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Improved emission characteristics of HCCI engine by various premixed fuels and cooled EGR
Dae Sik Kim a, Chang Sik Lee b,*
a

Mechanical Engineering and Technology Research Institute, Hanyang University, 17 Haengdang-dong, Sungdong-gu, Seoul 133-791, South Korea b Department of Mechanical Engineering, Hanyang University, 17 Haengdang-dong, Sungdong-gu, Seoul 133-791, South Korea Received 6 April 2005; received in revised form 30 August 2005; accepted 30 August 2005 Available online 27 September 2005

Abstract This work investigates partial HCCI (homogeneous charge compression ignition) combustion as a control mechanism for HCCI combustion. The premixed fuel is supplied via a port fuel injection system located in the intake port of DI diesel engine. Cooled EGR is introduced for the suppression of advanced autoignition of the premixed fuel. The premixed fuels used in this experiment are gasoline, diesel, and n-heptane. The results show that with diesel premixed fuel, a simultaneous decrease of NOx and soot can be obtained by increasing the premixed ratio. However, when the inlet charge is heated for the improved vaporization of diesel fuel, higher inlet temperature limits the operational range of HCCI combustion due to severe knocking and high NOx emission at high premixed ratios. Gasoline premixing shows the most signicant effects in the reductions of NOx and soot emissions, compared to other kinds of premixed fuels. q 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Partial homogeneous charge compression ignition; Exhaust gas recirculation; Emission characteristics

1. Introduction Over the past decade, automotive engineers have been striving to improve engine performance and reduce exhaust emissions. Though there have been advances in both areas, much still needs to done in order to meet the upcoming reinforced exhaust regulations such as EURO-IV/V [1]. In addition, carbon dioxide (CO2), one of major combustion products from existing internal combustion engines, is a greenhouse gas and is limited in many countries [2]. However, the only way to reduce CO2 emitted from automotive engines is to improve the combustion efciency of engine. In response to the greater demand for cleaner internal combustion engines with lower fuel consumption, manufacturers are driven to nd alternatives to existing combustion systems. A homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engine is a promising alternative with high thermal efciency and ultra-low emission characteristics to the existing internal combustion engines. Ideal HCCI combustion is characterized by the lean and low-temperature reactions that are initiated at
* Corresponding author. Tel.: C82 2 2220 0427; fax: C82 2 2281 5286. E-mail address: cslee@hanyang.ac.kr (C.S. Lee).

0016-2361/$ - see front matter q 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.fuel.2005.08.041

multiple sites simultaneously without any ame propagation. HCCI combustion is the process in which a homogeneous mixture is auto-ignited through compression. HCCI is an alternative operating mode for engines, which has the potential to reduce both particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions while maintaining high fuel efciency [3]. Despite the many advantageous features of HCCI combustion, the use of HCCI engines is not widespread due to some unresolved issues such as ignition control and formation of an ideally homogeneous charge. The most difcult hurdle facing HCCI engines may be the control of the ignition. Conventional SI engines use a spark to ignite the reactive mixture, whereas CI engines use injection of fuel to initiate mixing and subsequent combustion. On the other hand, the ignition of HCCI engine is controlled by the charge mixture composition and its temperature history [4]. Accordingly, over a wide range of speeds and loads, it is difcult to keep the timing of start of combustion near top dead center (TDC) in commercial engines. Several potential control methods have been proposed to provide the compensation required for changes in speed and load by using high EGR rate [5,6], variable compression ration (VCR) [7], and variable valve actuation (VVA) [8]. However, none of these methods perform satisfactorily over a wide range of engine speeds and loads. Many studies have focused on the application of a partial HCCI engine as a control mechanism for HCCI combustion

