Engine research progress
1/10/02
Near term goals:
1. Get engine running again, test out new ventilation system. See if the temperature
remains within sane limits and the gas (CO and hydrocarbon) alarm doesn't go
off. You'll probably need to contact Changwei Ji chwji@yahoo.com about some
of the nuances of running the engine.
2. Finish up the AQMD work – this should be relatively straightforward (after all,
nothing is impossible to he who does not have to do it himself). Consult the
AQMD proposal and statement of work (hard copy) and our last progress report
(which I just emailed to Nathan) to see where we are relative to what needs to be
done. Basically we need to start doing methanol/ethanol testing.
3. When AQMD is done, proceed to corona discharge work. It will probably be
useful to build a test jig that mimics the geometry of the cylinder so we can
evaluate the electrical discharge performance of various electrode designs so we
don't waste a lot of time and engines doing in-situ discharge testing to find out
what electrode designs really work. We probably either need (1) a window to see
where the streamers are or (2) a combustion test fixture to see what gives us the
highest "pressure rise time" (see the corona paper for definition.
4. Contact "Roberto Ortiz-Soto" robertoo@usc.edu about working in the engine lab.
1/22/02
Organizing engine lab – need a few parts, will buy.
Contacted HongTao Zhu, helped out a lot.
Roberto is helping out on emissions analyzer. Knows C programming also.
1/29/02
Leaks in cooling system – able to fix copper tubing system, may need to get new radiator
Re-working wiring, figured out what everything does
Dyno – checked water flow system
Load cell – need to check calibration
Horiba seems to be working – Roberto is handling it
Fan switch box needs a weatherproof cover
Use procurement cards for purchases - see Cathy Ballard cballard@busaff.usc.edu to
schedule workshop.
2/5/02
Facilties people fixed holes in radiator. Got engine started, ran well but hard to start on
natural gas. Added pneumatic shutoff valve to gas line. Working on RPM measurement.
Cylinder #4 has only 1/2 compression. Will have to pull head off.
Battery charger not keeping up. Bought tools also.
2/12/02
Hardware ready to run on gasoline.
RPM working now.
Working on grounding and shielding
Stepper motor for natural gas valve seems to have no torque now. Need new motor?
2/19/02
Running reliably on gasoline now. Facility temperature stays ok.
S/N issues resolved with routing and shielding.
Dyno filter clogged, fixed, runs cool now.
Emissions works ok. Couple of problems – flow rate on Nox analyzer is low, seems to
be clogged. CO reads 3x low and UHC high by 3x. Need to check… Sample line from
engine is Teflon(!), need to replace with stainless steel.
Other issues: equivalence ratio reads 11(!) Don't trust flow meters, especially air flow
meter.
2/26/02
Channel checking – all ok. Problems are coding related.
Nox flow problem fixed. Clogged valve. Need to check CO and UHC also.
Re-tubed emissions line.
Need to check on air flow meter.
Should be able to run on methanol and ethanol – current output to fuel pressure regulator
provides a wide range.
Will put fuel tank inside cabinet once vent line is installed.
Diverter/preheater valve system seems to work.
Will need new stepper motor when we go to natural gas.
3/5/02
New air flow meter $1050, linearizer $750. $575 to recalibrate old unit.
Fuel flow meters – close to previous calibrations
Working on code – fixed errors in phi, saving data without crashing, etc.
3/14/02
Nathan: Will go to Chicago (hooray!) Worked for Advanced Control Engineering
Services (small company, went belly-up, did control systems), then Mustang Engineering
(mostly offshore engines) (in NG engine area). Total experience about 2.5 years.
Program is saving data finally. Started running engine on methanol. Problem: PC has 0
– 10V output, converted by a circuit to 0 – 80 mA output. Need about 140 mA. Working
on circuit.
3/19/02
Have rough draft of METRANS poster.
Have circuit for >150 mA on fuel/air ratio control. Will test this afternoon.
Will send air flow meter back after tomorrow. Need to fix Horiba and ignition also.
Should be ready for testing in 2-3 weeks.
4/4/02
Horiba working ok – had to get new parts, gas bottles etc.
Need to know Nox, CO, UHC in ppm – PDR will get info.
Air flow meter – not yet.
Ignition timing adjustment from PC: needs work.
Stepper motor for NG flow control is ok, just wiring problem.
4/9/02
Working on spark timing circuit – can add electronic system for that, cost about $200.
May or may not have enough range of timing, may still have to move distributor
manually.
Have been running engine on methanol, runs ok.
Air flow meter: doing bearings and re-calibrating.
Horiba – will order new span gases for lower Nox, CO, UHC ranges.
4/30/02
Flow meter back – calibrated. Will install soon.
Roberto will stay over summer.
5/6/02
Air flow meter installed, calibrated, working fine. But one fuel flow meter seems bad
now.
5/14/02
Testing now!
Working on test matrix.
Should add manual transmission flywheel….
Built dyno calibration bar… previous results had lower torque than actual (typically
20%).
5/22/02
Installed flywheel, runs much better at low speeds.
Built gas cylinder rack.
Made longer throttle cable, no longer trip hazard.
Want to bolt shelves to wall – Mike Wallo is working on it.
Calibration gases in – was 40 days vs. 14 days promised.
1st map done without correction for HCs. Map of 1600 RPM, full throttle, varying phi
and intake temperature.
How to go from ppm to brake specific emissions?
PPM = 10^6*(Moles Nox)/(moles total exhaust)
Grams per kW-hr = [10^6*(Moles N))/(moles total exhaust)] / 10^6 * (30 grams
NO/mole NO) * (mole total exhaust / grams total exhaust) * (mass flow in grams total /
hr) / (kW brake power)
Operate engine at 1600 and 2400 RPM, for several fixed intake temperatures (Tmax ≈
300C, 250C, 200C, 150C, 100C, Tmin ≈ 50C.) At each T, go from phi = 1 to lean limit,
in steps of nominally 0.1, but close to limit go in smaller steps, not more than 0.05.
Leanest case with methanol is about 0.6 compared to 0.45 for methane. Maybe can go
leaner at higher RPM. In each case optimize spark timing, then record torque, fuel and
air flows, emissions. Generate plots as per JAE paper.
Also need to do 6 transient tests per fuel.
It would be nice to re-check natural gas, plus we will need NG capability for the DOE
project, so in the not too distant future we need to get natural gas capability again.
5/28/02
Reducing methanol data – ppm to bs emissions seems to have a problem (with GASEQ).
Data on efficiency looks good – 25% to 32%.
Working on natural gas flow valve and meter.
6/3/02
Engine running on NG – works fine. Adjustment not as fine as with liquids – NG 1 click
per .05 equivalence ratio vs. about 20 for liquid fuel. Calibrated NG flow meter –
previous calibration way off. Check flow meter manual to find calibration factor for NG.
One issue: in NG mode temperature control buttons don't work – some programming
issue.
Still haven't received cal gases for hydrocarbons and CO at low ranges. Once gases in
hand, will verify previous throttleless methanol emissions data and do throttled
conditions for 1:1 comparison. Will only take 2 days or so.
Will become official full time employee June 11; Roberto's situation still hazy.
Need to check on transient data.
Drop dead date is August 3, 2002 for AQMD. Look at contract to see what needs to
go into the final report. See if we are obviously deficient anywhere.
6/11/02
Tried some NG results – HC increase with decreasing phi in old data, decreases with phi
in new data. Problem with water trap in Horiba, may affect results. New filters also.
Clean dry water line needed for good data. Nox and CO look similar in old and new data.
NG working, temperature controller working in NG mode, program working… Still
working on dynamic data taking….
6/17/02
Progress
 Worked on dynamic test capability of program and have it working stably with
good data being taken
 Had some problems with program crashing, got some assistance from Kevin and
have program functional. Kevin has looked over code some more and will help
us clean it up.
 Began testing on Methanol. Ran into problem of not being able to go lean
enough. Seems pressure regulator is not reducing pressure enough and possibly
damaged some internal parts in fuel injection distributor (possibly due to
methanol corrosion?). Remanufactured fuel distributors run between $400 to
$800 and take 3 to 5 days to get. We made a run to junkyard and purchased two
used units that we are installing on engine now. Will test new fuel distributor and
pressure regulator today and resume testing.
 Received donation of 30 gal of Ethanol from Wyoming Ethanol
Near Term Goals
 Complete Methanol testing by end of week
 Host Bogdanoff on Weds.
 Run engine on Ethanol and make sure program is fully functional on ethanol
 Complete ethanol testing by middle of next week
 Make data plots and compose first draft of report by end of next week.
6/25/02
Progress:
 Completed testing with methanol!!
 Begun reducing data and making plots and everything looks good so far
 Engine is set up for Ethanol and will begin testing on ethanol today using existing
supply of fuel (~7 gal)
 Ethanol donation had shipping delay and won’t arrive until end of week
 Ordered some Ethanol from campus chemical store that will arrive tomorrow
(Wed) to allow testing to continue
 Had a bolt break on dyno load cell, didn’t cause any other damage. Temporarily
fixed with another bolt and ordered rod ends to mount load cell properly.
Near-term goals:
 Install rod ends on dyno load cell
 Complete Ethanol testing by end of week
 Work on reducing data from Ethanol and Methanol testing and prepare draft of
report by Monday
7/1/02
Finished both methanol and ethanol testing. Results look good in terms of efficiency
improvements, although some odd results:
1. Nox decreases with increasing intake temperature for both methanol and ethanol
(spot check of NG data showed the more traditional trend). Should try NG at one
phi, whole range of temperatures, also with methanol and ethanol.
2. Lean limit was less lean for ethanol (about 0.78) than methanol (about 0.55).
3. HC emission for ethanol show very different trends with temperature for 1600 vs.
2400 RPM
4. HC emission trends with temperature are similar for methanol and ethanol at 1600
RPM, but opposite at 2400 RPM
CO emission increase as phi decrease, generally not very sensitive to temperature
UHC about 10x lower for methanol than ethanol. NG data is closer to methanol. Check
to see if methane is included in UHC measurements.
Have also done dynamic data. Need to increase data taking rate, looks to be about 1
second or so.
Morse test (FMEP) should be repeated for constant RPM (1600 and 2400), also generate
new theoretical curves for our FMEPs and max BMEP’s. Meet Weds to see if we really
have the final data sets we need.
7/8/02
Morse test - engine gets hot due to unburned fuel! Exhaust manifold glowing red hot!
Need to shut off fuel to each cylinder as you pull spark plugs
Welded heat exchanger back together, getting ethanol data. Compression ratio now low
120, 120, 120, 100 psi (spec 140). Bought new (junkyard) engine.
30 gal ethanol arrived.
Problems with ethanol – horiba – droplets in flow meters even with water traps.
7/30/02
AQMD – need feedback from Mike, need to work on synopsis. Also, should we try to
(independent of the AQMD report) clean up the data (with regard to spark timing, water
in the traps, air flow measurement, fuel measuring system …) (maybe use 4 flow meters,
one on each cylinder (can they take the pressure?) (how much do they cost?) Question:
how much effort would be required to clean up these data to where we were “confident”
in the results for the purposes of a journal paper?
Corona project: should discuss needs with Liu. Probably we should build a test chamber
that can take high T (up to 600K) and high P (up to 10 atm non-combustion, or 50 atm
with combustion) to study at least electrical properties of the corona discharges under
these conditions. Maybe to start, just make a 3-piece chamber with about the same
dimensions as the cylinder when the piston is at TDC, and see what happens. Try to
decide which better, using a 3-plate design (possibly with top & bottom plates milled out
to approximate combustion chamber shape) or just use a real piston/block/head. If using
3-plate design, might want to consider adding quartz window at a later time.
8/15/02
Progress:
 Have sent out final AQMD report, synopsis and quarterly reports
 Invoice is being prepared
 Need you to read and sign letter stating that we didn’t test hydrogen
 We have been researching different dynos and emissions machines for possible
upgrade
 Horiba will visit on Mon 8/19 to assess emissions machine and determine if it is
serviceable and discuss other options
 Have drawings of test chamber for DOE project and have acquired materials to
make it
 Have info and pricing on fuel meters for individual cylinder installation
 Ordered new bearings for air flow meter
Near-term goals:
 Make decision on dyno and emissions machine upgrade
 Order fuel meters and modify software if that is best alternative
 Machine test chamber for Corona project
 Meet with Dr Lou to discuss Corona project
Near term conclusion: try cheap upgrade on dyno with water valve (computer
controlled), upgrade data acquistion with LabView.
8/20/02
Progress:
 Checked with McMillan on precision flow meter pricing
1. 101-3 (standard +/- 3%) $169.00
2. 101-3P (precision +/- 1%) $269.00
3. 101-3G (gold +/- .5%) $359.00
 They recommend calibrating with each type of fuel separately in which case we
aren’t using their calibration curve, so there is no sense in paying for the more
accurate calibration
 Labview price for version 6.1 with real-time module for multiple PID loop control
is $3995.00. Motion Control package will also be needed to control stepper
motor control. Upgrade is possible from version 5.1 that is used in other lab but


their website is locking up so we need to call for upgrade price. Also need
hardware – data acquisition card and motion controller.
Found company called Digalog that makes water brake dyno control valves that
look like would work on our dyno, we have requested more info and pricing
We met with Dr Liu yesterday and determined the pressure port, spark plug port,
and window configuration for the test chamber. We have part numbers for
valves, fittings and pressure transducers that we will need
Near-Term Goals:
 Order Lab view or upgrade
 Spec out data acquisition cards and Computer
 Order fuel flow meters
 Order valves, fittings and pressure transducers for corona test chamber
 Find suitable glass window and screen for test chamber
 Get more info on water brake dyno control valve
8/26/02
Progress:
 Did research on inspection glass for combustion chamber. Found possible
vendor, LJ Star Inc. They sell mechanically pre-stressed sight windows.
 Continued research on LabVIEW components needed for Engine Lab and
possibly for all CPL projects.
 Searched DAQ prices to compare to National Instruments’s DAQ. Seems they
are about the same price. One definite advantage that NI has is their guaranteed
compatibility with LabVIEW.
 Contacted Digalog once again but received no call back. Will try again.
 Searched for valves, fittings, etc. to adapt four new fuel flow meters. Will have to
decide once Nathan gets back.
 Found window screen for test chamber. Will have to decide where we buy it.
Near-Term Goals:
 Finalize Lab view requirements and order it.
 Spec out new Computer
 Order fuel flow meters
 Order valves, fittings and pressure transducers for corona test chamber
 Buy suitable glass window and screen for test chamber
 Contact Digalog once more.
9/3/02
Progress:
*
Ordered McMillan flow meters for individual cylinder fuel flow measurement
*
Received screen in 3 different mesh sizes for corona test chamber
*
Found sight glass manufacturer that makes window for the corona test chamber
called LJ Star, waiting for reply on specs and pricing
*
Attended a LabView user seminar last Thursday and learned some of the
programming basics and had some of our questions answered on hardware and got a 30
day software demo cd.
*
We have the full National Instruments catalog and price sheet so we are
determining what DAQ cards and motion control components we need
*
National Instruments is checking on pricing for research lab license pricing for
LabView
*
Have done some research on what it would take to convert the existing Clayton
dyno into a standard continuous flow with analog control setup.Ê This would involve
removing the heat exchanger portion of the dyno and replacing it with a manifold that
would allow a supply line to be attached and drain port that would have the control
valve.Ê The manifold could be machined out of aluminum and shouldnât be terribly
expensive to make. ÊDyno has been disassembled and drawing made of manifold.
ÊFinding a good analog control valve with a servo motor is the difficult part.Ê Digalog
sells a control valve for $2500 and the amplifier for $2900, we are looking for less
expensive alternative
*
Horiba called to let us know that they are still working on our quote and should
have it to us early this week
Near-Term Goals:
*
Order LabView
*
Complete data acquisition card selection Êand spec computer and purchase
*
Order valves, fittings and pressure transducer for corona test chamber
*
Get more info on water brake dyno control valve and make decision on dyno
*
Order sight glass and complete machining on test chamber
*
Schedule Horiba service visit after we receive quote
Engine Lab Progress Report
9/16/02
Progress:
 Received dyno manifold part from machine shop, looks and fits great
 We have cleaned out all of the rust and scale from the inside of dyno and
repainted the outside, will reassemble and install this week
 Have info on different site glass options; can get borosilicate glass 1 ¼” thick that
will withstand pressures up to 400psi. Prices range from $40 to $90
 Have priced out computer components with 3 different companies, should we
purchase w/ procurement card? Price is ~$700. Use PDR credit card, please give
me all receipts and packing slips!!!!
 Attended LabView seminar on motion control last week and learned more details
on stepper vs servo motors and how to use them. Determined that stepper motor
will work for our needs with use of microstepping which can be done with NI
hardware
 Have received quote with discounted prices for NI hardware $7006.50.
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Selected a stepper motor that will work for dyno control valve, we have already
purchased a valve to couple it to.
Talked to Elsie about purchasing process for NI equipment and got a copy of the
source justification form that needs to be filled out for major purchases
Scheduled to meet with Lisa Schilken today to show her the lab and see if she is
interested in working with us.
Near-Term Goals:
 Assemble new manifold to dyno and install control valve w/ stepper motor
 Order LabView software and data acquisition cards (Have you spoken with Chris
Bainter about software yet)
 Purchase computer and stepper motor
 Order valves, fittings and pressure transducer for corona test chamber
 Order sight glass and complete machining on test chamber
9/26/02
Progress:
 Received new computer parts. Assembled it and installed OS and software
including trial version of LabView. Got good deal on 17” monitor and keyboard
from surplus.
 Moving new computer to primary position and old computer to other desk
 Built new rack for dyno stand for mounting fuel system to, much sturdier and
prettier than old design, won’t vibrate like old one did
 Copied MSDS sheets and gave copy to Allison
 Assembled manifold to dyno and pressure tested, no leaks! Received stepper
motor and working on mounting bracket and coupling
 Met with Mohammed to discuss new control system and he wants to help us with
the LabView programming.
10/8/02
Near-Term Goals:
 Assemble new manifold to dyno and install control valve w/ stepper motor
 Order LabView software and data acquisition cards (Have you spoken with Chris
Bainter about software yet)
 Continue to work on wiring schematics and order electrical enclosures
 Complete machining on test chamber
 Add water trap in exhaust line – may reduce amount of water going into Horiba.
Progress:
 Almost finished with electrical schematics for new control system- these drawings
should make installation go much quicker
 Have relays, terminal blocks, enclosures and conduit picked out- need to order

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Emailed Brandon Jones (merit research student), will meet later this week about
working in the lab
Received updated quote from NI for hardware and software
Checked on status of window for test chamber and it should arrive by next
Monday
Near-Term Goals:
 Complete electrical schematics and order relays, terminals etc.
 Order LabView and data acquisition cards
 Complete machining on test chamber after window arrives
 Design and build mounting bracket for mounting stepper motor to dyno
10/15/02
Progress:
 Completed electrical schematics, just need some pin-out info from Chris
 Ordered relays, terminal blocks, enclosures and conduit, should be delivered
today so we can start installing
 Met with Brad and Brandon about working in lab- both seem like they will work
out well
 Went over details of control system with Brad yesterday, he’s using trial version
to familiarize himself with LabView until full version arrives
Near-Term Goals:
 Order LabView and data acquisition cards (status on site license?) (Let’s go with
3 base versions) (and let’s get one final quote that shows no unit-by-unit line item
costs, label it “data acquisition equipment” or something like that.
 Compose I/O list with all I/O devices with ranges, alarm setpoints, and other
pertinent info to assist with programming
 Complete machining on test chamber after window arrives
 Design and build mounting bracket for mounting stepper motor to dyno
 Begin installation of electrical enclosures and conduit
10/21/02
Progress:
 Have received electrical enclosures, relays, terminal blocks and conduit, working
on mounting enclosures, running conduit etc.
 Ordered NI equipment and LabView
 Window for Corona test chamber has arrived
 Designed and started on fabrication of dyno control valve stepper motor mount
 Ordered and received electronics components for timing circuit, air fuel output
amplifier and relay amplifier for digital outputs
Near-Term Goals:


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Complete installation of enclosures and conduit
Install and wire up to NI equipment when it arrives (end of this week or next
week)
Work with Brad on developing LabView VI for engine
Build circuits for timing control, air fuel output amplifier and relay amplifier and
mount in enclosures
Work with Brandon on completing Corona test chamber
10/29/02
Brandon – made nice 3D drawings of mini corona chamber.
Try quick and dirty test of corona in air (no sealing) using chamber as is before cutting
holes for feedthru.
Completed dyno mods. Re-assembling everything, just waiting on NI shipment.
Electrical boxes and conduit work done.
Circuits for
 Interface between TTL and relays for starter, fan, fuel pump, NG shutoff, ignition,
emissions bypass mode, 5th injector
 Amp for air/fuel ratio control 0-10V -> 0 – 140 mA
 Ignition timing 0-10V -> 0-10K using TI chip
11/4/02
Progress:
 Completed installation of Conduit, beginning to pull wires.
 Completed assembly of circuit for TTL –relay interface. Working on circuits for
timing control and A/F ratio control
 Have submitted request to DOE for permission to purchase equipment on Corona
contract- I was told that it would only take a day or two to get the permission if
they decide to grant it. Should hear back from them today.
Near-Term Goals:
 Straighten out equipment purchase problem and get NI PO issued ASAP
 Complete assembly of circuits
 Complete pulling wire and terminate all field devices on terminal blocks
 Work with Brad on developing LabView VI for engine
 Work with Brandon on machining spark plug hole for Corona chamber and do
preliminary tests with help of Dr Liu.
11/12/02
Progress:
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



Completed pulling wires for engine control system
Had meeting with Dr Liu about simple flat-plate Corona test fixture and
constructed it
Modified two spark plugs with extended stainless steel electrodes that can be bent
into various shapes
Have received DOE’s permission to purchase NI equipment on Corona contract.
Sylvana has submitted the PO for approval. Order should be placed within a
couple of days.
Formula SAE project has purchased new mill and lathe. Maybe our lab could
purchase band saw and drill press and share the tools?
Near-Term Goals:
 Test flat-plate Corona fixture with help of Dr Liu
 Complete assembly of circuits
 Terminate all field device wires on terminal blocks
 Run new fuel lines and mount filter and pump to test stand
 Work with Brad on developing LabView VI for engine
11/18/02
Progress:
 Met with Dr Liu and discussed Corona flat plate fixture and electrode
Determined that spark plug resistance (8 k-ohm) was too high
Could not locate low resistance spark plugs, so modified a spark plug body so
continuous electrode can be inserted through it. Will test fixture with Dr Liu this
week.
 Still working on mounting and hooking up devices on engine test stand.
 Found a pressure transducer in storage that will work for oil pressure, calibrated it
and installed on engine
 Built mounting bracket for magnetic pickup on engine
 Hooked up drain piping for dyno
 USC equipment is being very slow to approve NI order, they have had the papers
for over a week and still haven’t given approval, checking with Sylvana daily to
make sure purchase is made as soon as we have approval.
Near-Term Goals:
 Test flat-plate Corona fixture with help of Dr Liu this week
 Complete installation and wiring of engine test stand
 Run new fuel lines and mount filter and pump to test stand
12/3/02
Progress:
 Ran some initial tests with the Corona fixture and took some video

Tested straight and circular electrodes. Both tended to arc at first so we had to
make adjustments to position, distance between plates and add some insulation to
get corona discharge. Once optimal geometries were found, arcing was no longer
a problem
Fig 1. photograph of Corona discharge with circular electrode (side view)


