Analysis of the applicability of Water Injection in Combination with an eFuel for Knock Mitigation and Improved Engine Efficiency

The development of future gasoline engines is dominated by the study of new technologies aimed at reducing the engine negative environmental impact and increase its thermal efficiency. One common trend is to develop smaller engines able to operate in stoichiometric conditions across the whole engine map for better efficiency, lower fuel consumption, and optimal conversion rate of the three-way catalyst (TWC). Water injection is one promising technique, as it significantly reduces the engine knock tendency and avoids fuel enrichment for exhaust temperature mitigation at high power operation.

With the focus on reducing the carbon footprint of the automotive sector, another vital topic of research is the investigation of new alternative CO₂-neutral fuels or so-called eFuels. Several studies have already shown how these new synthetic fuels can be produced by exploiting renewable energy sources and can significantly reduce engine emissions.

This work is part of the FVV project number 1367, “Water Injection in Spark-Ignition Engines II”, which investigates the coexistence of two different engine technologies that heads towards the same direction of sustainability of the internal combustion engine: water injection and eFuels. The goal is to assess the advantages that the adoption of an eFuel in combination with water injection strategies can bring, with respect to the same strategies applied in combination with commercial gasoline.

Several water injection strategies, including direct water injection, indirect water injection, injection timing, and pressure variations, are considered for a better understanding of the benefits brought by the combination of an eFuel with water injection. For this purpose, experimental tests and 3D-CFD engine simulations have been performed. The physical properties of the investigated eFuel have been experimentally measured for accurate modelling in the simulation environment, and the thermodynamic properties have been evaluated utilizing detailed chemistry calculations.