Clean Techn Environ Policy (2015) 17:615625

DOI 10.1007/s10098-014-0811-y

ORIGINAL PAPER

Advanced combustion methods for simultaneous reduction

of emissions and fuel consumption of compression ignition engines
P. Brijesh A. Chowdhury S. Sreedhara

Received: 25 February 2014 / Accepted: 27 June 2014 / Published online: 16 July 2014
Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014

Abstract In this work, advanced combustion modes i.e.

improved low-temperature combustion (LTC) and reactivity controlled compression ignition (RCCI) have been
achieved in a diesel engine. LTC mode has been improved
using oxidized EGR (OEGR). Studies were carried out for
a pre-optimized set of operating parameters of the engine.
Reduction in NOx and PM, improved LTC, was achieved
with higher OEGR percentages. Higher concentrations of
CO2 and lower concentrations of reacting species with
increased OEGR created higher ignition delays, and hence,
lower PM. Results also showed the importance of catalytic
converter in reduction of tail-pipe HC, CO and PM. RCCI
has been achieved using fuels with different reactivities.
Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) with low reactivity was
inducted along with air, and diesel with high reactivity was
injected into the cylinder. Percentage of LPG was varied
from 0 to 40 % with step size of 10 %. Results showed that
PM, NOx and CO were reduced with increased LPG. Due
to the possibility of a minor amount of LPG-air mixture
being trapped in crevices during the compression stroke,
HC was increased and BTE was decreased with increased
LPG percentage. The results indicate that RCCI achieved
with lower amount of LPG (*10 %) is more beneficial for
the reduction of PM, NOx and CO with acceptable change
in values of HC and BTE. A reduction in premixed heat
release peak and minor increase in ignition delays were
observed with increased LPG percentage. It indicates that
LPG slows down the reaction rate during premixed
combustion.

P. Brijesh (&)  A. Chowdhury  S. Sreedhara

I.C. Engines and Combustion Lab, Indian Institute of
Technology Bombay, Mumbai 400076, India
e-mail: brijeshpatel_me@iitb.ac.in

Keywords Compression ignition engine 

Low-temperature combustion  Oxidized EGR  Reactivity
controlled compression ignition  Liquefied petroleum gas 
Emissions

Introduction
Although diesel engines are more favourable for their
efficiencies over the gasoline engines, the trade-off
between NOx and PM remains a major dilemma. The
adverse impact on human health due to NOx and PM is
increasing rapidly in the metropolitan areas (Ilyas et al.
2010). Hence, legislative bodies impose stringent regulations on these emissions. As a result, various diesel engine
emission control techniques were developed and implemented in diesel vehicles to meet the new regulations
(Bauner et al. 2009; Brijesh and Sreedhara 2013). NOx can
be reduced by reducing the peak temperature during
combustion, but PM increases with lower temperatures
(Hill and Smoot 2000; Heywood 1988). In contrast, soot
formation may be reduced by improving homogeneity of
fuelair mixture with equivalence ratios less than one
(Pickett and Siebers 2004). Modern combustion techniques
such as premixed charge compression ignition (PCCI),
low-temperature combustion (LTC), homogeneous charge
compression ignition (HCCI), reactivity controlled compression ignition (RCCI), etc. offer promising solutions for
simultaneous reduction of NOx and PM (Dec 2009; Brijesh
and Sreedhara 2013).
Experimental and numerical studies show that various
parameters such as exhaust gas recirculation (EGR),
compression ratio (CR), spray parameters, airfuel ratio.
etc. play an important role in modern combustion techniques (Brijesh and Sreedhara 2013; Brijesh et al. 2014b;