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


All tests were done with .065” electrodes. Dr Liu recommended trying smaller
diameter electrodes to make the arcing less of a problem
Built ducting for air flow meter and installed
Designed, machined and assembled stronger mount for NG control valve and
stepper motor
Machined coupling for temperature control valve
Ordered and received 30 amp battery charger to keep up with electrical load of
accessories
USC equipment has finally approved NI order, now we are just waiting for an
equipment account to be added to the project budget which is supposed to be done
today. Once the equipment account is set up then purchasing will issue PO and
the order can be placed, only two months after requisition was submitted.
Near-Term Goals:
 Conduct second round of Corona tests with screen and narrower electrode.
Determine what top view looks like and see how well screen works.
 Complete installation and wiring of engine test stand
 Run new fuel lines and mount filter and pump to test stand
 Hook up water supply line and hand valve to dyno
 Send stills and/or video to Tom George
Slightly longer term:

Cylinder pressure measurement system (need to do with 2 cylinders, one corona
ignited and one spark ignited) (unless we can ignite with spark or corona in same
cylinder) (or get an engine with two plugs per cylinder)
12/9/02
Progress:
 Working on acquiring more still photos of corona test to send to Tom George.
Having some difficulty with Tracker program, trying other program to capture
still photos from video file.
 PO finally issued for NI purchase and order has been placed!
 Brad is in the lab today and tomorrow helping with Engine lab web page and
getting started with LabView
 Met with Chris Bainter from NI today over some remaining connection issues
with data acquisition cards
 Twin spark plug engines – Nissan 82-84 – will check into it…
Near-Term Goals:
 Conduct second round of Corona tests with screen and narrower electrode.
Determine what top view looks like and see how well screen works.
 Get I-V vs. t for corona and spark in current setup
 Complete installation and wiring of engine test stand
 Work on LabView VI’s
 Work out issues with capturing still images and send photos to DOE
12/19/02
Progress:
 Captured still photos of Corona video, found software much easier to use than
Tracker (Adobe Premier -> Photoshop)
 LabView and some of the NI hardware has arrived
 Brad and I are familiarizing with LabView, going through tutorials
 Got Engine Lab website back up and running and updated
 Found that barbed fuel line fittings can be salvaged from old crimped hoses by
grinding off crimping (since I can’t locate new fittings)
 Wired up 110V supply power and switch to engine junction box
 Looked in to dual plug Nissan engines. It came in Nissan Silvia, 200sx, and
Homer truck but it seems that few were imported to the US, still working on this
Near-Term Goals:
 Conduct second round of Corona tests with screen and narrower electrode.
Determine what top view looks like and see how well screen works. Get some IV plots for comparison to previous plots with coaxial geometry.
 Also include video showing a corona and an arc under the same conditions
(include sound)
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Complete installation and wiring of engine test stand
Work on LabView VI’s
12/20/02
Progress:
 Found domestic Nissan engine with dual plugs (87-88 pickup, 200sx and Stanza)
 Engine is non-turbo and readily available at junkyards for ~$350. in running used
condition
 Porsche 911 ’89 and newer have twin plugs but are very expensive engines (5-7k)
 Heads from an older and cheaper (1-3k) Porsche engine can be machined to have
second plug for about $350
 Porsche engines have individual heads for each cylinder but they have an over
head cam that has to be removed
 Disadvantage is that it’s air cooled so we may have problems with heat removal
from engine room
 Can machine a Volkswagen bug engine for dual plugs and it’s a pushrod engine
so no overhead cam to remove. The head on the Volkswagen engine covers two
cylinders but I was told it’s much easier to work on than the Porsche engine. If
we can dissipate the heat the Volkswagen sounds like the best choice.
 Added photo of ring electrode to powerpoint slides and emailed to Tom George
 Installed NI DAQ card and driver in PC
Near-Term Goals:
 Conduct second round of Corona tests with screen and narrower electrode.
Determine what top view looks like and see how well screen works.
 Complete installation and wiring of engine test stand
 Continue work on LabView VI’s
1/8/03
Progress:
 Replaced broken fan belt in engine room ventilation system
 Built stand for computer so DAQ cables can reach junction box in engine room
 Completed LabView tutorials and installed motion software and PID toolkit
 Installed Motion control card in PC and hooked up stepper motor drive on bench
 One cable for control system was too short, returned to NI for longer one
 Have received all new control system components from NI except new cable and
one terminal block
 Wired all TC connections in junction box
Near-Term Goals:
 Mount control system components in main enclosure once terminal block is
received
 Conduct second round of Corona tests with screen and narrower electrode.
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Complete installation and wiring of engine test stand
Continue work on LabView VI’s
1/13/03
Progress:
 Received longer cable and terminal block from NI, so we have all of our parts
 Mounted stepper motor driver, thermocouple board and terminal block to
backplane in main panel
 Drilled holes in panel and wall to connect control cables to computer
 Terminated all thermocouple wires on both ends
 Terminated all stepper motors
 Terminated all analog signals on junction box end
Near-Term Goals:
 Conduct second round of Corona tests with screen and narrower electrode.
 Complete termination of analog wires in main panel, wire up digital output relays
 Continue work on LabView VI’s
 Get dual-plug Nissan engine
Note: I will be out week of Feb 10-14 for ski trip to Canada.
1/28/03
Progress:
 Completed wiring terminations in relay box (relays, speed sensor, load cell
amplifier)
 Tested TTL/ Relay interface circuit with 5v power supply
 Made ribbon cable to hook up analog outputs from AMUX to terminal block and
tested signals
 Completed wiring all analog signals on to the main terminal block
 Installed new battery and cables
 Designed front panel LabView VI, have all thermocouples and pressures reading
successfully on screen
Near-Term Goals:
 Install Terminal block and cable for digital outputs once it arrives
 Continue work on LabView VI’s, next step is to get the rest of the analog inputs
working
 Conduct second round of Corona tests with screen and narrower electrode.
2/4/03
Progress:
 Installed digital i/o terminal block and terminated digital outputs
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Making good progress with LabView, have all digital outputs working, have
RPM, torque horsepower and emissions readings working
When terminating signals to Horiba, I discovered that there is an analog output
signal for the CO low range which has a more appropriate scale for our CO levels.
I will either add an additional analog input for this or install a switch to select
between the two ranges.
Talked to Brandon and he said he isn’t going to have time to work on the Corona
project this semester, Brad is still working and helping out with LabView
Near-Term Goals:
 Continue work on LabView VI’s, next step is to program all of the air/ fuel ratio
calculations and set it up for various fuel types and then start working on the
stepper motor control
 Conduct second round of Corona tests with screen and narrower electrode.
 Try to step up corona effort for DOE meeting in early April. Contact other
undergrad who seemed quite interested in the project.
2/21/03
Progress:
 Completed the fuel selection portion of labview so fuel type can be selected from
a dropdown menu and AFR, Phi, BSFC and thermal efficiency are all calculated
accordingly.
 Working on testing stepper motors and setting up configuration for each channel
 Machined new top plate for corona test fixture with hole in the top for testing
screen and checking visibility from top
 Working on Horiba to determine best way to interface with wiring
Near-Term Goals:
Corona Project:
 Meeting with Dr Liu next Tuesday to run some corona tests
 Find stainless or copper electrode material thinner than the previous electrode
(.065”)
 Develop better method for securing electrode to top of test plate.
 Get video clip with sound of corona discharge vs a spark
 Take still photo’s of corona and arc and record voltage and current data
 Once it is determined if mesh works or not, determine best way to fit window to
top of pressurized test chamber and conduct test at elevated pressures.
 Once pressure tests are done conduct test where mixture is combusted
3/4/03
Progress:
 Working on getting engine running by the end of this week
 Drew up sketch of exhaust pipe and took it to muffler shop to get bent today
 Searched for ’98-2002 Ford ranger 2.5 liter engine, located one used for $700,
confirmed that this engine does have 2 plugs per cylinder. (source for engine
Team Trucks 310-549-4443 Rick)
 Ran corona tests in test fixture with hole cut in top plate and wire screen, .025”
electrode.
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Corona worked well with screen, above photo is a side view, when viewed from
top the corona can not be seen very clearly, but you can distinguish between an
arc and a corona and tell where an arc is occurring.
Collected voltage and current data from corona and arc (first example is corona,
second example is corona plus arc)
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Also have video tape of corona and arc with sound
Installed fire wire card in engine lab computer so video can be unloaded from
camera
Working with Brad on interfacing the stepper motors with LabView

Mo is working on decoding the communication signal from Horiba computer to
the analyzers to see if we can interface there for our range selection instead of
hard wiring to each analyzer switch.
Near-Term Goals:
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Get engine ready to run by end of this week (complete exhaust, install dyno
supply line and valve, plumb fuel system, wire up radiator fan, bolt driveshaft to
dyno and install trigger for tach)
Machine spark plug hole and corona electrode hole in top of pressurized test
chamber(Gary Norris - ME Junior has expressed interest in working on this
project, do we have budget to hire part time help)
Continue working on stepper motors and set up PID loops
3/24/03
Progress:
Corona:
 Completed machining of ports on chamber
 Received fittings for Corona test chamber
 Made 3 different high-pressure electrodes filling tube with various types of
epoxy
 Hydro tested chamber to 300 psi.
 Tested various electrodes and none of the epoxies provided enough insulation
for Corona
 Machined electrode out of nylon that works well
 Conducted initial 1atm combustion tests last Friday, combustion pressures
were very low. Poor mixing was thought to be the problem.
 Conducting tests today using pre-mixing chamber. We’re having some
problems with the pressure transducer that we’re working on now
 It seems that corona alone does not want to ignite mixture, but corona with arc
will- need to do more experiments (80 mJ with corona only, extra 20 mJ with
arc)
 Acquired numerical data from corona and corona + arc experiments
Engine:
 Ran stainless steel fuel lines from tank to engine
 Brad and Gary took off for spring break, but will be back working in the lab
this week
Near-Term Goals:
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
Solve problem with pressure transducer and complete combustion tests with
corona and spark – buy more transducers if necessary – keep spares in stock…
Complete fuel system and test run engine
Continue LabView Programming
3/31/03
Progress:
Corona:
 Running Corona and spark plug tests in combustion chamber
 Gathered spark plug baseline data at 2.5, 3,3.5 and 4 atm
 Will test corona at these pressures on 4/1/03
 Using Kistler pressure transducer with good results (compared pressures with
Omega at lower test pressures)
 Discovered small calculation error in partial pressures used for mixing on Fri,
mixture was slightly lean
Near-Term Goals:

Complete Corona combustion tests at 2.5 through 4 atm and plot data to
compare rise time and peak pressures with spark plug data
4/7/03
Progress:
Corona:
 Gathered corona combustion data at 3, 3.5 and 4 atm
 Corona has significantly faster rise times than spark plug (factor of ~2)
 Gathered discharge efficiency data for spark plug, corona, and corona + arc
 Corona has significantly higher discharge efficiency than spark plug
 Testing corona ring electrode today with 6 equally spaced pieces of insulation
on ring
 Initial combustion test showed corona did ignite mixture at a lower energy
than non-insulated ring (power supply voltage of 7kV vs 9kV with noninsulated ring)
Near-Term Goals:
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4/14/03
Gather data from combustion tests at 3.5 atm with insulated ring
Any other last minute data you want us to get?? I vs. V for 3.5 atm cases –
corona, spark, corona + arc; higher pressure corona if possible
Re-work electrode configuration to make the electrode more easily removable
for future tests
Progress:
 Completed corona data for DOE presentation
 Successfully ignited mixtures up to 9.5 atm with corona in chamber
 Tested partially insulated ring corona to get fewer, higher energy coronas, rise
times were slower
 Working on design of electrode that can be used in engine; several challenges:
1. Must withstand high temps ~1000C
2. Must withstand high press ~800psi
3. Cannot use conventional spark plug because of high resistance
4. Possibly use a machinable ceramic (thermal stress issue?)
Near-Term Goals:
 Continue design work on engine corona electrode
 Continue work on stepper motors
4/22/03
Progress:
Corona:
 Researching machinable ceramics for use in corona electrode
Have found two companies that offer machinable ceramics:
http://www.aremco.com/p_index.html
http://www.precision-ceramics.co.uk/frm/index.htm
Check also “Macor”
Want to talk to Ewald about his experience with machining ceramics

Have initial design of electrode that could be used in engine
Design uses steps that would assemble from the right, using ceramic cement
and the pressure to help seal the electrode and keep it from falling apart. Steel
outer body could be machined from steel hex stock fairly easily, threads can
be cut on lathe (with help of Francisco)

Probably need to purchase Ford twin plug engine soon so we can look at the
geometry of head and determine configuration of electrode
Working on design of test chamber with window that can handle higher
combustion pressures
Probably need to try point to plane configuration – will that ignite and give
good rise and delay times?
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Near-Term Goals:



Acquire materials needed to produce prototype electrode and make one.
Purchase Ford twin plug engine
Continue work on high pressure test chamber, including point to plane
configuration.


At some point in the not too distant future, set aside corona work, do
throttleless engine testing for a few weeks, then swap engines but keep old
GM engine intact – make new mounts as needed for Ford 2-plug engine.
Gone May 12th – 21st for Formula race. May 5th will be testing at Irwindale.
5/9/03
Progress:
Corona:
 Built a new electrode to use in “point to plane” configuration
 Began testing electrode in test chamber and had to add silicone for insulation
around electrode
 Tested electrode before silicone was cured and arc would literally blow a hole in
the wet silicone so we had to allow it to set up over night
 Initial tests show that the energy is much lower in a point to plane configuration
which is to be expected since the corona (or arc) are much more concentrated
 Have not tested electrode since silicone has set up due to scheduling conflicts
with Dr. Liu
 Practiced cutting external threads on lathe for spark plug thread on engine
electrode, threads worked well and should not be a problem to thread an electrode
body.
Near-Term Goals:

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

Continue combustion testing of point to plane electrode and compare rise time to
data collected for ring electrode and spark plug
Purchase Ford twin plug engine so dimensions can be measured for design of
electrode geometry
Once it is determined if the point to plane configuration has advantages over
standard spark plug, design and fabricate electrode that will fit in engine and test
chamber.
Finish last few items that engine cell needs to run and test new software and dyno
system
Also: do throttleless tests with methanol and ethanol
Note: Brad is available to work one day a week over the summer and Gary is also
available to work part time over the summer.
6/2/03
Progress:
Corona:
 Testing has been put off until Dr Liu finishes his high pressure experiments.
Engine Lab:
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Remaining digital outputs have been wired up and tested (fuel pump, fan, NG
cutoff valve)
New battery charger mounted to frame and wired up
Reinstalled manifold pressure sensor that was lent to Peter for Heli-shaw
experiments
Ordered 3/8” tubing bender and fittings to complete fuel lines
Ordered gate valve for dyno supply water adjustment
Ordered stainless clamps for exhaust pipe
Gary: can work almost full time; Brad: can work 2 days per week
Near Term Goals:
 Once McMaster order is received complete fuel line, dyno water line and
clamp exhaust pipe
 Insulate exhaust pipe with fiberglass wrap
 Install new bearings in air flow meter
 Hook up throttle cable and emissions line
 Make mount for ambient temp thermocouple
 Build circuit for timing control and A/F control
 Stepper motor PID’s
 Interface to Horiba (need to talk to Mo and see if he wants to continue with
his interface)
 Goal is to complete work on engine stand this week, calibrate, test and work
out bugs next week and then begin retesting TPCE the following week
6/11/03
Progress:
 Completed installation of dyno water supply valve and line to dyno
 Completed fuel line
 Installed new bearings in air flow meter – seems to spin much better – should
be back to factory calibration…
 Hooked up throttle cable
 Hooked up emissions sampling line to engine
 Working on insulating exhaust system
 Made mount for and installed ambient thermocouple and installed TC
 Figured out cleanest way to interface with Horiba to remotely change ranges,
relay circuit for that interface is almost complete
 Working on circuit for AFR Control (0-10V input, 0-140mA output) Having
trouble getting circuit that will take wider voltage range to get desired output
(only uses from 2 to 3 volts to get 0-140 mA output) Still working on this.
 Working on PID control loops for stepper motors. Difficulty is making the
PID output make the stepper motor move; it is set up to drive a 0-10v analog
output. We ordered a book that should help us figure this out.
 Looked into ignition timing adjust circuit (0-10v input, 0-10 K ohm out) and
the chip required more than just a 0-10 volt input, since this circuit may not be
used on the Ford engine we’re just going to do the manual dial control for the
TPCE testing.
Near Term Goals:
 Complete Horiba digital control circuit (should finish this today)
 Write LabView code to complete Horiba control
 Find where to interface to put Horiba in Idle mode
 Continue experimenting with AFR Circuit to get desired results
 Continue work on stepper motor PID control
 Connect wire from control room for ignition timing control
6/16/03
Recently Accomplished
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Horiba control circuits completed, able to control from labview, need to
implement dropdown menus to control circuit
Wiring points located for putting Horiba into bypass mode
Driveshaft and magneto sensor assembled
Making progress with PID loop, able to get PID loop to control stepper motor
output.
Labview books have shipped, should arrive tomorrow
Near Term Goals
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Complete drop down menus for Horiba control
Continue to work with PID loops
Have engine running this week
6/20/03
Progress:
 Emissions relay circuit completed and permanently mounted integral to the
Horiba
 Added wire to allow remote control of channel 4 on Low CO analyzer (previously
not hooked up)
 Fuel system pressurized and leak tested
 Timing control wiring run and installed
 Cleaned Engine Room and desk area to a suitable level for testing
 Spoke to Electrical Engineer regarding AFR circuit and possible pitfalls
Near-Term Goals:
 Test and verify all analog input signals
 Do computer simulation of the AFR circuit to achieve desired resolution by
changing resistor values


Get fully functioning AFR circuit and fire up engine
Installed all exhaust insulation available, must order more to complete insulation
6/30/03
Progress:
 Have a functioning voltage to current converter circuit for AFR control with
control range of .75V to 10V input and 0-140 mA output
 Have PID control loop working with test setup (using a stepper motor moving a
soldering iron under a TC)
 Started engine to make sure that everything still works
 Greatly simplified main VI by breaking it down into several sub VI’s
 Completed LabView programming for Horiba control with range selection from
screen that changes the range on the Horiba as well as the scaling in the program
 Added emissions bypass button to screen that energizes bypass relay in Horiba
 Disassembled and dried out all filters on Horiba
Near-Term Goals:
 Now that we have a functioning PID control program for the stepper motors,
incorporate into main program for each of the three stepper motors (Dyno, air
temp and NG flow)
 Run the engine and tune the PID loops and all analog signals are scaled correctly

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Add logger to VI for saving data points
Program in safety features for engine (rev limit, oil press alarm, water temp alarm
etc)
Review TPCE data and develop test plan.
7/7/03
Progress:
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Added limit switch to Temp control stepper motor and working on adding limit
switches on NG and Dyno steppers. This way the VI initializes its position each
time it starts up so you don’t have to manually set the position and tell the
program where it is.
Added safety shutdown for overspeed. When engine exceeds 6500 rpm fuel
pump, ignition and extra injector are forced off.
Built sturdy guard around flywheel
Verified and calibrated RPM and Torque inputs
Setup radiator fan thermostat control VI
The name of the guy who designed the Voltage to current converter is Henry
Moore and he works for Alfred Mann Institute in DRB.
Completed soldering AFR circuit onto permanent board and installed in control
box
Near-Term Goals:
 Add logger to VI for saving data points
 Add alarms (oil press alarm, water temp alarm etc)
 Complete limit switches on remaining stepper motors and add code to main
program to initialize position
 We will run engine this afternoon and test Temp control VI
 Review TCPE data and develop test plan.
7/16/03
Progress:
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Completed mounting and wiring limit switches on all stepper motors
Lowered setpoint for engine overspeed to 5000 rpm and tested to verify that it
works.
Built guard around pulleys and belts on front of engine
Set up control loop for liquid fuel AFR and have tuned and controlling quite well
Located VI for audible alarms and tested it on one input, working out logic for
acknowledging alarms without disabling others
Cleaned up display on main VI by grouping related items and creating boxes
around them



Today we are testing stepper motor PID on temperature control and home switch
with engine running (previously tested with soldering iron mounted to stepper
motor)
Have basic data logger working, we need to add averaging features to it
Bolted down aluminum plate to engine stand to keep from vibrating
Near-Term Goals:
 Complete testing and tuning of Manifold temp PID loop and repeat for dyno and
NG control loops
 Complete analog input alarm logic
 Add averaging functionality to data logger
 Test entire system together and take sample data points to verify that everything
works
 Begin testing TCPE
7/22/03
Progress:
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
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Completed audible alarms VI on water temp, dyno temp, oil temp, exhaust temp
and oil pressure and incorporated VI into main program. Tested each alarm by
lowering alarm setpoint to verify proper functionality
Received order of fiberglass insulation wrap and working on completing
insulating exhaust system
Set up data logger to create a folder with the date and save the data in a file named
by the time to keep track of when the data was taken
Incorporated the manifold temperature PID loop and the home switch find into the
main program, have not had a chance to test yet (last thing that needs to be done
before running the engine…)
Received better computer desk from Lab on 2nd floor OHE to replace main
computer desk
Near-Term Goals:
 Complete testing and tuning of Manifold temp PID loop and repeat for dyno and
NG control loops
 Add averaging functionality to data logger
 Test entire system together and take sample data points to verify that everything
works
 Begin testing TCPE
7/31/03
Progress:
 Ran duct from fuel cabinet into ventilation duct to keep fuel vapors out of the
room
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Completed insulating exhaust system
Wired up engine knock sensor
Have stepper motor PID loops working for manifold air temp and dyno control
Successfully ran engine on gasoline with AFR, Dyno control, and manifold temp
control PID’s all working simultaneously
Setup and tested NG stepper motor home switch find VI
Setup Natural gas AFR control PID, will test today
Created Excel macro for averaging data points
Ran full bottle of Nitrogen through sample port of Horiba to dry out moisture in
system - removed all visible signs of moisture from flow meter tubes
Ordered more N2 and Air for Horiba
Near-Term Goals:
 Run engine on NG, test and tune natural gas air/fuel ratio PID
 Check exhaust TC that seems to be reading low when engine is running
 Calibrate Horiba and run engine to take sample data points
 We have Ethanol but need to order Methanol for TPCE testing
 Review what points we want to test and begin testing TCPE
8/11/03
Progress:
 Solved problem with NG AFR PID loop, where switching from manual control to
PID control caused the valve to go full shut, and then begin to control. Now the
PID reads the current manual position, and begins controlling from there.
 Set up NG safety valve to open only when the engine is running, and to shut off
automatically when the engine stops.
 Have been successfully running engine on NG, and developed method for reliably
starting engine on NG after warming engine up using gasoline.
 Solved issue of dyno stepper motor sticking shut at high load levels by using a
small amount of spring tension to aide the valve back towards open. The stepper
motor is rated for sufficient torque to drive the valve, however the stepper motor
driver is unable to supply the motor with enough current.
 Found and fixed problem with exhaust thermocouple reading
 Calibrated HiCO, NOx, and HC analyzers on Horiba
Near-Term Goals:
 Figure out reference gas needed for low CO range on Horiba, and calibrate.
 Solve problem of dyno control at high torques (speed up PID and take out
hysteresis in stepper motor mount)
 Add RPM control instead of torque control on dyno PID loop.
 Begin testing TCPE (next week?)
8/19/03
Progress:
 Contacted Horiba and found that the LCO analyzer reference gas is supposed to
be N2.
 Flowed span gas with N2 reference- getting readings on the analyzer, but seem to
be highly dependent on flow rate
 Horiba was able to find a manual for this analyzer. They photocopied it and are
sending us a copy.
 Will use the manual to help trouble shoot analyzer
 Installed a small bypass line in dyno to bleed off some pressure. This helped with
control at higher loads, load can be fine tuned by constricting bypass flow with
valve.
 Installed a pressure regulator on the inlet supply line to the dyno and that helped
with stability of higher loads up to about 75ft-lb, still having difficulty controlling
over 75 ft-lb.
 A larger regulator may resolve this as the regulator we had is only 1/4” NPT and
it doesn’t build load fast enough when trying to slow engine down.
 Configured dyno PID loop to be selectable between Torque mode and RPM mode
 Modified mounting of dyno stepper motor to allow for some shaft misalignment
without having any hysteresis allowing much faster response from the stepper
motor when changing direction
Near-Term Goals:
 Install new throttle cable to smooth out throttle action.
 Install larger regulator to help with dyno control at high loads
 Troubleshoot LCO analyzer once we receive manual
 Next week run experiments…
8/26/03
Progress:
 Installed 1/2 inch port pressure regulator on dyno inlet supply and tested
 Still had problems holding steady load at high torque
 Tried multiple pressure settings and various bypass valve settings without success
 Decided that the best thing to do to get testing under way ASAP is to install old
dyno heat exchanger and solenoid valves
 Heat exchanger is now installed on dyno and cooling water lines are hooked up
 Solenoids are mounted and just need to be wired and plumbed
 We have two spare digital outputs in the relay box already wired up to relays so
the wiring will be simple
 Received manual from Horiba on LCO analyzer yesterday. Need to read through
setup and troubleshooting section to see if we can get analyzer to read properly
Near-Term Goals:
 Complete wiring and plumbing on dyno solenoid valves
 Re-assemble components that had to be removed to access dyno


