HCCI ENGINES

CHAPTER 1

1. LITERATURE
(ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, ​Strategies of combustion control
for HCCI engine

By: Suresh Patil.G.L, Dr.BAnjaneya Prasad, Dr.D.Maheswar

HCCI combustion can substantially reduce NOx and soot emissions of diesel engines.
However it is hard for diesel HCCI to obtain the same level of fuel economy as traditional
diesel engines. HCCI lacks an easily identified combustion trigger and, when achieved via
variable valve actuation (VVA), includes cycle-to-cycle coupling through the exhaust gas.
This makes controlling the process decidedly non-trivial. To address these issues, the
development of a closed-loop controller for HCCI combustion phasing and peak pressure was
outlined. Results from both simulation and experiment show that cycle-to-cycle control of
VVA-induced HCCI can be achieved using this physics-based approach. Correct combustion
timing is crucial for proper engine performance in a Homogeneous Charge Compression
Ignition (HCCI) engine. To stabilize unstable operating points, reject system disturbances and
enable set point changes, it is necessary to use a combustion timing controller. In this,
variable valve timing was used to control combustion timing, optimising fuel systems By
means of the variable valve timing, residual gases were captured in cylinder to facilitate
combustion timing control

The Internal Combustion (IC) Engine is perhaps the most wide-spread apparatus for
transforming liquid and gaseous fuel to useful mechanical work. The reason why it’s so well
accepted can be explained by its overall appearance regarding properties like performance,
economy, durability, controllability but also the lack of other competitive alternatives. The
demand for reduced fuel consumption and increased efficiency becomes more important
when the fuel prices are rising. Lately the greenhouse effect has set new challenges to further
increase the efficiency of the internal combustion engine. Increased environmental concern
has focused more and more on the released exhaust pollutants from engines.

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The dream of every engine designer is to find a combination of the diesel engine and the
spark ignited engine that only inherit the good properties of the diesel and SI engine i.e.
efficiency like a diesel engine and exhaust emissions that are as clean as from the SI engine,
or at least possible to after-treat to the same level.

This can be reached with Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI). HCCI
combustion was first applied to two-stroke engines, with improvement in fuel efficiency and
combustion stability. When HCCI as applied to the four-stroke engine, the fuel efficiency
could be improved up to 50 % compared to the SI engine.

Homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) uses a lean premixed air-fuel mixture that
is compressed with a high compression ratio. During the end of the compression stroke,
ignition occurs through self-ignition in the whole combustion chamber at once. Since the
mixture is lean, the maximum temperature, both locally and overall, becomes low compared
to other engines, which effectively reduces NOx formation

Although stable HCCI operation and its substantial benefits have been demonstrated at
selected steady-state conditions, several technical barriers must be overcome before HCCI
can be widely applied to production automobile and heavy-truck engines. To Overcome the
technical challenges to practical HCCI engines requires an improved understanding of the
in-cylinder processes, an understanding of how these processes can be favourably altered by
various control techniques, and the development and testing of appropriate control
mechanisms.

The major advantage of HCCI combustion is realized by eliminating the formation of flames.
That results in much lower combustion temperature. As a consequence of the low
temperature, the formation of NOx (nitrogen oxides) is greatly reduced. The lean burn nature
of the HCCI engine also enables un-throttled operation to improve engine fuel economy.
Unfortunately, HCCI combustion is feasible only over a limited engine operational range due
to engine knock and misfire. To make a HCCI engine work in an automotive internal
combustion engine, it has to be capable of operating at both SI combustion mode at high load

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HCCI ENGINES

and HCCI combustion mode at low and mediate load. This makes it necessary to have a
smooth transition between SI and HCCI combustion modes.

Achieving the HCCI combustion and controlling the mode transition between SI and HCCI
combustions in a practical engine require implementation of enabling devices and
technologies.

1.1. Conclusion
As with traditional piston engines, VVT engines use cams on a camshaft to drive the flow of
air into the intake and exhaust valves. The timing of this valve lifts directly affects how much
air is taken in during each engine cycle. At times when the engine requires more air flow (for
example high speeds or acceleration), a traditional piston engine often does not allow enough
air to flow during each cycle, resulting in lower output performance. Conversely, a traditional
piston engine that has been designed to feature longer exhaust and intake cycles will result in
reduced fuel efficiency at slower speeds.