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Exhaust Back pressure Control valve
P

while maintaining the improved emission characteristics of HCCI. These engines can be grouped according to the methods used to the type of premixing employed: early in-cylinder direct injection, port fuel injection, and port fumigation. In the current study, premixing by port fuel injection is used instead of in-cylinder direct injection with a partial HCCL system because premixing by port fuel injection allows sufcient time for premixed fuel evaporation and air mixing. Our previous studies [911] show that premixing by port fuel injection has an excellent effect on NOx and soot reduction with premixed gasoline and diesel fuels. However, gasoline premixing is a less effective approach from a practical viewpoint because a dual fuel system is required, although gasoline is regarded to be a superior premixed fuel for HCCI engine due to its excellent vaporization and mixing with air [9,10]. On the other hand, diesel premixing showed the limited premixing effects in the emission characteristics and operation range due to the excessively advanced autoignition of premixed fuels [11]. In the current study, the cooled EGR is introduced for the control of the premature chemical reactions of premixed diesel fuel and the additional NOx reduction. The objectives of the current work are to analyze the combustion and emission characteristics of partial HCCI engine by using various premixed fuels such as gasoline, diesel and n-heptane. Through this controlled HCCI combustion system, the simultaneous reductions of NOx and PM from DI diesel engine are veried and the factors inuencing the combustion and emission characteristics of partial HCCI engine are investigated. Also, the effects of cooled EGR on combustion and emission of HCCI engine are examined under various operational conditions. 2. Experimental apparatus and procedure 2.1. Experimental apparatus The research engine was based on a single cylinder, directinjection, four-stroke cycle diesel engine with 673 cc of piston displacement. This engine has a toroidal type combustion chamber with a cavity diameter of 50 mm. The fuel was directly injected through a nozzle with four 0.28 mm diameter holes. The specications and dimensions of the test engine are listed in Table 1. The experimental apparatus is composed of the combustion analyzer, the exhaust gas analyzer system, the electronic airtemperature control system, EGR system, and the premixed fuel injection system. Fig. 1 shows the schematic diagram of
Table 1 Engine specications Combustion chamber Number of cylinder Compression ratio Displacement Bore!stroke Combustion chamber Injection nozzle (directly injected) Direct injection 1 19 673 cc 95 mm!95 mm Toroidal 0.28 mm!4 holes

EGR valve

EGR cooler
P

Premixed fuel
P

Air Premixing chamber

Diesel injector

Settling chamber

Pressure sensor Thermo-couple

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of experimental apparatus.

the experimental apparatus. A premixture chamber with a volume of 9000 cm3 and 20 cm diameter is installed upstream from the intake port. This chamber with large volume is expected to be useful in making the premixed charge more homogeneous as presented in results of Richter et al. [12] and it is also effective in preventing the surge of intake ow in the single cylinder engine used in this test. The cooled EGR system is applied in this work since it has been reported to be superior to the hot EGR in its emission characteristics and operational range [13]. 2.2. Experimental procedure To investigate the inuence of premixed charge on the exhaust emissions and combustion characteristics, the experiment is performed using the experimental system as shown in Fig. 1, which is based on the control system of premixed fuel injection, direct injection for ignition control, and cooled EGR system for the reduction of NOx emission. In this work, the injection amount of premixed fuel is controlled by an additional universal ECU, which is synchronized with engine encoder and various sensors. The test conditions are
Table 2 Test conditions Engine speed (rpm) Engine load (Nm) Intake air temperature (8C) EGR rate (%, based on volumetric owrate) Fuel 1200 20 20120 040 Premixed Directly injected Premixed Directly injected Premixed Directly injected Premixed ratio Gasoline, diesel and n-heptane Diesel 5.5 22 TDC at compression stroke K22 ATDC 0wmaximum operating range

Injection Pressure (MPa) Injection timing

D.S. Kim, C.S. Lee / Fuel 85 (2006) 695704 Table 3 Specications of test fuels Gasoline Octane number Cetane number Higher heating value (kJ/kg) Lower heating value (kJ/kg) Heat of vaporization (kJ/kg, at 1 atm, 25 8C) Boiling point ( 8C) Density (kg/m3) Stoichiometric air-fuel ratio 98 (RON) 47,300 44,000 305 195 750 14.6 Diesel 54 44,800 42,500 207 280 (95%) 814 14.5 Normal-heptane 0 48,100 44,600 316 98.4 686 15.2