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Set up both manual control and PID control for dyno load control
Work on LCO analyzer
Install new throttle cable to smooth out throttle action (cable is on back order)
Schedule:
 We have just over one month before Tom George arrives
 This leaves about 2 weeks for testing TPCE and 2 weeks to get the new Ford
engine installed and running
 We can purchase engine within next week and have Gary work on fabricating
engine mounts to speed up installation
 Need to work out details on how we want to run ignition and what to do about
intake and exhaust manifolds
8/29/03
Progress:
 Installed 1/2 inch port pressure regulator on dyno inlet supply and tested
 Still had problems holding steady load at high torque
 Tried multiple pressure settings and various bypass valve settings without success
 Decided that the best thing to do to get testing under way ASAP is to install old
dyno heat exchanger and solenoid valves
 Heat exchanger is now installed on dyno and cooling water lines are hooked up
 Solenoid valves are mounted and wired to existing spare digital output relays in
relay box
 Tested solenoids and the load port on the dyno was clogged
 Had to remove and disassemble dyno and clean out load port
 Installed new magnesium sacrificial anode to prevent future corrosion and
reassembled Dyno
 Set up manual momentary switches to load and unload dyno
 Working on putting aluminum plate back on dyno stand and hooking everything
back up. Will run engine to test dyno today.
 Received manual from Horiba on LCO analyzer this week. Need to read through
setup and troubleshooting section to see if we can get analyzer to read properly
Near-Term Goals:
 Need to configure automatic load control for dyno, we’ll use Boolean and
comparison logic to do this rather than a PID
 Work on LCO analyzer
 Install new throttle cable to smooth out throttle action (cable is on back order)
Schedule:
 We have one month before Tom George arrives from DOE
 This leaves about 2 weeks for testing TPCE and 2 weeks to get the new Ford
engine installed and running
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We can purchase engine within next week and have Gary work on fabricating
engine mounts to speed up installation
Need to work out details on how we want to run ignition and what to do about
intake and exhaust manifolds. Exhaust and intake on new Ford engine are on
opposite sides of our existing test engine.
9/15/03
Progress:
 Converted dyno system back to solenoid control and tested with Chevy engine
 Automatic control logic created in LabView for dyno control
 Dyno system worked fine, engine developed internal knocking noise that will
have to be looked at before that engine is run again.
 Purchased 2000 Ford Ranger twin plug engine complete with manifolds,
wiring harness, starter and ECU
 Removed Chevy engine from stand and set Ford engine on stand
 Designed driveshaft coupling adapter and have begun machining it
 Starter for new engine mounts to the bell housing which is integral to the
transmission so a starter mounting plate has to be made.
 Dimensions for starter plate have been determined and material purchased
 Motor mount dimensions have been determined and materials purchased
 Manual was purchased for wiring details of engine but the detail is
insufficient, trying to get detailed version from Ford
Near-Term Goals:
 Fabricate engine mounts starter plate and finish driveshaft adapter and get
everything bolted up.
 Acquire detailed wiring diagram for Ford engine and determine what wires we
need to interface with to get engine running
 Determine exhaust routing and intake plumbing for engine
 Want to have engine running by next week
9/24/03
Progress:
 Fabricated engine mounts and installed
 Machined mounting plate for starter and installed
 Completed machining the dyno shaft coupler and installed, bolts for holding
coupler to crankshaft were not available, so longer bolts were purchased, cut
to length and threaded
 Engine cooling lines were extended and hoses hooked up
 Straight exhaust pipe purchased and flared to mate to manifold, ordered bent
sections that will arrive today to fabricate exhaust.
 Ford wiring manual arrived and wiring hookups figured out
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Natural gas injection pipe fabricated, need to make orifice for mixing. (Goal
is to run engine on NG for demo on Monday.)
Adapter fabricated for mounting mass airflow sensor inline with the Ford air
flow sensor
Machined two test electrodes and set up bench test with Dr Liu and performed
combustion test
Installed belt for water pump
Near-Term Goals:
 Complete wiring of engine
 Fabricate exhaust
 Complete NG injection pipe orifice and plumb up gas line
 Test run engine
 Perform a few more combustion tests in chamber to make sure we have
repeatable conditions for demo
 Clean up lab before DOE tour
9/29/03
Progress:
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Fabricated and installed exhaust pipe for engine
Completed wiring of Ford engine
Completed NG injection pipe and venturi plate and plumbed up NG line
Installed TC’s in exhaust, cooling water, intake manifold and oil systems
Hooked up pressure transducers to intake manifold and oil system
Sucessfully ran engine on natural gas
Near-Term Goals:
 Begin work on corona electrode for use in engine
 Design interface between Corona generator and engine for discharge timing
 Test auto dyno load/unload system
10/8/03
Progress:
 Added a valve to the highest point of cooling water system on the front of
engine to have a way to bleed out the air
 Tested the automatic dyno speed control system successfully – works “pretty
well”
 Three new Merit research students have started, Bryan, Matt and Scott
 Familiarized them with the lab and explained the projects that are available to
work on
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Digital tachometer stopped working totally after having some intermittent
issues so I sent it to manufacturer for repairs
Contacted Kistler to see about getting spark plug adapter for pressure
transducer that will fit Ford engine, have not heard back with quote yet
Set up tour with Dr Blackwelder for this Thursday
Had to make some modifications in Labview to allow engine to be run
without speed signal for demo tomorrow
Class is ~25 people so Gary will take half of the class on a tour to SAE shop
and then groups will switch
Note scorecard:
Nathan Theiss – El jefe
Garry Norris - senior
Matt Beck – soph, EE, Merit
Scott Nowak – freshman, Merit
Brian Johnston – freshman, Merit
Crazy Jake Roeder – freshman, Merit
Brad Tallon – soph, recalled Merit, trying to win re-election
Near-Term Goals:
 Work on getting LCO into calibration on Horiba
 Have tach repaired or replaced and installed back on test stand
 Get plug adapter from Kistler installed and set up LabView to read pressure
trace
 Work on trigger system for Corona on engine
10/13/03
Progress:
 Worked on Horiba with Bryan and have LCO cell into calibration
 Wired piezo-electric knock sensor directly into analog input channel. Worked
with Matt on creating a VI to alarm at various levels of knock. Highest level
has audible alarm.
 Shimpo has received digital tachometer that was sent in for repair, playing
phone tag now, trying to get quote on repair cost.
 Rep from Kistler has replied that he is looking into pressure xducer plug
adapter, has not given quote yet.
Near-Term Goals:
 Work on trigger system for Corona on engine
 Continue to research best way to make ceramic corona electrode insulation
10/23/03
Progress:
 Old digital tachometer was deemed unrepairable by manufacturer so we had
to order new unit
 Received new tach, installed, programmed and tested with running engine
 Reversed programming changes in LabView that allowed engine to be run
without tach
 Routed new wiring through conduit that was temporarily run through front
opening of junction boxes
 Pulled analog shield wire through conduit and secured to copper grounding
rod near radiator
 Routed throttle cable so aluminum step plate can cover it
 Contacted several manufacturers of machinable ceramics for corona
electrodes and received price quotes. Will order a small piece and try
machining it. Pricing is fairly reasonable (~$50 for enough to make two
electrodes)
 Received quote from Kistler on making spark plug adapter for pressure
transducer for Ford engine. Cost is $225 and takes about 2 to 3 weeks to fill
order. Discussed making one with Ewald and we may try it.
 Trying to locate spare cylinder head for Ford engine to have for test fitting
corona electrodes
Near-Term Goals:
 Going to meet with Dr Liu and Matt this afternoon to determine requirements
for signal to trigger corona generator on engine
 Purchase a few spark plugs for new engine and try to make Kistler adapter, if
unsuccessful order one from Kistler
 Order machinable ceramic and work on manufacturing high pressure
electrodes
10/29/03
Progress:
 Ordered piece of machinable ceramic for corona electrode prototype
 Purchased spark plugs for Ford engine to make pressure transducer mounts
with, did not have mill bit small enough to machine grove- had to order one
 Met with Dr Liu to discuss adapting corona generator to engine. Thyratron
will likely not be able to fire at the frequency required for running engine
continuously, but will work for single firing test. To run continuously will
either need to make new corona generator or borrow the one that other
research group in SSC 410 uses.
 Did some research on optical encoders and requested quote from a
manufacturer for one that meets our requirements
 Working on fine tuning NG air/fuel ratio control loop, have it working
reasonably well
 Insulated remaining portion of exposed exhaust pipe
Near-Term Goals:
 Purchase encoder and mount to engine
 Make or purchase Kistler mount and work in integrating cylinder pressure
monitoring system into Labview
 Work on prototype electrode after ceramic material is received
 Complete tuning of NG AFR loop
11/5/03
Progress:
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Received machinable ceramic for corona electrode prototype
Working on detailed SolidWorks drawing of electrode
Ordered pressure transducer/spark plug adapter from Kistler
Received quote for optical encoder that meets our specs of $375
Looking on Ebay for encoder that will work, they typically are selling for less
than $20
Fabricated 1/4” steel guard around flywheel
Planning on integrating mount for optical encoder into a guard for pulleys and
belt on front of engine
Worked on tuning NG air fuel ratio loop.
Near-Term Goals:
 Purchase encoder and mount to engine with belt guard
 Make or purchase Kistler mount and work in integrating cylinder pressure
monitoring system into Labview
 Work on prototype electrode after ceramic material is received
11/10/03
Progress:
 Have Merit research guys working on disassembling the TPCE Chevy engine
to determine what problems it has and get some engine experience
 Working on detailed SolidWorks drawing of electrode, need to determine how
easy the ceramic is to machine and how thin it can be without breaking
 Still watching Ebay for encoder that will work, found a couple of possibilities
that will work
Near-Term Goals:
 Diagnose and repair problem with Chevy engine and repair it
 Purchase encoder
 Start machining ceramic for electrode to determine if our design is macninable
11/20/03
Progress:
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Fabricated first attempt at corona electrode
Machined a fixture to pressure test electrodes
Have some leaking between metal housing and ceramic on electrode
Contacting spark plug manufacturers to see if we can get plug bodies that
would allow us to crimp ceramic into body
Purchased encoder for engine on ebay
Hoisted engine up from beam out side of lab so we could work on it
Discovered noise was coming from loose rotor inside distributor cap
Registered for DOE poster session and working on poster
Near-Term Goals:
 Complete poster
 Install encoder and set up LabView to read it
 Work on sealing solutions for corona electrode
 Work on design of electrode (and insulation, as needed) that produces
good streamer patterns and can give good ignition properties (rise and
delay times better than spark.)
11/24/03
Progress:
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Wired up optical encoder to motion control board
Working on VI to read encoder position
Designing mount for encoder that will double as a belt guard
Hooked up vacuum pump to corona electrode to suck ceramic cement into
gaps in electrode. Will pressure test once cement is dry
Near-Term Goals:
 Complete any changes to DOE poster, send to Kinkos to get printed, send to
DC for Distributed Energy Peer Review conference
 Continue working on encoder VI
 Pressure test corona electrode and continue development of electrodes
 Order flexible shaft coupler and mount encoder to engine
12/3/03
Progress:
 Created VI that can read encoder position in degrees
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Working on setting up index signal to reset to 0 degrees each time it comes
around
Fabricated plate for encoder that will double as belt guard, need to weld side
guards on to it and make mounting brackets for it
Mount is built such that the encoder can be rotated to adjust the index position
Ordered and received flexible shaft coupling for mating encoder to crankshaft
Sealed leaks in corona electrode with JB Weld and hydro tested up to 1000 psi
Removed one spark plug in engine and replaced with ceramic electrode, ran
engine for several minutes to test under heat and pressure. Electrode held up
fine.
Found manufacturer of ceramic cement that is not porous and would work
better for sealing between ceramic and metal plug housing
Printed poster and sent to DC for conference
Near-Term Goals:
 Work on index function in encoder VI
 Welding up encoder mount and install on engine
 Set up time with Dr. Liu for conducting point-to-plane experiments in
aluminum chamber
 Continue development of electrodes
 Need to build new corona generator with adequate power supply for 2400
RPM = 40 RPS = 20 CPS (coronas per second); each one at most 1 J = 20 W
at 20kV.
12/11/03
Progress:
 Completed welding side plate onto aluminum belt guard and fabricated sturdy
mounting brackets
 Modified bolt on front of engine pulley by drilling a hole into head and
pressing in shaft for driving encoder
 Mounted belt guard and encoder to engine
 Talked to NI support about resetting encoder count using index signal
o They suggested not trying to reset with index signal but using
“quotient and remainder” function to keep count between 0 and 360
degrees
o Implemented this into vi and tested it by running the engine for several
minutes and checked position to make sure encoder kept accurate
account of engine position
 Once encoder is set up correctly relative to crank angle position, it should not
have to be reset as long as motion controller board remains powered up
 Tried combining encoder vi into main vi and had problem of resetting encoder
counts to when vi is started (this doesn’t happen when running encoder vi by
itself)- still working out this problem
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Received modified spark plug from Kistler for monitoring cylinder pressure in
Ford test engine.
Near-Term Goals:
 Solve encoder position reset problem in main VI
 Work on vi for high speed capture of crank angle position for cylinder
pressure measurements
 Set up time with Dr. Liu for conducting point-to-plane experiments in
aluminum chamber
 Continue development of corona electrodes
12/17/03
Progress:
 Solved problem with VI resetting encoder position to zero each time the VI
was started
o Caused by having encoder wired into same axis as stepper motor for
NG valve
o When “find home” vi ran for stepper motor it reset encoder count to
zero
o Wired encoder to different axis to solve problem
 Looked into maximum value encoder counter can handle before resetting
o Will go to 2^32 before resetting to zero
o This number is an even multiple of 8192 so won’t be a problem
 Motion controller board is plugged into UPS so crank angle position will not
be lost in case of power failure
 Working on VI to capture crank angle and cylinder pressure measurement
o Have basic VI working that will write cyl. pressure and crank angle to
file but, only saving 20 points per second
o Need to make it save a few thousand points per second to capture
pressure trace that occurs in ~8ms
 Helped Yuji swap out micro fire computer, install OS and configure LabView.
Can run microfire VI but Yuji’s VI not good to go yet.
Near-Term Goals:
 Work on data capture rate for crank angle position/ cylinder pressure VI
 Set up time with Dr. Liu for conducting point-to-plane experiments in
aluminum chamber
 Continue development of corona electrodes
1/12/04
Progress:
 Configured analog input channel for reading cylinder pressures
 Have VI that is capable of high speed data capture rates necessary for engine
cylinder pressure measurements
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o Saves data in a binary file format
o Requires another VI to read binary file and plot the data
o Trying to find a way to export the data to spreadsheet format
Cleaned up and organized lab
Near-Term Goals:
 Work on exporting cylinder pressure and encoder data to a more usable format
 Run engine and test the cylinder pressure capture VI
1/21/04
Progress:
 Discovered that high speed binary data logger program will only work for E
series DAQ cards and not on motion control card
o The cylinder pressure data is on the 6031E card so this can be logged
at a high rate (10,000 pts/sec)
o The encoder is on the motion controller card so it can’t be logged at
the 10,000 pt/sec rate
 Created VI that can convert binary data file into spreadsheet format
 Created separate VI that logs encoder data directly to spreadsheet file at a
slower rate of 200 pts/sec (maximum rate possible according to NI website for
this hardware)
o This should be OK as it will give us at least 2 or three encoder position
readings during each combustion event
o These points can be interpolated/ extrapolated to get the position in
between
 Both sets of data will be logged separately with a time column and then
combined and plotted
o Working on Matlab program to combine separate log files and create
plots automatically
 Emailed National Instruments for tech support with high speed logging issues
and learned that our free year of tech support has expired
o They currently are giving us 30 days of free trial tech support but we
will have to renew a contract to continue support after 30 days
 Motor burnt out on engine room ventilation fan, asked Sylvana to place a
requisition with facilities to replace it
Near-Term Goals:
 Hook up Kistler amplifier to analog input channel and install pressure
transducer into engine
 Complete Matlab program to reduce data
 Run engine and test pressure/ crank angle logging and Matlab program
 Focus on corona electrode and generator after the pressure logging system is
working
2/4/04
Progress:
 Tried reading encoder signal and encoder index signal in as analog inputs
 Ran engine and captured the following data at the maximum allowable
capture rate
Pressure Trace Test
4
3.5
3
Voltage
2.5
2
Index
Encoder
Press ure
1.5
1
0.5
0
2150
2170
2190
2210
2230
2250
2270
2290
2310
2330
2350
-0.5
scan#
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This captured ~150 samples during the combustion event.
o If we were to use a 360 pulse/rev encoder this would still not pick up
every pulse which would affect our accuracy since we would be
relying on counting pulses to determine c/a position
Found and example where a company used LabView to do what we are trying
to do: http://www.ni.com/pdf/csma/us/361574a1.pdf
o They read the encoder signal into their DAQ card and use the encoder
signal to trigger the pressure reading like we discussed with Salih
o Emailed this company to ask some questions about their setup and to
see if they sell the VI or if they will share a copy of it.
Reading up on using trigger input to capture the pressure as this seems like
our best alternative.
Near-Term Goals:
 Solve problem with C/A logging capture rates
 Focus on corona electrode and generator after the pressure logging system is
working
2/19/04
Progress:
 Exploring different options for triggering pressure sample from encoder input:
 Can successfully read encoder pulses when wired into PFI (programmable
function input) on 6031-E card
 Configured High speed data logger VI to trigger off of encoder pulse wired to
PFI inputs
o At first had problems with the changed values being overwritten with
default values each time VI was executed.
- Corrected this problem
o After modifying several Sub-vi’s we have the high speed data logger
successfully triggering from encoder pulses
o The VI works great when spinning the encoder by hand but when hooked
to electric drill an error message saying that “clock rate is faster than
hardware can support or glitches may be present in external clock signal”
-still working on solving this problem.
 Also tried using “Acquire N scans ext scan clock digital trigger.vi” This VI
log’s data into a buffer and displays it on a chart on the screen. This vi works
when hooked up to the electric drill spinning at 600 RPM
o We haven’t figured out how to extract the data from the buffer yet so we
don’t know what capture rate this vi is capable of.
 I have emailed NI tech support again asking what the maximum frequencies
these VI’s are capable of capturing data and for suggestions with correcting
the error we’re getting
Near-Term Goals:
 Solve problem with error encountered when running High speed data logger
and incorporate the encoder index pulse for TDC locating.
 Focus on installing corona electrode testing once the pressure logging system
is working
2/25/04
Progress:
 Tried using trial version of RamDisk software to see if we could write to RAM
more quickly rather than to the hdd. Still encountered error stating that we were
exceeding the hardware speed.
o Abandoned the High Speed data logger VI and focused on the “Acquire N
scans” vi that writes all of the data to a buffer before writing to hdd
 We were successful with the Acquire N scans VI and have Cylinder pressure
monitoring system working
o Recording all data to buffer, storing it until recording is complete, then
transferring to hard drive in spreadsheet format
o No longer trying to write buffer to a file on the fly
o This results in significant resolution increase and no errors
o Tested engine up to 2600 rpm and recorded 10 revolutions without any
problem or buffer over-run
Near-Term Goals:
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Currently working on equations to calculate IMEP from pressure and crankshaft
angle data. Have all required engine dimensions, went to Ford dealership to
determine the connecting rod length (5.457”)
Plan on putting all equations within matlab code to run in subVI This should
allow us to get values in realtime
Next we’ll focus on developing electrodes for use in engine
3/1/04
Progress:
 Performed motoring test to verify that pressure peak is occurring at TDC
o Test showed that peak pressure occurs at exactly within TDC as measured
by encoder during motoring test
o Realized that we are missing some encoder pulses at the higher speeds.
The motoring test was reading 4096 encoder pulses (two revolutions)
between cylinder pressure events whereas the running test only measured
~1058 encoder counts between pressure events
o I am assuming that the DAQ card is reading every encoder pulse up until a
maximum scan rate is reached then it just reads as fast as it can.
o Need to perform tests at slower rpm to determine what the fastest sample
rate is and then find proper resolution encoder to stay just under that limit.
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Set up spreadsheet to calculate IMEP. Tested at low load and #’s seem
reasonable, need to test at higher load.
Near-Term Goals:
 Determine max scan rate and purchase appropriate encoder
 Check IMEP calcs at higher load
 Need to adjust bias and integration time of Kistler amplifier – need to read manual
and see how to get proper pressure readings from it.
3/10/04
Progress:
 Solved problem of not being able to log data at full 100 kS/s rate
o It turns out that when the AMUX is in the hardware configuration in MAX
(Measurement and Automation Explorer) it automatically multiplexes all
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analog channels. This was cutting the max logging rate down by a factor
of four so we were only logging at 26 KS/s
o The AMUX was turned off in the configuration and logging at rates of 110
KS/s were reached before any errors were encountered. This is not a
permanent solution though as the main engine VI needs to be stopped and
then the configuration changed in MAX and then the Cyl Press logging VI
can be run.
The cylinder pressure must be read on a separate card that does not have any
multiplexing devices hooked up to it.
A new card was ordered (6070E) that can sample at a rate of 1.25MS/s. An old
ISA DAQ card was traded in to receive a 40% discount on the new card from NI.
A cable and basic terminal block were also ordered. This card is capable of
adding other cylinders and will also be capable of triggering the corona generator.
The new card will be installed in the main computer and the terminal block will
be mounted in a second enclosure that we just installed on the wall in the engine
room.
The Kistler amplifier will also be mounted in this enclosure so it won’t be
exposed to the vibration of the engine and also will be enclosed to minimize the
electrical noise.
A new conduit was run from the engine mounted boxes to the new wall enclosure
for routing of encoder and pressure x-ducer wiring.
A longer coax cable was ordered from Kistler to reach to the new amplifier
location.
The new card, cables and terminal block should arrive by Friday.
Adjusted the zero pressure offset on the Kistler amplifier up so we can see the
exhaust event.
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Near-Term Goals:
 Install new card, cable and terminal block for cylinder pressure system and move
on!
 Work on corona electrodes and adapting the corona generator for use on the
engine.
3/16/04
Progress:
 Received new hardware from NI (6079E DAQ card, terminal block and cable),
installed it and wired up encoder and Kistler amplifier
 Received new 8 meter cable from Kistler for pressure transducer and installed it
through new conduit
 Ran tests with engine running at several different RPM to verify that we are
capturing all encoder pulses and confirmed that we are.
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Created PV diagram with engine running at 2700 rpm and 40 ft/lb torque:
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Cylinder pressure VI can now be integrated into main VI or run by itself
IMEP looks reasonable, indicated power is about 20 hp.
… but exhaust pressure is lower by 12 psi than intake pressure. Exhaust pressure
at beginning of exhaust stroke should be very close to 1 atm, and the pressure at
the end of the intake stroke should be very close to the manifold pressure (about 7
psi in this case. So the exhaust pressure should be 7.7 psi above the intake
pressure, but for this calculation it’s 12 psi BELOW the intake pressure, meaning
an offset of 20 psi has been created. Need to try different integration times!
Near-Term Goals:
 Scrutinize Kister measurements, determine best cap and time scale ranges for our
measurements.
 Schedule VERY SOON meeting with Dr Liu to discuss electrodes and hooking
corona generator up to engine control system.
 Make point electrode that can be used for static (or running) test on engine to
determine what (if any) insulation will have to be added to prevent arcing.
3/26/04
Progress:
 Met with Dr Liu to discuss best plan for implementing corona electrode into
engine:
o We determined that the easiest way would be to have an actual cylinder
and piston from the engine that we could test on the bench in Dr. Liu’s
lab.
o Tried to locate cylinder head and piston from local junk yards. Best price
I could find on individual parts was a used cylinder head for $275 and a
new piston from the dealer for $105.
o Found a complete engine for $550. This way we have a complete set of
spare parts for the engine. Also we have the cam in the head so we can
open valves and check clearances between the valves and electrodes.
 Removed head and one piston from engine
 Machined a block of aluminum to accept the piston and drilled and tapped it for
the head bolts
 Bolted the head to the block with the head gasket and pressure tested
o Had some slow leaks past valves so we’re making block off plates that
will seal the ports with o-rings
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Showed Dr. Liu the new cylinder apparatus to determine what shape electrode to
try first.
We’re working on dimensioning photographs for him so he can design the
electrode.
Ran engine with medium setting on Kistler amplifier (see data 27 spreadsheet).
Looks pretty good now but should check valve timing to see if there is overlap at
BDC and if the exhaust valve closes before TDC on the exhaust stroke.
Near Term Goals:
 Complete the sealing caps for the intake and exhaust ports on new test chamber
 Determine electrode geometry to test (loop, nail head??) that will clear valves and
piston, have large enough area so corona can ignite mixture, but not arc or cause
knock.
4/2/04
Progress:
 Dimensioned drawings of combustion chamber for Dr Liu. He is working on
determining what electrode geometries will fit in the chamber.