The valve train system has a higher importance at the HCCI engines. Beside its main
purpose, to ensure the exhaust of the burned gases and the intake of the fresh air, the valve
train system has to ensure the conditions needed to obtain the homogeneous combustion and
also to control the auto ignition delay. Due to this task, more complex mechanisms capable of
modifying the valve lifts while the engine is running are used. The best performances of the
engine can be achieved when the intake valve lifts are fine-tuned depending on the exhaust
valve lifts. The main objective is to ensure the proper timing for the opening of the intake
valve when the pressure from the intake manifold is similar with the cylinder pressure. The
best timing is obtained when no burned gases from the cylinder are passing into the intake
manifold and the maximum quantity of air is aspired during the intake process.

It is observed that using different cam phase positions the swirl number generated in the
cylinder changes. In order to obtain a higher volumetric efficiency and a superior in-cylinder
movement of gases, the retarded opening time of the valve must be chosen carefully so that
the downwards displacement of the piston creates the depression which induces a large
quantity of fuel-air mixture. If the intake valve opening is too retarded the piston will be close

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enough to the bottom dead centre point, thus the swirl number will be decreased because of
the low speed of the induced mixture, but in the same time a retarded point increases the swirl
production during the exhaust reverse flow The amount of trapped burned gases has a huge
influence on the combustion.

Various studies have shown that the engine which uses variable valve timing allows the
reduction of pumping loss, control of internal residual gas recirculation and emissions, along
with improvement of performance over a wide range of revolutions per minute. All of these
factors contribute to a considerable potential improvement in fuel economy.

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CHAPTER 2

2. INTRODUCTION

Fig2.1 combustion in Diesel, Petrol and HCCI engine

HCCI has the characteristic of two most popular forms of combustion used in internal
combustion engines as in Fig1; spark ignition (gasoline engine) and stratified charge
compression ignition (diesel engine). HCCI is achieved when a pre-mixed charge of air, fuel
and recycled combustion products is auto-ignited by compression in a reciprocating engine.
Auto-ignition of HCCI depends on the pressure and temperature of the unburnt fuel/air
mixture. In SI engine, fuels needs to be resistant to auto-ignition whereas in conventional CI
engine fuel should auto-ignite readily. The auto-ignition phenomena of HCCI will vary very
widely across different fuel quality together with the engine design and operating conditions.

The main feature of HCCI combustion of becoming an interest subject to the present
combustion engine development is that HCCI auto-ignition can be achieved with very lean
overall mixtures (much leaner than can be ignited with a spark) which alleviates the throttling
requirement at low engine loads. This results in a distributed reaction of the mixture which
occurs at relatively low temperatures, and prevents the formation of NOx emissions, thus
eliminating the need for catalytic NOx reduction from the exhaust gas. For this reason, HCCI
combustion has received much attention and has been the subject of numerous investigations
in internal combustion engines. On the other hand, HCCI combustion of stoichiometric or

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fuel-rich mixtures results in a very high heat release rates that create excessive cylinder
pressures and combustion noise. Many researchers have reported “knocking” pressure
oscillations when attempting high load HCCI combustion. These characteristics make HCCI
combustion well suited to improve the low to moderate load operation of internal combustion
engines.

2.1 CLASSIFICATION OF COMBUSTION BASED ON IGNITION

SYSTEM ENGINES
We have mainly three types of Combustion Engines

1) Spark Plug Ignition Engine

2) Laser Ignition Engine

3) Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition Engine

2.1.1 Spark Plug Ignition System

Fig2.2 Four Stroke Spark Ignition System

Spark-ignition engines are commonly referred to as "gasoline engines" in America, and

"petrol engines" in Britain and the rest of the world. However, these terms are not preferred,
since spark-ignition engines can (and increasingly are) run on fuels other than petrol/gasoline,
such as auto-gas (LPG), methanol, ethanol, bioethanol, compressed natural
gas (CNG), hydrogen, and (in drag racing) nitromethane.

