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Development of Low Pressure Loop EGR System for 2011-01-1413

Published
Diesel Engines 04/12/2011

Akira Yamashita
Toyota Motor Corporation

Hisashi Ohki, Terutoshi Tomoda and Koichiro Nakatani

Toyota Motor Corporation

Copyright © 2011 SAE International

doi:10.4271/2011-01-1413

predicting air-fuel ratio and controlling the intake oxygen

ABSTRACT
Low pressure loop (LPL) EGR systems are effective means
of simultaneously reducing the NOx emissions and fuel
consumption of diesel engines. Further lower emission levels
can be achieved by adopting a system that combines LPL
EGR with a NOx storage and reduction (NSR) catalyst.
However, this combined system has to overcome the issue of
combustion fluctuations resulting from changes in the air-fuel
ratio due to EGR gas recirculation from either NOx reduction
control or diesel particulate filter (DPF) regeneration. The
aim of this research was to reduce combustion fluctuations by
developing LPL EGR control logic.
In order to control the combustion fluctuations caused by
LPL EGR, it is necessary to estimate the recirculation time.
First, recirculation delay was investigated. It was found that
recirculation delay becomes longer when the LPL EGR flow
rate or engine speed is low. In contrast, even if the engine
speed changes, the delay was found to be proportional to the
number of engine cycles. A model was developed to express
this phenomenon. A good correlation was found between
actual measurements and the recirculation delay estimated by
the model.
concentration was developed separately for DPF
regeneration. As a result, combustion variations due to DPF
regenerations have also been improved.
1. INTRODUCTION
Recent years have seen growing calls to reduce the CO2
emissions and fuel consumption of automotive internal
combustion engines to help alleviate their environmental
impact and the depletion of natural resources. The
development of technology capable of achieving both these
aims is an urgent task. Methods of reducing emissions
include the purification of exhaust gases from the engine by
improving combustion [1,2], and the use of an after-treatment
system such as a catalyst. Both are crucial techniques.
Figure 1 demonstrates the effectiveness of adopting a low
pressure loop EGR (LPL EGR) system with a mass-produced
2.2-liter 4-cylinder diesel engine. It shows that a diesel LPL
EGR system is capable of simultaneously reducing engine
NOx emissions and fuel consumption [3, 4, 5]. Such systems
are expected to become more widespread in the future.

Next, the control logic for LPL EGR was studied. The
recirculation gas under rich operating conditions was detected
by an air-fuel ratio sensor to examine a method of controlling
the EGR valve in accordance with the timing for the rich gas
to actually reach the EGR valve. Thus, fluctuations in torque
and combustion noise were improved. On the other hand, an
air-fuel ratio sensor may not be equipped in the system which
does not use a NSR catalyst. Therefore, a method of
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path, a throttle valve in the intake path, and an EGR cooler in

the LPL path. To study the fundamental effects of after-
treatment systems, diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC) and diesel
particulate filter (DPF) were positioned upstream of the LPL
path instead of DPNR (diesel particulate and NOx reduction
system) [8], and an exhaust port injector was provided in the
exhaust manifold. Air-fuel ratio (A/F) sensors manufactured
by Horiba, Ltd. were located in three locations at the LPL
EGR valve, the intake manifold and in the exhaust system
near the LPL inlet. Measurements inside the cylinders were
carried out by cylinder pressure sensors manufactured by
Kistler Corporation.

Table 1. Engine Specifications

Fig. 1. Emissions Reduction Capability of LPL EGR
System[2]

In addition, many techniques for reducing NOx emissions

using exhaust after-treatment systems such as a NOx storage
and reduction (NSR) catalyst have already been proposed [6].
Combining an LPL EGR system with an exhaust after-
treatment system is one way of meeting future emissions
regulations that are much stricter than Euro 6 levels.
However, LPL EGR systems extract exhaust gas from
downstream of the catalyst and re-circulate this gas upstream
using a turbocharger or compressor. In a system with an NSR
catalyst, rich gas supplied by an exhaust port fuel injector for
NOx reduction control is re-circulated through the LPL
system, causing torque and combustion noise to fluctuate. In
addition, since the state of the recirculation gas and the time
required to re-circulate the gas vary in accordance with the
engine operating conditions, it is not possible to resolve these
issues using conventional EGR control. In response, the
research described in this paper used bench tests to
investigate the relationship between engine operating
conditions and recirculation delay. The aim of the research
was to reduce combustion fluctuations by developing LPL
EGR control logic using the air-fuel ratio based on intake
oxygen concentration control [7], in combination with a
recirculation delay model.

