New 2.

7L 650 Nm Opposed-Piston Engine for Light Commercial Vehicles

Laurence Fromm 1) Fabien G. Redon2)

1) Achates Power, Inc. 4060 Sorrento Valley Blvd, San Diego, CA, U.S.A. (E-mail: fromm@achatespower.com)
2) Achates Power, Inc. 4060 Sorrento Valley Blvd, San Diego, CA, U.S.A. (E-mail: redon@achatespower.com)

ABSTRACT: Achates Power has spent the past 12 years modernizing this historically efficient engine architecture to deliver a step-
wise improvement in brake thermal efficiency (BTE) over the most advanced conventional four-stroke engines. In addition, with the
elimination of parts such as the cylinder head and valve train, it is also less complex and less costly to produce - making it even more
appealing to manufacturers.

This paper highlights the work done, to date, on the Opposed-Piston Gasoline Compressions Ignition engine and discusses the
advantages of the OP engine as an ideal platform for incorporating gasoline compression ignition (GCI) technology, the study of which
recently was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy.

KEY WORDS: Standardized: heat engine, compression ignition engine, emissions gas, fuel injection, fuel spray. Free: Opposed-
Piston Engine, gasoline compression ignition (A1)

1. INTRODUCTION
Achates Power, Inc. (API) has been dedicated to 2. OPPOSED-PISTON GASOLINE COMPRESSION
modernizing the opposed-piston engine since its inception in IGNITION (OPGCI) DESCRIPTION
2004 and has solved various mechanical challenges faced by this 2.1 Engine Architecture
engine architecture, including oil consumption, piston cooling, The multi-cylinder OPGCI Engine platform is based on the
cylinder cooling, and wrist pin lubrication. API also has Achates Power single-cylinder OP Engine and shares similarities
developed a unique set of performance, emissions and to the research engine. Table 1 shows the specifications and the
combustion-system control strategies that enable the Achates performance attributes for the multi-cylinder OPGCI Engine.
Power Opposed-Piston Engine (OP Engine) to meet current and
future emissions while delivering excellent fuel consumption. Table 1: Achates Power 2.7L OPGCI Engine specification
Recently, Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy Displacement 2.7 L
(ARPA-E) awarded $9M to Achates Power, Argonne National Arrangement, number of Inline 3
Laboratory and Delphi Automotive to develop a gasoline cylinders.
compression-ignition (GCI) version of the Achates Power OP
Bore 80 mm
Engine. This paper highlights the specifications and work done
Total Stroke 177 mm
on the Opposed-Pistion Gasonline Compression Ignition Stroke-to-Bore Ratio 2.2
(OPGCI) Engine. Nominal Power (kW @ rpm) 270 @ 3600
The opposed-piston engine delivers a step-wise Max. Torque (Nm @ rpm) 650 Nm @ 1600-2100
improvement in brake thermal efficiency over the most advanced
conventional four-stroke engines and will help OEMs meet
pending emissions and fuel economy regulations in a cost This engine was conceived as a technology demonstrator

effective manner. This paper will provide an overview of the with research capabilities, and serves as a test-platform. It will be

Opposed-Piston Engine and its inherent efficiency benefits, as integrated into a driveable vehicle for further validation and

well as performance and emissions results from prototype testing.

engines. These results will demonstrate the OP Engine's ability to

substantially improve fuel economy over the best engines in the 2.2 Engine Design Features

same class, and comply with U.S. 2025 (Tier 3) /Euro 6 The OPGCI engine takes advantage of the ability of the OP

emissions standards. Engine to run on a variety of fuel sources. The final 2.7L OP
 Figure 2: 2.7L OPGCI Engine Airsystem

Engine can be configured to run on diesel, as well as gasoline.

This requires changes to the fuel system, but so far the OP
Engine architecture has proven to be an efficienct at handling
multiple fuel sources.
The OPGCI power cylinder features removable cylinder
liners with optimized cooling for high power density. Three
gears, coonected to the engine in a crank-crank connection help
to reduce NVH and optimize friction.