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A four-stroke spark-ignition engine is an Otto cycle engine. It consists of following four

strokes: suction or intake stroke, compression stroke, expansion or power stroke, exhaust
stroke. Each stroke consists of 180 degree rotation of crankshaft rotation and hence
a four-stroke cycle is completed through 720 degree of crank rotation. Thus for one complete
cycle there is only one power stroke while the crankshaft turns by two revolutions.

2.1.2 Laser Ignition Engine

Fig.2.3 laser Ignition System

Laser ignition, or laser-induced ignition, is the process of starting combustion by the stimulus
of a laser light source. Laser ignition can enhance the combustion process and minimize
pollutant formation. It works same as that of spark ignition engine, but in this case instead of
using spark plug we use laser beam. It all starts with the electrons.
By having:

- Population Inversion

- Stimulated Emission

- Strategic Planting of Mirrors

A nano-second of pulse is generated. This generated pulse contains bundle of energy which
makes the fuel to combust.

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CHAPTER 3

3. HOMOGENEOUS CHARGE COMPRESSION IGNITION

ENGINE
3.1 What is HCCI?

Fig3.1 Different types of ignition system

HCCI is an alternative piston-engine combustion process that can provide efficiencies as high
as compression-ignition, direct-injection (CIDI) engines (an advanced version of the
commonly known diesel engine) while, unlike CIDI engines, producing ultra-low oxides of
nitrogen (NOx) and particulate matter (PM) emissions. HCCI engines operate on the
principle of having a dilute, premixed charge that reacts and burns volumetrically throughout
the cylinder as it is compressed by the piston. In some regards, HCCI incorporates the best
features of both spark ignition (SI) and compression ignition (CI), as shown in Figure 4. As in
an SI engine, the charge is well mixed, which minimizes particulate emissions, and as in a
CIDI engine, the charge is compression ignited and has no throttling losses, which leads to
high efficiency. However, unlike either of these conventional engines, the combustion occurs
simultaneously throughout the volume rather than in a flame front. This important attribute of
HCCI allows combustion to occur at much lower temperatures, dramatically reducing
engine-out emissions of NOx. Most engines employing HCCI to date have dual mode

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combustion systems in which traditional SI or CI combustion is used for operating conditions

where HCCI operation is more difficult.
Typically, the engine is cold-started as an SI or CIDI engine, then switched to HCCI mode
for idle and low- to mid-load operation to obtain the benefits of HCCI in this regime, which
comprises a large portion of typical automotive driving cycles. For high-load operation, the
engine would again be switched to SI or CIDI operation.

3.2 Working of HCCI

In an HCCI engine, fuel delivery control is of paramount importance in controlling the
combustion process. On the intake stroke, fuel is injected into each cylinder's combustion
chamber via fuel injectors mounted directly in the cylinder head. This is achieved
independently from air induction which takes place through the intake plenum. By the end of
the intake stroke, fuel and air have been fully introduced and mixed in the cylinder's
combustion chamber.

As the piston begins to move back up during the compression stroke, heat begins to build in
the combustion chamber. When the piston reaches the end of this stroke, sufficient heat has
accumulated to cause the fuel/air mixture to spontaneously combust (no spark is necessary)
and force the piston down for the power stroke. Unlike conventional spark engines (and even
diesels), the combustion process is a lean, low temperature and flameless release of energy
across the entire combustion chamber. The entire fuel mixture is burned simultaneously
producing equivalent power, but using much less fuel and releasing far fewer emissions in the
process.

At the end of the power stroke, the piston reverses direction again and initiates the exhaust
stroke, but before all of the exhaust gases can be evacuated, the exhaust valves close early,
trapping some of the latent combustion heat. This heat is preserved, and a small quantity of
fuel is injected into the combustion chamber for a pre-charge (to help control combustion
temperatures and emissions) before the next intake stroke begins.