2. TEST EQUIPMENT AND METHOD Fig. 2. Diesel Engine System Configuration

2-1. TEST EQUIPMENT

Table 1 shows the specifications of the engine used in the
tests, and Fig. 2 shows the engine system. The engine is a 3-
liter inline 4-cylinder diesel engine with a compression ratio
of 13.8, with a variable nozzle turbocharger, intercooler, and
common rail injection system. The EGR system includes both
a LPL that re-circulates gas from downstream of the
turbocharger turbine to upstream of the compressor, and a
high pressure loop (HPL) that re-circulates gas from upstream
of the turbocharger turbine directly into the manifold. The
EGR flow rate is controlled by an EGR valve in each EGR
2-2. TEST METHOD
The conditions for the test were engine speeds (Ne) from
1,200 rpm to 2,400 rpm and brake mean effective pressures
(Pme) from 0.3 MPa to 0.5 MPa. The EGR delay was
measured on an engine bench using the exhaust port injector
and air-fuel ratio sensors with the LPL and HPL systems used
simultaneously and separately. The EGR rates under these
LPL and HPL usage conditions were defined using Equation
1, based on the ratios of CO2 concentration in the exhaust
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downstream of the catalyst, the intake manifold, and the

intercooler.

(1)

where, R: total EGR rate, RLPL: LPL EGR rate, RHPL: HPL
EGR rate, CO2ex: CO2 concentration in exhaust (%), CO2at:
atmospheric CO2 concentration (%), CO2im: CO2
concentration in intake manifold (%), and CO2ic: CO2
concentration in intercooler (%).

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

3-1. EFFECT OF RECIRCULATION GAS
DURING RICH OPERATING
CONDITIONS
When only the HPL is used, rich EGR gas is not re-circulated
into the intake system under rich operating conditions
because the HPL EGR port is located upstream of the exhaust
port injector. In contrast, the LPL does re-circulate rich gas to Fig.3. Relationship between Rich Gas Recirculation and
the intake system. Engine Performance

Figure 3 shows the changes in air-fuel ratio, torque, and

combustion noise variations under rich operating conditions
caused by exhaust port injection while the LPL EGR is in
use. It indicates that rich gas recirculation reduces both torque
and combustion noise.

Figure 4 shows the changes in cylinder pressure before and

after rich gas recirculation. The peak cylinder pressure is
reduced during rich gas recirculation such that the timing of
the minimum peak pressure during the enrichment phase
coincides with the peak of the reduced intake air-fuel ratio
shown in Fig. 3, demonstrating that rich gas recirculation is
responsible for the combustion instability.

Fig.4. Relationship between Rich Gas Recirculation and

Cylinder Pressure

3-2. MEASUREMENT OF
RECIRCULATION DELAY
Recirculation delay is defined as the time required for the rich
gas created by exhaust port injection to reach the LPL path
upstream of the intake system. It was calculated using the air-
fuel ratio behavior after exhaust port injection based on the
values measured by the air-fuel ratio sensor No.2 and No.3
shown in Fig. 2.
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Figure 5 shows the effect of the LPL EGR flow rate on the
delay in recirculation from the exhaust port injector to the
LPL path outlet and the intake manifold. It indicates that the
recirculation delay increases as the LPL EGR flow rate is
reduced. This is because the volume of gas exchange in the
LPL path decreases as the LPL EGR flow rate is reduced. In
the same way, the recirculation delay also increases when the
LPL and HPL are both adopted, even when the LPL EGR
flow rate remains the same. This is because the volume of gas
exchange in the intake and exhaust paths decrease as the HPL
is increased.