2.3 Air System

The air system is a key enabler of the efficiency of the OP
Engine. The OPGCI air system features a low temperature
cooling circuit for charge air coolers. A variable geometry
turbocharger, and an Eaton R900 supercharger, with a two-speed
drive, provide the necessary airflow. Currently, the system uses
an available production aftertreatment system, adapted to work turbocharger and supercharger. Advantages of such an air
with the OPGCI configuration. system:
 The compressor provides high pressure ahead of the
supercharger, which then further boosts intake flow.
This means that low supercharger pressure ratios are
sufficient for high intake manifold density, reducing
pumping work.
 The maximum required compressor pressure ratio is
lower compared to turbocharger-only air systems of
four-stroke engines.
 The use of a supercharger recirculation valve allows
greater control of the flow through the engine, thus
providing flexibility for precise control of boost,
scavenging ratio, and trapped residuals to minimize
pumping work and NOx formation across the engine
map.
 Lowering the flow through the engine by decreasing
the pressure difference across the engine reduces the
pumping penalty at low load points. This, together with
having no dedicated intake and exhaust stroke for
moving mass to and from the cylinders improves
BSFC.
 The supercharger and recirculation valve improve
transient response.
 Accurate control of the engine pressure differential
Figure 1: Air Path Schematic
provides good cold start and catalyst light off
capabilities. Low-speed torque is increased by
To provide a sufficient amount of air for combustion, two-
selecting the appropriate gear ratios on the
stroke engines need to maintain an appropriate pressure
supercharger.
difference between the intake and exhaust ports. For automotive
 Facilitating EGR with a supercharger reduces the
applications, which require the engine to change speed and load
required pumping work.
in a transient manner, external means of air pumping are
required; there are various potential arrangements using both a
  Cool air and EGR together reduces fouling of the stroke engine, the mean piston speed would double for the same
coolers. engine speed.

2.4 OPGCI Fuel System

The OP Engine architecture uses diametrically opposed
dual-injectors per each cylinder, this configuration allows for
minimal wetting and a very controlled fuel stratification in the
combustion chamber. (Figure 3) A comparable four-stroke
configuration to the OPGCI three-cylinder would be a six-
cylinder four-stroke engine, with six injectors. This single
injector set-up leaves a high probability for fuel in crevice
volumes, with the spray hitting the cylinder wall.