697

center of the ow. This provided temperatures at streamwise locations of approximately 130 mm from the intake valve seat. 3. Results and discussions 3.1. Effects of premixed ratio and inlet temperature Fig. 2 shows the effects of the premixed ratio of diesel premixed fuel on the mean combustion temperature and the heat release rate calculated from combustion pressure at an engine load of 20 Nm and a total equivalence ratio of 0.35. The addition of premixed fuel activated a low-temperature chemical reaction and resulted in a slightly faster initiation of heat release [11]. Hence, it prevents the sharp increase of heat release in the premixed combustion region of conventional diesel combustion of rpZ0 in this gure. Ambient temperatures at which the ignitions occur are about 820 K, which are similar to those of DI diesel combustion (rpZ0). Another interesting thing is the small heat-producing reactions occurred around BTDC 20 8 . These lowtemperature reactions are termed cool ame reactions. These cool ame reactions have been investigated by several researchers. Minetti et al. [16] and Pekalski et al. [17] found that the cool ame phenomenon could occur at temperatures below the autoignition temperature and lead to two-stage ignition. The numerical and experimental results from these studies show that cool ames occur at temperatures hundred of degrees lower than the autoignition temperature of air-fuel mixture. Regardless of the premixed ratio, the low-temperature reaction is found to start around BTDC 208 in this work, whereas the peak rate of heat release by cool ame rises with increases of the premixed ratio. Fig. 2(b) shows the combustion characteristics at an inlet temperature (Tin) of 80 8C. Effects of premixed diesel fuel on the combustion of DI diesel engine became more marked by further increasing the intake air temperature. The timing of cool ame was advanced to BTDC 288 before the direct injection timing. The ambient temperatures at which the cool ames occur are about 620 K, which is similar to the case without heating as seen in Fig. 2(a). Also, at rpZ0.5, combustion is shown to be divided into three stages. The rst stage of cool ame proceeded at BTDC 288. HCCI combustion

summarized in Table 2. Also, specications of the fuels used in this work are listed in Table 3 [14]. The premixed ratio rp is dened as the ratio of energy of premixed fuel Qp to total energy Qt. The premixed ratio can be obtained from the following equation. rp Z Qp mp hup Z Qt mp hup C md hud (1)

where, mp is the mass of premixed fuel, md is the mass of directly injected fuel, hu is the lower heating value, and subscripts p and d are the premixed and directly injected fuel, respectively. The intake air temperature was heated up to 120 8C and the exhaust gas was recirculated at 40% of the volumetric intake air owrate. The effect of premixed fuel on the HCCI combustion is conducted on the three kinds of fuels such as gasoline, diesel, and n-heptane. For each operating condition, the cylinder pressures recorded at each crank angle are averaged over 100 cycles for the experiment. From the measured combustion pressure, the heat release rate and the mean gas temperature were calculated by using the traditional rst law heat release model and BoyleCharles law model [15]. For all data presented, the 08 crank angle is dened as TDC at the compression stroke. Intake gas temperature is measured with K-type thermocouples mounted in the manifolds as close as possible to the cylinder head with the thermocouples junctions protruding into the

Fig. 2. Effects of premixed ratio on the combustion (diesel premixed, EGR 0%). (a) TinZ20 8C, (b) TinZ80 8C.

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Fig. 3. Effects of equivalence ratio of premixed fuel on cool ame (diesel premixed, EGR 0%). (a) Start timing of cool ame, (b) Peak ROHR of cool ame.

by autoignition of premixed charge followed at BTDC 208 and nally diffusion combustion of DI fuel followed at BTDC 38 near timing of injection termination. Fig. 3 provides the detailed information about effects of equivalence ratio of premixed fuel on cool ame. In Fig. 3(a), the occurrence timing of cool ame is found to be dependent on the cylinder temperature, not the amount of premixed fuel. However, in Fig. 3(b), the peak of the low-temperature heat release increased in magnitude with the amount of premixed fuel since the reaction rates are proportional to the fuel concentration. Fig. 4 shows the effects of inlet temperature on combustion at a premixed ratio of 0.5 and an engine load of 20 Nm. Heating the inlet charge over 100 8C at a rpZ0.5 in diesel premixing causes severe knocking and therefore charge heating is limited up to 80 8C in this condition. Increase of the inlet temperature advances the occurrence of cool ame since the start of lowtemperature chemical reactions is strongly dependent on the temperature in the combustion chamber as mentioned above. The hot ignition stage of HCCI combustion of premixed fuel proceeds simultaneously with the diffusion combustion of the direct injected fuel. The ignition delay of the directly injected fuel appears to decrease as the premixed ratio increases. Hence, the advanced start of combustion before TDC increases combustion pressure sharply.
10 9 rp = 0.5 Tin = 20C (p = 0.23) Tin = 50C (p = 0.25) Tin = 80C (p = 0.28)