Completed machining of block off plates that bolt over intake and exhaust ports
and seal with O-rings.
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Pressure tested cylinder up to 100 psi to check for leaks. Everything is sealed
except for head gasket has very slow leak. (Takes approx 20 minutes to bleed
down from 100 psi to 20 psi)
o A new head gasket could be used to solve this problem.
Working on machining spark plug bodies and ceramic inserts to speed up
construction of electrodes once designs are established.
Near Term Goals:
 Continue to prepare 3 or 4 electrode bodies
 Check with Dr. Liu to see if electrode geometry has been determined
4/8/04
Progress:
 Continuing to manufacture electrode blanks from spark plug bodies and
machinable ceramic
o Ordered more machinable aluminum silicate ceramic from McMaster
 Talked to Dr. Liu about what steps to take next with the cylinder/piston test
chamber
o Since the clearance is so small between the piston and head and arcing
will most definitely occur, he suggested that we use a ceramic cement to
insulate the head and valve faces around the electrode as well as an area
on the top of the piston around the electrode.
o I borrowed some ceramic cement from Microcombustion that looks like it
will do the job for bench testing but we may need to find something else if
we need to insulate in running engine.
o The plan is to not paint the valves shut with the cement and then drill and
tap the valve port block-off plates to use as gas handling ports
 Will meet with Dr. Liu this afternoon and show him the ceramic coating and
decide which electrode shape to start testing with
Near Term Goals:
 Make decision on electrode geometry and test in ceramic-insulated chamber
4/14/04
Progress:
 Completed fabrication of electrode body with interchangeable electrode design
o Core of electrode body has steel piece that is drilled on one end to accept
electrodes of various geometries. This will prevent the need to fabricate a
complete new electrode each time a different geometry is desired.
o Going to use Ewald’s EDM machine to bore the electrode hole deeper
since .045” drill bits tend to break off
 Fabricated spacers for valves out of brass sheet that have small slot in them to
allow gas to flow into combustion chamber.
o This way the edges of the valve can be insulated with the ceramic cement
since they won’t have to be opened to fill with gas.
Near Term Goals:
 EDM hole in electrode body
 Perform combustion tests in new chamber and determine which electrode to try in
the engine.
 Look into more durable ceramic coatings that will hold up to the combustion
chamber environment
4/29/04
Progress:
 Performed more testing with corona electrode in cylinder head
o Realized that arcing was occurring through the machinable ceramic, not in
ceramic paste that was painted over the top
o Checked the electrical insulation for the alumina silicate ceramic we were
using and found it to be only 100 V/mil
o Ordered Macor that has 1000 V/mil
 Constructed new electrode with Macor, initial tests today show that it is not arcing
through the machinable ceramic
o Painting on ceramic paste over threads today, will let dry over night and
test at elevated pressures tomorrow
 Requested some samples of ceramic engine coatings so we can determine their
electrical resistance properties
 Completed draft copy of paper for ASME conference
 Brad and Scott are working on VI to trigger corona at proper time on engine
 Spoke with Bryan Willson at CSU about testing corona on large bore engine- they
are willing to work with us
Near Term Goals:
 Test with new electrode at elevated pressures
 Prepare one page summary of project for ARES review and submit by tomorrow
 Write up scope of work for CSU testing (We did install a water injection system
on that engine when I was there)
 Run engine with electrode in one of the plug ports and monitor pressure traces for
knock
 Complete triggering VI for Corona and order solid state relays
6/8/04
Progress:
 Presented Corona project progress at ARES Peer Review meeting in Chicago on
5/10 -5/11



o Meeting and presentation went well. Haven’t heard any feedback yet from
review panel.
o Several of the other universities had incomplete data so we weren’t the
only ones with partial data to present
o Ron Fiskum stressed that the universities need to spend the money in the
grants or they will lose it.
o Also requested periodic email updates to keep them posted on progress
Contacted National Instruments tech support about 6031 DAQ card that has the
saturated voltage inputs
o Ran a self test program and the card passed all of tests in the program, yet
still reads high voltages
o Tried installing in a different PCI slot within the same computer with same
results
o Also tried installing in a different computer and still reading saturated
voltages
Will return card to NI for repair, they said that the cards are usually repairable
Putting together order from Allied Electronics for chips used in relay circuit
o Minimum order is $25 and I only need about $10 worth of parts so I’m
determining what solid state relays we need for switching off the spark
circuit and switching on the corona circuit and will add them to the order.
Near Term Goals:
 Ship DAQ card to NI for repair
 Discuss where the optimal placement is for relay in switching on corona system
and complete Allied Electronics order
 ASME – need corrections to paper.
6/14/04
Progress:
 Called National Instruments to return DAQ card for repair
o They have a flat repair fee for that card of $799. (Card apparently retails
for $1799)
o I checked on Ebay and found one listed so I placed a bid on it and won it
for $480
o Card arrived today. We installed and tested the card and it works fine.
o Just need to set up configuration on card and it can be used to run engine.
 Completed revisions to ASME paper and re-submitted it
o There were a few grammatical errors but mostly they wanted some more
descriptions for clarification
 Have contacted Performance Coatings about ceramic coatings for insulation in
combustion chamber
o They are not sure what the electrical insulation properties are of their
coatings
o We were thinking we could send them an old junk piston to coat so we can
test it before coating parts from the Ford engine


Placed order from Allied Electronics for darlington chips and solid state relay for
interrupting spark circuit
Mentioned our idea of shielding the high voltage areas of corona system to Dr Liu
o His response: “I agree that the problem comes from high voltage pulse. I
believe that the way the high voltage pulse damaging the data acquisition
card is via the ground line. Our high voltage could be as high as 50 KV. A
small resistance in the ground line might create several volts voltage
which is enough to damaging some precise circuit. I think we must very
carefully re-arrange our ground lines. We must use two completely
separate ground lines. One is for the trig (spark and corona). it should
use the ground line of wall plug. Another for measurement and all other
devices that need electric power. This one should connect to the ground
outside your lab. Carefully check them to make sure that there is no
unintentional connection between these two ground lines. Of cause these
two line eventually will join together in some remote point.”
Near Term Goals:
 Complete configuration on DAQ card and start up engine to make sure everything
else still works
 Write program for at least single corona fires (with rest of discharges from
conventional spark system)
 Send part(s) to get a sample ceramic coating
 Figure out ground and shielding plan for next corona test
6/21/04
Recent Progress:
 Configured new DAQ card and test ran engine to make sure everything is
working – it is.
 Received new Darlington chips and installed in relay circuits
 Also received SS relay for switching ignition circuit
 Discussed with Dr Liu possibility of running corona on 2-stroke engine to
eliminate problem with arcing to valve edges.
o Looking into engine possibilities and how to trigger corona and
measure cylinder pressure
 Piston sent off for ceramic coating
Near Term Goals:
 Make decision if we want to run 2 stroke engine. If so, work out details
6/29/04
Progress:
 Working on updating schematics of control system: adding new drawings for
cylinder pressure system, ESD circuit, and Horiba interface





Installed ESD (emergency shutdown switch) on desk next to computers and
pulled wire to relay box
Ordered relay for ESD and one to replace ignition relay from McMaster (ignition
relay was fried by corona)
Called Performance Coatings today and they have completed the coating on the
piston we sent them and they are sending it out today.
Flushed cooling system on engine
Did some machining for Salih and Amir (Egolfopolous’ lab)
Near Term Goals:
 Complete wiring of ESD button once relay is received
 Complete Autocad drawing updates
 Test corona on coated piston to see if the electrical insulating properties are
sufficient to insulate against corona
7/7/04
Progress:
 Received relay for ESD system and completed wiring up to switch. Circuit cuts
all 12V DC and 110V AC power from engine.
 Received coated piston from Performance coatings and tested it’s electrical
properties. It turns out it’s a great electrical conductor. Its resistance is only a
few ohms.
o Gary is looking into other possibilities for ceramic coatings
 Set up ignition coil and distributor for firing ignition on one cylinder
o Could not easily adapt the distributor to trigger from the encoder to test
with engine running
o We did test it with both a spark plug wire and a low resistance wire and
observed no interference with other electronics
 Helping Youngjin and George with machining on their aluminum chamber.
Near Term Goals:
 Complete Autocad drawing updates
 Determine if there are any other coatings to try on the engine components
 Discuss test plan with or without ceramic insulation on engine components
 Do more testing to test for EMF problems before we fire corona on engine again
7/12/04
Progress:
 Tested coated piston with corona in Dr Liu’s lab
o As we suspected it is a great conductor and it behaved just as aluminum
and the arc would go right to the coating.


o Discussed coating and EMF issues with Dr. Gundersen. He had some
ideas to help solve both problems and he was going to get back to me.
(aluminum oxide coatings, diamond coatings)
We have contacted two other companies to inquire about electrical properties of
their coatings.
o CCI (Ceramic Coating Inc) looks promising. They can flame spray
aluminum oxide coatings with a Dielectric strength of 2000 V/mil. We
need to send them some drawings of what we want and then they will give
us a quote. (He mentioned that Ford Motor Co. has called inquiring about
the same thing.)
Spent good portion of Thursday and Friday machining aluminum chamber with
George
Near Term Goals:
 Follow up with Dr. Gundersen about coatings and shielding for the corona
generator.
 Send drawings to CCI and get quote.
 Complete AutoCAD drawing updates
 Complete machining on Youngjin’s & George’s chamber.
7/20/04
Progress:
 Completed ASME paper and submitted final draft for Long Beach IC Engines
Conference
 Requested copy of material specs for aluminum oxide ceramic coating from
Ceramic Coating Inc. (CCI)
o Coating is called Rokide A and according to the spec sheet only has a
dielectric strength of 160 V/mil, not 2000 volts per mil like I was told over
the phone. The person that quoted me 2000 V/mil, John Hale is on
vacation so he wasn’t available to answer questions about the discrepancy.
o Requested a sample that we can test in Dr. Liu’s lab
o CCI recommended looking into ceramic insert for insulating piston and
spray coating on the intake valve. The electrical resistance decreases with
increasing temperature. They recommended a company called Ceradyne
in Costa Mesa for the insert.
 Removed painted-on ceramic coating from the spare cylinder head that we tested
with
o We should get a valve job on spare head so we can run it on the engine
once we get the valve or head coated
o Disassembled head (removed rocker arms and camshaft) so head can be
taken to machine shop for valve job
o Received a quote of $95 for the valve job from LA Crank and Engine
Rebuilding
 Completed Machining on pressure chamber for George and Youngjin’s project
 Cleaned up lab
Near Term Goals:
 Follow up with Dr. Gundersen about shielding for the corona generator.
 Test sample from CCI once it is received
8/2/04
Progress:
 Worked with Dr. Liu on designing, building and testing electrode for the company
in Laguna Hills
o Insulator is machined out of Teflon
o Made two different electrode designs
o Constructed a test platform out of aluminum that has the same dimensions
as the actual test chamber
o Tested the electrodes and both designs look like they will work for
ignition
 Received sample of Aluminum Oxide from CCI and tested it with Corona
discharge
o Coating seems to be porous as the corona goes right through it
o If voltage is turned up, we get an arc through it also.
 Took cylinder head in for valve job
o After they disassembled the head they found two cracks in the valve seats
so they didn’t do a valve job
o I’m talking with the salvage yard where we purchased the head from to
see if they will warrantee it.
Near Term Goals:
 Look for other coatings that aren’t as porous as the aluminum oxide
 Try to get replacement cylinder head for engine
 Any further testing for Laguna electrode?
8/17/04
Progress:
 Completed machining of Teflon insulator and assembly of 3rd electrode for
Laguna test on Sept 2. (I’m on call for jury duty that week)
 Working on Technical Progress Report and Federal Asst. Program/Project Status
Report for DOE for period 4/1/03 – 3/31/04. These must be submitted by Aug
30th to prevent DOE from withholding any payments. I will have them ready to
send this week.
 Did not have any luck with getting salvage yard to warrantee cracked cylinder
head for spare engine since the 30 day warrantee period was long past.
 Made comprehensive backup of both computers onto DVD’s
 Reinstalled operating system on Secondary computer as it had been running very
slow lately

Have located and contacted more companies that do plasma spray of ceramic
coatings and requested information and samples. (APS Materials Inc and Endura
Coatings)


Helping George with machining new window openings for chamber
Gary is on vacation this week.
Near Term Goals:
 Schedule meeting with Dr Gundersen, Dr Liu, Dr Ronney and Nathan to discuss
corona generator for running on engine. Is best approach to shield current
generator, use the other generator that has better shielding or to construct new
generator to be used in the engine lab.
o It would be ideal to have a dedicated generator for engine lab so Dr. Liu’s
other tests aren’t put on hold when generator is hooked up to engine.
 Complete DOE reports and submit
 Help Gorge finish up machining window openings
8/27/04
Progress:
 Completed Technical Progress Report and Federal Asst. Program/Project Status
Report for DOE for period 4/1/03 – 3/31/04. These reports will be sent out this
afternoon. (report ended up being much longer than expected at 26 pages)
 Have been in contact with APS Materials about getting sample ceramic coating.
They claim their aluminum oxide coatings have been tested to have Dielectric
strengths of 500 to 1000 V/mil. If this is true it should work well for an engine
coating.



Helped George complete machining for chamber
Spoken with Merit research students Brad Tallon and Matt Beck and both are
returning to work in the lab this semester.
Spoke with Dr. Liu about building a new generator and the costs and time seem to
be prohibitive, so best option is to properly shield and ground existing generator
Near Term Goals:
 Submit DOE reports
 Familiarize Jun Zhao with corona generator and discuss with Dr Liu best way to
design shielding for system.
 Test new coating from APS when it arrives and show procedure to Merritt
Johnson.
9/21/04
Progress:
 Built a fluid pressurization system for the fuel injector
 Tested with Dr. Liu’s corona generator and had two problems; the water line to
the pressurization tank acted as a conductor grounding the injector, also the
injector coil was not insulated well enough for high voltage and would break
down.
 Re-designed the experiment with help of Dr. Gundersen. Now the injector is not
acting as high voltage electrode. It is positioned to spray through a tube with an
electrode running down the center. The electrical connections are all coaxial to
minimize noise.
 Tested discharge today and had a good corona for several pulses but the Teflon
insulator broke down and the discharge arced a hole in it. More Teflon rod was
ordered and long drill bits so it can be machined out of one piece to prevent this
problem.




Have all materials to modify engine electrode for a coaxial connection to corona
generator
Sent aluminum pieces to CCI for samples of their aluminum oxide ceramic
coating.
Merritt is also contacting other companies for different types of ceramic coatings.
Working on LabView code for firing corona from PC. Program will keep track of
encoder position and trigger corona at desired time while disabling the primary
side of the spark plug coil.
Near Term Goals:
 Machine new Teflon insulator for coaxial corona tube for testing injector
 Assemble coaxial connector for engine electrode and test for arcing
 Complete and test LabView program\ for controlling timing of corona discharge
on engine
 Test ceramic coatings once they arrive
9/29/04
Progress:
 Modified ceramic engine electrode to accept coaxial plug from pseudospark
generator.
 Tested electrode on bench to check Teflon insulation for arc-through- works fine
with no arcing through insulation. Also fired at 20 Hz on the bench to make sure
it can keep up with the frequency that it will see on the engine.
 Created LabView program that counts encoder pulses and can trigger corona at
desired timing
o Program works when run independently, but when combined with
cylinder pressure VI it pauses because all of the resources go to the
cylinder pressure VI
o Tried to adjust the priority level of the VI’s to get them to execute
simultaneously
o Still working on software fix, but Matt is also working on mounting an
adjustable magnetic trigger switch to the camshaft pulley for a backup.
(This method has one advantage in that the
Near Term Goals:
10/11/04
Progress:
 Sent NG flow meter back to McMillan for repair, requested expedited repair.
 Drilled and tapped port in #1 exhaust manifold for emissions sample line
 Called Ford dealership and found that both coils are supposed to fire all of the
time. We replaced the faulty coil with a spare and it fires now.

o Now we can interrupt signal to one side of secondary coil to interrupt
spark on #1 cylinder (#4 secondary spark will also be cut)
o Wired spark cut and corona trigger up to same relay using separate
shielded wires- need to test to make sure this works and won’t trigger the
corona from engine noise.
Checked on power supply in storage closet and it is only 2 KV so it won’t work
for corona generator. Fei is checking on what power supplies are functional and
available. It looks likely that we will borrow power supply from Dr Liu.
Near Term Goals:
 Working on hooking up gasoline system to engine today (found that stock Ford
setup has regulator in tank and fuel pressure is 72psi.
 Move old pseudospark generator to lab and test
 Collect data on gasoline until NG flow meter returns.
10/18/04
Progress:
 Plumbed up gasoline regulator and fuel lines and tested engine on gasoline
 Received repaired NG flowmeter from McMillan and installed it.
 Solved noise issue with switch that turns off spark plug coil and enables corona
trigger. We used a second relay to switch both leads on the magnetic switch and
grounded the shields to fix the problem
 Started up and calibrated Horiba
 Set up pseudospark generator and borrowed power supply from Dr Liu and tested
it with Fei today without engine running.
 We are borrowing pseudospark generator, small o-scope, pulse generator from Fei
and power supply from Dr Liu.
 Moved air compressor to closet to muffle noise.
Near Term Goals:
 Check corona generator and make sure it works with engine running
 Perform engine testing and compile data for ASME presentation.
10/28/04
Progress:
 Tested engine with Pseudospark generator under varying A/F ratio, ignition
timing and Load
 Had problem with breaking electrodes at higher loads, insulator material must be
improved.
o Ron Matthews from Univ of Texas Austin said he would send me the info
on the insulator material they use on their rail plugs.
 Reviewed Horiba startup and calibration procedure with Jason & Brad
 Went over LabView code, control system wiring, layout and drawings with Jason


Made corrections to Thermal Efficiency calculation in LabView
Added Brake Specific emissions calculations to LabView to be saved with data
point
Near Term Goals:
 Clean up data from recent tests
 Machine plexiglass tubes for Dr Liu
 Continue to go over things with Jason
 Fix intake temperature thermocouple
 Check exhaust temperature thermocouple
 Fix oil pressure sensor
11/08/04
Progress:
 Machined plexiglass tubes for Dr. Liu
 Intake thermocouple sensor was replaced with a spare and currently works
 Aftermarket oil pressure sender from Summit Racing was installed, calibrated and
added to Lab View
 Researched breaking insulator – possible alternatives
o Higher temperature machinable ceramics from Cotronics – waiting for
prices
o New Macor geometry – less protrusion into combustion chamber
o Custom machined Alumina from Atro Met – sent drawing and waiting for
quote, similar material used in spark plugs
 Collected data for Jun’s heat loss calculations
Near Term Goals:
 Check exhaust temperature thermocouple
 Order other machinable ceramics and fabricate electrodes
 Test electrodes on various high load conditions for failure
 Replace encoder wire with insulated wire
11/15/04
Progress:
 Exhaust thermocouple is not measuring accurately so a replacement has been
ordered
 Machinable alumina was ordered – good to 1800 degC
 Quote on custom alumina insulator was received - $3,500.00, so this route has
been abandoned
 Machining another Macor insulator, almost complete
 Replaced encored wire with shielded multi-conductor wire
 Ordered stainless tubing for all new electrodes

Found a viable ECU alternative by Perfect Power – SMT6,
o $450.00 and controls spark timing and fuel amount
o Piggyback to OEM ECU
o Real time tunable from any computer with installed software
Near Term Goals:
 Replace exhaust thermocouple and test to make sure it works
 Complete Macor insulator and test electrode with pseudo-spark generator to check
for arcing then run in engine to test for failure
 Begin machining alumina electrode and do the same above test
 Run engine under various conditions to make sure all sensors and systems check,
prepare for more corona tests
11/22/04
Progress:
 Exhaust thermocouple has been replaced, been tested and is functioning correctly
 Macor insulator was completed and waiting to be welded and tested
 Engine was run under various RPMs for Jun’s heat loss calculations
-- The last macor insulator that was machined (has arcing through insulator so the
corona is not fired) was used in place of the second spark plug in cylinder 1, and
held up to high RPMs and high loads.
-- Its geometry is being copied for this next macor insulator as well as the alumina
one
 All sensors and systems were verified during engine testing
 ECU piggyback has been ordered
 Scheduled use of pseudospark generator for the week of dec 12th
Near Term Goals:
 Install and test ECU piggyback when it arrives
 Weld macor electrode and test for arcing and failing under load
 Machine alumina electrode and do the same above test
12/06/04
Progress:
 Completed machinable alumina electrode and tested on the pulse generator in
SSC 410. There appeared to be internal arcing which could be due to the lower
dielectric strength of the alumina as compared to Macor. PDR note: testing is
inconclusive in my opinion. Need to have separate ground return paths for
internal arcing and ‘proper’ discharge, then see what we have by measuring
voltage across spark gap, and current through desired or undesired ground path.
Streamer patterns are very difficult to see in ambient room light. Turn off room
lights or enclose electrode assembly inside a small box to shield room light. Also
remember that arc is bad, streamers are good.



