Numerical Study of the Implementation of an Active Control Turbocharger on Automotive Diesel Engines

Active control turbocharger (ACT) has been proposed as a way to improve turbocharger performance under highly pulsating exhaust flows. This technique implies that the variable geometry mechanism in the turbine is used to optimize its position as a function of the instantaneous mass flow during the engine cycle. Tests presented in the literature showed promising results in a pulsating gas-stand. In this work, a modeling study has been conducted at different engine conditions aimed to quantify the gain in on-engine conditions and to develop a strategy to integrate the ACT system within the engine. Different ways of changing the displacement of the variable mechanism have been analyzed by means of a one-dimensional gas dynamic model. The simulations have been carried out at constant engine operating points defined by fixed air-to-fuel ratio for different mechanism displacement functions around an average position that guarantees the desired amount of intake air. The benefits in overall engine efficiency are lower to those predicted in the literature. It can be concluded that it is not possible to use the ACT system to optimize the turbine operating point and at the same time to control the engine operating point.
The authors wish to thank Mr. Fabrice Vidal from PSA Peugeot Citroen (France) for his contribution to the work presented here. The work has been partially funded by the Spain's Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnologia through project TRA2007-65433.