Fig. 5 shows the NOx emissions under various inlet temperatures and premixed ratios at a 20 Nm load. NOx emissions are generally measured to increase with a rise in the inlet temperature. To make the effects of the premixed ratio on NOx emission clear, the normalized NOx at each inlet temperature was introduced in this gure. These values mean the ratio of NOx concentration in each premixed ratio to NOx concentration emitted from conventional diesel engine of zero premixed ratio. Under most operational conditions, NOx emissions decrease with an increase of the premixed ratio. However, at higher premixed ratios and inlet temperatures, NOx concentrations become larger than the value of rpZ0. Increased NOx concentrations for diesel premixing of these conditions may be considered to result from the increased gas temperature by an advanced combustion prior to TDC. Fig. 6 gives more specic information about the relationship between the peak gas temperature and NOx emissions. As shown in the gure, NOx emission is found to be strongly dependent upon the combustion temperature. This sudden increase of NOx emission at high inlet temperature is one of factors, which make the operational range of diesel premixing more limited than that of gasoline premixing, presented in a previous study [11]. Soot emissions as a function of inlet temperature are shown in Fig. 7. As seen in NOx results, the normalized soot is

210

Combustion pressrue (MPa)

7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 1

150 120

Signal from line pressure sensor (Non-dimensional)

90 60 30 0 0 10 20 30 40 50

2 60 50 40 30 20 10

Crank angle (deg)

Fig. 4. Effects of intake air temperature on the combustion characteristics (diesel premixed, rpZ0.5).

Rate of heatrelease (J/deg)

180

Fig. 5. NOx emission as a function of inlet temperature (diesel premixed).

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Fig. 6. Relationship between peak gas temperature and NOx emission (diesel premixed).

introduced to investigate the detailed effects of premixed ratio on soot emission at each inlet temperature. Up to TinZ50 8C, soot emission is almost constant despite the increase of premixed ratio. Further heating to TinZ80 8C and TinZ120 8C showed a slight decrease of soot concentration until a certain critical premixed ratio (around rpZ0.2) is reached. However, soot concentrations beyond rpZ0.2 started to increase over the value measured at rpZ0. This increase of soot in spite of combustion of homogeneous charge has been reported by many research groups with diesel fueled HCCI engine. Mechanisms of soot formation and oxidization in partially or fully HCCI engines are greatly complicated and inuenced by very many factors, and not completely understood. The HCCI combustion, in itself, of premixed charge should produce the low or free soot emissions. However, actually, it is not easy to provide an ideally homogeneous charge with a practical engine system and this is one of problems to be solved so that HCCI combustion can be applied for the commercial engine. Especially, this problem is regarded to be more signicant in a diesel fueled HCCI engine. Christensen et al. [7] investigated diesel fueled HCCI with port fuel injection (PFI), similar to the method used in this work and presented that the increased soot emission was due to

Fig. 7. Soot emission as a function of inlet temperature (diesel premixed).

