Turbocompound energy recovery option on a turbocharged diesel engine

The transportation sector is living a transition era in which hybrid and electrified vehicles are replacing conventional vehicles, based on internal combustion engines. This is pushed by the recognized need for reducing fuel consumption and tailpipe emissions, considering primary pollutants and carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas. In the transition path, hybridization and partial electrification of the powertrain play a crucial role. In this regard, the need for on-board electrical energy storage and utilization is increasing significantly and the possibility to recover wasted energy and convert it into electrical form is mandatory. This is especially true for commercial and heavy-duty vehicles, where full electrification is more difficult to be implemented. Waste Heat Recovery (WHR) has therefore become so important for vehicles, not only to directly reduce fuel consumption and related emissions but also to improve the feasibility of a generation of vehicles with a higher degree of hybridization that considers, for example, the electrification of auxiliaries following the so-called auxiliaries-on-demand management. Wasted heat refers mainly to exhaust heat from gases, where about one third of the fuel energy is disposed of. Among the various systems for WHR, engine turbo-compounding is approaching a mature technology. This technological option makes use of an additional turbine on the exhaust line of the engine, downstream of the turbocharging one, which converts the residual gas enthalpy into mechanical form. In this paper, the F1C Iveco 3.0 L turbocharged diesel engine is considered for verifying the performances of a turbo-compounding system. The engine was mounted on a dynamic engine test bench. In particular, the interactions with the original engine produced on the exhaust line were studied. Backpressure effects on the engine introduced by turbo-compounding were evaluated reversed in terms of extra fuel consumption. Moreover, the new equilibrium of the turbocharger was assessed and the related modifications to the engine were measured considering that the turbocharger has a control strategy based on the so-called Variable Geometry Turbine (VGT), via the modification of the Inlet Guide Vanes (IGV). The presence of a secondary turbine for WHR opens to a wider possibility of actuating the IGV and, so, the possibility to optimize the recovery considering the integrated system and all its degrees of freedom.