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Dec 2009; Kook et al. 2005; Dec et al. 2009; Asad et al.
2008; Brijesh et al. 2013, 2014a). Brijesh et al. (Brijesh
et al. 2013, 2014a) have studied the influence of various
factors on performance, emissions and combustion
parameters. They have achieved LTC mode of combustion
by the combination of retarded injection timing and moderate rate of ultra-cooled EGR (UCEGR). Results indicated
significant reductions in NOx (*90 %) and PM (*50 %)
with considerable improvement in brake thermal efficiency
(*12 %) with the optimized operating conditions (Brijesh
et al. 2013). However, the effect of LTC on CO and HC
emissions was found to be insignificant.
Various studies demonstrate the possibility of
improvement in NOx-PM trade-off with treated EGR
(Maiboom et al. 2008; Zheng et al. 2004; Fernandez et al.
2009). Improvement in NOx-PM trade-off had been
observed by Maiboom et al. (Maiboom et al. 2008) with
supplemental cooled EGR. Fernandez et al. (Fernandez
et al. 2009) have also achieved simultaneous reduction in
NOx and PM with a minimum penalty in fuel economy
through reformed EGR. Literature also show that reformed
EGR helped in stabilization of the combustion process
(Zheng et al. 2002, 2007; Asad and Zheng 2008). Catalytic
oxidation of exhaust gases in the high-pressure EGR loop
reduced the recycled combustibles, resulting in significant
stabilization of the cycle variations, thereby extending the
limits of EGR applicability (Zheng et al. 2002, 2007; Asad
and Zheng 2008). The effect of treated EGR on the engine
operational stabilities and emissions was investigated by
Asad and Zheng (Asad and Zheng 2008). Results of their
study showed that stabilized LTC mode was achieved
using catalytic EGR (CEGR).
Reduction in NOx and PM can also be achieved with
RCCI mode of operation in diesel engines. Numerous
studies have been carried out to achieve RCCI in diesel
engines (Kokjohn et al. 2009; Pohlkamp and Reitz 2012;
Taniguchi et al. 2012; Dempsey and Reitz 2011; Splitter
et al. 2012; Lata et al. 2011; Nieman et al. 2012). RCCI had
been achieved using fuels with different reactivities. It was
observed that fuel blending creates reactivity gradient in
the cylinder, resulting reduced rate of pressure rise compared to single fuel premixed combustion. Kokjohn et al.
(Kokjohn et al. 2009) had achieved RCCI by injecting
gasoline fuel into the port and diesel fuel directly in the
cylinder. During their study, improvement in efficiencies,
while maintaining low NOx and PM, had been observed.
Pohlkamp and Reitz (Pohlkamp and Reitz 2012) have
realized RCCI mode of combustion with split early directinjected diesel fuel and port-fuel-injected gasoline for a
wide operating range. Results indicated that RCCI reduces
NOx and soot, but increases HC and CO emissions. Similar
results were also observed by Taniguchi et al. (Taniguchi
et al. 2012). Reduction in PM was observed for a dual fuel

123

P. Brijesh et al.

engine running with natural gas and diesel fuel. A significant reduction in smoke with introduction of LPG
(*50 %) along with air was also observed by Nazar et al.
(Nazar et al. 2006) during their study with a bio-dieselfuelled diesel engine. By carrying out a study on RCCI
operation, Nieman et al. (Nieman et al. 2012) concluded
that due to lower reactivity, natural gas is a better fuel than
gasoline to achieve RCCI mode of combustion. The analysis carried out by Thompson et al. (Thompson et al.
2009) indicates that significant reduction in air pollutant
could be achieved using natural gas as a fuel for on-road
vehicles.
In this work, improved LTC has been achieved with the
help of oxidized EGR (OEGR). Experimental investigation
has also been carried out to achieve RCCI using liquefied
petroleum gas (LPG) fuel. The effect of LPG on engine
performance and emissions has been studied too.

Experimental test rig

A schematic of the experimental setup is shown in Fig. 1.
The test rig consists of a variable compression ratio (VCR)
diesel engine connected with a water-cooled eddy current
dynamometer. An in-cylinder pressure transducer and a
crank angle encoder are mounted with the engine to obtain
p-h diagram. A Labview-based software, ICEngineSoft,
was used to calculate heat release rate (HRR), indicated
mean effective pressure (IMEP), etc. from the p-h diagram.
Essential instrumentation for measuring air flow rate, diesel
and LPG fuel flow rates, fuel line pressure, temperature at
various locations and load is also integrated into the test
rig. A data acquisition system, NI USB-6210, is provided
for acquiring various relevant parameters from the instruments. Details of instruments are tabulated in Table 1.
Details of the test engine
A single cylinder, four-stroke, direct injection (DI), VCR
diesel engine has been used for this work. The specifications of the test engine are given in Table 2. The engine has
been converted into diesel dual fuel (DDF) engine by
providing a facility to introduce LPG into the intake
manifold. Table 3 shows the specifications of diesel and
LPG fuel injection system.
Details of the LPG and EGR system
As shown in Fig. 1, LPG is introduced into the intake
manifold. Proper mixing of LPG with intake charge was
achieved with the help of LPG nozzle. LPG nozzle specifications are provided in Table 3. LPG fuel consumption is

