Meeting Stringent 2025 Emissions and Fuel Efficiency Regulations with an Opposed-Piston, Light-Duty Diesel Engine (2014)

&lt;div class="section abstract"&gt;&lt;div class="htmlview paragraph"&gt;With current and pending regulations-including Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) 2025 and Tier 3 or LEV III-automakers are under tremendous pressure to reduce fuel consumption while meeting more stringent NOx, PM, HC and CO standards. To meet these standards, many are investing in expensive technologies-to enhance conventional, four-stroke powertrains-and in significant vehicle improvements. However, others are evaluating alternative concepts like the opposed-piston, two-stroke engine.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="htmlview paragraph"&gt;First manufactured in the 1890s-and once widely used for ground, marine and aviation applications-the historic opposed-piston, two-stroke (OP2S) engine suffered from poor emissions and oil control. This meant that its use in on-highway applications ceased with the passage of modern emissions standards.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="htmlview paragraph"&gt;Since then, Achates Power has enhanced the opposed-piston engine and resolved its historic challenges: wrist pin and power cylinder durability, piston and cylinder thermal management, piston ring integrity and oil consumption [&lt;span class="xref"&gt;1&lt;/span&gt;].&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="htmlview paragraph"&gt;An in-depth study on opposed-piston, two-stroke diesel engine performance and emissions in a light-duty truck application is presented here for the first time in a technical paper. The paper includes a: &lt;ul class="list disc"&gt;&lt;li class="list-item"&gt;&lt;div class="htmlview paragraph"&gt;Brief review of the opposed-piston, two-stroke engine's architectural advantages (thermodynamics, pumping work and combustion)&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class="list-item"&gt;&lt;div class="htmlview paragraph"&gt;Comprehensive overview of the engine's performance and emissions results, including indicated thermal efficiency, fuel consumption and emissions&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class="list-item"&gt;&lt;div class="htmlview paragraph"&gt;Comparison of fuel economy and emissions to the published benchmark, the Cummins 2.8L ATLAS Diesel Engine [&lt;span class="xref"&gt;2&lt;/span&gt;]&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class="list-item"&gt;&lt;div class="htmlview paragraph"&gt;Discussion of an exhaust temperature control strategy that is used to meet the aggressive catalyst light-off requirements of light-duty applications by achieving rapid catalyst light-off after a cold start&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class="list-item"&gt;&lt;div class="htmlview paragraph"&gt;Comparison of engine balance of the light-duty truck concept engine and a state-of-the-art gasoline V6 engine&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class="list-item"&gt;&lt;div class="htmlview paragraph"&gt;Examination of the packaging options for an opposed-piston, two-stroke engine in a light-duty truck application&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="htmlview paragraph"&gt;The results of this study show that the Achates Power opposed-piston engine benefits-high efficiency, low emissions and reduced cost, mass and complexity-already demonstrated for medium-duty commercial vehicles [&lt;span class="xref"&gt;1&lt;/span&gt;] are also available for light-duty applications. In fact, to an even greater extent: over 30% fuel economy improvement when compared to an equivalent four-stroke diesel engine.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="htmlview paragraph"&gt;Moreover, this study shows that the final 2025 light-truck CAFE fuel economy regulation not only has the potential to be met but also the potential to be exceeded with a full-size 5,500 lb. pick-up truck by simply applying the Achates Power technology without any hybridization or vehicle improvements.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;