Began machining macor electrode which broke during the welding process
Began installing piggyback ECU
Note: never trust any instrument until it has earned your trust, including coworkers and faculty advisors.
Near Term Goals:
 Machine another macor electrode and have completed by early in the week
 Test on pulse generator and run in engine to check for failure at load
 Complete the installation of the piggyback ECU
12/13/04
Progress:
 Machined macor electrode to the geometry of the previous electrode that did not
fail under the load of the engine
 Retested the alumina electrode measuring voltage and current and determined that
there was external arcing for a small electrode gap and internal arcing (no external
streamers) for a larger electrode gap. This lead to the conclusion that the alumina
dielectric strength is not enough to withstand the high voltage pulse, it has a
strength 1/5 that of macor.
 Completed wiring of piggyback ECU and tested on engine, verified that timing
adjustment works under various conditions
Near Term Goals:
 Test that the newest Macor electrode does not have internal arcing (waiting for
use of pulse generator)
 Run engine with new corona electrode and perform various tests (schedule use of
pulse generator for early January)
 Begin construction on another macor electrode with similar geometry
1/18/05
Progress:
 Newest Macor electrode works correctly and does not have internal arcing
 Borrowed pulse generator and got it running correctly on engine, electrode broke
shortly after beginning testing
 Redesigned electrode to be modular and easy to fix after failure
 Began machining newest electrode
Near Term Goals:
 Finish machining modular electrode and test with pulse generator
 Continue engine testing (have the use of the pulse generator)
1/24/05
Progress:
 Finished modular electrode, pressure test and corona test were successful.
Pressure test has slight problems around threads of two pieces, Teflon tape seems
to work but a better solution should be looked into.
Near Term Goals:
 Continue engine testing (have the use of the pulse generator until monday)
2/3/05
Progress:
 Milled out a lip on the modular electrode housing for the o-ring to seal against.
The threads no longer have to seal and the electrode passed the pressure test.
 Ran the engine and collected about 50 pressure traces at various phi’s and high
loads. Ceramic insulator broke while extracting from the engine.
 Made another ceramic insulator and continued engine testing at high loads and
RPMs collecting 30 more pressure traces when JB weld failed and the ceramic
broke. Part of ceramic fell into the cylinder.
 Returned pulse generator, will possibly have use again in early march
Near Term Goals:
 Do pressure test and leakdown test on cylinder #1 to check for damage
 Possibly begin to fix engine
 Machine several ceramic electrodes so that rapid replacement in engine is
possible during testing
 Look into having ceramic electrodes mass produced through CNC
 Look into better method of applying JB weld or possibly an alternative for higher
pressures and temperatures
2/14/05
Progress:
 Pressure test and leakdown verify there is no damage to cylinder #1
 Began to look at data which shows ~20% increase in IMEP, some data looks
strange (end of expansion stroke pressure falls below ambient)
Near Term Goals:
 Continue to analyze data
 Create same plots as before?
Discussion with Jacob Rossi 6/5/06
We should have 3 control loops for the engine, because there are 3 main parameters to be
controlled.



Engine RPM – controlled by dynamometer load
Intake manifold pressure – controlled by throttle valve position
Fuel to air ratio – controlled by (gaseous fuel case) fuel flow valve position, or by
the timing/duration of fuel injection for the liquid fuel case
Of course these controls are not independent, but I’ve listed what I think are the primary
control parameters.
The other thing that we really need to do is to get the engine running on liquid fuels. We
have the fuel flow meters, etc. but everything has to be connected and tested. We can
also use Nathan Theiss (Nathan.Theiss@Honeywell.com) as a resource here, but
sparingly of course since he has a full time job elsewhere.
6/09/06
Progress:
 Saro Memarzadeh started position as lead researcher
 Contacted previous project leader (Tsutomu) to explain important concepts
 Checked engine for any leaking lines and/or leaking fittings – found none
 Engine is running perfectly
 Researched previous material to understand laboratory setup
o Outlined engine startup
 Tested engine and retrieved data to understand the process of data acquisition
 Checked and organized inventory; still no official listing on everything
 Started plans to control throttle valve through stepper motor
 Jacob did research on PID controllers and Stepper Motor Theory
Long Term Goals:
 Prepare operating manuals for the instruments, prepare list of inventory
 Finish plans on stepper motor controled throttle valve
o Figure out how LabVIEW program controls stepper motors
o Write new control loop for throttle
o Draw diagram for mounting stepper motor and give to respective party
o Order (or find) necessary wiring for controls
Near Term Goals:
 Take test data with Fuel and compare to previous groups (Natural Gas)
 Install liquid fuel metering system so we can measure actual fuel usage – either
o 1 flow meter per cylinder (can our meters take the pressure?)
o 1 flow meter total measuring flow before pump
o 1 flow meter total measuring flow after pump (can our meters take the
pressure?)

o Check into how Detroit (and Tokyo, and Seoul) measure fuel flow for the
purpose of computing gas mileage.
Extract corona engine stuff from corona.ignition.progress.doc and put into this
document. From now on, all engine stuff, corona or not, goes into this document.
Fall 2006
Progress Report 09/26/06
Currently members are working on:
Omar: Engine RPM (Controlled by Dyno Load)
Jacob: Intake Manifold Pressure (Controlled by Throttle Valve Position
Dane: Fuel Delivery System and Installation of Flow Meter
Saro: Fuel to Air Ratio (Controlled by the duty cycle of the injectors)
Rachel: Documenting the research
Each member has their own weekly progress reports written and saved on the PC in the
lab under a directory with the same name as the member on the desktop. These reports
are reviewed by Saro and an overall report is written and submitted to Prof. Ronney.





