Effect of porous material as heat storage medium on fuel consumption in a turbocharged gasoline engine

Exhaust gas energy recovery systems have shown great potential in improving internal combustion engine’s fuel consumption. The use of porous Si-SiC material as heat storage medium to improve the turbine performance and fuel consumption of the engine has not been investigated. In order to study the effect of porous Si-SiC material as heat storage medium on the fuel consumption for a turbocharged gasoline engine, steady and transient engine conditions were considered. A one-dimensional flow dynamic model of the porous heat storage material was established and comprehensively validated by experimental data. Then, this model was applied to predict the performance of the engine with heat storage medium under various conditions, including steady operation condition at targeted torque and transient operation conditions following the worldwide harmonized light vehicles test cycles. As a result, under steady operation conditions, using heat storage medium, a fuel consumption reduction of about 1.1% was obtained due to increased turbine efficiency and reduced pumping loss. Moreover, the simulation under worldwide harmonized light vehicles test cycle driving cycle achieved fuel consumption saving up to 6.6% at medium vehicle speed due to the reuse of recovered exhaust gas energy in the heat storage medium. Thus, to use of the porous Si-SiC material as a kind of heat storage medium can be deemed as a prominent way to improve the turbine efficiency and engine performance of turbocharged gasoline engines.