Figure 4: 2.7L OPGCI Engine Fuel System

An additional benefit of the reduced heat losses in the

Figure 3: OP Engine Piston Crown w/Fuel Spray
opposed-piston engine, is the reduction in fan power and radiator
In the four-stroke engine, the amount of fuel used is similar size, further contributing to vehicle-level fuel savings.
to the OP Engine, however the OP Engine features a larger
combustion chamber and leaner combustion, which increases the 3.2. Leaner Combustion
ratio of specific heat. Increasing the ratio of specific heat When configuring an opposed-piston, two-stroke engine of
increases the work extraction per unit of volume expansion the same displacement as a four-stroke engine – for example,
during the expansion stroke. converting a six-cylinder, conventional engine into a three-
The system used in the GCI (Figure 4) features two, cylinder, opposed-piston engine – the output that each cylinder
independently-controlled FIE systems, which are partitioned for offers is the same. The two-stroke opposed-piston engine fires
left and right. The proprietary combustion system design each of the three cylinders for every crankshaft revolution, while
provides high mixing , using both pistons to form the combustion the four-stroke engine fires each of its six cylinders in one out of
chamber. Two diesel unit pumps, driven by the intake crankshaft, two revolutions.
produce prerssure up to 2500 bar to the GDi injectors. The Therefore the amount of fuel injected for each combustion
injectors are interchangeable with DFI injectors, and work with event is similar, but the cylinder volume is more than 50%
the existinig 2.7L OP Engine architecture. greater for the opposed-piston engine. So for the same boost
conditions, the opposed-piston engine will achieve leaner
3. FUNDAMENTAL OP ENGINE ADVANTAGES combustion, which increases the ratio of specific heat. Increasing
3.1. Reduced Heat Losses the ratio of specific heat increases the work extraction per unit of
The Achates Power Opposed-Piston Engine (OP Engine), volume expansion during the expansion stroke.
which includes two pistons facing each other in the same
cylinder, offers the opportunity to combine the stroke of both 3.3 Quicker and Earlier Combustion at the Same Pressure
pistons to increase the effective stroke-to-bore ratio of the Rise Rate
cylinder. This can be accomplished while maintaining the engine The larger combustion volume for the given amount of
and piston speed of the conventional four-stroke engine. To energy released also enables shorter combustion duration while
achieve the same stroke-to-bore ratio with a conventional four- preserving the same maximum pressure rise rate. The quicker
combustion improves thermal efficiency by reaching a condition 3.4.1 OPGCI Low Load Operation
closer to constant volume combustion. The lower heat losses as Achates Power has developed a proprietary combustion
described above lead to a 50% burn location closer to the system composed of two identical pistons coming together to
minimum volume. form an elongated and ellipsoidal combustion volume where the
The aforementioned fundamental opposed-piston two-stroke injectors are located at the end of the long axis. (Figure 3)
(OP2S) thermal-efficiency advantages are further amplified by:
 Lower heat loss due to higher wall temperature of the Mode 1
two piston crowns compared to a cylinder head
(reduced temperature delta).
 Reduced pumping work due to uniflow scavenging
with the OP2S architecture resulting in higher effective
flow area than a comparable four-stroke or a single-
piston two-stroke uniflow or loop-scavenged engine.
 Decoupling of pumping process from the piston
motion because the two-stroke architecture allows
alignment of the engine operation with a maximum
compressor efficiency plot.
3.4 OPGCI Low Load Operation
Table 4
 One of the key advantages of the OP Engine is the it’s
Three specific load points of interest were taken, one being
low load operation. The Two-stroke OP Engine makes
idle, another being and FTP type load of 3.1 bar IMEP and a
Table 2: Combustion Efficiency
high load (80%) condition.
The idle point is of interest because low load GCI is difficult
to achieve combustion efficiency >96% at low intake
temperatures. But as shown in Figure XX, there is good
combustion with 40 deg C intake temperature due to the high
internal residual fraction of 56%. External EGR of 35% was used
to keep NOx and soot emissions low.

high-efficiency, low-load GCI operation possible with

a greater than 96% combustion efficiency. This is
achieved because of the high exhaust residual and
enabled with practical hardware and fuels. (Tables 2,
3)

Table 3: Indicated Efficiency

Table 5 Mode 1 cylinder pressure, AHRR and injector current

traces

The high internal EGR rate helped to give high combustion

stability, 2.5 kPa standard deviation of IMEP. Due to the
combustion phasing, noise was also low, ~75 dBa.
The next condition of interest is the 3.1 bar IMEP case,
which is common to loads in the FTP testing area.
 4. OP ENGINE EFFICIENCY AND EMISSIONS
ENABLERS
4.1 Combustion System
Achates Power has developed a proprietary combustion
system composed of two identical pistons coming together to
form an elongated and ellipsoidal combustion volume where the
injectors are located at the end of the long axis. (Figure 3)
This advanced combustion system allows the following:
 High turbulence, mixing and air utilization with both

Table 6 Mode 8 cylinder pressure, AHRR and injector current swirl and tumble charge motion with the high turbulent

traces kinetic energy available at the time of auto ignition.

At this load there is similar performance to the idle condition  Ellipsoidal combustion chamber resulting in air

with good combustion efficiency (97.7%) and low noise (87 entrainment into the spray plumes from two sides.

dBa). With the increased load, 25% internal residual is needed  Inter-digitated, mid-cylinder penetration of fuel plumes

compared to idle. 32% external EGR is again used to keep NOx enabling larger λ=1 iso-surfaces.

and soot emissions low. Noise targets were also kept below light  Excellent control at lower fuel-flow rates because of

duty vehicle targets of 87 dBa. With the combustion phasing two small injectors instead of a single, higher flow rate.

near MV and good combustion efficiency, ITE was able to be  Multiple injection events and optimization flexibility

increased to 47.6%. with strategies such as injector staggering and rate-

shaping.

Finally, a high load condition was able to be reached with

GCI. Using a late injection strategy, a more diesel like The result is no direct fuel spray impingement on the piston

combustion event was achieved to give low combustion noise walls and minimal flame-wall interaction during combustion.

