The Euro 7 legislation and the Zero-Impact Emissions concept aim at significantly improving air quality. Technologies that reduce pollutant emissions beyond current gasoline passenger cars have already been intensively investigated, but a holistic system layout considering extended boundary conditions is missing so far. This paper therefore develops technical solutions to achieve a Euro 7 scenario and Zero-Impact Emissions for a 2030+ vehicle. First, challenging test scenarios are identified to develop compliant vehicles. The scenarios cover extreme conditions in real-world driving, such as hot and cold ambient conditions, stop-and-go in rural areas or high speed and steep gradients on highways. Different technology options are discussed and selected for the investigations. An empirical–physical simulation model for the exhaust gas aftertreatment system is extended with new technologies, such as an electrical heater disc in front of the catalyst or a burner in the exhaust system. In addition to stoichiometric engine operation and increased catalyst volume, the results show that the expected Euro 7 regulations can be achieved in all extreme scenarios by combining additional exhaust gas heating with engine power limitation or pre-heating. Moreover, even Zero-Impact Emissions are achieved in most cases with the same technology options.

The improvement of air quality requires a further reduction of pollutant emissions, especially in urban areas. The Euro 7 regulations aim at the development of a new generation of internal combustion engine vehicles capable of achieving ultra-low pollutant emissions under demanding, real-world operating conditions. They introduce new technical challenges in the holistic design of a vehicle’s powertrain and emission control system. To identify these, four real-world Euro 7 driving scenarios are investigated, covering demanding urban, highway and mountain driving situations. Technical solutions are then presented to address these challenges and ensure compliance with the Euro 7 emission requirements as set out in the latest regulation proposal of the European Commission. The study focuses on the NOx emissions of an N1 Class III light commercial vehicle with 3.5 t mass and a P2 diesel mild-hybrid powertrain. To ensure emission compliance, a Euro 6e exhaust gas aftertreatment system with enlarged catalysts is combined with NOx raw emission improvements. For low-load cold starts, a 4-kW electric heater in the exhaust system is considered in addition to a 2-l DOC and a 6-l DPF with SCR coating. For high-load cycles with high raw emissions, a 10-l underfloor SCR is considered to ensure the necessary deNOx performance.

In addition to SCR systems, lean NO_X traps (LNTs) are also used for exhaust aftertreatment of lean burn internal combustion engines to sustainably reduce NO_X emissions. Modern LNTs consist of different functional compounds to maximize the performance during NO_X storage and regeneration. Based on the material analysis of a serial production LNT, PGM loaded BaO, Al₂O₃, MgAl₂O₄, and CeO₂ were identified as the main base materials. In this paper, the NO_X storage capacity (NSC) of these compounds is investigated both as single catalysts and as physical mixtures to identify possible synergistic effects. Therefore, commercially available support materials were loaded with Platinum and tested in granular form under realistic conditions. To optimize the performance by reducing the diffusion pathways for NO_X molecules during storage, PGM, BaO, and Ceria were combined in a composite by the incipient wetness impregnation of alumina. As a result, the temperature dependent NSC of the commercial LNT could be reached with the Pt/Rh/Ba₁₀Ce₂₅/Al₂O₃ infiltration composite, while reducing the oxygen storage capacity by about 45%. Without the additional Rhodium coating, the low-temperature NSC was insufficient, highlighting the important contribution of this precious metal to the overall performance of LNTs.

The occurrence of knocking combustion is limiting the efficiency of modern spark ignition engine operation. Thus, an understanding of the processes at the knock limit is required for further optimization of the combustion process. In this work, the combustion of a multicomponent Toluene Reference Fuel (TRF) in a single-cylinder research engine is investigated under knocking conditions. The fuel exhibits a negative temperature coefficient (NTC) regime for thermodynamic conditions relevant to the engine operation. A precursor model is used to capture the auto-ignition process. Under homogeneous conditions, a two-stage auto-ignition is observed. Inside the NTC regime, the temperature affects both first-stage and second-stage auto-ignition delay times. With a subsequently conducted multi-cycle engine LES, the effects of temperature stratification and turbulent flame propagation on the local auto-ignition process are investigated. It is observed, that the NTC behavior leads to a widespread two-stage auto-ignition. The knock intensity observed in the experiments is directly related to the mass consumed by auto-ignition. This is due to the fast consumption of the auto-ignited mass by the flame front. With that, the NTC behavior affects the local auto-ignition process in the unburned mixture while the flame propagation determines the knock intensity for the operating conditions at the knock limit.