Reduction of emissions and fuel consumption

617

Fig. 1 Experimental test rig

Table 1 Specifications of measuring instruments and associated

measurement uncertainty
Measured
parameters

Instrument; make-model

Uncertainty

Relative
error

In-cylinder
pressure

Dynamic pressure
transducer; PCB
piezotronics-111A22

1 %

1 %

Fuel line
pressure
Engine speed

Encoder; kubler-3700

5 rpm

0.34 %

Table 2 Specifications of engine

Compression ratio range

18:112:1

Cylinder bore 9 stroke

87.5 mm 9 110 mm

Displacement

661 cc

Max. power
Piston bowl shape

3.5 kW@ 1,500 rpm

Hemisphere

Piston bowl diameter

52 mm

Connecting rod length

234 mm

Inlet and exhaust valve diameter

34 mm

Inlet valve opens

-364.5 CAD aTDC

Inlet valve closes

-144.5 CAD aTDC

Exhaust valve opens

144.5 CAD aTDC

Exhaust valve closes

364.5 CAD aTDC

Oxidizing catalytic converter

Fuel mass
flow rate

DP transmitter;
Yokogawa-EJA110A

0.5 %

0.5 %

Air and EGR

mass flow
rate

Pressure transmitter;
Wika-SL1

1 %

1 %

LPG mass
flow rate

Rotameter; Eureka
Industrial EquipmentsSSRS-MGS-4E

5 %

5 %

After treatment system

Engine load

Load cell; Sensortronics60001

0.075 kg

0.625 %

described as equivalent of diesel fuel energy. LPG usage

rate is calculated using Eq. (1):

Inlet and
exhaust gas
temperature

Thermocouple (k-type);
Radix-SS316

1 C

0.34 %

LPG%

m_ LPG  LCVLPG
m_ LPG  LCVLPG m_ diesel  LCVdiesel
 100;

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P. Brijesh et al.

Table 3 Specifications of diesel and LPG fuel injection system

Table 5 LPG fuel properties

Measured property

Value

Density @ 25 C,
kg/m3

1.98

1 bar

Lower calorific
value, MJ/kg

46.48

Autoignition
temperature, C
Ethane, vol%

452

Propene, vol%

46.50

Butene, vol%

21.27

Specification

Diesel injection
system

LPG injection
system

Fuel injection pressure

(absolute)

220 bar

Number of nozzle holes

24

Nozzle hole diameter

0.288 mm

2 mm

Table 4 Diesel fuel properties

123

i-Butane, vol%

3.39

n-Butane, vol%

17.31

i-Pentane, vol%

0.24

n-Pentane, vol%

0.91

Measured property

Value

Specific gravity @
15 C

0.823

Lower calorific value,

MJ/kg

41.23

Viscosity @ 40 C,
mm2/s
Autoignition
temperature, C

3.6

Details of the test fuels

210

All experiments were conducted with unblended diesel fuel.

LPG fuel was used along with diesel fuel to achieve the RCCI
mode of combustion. The properties of diesel and LPG were
measured and tabulated in Tables 4 and 5. A carbonhydrogennitrogensulphur (CHNS) elemental analyser was used
to measure the percentage of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and
sulphur in diesel fuel based on the principle of Dumas method
which involves the complete and instantaneous oxidation of
the sample by flash combustion. The combustion products are
separated by a chromatographic column and detected by the
thermal conductivity detector (TCD), which gives an output
signal proportional to the concentration of the individual
components of the mixture. Composition and physical properties of LPG were measured using a gas chromatograph with
high resolution mass spectrometer (GC-HRMS).

Carbon, wt%

82.68

Hydrogen, wt%

13.83

Nitrogen, wt%

3.49

Sulphur, wt%

where LCV is the lower calorific value of the fuel, m_

denotes the mass flow rate.
An EGR system, suitable for handling various types of
EGR such as UCEGR, OEGR, etc., has been implemented.
An exhaust plenum, as shown in Fig. 1, is provided in the
exhaust line to diminish the flow pulsations. The inlet
plenum is used to dampen intake line pulsations as well as
to homogeneously mix exhaust gases and fresh air. As
depicted in Fig. 1, a counter flow heat exchanger is used
for achieving UCEGR, capable of reducing the temperature
of the exhaust gas at the exit of the cooler to room temperature. A drain plug is provided in the EGR cooler for
removing condensate from the recirculation line. EGR
temperature was measured at a location just before the inlet
plenum in the EGR line and maintained around 45 C
during the investigation. A two-way (oxidizing) catalytic
converter, as shown in Fig. 1, is used in the exhaust line for
achieving OEGR. Tappings for EGR are provided in such a
way that recirculation of exhaust gases can be done from
the front and/or back of the catalytic converter. So, various
OEGR/EGR ratios can be achieved.
The EGR percentage is calculated and adjusted using the
Eq. (2):
EGR%

