produce good driveing
performance, a G40 supercharger was used
in connection with an intercooler to in-
crease power output throughout the en-
tire speed range. It cannot, at this
stage, be predicted to what extent the
results can be translated into a mass-
production engine.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
[I] Wood, C.D.: Unthrottled Open-Chamber
VW
Stratified Charge Engines, SAE-Paper 780 341
[2] Oetting, H., Walzer, P.: Alternative Ansatze
zu Magerkonzepten, VDI reports 578; Magerbe-
trieb beim Ottomotor, Dusseldorf: VDI-Verlag
GmbH 1985
[3] Bartsch, C.: Hat der Zweitaktmotor Chancen?
Schweizer Automobilrevue (1990), No. 17/19
[4] Schapertons, H., Thiele, F.:A Three-Dimen-
sional Study of a Stratified Charge
Combustion System. ASME-Paper 87-FE-7, 1987
[5] Hentschel, W.: Einsatz von Lasern in der
MotormeRtechnik zur Visualisierung von
Stromungen, VDI-Reports 617: LasermeRtechnik,
Dussseldorf: VDI-Verlag GmbH 1986
[6] Emmenthal, K.-D., Muller, C., Schafer, 0.:
Verdrangerlader £fir Volkswagen-Motoren,
MTZ 46 (1985), No. 9
[7] Willumeit, H.-P., Steinberg, P., Oetting, H.,
Scheibner, B.: Bauteiltemperatur-geregeltes
Kuhlkonzept und seine Auswirkungen auf Ver-
brauch und Emissionen, VDI-reports 578:
Magerbetrieb beim Ottomotor, Diisseldorf:
VDI-Verlag GmbH 1985