Held a one hour discussion on the theory of PID Controllers and how they can be
tuned in LabView in our Lab with: Jacob, Omar and Rachel
Part List for fuel delivery system is ready.
Our old Dyno stepper motor valve which is not being used on the Dyno any more
has been re-assigned for duty as the throttle valve control motor. This stepper
motor is currently being installed on the throttle valve. Research has been done
on the gearing system.
In order to change the duty cycle of the injector it seems we have two options, one
being to reprogram the ECU, the other being to use a “sub computer fuel control”.
Apexi S-AFC seems to be a good option. It modifies the air flow meter signal/
Oxygen sensor signal voltage going to the ECU to change the amount of fuel
injected. More research needs to be done on which model fits our requirements.
We do have SMT6 from Perfect Power, which is a smart tuner Piggy-Back. I am
not sure if it can control the injectors’ duty cycle cause could not find any
catalogue in the Lab, so contacted them and asked if they have a .pdf so I can use
or if they can send us one. They sent one and now need to study it.
See what other groups doing engine research do. Every engine lab everywhere in
the world has to control RPM, fuel flow, ignition timing, and manifold pressure.
Let’s just start by seeing if it makes sense to copy their approaches.
Near Term Goals:
o Order the gearing system THEN install the new stepper motor and its gearing
system (or is it just a simple two notched pulleys with a notched belt? Why not
go with something simple like that? What torque multiplication factor do we
need?) (Or does the “Dyno” stepper motor not need a gearing system at all? This
question can be answered right away.)
o Order the part list for fuel delivery system and install it
o Finish the three main control loops and start working on combining them
o Decide on the parts necessary to control the duty cycle of the injectors.
Progress Report 10/04/06
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Installed the stepper motor on the throttle valve and tested it. It works fine, rotates
in both directions and has enough torque so we are going to use it (200 steps/rev).
The motor size does not allow us to connect it directly to the valve so we need a
timing belt and two pulleys.
Found the EFI look up tables for Ford ECU. This is needed if we want to use the
oxygen sensor signal to tune the injectors.
Found and studied the Oxygen Sensor Catalogue from Bosch. In order to measure
the signal, the engine needs to be running and warmed up. There are four wires on
the sensor, the black one is the signal and the white one is the ground.
Found contact numbers for some of other engine labs. Need to contact them and
talk to them about methods they use.
The solenoid valves (For Dyno) currently work properly on the engine and can be
controlled by Lab View. The reason one of them was not working was a loose
wire!
Near Term Goals:
o Finish installing the stepper motor.
o Order the part list for fuel delivery system and install it
o Finish the three main control loops and start working on combining them
o Measure the signal on the oxygen sensor
Progress Report 10/16/06
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Stepper Motor: Mounted on top of the throttle valve. Need to order the belt and
the pulleys. Having trouble on how to get to the shaft. Tried dismantling the
plastic cover but could not find a way. There is nothing about it in the manual.
Oxygen Sensor: Connected to Lab View through PCI-MIO-16E-1 Board channel
2. It is possible to see the oxygen sensor voltage anytime on DEV2/Channel 02 on
Measurement and Automation Explorer. We had the engine running for about 5
minutes and tested it. The voltage on Lab View was a fluctuating from 0.7-0.9 but
shows engine is running rich. Not sure if after 5 minutes the ECU was running in
closed loop or still open loop. Will try running the engine for longer periods of
time to make sure it goes into closed loop mode.
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The analog output of the Oxygen Sensor to ECU is wired. Briefly, we take the
oxygen sensor voltage to the PC instead of ECU and then give an Analog Output
to ECU from PC. The two can be connected so the voltage from O2 sensor goes
straight to ECU or can be disconnected so we can manipulate the output signal
before sending it to ECU. The wiring is finished, but has not been tested while
running the engine yet.
The solenoid valves (For Dyno) currently work properly on the engine and can be
controlled by Lab View. The relays wires needs to be plugged into 110 AC before
operation. Currently working on the PID controller. Need to figure out a way of
knowing how much water is in the dyno !
A manual was prepared for ECU Socket Wiring which was added to the current
manual that Rachel is preparing. We now have solenoid valves, O2 Sensor,
Stepper Motor and ECU Wiring explained completely. Some photos of these need
to be added.
Near Term Goals:
o Ordering stepper motor belt and pulleys
o Test the oxygen sensor for : closed loop mode
o Test ECU with manipulated output voltage from PC
o Finish the three main control loops
Progress Report 11/01/06
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Ordered Parts arrived.
The exhaust fan stopped working on Monday. I called facilities and they said it is
because of a grounded motor which needs to be changed. I am not sure if we
should operate the engine without the exhaust fan ! They haven’t changed the fan
yet !
Stepper Motor: Installation on the throttle valve complete. The motor can be
controlled through MAX (Measurement and Automation Explorer).
Oxygen Sensor: The vi for Oxygen Sensor was written and now is in the vi
library. It is called O2sensor.vi.
I am not sure if we can write a PID for the solenoid valves. The valves are on/off
valves and therefore it seems impossible to me to have a PID controller on them.
An option will be to have a valve which can be controlled by a stepper motor and
we can gradually open and close it. This can be done by controlling the
load/unload valves.
The flow meter vi is written in Labview and fuel flow meter installation on the
fuel line is in progress. It will be finalized today.
Near Term Goals:
o Clean up the lab for Friday demonstration ?
o Write a PID for the throttle valve stepper motor.
o Test ECU with manipulated output voltage from PC for the O2 Sensor
o Finalize fuel flow meter installation and write a vi for air/fuel ratio
Progress Report 11/09/06
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The exhaust fan still not working ! Several people have come and gone but
nothing so far.
Stepper Motor: PID Control vi written and saved under “Throttle Valve PID
Control”. The ratios need to be tuned and needs to be tested which will be done as
soon as the fan goes back on.
Manifold Pressure Sensor signal connection to LabView was tested and fixed.
(Channel Conflict)
Solenoid Valve: PID Control vi finished. Needs to be tested when operating the
Engine.
Fuel flow meter connection to LabView board completed. The flow meter will be
installed on fuel line tomorrow (Waiting for epoxy to dry).
Near Term Goals:
o Test and tune the PID controls for Stepper Motor and Solenoid Valves
o Test ECU with manipulated output voltage from PC for the O2 Sensor
o Finalize fuel flow meter installation and write a vi for air/fuel ratio
Progress Report 11/21/06
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The exhaust fan still not working. They showed up yesterday (Monday) and said
they will have the new motor installed if it arrives today but up until 12 AM today
nothing was changed!
Stepper Motor: Ready to be tested and fine tuned as soon as the fan starts
working.
Solenoid Valve: Ready to be tested and fine tuned as soon as the fan starts
working.
Fuel Flow Meter: Installed on the fuel line. While testing, fuel came out of the
flow meter itself. We ran different tests:
The amount of fuel consumed by the injectors is less than the amount of fuel in
the line so the pressure builds up (since there is no return to fuel tank) and causes
the flow meter to start leaking.
I think for this we need to find a way of measuring exactly how much fuel is
injected.
Near Term Goals:
o Test and tune the PID controls for Stepper Motor and Solenoid Valves
o Test ECU with manipulated output voltage from PC for the O2 Sensor
o Finalize fuel flow meter installation and write a vi for air/fuel ratio
Progress Report 1/16/07
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The graphic card on the PC stopped working. I tried everything (restart, reinstall
drivers, … ) and didn’t work. We need to replace it.
Ordered and Installed a new fuel pump.
Fuel flow meter installation complete. It works well now that has been installed
before the fuel pump.
The abstract for the Combustion Meeting was accepted.
Contacted Prof. Gundersen’s students and received the Pulse Generator and it’s
cables. Also spent some time to learn how it works and operates.
Jacob and Dane are busy and won’t be able to help in the Lab this semester. I
contacted Omar but no response yet. We could use some help in the Lab for the
experiments if there are any volunteers.
Near Term Goals:
o Change the graphic card on the PC
o Test and tune the PID controls for Stepper Motor and Solenoid Valves
Progress Report 1/30/07
Progress
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The graphic card on the PC changed.
Fixed the PC power supply.
Held an introductory session for Jennifer and Abhishek. Jennifer will work on
solenoid valves control loop (RPM) and Abhishek on the stepper motor’s.
Connected the fuel flow meter to Labview and wrote a new vi for it. It’s working.
Set up the experiment for Discovery Channel.
Near Term Goals:
o Hold an introductory session for Jennifer and Abhishek on PID Control and how
to do it in Labview.
o Clean up the Lab
o Need to see if we can use the input from the O2 sensor, feed it into LabView,
send it back out to the ECU, and control fuel to air ratio as determined by fuel and
air mass flow meters.
o Test and tune the PID controls for Stepper Motor (throttle valve) and Solenoid
Valves (RPM) and fuel to air ratio (input to the ECU).
o Include the controller vi’s in the engine’s main vi (MEngine47.vi)
o Research on the electrodes previously used for corona discharge
o Discharge generator
o Power supply (Gundersen owns it, but we can use it for the foreseeable
future)
o We have the generator and all components
o We have access to a function generator in Gundersen’s lab when we need
it
o Oscilloscope – get the one from PCE 209; we also have a high voltage
oscilloscope probe (Tektronics 6015) and a current transformer (Pearson
coil).
o How will we trigger the discharge generator from the engine? How did
we do it before and can we do it the same way again?
Progress Report 2/08/07
Progress
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Throttle Valve PID:
1- Rewired the pressure transducer on the intake manifold and asked
for pressure-voltage mapping from the company.
2- Wrote a new vi for the intake manifold pressure since the old one
was not working correctly.
Fixed the fuel flow meter output. Although seemed to be working fine on the line,
it would not give any output voltage.
Rewired oil pressure sensor.
One of the spark plugs on the engine broken. Need to buy some and replace it.
Got the Oscillioscope and high voltage probe from PCE lab.
Wrote new Labview codes to calculate F/A, Phi.
Held an introductory session for Jennifer and Abhishek on PID Control and how
to do it in Labview.
Near Term Goals:
o Buy and replace spark plugs
o Test and renew the wiring of all the thermocouples used in MEngine47.vi
o Need to see if we can use the input from the O2 sensor, feed it into LabView,
send it back out to the ECU, and control fuel to air ratio as determined by fuel and
air mass flow meters.
o Test and tune the PID controls for Stepper Motor (throttle valve) and Solenoid
Valves (RPM) and fuel to air ratio (input to the ECU).
Progress Report 2/13/07
Progress
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Tested all the thermocouples in the system. They all work but the current labview
code could only show 2 of the 6 thermocouples measurements, so fixed the
labview Vi’s too.
Replaced the spark plugs.
One of the electronic boards in the relay panel burnt after the fan tripped. Ordered
the ICs and the board, and remade the board. Installed it again but although the
board is working fine now, the connection of engine to Labview seems to have
trouble somewhere. Nothing on the engine can be controlled right now. So the
interface between the NI board and our custom relay board seems to have a
problem.
Near Term Goals:
o Check the wiring and troubleshoot the engine-Labview board connections.
o Clean up the Lab – this Friday
o Need to see if we can use the input from the O2 sensor, feed it into LabView,
send it back out to the ECU, and control fuel to air ratio as determined by fuel and
air mass flow meters.
o Test and tune the PID controls for Stepper Motor (throttle valve) and Solenoid
Valves (RPM) and fuel to air ratio (input to the ECU).
o Include the controller vi’s in the engine’s main vi (MEngine47.vi)
o Research on the electrodes previously used for corona discharge
o Discharge generator
o Power supply (Gundersen owns it, but we can use it for the foreseeable
future)
o We have the generator and all components
o We have access to a function generator in Gundersen’s lab when we need
it
o Oscilloscope – get the one from PCE 209; we also have a high voltage
oscilloscope probe (Tektronics 6015) and a current transformer (Pearson
coil).
o How will we trigger the discharge generator from the engine? How did
we do it before and can we do it the same way again?
Progress Report 2/13/07
Progress
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Found the problem and fixed the electronic board. Rachel took photos and will
put a new section in the manual about the board, describing the wiring.
Cleaned the Lab. Put a request for Hazardous Waste Disposal so they come and
take all the waste.
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Edited the final version of the article for San Diego based on instructions and
submitted.
Included Stepper Motor and Solenoid Valve controls in the Main vi.
(MEngine47.vi)
The fuel pump stopped working again. Shipped it back to the company. They will
send a new one free of charge since we had warranty.
Near Term Goals:
o Need to see if we can use the input from the O2 sensor, feed it into LabView,
send it back out to the ECU, and control fuel to air ratio as determined by fuel and
air mass flow meters.
o Test and tune the PID controls for Stepper Motor (throttle valve) and Solenoid
Valves (RPM) and fuel to air ratio (input to the ECU).
o Test the Horiba Emission Analyzer
o Research on the electrodes previously used for corona discharge
o How will we trigger the discharge generator from the engine? How did
we do it before and can we do it the same way again?
Progress Report 3/05/07
Progress
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Received the new fuel pump, installed it on the line, and the pump did not work !
Called the company and complained, shipped it back again and they will reship a
new one.
In the process of testing and tuning the RPM control loop with the fake signal to
RPM sensor.
Did research on the previous electrodes used for the experiment. Need to machine
a new one since all the previous ones are broken.
Tried to see the injector signal on oscilloscope, but couldn’t see it. Does the
engine send a signal to the injectors while starting the engine ?
Talked to Nathan about triggering pulse generator and Horiba emissions bench,
but not enough to learn anything useful. He will come in this coming weekend,
Sat or Sun, to spend the whole day learning everything.
Near Term Goals:
o Need to see if we can use the input from the O2 sensor, feed it into LabView,
send it back out to the ECU, and control fuel to air ratio as determined by fuel and
air mass flow meters.
o Make new electrode – find out about SAE or off-campus shops. We have all the
materials needed.
o Test and tune the PID controls for Stepper Motor (throttle valve) and Solenoid
Valves (RPM) and fuel to air ratio (input to the ECU).
o Test the Horiba Emission Analyzer
o Research on the electrodes previously used for corona discharge
o How will we trigger the discharge generator from the engine? How did
we do it before and can we do it the same way again?
Progress Report 3/13/07
Progress
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Still haven’t met with Nathan
Received the new fuel pump and installed it. It is working fine, but had to change
the fuel line from tank to the pump.
The battery is not working. I think it is because we started the engine many times
to test the fuel pump in this period and the engine didn’t start to work so it never
charged the battery. Shall we get a new one? Do we have a spare one so we can
jump start?
RPM and Throttle Valve PID controls are ready to be tested while running the
engine. We have tested them with fake signals, and the vi’s seem to be properly
working. I will test them with the new pump.
Had to rewrite new vi’s for thermocouples. They were not showing the right
values because the necessary jumpers on the AMUX-64T were not set. Set the
jumpers and wrote new code for them based on new jumper settings. Details of
the error and the corrections will be in the Engine Lab Manual under the
Thermocouples section.
Figured out how they triggered the pulse generator previously. A hall effect
sensor is used as crank angle sensor, which on each revolution sends a signal to an
electronic board. This signal combined with a signal coming from timing advance
light through an electronic board goes to the pulse generator. Have to figure out
what the board does and rework the wiring since there are many loose wires. The
board seems to be an amplifier but have to test it.
Near Term Goals:
o Fix the battery
o Figure out the triggering electronic board
o Need to see if we can use the input from the O2 sensor, feed it into LabView,
send it back out to the ECU, and control fuel to air ratio as determined by fuel and
air mass flow meters.
o Make new electrode – find out about SAE or off-campus shops. We have all the
materials needed.
o Test the vi’s while the engine is running
o Test the Horiba Emission Analyzer (Will meet up with Nathan about it on the
weekend).
Progress Report 3/19/07
Progress
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Still haven’t met with Nathan (Saro got sick over the weekend so couldn’t move
out of bed)
 Found the battery charger, and recharged the battery.
 RPM and Throttle Valve PID control loops are finished and tested. They get the
work done, but have two problems:
1- RPM Control with Solenoid Valves: The program keeps switching on/off the
valve. (I think it is because the way Analog Input Scan function works in
Labview)
2- The belt connecting the stepper motor shaft to the throttle valve slips because of
the vibrations of the engine while running. We can fix it by drilling a hole in the
pulley and put a needle through the belt into that hole to keep it from slipping.
This will work for now, but the better option will be to have a timing belt.
 The ouput from O2 sensor to the ECU does not work. I think the ECU does not
recognize an output in the shape of a DC fixed signal since the signal from O2
sensor going to the ECU is very different)
 In the process of monitoring the signal from ECU to the coil using the
oscilloscope
 Figured out how the MSD Ignition Control kit works. It won’t let us see or
monitor the signal coming from ECU to the coils, but it will let us adjust the
timing by using a knob.
Figure: The O2 output Signal
Near Term Goals:
o Figure out the triggering electronic board
o Make new electrode – find out about SAE or off-campus shops. We have all the
materials needed.
o Fix the two problems mentioned with the control loops.
o Test the Horiba Emission Analyzer (Will meet up with Nathan about it on the
weekend).
Progress Report 3/30/07
Progress
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Still haven’t met with Nathan
Fixed the zero output on the PID controllers for RPM and Throttle
Found the signal going from ECU to the Ignition Coils
The engine goes off when throttle valve opens. The RPM also changes from 1300
to 600 running at Idle. Checked the fuel pump, fuel filter and lines and everything
seems to be working properly. Checked the Throttle Position Sensor and it
doesn’t work.
Near Term Goals:
o Make new electrode – find out about SAE or off-campus shops. We have all the
materials needed.
o Replace the TPS
o Check for other possible reasons of RPM problems at idle and throttle open
o Test the Horiba Emission Analyzer (Will meet up with Nathan about it on the
weekend).
Progress Report 04/09/07
Progress
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Still haven’t met with Nathan
Fixed the engine problem by fixing the air flow sensor. Now the engine operates
at different RPM with no problem.
Finished preparing one electrode. Still trying to figure out how to get hold of
more spark plug bodies.
Prepared the electrode for testing with Corona Discharge, so the setup is ready
and will do the test today.
The Throttle Valve PID Control and the RPM (Dyno) PID Control both work
fine. All the problems have been fixed.
Near Term Goals:
o Test the electrode with Corona Discharge
o Machine more ceramic
o Find Spark Plug bodies
o Test the Horiba Emission Analyzer (Will meet up with Nathan about it on the
weekend).
o Give the output of the oxygen sensor to SMT6 and try to control the Air/Fuel
ratio.
Progress Report 04/16/07
Progress
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Met with Nathan, Calibrated the Horiba Analyzer, and learned how to operate it.
Tested different geometries for the Corona Electrode, the best one is patterned
plate geometry since it gives a control over the number of streamers.
Research on SMT6 capabilities
Figured out how to get spark plug bodies separated from the ceramic
Near Term Goals:
o Finalize the Corona Electrode Machining
o Machine more ceramic
o Give the output of the oxygen sensor to SMT6 and try to control the Air/Fuel
ratio.
Progress Report 04/16/07
Progress
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Fixed the Engine no start problem. The problem was caused by Crank Shaft
Position Sensor. This sensor has to send a signal to ECU, and then ECU starts
sending ignition signals to coils. The wire from the sensor had gone through
SMT6 before going to ECU, and an internal problem in SMT6 caused no signal at
ECU. Had to buy the ECU wiring diagrams for the ECU from Ebay for 15$. (A
dealership we called asked for 158$ for the diagrams !!!)
Removed SMT6 from ECU Circuit since it was the source of the no start problem,
so the plan to use SMT6 for controlling Air/Fuel Ratio won’t work.
Created a new vi which takes in O2 sensor signal, and changes it, and sends the
new signal back to ECU, in the process of testing it.
In order to control Air/Fuel ratio by controlling injector’s duty cycle, we can use
Mega Squirt after market piggy back, which is designed specifically for this. It
will cost about 250$ to buy the whole package.
Near Term Goals:
o Finalize the Corona Electrode Machining
o Machine more ceramic
Progress Report 04/30/07
Progress
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Finished feeding O2 sensor signal back to ECU to control the Air/Fuel ratio. The
flow meters are not ready to test and see how this affects the Air/Fuel ratio in
practice. Also, when we run the labview code to change and feed the signal to
ECU, everything else become extremely slow.
Made a flow meter out of pieces of the broken ones. Will install it on the line
again today and calibrate it.
Finished Machining the corona Electrode. We have one complete electrode ready
for installing inside the cylinder. The guy working at the machine shop was very
interested, and said he previously owned a machine shop for racing cars, and
volunteered to help out in making a better electrode. Will meet with him today to
talk the details.
Near Term Goals:
o Test the corona electrode inside the cylinder model and take the final
measurements for the distances so that there is only corona and not any spark.
o Install and calibrate the flow meter. If this does not work, we need to buy new
flow meters.
Progress Report 05/10/07
Progress
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Calibrated and Installed the flow meters. Works fine.
Engine start problem again. Fuel is fine. Need to check the sparks.
Ordered an electrode to KAP Machine shop.
Fixed up the triggering signal for the Corona Discharge.
Near Term Goals:
o Fix the engine start problem
o Test the corona electrode inside the cylinder
Progress Report 05/14/07
Progress
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One of the flow meters started leaking, since we tried for a while to fix it and
eventually it leaked again, called McMillan and ordered a new part for the flow
meter. This is the inlet and outlet of the flow meter, and costs 80$. They shipped
it today (Monday).
Changed some of the recent vi’s so we can write the data to Excel spreadsheets.
Tried the new electrode inside the Cylinder, but the ceramic cracked very quickly.
I think it is because of the thickness of the ceramic. And probably we need more
silicon O-rings.
Fixed Engine no start problem.
Gave Kasra a tour on the Engine Lab. He starts from today (Monday).
Near Term Goals:
o Change the thickness of the ceramic, and machine a new electrode.
o Test the corona electrode inside the cylinder
Progress Report 05/29/07
Progress
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The new electrode is ready.
The triggering circuit is ready.
Bought a new flow meter because the leaking problem with the old ones persisted.
Near Term Goals:
o Install the new flow meter.
o Start getting data with the new electrode.
o Make a timing circuit for Ignition Timing.
Progress Report 06/11/07
Progress
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TPD had a problem and wouldn’t start, so got it fixed by Prof. Gundersen’s Lab.
Tried to measure the Fuel Flow using the two flowmeters. It seems impossible to
do so, since the results will be a subtraction of two big numbers to get a small
number! With current fuel delivery system, it is impossible to find the Air Fuel
Ratio with flow meters. The only option left will be a wide band O2 sensor (to be
discussed with Prof. Ronney)
Attempts were made to create the advance/retard delay on the Labview for the
ignition signal. It needs more work.
Worked on the triggering system. We were able to get a clean square wave signal
with 5v magnitude from the pick up however, since the load is high, it wouldn’t
trigger the TPD. Had to design a circuit for it in order to support the high load,
which was done by using a push pull circuit. The details of the circuit will be in
the Lab Manual and an identical circuit will be made.
Near Term Goals:
o Install wide band O2 sensor and get the Air/Fuel ratio.
o Start getting data with the new electrode.
o Finish making a timing circuit for Ignition Timing.
Progress Report 07/05/07
Progress
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The engine was running very rich, so figured out that one of the coil packs is not
working (4 plugs don’t fire!) Changed the faulty coil pack.
Got a price range for very low flow liquid flow meters, range is from 1000$ to
1500$. Should we buy one?
Installed and wrote a labview code, so we can read and measure A/F ratio on
Labview from wideband O2 sensor. Tested to see if we can control the A/F ratio
using manipulation of the narrow band O2 sensor signal, and it works! Now need
to write controller for it so it automatically reaches a desired ratio given by the
user.
Installed a stepper motor on Dyno Load valve, so we can have a PID control. The
code we wrote in Labview is working, so the dyno Load control is done by a
stepper motor and its PID controller now.
The magnetic pickup stopped working. Changed it with a new one. Still working
on the triggering signal coming from magnetic pickup. We can get a good signal
from Magnetic pickup, and it triggers the TPD on its own, but when the signal is
given to Labview, a glitch appears that we are trying to remove. Is there anyway
to do this without using Labview ? (Advance /Retard)
Near Term Goals:
o Buy a new flow meter ?
o Finish making a controller for A/F ratio
o Finish making a timing circuit for Ignition Timing.
Progress Report 07/17/07
Progress
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Changes the Flywheel and Starter motor on the Engine, because the starter was
not producing enough torque and also the flywheel teeth were worn.
Finished working on Triggering Circuit and tested it. Working fine.
Testing the intake manifold pressure controller. The problem is at high RPMs,
where a very small change (one step), makes a huge difference in the manifold
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pressure. Also, the vibrations on the engine are transferred to the stepper motor,
which in turn affects the throttle valve position.
Working on the dyno control loop. What is an acceptable RPM fluctuation ? In
our case, it fluctuates to about 100 up and down the target value in low RPM, at
higher RPM, this becomes more, sometimes up to 300 up and down.
Near Term Goals:
o Do the tests on the flow meter to decide if we want to buy a new flow meter ?
o Finish making a controller for A/F ratio
o Solve the control loop problems for Dyno and Intake Manifold
Progress Report 07/25/07
Progress
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In order to get a better accuracy on the manifold pressure control:
- Welded the shaft which was previously glued to the throttle body to reduce
errors. (In the process, we broke the throttle body, so found a new one in a junk
yard for a good price and bought it.)
- Bought a bigger pulley and belt
- Changed the stepper motor mounting plates to get less vibration.
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Changed the Dyno Control code in LabView in order to get a better accuracy on
the RPM. Didn’t had a chance to test it because of throttle body problems.
The ceramic inside the machined electrode broke again while testing on the
engine. We tried a new electrode, which is basically drilling through a normal
spark plug, and then putting the electrode inside that. It will be ready sometime
this week and we can get it tested.
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Near Term Goals:
o Finish making a controller for A/F ratio
o Solve the control loop problems for Dyno and Intake Manifold
Progress Report 08/01/07
Progress
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Tested the Intake Manifold PID Controller and didn’t work. (It gets unstable). But
here are a few problems that we face:
- Even when we open the throttle valve to a certain degree and keep it fixed
at that degree, the intake manifold pressure is fluctuating by an amount of
about 1 psi.
- As we open the throttle valve from idle, the intake manifold pressure
increases, however, at some point, this trend stops, and the readings start
fluctuating a lot (at about 2000RPM)
The new electrode we ordered from machine shop still not ready. (The guys who
works on it is on Jury duty this week !)
The dyno PID Control works fine, the tests were all successful.
Near Term Goals:
o Finish making a controller for A/F ratio
o Solve the control loop problems for Intake Manifold
Progress Report 08/27/07
Progress
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The three control loops (Dyno, Intake Manifold Pressure, Air/Fuel Ratio) work
fine and were tested successfully. Now we can keep RPM, Intake Manifold
Pressure and Air/Fuel ratio in the desired range.
The new electrode works perfectly on engine and is ready for experiment. Since
this is actually made from a typical spark plug, no ceramic problems were faced
during the experiments.
Near Term Goals:
o Start testing the engine with TPD.
Progress Report 09/011/07
Progress
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Worked on LabVIEW vi’s to make them more user friendly and wrote
descriptions for the codes.
Set up current transformer and high voltage probe on the system to measure the
voltage and current
Calibrated Kistler pressure transducer.
Worked on shielding the instruments to avoid EMI
Near Term Goals:
o Start testing the engine with TPD. We will have the first set of data this week.
]
Progress Report 09/21/07
Progress
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Tested the whole setup with transient plasma ignition to see everything works
together, everything worked on software and hardware, except the corona
discharge device which stopped working after a couple of minutes.
Contacted Prof. Gundersen’s students to solve the problem with Corona
discharge.
Near Term Goals:
o Start testing the engine with TPD.
Progress Report 10/01/07
Progress
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Fixed the problem with TPD. There was a grounding problem with one of the
components inside the device.
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Tested the whole setup. Had some problems with the RPM sensor electronic
board for plasma triggering, but managed to find and fix the problem. The setup is
ready for experiments and acquiring data.
Worked on labview setup for advance/retard of the ignition.
Near Term Goals:
Data acquisition and analysis
Progress Report 10/08/07
Progress
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Saro had a midterm on Wednesday, so didn’t get a chance to work on Mon &
Tuesday.
Tried to run the experiments, but faced a couple of problems:
1- Corona triggering circuit failed again due to faulty transistors. Had
to make a new board and it works fine now.
2- Engine no start problem due to faulty crankshaft position sensor.
Changed the sensor and the engine starts fine now.
Near Term Goals:
Get some data today while everything seems to be working fine!
Progress Report 10/31/07
Progress
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Shielded equipments and devices.
Tried to get some data but after the trial round, an offset of 0.8V appeared on the
NI data acquisition board. Now trying to work and get the board fixed by
calibration. The calibration can’t be done through hardware (potentiometer), but
has to be done by software. Contacted NI, and they sent us the software required.
Installed it yesterday and today will go through calibration process.
After the initial trials, the O2 sensor stopped working. Ordered a new one which
should be here today.
Plasma Device had arcing problems inside, got fixed.
Near Term Goals:
Get data. There is a February deadline for papers for IEEE plasma combustion journal,
for which we will try to have something.
Progress Report 11/27/07
Progress
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Temperature readings problem persisted, so contacted NI, ran a series of tests, and
found out the problem is the board. Needs to be sent out to NI for repair.
Meanwhile can’t do much on the engine since we need the board for sensor
readings as well.
Had to make some changes to some of the vi’s due to new setup of labview after
PC crash.
Will spend some time explaining things to freshmen and cleaning, organizing and
also reading papers until we get the board back.
Near Term Goals:
Get data. There is a February deadline for papers for IEEE plasma combustion journal,
for which we will try to have something.
Progress Report 02/25/08
Progress
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Installed the new board. It works fine.
Fixed Temperature readings, and now all of them working fine.
Tested the control loops and cylinder pressure transducer, they all work fine.
Will start running tests this week.
Near Term Goals:
Get data.
Progress till September 29th
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Trying to tackle LabVIEW Error 70072. Suggestion: Execute clear power up status
function on Virtual Instrument.
Solution Found: Go to Measurements and Automation Explorer. Open Devices and
Interfaces. Go to card PCI 7344 (I) and initialize.
Basic Checks for engine done. Oil Level for engine low. Need to use 5W20 or 5W30
grade oil.
Checking the quality of the fuel filter, oil filter, spark plug and injectors
Called up Ford Company on for details of the engine consumables. Company suggested
change of fuel filters, oil filters, spark plug and refill oil. Gasoline has to be bought. Will
change this week and clean the spark plugs
Device 2 on the PCI card failed the self test due to the resetting of the card earlier. Self
Calibration done. Passed the self test. Will calibrate the instruments once the testing
starts.
Near Team Goals for this week
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Will purchase parts and gasoline this week.
Had a conversation with Saro, will start engine this week.
Progress 29th September to 6th October
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Problem with tool box in the laboratory as it did not open up properly. Trays were
jammed. Finally solved it and managed to open it. Replaced engine oil fuel filter
and oil filter
Certain tools had to be bought as they did suit the engine. New spanners etc were
bought.
Oil, Oil Filter and fuel filter were bought and replaced.
Old Engine oil was drained out and the safe disposal personnel have been
contacted to dispose of it.
Have started reading the new Lab manual.
Vignesh and Adams have started getting themselves better acquainted with
LabVIEW.
Explained to Vignesh the basics of an IC Engine and the 4 stroke process.
Short Term Goals
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Saro was supposed to help us start the engine on Friday but didn't turn up.
Will try to contact him again this week.
Start the engine this week in any case by reading up the lab manual
Vignesh and Seth will finish LABVIEW tutorial and continue with the ICE
basics.
Progress from 6th October to October 13th
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Tried starting the engine by reconnecting wires but engine did not start. Realised
that the lever connecting battery terminal was not connected.
After connecting the lever arm, another attempt at starting the engine was
made. Fuel pump worked and ignition was attempted but the engine did not
actually start. We thought that one possible problem could be spark plugs.
Cleaned the spark plugs and tried restarting the engine. Engine started but did
not run smoothly. It ran in accordance to a sinusoidal wave with a high output
followed by an immediate small output.
Replaced 5 of the spark plugs. Engine output was much better but still not
perfectly smooth.
Short Term Goals
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Disconnect the engine intake manifold to replace the other 3 spark plugs.
Consider other reasons why the engine may not be running other smoothly.
Possible reason could be a vaccum leak in the intake manifold. Perform soapy
water test to conclude about this possible reason.
Get the engine to run smoothly
Progress from 13th October to 27th October
 Replaced another spark plug. One spark plug could not be replaced due to the
presence a pressure transducer.
 Engine ran smoothly but was stuttering a bit.
 Stepper motor throttle valve was adjusted slightly to increase air flow. Engine
became smooth.
 Next day however, Engine could not be started and misfiring was taking place.
 5 out of the 8 spark plug wires were replaced but could not solve the problem.
 Possible Reasons. 1) Vacuum leak in the intake manifold. 2) Possible but very
unlikely gas shortage.
 LabView tutorials were covered on building arrays and acquiring data.
 Soapy water test was conducted by no vacuum leak in the intake manifold was
detected.
Short Term Goals
 Check for timing of sparks
 Analyse and solve possible problems with the engine
 Further cover more LabView tutorials to get acquainted with the program.
Progress from 27th October to 3rd November
 Fuel pressure measuring apparatus was purchased.
 Reading was only 20 PSI and recommended is56 to 72 PSI.
 Diagnosis for the reason was started.
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Rubber tubing from the fuel filter found to be leaking during diagnostics. Tubing
was cut and adjusted to stop the leak. Did NOT solve the engine problem and it
still would not start.
Further diagnostics was carried out. Fuel Filter was found leaking again.
Fuel Filter was replaced.
Fuel Pressure reading rose to 70 PSI. Normal fuel pressure. Engine still did not
start.
Possible problems: 1) Injectors faulty. 2) Throttle valve problem. 3) Software
problem. ECU in engine receiving wrong data from the air flow sensor and hence
implementing wrong corrective measures.
The spark plugs were replaced last week, so that could not have been a probable
problem.
But then we noticed a very small amount of smoke coming out of the cylinder
number 4.
We opened the spark plug and an enormous amount of soot was deposited over
them. We checked the rest of them and they were not good either. Diagnosis:
Probably the fuel was burning too rich.
We slightly adjusted the throttle position to increase the air to fuel ratio and the
engine started.
The problem of engine rocking and not supplying constant power to crank still
persists. Diagnosis yet to be done.
Short Term Goals
 Do the diagnosis for the problem.
 Diagnose the reason for pressure and temperature sensors giving faulty readings
to LabVIEW.
From 3rd November to 12th November
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The Study for the LabVIEW program being used is still going on
progressively. No documentation has been recovered till date.
The engine rocking problem still persists. Wanted to Open and check the
injectors but the Auto zone guy suggested using a chemical reagent to
remove clogging.
Have tried the reagent. Typically shows results in “1 week” time. Working
on that.
The engine ceased to start once again. Still burning very rich. Started after
cleaning the spark plugs.
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Contacted Saro regarding how to modify signals from ECU to control the
air fuel ratio. Got a pretty well explained reply this time.
Shall buy the OBD II scanner to test the ECU. Not able to locate the plug
that connects it to ECU (Not even from the dealer)
Fuel leaking problem still persists at the fuel filter. Probably need to
change the pipes.
Short Term Goals:
 Find the Plug for OBD II scanner.
 Investigate the fuel leak problem.
 Try to find the solution for the AFR problem.
 Check if the reagent works in cleaning the injectors.
Progress from 12th November to 19th November
 Borrowed a cart from Trojan Hospitality and brought fuel for the project.
 Engine was run for 40 minutes to see if the injector clearing solution was showing
results. No tangible difference in engine running was observed and it still
produced a periodically changing RPM.
 Next route was to check for error codes stored in the ECU and hence an OBD
scanner was required.
 Called Ford Dealer to ask for the availability of the connecting harness but were
told that the harness to connect to the OBD scanner was part of the entire harness
system in the car and would not be sold separately.
 After further observations and wire tracing, the OBD scanner harness was found
to be existent in the engine, tucked below the intake manifold. Further research
showed it was compatible with the OBD II scanner.
 OBD II scanner was purchased and the engine was tested. The following error
codes were obtained. The error codes, their meaning and the implications to the
engine were researched upon and are mentioned below.
1. PO 443 --- Evaporative emission control system failure. EVAP system not
applicable to our engine as it is not present. Error was ignored
2. PO 453 -- EVAP emission control system, Fuel tank pressure and vacuum. Since
our engine does not have a fuel tank with evaporative control mechanisms, error
code does not apply. Error code ignored.
3. P0135. P0141 --- Oxygen sensor Bank 1 sensor 1 and bank 1 sensor 2 failure.
Oxygen sensor has been unplugged from our engine, do error in not applicable.
 After researching all the codes, the oxygen sensor was focused upon for further
experimentation as the engine is believed to be running rich (as observed by
excessive soot deposits on spark plugs)
 Wide band Oxygen sensor connected to the exhaust pipe was calibrated and
tested. It gave proper reading.
 However LabVIEW is giving erroneous readings of air/fuel ratio.
 Tried modifying the air/fuel ratio but did not work due to error in the LabVIEW
device number.
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Error was corrected and problem was solved. We were able to modify the air/fuel
ratio. The expected change in engine RPM was observed thought the LabVIEW
readings was still wrong.
OBSERVATION: When the MAF output was increased, engine ran at higher
RPM, and gave a constant RPM without the periodic fluctuation. However at
lower RPMs the periodic fluctuations continue to exist.
Possible conclusion: Injectors are clogged. At higher RPMs the sufficient fuel
pressure is able to cause steady RPM which is not possible at lower RPMs due to
lower fuel pressure and clogging of injectors.
An Experiment: When the MAF sensor was connected directly to the ECU
without connecting it to the computer, (as in the case of normal car) the engine
ran at very high RPM for approximately 3 seconds before shutting down.
However when connected to the computer and then to the ECU, the engine ran at
lower RPM even though the manual override was switched off. This could
indicate a possible modulation of values at the LabVIEW console or a
problem/modification with the MAF sensor circuit.
A possible fault with the oxygen sensor or the entire sensor circuit was suspected.
The wideband oxygen sensor was taken out of the exhaust manifold of the engine
to be tested manually. The INNOVATE LM1 meter showed variations in oxygen
reading but no such change was detected in the LabVIEW panel. CONCLUSION:
Sensor working fine but problem with circuit connection from the meter to the
National Instruments Panel
Circuit wiring was checked and short circuiting was detected at the National
Instruments Board. A small stray wire from the Ground connection was in contact
with the positive terminal.
Problem was immediately corrected. LabVIEW showed air/fuel ratio of about
7.55.
Conclusion: Engine is burning too rich.
Short term Goals
 Calibrate LabVIEW and relevant sensor to give proper readings and manual
control of air/fuel ratio. Correct the problem of the engine burning too rich
 Move on to other sensors for calibration and rectification: Temperature sensor
is next on the list.
 Explore ways of cleaning injectors or probably change them.
Spring 2009
Progress from 5th February to 9th February
Conducted several experiments:
 Tried calibrating oxygen sensor. Different methodologies were tried. The O2 %
was being sensed properly, but absurd AFR value every time. The graph showed
an AFR of over 50 (totally inappropriate)
 Measuring MAF output voltage from wire which is used to send signals to PC and
fake signals back. A large variation in the input V to the PC (varies from 2.5 V to
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3.7V approx.) However MAF V to ECU is constant at idle 0.77V (as should be)
even when Manual override is off.
MAF sensor disconnected Manual override on/off. Engine runs wildly for 2
seconds and relays go off and system shutdown.
MAF directly connected to MAF output wire, Engine runs wildly for 2 seconds
and relays go off and system shutdown.
MAF sensor connected but PC input wire disconnected, engine runs as it is
running, no change.
O2 sensor off, Manual override off, No change
Conclusions for these set of experiments:
 O2 feedback is not being sent to the ECU in any form.
 O2 sensor though not working properly can not be the reason for the engine
problem. Will contact Innovate company to fix O2 sensor anyways.
 MAF output is being sent to the ECU through some other connection due to
observation number 4
 Trace this connection down and see what input V is this sending to the ECU
Experiments:
 Measured the V at MAF sensor and tried to find which other wire is going to the
ECU that could be sending the varying signals.
 The wire was traced down; V varies (somewhat in the same fashion as the engine
running) from 0.053V to 0.090 V at ECU terminal 36.
 Created a new LabVIEW VI to send fake constant signal of approximately same
range to test if there was any change in the working of the engine. The possibility
of this was 50% as it could be possible that this engine problem is causing this
varying signals at MAF instead of vice versa. We wanted to confirm this as the
ECU takes the signal from MAF and uses it as a feedback to control the fuel flow.
 The VI was created and constant fake signal was sent. No change in the running
of the engine.
Conclusions:
 Two possibilities: There is some other feedback from MAF that is controlling the
engine. 2nd, there is another sensor that could be doing or causing this problem.
 Might want to focus on “Idle RPM, Air bypass control”. Read this term in ECU
manual. Shall gain more knowledge about it.
Also started working on temperature sensors. Traced all the temperature sensors down.
No Voltage being received at the board. We will try to use the other board to test if the
problem is with the connections before reaching the DAQ board or after reaching it.
Short Term Goals:
 Trace down other connections to ECU controlling the fuel flow.
 Get the O2 sensor fixed so we can get accurate AFR readings.
 Start working on the Temperature sensors.
 Trace down other possible mechanical failures causing this problem. (Crank
position sensor).
Progress from 9th February to 18th February 2009
Found some excellent Manuals specifically for “Ford Ranger 2000” on eBay which are
actual Blue-Prints of the car. It is a set of 3 books.
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The Thermocouples keep on giving inappropriate readings. It always gives a
value which is out of range no matter how small or large the range is.
Connected thermocouple to the PCI-MI0-16E board. Channel gave approximate
voltage of 0.5 V and responded to change in temperature. Though this is a very
high voltage but it can at least be calibrated.
Therefore the thermocouples may not be faulty. The voltage input to the
multiplexer is not getting transmitted to the PCI card.
Called National Instruments and performed several tests.
There were two possibilities: either PCI card is not working fine or multiplexer
AMUX 64T is not working fine. The PCI Card passed the self test after the NI
Startup services were initialized for administrative tools (services) in the control
panel.
This meant something was wrong with the multiplexer. Checked all jumper
settings and board configuration as advised by NI. Everything was as it should be.
NI also asked us to try using referenced single mode by grounding the negative
terminal with a resistor of 10k to 100k ohms as test. No improvement.
After a couple of other small diagnostic tests, the NI people suggested that the
board was faulty. We can either get it repaired or we can buy a new one. ???
Is there any other multiplexer in other labs that we could borrow to test before
buying/repairing this one as one final test.
In the last entry that Saro made in this Log, he mentions the same problem, but he
also says that he installed a new board which was working fine. (Entry date
11/27/07).
Called Innovate Motor Sports to trouble shoot the oxygen sensor problem.
The technician suggested a butane test. Put a lighter under the sensor and see the
AFR reading. If it gives a reading of 9 to 10 AFR, the instrument is working fine.
We did the test and it gave the correct readings. This confirmed that the oxygen
sensor is working fine. The problem is somewhere else.
Contacted Innovate again. They said the only possibility could be a leak in the
Exhaust system.
Trying to find the possible leak, but the soap water test can’t be performed due to
the high temperatures. Kindly suggest alternatives.
Also while running at around 2500 and above RPMs, heard a whistling sound.
Another clue for a possible leak in the exhaust system.