10.38

m_ airwithoutEGR  m_ airwithEGR
 100
m_ airwithoutEGR

Measurement of exhaust gas emissions

Two different tap locations, as shown in Fig. 1, have been
provided in the exhaust line to take exhaust gas samples.
A Kane exhaust gas analyzer was used to measure exhaust
emissions such as NO, NO2, HC, CO, CO2, etc., while the
particulate matter emission was measured using Minivol
tactical air sampler (TAS). Detailed information of
instruments is provided in Table 6. Undiluted exhaust gas
samples were used for evaluation of exhaust gas emissions.
All the runs were conducted with catalytic converter, as
shown in Fig. 1, in the exhaust line, so emission analysis
was performed for tail-pipe exhaust gases.
Testing methodology
As discussed in our previous work (Brijesh et al. 2013),
significant reduction in NOx and PM has been achieved

Reduction of emissions and fuel consumption

619

Table 6 Specifications of measuring instruments and associated

measurement uncertainty

NO
NO2

Instrument; make-model
Flue gas analyzer; KaneKM9106

HC
CO
Particulate matters

5 %
5 %
5 %
5 %

MinivolTM TAS; Airmetrics

Run no.

SOI, CAD aTDC

UCEGR, %

CR

-15

25

18

-10

25

18

-15

20

18

-15

25

16

Uncertainty

5 %

with moderate rate of UCEGR. Attempts are made here to

achieve further reduction in emissions with various methods as discussed below.
Oxidized EGR (OEGR)
In this work, various runs have been carried out to investigate the effects of OEGR. The percentage of OEGR was
varied from 0 to 100 % OEGR from run 1 to 3, with run 2
being executed with 50 % OEGR. All the runs have been
carried out at an optimized set of input parameters i.e. -15
CAD aTDC injection timing, 18 CR, 220 bar injection
pressure and 25 % UCEGR for this engine obtained
through our previous work (Brijesh et al. 2013). Run 1 was
conducted both with and without the catalytic converter in
the exhaust line to study the effect of catalytic converter on
emissions.
Reactivity controlled compression ignition (RCCI)
In this work, RCCI has been achieved using fuels with
varying reactivities. LPG fuel with low reactivity was
inducted along with air, while diesel fuel with high reactivity was injected in the cylinder. Effect of combinations
of these fuels on performance and emissions of the engine
has been studied. Table 7 gives the list of experimental
runs carried out to achieve optimized RCCI. All runs, as
mentioned in Table 7, were carried out by varying the LPG
percentage from 0 to 40 % with a step size of 10 %. Run 1
was carried out at an optimized set of input parameters i.e.
-15 CAD aTDC injection timing, 18 CR, 220 bar injection
pressure and 25 % UCEGR for this engine obtained
through our previous work (Brijesh et al. 2013). The previous studies also showed encouraging results with retarded injection timing (-10 CAD aTDC) and lower UCEGR
rate (*20 %) (Brijesh et al. 2013, 2014a). Hence, runs 2
and 3, as shown in Table 7, have also been carried out.
Effect of CR on RCCI has been investigated by changing
the CR from 18 to 16 (see run 4 in Table 7).
All the tests of OEGR and RCCI were conducted at a
constant speed of 1,500 rpm. The engine is generally

10

NOx, PM, HC, CO, g/kWh

Measured
parameters

Table 7 Run matrix to study the effects of LPG

CO

NOx

PM

HC

8
6
4
2
0
0/100

50/50

100/0

OEGR/EGR, %
Fig. 2 Effect of OEGR on NOx, PM, HC and CO emissions

operated at approximately 75 % load in practical applications. So, all the runs of OEGR and RCCI were carried out
for 75 % load condition (*6.5 bar IMEP). Uncertainty
associated with BTE was found to be 1.80 %. It was
computed using the approach of differential method of
propagating errors based on the Taylor theorem (Kline and
Mcclintock 1953), as discussed in our previous work
(Brijesh et al. 2013).

Results and discussion

Effects of OEGR and LPG on engine performance and
emissions have been studied. A detailed analysis of various
outputs such as NOx, PM, HC, CO and BTE has been
executed.
Effect of OEGR on engine performance and emissions
Engine-out and tail-pipe exhaust gases were measured for
run 1 at 75 % load to study the effect of catalytic converter
on emissions and also to know the quantity of exhaust
species present in various OEGR/EGR ratios. The engineout values of NOx, PM, HC, CO and CO2 for run 1 at 75 %
load are 2.31, 0.96, 0.30, 19.79 and 641 g/kWh, respectively (values are not shown in Fig. 2). The tail-pipe values
of NOx, PM, HC and CO for the same run at 75 % load, as
given in Fig. 2, are 2.26, 0.36, 0.26 and 8.63 g/kWh,