(90.6 dBa). This improves performance and emissions with fewer hot spots
on the piston surfaces that further reduce heat losses.

5. THE NEW ALTERNATIVE: OPGCI ENGINE

Achates Power has developed the technology, tools and

processes to successfully extract the potential of the diesel-fueled
opposed-piston engine. But with the majority of global light-duty
vehicles fueled by gasoline, there was motivation to leverage
Achates Power’s knowledge and expertise to develop a gasoline
version.
Together with Delphi Automotive and Argonne National
Laboratory, Achates Power will build a three-cylinder, three-liter
Table 7 A75 cylinder pressure, AHRR and injector current traces design suitable for large passenger vehicles, pickup trucks, SUVs
and minivans.
Only 11% internal residual was needed for this condition as The OP Engine, combined with Gasoline Compression
the high boost and gas temperature was sufficient for ignition of Ignition technology will make an ideal high-volume engine for
gasoline. 31% external EGR was used to keep NOx at 3 g/kWh. global vehicle markets, with fuel efficiency gains of more than
Soot emissions were also low, 0.08 FSN. By using such as 50 percent, as compared to downsized, turbo-charged direct
strategy, high loads can be achieved with GCI combustion while injection gasoline engines.
meeting noise and emissions targets.
 the solution to pending emissions and fuel economy regulations
and could emerge as the internal combustion engine (ICE) that
satisfies the challenges of ground mobility for decades to come.
The OPGCI engine has the potential to be about 50% more
efficient than a contemporary gasoline engine by combining the
benefits of compression ignition with a readily available fuel
source – gasoline – in the highly efficient Achates Power OP
Engine architecture.
Table 4: Percent Reduction in Fuel Economy Delphi and Argonne have demonstrated that gasoline can be
combusted without a spark plug under high compression-ratio,
Research experience makes clear that the flexibility of the
lean conditions and without throttling. The key is to continually
Opposed-Piston Engine in managing charge condition, fuel
produce precisely-controlled pressure, temperature and fuel-
distribution and max BMEP can provide a perfect platform to
dispersion conditions inside the cylinder.
adopt gasoline compression ignition. Not only does this present
Delphi has shown its GCI engine offers diesel-like efficiency.
the opportunity to operate the Opposed-Piston Engine on the
Furthermore, GCI has an advantage over diesel in creating lower
most universally accepted fuel, it also offers the potential to
emissions.
match diesel efficiency at a lower total engine cost.
Gasoline is a superior fuel for compression ignition because
In 2015, the United States, Department of Energy’s ARPA-E
gasoline evaporates more readily than diesel and has a longer
program awarded Achates Power, Argonne National Laboratory
ignition delay. GCI has a mostly lean mixture more evenly
and Delphi Automotive a grant to develop an OPGCI engine for
distributed throughout the cylinder; with only a small portion of
a light-duty application. The end result will be a 2.7L three-
richer mixture at the ignition sites it therefore achieves mostly
cylinder, Opposed-Piston Engine. Detailed information on the
lower peak temperatures and NOx. In addition, the mostly lean
system design is included above. Currently the three partners
local conditions also allow for low soot formation. GCI does,
have developed the base engine design (FIGURE 5) with system-
however, create higher hydrocarbon (HC) and carbon monoxide
wide mechanical and performance and emissions analysis
(CO) emissions. Fortunately, HC and CO can be mitigated with
conducted, including CFD analysis, and fuel system flow and
relatively inexpensive oxidation catalysts.
and spray visualizations.
Another advantage GCI has over diesel is lower cost, both
because of much lower cost aftertreatment requirements (GCI
engines generally do not need a particulate filter and may not
need selective catalyst reduction) and because of much lower-
cost fuel system.
Delphi recently published results of experiments that yield
39.3% MPG improvement in combined city and highway drive
cycles for a GCI engine compared to a 2.4L four-cylinder port
fuel injected (PFI) engine.4