Also it could be an air inversion, which means that the leak or the gap could be
after the oxygen sensor location.
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We created a VI that stepped down the signal from MAF (as suggested by PDR)
by 3 times approx and send it back to the MAF terminal (MAF out) on the ECU.
No effect as far as the rhythmic RPM output of the engine was concerned.
We noticed that the oxygen sensor reading though directly wasn’t influencing the
MAF reading, but in a back calculation of Phi, the Phi was the reading that was
being sent to the ECU’s MAF terminal. This value was very small, hence the min
Voltage (constant 0.77 V) was being sent. Tried to change the program, but this
had so many back connections that a lot of errors popped up and the main VI
won’t run.
Also the back calculation of Phi is done from the values of lambda with the
formula Phi = (lambda * .20) + 0.4. Have to verify this. Thus the wrong readings
from O2 sensor had an effect (Lambda is derectly taken from O2 sensor LM1).
Could not figure out the basis for sending the value of Phi to the MAF terminal.
In the mean time we received the ordered manuals and checked all MAF
connections and supply voltage to the MAF sensor. No data about expected
output voltage from the sensor in the manual.
Also the sensor is exposed to dust as we do not have a proper air filter. It is just
protected by wire gauze.
Changed the MAF output by first disconnecting it from Phi values, then
connecting it to MAF IN, stepping it down and using a PID to control it. The
performance seemed to improve a bit, but the engine was running at higher RPMs
(2000 approx, but the variation reduced noticeably). The values of PID constants
made a difference. Tried different templates from standard constant values. Still
working on this.
The MAF sensor is stock but when directly connected give erroneous response.
Either it is damaged or needs some cleaning (suggested at a Ford Forum).
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Also tried to see if the Coil Packs are causing any ignition timing delays by
disconnecting one at a time. No change recorded.
Short Term Goals:
 Get 2 stock oxygen sensors and get the things back to stock.
 Multiplexer?
 Propane test for any Vacuum leak on intake as suggested by the new manual.
 Test the ignition timing.
 Stepper Motor. Last entry from Saro says that it might possibly be damaged. Start
working on it.
 Replace MAF sensor, but try cleaning it first.
Progress Report from 19th Feb to 23rd Feb 2009

All thermocouples tested, working fine. Repair initiated and board shipped on
Saturday ( 02/21/09)
 There was a short circuiting in the lab on Saturday night near the NI DAQ Board.
Took 1 day to find the fault and fix it. All the precautions have been taken to
make sure this doesn’t happen again.
 Purchased the stock oxygen sensor and replaced the old one.
 The throttle position was manually adjusted. The throttle control wing/fly found
broken. The engine is very sensitive to a small deviation in throttle position.
 After various experiments with throttle and MAF output. THE ENGINEIS
WORKING AT CONSTANT RPM at idle condition.
 The VI has been modified to send MAF output directly to ECU in regular mode
(non manual override mode) without any PID.
 The engine ran great and was tested for about 30 minutes.
 The cooling system was dry so the valve to put water inside the system was
opened.
 The water circulation system was connected to a wrong channel previously along
with all the regular connections.
 On Sunday evening when we returned, the 2nd cylinder was flooded.
 Water has been removed as much as possible from exhaust and cylinder.
 The VI system is down due to this and is responding very slowly. Have left the
system to dry.
Short Term Goals:
 Restore the system
 Work on better Stepper control over Throttle.
 Replace the Throttle body
Report from 24th Feb to 2nd March:
 Cleared all the water from the system and got it restored. Engine working at
constant RPM. No damage due to the cylinder flooding.
 Engine overheating. Not enough pump pressure. Changed the coolant pump,
observed a significant difference in time taken to overheat, but still problem
persists.
 The pump design suggests it’s a reverse flow type flow system. The radiator is
from Chevrolet Celebrity 2.8 L V6 which was regular flow.
 Currently it is connected in regular flow type.
 Possibility of putting an additional fuel pump. Discuss these with PDR.
 Received the throttle body. Will change it tomorrow.
 NI is shipping back the repaired multiplexer today. Should be here by this
weekend.
Short Term Goals:
 Fix the throttle body
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Try to get the Servo control
Install Multiplexer back again
Work on over heating problem.
Report from 3rd March to 11th March
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Engine has a regular flow cooling system.
Took out the Thermostat and tested it in hot water, the valve didn’t open.
Got a new Thermostat. The stock thermostat was ‘close when broken’ type
design, the new one will remain open if it goes bad so that the cooling system
does not get affected.
Leak in radiator.
Signs of a possible leak of water into the 2nd cylinder, probably at the cooling
capillaries at head and block packing. Have to find a way to diagnose and if tests
positive, will have to open the cylinder head down to the block.
Report from 12th March to April 1, 2009
 Vignesh, Seth, Cody and Lee could not work much during this period due to the
spring break and mid terms.
 Cracked head confirmed.
 Tried getting a new head from local junk yards but could not find anything.
 The condition of this engine does not look good after opening the part either.
 Bought a new engine (same make, model and year) and replaced the engine.
 Have kept the old wiring harness so we do not have to make rest of the
connections again.
 The new engine has the oil pan leaking. Will replace it with the one from the
previous engine.
 Setting up Multiplexer is still giving a problem. Have been in touch with NI for
last 1.5 month. Working on this.
 Started working on the pressure Transducers.
 Got the Control over the throttle control servo and have reduced its motion speed.
Also integrated this program in the main VI “engine47.vi”
Report from April 2 to April 14, 2009
 Oil pan for the engine changed. Cooling system restored after repairing the
radiator and changing the thermostat.
 After a few problems in running the new engine like, wire short circuits in Box 3,
excessive backfiring, engine stalling etc. the engine is now running fine after
putting new fuel injectors and repairing the wiring system.
 Engine still has a cold start problem. Will look into this next.
 The equipment for the oil replacement sender has been ordered. Shall be delivered
by this weekend. There is no way to acquire data from the currently installed
model of the sender.
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The wires at the throttle control stepper motor got pulled by mistake during this
whole engine changing process and it stopped responding. Trying to contact the
company for repairing it.
The AMUX 64T is still not working after it was repaired by NI, company has
requested to send this back.
The oxygen sensor was probably damaged due to the water logging in the exhaust
pipe. Will test the senor and take required action.
The intake manifold pressure has been restored. The pressure.vi has been
modified.
The exhaust fan in the lab stopped working. It was due to a broken belt. System
has been repaired.
Short Term Goals:
 Repair the engine for the cold start problem.
 Get all the three pressure sensors working and updating the data acquisition
system for them.
 Send the AMUX 64T back to NI for re repair.
 Repair the Throttle control Stepper Motor.
Report from 15th April to 23rd April 2009
 The multiplexer sent back for repair. RMA # 1345503.
 The wide band oxygen sensor sent back for repair. The water logging had caused
damage to the equipment. Will cost around $50
 The stepper Motor was working fine. The problem is in the stepper drive.
Changed the axis and the motor started working. The program has been modified
according to the new settings. Also the motion of the motor was very fast. We
need gradual motion for our application. The LabVIEW program was modified to
accomplish this.
 Did the wiring for the pressure sensors. The intake manifold pressure sensor
works perfectly after rewiring and recalibration.
 The battery fuse went out during the rewiring. Have ordered a new one.
 The oil pressure sensor needs 5V power supply. Have ordered an inexpensive
small chip that can accomplish this. Will arrive tomorrow.
 The SCB 68 has arrived today. Tried replacing it with the multiplexer. We get the
readings, but they are offset (in a non linear fashion). Called the NI representative,
Ben. He suggested we get the PCI 6031 E recalibrated as the card is old and was
not used for 1 whole year. This can be done locally at the address below:
Northrop Grumman Space Technology
Contact: John Billingsley
One Space Park, S2746
Redondo Beach, CA 90278
Tel: (310) 812-4679
Fax: (310) 814-8797
E-mail: john.billingsley@ngc.com
Web: www.st.northropgrumman.com/emc
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The spark plug setup for cylinder pressure is very simple but Kistler charges $250
for that. Should we try building it ourselves?
24th April to 29th April 29, 2009
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Got the fuse and the LM7805 for the oil pressure sensor circuit. Made the
connections and modified the pressure.vi
After putting in the fuse the engine gave starting problems. It was the same relay
in box 4 that keeps ticking with movement of wires. Adjusted the wires and the
engine started working. Have faced the same problem earlier also. Its probably a
loose connection. Will try to fix it permanently soon.
Check the following readings for pressure with PDR. Idle at 900 rpm, oil pressure
45 to 55 psi and intake manifold pressure at 2.5 to 2.8 psi at idle.
Another PCI card was giving slight calibration issues (PCI MIO-16E-1). An
output of 4 V is giving an offset of about 0.3 V and this is a linear offset.
Contacted NI and they suggested getting this one also calibrated.
Tried an old repair method for PCI cards. Removed it from the PC and cleaned
the card and the slot. The results are fine now so we do not have to send it for
calibration.
Did the same for PCI 6031E. Have not tested the results yet. Shall do that
tomorrow.
Northrop Grumman gave a quote of $218 for the recalibration but NI gave a quote
of $159.
If we have to get the PCI 6031E calibrated, will send it to NI on 05/01 as almost 2
weeks after that would be quite inactive as all of us have final exams.
Tried integrating Airtofuelratio.vi to the main program but could not do so as the
MAF control for natural gas program interferes and thus MAF output channel gets
2 different values. Have to run both the programs separately.
Started working on dyno control. Have to configure all the motors and
connections for that.
Also tried to find a few fuel volumetric flow rate sensors. Ask PDR what all has
been tried earlier and present the findings. (SF45-A-1)
May 1st to May 13, 2009
 There was hardly any work done from 1st till 11th due to the final
examinations. Started working on 11th May.
 The sparkplugs with the attachment for cylinder pressure are ready. Will be
shipped by Kistler in a day or two.
 The oxygen sensor LM1 has been repaired and the sensor has been replaced.
Have installed it and is giving good readings now. The vi has been modified
but is still giving a slight error in readings although the LM1 display is giving
the right reading. Will look into the details.
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Have got the PCI 6031E repaired. There was a problem in analog input
channels but the problem has been rectified.
Able to get temperature readings from the card with the new SCB 68
connected. Will also see if AMUX 64T also gives the right readings (just to
test it and document it).
The engine somehow is not very happy after the repair of the PCI card. The
dyno is probably putting a back torque on the engine all the time. Even
without the engine running there was a torque of 20 ft-lb recorded (Is this
normal?). When the dyno was unloaded, the engine ran perfectly for about 20
minutes at idle (the torque of same magnitude was still there), but then again
the same problem started. Have to look into this matter.
The fuel flow meter: Had a discussion with an engineer at instrumart
regarding our problem and he suggested that we should use 2 flow meters and
not 1. Discuss the details with PDR.
May 14th to May 27, 2009
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Have done a lot of research on fuel flow sensors. Either we get too small range or
too high range. Discuss with PDR.
For most of this period, the engine was tested. The circuit in Box 4 was giving a
lot of trouble and used to shut down engine suddenly most of the time (within 15
to 20 mins.
The soldered circuit that was causing this problem has been completely removed
and has been replaced by a solder less breadboard. This also facilitates easy
modifications in the circuit in future.
Engine idles at 950 to 1000 rpm now which is fine for this engine. The engine fan
circuit had an error and the fan was not working so I had to modify the VI.
The exhaust thermocouple was bad and also had a molten wire. Got an extra
thermocouple from Chen and replaced it. Also changed the wiring of this
thermocouple and made it simple (It was unnecessarily passing through various
pipes).
There was a minor problem detected with the throttle control stepper motor that it
used to go to 4000 steps as soon as the program started. Have modified the VI and
the problem has been rectified. The program that Saro has made had unnecessary
automatic PID control in most of his programs, have removed them from throttle
control. Will do the same wherever it is not required.
Another small problem with the throttle control stepper motor that it is macro
stepping. According to the program it should not be behaving like this. Have to
look into this.
The AFR program designed by Saro is not running the engine properly. Again the
automatic functions are interfering. Will design the circuit again.
The Dyno control had bad wiring. The relays of dyno control should have a 110
VAC supply but there is no such supply going to that box. Have wired them up
and the load unload controls for dyno are working. Have to look into the rest of
the readings from Dyno.
May 28 to June 3, 2009
 Most of the time went in trying to configure the problem of the engine and the
setup of the Dyno. It seems the Solenoid valves for Dyno are not working, will
trouble shoot this with Honeywell. The Dyno load pipe is connected at the wrong
place.
 Checked the fuel pressure before the injectors and it seems to be getting a
continuous 60 psi. (Company recommends 50 to 70 psi). This leaves three
possibilities for the reason the engine dies. Timing, Injectors and stock
temperature sensor.
 The temperature sensor should not be a problem as some times the engine dies at
50 C water temp and sometimes it goes on till 80 C
 The timings recorded were:
o With cold engine at 1000 rpm 4 to 6 Degree
o After 5 minutes with hot engine, 950 rpm: 4 to 6 Degree
o When RPM increased to 2000 rpm: 30 Degree
o After 20 minutes engine came down to 1500 rpm: 6 to 8 Degree
o Engine stopped after 15 minutes: Just before it stopped the angle was 0 to
-5 Degree
 The injector V:
o At 950 rpm 0.3 V
o At 1200 rpm 0.4 V
o At 2000 rpm 0.7 V
o Before stalling like it does the V oscillated from 0 to 0.3V
 Got a quote for a fuel flow meter company. See attached details and discuss it
with PDR.
Report June 4 to June 10, 2009
 Bought the fuel flow meter from Instrumart which will be delivered on 06/15.
Discussed the problem of K factor with the company engineers. They claim that
the K factor should remain constant with an error of 0.1% and the “@16 gallons”
is just a way to give a standard value. But there might be some deviation and they
suggest that if we need accurate readings and plan to use it for very low flow
rates, we should find the K factor using the bucket test for that particular flow
rate.
 Have done research for the VI that would best suit this application of counting
pulses for flow meters.
 Regarding the adjustable timing module, the companies MSD, summit racing and
JEGS all say that the timing cannot be controlled for this engine as it uses coil
packs controlled by the ECU. Ask PDR if we ever used one such module? Which
company? The one currently present in the lab cannot be used with this engine
according to the company.
 The injector signal data was acquired using data at a sample rate of 1000
samples/sec. Look at the graphs and discuss them with PDR.
Report from June 11 to June 18, 2009
 The engine is running fine now. It miraculously started working properly without
us changing anything. Have tested the engine 3 times on 2 hour run each. It ran
perfectly fine at a constant rpm and 14.1 AFR (approx). The timing was 8 degree
and all other parameters were normal.
 As we were discussing in the last meeting, the two wires going to the injector are
not + and Ground but are + and signal. This means somehow the injector is
grounded at the block (though it has a plastic body). Have acquired the data for
the 2 hour runs. It was periodic oscillations and nothing significant was observed
(because the engine was running perfectly smooth somehow)
 Have got the fuel flow sensor from instrumart. The sensor gives good reading at
higher fuel flow rate but absurd readings at low fuel flow rate (assuming K is a
constant 37000 pulses/gallon). We tested it at about 0.8 gallons/hour and we were
getting an average frequency of 80 Hz whereas we were expecting more like 8Hz.
The company says that the fittings need to be done as per company specifications.
The fuel flow control valve that we have included is located just before the sensor
which could cause a big pressure drop and can lead the rotor inside the sensor to
spin very fast.
 We have started working on the fuel piping system and the pipe pieces are ready.
We are waiting for a few fittings to be delivered from Swagelok (Tuesday). Don’t
have much to do before that on fuel flow system.
Report from June 26, 2009 to July 07, 2009
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Backuped Vis from lab computer onto personal computer.
Started testing new flow meter. Figured out with LabVIEW VI to use to see pulses per
second (frequency). Used Measure Frequency (DAQ-STC). Ran a number of tests, with
varying flow rates. 6 tests running from fuel tank to beaker. 1 test from beaker to
engine running at idle.
Tried second test with engine running at 2000-2500 RPM. Got 20 minutes of running
until engine became erotic. Not able to find constant RPM, drops to 700 and jumps to
3200. Not able to find reason as of yet.
Might try detaching engine from dyno incase dyno is catching while it is running.
Graphed all results from successful tests, not real pattern found. See attached
spreadsheet. Consider that flow rate is under meter’s flow level. As possible that
having return line back to tank is necessary. Going to contact NI to make sure that the
program is right and if the sensor is working.
Continuing computer problems. Turns off for no apparent reason. Doesn’t want to turn
back on. Have taken apart before and will try again. Computer is not working again.
Corrected problem with Alarm.vi. Wrong values being monitored and not way to tell
with value was out of range.
Report from July 08, 2009 to July 20, 2009
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Ordered new computer system. Details attached. Only difference between quote and
real system is had a DVD+-RW drive added.
Contacted Instrumart about flow meter. Needed to connect a 10k-15k ohm pull up
resistor; connected between the power and the signal wires. Resulted in correct
behavior of flow meter. Baseline voltage of 1 V with pulse voltage of 5V. Display on
oscilloscope showed reasonable results at different flow rates. Computer still not giving
good results.
Contacted NI about flow meter signal. Had to create a new reference number. New
number: 1399723. Engineer at NI very helpful. Determined that computer had multiple
drivers for NI cards. NI DAQmx is newer driver that has some new features not useable
by LabVIEW 6.1. Was creating ghost cards on NI system. Removed driver and removed
ghost cards. Still wasn’t the problem. Technician decided to create virtual system to
diagnose problem. Determined that problem was with sample vi that we were using.
Measure Frequency (DAQ).vi works by sending out a pulse and monitoring a return and
compares the difference. Not what we needed.
Technician found a different vi Measure Frequency.vi that should work for our sensor.
However, when we were searching for it, computer exploded.
Computer exploded. Searching for new vi with fuel pump operating, audible snap, and
computer and fuel pump turn off. Smoke expelled from back of computer. Smelled like
dead electronics. Searched tower for hot spots most likely power supply went. Doesn’t
appear to be any damage to NI cards. Will wait for new system to continue.
Successfully backed up hard drive after the crash. Now have 5-8 GB of system on
personal external. Also will be ordering external for lab along with backup software.
Found several systems for backup.
o Nero BackItUp & Burn
o Roxio BackOnTrack™ 3 Suite
Ordered new fittings for dyno. Noticed that load line into the dyno had a bad kink in it.
Needed new fittings to remove the kink.
Jonathan took a number of pictures of setup for presentation. Would like to have a
camera on hand for continuous picture updates.
Updating LabVIEW. Talked to technician about our version of LabVIEW, while there is
less and less immediate support from NI, there is still support to be had. And if we were
to update would require at least 2 versions to get to newest version. And complete
compatibility is still uncertain. In terms of features there would not be anything
significantly changed. However if new equipment was added to system that would
benefit from the new versions.
Report from July 21, 2009 to August 17, 2009
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Created PowerPoint for group meeting.
Before group meeting found that there was a fountain in lab coming from light fixture
o Contacted Facilities about leak
o
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Found that sprinkler pipe running over lab had a leak and was making its way
down into lab
o Facilities redid line so that it no longer ran over the lab
o Also mentioned that door was out of square and has since been fixed
o Also also still working on improving exhaust system, but so far there has been
no change
Presented PowerPoint at group meeting went well, just had one slide out of place
Setup new computer
o Username: EngineLab
o Password: None
Search for software
o PCE lab had several versions of NIDAQ
 None of the versions were correct for our setup
 Never could find installer for LabVIEW 6.1
o Copied program file from old hard drive onto new computer
 So far works
o Contacted NI for info on NI Motion Driver and Measurement and Automation
Explorer
 Most advance versions that still work with LabVIEW 6.1
 NI Motion: 6.1.2
 Measurement and Automation: 3.0.2
Computer wouldn’t go onto the internet
o When wired connected to new computer; limited or no connectivity
o When wired connected to personal laptop; works just fine
Contacted Dennis
o Turns out new computer needed to be registered with USC
o Now works
Back to testing
o Went back to email from NI before computer died
o Found new VI to use
 Measure Frequency.vi found in VI pallet in program
 Also found Measure Period.vi
 For smaller frequency
 Also simpler setup
o First using Measure Period.vi
 Seems to work, except when no signal
 When frequency goes to 0, period goes to infinity
 Causes the program to crash
o Need to try other program
o Now using Measure Frequency.vi
 Changed wiring; seems to work
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o Now taking test sampling
Testing is giving similar results as before
o Not what we expect
Also now there is an unexplained error being generated that shuts LabVIEW down at
random intervals
o NI needs more data before they can indentify problem
Also continued working on Dynamometer
o Doubled checked the flow into the device
o Relays and Actuator all operate properly
o When removing tube into the dyno, noticeable back pressure
 Could be because of flow impediment inside dyno
o Going to try to disassemble the unit and monitor the flow paths
Report from August 18, 2009 to August 25, 2009
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Retrieved working camera from PCE lab
o Found and setup program to run camera and download pictures
o Small memory card; only 8 mb
Returned to testing with camera and numbers in corner of oscilloscope
Still shows much slower frequency than that being recorder by computer
Increased pull up resistor from 10k to 20k ohms
o Shows decrease from 1V low to 0.6V low
o Retains 5V high
Display on oscilloscope unchanged
Display on computer drastically reduced
o Still not at same level as on scope
Setup engine up for Professor Ronney’s demonstration
o Engine still runs as before
Purchased more resistors to test for configuration that provides accurate results
between computer and scope
o 10k ohm
o 47k ohm
Started making schedule for semester
o Have not heard back from everyone with times
Report from August 25, 2009 to September 2, 2009
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Ran tests with different resistors for find configuration with lower normal voltage
o 10k ohms
o 20k ohms
o 30k ohms
o 47k ohms
Also tried pull down resistors
o 47k ohms
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Found that when attached to computer and having a pull down resistor, there is a
voltage on the signal
o Not sure why this is the case
o Does not give accurate measurement anyway
More contact with NI, recommend using measure pulse width with a condition that
when pulse length goes to infinity that program outputs 0 Hz instead of inverse
This with 47k ohm pull up seems to show proper results
o Low voltage at 0.18V
o High voltage at 5.2V
o Have not had chance to test yet
Before testing could be conducted, braided line in fuel system ruptured
o Replaced line with extra rubber line
Still working on schedule
o Have had most people respond
 Charlie-Will be stopping by from time to time but no real time
 Gunsuk-Time is known
 Vignesh-Also known
 Varun-Known
 Seth-Not known
 Jonathan-Not known
Report from September 03, 2009 to September 11, 2009
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Continued flow meter testing
o Different rates
o Still no good results
o Did 2 tests with engine running at idle
 Same flow rate
 2 different frequencies recorded
 20 Hz
 37 Hz
Have considered flow path and decided to change lines
o Instead of having return go back into inlet, set it back to fuel tank
o Seems to make significant difference
 Flow rates from meter more like what is expected
 Fuel pump sounds happier now
 No more bubbles in flow coming out of line
o Have some initial tests showing linear correlation between results
Order hardware to make re-plumbing permanent
Ordered external hard drive and backup software for it
o Roxio BackOnTrack
o Seagate FreeAgent
Found that not all channels had been reconfigured for new computer
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o AFR
o Lambda
Vignesh setup AFR meter as he had done it before
Discovered that AFR channel (Ch14) was not recording proper voltage in
o Tested to find discrepancy
o Seems linear relationship exists between voltage value in and voltage value read
by computer
with R2=1
Will continue testing flow rate with different plumbing
Going to test other channels for inherent error in system
Report from September 12, 2009 to September 21, 2009
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Redid fuel flow path
o Ran line from pressure regulator back to fuel tank
o New tools:
 Set of line wrenches
 Pipe Cutter
 De-burring Tool
Have yet to retest the new plumbing
Continued testing of PCI cards
o 6031
 Tested all channels that is being used
 Found systematic error
 All channels are 11% off
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 With R2=1
MIO-16E
 Also tested all used channels
 Found that Channel 14 (AFR) does not follow pattern of rest of channels
 Found new channel for AFR (Ch5) that does follow pattern
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 With R2=1
Been looking for program to recalibrate cards
o Vignesh has been in contact with NI about correcting the error
o Appears that there is a VI for calibration
Friday 18 Came in to lab, found all custom channels deleted
o Vignesh contacted NI and found how to restore them
o Backed up file needed to restore them
Setup new hard drive and backup software to copy lab drive entirely
Report from September 22, 2009 to September 28, 2009
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Rechecked board readings with second Multi meter
o Save values found
Found VI needed to calibrate boards
o Ran self calibration
o Seems that boards still off
Found way to do external calibration using DC converter
o Not sure how this has gone
o Vignesh in charge
o Not taking notes
Ran more tests on flow meter
o 2 on Thursday
o 9 on Sunday
o Seems to be giving a predictable pattern
Monday 28th Problem with fuel pump
o Makes noise like not getting fuel in
o Oscilloscope shows a frequency of 2-3 Hz with no flow
o Also has a cycle where frequency increases and return line begins to pulse
o Believe that fuel pump or regulator are going bad
o Need to test
Everyone in the lab needs to use the lab log so people can continue tasks
Found that internet Explorer and LabVIEW cannot be open at the same time
o Causes LabVIEW to crash
Report from September 29, 2009 to October 5, 2009
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September 30th Setup to demonstrate purpose and function to Freshmen Academy
Students
o Engine ran fine
Computed needed capacitance for an RC low pass filter at 400~800 Hz
o With current resistor 47k ohms
o Capacitor between 8.5e-9 F to 4e-9F
Went to PCE lab to find a suitable capacitor for RC Circuit
o Large number of resistors
o No capacitors that would work
Went to Radio Shack to find proper capacitor
o Found one: 0.0047 uF
o Gives frequency of 720 Hz
Ran a number of tests to test new configuration
o Still has error with no flow
o Done several tests with no flow
 Average Frequency of 15 Hz
o Still not correct number for fixing flow rates
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Will continue testing
Again suspect that fuel pump is dying
 Continues to make loud bad noises when operating
 Shows change in frequency error from flow meter
o If flow meter cannot be fixed in next week, will take a break from it and switch
over to working on the dynamometer.
Vignesh continuing to work on card error
o Corrected MIO card to error of 0.03V
o Will continue to work on 6031
Report from October 6, 2009 to October 12, 2009
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Replaced hard line between fuel pump and flow meter with 2 short hard lines, a
long section of rubber hoses and a valve
Ran to tests with end valve closed
o Inline Valve Open: Flow meter shows pulses despite the end valve being
closed
 6 Hz on computer
 Oscilloscope display supports computer
o Inline Valve Closed: Flow meter does not show any pulses
 0 Hz on computer
 Same on Oscilloscope
Noticed when rubber line is moved or compressed, flow meter shows a pulse
o Need some kind of check valve
o Several different kinds of Poppet valves from Swagelok; see attached
page
Have done several tests of different flow rates with longer run between pump
and meter
o Today, October 12, continued testing
o Found that pump will not do full flow
 Flow rate slows and stops intermittently
Vignesh still working of board recalibration
o Problems with old software and finding right drivers that still work with
LabVIEW 6.1
Report from October 13, 2009 to October 19, 2009
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Ordered 2 check valves for fuel flow
o Both 1 psi check valve for before and after flow meter
o Only allow fuel to flow through not back and forth
The smoke got out
o While switching focus from fuel to dyno, removed cover over the dyno for easy
access
o
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Removed several plugs in dyno to see where water flows out from input; also to
check if input is correct
o When trying to activate solenoid valve, audible snap, release of smoke and
activation of engine starter
o Disconnected battery and turned off computer and all known external power to
equipment
o Smoke originated from set of circuits that convert dc voltage supplied from
computer into a ground connection
o Removed board from system; while checking in box found unconnected black
wire with power; found the hard way
o After several attempts finally found that wire is connected to, somehow, wall
switch labeled ‘fuel switch’
Discussed problem with Vignesh
o Decided that the wiring for the entire lab needs to be redone
o Unused wires removed
o Used wires labeled and noted on a system diagram
o Also be able to close the doors on wiring boxes
Want to take large conduit connecting boxes with NI boards to testing apparatus and
cut tops off so that wires can be added and removed easily
Meet with Chen about NI use in PCE lab
o Use similar boards and cards; same version of LabVIEW
o Use NI DAQmx drivers
Vignesh connected NI again
o Found version of Measurements and Automation that works with version of
LabVIEW and has NI DAQmx drivers
o As it turns out 6.1 does not support DAQmx, so Traditional Drivers is being used
by LabVIEW
o DAQmx can be used to calibrate boards
Contacted Wayne Johnson
o Came over to lab with pulse generator
o Created 10 Hz pulse with 3.5 V amplitude and .5 V offset
o Computer registered correct information
o Visually verified with oscilloscope
Report from October 20, 2009 to October 26, 2009
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Received two 1 psi one way valves from Swagelok
o Installed both valves
o One before the flow meter
o One after the flow meter
o Will test once lab configuration is corrected
Continued to undo wires for rewiring
o Have noted and undone all wire connections for all 4 boxes
o
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Need to determine whether to replace conduits with wire carriers or cut
conduits
Researched other options for wire carriers
Report from October 27, 2009 to November 16, 2009
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Continued to note and unwire boxes
Succeeded in removing all wire from all boxes
Ordered wire carriers from McMaster
o As well as mounting hardware
o 2”x2” wire frame carriers
Removed 2x 2” conduits full of wire
Carefully pulled wires inside of conduit
Mounted new carriers
o One over each main box
o One bracket on wall for each
o 2 bolts to fume hood
Started reconnecting wires
o Thermocouples first
o Wiring up relays
 Found that main relay was damaged
 Replaced with different relay
Next step:
o Wire sensors to junction block in box 3
o Only connect these wires to computer
o Continue wiring relays
Report from January 04, 2010 to January 19, 2010
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Made PowerPoint of project status
Started lab back up
o Computer check
o Engine check
Contacted NI about relay board
o Got response; need more info
o Sent more info
o Response pending
Re familiarized with lab setup and current state of wiring
Continue with rewiring
Ordered toner for lab printer
Report from January 20, 2010 to February 2, 2010
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Received response from NI
o Do not have any kind of board or relay setup that would work for our setup
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Researched other solutions
o PCI-7433 outputs 5.5VDC
o Found relays that might work
 5VDC activation voltage; 100mA Draw
 12VDC/110VAC activated circuit
 10A Activated circuit
o Would have to make custom protoboard with relays attached
o Would be able to handle all power requirements without second set of relays
Other instrumentation research
o Referenced vs. non-referenced
o Thermocouple configuration
Configuration of Digital output for relay control
o NG Safety Valve: Port 1: Bit 0
o Dyno Load: Port 1: Bit 1
o Dyno Unload: Port 1: Bit 2
o Ignition: Port 1: Bit 3
o Fuel Pump: Port 1: Bit 4
o Extra Injector: Port 1: Bit 5
o Starter: Port 1: Bit 6
o Fan: Port 1: Bit 7
Report from February 3, 2010 to March 3, 2010
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Ordered relay boards from Winford Electric
o Part Number: RLY104-5v
o 4 Relays on each board
o Ordered 2
o Also order 2x 5V DC converters
 Necessary for TTL logic level input
Began installation of boards
o 8 relays
 Fan
 Starter
 Dyno Load
 Dyno Unload
 Ignition
 Master Power
 Fuel Pump
 Unused
o Began running wires between boards
 Wired so only need 1 transformer for both boards
Will continue wiring all of relays up to TTL and engine
Have meet with Arvind