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P. Brijesh et al.
50

100/0 OEGR/EGR%
30

20

10

0
-10

50/50 OEGR/EGR%

40

TDC

Heat Release Rate, J/degree

0/100 OEGR/EGR%

10

20

30

CAD a TDC

ratio, but HC is increased. Two main reasons for reduction

of CO are identified: one is lower concentrations of CO in
the recirculation gases with increased OEGR/EGR ratio,
and the other is too slow oxidation at lean regions to form
significant CO. The later was supported by the observation
of Ekoto et al. (Ekoto et al. 2009). Results of their investigation showed that the fuel oxidation is too slow to form
considerable amount of CO at lower average cylinder
temperature. This slow oxidation also supports the
increasing trend of HC along with decreasing CO with
increased OEGR/EGR ratio. Effect of OEGR on BTE was
found to be insignificant and, hence, is not shown in Fig. 2.
A considerable reduction in CO (*84 %), PM (*42 %)
and NOx (*23 %) has been achieved with OEGR compared to EGR; however, HC was increased by nearly 98 %.

Fig. 3 Effect of OEGR on heat release rate

Effect of LPG on engine performance and emissions

respectively. The tail-pipe CO2 was increased with catalytic converter in the exhaust line and found to be 667 g/
kWh (this value is not shown in Fig. 2). It may be concluded that catalytic converter in exhaust line plays a major
role in oxidization of HC, CO and PM, resulting a significant reduction in tail-pipe HC (*13 %), CO (*56 %)
and PM (*63 %) was achieved. Temperature of exhaust
gas 40 mm before the catalytic converter was measured
and found to be 225 C for the above-mentioned operating
condition. Amann (Amann 1980) had observed almost
similar conversion efficiency of CO (*57 %) and HC
(*20 %) for oxidizing catalytic converter at the temperature of 235 C during his study with homogeneous charge
passenger car engine. As expected, CO2 was increased by
approximately 4 % as a result of oxidation of reacting
species. Effect of catalytic converter on NOx and BTE was
found to be insignificant.
Effect of various OEGR/EGR ratios on the NOx, PM,
HC and CO emissions is shown in Fig. 2. Results, as shown
in Fig. 2, indicate that lower PM and NOx are achieved
with higher OEGR/EGR ratio. Higher concentrations of
CO2 and lower concentrations of reacting species with
increased OEGR lead to higher ignition delays. Higher
ignition delay increases premixed HRR, as a result, lower
PM was observed with increased OEGR. Higher premixed
HRR peaks with increasing ignition delays are, to a certain
extent, common with conventional combustion mode of CI
engines, but not always with advanced modes of combustion. During this study, lower premixed HRR peaks, as
shown in Fig. 3, are observed with increased OEGR indicating sluggish reaction rate during premixed combustion
with increased CO2. This reduces in-cylinder peak temperature, and hence, reduction in NOx was also observed
with increased OEGR/EGR ratio. Figure 2 also shows a
significant reduction in CO with increase in OEGR/EGR

123

Figure 4 shows the effects of LPG on PM and NOx for the

runs described in Table 7. Reduction in PM was observed
with increased LPG percentage for each run. Similar trend
was observed by Taniguchi et al. (Taniguchi et al. 2012)
with a natural gas and diesel-fuelled engine. Effect of LPG,
as shown in Fig. 4a, is observed to be significant in runs 1
and 3 (*45 % reduction in PM) compared to runs 2 and 4
(*25 % reduction in PM), indicating that the combination
of LPG with early direct-injected diesel fuel and higher
CR, in the range of study, is effective in reducing PM.
Early injection allows better mixing and, hence, reduces
the formation of PM and higher average cylinder temperature, as a result higher CR, enhances oxidation rate of PM.
The values of NOx against LPG percentages for all runs are
plotted in Fig. 4b. Minor reduction in NOx emissions are
found for all runs with lower flow rates of LPG. However,
NOx was reduced considerably with higher LPG percentage (*43 % reduction with 40 % LPG). The reduction of
NOx and PM with increased LPG is elucidated using HRR
traces in Effect of LPG on combustion characteristics
section. The general trade-off between NOx and PM was
clearly visible in Fig. 4a and b, where runs 1 and 2 (18 CR
and 25 % UCEGR) were found to be the most favourable.
The effects of LPG on HC and CO emissions for various
runs are shown in Fig. 5. Figure 5a shows the values of HC
of all runs for various LPG percentages. A fraction of LPGair mixture is typically trapped in crevices during the
compression stroke. As a result, higher concentrations of
HC were observed with higher amounts of LPG. Similar
results were observed by Poonia et al. (Poonia et al. 1999)
during their investigation with LPG and diesel-fuelled
engine. Their results showed that HC was reduced with
increasing quantity of pilot diesel fuel i.e. reducing the
quantity of primary LPG fuel. The values of tail-pipe CO
of all runs for various LPG percentages are given in