poor vaporization of the diesel fuel, which creates an inhomogeneous mixture. Also, Grey et al. [18] and Suzuki et al. [19] have presented the similar results, and in this viewpoint they pointed out the necessity of charge heating for diesel fueled HCCI system. As the view of a little different analysis, Simescu et al. [20] explained using their diesel fueled partial HCCI engines that the occurrence of HCCI combustion by the premixed fuels changes the in-cylinder temperature at the start of diffusion combustion by DI diesel fuel and may offset the trade-off between soot formation and soot oxidation during diffusion combustion. Finally, as the premixed ratio was increased, the amount of DI fuel was reduced and so was the in-cylinder turbulent kinetic energy production associated with the diesel spray, possible resulting in deteriorated mixing of the DI fuel. Zhang [21] also shows the similar soot increases in the ame visualization results according to the pilot injection quantity. They analyzed that when main injection starts, if there exists more pilot ame, the interference of formed soot with spray of main injection may cause poor mixing of main spray and also poor oxidization of soot of pilot combustion. Based on these previous analyses and the results of current work, it is believed that the soot emissions in this work may be caused by the compound inuences of factors mentioned above. Accordingly, further research is required to investigate the detailed correlation between soot results and inuential factors through the optical diagnostics. Fig. 8 shows the effects of premixed ratio and inlet temperature on HC emission and specic fuel consumption. In both gures, the dotted lines with hollow squares means the gasoline premixing of TinZ20 8C at the same load condition for reference. As described in our previous works [911], increases of HC in partial HCCI combustion are caused by a crevice effect and a ame quenching near the wall. Increasing rate of HC is measured to be steeper for diesel premixing because of its poor vaporization. Effects of charge heating did not appear remarkable until Tin Z80 8C. Gray et al. [18] found that heating the inlet charge could prevent the diesel fuel injected in through the intake port from being transported into the combustion chamber in the form of liquid fuel jet, although the heating temperature was far below the initial boiling point (175 8C). They suggested that the heating temperature of intake air should be over 130 8C at an injection pressure of 0.4 MPa with a gasoline port fuel injector used in their experiment. But, in this current work, the injection pressure of premixed fuel was set at 5.5 MPa. This increased injection pressure would be more effective in atomization of premixed fuel droplets. Christensen et al. [22] also investigated diesel fueled HCCI with PFI fueling and showed that satisfactory operation was obtained with intake temperatures of 90130 8C. Kim et al. [10,11] and Simescu et al. [20] showed that the improved atomization characteristics of premixed fuel was very helpful for the homogeneous mixing of air and premixed fuel. Therefore, in the current study, the heating effect of premixed fuel is expected to be obtained in this experiment, even though the inlet charge temperature is lower than 130 8C.

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Fig. 8. Effects of premixed ratio and inlet temperature on HC emission and specic fuel consumption. (a) HC, (b) Specic fuel consumption.

The effects of premixed ratio on specic fuel consumption as a function of inlet temperature are shown in Fig. 8(b). For diesel-premixed fuel, the specic fuel consumption rises suddenly with the premixed ratio for non-charge heating. The main reason for this is associated with the increase of unburned hydrocarbon. However, there is a much greater difference between diesel premixing and gasoline premixing in specic fuel consumption in contrast to HC concentrations. A possible reason is that some of the premixed fuel injected through the intake port does not enter into the combustion chamber and is accumulated in the premixture chamber in a liquid state at low temperature. This accumulation of liquid fuel can be controlled by charge heating to some extent. 3.2. Effects of EGR on the NOx and PM emission The effects of the EGR rate and premixed ratio on the NOx emissions for diesel-premixed fuel are shown in Fig. 9. Denition of EGR rate used in this work is as follows; EGR% Z Q 0 KQ a ! 100 Q0 (2)

where, Q0 and Qa are inlet air owrates without and with EGR, respectively. At a 30% EGR rate and a premixed ratio of 0.75, NOx emissions decrease to lower than one-tenth of DI diesel engine

without EGR. The combination of premixing and EGR is shown to be have the greatest effect on NOx reduction from a diesel engine than any other combustion method. Fig. 10 shows the effects of EGR and premixed ratio on soot emission for diesel premixed fuel. In this experiment, the soot emissions are measured as the unit of percent in the gray level. Soot emission is generally known to be inversely proportional to EGR and this trend is found to be changeless in this work. Especially, at higher premixed ratio than rpZ0.7, EGR rates over 30% give rise to a sharp increase of soot emission. From previous studies about diesel fueled HCCI combustion with cooled EGR [16], it is known that introducing exhaust gases can delay the timing of low-temperature reactions by a dilution effect. Therefore, EGR makes it possible to suppress the excessively advanced start of combustion by lowtemperature reactions in a diesel fueled HCCI engine. Knocking from excessively advanced and rapid combustion limits the operational range of HCCI combustion. Accordingly, EGR can be expected to be successful in expanding the operational region of diesel fueled HCCI combustion [5]. Fig. 11 shows the effects of EGR on combustion characteristics at inlet temperature of 100 8C and premixed ratio of 0.45. High-temperature reactions of premixed fuel at high inlet temperature are greatly advanced before injection of the main fuel and show an extremely sharp pressure rate rise and heat release rate. Without EGR, the peak rate of pressure rise was

Fig. 9. Effects of EGR rate and premixed ratio on NOx emission (diesel premixed, TinZ20 8C). (a) Effects of premixed ratio, (b) Effects of EGR rate

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Fig. 10. Effects of EGR rate and premixed ratio on soot emission (diesel premixed, TinZ20 8C). (a) Effects of premixed ratio, (b) effects of EGR ratio.

measured to be 0.81 MPa/8, which approaches the 1 MPa/8 knocking level determined for this study. Severe knocking occurred at premixed ratios greater than 0.45. EGR is used to control this advanced and sharp combustion and can shift the operational range limited by knocking toward a higher premixed ratio. Also, the timing for knocking at each EGR rate is shown in Fig. 12. The occurrence of knocking is shifted toward a higher premixed ratio proportional with the increase of EGR rate. 3.3. Effects of kinds of premixed fuels Charge heating for n-heptane premixing is maintained at TinZ100 8C which is higher than the boiling point of n-heptane (98.4 8C). Accordingly, preheating the n-heptane charge higher than 100 8C has a special signicance in that the perfect vaporization of the premixed fuel is theoretically possible. Fig. 13 illustrates the effects of premixed ratio on combustion characteristics of an n-heptane fueled HCCI engine with TinZ100 8C. The shape of heat release curve for n-heptane premixing shows a three-stage combustion which is similar to that of diesel premixing at high inlet temperatures and premixed ratios as shown in Fig. 2(b). However, for n-heptane premixing with better vaporization and ignition characteristics, more advanced autoignition of premixed fuel is easily found in the region of low premixed ratio. An interesting

feature in the gure is the consistent timing of the cool ame at ambient temperature of 620 K regardless of the premixed ratio. This is also seen in diesel-premixed fuels. The cool ame timing is also found to be constant regardless of the equivalence ratio in test results of n-heptane fueled HCCI engine by Peng et al. [23]. However, HCCI combustion timing is largely advanced with increases of the premixed ratio. Unlike the cool ame by low-temperature reactions, the start timing of HCCI combustion is considered to be affected mainly by the equivalence ratio of the premixed fuel. Diffusive combustion of DI fuel consistently appears at almost constant timing as shown in this gure. Fig. 14 compares the combustion pressure and rate of heat release for each premixed fuel at a premixed ratio of 0.5 with and without charge heating. In Fig. 14(a), diesel premixing shows the similar combustion characteristics with gasoline premixing although there is a slightly advanced start of combustion by low-temperature reactions of diesel premixed fuel. However, in Fig. 14(b) for TinZ100 8C, the ignition of diesel premixed fuel is not controlled by DI fuel injection as it is in n-heptane premixing. Also, heat-producing reactions of premixed fuel are separated from the combustion region by DI fuel. For n-heptane premixing, mostly activated low-temperature reactions were observed and these reactions caused the increased combustion pressure. The sudden rise of combustion pressure became a limiting factor of the operational region for partial HCCI combustion because of heavy knocking.

Fig. 11. Effects of EGR rate on combustion (diesel premixed, 20 Nm load, rpZ0.45, TinZ120 8C).

Fig. 12. Knocking suppression by EGR at high temperature (diesel premixed, TinZ120 8C).

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Fig. 13. Effects of premixed ratio on the combustion characteristics (n-heptane premixed, TinZ100 8C).

Effects of premixed ratio on NOx and soot emissions of each premixed fuel at TinZ20 8C are shown in Fig. 15. At low premixed ratios, similar decreasing rates of NOx are shown for three kinds of premixed fuels. However, n-heptane premixing over a premixed ratio of 0.4 increase the NOx concentration due to the advanced ignition of premixed fuel and the elevated combustion temperature before DI fuel injection. With gasoline premixing there is a greater reduction of NOx at high premixed ratios than are seen with diesel premixing because of better vaporization characteristics of gasoline fuel.

For soot emissions, only gasoline premixing shows a decrease in soot emissions. Previous works [3,10,11] concerning the gasoline fueled HCCI engines showed that gasoline fuel was an effective fuel in reducing the soot emission of HCCI engine due to its physical and chemical properties such as low initial boiling point and high octane number. On the other hand, n-heptane premixing appears to have been made without a noticeable result in soot reduction like diesel premixing. However, in Fig. 16, the soot concentration of n-heptane premixing at TinZ100 8C shows a different trend from the results of gasoline or diesel premixing. In this case of n-heptane premixing, soot emission is increased slightly at rpZ0.2, however, further increasing the premixed ratio decrease the soot gradually. This result is in contrast to diesel premixing to show the increase of soot at higher premixed ratio, though there is not a remarkable difference in the combustion characteristics between n-heptane premixing and diesel premixing as shown in Fig. 14(b). It might be caused by differences in the mixture formation of premixed fuels. As stated above, the charge heating in TinZ100 8C can make the n-heptane premixed fuel fully vaporized in the theoretical aspect. On the other hand, in diesel premixing, there can be a locally rich area of charge due to the incomplete vaporization of diesel-premixed fuel. Accordingly, the vaporization characteristics of premixed charge have a strong inuence on a mixture formation, and then it links to the soot emission. In future work, it is needed to

Fig. 14. Effects of kind of premixed fuel on combustion characteristics (rpZ0.5). (a) TinZ20 8C, (b) TinZ100 8C.

Fig. 15. Effects of premixed fuel on NOx and soot emissions (TinZ20 8C). (a) NOx. (b) Soot.

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Fig. 16. Effects of premixed fuel on NOx and soot emissions (TinZ100 8C). (a) NOx, (b) Soot.

quantitatively investigate the relationship between the mixture formation of premixed fuel and soot emission. 4. Conclusions

emissions start to increase at higher premixed ratios with n-heptane.

Acknowledgements A partial HCCI combustion with intake port premixing can achieve improved emission characteristics from a diesel engine under optimized conditions. Considering the results of this investigation, the following conclusions can be drawn. (1) Combustions of partial HCCI engines with diesel and n-heptane premixed fuels are shown to be divided into three stages cool ame, HCCI combustion by autoignition of premixed charge and diffusive combustion of DI fuel, while gasoline premixing shows single stage combustion of which ignition is controlled by DI fuel injection. (2) Supply of premixed charge and EGR reduces NOx lower than one-tenth of conventional diesel engine. This decrease depends on the slower combustion rate and the later combustion phasing, which lead to a lower peak pressure and combustion temperature. However, the increase of EGR rate is limited by high soot concentration in spite of effects of NOx reduction. (3) Under most operational conditions of diesel premixing, NOx emissions decrease with increases in the premixed ratio. However, at higher premixed ratios and inlet temperatures, NOx concentrations become greater than the value of conventional diesel engine and the increases of NOx in this operational region can be explained by the advanced combustion prior to TDC. (4) EGR can suppress the advanced and sharp combustion at high inlet temperatures. Accordingly, knocking timing is shifted toward higher premixed ratios in proportion to increases in the EGR rate. (5) Gasoline premixed fuel shows the most effective reduction of NOx and soot emissions with the increase of premixed ratio, compared to the diesel and n-heptane premixing. The decrease of NOx emissions for n-heptane premixed fuel is similar to the decrease seen for NOx emissions with other premixed fuels at lower premixed ratios and inlet temperatures. But, NOx This work is supported by BK21 Program of Korea Research Foundation and the Eco-STAR Project, Koreangovernments R&D Program on environmental technology development. References
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