The Combustion Institute is an educational non-profit, international, scientific and engineering society whose purpose is to promote research in combustion science. The institute was established in 1954, and its headquarters are in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The current president of the combustion institute is Philippe Dagaut (2021-).
Currently discussed changes in the automotive sector, which are aimed at significantly reducing emissions of harmful substances in road transport, also affect the directions of development of motorsport. One of them is the use of electric drive systems. Currently produced electric cars are not technically prepared to compete in car rallies, both due to their performance and safety reasons. For this reason, rallies still use combustion engines and attempts are made to implement hybrid drive systems. Bearing in mind the above-mentioned limitations of electric drive technology, combustion engines will remain in car rallies for a longer time. Taking the above into account, the article focuses on the issues of exhaust gas treatment systems in rally cars. Tests were carried out to determine exhaust emissions from a car using a catalytic converter approved according to FIA guidelines and compare them to the current standards for mass-produced cars. Thanks to them, it was also possible to estimate the level of exhaust emissions on the approach sections of the car rally. A separate issue was the analysis of how much the use of an electrically driven compressor could reduce fuel consumption by limiting the operation of the ALS system, which is designed to maintain the turbocharger's rotational speed at a constant level. Reducing fuel consumption on the special stage would also have a positive impact on reducing emissions of harmful substances from the rally car.
The article discusses issues related to the behavior of powertrains understood as monuments of engineering art. The theoretical part analyzed the most important issues related to the maintenance and renovation of vehicles, their share in Poland in the age category, as well as the regulations regarding the classification of historic vehicles. The next part of the article presents the renovation process of two powertrain – the K–750 motorcycle and the Volkswagen Type 117 passenger car, along with a short history of their production. Then, recommended procedures for unique objects were discussed in the context of their state of preservation and occurrence based on the authors' experience.
The paper presents an analysis of the dynamic parameters of a compact class passenger car powered by LPG/DME blends. The presented results are part of the research cycle of this vehicle, the purpose of which was to check the possibility of using DME (dimethyl ether) as an additive in the fuel mixture with LPG. In the presented part of the experimental research, the acceleration times of the vehicle under specific conditions were measured. On the basis of the obtained results, the relations between the average acceleration in the tested speed ranges, the fuel composition and the degree of engine load were developed. The results of the analyzes indicate that in the examined range of changes in the DME share in the fuel, comparable or higher acceleration values were obtained for all engine load levels. This confirms the usefulness of DME as a fuel component used to power SI engines.
The content of this article presents research on used and fresh engine oils. The aim of the experiment is to preliminarily develop a method for assessing the condition of engine oil subjected to service. A four-ball tester was used to compare the lubricating properties of the engine oil as one component of the tribosystem under laboratory conditions. The method used to determine the mashing load consisted of subjecting the kinematic node to a linearly increasing load with a build-up rate of 409 N·s-1 under operating conditions of approximately 20°C and a spindle speed of 500 rpm. The presented article is a continuation of the consideration of the lubricating properties of engine oils subjected to operation. The tests carried out made it possible to observe that fresh oils are characterised by their ability to carry higher loads in relation to oils subjected to service. This is evidenced by the obtained values of scuffing loads, which have a higher value for fresh oils (The average percentage increase in scuffing load for fresh oils was 62.23%). Comparing the friction torque characteristics with each other, it can be seen that the values of maximum friction torque are also higher for the fresh oils group. The modelling process made it possible to characterise changes in the tribological properties of the lubricating oil being used. In the future, the described model will be extended to include further input parameters (viscosity, contaminant content, fractional composition, etc.), which will allow a multi-parametric assessment of lubricating oil wear.
The fleet of electric vehicles is systematically growing. Many passenger car manufacturers are already reporting that after 2030, vehicles equipped with electric propulsion will account for half of the models produced. Vehicles equipped with an electric drive include: battery-powered electric vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles and fuel cell electric vehicles. Over the years, these vehicles have undergone constant change. The aim of this paper was to review trends in the development of pure electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles.