Reduction of emissions and fuel consumption

621

a 0.40

Run 1
Run 3

b
NOx, g/kWh

PM, g/kWh

0.34

Run 2
Run 4

0.28
0.22

Run 1
Run 3

Run 2
Run 4

3
2
1

0.16

0.10
0

10

20

30

40

10

LPG, %

20

30

40

LPG, %

Fig. 4 Effect of LPG on a PM and b NOx emissions

a 1.60

Run 1
Run 3

7.5

Run 1
Run 3

6.0

CO, g/kWh

HC, g/kWh

1.28

Run 2
Run 4

0.96
0.64
0.32

Run 2
Run 4

4.5
3.0
1.5

0.00

0.0
0

10

20

30

40

LPG, %

10

20

30

40

LPG, %

Fig. 5 Effect of LPG on a HC and b CO emissions

Fig. 5b. Figure 5b shows that a significant reduction in CO

is achieved till approximately 20 and 10 % LPG for runs 2
and 4, respectively. In contrast, as shown in Fig. 5b, a
smaller amount of reduction in CO is observed till 20 %
LPG with runs 1 and 3, beyond which CO is reduced
drastically with increasing LPG percentage (approximately
40 and 80 % reduction with 30 and 40 % LPG, respectively). To understand the above results, engine-out CO
emissions were measured for all runs and increasing
amounts of CO were found with increased LPG percentage
for all runs (not shown here). Increasing engine-out CO and
decreasing tail-pipe CO with increased LPG percentage
indicate that the oxidization of CO in catalytic converter is
higher than the formation of CO in the cylinder as LPG
percentage increases. Temperature of exhaust gases 40 mm
before and after the catalytic converter was measured for
all runs to elucidate the varied rates of reduction of tailpipe CO for different runs (Fig. 5b), plotted in Fig. 6.
Results show that exhaust gas temperature is found to be
higher after the catalytic converter than before, for higher
percentages of LPG in all runs. This was possible only with
secondary burning of large amounts of un-burnt hydrocarbon in the catalytic converter. As a result, temperature
inside the catalytic converter reaches an effective

temperature (*250 C) and, hence, improves the oxidization rate of CO. Nearly 70 % CO was reduced in a
similar investigation carried out by Amann (Amann 1980).
Figure 6a shows that temperature after the catalytic converter becomes higher than before the catalytic converter
beyond 30 % LPG for runs 1 and 3. While similar trend is
observed in Fig. 6b for runs 2 and 4 beyond 20 and 10 %
LPG, respectively. It may be concluded that conversion
efficiency of CO reaches close to maximum at 20 and 10 %
LPG for runs 2 and 4, respectively, whereas at 30 % LPG
for runs 1 and 3. As a result, considerable reduction in CO
is achieved till approximately 20 and 10 % LPG for runs 2
and 4, respectively, while CO reduction continued even
beyond 30 % LPG for runs 1 and 3.
Figure 7 shows the effect of LPG on BTE, where BTE is
reduced with increased LPG percentage. The inducted
LPG-air mixture is trapped in crevices during the compression stroke and increases crevice losses, which in turn
reduces BTE. However, BTE loss may be reduced using
lower percentages of LPG. Negative effect of lower CR on
BTE is clearly observed by comparing the results of runs 1
and 4. The effect of LPG on HC and BTE, as shown in
Figs. 5a and 7, is observed to be better for run 1 compared
to run 2. Figure 8 shows that the HRR traces of runs 2 and

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P. Brijesh et al.

a
Temperature, C

300

Run1-before cat-con
Run3-before cat-con

Run1-after cat-con
Run3-after cat-con

250
225
200
175

Run2-before cat-con
Run4-before cat-con

375

Temperature, C

275

Run2-after cat-con
Run4-after cat-con

340
305
270
235
200

10

20

30

40

LPG, %

10

20

30

40

LPG, %

Fig. 6 Temperature of exhaust gas before and after the catalytic converter for a runs 1 and 3, and b runs 2 and 4 with varying LPG percentages

29

Run 1
Run 3

BTE, %

28

Run 2
Run 4

27
26
25
24
0

10

20

30

40

LPG, %
Fig. 7 Effect of LPG on brake thermal efficiency

Heat Release Rate, J/degree

55
45

Run 2

Run 3

Run 4

35
25
15

-20

-10

TDC

5
-5

-30

Run 1

10
20
30
CAD aTDC

40

50

60

Fig. 8 HRR curves for various runs at 10 % LPG

3 are slightly shifted towards the compression stroke, while

for the run 4 it is shifted much towards the expansion
stroke compared to run 1. Thus, the combustion phasing of
run 1 seems to be the optimum for reducing NOx and PM
without altering BTE. Hence, run 1 was chosen to study the
effects of LPG on combustion parameters in details.