Fig.6. Relationship between LPL EGR Flow Rate and

Recirculation Delay

3-3. MODELING OF RECIRCULATION

DELAY
In calculating the recirculation delay, an intake/exhaust
system model was created that included three sections: the
exhaust path from the exhaust manifold to the LPL inlet, the
LPL path from the LPL inlet to the LPL outlet in the intake
system, and the intake path from this confluence region to the
Fig.5. Relationship between LPL EGR Flow Rate and intake manifold. Equation 2 shows the gas flow rate V force-
Recirculation Delay fed per engine revolution with respect to a reference total gas
flow into the cylinders.

Figure 6 compares the recirculation delay in the LPL path

under two different conditions of engine speed and load.
Recirculation delay in the LPL path is proportional to the (2)
number of cycles even at different engine speeds.
where, V: force-fed gas per revolution (L/rev), Vh: total
To suppress combustion fluctuations caused by LPL EGR engine displacement (L), and ηvb: volumetric efficiency (%).
recirculation, it is necessary to estimate the recirculation
delay caused by changes in engine operating conditions. For Equation 3 shows the recirculation delay of the exhaust path
this reason, the engine intake and exhaust system used in the in terms of the number of cycles.
test was modeled, and the calculated LPL recirculation delay
was compared with the actual measurements.

(3)

where, Dex: recirculation delay in exhaust path (rev), Vex:

volume of piping in exhaust path (L), Pb: intake manifold
pressure (kPa), Pex: exhaust manifold pressure (kPa), Tb:
intake manifold temperature (K), Tex: exhaust manifold
temperature (K).
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In the same way, the recirculation delay in the LPL path can
be calculated by Equation 4.

(4)

where, DLPL: recirculation delay in LPL path (rev), VLPL:

total volume of piping in LPL path (L), PLPL: pressure inside
LPL EGR piping (kPa), and TLPL: temperature inside LPL
EGR piping (K).

In addition, the recirculation delay time t can be expressed as

Equation 5, 6.

Fig.7. Model for Simulating Recirculation Delay of LPL

(5)
EGR System

(6)

where, tex: recirculation delay time in exhaust path (sec),

tLPL: recirculation delay time in LPL path (sec), and Ne:
engine speed (rpm).

3-4. VERIFICATION OF
RECIRCULATION DELAY MODEL
The simple LPL EGR delay calculation model described
above was verified by using a one-dimensional cycle
simulation (BOOST from AVL).

Figure 7 shows the simulation model. In order to simulate the

phenomenon under rich operating conditions, the exhaust port
injector was modeled at the same position as the actual
engine. The result of the simulation based on the same Fig.8. Comparison of Calculation and Measurement of
conditions as the actual engine, showed the rich gas generated Recirculation Delay
by exhaust port injection reached the cylinders through the
LPL path.
3-5. EGR CONTROL METHOD UNDER
Figure 8 compares the results for the recirculation delay of RICH OPERATING CONDITIONS
the exhaust and LPL paths measured using the actual engine
A method of controlling EGR to maintain a constant intake
under combined LPL and HPL operating conditions with the
oxygen concentration before and after the exhaust port
simple calculation model calculated from Equation 4 and the
injection was studied as a means of improving combustion
results of the one-dimensional cycle simulation. The results
fluctuations caused by EGR gas under rich operating
of the simple calculation correspond closely to the actual
conditions.
engine measurements. Furthermore, it was also found that the
increase in recirculation delay in accordance with the
decrease in the LPL EGR flow rate was expressed in the
calculated values.
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Equation 10 is formed by substituting this into Equation 9.

(10)
In addition, the intake air flow Gn1 after the exhaust port
injection can be calculated by substituting the following
equation into Equation 10.

This is shown in Equation 11.