o Handed over all manual for Horiba
Noticed an error with MEngine47 and have been attempting to find cause, the program
freezes after the initial running
o Assume problem with a subVI
o Will continue to look for it
Report from March 4, 2010 to April 6, 2010
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Continued wiring of relay boards
o Slow work
o Making wiring easy to understand
o Routing wires so not in way
o Using professional fittings so that connections remain good
o Lost wire connected to ignition
 Believe to have found proper wire
 Have not tested yet
o Will have 2 extra relays for future additions
Need to add a 110V socket inside of wiring box
o For Dyno load and Unload
LabVIEW VI still no performing right
o Freezes up
o When it doesn’t, reading are all wrong
o Especially the thermocouple readings
o SubVI works fine on its own
On April 1st came into lab and found the exhaust system to be making strange sound
o No air flow
o Called Facilities
o Has been corrected
o But still not really enough flow through system
Report from April 7, 2010 to April 13, 2010
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Continued wiring
o Nearly finished
o Need to determine how to wire last 2
 To switch for ‘Ignition’
 2 wires not wired
 Power to ECU
 Power to Injectors
 Can wire one or both to final relay
 Can wire one to master relay
 Would recommend wring injectors to relay and ECU power to master
relay
Cleaned up lab

o Removed more wires
o Moved boxes into next door lab
Second monitor not functioning
o Will look into problem
Report from April 14, 2010 to April 20, 2010
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Finished wiring
o Master Relay
o Dyno Load
o Dyno Unload
o Ignition-really Injectors
o Fuel Pump
o Extra Injectors-Not wired to anything
o Starter
o Fan
o ECU power wired to master relay
o As well as dc power for sensors
Added 2 110 sockets to relay box
o 1st 5V DC Converter for relays
o 2nd Power to solenoids for dyno control
First testing power came and went
o Found that a connection was faulty
o Replaced with new connection
After engine started up just like it should
LabVIEW VI still not working
o Will now switch over to fixing that
Report from April 21, 2010 to April 26, 2010
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Constructed Diagram for Relay Box
LabVIEW program still not working
o Tried removing problem VI
o Removed all wires and unused parts
o Still doesn’t run
Before scrapping program will finish wiring all sensors back
o And make diagram of that as well
Report from April 27, 2010 to June 08,2010
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Wired Engine Controls
o Made Diagram
Wiring of Sensors
o Rewired Thermocouples so all numbering are consistent
 Ambient: Channel 1, Wire 1
 Intake Manifold: Channel 2, Wire 2
 Dyno: Channel 3, Wire 3
 Coolant Water: Channel 4, Wire 4
 Spare: Channel None, Wire 5
 Oil: Channel 6, Wire 6
 Exhaust: Channel 7, Wire 7
o Wiring of pressure sensors
 Through blocks in box, making diagram of all wires as going
 Organizing by channel to board
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 Oil pressure sensor broken; needs replacement
o Wiring of all others
 Load cell
 Also not working
 Not sure if problem is with load cell or interface
 Recommend new load cell and check for proper values
o If yes; replace with new one
o In no; get new interface and check with old load cell
 If yes; return new load cell
 If no; replace both
Making list of all sensors, virtual channel, device and pins for sensor
Finding all relevant info on sensors and saving in one file
Dyno
o Removed from frame
o Started dismantling
 Found a number of parts floating around bottom
 Retaining nut, washers all marred
 Might be reason for not functioning.
o Still don’t know why not loading
o Needs further dismantling
 Required tools
 Brass drift pin
 Moderate sized ball peen
 Dead blow hammer
Mutlimeter
o Using second multimeter and computer found that Omega HHM93 is 12% off
o Need replacement or have recalibrated
LabVIEW program still not working
o Recommend making new program with new labview
Report from June 9, 2010 to June 29,2010
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Fixed mutlimeter by replacing batteries
Disassembled dyno
o Inspected and cleaned inside
o Plotted path of water inside
o Enters dissipation chamber at bottom
o Exits dissipation chamber in center
o Unable to clear standard fill port
o Found secondary port that will fill the chamber
Assembled dyno
o Cleaned all contact points and removed any loose rust
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o Using new o-rings and rtv to seal
o On hold for bushing nut and washer to keep fan on
o Received bushing nut and washer
o Fully reassembled
o Will Reinstall as soon as three people available
LabVIEW
o Upgraded to 2009
o Missing activation code
 Trying to acquire from university
 Have 30 day trail
o Main VI will not work
o Motion control VI does work
o New measurement and automation is vastly superior to old version
Setup new Virtual channels
o Same as before
o M&A now able to have virtual channel for fuel flow meter
o Problem with fuel flow
Fuel Flow
o While testing virtual channel, meter shows frequency when flow blocked
o Something is wrong with fuel pump or fuel pressure regulator
o Tested pump
 Return line does not have steady flow; pulses
 Removed pressure regulator; steady flow
 With regulator; flow is unsteady
o Problem is either pump bad and unable to handle the pressure needed by the
injectors or regulator is broken and changing the pressure in the system
o Tested Regulator
 Put pressure gauge on fuel rail
 60 psi constant
 Note: Pressure needs to be 64 psi±8psi
o Conclusion: pump needs to be replaced
Room Exhaust
o Contacted facilities
 Technician: Shane
 Exhaust Flow: 550 Ft^3/min
 Need 2,500+ ft^3/min
 From Shane
 Replace bearings on fan
 Maybe bigger motor
 Current Motor:
o 110VAC
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o 6 Amp without load
o 9 Amp with load
Bigger motor
o 220VAC?
Has tried contacting facilities engineers
o No response
Says now is hard time for projects; money
Report from June 30, 2010 to July 7, 2010
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Reinstalled Dyno
o Connected plumbing
o Connected driveshaft
o Loads/unloads properly
o Cooling water flow properly
Fuel System
o Tested:
 Interference
 Some variation on 12VDC supply
o ±0.5V
 Switched to 5VDC from computer
o Less interference
o ±0.1V
 Fuel Quality
 Gasoline old; varnished
 Tried new gasoline; big improvement
 Location of pump
 Pump too far from fuel tank
 Electric pumps prefer to push, not pull
 Pump
 Even with all temporary improvements, still problem with
steady flow
o Solution:
 New fuel pump
 Capable of steady flow
 Located next to tank
 More push less pull
 New tank
 Limit degradation of fuel
 Minimize rubber tubing
 Hard line does not expand
New load cell
o
o
o
o
o
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Bridge Amplifier the part broken
Will return new load cell
Calibrated with old load cell
 0 lbs 1VDC
 250 lbs 6VDC
Connected to PCI-MIO-16E-1
 Channel 7
 Virtual Channel: Torque
Lever arm of dyno: 14.5 inches
Fan
o
o
Facilities Contact: Shane Daywalt
 Has been helpful
Manager: Gary Wood
 Seems to be the hold up
 Contact through facilities number #06833
Report from July 8, 2010 to August 08, 2010
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Fuel System
o New pump: Mallory Comp Fuel Pump
 Model Number: 5110FI
 72 gph
 100 psi max pressure
 -8 AN Fittings
o New filter: Trick Flow In-line Filter
 Part number: 23004
 -8 AN Fittings
 300 psi max pressure
o -8 AN fittings and braded stainless lines
o -6 AN fittings and braded stainless lines
o Tested flow rate and pump
 Steady flow
 Correct pressure
o Had to rewire control board; increased load by new pump caused connection to
heat and disconnected
LabVIEW
o Found serial number for LabVIEW
 Serial # S14E09091
o Activated
Engine Starter
o Ignition line into starter broke off
o Soldered back on
Report from August 9, 2010 to August 19, 2010
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Oil Pressure Sensor
o Old Sensor
 Male Pins on connector for sensor not lining up
 Also female pins expanded so no contact
 Solder job connecting wiring harness for sensor bad
o New Sensor
 Replaced sensor and wiring harness
 Connected harness from sensor to connector block; no solder joint
 Auto meter Oil Sensor
 Part number: 2246
o Tested sensor with running engine
 Off, 0 psi; 0.5V
 Running, 60psi; 2.9V
 Have not done specific pressure test to find exact calibration of sensor
 Used only to make sure oil pressure is present
Fuel Flow
o Fuel Flow data was taken by adjusting the valve nozzle at various flow rates for a
2000 mL volume
o A 2000 mL gradient cylinder was used to better justify the volumes measured
o Flow rate frequency was found from a written text file from LabVIEW recording
the frequency every second
o The average flow rate was the total measured volume divided by the total time
o The faster the flow of the fuel (the more open the nozzle) the less pulses
recorded
o There seemed to be a “sweet spot” for consistency at around 25 mL/sec average
o There was still a drop in pulses past the 25 mL/sec mark but the change in
pulses per volume relative to flow rate was not as drastic
o This same behavior can be found in volume per pulse against frequency
o The “sweet spot” was at 400 Hz
o When measuring data in latter engine tests the recorded frequencies over a
session can individually be calculated to their corresponding volume in order to
give accurate fuel flow data
Report from August 20, 2010 to August 24, 2010
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Ordered graduated cylinder for more extensive fuel flow testing
Started work on new control Vi
o Main Vi: EngineMangament.vi found in My Documents/Engine Control Program
o Numerous subVis for individual sensor and output types
Work on subVis
o Temperatures.vi
 Recieves and displays all thermocouples
 Capable of independent operation
 Clearly shows and states operation and processes
 Neat clean interface
o More Vis
 Pressures
 Emissions
 Digital outputs
 Throttle Control
Report from August 24, 2010 to October 18, 2010
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Horiba
o Created notebook with copies of all documentation available
o Trace path of gas cylinders as well as content of each cylinder
o Cylinders (From Door; if no pressure inside cylinder, no regulator attached)
1. 2% CO +N2
2. 2820 PPM NOx + Air
1600 PSI
3. 817 PPM NO + 817 PPM NOx + N2
4. 276 PPM Propane + N2
1000 PSI
5. 2578 PPM C3H8 + N2
6. 8521 PPM C0 + N2
1500 PSI
7. 9299 PPM CO + N2
8. 40% H2 + HE
1100 PSI
9. N2
1300 PSI
10. Air
1100 PSI
LabVIEW
o Started writing new LabVIEW files
o Each different type of sensor segregated into subVI, then called into main VI
o Each subVI capable of running separately
Dyno
o Built new bracket for dyno to load cell
o Used 1x1x1/8 angle
o Two points of contact on dyno; stops torshonal moment
Report October 19, 2010 to November 9, 2010
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Lab Wiring
o Received sample work from Max and Jared of engine control relays
o Good diagram; easy to follow; easy to transfer
o Will have them create wiring diagram for entirety of lab
LabVIEW
o Continued creating new EngineManagement
o Created subVI for every different type of sensor (Temperature, Pressure, etc)
o When main VI run causes resource error
o Recreated EngineManagement v2 with sensor split into input card (MIO 6033)
o Solved issue
o Meet with Jessica about creating PID controllers inside of LabVIEW
Horriba
o Have looked into the Horriba
o It is properly wired and computer is receiving the outputs
o System takes 2 hours to heat up before any testing can be done
o Will continue checked the values provided by the system with the zero gases in
lab
Report from November 10, 2010 to November 17, 2010
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Crank Position Sensor
o Contacted Dynapar
o Encoder E23
o 720 pulses per rotation
o Shielded bearing
o Single Ended Output
o 5-15V Differentiable Input
o 18” Cable
o Configured part number E2307200460
o $409
LabVIEW
o Created Throttle Control VI
o Allows for immediate control of stepper
o Limited so that throttle cannot be exceeded
o Setting from 0 to 100%
Procedure for Engine Startup
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Startup computer
Connect engine battery to system via lever on top of engine battery
Open NI “Measurement & Automation” located on Desktop
Extend tab “Devices and Interfaces”
Extend tab “NI Motion Devices”
Select “PCI-7344 (1)”
7. Initialize card by “Initialize” button
a. This needs to be done before the stepper is used by NI, if this step is forgotten
an error about activation of stepper will occur and the computer will need to be
restarted to reset
8. Open EngineManagment v2.vi, found in My Documents>Engine Control Program
9. Run program using continuous run button located at on top left
10. Using mouse, flip switches on Control Panel (Dig Out) in following order
a. Master Relay
b. Ignition
c. Fuel Pump
11. Hold Starter button down until engine starts
Notes:
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To run dynamometer water must be turned on at ball valve as well as spigot. There will
be water passing through dyno before any load is added to it. This is for cooling and
very important.
There originally was a diamond plate table top over dyno. It is located outside of lab on
top of junk engine pile. It has a mounting point for air flow meter and NG flow meter.
Would suggest reinstalling once dyno performance has been verified.
Before using stepper motor, check that the motor is at the correct position, as the
system does not have feedback loop and the system can only guess where the motor is
actually positioned. The starting point should be 0 with the throttle closed and around
80 when wide open (verify this). Check every time.
Horriba requires at least an hour of warm up before it gives accurate results. If any
questions about this device, see John.
Emergency Stop button on desk will shut off all power going to sensors and engine.
Some sensors require power for accurate readings i.e. manifold pressure sensor. While
the power is off, they will give false readings.
The ventilation in engine room is inadequate. After running the engine for any length of
time, the CO meter will go off. It has been brought to the attention of the university
several times and will require that Prof. Ronney for anything to get done. For when they
do do something about it, needs 10x the current ventilation.
If any help is needed Cody is available to help via email, cody2888@hotmail.com and
phone, (213)220-4059.