123

Results, as discussed above, indicate that reduction in

PM, NOx and CO is achieved with lower amount of LPG
(*10 %) without altering BTE and with acceptable change
in values of HC. Further increase in LPG percentage
resulted in reduction of PM, CO and NOx, with considerable penalty on BTE and HC.
Optimum LPG percentage was also found using multi
response signal-to-noise ratio (MRSN) analysis, as mentioned in our previous work (Brijesh et al. 2013). BTE,
NOx, PM, HC and CO were treated as response variables
for optimization. As discussed earlier, HC was increased
and BTE was decreased significantly with increasing LPG
percentage. Hence, higher importance was given to HC and
BTE compared to CO, PM and NOx. Based on the relative
importance of each output variable, weighting factors (wi)
of 0.3, 0.3, 0.15, 0.15 and 0.1 were assigned for BTE, HC,
PM, CO and NOx, respectively. All weighting factors add
up to unity. Higher values of MRSN represent more
desirable outcomes. Results, as tabulated in Table 8, indicate that the MRSN ratio of run 1 with 10 % LPG (0.976)
is the maximum. Hence, RCCI achieved with lower percentage of LPG (*10 %) is more beneficial for overall
reduction in emissions without altering BTE. For understanding the results better, a detailed study of heat release
and pressure traces has been carried out.
Effect of LPG on combustion characteristics
The HRR traces, as shown in Fig. 9, corresponding to run 1
with various LPG percentages have been studied. Figure 9
indicates that HRR traces of run 1 with increasing percentages of LPG are shifted towards the expansion stroke.
A reduction in the values of premixed HRR peak and minor
increase in ignition delays are also observed with increased
LPG percentages. It indicates that the presence of LPG
slows down the chemical reaction rate during premixed
combustion. The reaction rates of LPG and diesel fuel have
been calculated using single-step global mechanism

MRSN ratio

Reduction of emissions and fuel consumption

Heat Release Rate, J/degree

45
35
25
15
5
-5

-30

Run1_0%LPG
Run1_10%LPG
Run1_20%LPG
Run1_30%LPG
Run1_40%LPG

-20

-10

TDC

-1.219
0.008
0.099
0.052

0.833

1.324

0.976

0.790
-0.147
0.834
1.034
0.161
0.075
0.173
0.452
0.115
0.114
0.094
0.077

0.238

0.799

0.268

0.032
0.134
0.115

0.010
0.287
0.162

CO
PM
NOx

HC

1.009

-0.039

55

Total loss
function,
P
wi Sij

10

20

30

Run1_20% LPG
Run1_30%LPG
Run1_40%LPG

50
40
30
20

TDC

10

0.521

-10

10

20

30

40

50

60

Bold values signify highlight the best operating run

1.105
1.255
0.0015
40

3.143

0.038

1.865

0.968
1.056
25.020
11.582
0.0013
0.0014
20
30

5.664
4.626

0.044
0.044

0.387
1.013

0.930
0.072

0.941
0.110

0.051
6.963
0.0012
10

9.795
0.0012
0

PM
NOx
BTE

0.021

suggested by Westbrook and Dryer (Westbrook and Dryer

1981) to confirm the observation, and were found to be
5.53 9 108 and 7.91 9 108 gmol/cm3 s, respectively, at
an equivalence ratio of one. The values indicate that LPG
fuel is having lower reaction rate compared to diesel fuel,
and hence, LPG slows down the combustion phenomena
during the premixed stage. This leads to a lower in-cylinder peak temperature and, hence, lower NOx emissions
were observed with higher percentages of LPG. Premixed
to diffusion combustion ratios of run 1 with 0, 10, 20, 30
and 40 % LPG, calculated with the help of cumulative heat
analysis data, were found to be 0.85, 0.97, 1.00, 1.02 and
1.08, respectively. A minor increase in ratio of premixed to
diffusion combustion indicates that premixed part of
combustion is increased with increasing LPG percentage
and, hence, produces lower PM. As a result, as shown in
Fig. 4, improvement in NOx-PM trade-off has been