Fig.9. Comparison of Calculation and Measurement of
Recirculation Delay

Figure 9 shows the correlation between the intake oxygen

concentration and the ratio between the EGR rate (R) and the
excess air ratio (R/λ). The intake oxygen concentration can
therefore be calculated from the EGR rate and λ [8,9]. (11)
Here, Gf and Gn0 are the target values before the exhaust port
injection, and (A/F)1 uses the actual measured value of the
air-fuel ratio sensor provided in the exhaust system.
(7)
Equation 8 shows the condition that must be satisfied for
constant intake oxygen concentration before and after the
exhaust port injection.

(8)
where, R: total EGR rate (before exhaust port injection: R0,
after injection: R1) and λ: excess air ratio (before exhaust port
injection: λ0, after injection: λ1).

Equation 9 is derived since rich gas is re-circulated only to

the LPL line after the exhaust port injection.

Fig.10. Recirculation Control System for LPL

(9)
Hence,
where, Gcyl: total gas in cylinder(g/rev), Gn: intake air flow
(g/rev), GLPL: LPL EGR gas flow (g/rev), GHPL: HPL EGR
gas flow (g/rev), and Gf. fuel demand (g/rev).
Figure 10 shows an outline of the intake oxygen
concentration control system for LPL EGR. Figure 11 shows
an outline of the control method. When the exhaust port
injection is started, the air-fuel ratio of the rich gas is detected
by the air-fuel ratio sensor in the exhaust path, and the target
air flow is calculated using Equation 11. At the same time,
the recirculation delay of the LPL path is calculated by
Equations 4 and 6. The LPL EGR valve is then controlled in
accordance with the timing for the rich gas to actually reach
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the LPL EGR valve, incorporating the response delay of the intake oxygen concentration before and after exhaust port
EGR valve. This method requires EGR rates, but it is difficult injection.
to measure EGR rates on-board. Therefore, the EGR rates are
estimated from engine operating map prepared beforehand,
and revised with air mass flow rate and intake manifold
pressure.

Fig.11. Recirculation Control Method for LPL

3-6. EVALUATION OF EGR CONTROL

UNDER RICH OPERATING
CONDITIONS
Figure 12 compares the effect on engine performance with
and without the rich gas recirculation control after exhaust
port injection. Without the control, rich gas recirculation after
exhaust port injection causes the intake air-fuel ratio to vary
widely, creating large fluctuations in NOx, combustion noise,
and torque before and after exhaust gas recirculation.
However, with the rich gas recirculation control, intake air-
fuel ratio was kept constant by reducing the LPL EGR flow
rate in accordance with the characteristics of exhaust air-fuel
ratio. This improved fluctuations in NOx, combustion noise,
and torque.

Figure 13 shows the variations in cylinder pressure before

and after EGR with the recirculation control under rich
operating conditions. Without recirculation control, Fig. 4
shows unstable combustion as a result of rich gas
recirculation 0.6 to 0.8 seconds after the start of exhaust port
injection. In contrast, Fig. 13 confirms that the rich gas
recirculation control reduces cylinder pressure fluctuations
and produces stable combustion.

Figure 14 shows the effect of recirculation control under Fig.12. Effect of Recirculation Control on Engine
transient conditions. In the same way, a test simulating steady Performance under Rich Operating Conditions
state and transient conditions (engine speeds (Ne): 1,200 rpm
to 2,400 rpm, brake mean effective pressures (Pme): 0.3 MPa
to 0.5 MPa) also demonstrated that controlling rich gas
recirculation improved combustion fluctuations. This verifies
the effectiveness of the method to estimate the required LPL
EGR delay for controlling rich gas recirculation, and the
control that reduces the EGR flow rate to maintain a constant
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the other hand, an air-fuel ratio sensor may not be used in a

system which does not use a NSR catalyst. Logic which
estimates the exhaust air-fuel ratio controls the intake oxygen
concentration without using an air-fuel ratio sensor was
developed independently. The combustion variations at the
time of DPF regeneration are smaller compared with the
combustion fluctuations during rich operating conditions. The
reason is because the amount of fuel (Gad) and the timing
required by the exhaust port injection change based on
demands by the catalyst. As shown in Fig. 15, at the time of
DPF regeneration, changes in cylinder pressure are smaller
compared to rich operating conditions (Fig.4). Since there is
less fuel in the LPL recirculation gas during DPF
regeneration, fluctuations of the exhaust air-fuel ratio per
Fig.13. Effect of Recirculation Control on Cylinder
time is small compared to rich operation. Therefore, the
Pressure
exhaust air-fuel ratio can be predicted for DPF regeneration.

