DoD Engine Efficiency Enhancement Technology

The overall objective retrofits a set of production engines with D-Cycle technology, demonstrating in dynamometer testing, simultaneous improvements of at least 50% fuel efficiency increase, 100% boost in low-end torque, 15% reduction in engine-out emission. The heart of the D-Cycle engine is the innovative split-piston design that allows the exhaust and intake strokes to be independent of the crankshaft motion. This allows for flexibility to adapt to the load demand to maximize fuel efficiency, while boosting performance by producing a power stroke every revolution of the crankshaft while still performing 4 thermal cycles. The engine architecture remains the same with only modification to five components. Phase I focuses on computer modeling and optimization of the 4 thermodynamic cycles to provide the design constraints when performing the detailed design of engine components to be retrofitted. Phase II is the detailed design and build of the five components to be retrofitted into the engine. The retrofitted engine is tested on a dynamometer to assess performance, emissions and fuel economy performance compared to the original production surrogate engine.