Engine Test Cell Data Acquisition

The goal of the project is to improve the dynamometer control system, data acquisition system and engine cooling system for the engine test cell in the Small Engines Research Facility (SmERF). This will culminate in improved usability, better data and more efficient testing.

=Problem Definition=

Background
The University's engine test cell has become outdated. The data collection is done manually with someone entering values into a spreadsheet. The cooling system cannot support extended high load operation with the clean snowmobile team's engine. The fuel delivery system has largely been neglected and is becoming unreliable and there is no system in place for collection of in cylinder pressure data that would be used for combustion analysis. There is also a lack of concise documentation for the systems in the test cell and many testing procedures only exist via tribal knowledge. Accordingly, engine testing is extremely inefficient and yields data with unknown uncertainty.

Deliverables
The expectation is that all "low speed" signals (torque, engine speed, lambda, EGTs, emissions, etc) will be recorded on the same device and will be displayed on one large screen in the test cell. If possible, signals from the ECU (Engine Control Unit) will be included in the "low speed" data set The cooling system will be modified or replaced so that cool down time between test runs will be greatly reduced or eliminated completely. A system for measuring in crank angle resolved cylinder pressure will also be added so that metrics such as IMEP (Indicated Mean Effective Pressure), MFB (Mass Fraction Burned), and covariance of IMEP can be used in evaluating engine performance.

Specifications
=Design Considerations=

Depending on the scope of the final design, new systems can be implemented for tens of thousands of dollars. This is well beyond the budget of the team and the ME department. Many of the existing systems have capabilities that are not currently being taken advantage of.

=Project Learning=

Equipment for combustion analysis
=Final Design=

SuperFlow Data Acquisition
The 8 analog input channels on the sensor box were configured to handle the signals coming from the O2 sensor, fuel cart, coolant flow meter and emissions analyzer. Channels 45-47 had to be updated for a range of 0-5V and 48-52 were updated to a range of 0-1V so that there was adequate resolution for the incoming signals. The sensor box was originally configured for 0-10V



The testing screen that was previously being used had to be updated to include the newly added inputs



Additional screens will be added to display information relevant different test profiles in the future. The fuel pump and ignition switches built into SuperFlow will also be added to the primary screen. A channel that calculates and displays the real time E-score objective function (used by the UICSC team to determine relative E-score points lost during the emissions event) will also be added.

=Validation=

=Team Members=

=Additional Documentation=

Project Schedule



Meeting Minutes



Presentations

Concept Design Review: Detailed Design Review: Expo Presentation: