ABSTRACT: Homogenous charge Combustion ignition (HCCI) engines are being considered as an alternative to diesel

engines. The HCCI concept involves premixing fuel and air prior to induction in to the cylinder (as is done in current
spark- ignition engine) then igniting the fuel air mixture through the compression process (as is done in current diesel
engines) As per the report of united state congress (2005), The HCCI engines might be commercialized in light duty
vehicles by 2012 and by 2015 as much as half million barrels of oil per day may be saved. Because of the need of reduce
worldwide fuel consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, there is strong interest in HCCI worldwide. This paper describes
the results & operation of a single cylinder KOEL engine in HCCI mode. This experiment represents the first step towards
the development of engine based on HCCI concept.

Homogeneous charge compression ignition
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) is a form of internal
combustion in which well-mixed fuel and oxidizer (typically air) are compressed to the
point of auto-ignition. As in other forms of combustion, this exothermic reaction releases
chemical energy into a sensible form that can be transformed in an engine
into work and heat.

Automotive-HCCI-Engine-Laboratory
HCCI combines characteristics of conventional gasoline engine and diesel engines.
Gasoline engines combine homogeneous charge (HC) with spark ignition (SI),
abbreviated as HCSI. Diesel engines combine stratified charge (SC) with compression
ignition (CI), abbreviated as SCCI.
As in HCSI, HCCI injects fuel during the intake stroke. However, rather than using an
electric discharge (spark) to ignite a portion of the mixture, HCCI raises density and
temperature by compression until the entire mixture reacts spontaneously.
Stratified charge compression ignition also relies on temperature and density increase
resulting from compression. However, it injects fuel later, during the compression
stroke. Combustion occurs at the boundary of the fuel and air, producing higher
emissions, but allowing aleaner and higher compression burn, producing greater
efficiency.
Controlling HCCI requires microprocessor control and physical understanding of the
ignition process. HCCI designs achieve gasoline engine-like emissions with diesel
engine-like efficiency.
HCCI engines achieve extremely low levels of Nitrogen oxide emissions (NO
x) without a catalytic converter. Unburned hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emissions
still require treatment to meet automotive emission regulations.
Recent research has shown that the hybrid fuels combining different reactivities (such
as gasoline and diesel) can help in controlling HCCI ignition and burn rates. RCCI or
Reactivity Controlled Compression Ignition has been demonstrated to provide highly
efficient, low emissions operation over wide load and speed ranges.
[1]


Internal combustion engine
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"ICEV" redirects here. For the form of water ice, see Ice V. For the high speed train,
see ICE V.

Diagram of a cylinder as found in 4 stroke gasoline engines. Caption:
C crankshaft.
E exhaust camshaft.
I inlet camshaft.
P piston.
R connecting rod.
S spark plug.
V valves. red: exhaust, blue: intake.
W cooling water jacket.
gray structure engine block.
An internal combustion engine (ICE) is an engine where the combustion of
a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral
part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal combustion engine the expansion of
the high-temperature and high-pressure gases produced by combustion apply
direct force to some component of the engine. The force is applied typically
to pistons,turbine blades, or a nozzle. This force moves the component over a distance,
transforming chemical energy into useful mechanical energy. The first commercially
successful internal combustion engine was created by tienne Lenoir around 1859.
[1]

Typically an ICE is fed with fossil fuels like natural gas or petroleum products such
as gasoline, diesel fuel or fuel oil. There's a growing usage of renewable
fuels like biodiesel for compression ignition engines and bioethanol for spark ignition
engines. Hydrogen can be used as a fuel, where it would act as an energy carrier rather
than as a primary energy source because it's not found unbounded in nature in
appreciable quantities. It's possible to generate pure hydrogen from renewable energy.
See hydrogen economy.
The term internal combustion engine usually refers to an engine in which combustion is
intermittent, such as the more familiar four-strokeand two-stroke piston engines, along
with variants, such as the six-stroke piston engine and the Wankel rotary engine. A
second class of internal combustion engines use continuous combustion: gas
turbines, jet engines and most rocket engines, each of which are internal combustion
engines on the same principle as previously described.
[1][2]
Firearms are also a form of
internal combustion engine.
[2]

Internal combustion engines are quite different from external combustion engines, such
as steam or Stirling engines, in which the energy is delivered to a working fluid not
consisting of, mixed with, or contaminated by combustion products. Working fluids can
be air, hot water,pressurized water or even liquid sodium, heated in a boiler. ICEs are
usually powered by energy-dense fuels such as gasoline or diesel, liquids derived from
fossil fuels. While there are many stationary applications, most ICEs are used in mobile
applications and are the dominant power supply for cars, aircraft, and boats.

History[edit]
HCCI engines have a long history, even though HCCI has not been as widely
implemented as spark ignition or diesel injection. It is essentially an Otto combustion
cycle. HCCI was popular before electronic spark ignition was used. One example is
the hot-bulb engine which used a hot vaporization chamber to help mix fuel with air.
The extra heat combined with compression induced the conditions for combustion.
Another example is the "diesel" model aircraft engine.

I. INTRODUCTION In HCCI, A Homogenous mixture of air and fuel is compressed and ignited by the heat of
compression HCCI combustion can be considered as a hybrid form between the Diesel and Otto
combustion processes as it combines the homogenous mixture preparation of an Otto engine with the
compression ignition of diesel engine. However, the combustion process is different. When heat and
pressure of the mixture are high enough, the compressed homogenous charge ignites simultaneously at
multiple spots in the combustion chamber, so there is neither a diffusion flame (as in a Diesel engine) nor
a flame front traveling through a premixed charge, as in a spark ignition engine. Furthermore, the air-fuel
mixture is often diluted with combustion products (i.e.), in order to limit the rate of combustion or to
delay the start of ignition. The HCCI combustion process has been known for a long time but except for
some odd application, it has not been used for production engines. In the field of internal combustion
engine research, however, it has gained considerable interest in the last decade, mainly because of the
large reduction in NOx emissions it offers. Since the mixture is lean, diluted and homogenous,
theoretically there is none of high temperature stoichiometric combustion zones that are essential for
necessary for NOx formation and no fuel rich soot-forming zones. Whether these NOx and soot-forming
zones are really absent depends on the actual homogeneity of the air fuel mixture. Numerous
experiments have shown that the NOx and soot emissions are indeed drastically reduced and in some
cases approach zero [2} A combustion system that eliminates NOx formation is particularly attractive to
engine manufacturers as NOx emissions are difficult to reduce with the exhaust gas after-treatment
systems, when the engine is operated at lean (overall) air-fuel mixture. Lean operation makes throttling
of the intake air unnecessary, which increases the efficiency. Since HCCI is also operated at lean air fuel
mixtures, but avoids the need to reduce NOx emissions, the process offers considerable efficiency benefits
over conventional Otto engines. Diesel engines are never throttled, so HCCI does not cause a significant
increase in efficiency compared to conventional Diesels. HCCI is being developed for both Diesel and
petrol based engines. The fuel used for Diesel based engines varies, but for obvious reasons a fuel with a
high knock resistance is often chosen. However, more recently, various researchers have presented work
in which they describe the use of diesel fuel for HCCI operation [3]. This type of operation, where diesel
fuel is injected early in the compression stroke, is often referred to as PREDIC (PREmixed lean DIesel
Combustion). Although the combustion phasing and rate is more difficult to control. due to its low
resistance to auto-ignition, using Diesel fuel has the advantage that it may be possible to combine low
load HCCI operation with conventional Diesel operation at higher loads, using the same fuel and the
injection system . The approaches to HCCI operation with diesel fuel vary. The fuel can be injected in the
intake system or directly in to the cylinder during the compression stroke . The combustion of early
injection and injection around TDC is reported to reduce NOx and soot levels, but they do not approach
zero as they do with early injection of the entire fuel quantity. Control of combustion phasing and rate
was accomplished in several different ways:
a) Variable Compassion ratio ( Adjusting the compression Rati
b) By controlling Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) rate
c) Injection Strategy
d) Combination of all above mechanisms
II. HCCI COMBUSTION PROCESS The point of ignition is determined by the conditions in the cylinder during the
compression stroke, so in order to influence the combustion phasing, the condition of the compressed gas must be
altered. Diesel engines have a high compression ratio (16-22), which has to be lowered to reduce the pressure and
temperature during compression. Another possibility to retard the start of ignition and lower the rate of heat release,
which can be used in conjunction with a lowered compression ratio, is to use large amount of exhaust gas recirculation
(EGR). EGR can be considered an inert gas that absorbs heat during the combustion, thus reducing the combustion
rate. The HCCI auto-ignition combustion process is chemically controlled. The Homogenous mixture is compressed until
ignition occurs simultaneously at multiple spots across the combustion chamber. The influence of turbulence is limited
as the mixture is already homogenous, so turbulence will not alter mixture composition, and there are no flame fronts
or diffusion combustion to affect. HCCI combustion can be divided into a low temperature and a high temperature
reaction phase. The low temperature reaction start at approximately 700K and divided the process in to: initiation,
chain propogation, degenerate branching and chain terminating stages. During the ignition steps, radicals are formed
that react further with fuel molecule to form more radicals during chain propagating stage. During the branching step,
molecules that were formed during the previous step spilt up in to two radicals. During the chain propagation step,
Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is formed, which dissociates at temperature of around 1100K in to two OH radicals. This
dissociation is considered to be important step as the reaction of the OH radicals with fuel molecules initiates the main
combustion process [4]. The low temperature combustion process is temperature and pressure dependent [4], so
altering the ambient condition during compression will affect the low temperature reaction, and thus the start of the
high temperature combustion. The low temperature reaction is distinguished in figure 1.The High temperature
reactions start at a temperature below 1100K,at which H2O2 decomposition starts, but it should be noted that the
temperature curve represents average gas temperature , rather than the local temperature where the H2O2
decompositions occurs

Fig. 1. Gas temperature for HCCI operation The ignition quality of diesel fuel is defined its Cetane number. Where the
Octane number used in conjunction with petrol increases to ignition, the cetane number increases with the ignitability of
the fuel. The relationship between the apparent activation energy and the cetane number can be expressed as EA =
(6890974)/ (CN +25) (1) Equation shows that fuel with higher cetane numbers requires less activation energy, which in
practice means lower temperatures in order to ignite. The relationship between cetane numbers, octane numbers and
apparent activation energy. .
Diesel HCCI does not affect the fuel efficiency compared to conventional diesel, the main motivation for developing a
diesel engine that can be operated in HCCI mode is to reduce NOx and soot emissions. Since the mixture in HCCI mode
is homogenously distributed in the combustion chamber, there is no diffusion combustion with a rich and high
temperature combustion zone. However, HC and CO emission, which are normally low for diesel engines, often
strongly increase in HCCI modes. Typical reasons for this include misfiring, the short combustion duration, improper
mixing (causing too rich or too lean),Fuel being trapped in crevices, spry interaction with the cylinder liner or piston,
wall quenching, low gas temperature and high amount
of EGR. The advantage of HC and CO emission over NOx and soot is that they can be removed with a relatively simple
oxidation catalyst. III. EXPERIMENT SETUP The experiment was carried out with a single cylinder test engine configured
as a Kirloskar Oil Engine with direct injection Diesel engine. The geometric compression ratio was lowered by
modification to the piston and increasing the piston to head clearance as shown in the figure 2

Table No1 - Engine Specification
Engine Type
Kirlosker Oil Engine single cylinder
Bore 81 mm
Stroke 92.3 mm
Displacement 80 CC
Piston type Toroidal bowl
Compression Ratio 17
Table No 2- Injection system
Specification Injection
System
Bosch Common Rail
Injector type Valve covered orifice
No. Of nozzle orifices 10
Nozzle Orifice diameter 0.11 mm
Included angle 60 deg

able No.3 - Emission and Fuel
Consumption measuring
equipment Fuel Flow Meter
Burette type
Smoke meter SLP670, Ecophy make
HC,CO & PM meter Neptune make
Nox meter CLD70IELT , Ecophy mak

Injector was fitted with a special ten- hole nozzle with an included angle of 60 . In addition the number of
injector holes was from the regular five to ten, in order to reduce the droplet size and fuel penetration and
thus improving the air/fuel mixing. The included angle was chosen to avoid interaction between the spray with
the cylinder liner at the intended injection timing. In order to operate the engine in HCCI mode. The fuel was
injected in a series of five short injections, during the compression stroke, the start of the first injection being
set at -90 CAD ( 90 Crank angle degree before top dead Center). The dwell time between the injection was set
to 11 CAD i.e 90CAD,-79CAD,-68CAD,-57CAD,-46CADas shown in Fig No3.This for two reason to avoid
interaction of the individual injections and to equalize the fuel rail pressure during the start of injection. The
opening of the injector will perturb the rail pressure, which will then strongly fluctuate. For uniform injections,
it is important to space the injections pulses at intervals such that the rail pressure during start of injection is
the same for all injections.

Fig. No.3.Schematic Representation of Injection process
The injection process schematically depicted in fig.3 initially compression ratio of 17 was used but the
combustion rate proved to be difficult to control. Large amount of EGR were required to avoid knocking
combustion. but excess EGR resulted misfiring[6].leaving a very small operating window for acceptable
performance. The compression ratio therefore lowered later the compression ratio was further lowered to
allow more variation in operating conditions by controlling the EGR valve. The EGR rate for all readings were
adjusted so that the point at which 50% of the total heat was released coincided with TDC as closely as
possible.. Advancing the heat released resulted in knock while retarding it resulted in misfire. The EGR was
cooled down to the same temperature as the intake air. IV. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS The
data recorded by various instruments shows that NOx and soot emissions approaches lower by a factor of 28.
The measured value were highly scattered for the different engine load. But it should be noted the accuracy of
the measuring instrument is limited to these values. The measured NOx concentration was all in 3 to 15 ppm
range. The distribution of the fuel over the entire combustion chamber minimizes fuel-rich mixture, which
causes soot and Nox emission. The reduced intake charge temperature, which also contributes to the low NOx
emission. The results show that the indicated specific fuel consumption is between 10% t0 15% lower than
standard diesel engine, depending upon the load. But under low load conditions, the fuel consumptions
increase dramatically. The lower thermal efficiency, due to lower compression ratio is partly responsible for
this, but more important factor is the large increase in HC and CO emission is typical for HCCI. Typical reasons
for high HC and CO emissions are; misfiring, short combustion duration, improper mixing ( causing too rich or
too lean mixture), fuel trapping in crevices, spray interaction with the cylinder liner or piston, low gas
temperature and high amount of EGR.
Operation[edit]
Methods[edit]
A mixture of fuel and air ignites when the concentration and temperature of
reactants is sufficiently high. The concentration and/or temperature can be
increased by several different ways:
Increasing compression ratio
Pre-heating of induction gases
Forced induction
Retained or re-inducted exhaust gases
Once ignited, combustion occurs very quickly. When auto-ignition occurs too
early or with too much chemical energy, combustion is too fast and high in-
cylinder pressures can destroy an engine. For this reason, HCCI is typically
operated at lean overall fuel mixtures.
Advantages[edit]
Since HCCI engines are fuel-lean, they can operate at diesel-like
compression ratios (>15), thus achieving 30% higher efficiencies than
conventional SI gasoline engines.
[2]

Homogeneous mixing of fuel and air leads to cleaner combustion and lower
emissions. Because peak temperatures are significantly lower than in typical
SI engines, NOx levels are almost negligible. Additionally, the technique does
not produce soot.
[3]

HCCI engines can operate on gasoline, diesel fuel, and most alternative
fuels.
[4]

HCCI avoids throttle losses, which further improves efficiency.
[5]

HCCI is closer to the ideal Otto cycle than spark-ignited combustion.
Lean operation leads to higher efficiency than in spark-ignited gasoline
engines
Homogeneous mixing of fuel and air leads to cleaner combustion and
lower emissions. In fact, due to the fact that peak temperatures are
significantly lower than in typical spark ignited engines, NOx levels are
almost negligible.
Since HCCI runs throttleless, it eliminates throttling losses

Disadvantages[edit]
achieving cold start capability
High in-cylinder peak pressures may damage the engine.
High heat release and pressure rise rates contribute to engine wear.
Autoignition is difficult to control, unlike the ignition event in SI and diesel
engines, which are controlled by spark plugs and in-cylinder fuel injectors,
respectively.
[6]

HCCI engines have a small power range, constrained at low loads by lean
flammability limits and high loads by in-cylinder pressure restrictions.
[7]

Carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrocarbon (HC) pre-catalyst emissions are
higher than a typical spark ignition engine, caused by incomplete oxidation
(due to the rapid combustion event and low in-cylinder temperatures) and
trapped crevice gases, respectively.
[8]

High peak pressures

High heat release rates

Difficulty of control

Limited power range

High carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon pre-catalyst emissions

Control[edit]
HCCI is more difficult to control than other combustion engines, such as SI and
diesel. In a typical gasoline engine, a spark is used to ignite the pre-mixed fuel
and air. In Diesel engines, combustion begins when the fuel is injected into pre-
compressed air. In both cases, combustion timing is explicitly controlled. In an
HCCI engine, however, the homogeneous mixture of fuel and air is compressed
and combustion begins whenever sufficient pressure and temperature are
reached. This means that no well-defined combustion initiator provides direct
control. Engines must be designed so that ignition conditions occur at the desired
timing. To achieve dynamic operation, the control systemmust manage the
conditions that induce combustion. Options include the compression ratio,
inducted gas temperature, inducted gas pressure, fuel-air ratio, or quantity of
retained or re-inducted exhaust. Several control approaches are discussed
below.
Compression ratio[edit]
Two compression ratios are significant. The geometric compression ratio can be
changed with a movable plunger at the top of the cylinder head. This system is
used in dieselmodel aircraft engines. The effective compression ratio can be
reduced from the geometric ratio by closing the intake valve either very late or
very early with variable valve actuation (variable valve timing that enables
the Miller cycle). Both approaches require energy to achieve fast response.
Additionally, implementation is expensive, but is effective.
[9]
The effect of
compression ratio on HCCI combustion has also been studied extensively.
[10]

Induction temperature[edit]
HCCI's autoignition event is highly sensitive to temperature. The simplest
temperature control method uses resistance heaters to vary the inlet
temperature, but this approach is too slow to change on a cycle-to-cycle
frequency.
[11]
Another technique is fast thermal management (FTM). It is
accomplished by varying the intake charge temperature by mixing hot and cold
air streams. It is fast enough to allow cycle-to-cycle control.
[12]
It is also expensive
to implement and has limited bandwidth associated with actuator energy.
Exhaust gas percentage[edit]
Exhaust gas is very hot if retained or re-inducted from the previous combustion
cycle or cool if recirculated through the intake as in conventional EGR systems.
The exhaust has dual effects on HCCI combustion. It dilutes the fresh charge,
delaying ignition and reducing the chemical energy and engine output. Hot
combustion products conversely increase gas temperature in the cylinder and
advance ignition. Control of combustion timing HCCI engines using EGR has
been shown experimentally.
[13]

Valve actuation[edit]
Variable valve actuation (VVA) extends the HCCI operating region by giving finer
control over the temperature-pressure-time envelope within the combustion
chamber. VVA can achieve this via either:
Controlling the effective compression ratio: VVA on intake can control the
point at which the intake valve closes. Retarding past bottom dead center
(BDC), changes the compression ratio, altering the in-cylinder pressure-time
envelope.
Controlling the amount of hot exhaust gas retained in the combustion
chamber: VVA can control the amount of hot EGR within the combustion
chamber, either by valve re-opening or changes in valve overlap. Balancing
the percentage of cooled external EGR with the hot internal EGR generated
by a VVA system, makes it possible to control the in-cylinder temperature.
While electro-hydraulic and camless VVA systems offer control over the valve
event, the componentry for such systems is currently complicated and expensive.
Mechanical variable lift and duration systems, however, although more complex
than a standard valvetrain, are cheaper and less complicated. It is relatively
simple to configure such systems to achieve the necessary control over the valve
lift curve.
Fuel mixture[edit]
Another means to extend the operating range is to control the onset of ignition
and the heat release rate
[14][15]
by manipulating the fuel itself. This is usually
carried out by blending multiple fuels "on the fly" for the same
engine.
[16]
Examples include blending of commercial gasoline and diesel
fuels,
[17]
adopting natural gas
[18]
or ethanol ".
[19]
This can be achieved in a number
of ways:
Upstream blending: Fuels are mixed in the liquid phase, one with low ignition
resistance (such as diesel) and a second with greater resistance (gasoline).
Ignition timing varyies with the ratio of these fuels.
In-chamber blending: One fuel can be injected in the intake duct (port
injection) and the other directly into the cylinder.
Direct Injection: PCCI or PPCI Combustion[edit]
Compression Ignition Direct Injection (CIDI) combustion is a well-established
means of controlling ignition timing and heat release rate and is adopted in diesel
engine combustion. Partially Pre-mixed Charge Compression Ignition (PPCI) also
known as Premixed Charge Compression Ignition (PCCI) is a compromise
offering the control of CIDI combustion with the reduced exhaust gas emissions
of HCCI, specifically lower soot.
[20]
The heat release rate is controlled by
preparing the combustible mixture in such a way that combustion occurs over a
longer time duration making it less prone to knocking. This is done by timing the
injection event such that a range of air/fuel ratios spread across the combustion
cylinder when ignition begins. Ignition occurs in different regions of the
combustion chamber at different times - slowing the heat release rate. This
mixture is designed to minimize the number of fuel-rich pockets, reducing soot
formation.
[21]
The adoption of high EGR and diesel fuels with a greater resistance
to ignition (more "gasoline like") enable longer mixing times before ignition and
thus fewer rich pockets that produce soot and NO
x
[20][21]

Peak pressure and heat release rate[edit]
In a typical ICE, combustion occurs via a flame. Hence at any point in time, only a
fraction of the total fuel is burning. This results in low peak pressures and low
energy release rates. In HCCI, however, the entire fuel/air mixture ignites and
burns over a much smaller time interval, resulting in high peak pressures and
high energy release rates. To withstand the higher pressures, the engine has to
be structurally stronger. Several strategies have been proposed to lower the rate
of combustion and peak pressure. Mixing fuels, with different autoignition
properties, can lower the combustion speed.
[22]
However, this requires significant
infrastructure to implement. Another approach uses dilution (i.e. with exhaust
gases) to reduce the pressure and combustion rates (and output).
[23]

Power[edit]
In ICEs, power can be increased by introducing more fuel into the combustion
chamber. These engines can withstand a boost in power because the heat
release rate in these engines is slow. However, in HCCI engines increasing the
fuel/air ratio results in higher peak pressures and heat release rates. In addition,
many viable HCCI control strategies require thermal preheating of the fuel, which
reduces the density and hence the mass of the air/fuel charge in the combustion
chamber, reducing power. These factors make increasing the power in HCCI
engines challenging.
One technique is to use fuels with different autoignition properties. This lowers
the heat release rate and peak pressures and makes it possible to increase the
equivalence ratio. Another way is to thermally stratify the charge so that different
points in the compressed charge have different temperatures and burn at
different times, lowering the heat release rate and making it possible to increase
power.
[24]
A third way is to run the engine in HCCI mode only at part load
conditions and run it as a diesel or SI engine at higher load conditions.
[25]

Emissions[edit]
Because HCCI operates on lean mixtures, the peak temperatures are much lower
than SI and diesels. The low peak temperatures reduces the formation of NO
x. However, the low peak temperatures also lead to incomplete burning of fuel,
especially near combustion chamber walls. This leads to high carbon monoxide
and hydrocarbon emissions. An oxidizing catalyst can remove the regulated
species, because the exhaust is still oxygen-rich.
Difference from knock[edit]
Engine knock or pinging occurs when some of the unburnt gases ahead of the
flame in an SI engine spontaneously ignite. This gas is compressed as the flame
propagates and the pressure in the combustion chamber rises. The high pressure
and corresponding high temperature of unburnt reactants can cause them to
spontaneously ignite. This causes a shock wave to traverse from the end gas
region and an expansion wave to traverse into the end gas region. The two
waves reflect off the boundaries of the combustion chamber and interact to
produce high amplitude standing waves.
A similar ignition process occurs in HCCI. However, rather than part of the
reactant mixture igniting by compression ahead of a flame front, ignition in HCCI
engines occurs due to piston compression. Little or no pressure differences occur
between the different regions of the gas, eliminating any shock wave and
knocking. However, at high loads (i.e. high fuel/air ratios), knocking is a possibility
even in HCCI.
Simulation of HCCI Engines[edit]
Computational models for simulating combustion and heat release rates of HCCI
engines require detailed chemistry models.
[17][26]
This is largely because ignition is
more sensitive to chemical kinetics than to turbulence/spray or spark processes
as are typical in SI and diesel engines. Computational models have
demonstrated the importance of accounting for the fact that the in-cylinder
mixture is actually in-homogeneous, particularly in terms of temperature. This in-
homogeneity is driven by turbulent mixing and heat transfer from the combustion
chamber walls. The amount of temperature stratification dictates the rate of heat
release and thus tendency to knock.
[27]
This limits the usefulness of considering
the in-cylinder mixture as a single zone, resulting in the integration of
3D computational fluid dynamics codes such as Los Alamos National
Laboratory's KIVA CFD code and faster solving probability density function
modelling codes.
[28][29]

Prototypes[edit]
As of 2012, no HCCI engines were produced at commercial scale. However,
several car manufacturers had functioning HCCI prototypes.
In 2007-2009, General Motors demonstrated HCCI with a modified 2.2
L Ecotec engine installed in Opel Vectra and Saturn Aura.
[30]
The engine
operates in HCCI mode at speeds below 60 miles per hour (97 km/h) or when
cruising, switching to conventional SI when the throttle is opened and
produces fuel economy of 43 miles per imperial gallon (6.6 L/100 km; 36 mpg-
US) and carbon dioxide emissions of about 150 grams per kilometre, improving
on the 37 miles per imperial gallon (7.6 L/100 km; 31 mpg-US) and 180 g/km of
the conventional 2.2 L direct injection version.
[31]
GM is also researching
smaller Family 0 engines for HCCI applications. GM has used KIVA in the
development of direct-injection, stratified charge gasoline engines as well as
the fast burn, homogeneous-charge gasoline engine.
[29]

Mercedes-Benz developed a prototype engine called DiesOtto, with controlled
auto ignition. It was displayed in its F 700 concept car at the 2007 Frankfurt
Auto Show.
[32]

Volkswagen are developing two types of engine for HCCI operation. The first,
called Combined Combustion System or CCS, is based on the VW Group 2.0-
litre diesel engine, but uses homogeneous intake charge. It requires synthetic
fuel to achieve maximum benefit. The second is called Gasoline Compression
Ignition or GCI; it uses HCCI when cruising and spark ignition when
accelerating. Both engines have been demonstrated in Touran prototypes,
and the company expects them to be ready for production in about 2015.
[33]

In October 2005, the Wall Street Journal reported that Honda was developing
an HCCI engine as part of an effort to produce a next generation hybrid car.
[34]

Oxy-Gen Combustion, a UK-based Clean Technology company, produced a
full-load HCCI concept engine with the aid of Michelin and Shell.
[35]

Mazda's SkyActiv-G Generation 2 has a compression ratio of 18:1 to allow the
use of HCCI combustion.
[36]

Other Applications[edit]
To date, few prototype engines run in HCCI mode; however, HCCI research
resulted in advancements in fuel and engine development. Examples include:
PCCI/PPCI combustionA hybrid of HCCI and conventional diesel
combustion offering more control over ignition and heat release rates with
lower soot and NO
xemissions.
[20][21]

Advancements in fuel modellingHCCI combustion is driven mainly by
chemical kinetics rather than turbulent mixing or injection, reducing the
complexity of simulating the chemistry, which results in fuel oxidation and
emissions formation. This has led to increasing interest and development of
chemical kinetics that describe hydrocarbon oxidation.
Fuel blending applicationsDue to the advancements in fuel modelling, it is
now possible to carry out detailed simulations of hydrocarbon fuel oxidation,
enabling simulations of practical fuels such as
gasoline/diesel
[17]
and ethanol.
[19]
Engineers can now blend fuels virtually and
determine how they will perform in an engine context.

How to Accomplish the HCCI
Because of the high compression ratios in a diesel, the engine must be more robust
to withstand the loads and the temperature of the combustion tends to be high
enough to cause the nitrogen in the air to react with the oxygen resulting in NOx.
As the name implies, homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) relies on
the high temperatures generated by compressing the intake stream to cause the fuel
to auto ignite just like a diesel. The difference is that an HCCI engine runs on
gasoline (or ethanol) instead of diesel fuel and has a significantly lower
compression ratio.

That lower compression ratio contributes to a lower combustion temperature and
helps keep nitrogen oxide generation to a minimum. In order for this work, very
precise metering of the fuel is required and that is now possible thanks to the latest
direct injection technology. The fuel is injected directly into the cylinder and
mixed with the air. Since gasolines vary in different regions and different times of
the year, the timing.hcci operation and concentration has to be adjusted in real
time. Having this capability built in also makes it easier to accommodate
alternatefuel like ethanol.


Automotive HCCI Engine

Automotive HCCI optical research engine
The homogeneous-charge compression-ignition (HCCI) strategy has caught the
attention of automotive and diesel engine manufacturers worldwide because of its
potential to rival the high efficiency of diesel engines while keeping NOx and particulate
emissions extremely low. However, researchers must overcome several technical
barriers, such as controlling ignition timing, reducing unburned hydrocarbon and
carbon monoxide (CO) emissions, extending operation to high and low loads, and
maintaining combustion stability through rapid transients.
HCCI engines can operate using a variety of fuels. In the near term, the application of
HCCI in prototype automotive engines typically adopts mixed-mode combustion in
which HCCI is used at low-to-moderate loads and standard spark-ignition (SI)
combustion is used at higher loads. This type of operation using standard gasoline-
type fuels requires a moderate compression ratio of 10:1 to 14:1 for SI operation and
variable valve timing to achieve HCCI operation.
The CRFs automotive HCCI engine project comprises three parallel endeavors
performed in collaboration with partners in industry, academia, and national labs:
experimentally characterize in-cylinder processes including fuel-air mixing,
ignition, combustion, and emissions to build our understanding of automotive
HCCI combustion and facilitate its implementation;
develop laser-based diagnostics capable of delivering the in-cylinder
measurements required to characterize HCCI combustion; and
develop, validate, and apply computational tools for simulating automotive HCCI
combustion strategies including detailed fluid dynamics and chemical kinetics
models.
The automotive HCCI engine lab houses a versatile light-duty engine designed to
enable investigation of in-cylinder processes during HCCI operation. The automotive-
sized engine (0.63 liters/cylinder) has a 3-valve pent-roof head and is equipped with
extensive optical access for the application of advanced laser-based diagnostics,
including a full height quartz cylinder and an optical piston. The air system provides
intake pressures up to 2 bar and heating to 250 C. These high intake temperatures
allow investigations of HCCI operation with lower compression ratios (10:1 to 12:1).
Alternatively, valve timings that retain large fractions of hot residual gases can be used
to induce HCCI combustion. The engine is equipped with a centrally mounted gasoline-
type direct injector, a port fuel injection capability, and a fully premixed fueling system,
allowing investigations of both well-mixed and stratified HCCI operation.
As an example of current efforts, researchers have developed a new tunable diode laser
diagnostic designed to capture time-resolved, spatially averaged measurements of CO
in the engine. Such measurements are needed for the investigation
of recompression strategies in which exhaust valves are closed early to trap and
recompress residuals in the cylinder. Partial fuel injection during recompression is
advantageous for rapidly controlling HCCI combustion phasing, and quantifying the
extent of reaction of this fuel is a prime objective of the laser-absorption diagnostic. In
other recent work, researchers have applied two-wavelength laser-induced fluorescence
in the engine to simultaneously map both composition and temperature during
recompression operation. Details of in-cylinder temperature distribution are important
for understanding HCCI ignition and combustion performance.

Homogeneous Charge Compression
Ignition - Future Of IC Engines

In this paper the Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI)
combustion process is discussed.The objective of this paper is to provide a
high efficiency means of fuel utilization.The development of a high
efficiency,low emissions combustion process leads to the saving of
petroleum based fuels for some more time. The main principle behind this
combustion process is the fuel and air are mixed before combustion starts
and that the mixture is auto ignited due to the increase in temperature from
the compression stroke.Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition
engines combine the very best gasoline and diesel engine properties. This
alternative combustion process, which uses lean mixtures is ignited without
a spark or flame front. HCCI engines have the potential to provide
high,diesel-like efficiencies and very low emissions. In an HCCI engine, a
dilute, premixed fuel/air charge auto ignites and burns volumetrically as a
result of being compressed by the piston. The charge is made dilute either
by being very lean, or by mixing with recycled exhaust gases.
With high octane number fuel the engine operates with high compression
ratio and lean mixtures giving CI engine equivalent fuel consumption or
better. Due to premixed charge without rich or stoichiometric zones, the
production of soot and NOx can be avoided. This paper presents some
results from advanced laser diagnostics showing the fundamental
behaviour of the process. It was observed that an improvement of fuel
efficiency from 15% to 30% at 1.5 bar BMEP. The NOx is normally less
than 1/500 of the CI level and no PM is generated by
combustion.Homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) combustion
could be used to solve the problems of burn duration and
flame propagation.
In general ,HCCI combustion has been shown to be faster than spark
ignition or compression ignition combustion processes. The main challenge
is to control the accurate combustion timing.But this problem can be solved
by using some control systems like In-cylinder pressure,Ion trap method
etc. There wont be Detonation(Knocking or Pinging). Very lean mixtures
(low equivalence ratios (f ~ 0.3) )can be used since no flame propagation is
required. HCCI engines can operate using a variety of fuels. In the near
term, the application of HCCI to automotive engines will likely involve
mixed-mode combustion in which HCCI is used at low-to-moderate loads
and standard spark-ignition (SI) combustion is used at higher loads.It can
be used in variety of applications such as heavy duty vehicles,marine
engines, automobiles and internal combustion electric generators etc.
The internal combustion engine is the key to the modern society. Without
the transportation performed by the millions of vehicles on road and at sea
we would not have reached the living standard of today. We have two types
of internal combustion engines the spark ignition, SI, and the compression
ignition, CI engines. Both have their merits. The SI engine is a rather
simple product and hence has a lower first cost. Though the combustion is
clean the problem with the SI engine is the poor part load efficiency due to
large losses during gas exchange and low combustion and
thermodynamical efficiency. This is mainly due to the throttling. The CI
engine is much more fuel efficient and hence the natural choice in
applications where fuel cost is more important than first cost. The problem
with the CI engine is the emissions of nitrogen oxides, NOx, and
particulates, PM. After treatment to reduce NOx and particulates is
expensive and still not generally available on the market.


V. CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE WORK
A typical Common rail engine with reduced compression ratio was operated by starting the injection of diesel
fuel early during the compression stroke. The combustion rate and phasing could be successfully controlled
with the large amount of EGR .It was found that compared to conventional diesel operation, the NOx and soot
emissions were reduced by 98% , while the HC and CO emissions increased dramatically. This increase in HC
and CO emissions. The fuel consumption reduces to 10 to 15% than the standard diesel mode. HCCI engines
have substantially lower emission of PM and NOx, which are the major impediments of CIDI, engines meeting
future emission standards. Another advantage of HCCI combustion is its fuel flexibility. Gasoline is particularly
well sited for HCCI operation. As per the report of united state congress (2005), The HCCI engines might be
commercialized in light duty vehicles by 2010 and by 2015 as much as half million barrels of oil per day may be
saved. Because of the need of reduce worldwide fuel consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, there is strong
interest in HCCI worldwide. Future work will focus on reducing the HC and CO emissions by optimization the
injection strategy and piston design as well as by retarding the start of ignition with a reduced effective
compression ratio, in order to allow conventional diesel operation at varying load conditions