5.2 Combining OP & GCI

Combining the OP Engine and GCI will result in a number
of advantages that could improve engine efficiency by about
50% compared with spark-ignition gasoline engines. Likewise,
since both OP and GCI technologies have favorable cost
Figure 5: 2.7L OPGCI Engine positions compared to conventional engines, the combined
engine also should be markedly less costly to produce and
5.1 GCI advantages compared with diesel maintain than conventional diesel engines.
An opposed-piston, gasoline compression ignition (OPGCI) Moreover, the OP Engine design also mitigates three
engine has the potential to be a game changer in the powertrain technical challenges for GCI:
market. The combination of OP and GCI technologies could be
5.2.1 Mixture preparation cycle operation reduces the maximum BMEP requirement (and
Robust and clean GCI combustion requires a stratified charge, displacement) while maintaining performance
with locally lean and rich areas, and multiple injection events. requirements. Relatively large flow area of the ports, better
Delphi has achieved excellent GCI combustion results in alignment to turbocharger performance curves and efficient EGR
conventional engine configurations with an injector inserted pumping all contributed to reduced pumping work to meet the
through the cylinder head injecting towards an approaching necessary charge conditions. Finally, the larger cylinder volume
piston. available for combustion enables faster heat-release rates without
But the OP injection environment offers significant potential increasing combustion noise. All this allows for fewer calibration
to improve charge stratification. Diametrically opposed dual tradeoffs at high loads.
injectors spray across the diameter of cylinder. Each injector can
be independently controlled to more easily manage staggered 6. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS:
injections for ideal mixture distribution and, therefore, efficient Achates Power is developing a 2.7L Opposed-Piston
and controlled heat release. Gasoline Compression Ignition (OPGCI) engine, with funding
by the U.S. Department of Energy, ideal for light-duty
5.2.2 Charge temperature management applications. The OPGCI technology has the potential to cost-
At low loads, GCI requires higher temperatures for effectively deliver more than 50% improved fuel economy over
combustion. Engines operating at low loads generate relatively conventional gasoline engines while maintaining low emissions.
little heat. This problem is exacerbated in small engines that have Estimations of the OP Engine simulated in a pickup truck
high ratios of surface areas to combustion volume. Four-stroke suggest a 30% improvement in fuel economy over an efficiency
engines normally push the entire content of the cylinder out optimized four-stroke research diesel engine. Results indicate
during the exhaust stroke and therefore require a complex that with the OPGCI Engine, 2025 light-duty truck regulations in
variable valvetrain to re-open the exhaust valve during the intake the US-market can be met and superseded without any advanced
stroke to suck the exhaust back in the cylinder to increase the vehicle level solutions.
charge temperature to the level necessary for GCI ignition. The OPGCI engine can be the most cost effective and
The OP Engine, however, can retain exhaust gas in-cylinder financially viable way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
after combustion, even at low loads when relatively little because it leverages an existing fuels infrastructure and
additional intake oxygen is required. At low loads, the OP conventional-engine manufacturing processes.
Engine can reduce the supercharger work used to boost the Opposed-Piston Engine technology represents a significant
intake manifold pressure. This has four benefits: it reduces the and distinct opportunity to impact the future of vehicle emissions
amount of work by the supercharger, improving efficiency; it and fuel efficiency. The opposed-piston engine architecture
keeps in-cylinder temperatures high for good combustion demonstrates a 30% fuel efficiency advantage over a state of the
stability; it provides a natural or internal EGR effect for low art four-stroke engine with comparable horsepower and torque,
NOx combustion and, it provides high exhaust gas temperatures overall improvement in GHG emissions, and comparable
for catalyst light-off and sustained activity. horsepower and torque to a state of the art four stroke internal
combustion engine (ICE).
5.2.3 High Load Operation and Pumping
At the other extreme, GCI engines have challenges at high
loads. The compression ratio of a GCI engine is higher than a
conventional gasoline engine and also requires a higher level of
air and EGR to control combustion. This combination creates
high cylinder pressures that can limit the maximum load
capability of the engine and increase combustion noise and
pumping work. At high loads, four-stroke GCI engines have to
make calibration tradeoffs to maintain the mechanical integrity
of the engine, sacrificing both efficiency and performance.
The OP Engine design has several advantages to manage the
high-load operation without as many trade-offs. The two-stroke