HC

Fig. 10 Pressure traces for run 1 with varying LPG percentage

36.950

CAD aTDC

41.481

0.938
0.766

-20

BTE

1.153

-30

CO

1.622

60

Run1_0%LPG
Run1_10%LPG

60

Cylinder Pressure, bar

0.332
2.777
0.663

0.054

0.290
0.317
0.576
1.508
0.769
0.760

1.076
0.498

0.279

0.282

0.107
0.894

1.589

0.032
1.915

1.784

BTE
HC
PM

50

Fig. 9 Heat release rate traces for run 1 with varying LPG percentage

NOx

40

CAD aTDC

70

CO

Weighted normalized
loss function, wi  Sij
Normalized
 loss function,
Sij Lij Lavg
Loss function, Lij
Run 1 with
LPG %

Table 8 MRSN analysis of Run 1 with varying LPG percentage

623

123

624

P. Brijesh et al.

Table 9 Comparison of various parameters

Operating run
(Inj. timing, CR, EGR, LPG)

BTE,
%

CO,
g/kWh

HC,
g/kWh

Optimized LTC (-15, 18, 25, 0)

28.41

6.44

0.15

Optimized RCCI (-15, 18, 25, 10)

28.58

% Change (RCCI compared to LTC)

0.60 (:)

6.07
-5.75 (;)

observed for run 1 with increasing LPG percentage compared to optimized LTC i.e. run 1 without LPG.
Variations of in-cylinder pressure, as a function of crank
angle, for run 1 with various LPG percentages are plotted
in Fig. 10. The in-cylinder pressure curves are altered
extensively during various runs. In-cylinder pressure traces
of run 1 with LPG were shifted towards the expansion
stroke, thus indicating a shifting of the combustion phase
because of lower reactivity LPG fuel. As discussed earlier,
LPG slows down the reaction rate, and hence, lower peak
pressures were found with increasing amount of LPG. As a
result, reduction in BTE was observed with increased LPG
percentage.
Result evaluation
The values of NOx, PM, HC, CO and BTE for the optimized LTC (-15 CAD aTDC injection timing, 18 CR,
220 bar injection pressure, 25 % UCEGR and 0 % LPG)
and for the optimized RCCI (-15 CAD aTDC injection
timing, 18 CR, 220 bar injection pressure, 25 % UCEGR
and 10 % LPG) runs at 75 % load are compared in Table 9
based on results of Figs. 4, 5 and 7. Table 9 indicates that a
considerable reduction in PM (*30 %), NOx (*16 %)
and CO (*6 %) with an acceptable change in value of HC
is achieved with the optimized RCCI run compared to that
for optimized LTC run. An insignificant change in BTE
was observed with the optimized RCCI run.
OEGR and LPG both offer a considerable reduction in
PM, NOx and CO levels with an acceptable change in HC.
OEGR offers better reduction in emissions with simple and
economical modifications in an existing engine compared
to LPG; emerging as an effective method. However,
combination of OEGR and LPG might be useful to achieve
ultra-low emissions level in CI engines.

Conclusions
In this work, effect of OEGR and LPG on engine performance, emissions and combustion parameters has been
studied at 75 % load condition. An oxidizing catalytic
converter is used in the exhaust line for achieving OEGR.
Study showed that considerable reduction in NOx and PM

123

NOx,
g/kWh
3.13

PM,
g/kWh
0.33

0.42

2.63

0.23

180.00 (:)

-15.97 (;)

-30.30 (;)

through improved LTC was achieved with increased

OEGR. Higher concentrations of CO2 and lower concentrations of reacting species with higher percentage of
OEGR increased the ignition delay and reduced the premixed HRR peak. Results also demonstrated the importance of catalytic converter in reduction of tail-pipe PM,
CO and HC.
RCCI has been achieved using commercially available
LPG with the percentage being varied from 0 to 40 %.
Reduction in PM, NOx and CO emissions was observed
with increased LPG percentage, but has an adverse effect
on HC and BTE. Improvement in NOx-PM trade-off was
observed with increasing amount of LPG. Result showed
that RCCI achieved with lower amount of LPG (*10 %)
was found to be the optimum for reducing PM, NOx and
CO with the acceptable changes in the values of HC and
BTE.
Combination of OEGR and LPG will be considered as a
scope of future work to achieve ultra-low emissions level
in CI engines. The effect of OEGR and LPG on engine
performance and emissions will also be investigated at
various engine load condition i.e. 10, 25, 50 and 100 % in
near future.
Acknowledgments The authors gratefully acknowledge the Industrial Research and Consultancy Centre (IRCC), IIT Bombay and
Department of Science and Technology (DST), India for funding
towards the VCR engine for research work. The authors are also
thankful to the Sophisticated Analytical Instrument Facility (SAIF),
IIT Bombay for permitting to find the properties of LPG and diesel
fuel.

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