As expressed in Equation 11, the following equation is

established to maintain a constant intake oxygen
concentration before and after exhaust port injection.

(11)

where, Gad: amount of fuel addition (g/rev). The air-fuel ratio

(A/F)1 for the exhaust port injection can be expressed as
follows.

(12)

The intake air flow (Gn1) for the exhaust port injection can be
expressed as follows.

Fig.14. Effect of Recirculation Control on Engine (13)

Performance under Transient Conditions
In contrast, the amount of fuel (Gad) is controlled by the
difference of the exhaust temperature at the catalyst entrance,
3-7. EGR CONTROL METHOD DURING and the target temperature.
DPF REGENERATION
When carrying out DPF generation, the results show
combustion variations smaller in magnitude than during the (14)
rich operation previously discussed. In this case, combustion
variation is improved by using an air-fuel ratio sensor in a
similar manner as during the rich operating conditions. On
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where, Ttrg: the catalyst inlet target temperature (K), Tin: the
actual catalyst inlet temperature (K), Gcat: the gas flow
through the catalyst (g/rev), Cp: the specific heat of the gas (J/
kg·K), Hu: the lower heating value of the fuel (J/G).
In addition, the gas flow through the catalyst Gcat is
calculated as follows.
(15)
3-8. EVALUATION OF EGR CONTROL
DURING DPF REGENERATION
Figure 15 compares the effect on combustion with and
without the intake air-fuel ratio control after DPF
regeneration. The results without the control show
combustion fluctuations similar to those under rich operating
conditions. However, when the air-fuel ratio fluctuations are
controlled as shown in Equation 13, changes in cylinder
pressure are reduced and combustion fluctuations are
suppressed.
Fig.15. Effect of Recirculation Control on Cylinder
Pressure during DPF Regeneration
Figure 16 shows the results after DPF regeneration using
Equations 13 and 14. The newly developed EGR control
logic precisely controls the catalyst bed temperature during
DPF regeneration and ensures that it maintains the target
temperature. These results confirm that combustion variation
can be suppressed without using an air-fuel ratio sensor in the
event of comparatively small exhaust air-fuel ratio changes,
such as those that occur during DPF regeneration.
Fig.16. Bed Temperature during DPF Regeneration
4. CONCLUSION
Combining an LPL EGR system with an NSR catalyst is an
effective technique to meet future stringent emissions
regulations. To enable this combined system, the research
described in this paper analyzed the relationship between the
engine operation state and recirculation delay, focusing on
the recirculation delay in the LPL system due to operation
under rich conditions. In addition, recirculation delay control
logic that reduces the EGR flow rate to maintain a constant
intake oxygen concentration was developed as a
countermeasure for recirculation delay. The following points
were identified by this research.
1. The effect of rich gas recirculation under rich operating
conditions on the intake oxygen concentration was estimated
using air-fuel ratio sensors. It was found that reducing the
LPL EGR flow rate in accordance with the recirculation
delay to maintain a constant intake oxygen concentration
before and after exhaust port injection improved fluctuations
in torque and combustion noise.
2. Although LPL EGR recirculation delay changes in
accordance with engine operating conditions, the delay can
be estimated from the HPL and LPL EGR rates, the volume
of the piping in the intake and exhaust paths, engine
displacement, and engine speed.
3. Combining LPL and HPL EGR increases the LPL EGR
recirculation delay because the volume of gas exchange in the
LPL path decreases.
4. When exhaust air-fuel ratio fluctuations are small, such as
in the event of DPF regeneration, combustion variation can
be suppressed without an air-fuel ratio sensor by estimating
the intake oxygen concentration from the amount of exhaust
port injection.
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