3.3 Theory on controlling HCCI combustion

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According to previous research, the auto-ignition process was a random multiple

auto-ignition phenomenon that started throughout the combustion chamber, possibly at
locations of maximum interaction between the hot exhaust gases and the fresh fuel–air
mixture. In other cases, however, a uniform auto-ignition front was observed. Thus, a lot of
research has focused on investigating the propagation speed and spatial development of the
auto-ignition process, and how these parameters can be altered to control HCCI combustion.
Using a high CR engine, the auto-ignition front propagation was investigated experimentally.
It was found that with HCCI combustion there were no sharp edges in the intensity histogram
of the PLIF images indicating that the transition from fuel to products was a gradual process.
Furthermore the global propagation speed was found to be 82m/s while the growth of small
auto-ignition sites showed that the local propagation speed was of the order of 15m/s. similar
speeds have been measured in the development of self-ignited centres in the unburned
end-gas ahead of a flame front in a SI engine. It was shown that the propagation speed of
these self-ignited canters was in the range of 16-25m/s, and thus they have concluded that,
under their engine conditions, the self-ignition was not driven by a shock-wave (i.e. no
knocking was observed). Similar propagation speeds has also been shown in HCCI engines
by others as well, both computationally and experimentally with fast camera imaging.
Various techniques and computational models have also been used to investigate the
parameters that affect the spatial development of auto-ignition . PLIF was used to obtain
imaging of fuel and hydroxyl radicals in order to investigate the extent to which charge
homogeneity affected the combustion process in an HCCI engine. Regardless of the
preparation method, LIF of both OH and fuel showed that combustion was inhomogeneous
with large spatial and temporal variations. Both direct imaging and PLIF were used to
investigate the effect of the stratification of burned gases on spatial development of
auto-ignition . It was found that combustion started near the centre of the combustion
chamber at the boundary between the hot exhaust gases, situated at the centre owing to poor
scavenging characteristics of the valves, and the fresh intake charge. In the homogeneous
case, luminescence was observed for a short duration over a large spatial area of the
combustion chamber while luminescence appeared locally over a wider time period in the
inhomogeneous case. They reported that varying the charge inhomogeneity could be used as

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a method for controlling the combustion duration in HCCI engines. Similar results were
acquired by others, where the auto-ignition process was spatial uniform, and this uniformly
decreased with increasing the inhomogeneity in the charge. Computationally, mathematical
analysis has been performed, to investigate the spreading of “hot spots” (auto-ignition
regions of high temperature, which may have been caused by a chemical reaction) to the
surrounding colder gases. Depending on the temperature gradient across the “hot spots”, they
have shown that the auto-ignition front moves into the unburned mixture at approximately
the acoustic speed, leading to a developing detonation, or at a lower speed (higher than flame
propagation), leading to either autoignitive deflagration or thermal explosion where
auto-ignition is driven by the ignition delay and not by molecular transport processes. It was
shown that a thermal explosion occurred at very low temperature gradients, a developing
detonation occurred at a specific medium temperature gradient, and a deflagration occurred at
high temperature gradients. The effect of in homogeneities of EGR on the spatial
auto-ignition process has also been investigated computationally. A temperature profile was
created by distributing the EGR gases at different locations within the engine cylinder. When
EGR gases were distributed near the wall of the cylinder (lower temperature zone) (and thus
the fuel mixture was concentrated near the centre of the 134 Advances in Internal
Combustion Engines and Fuel Technologies cylinder) HCCI combustion was improved in
comparison with the homogeneous EGR distribution case. When gases from EGR were
concentrated near the centre of the cylinder (higher-temperature zone) (and thus the fuel
mixture was distributed near the wall of the cylinder) HCCI combustion became slower in
comparison to the homogeneous EGR distribution case.

3.4 Challenges for HCCI

An on-going developmental problem with HCCI engines is controlling the combustion

process. In traditional spark engines, combustion timing is easily adjusted by the engine
management control module changing the spark event and perhaps fuel delivery. It's not
nearly so easy with HCCI's flameless combustion. Combustion chamber temperature and
mixture composition must be tightly controlled within quickly changing and very narrow
thresholds that include parameters such as cylinder pressure, engine load and RPMs and

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throttle position, ambient air temperature extremes and atmospheric pressure changes. Most
of these conditions are compensated for with sensors and automatic adjustments to otherwise
normally fixed actions. Included are: individual cylinder pressure sensors, variable hydraulic
valve lift and electromechanical phasers for camshaft timing. The trick isn't so much as
getting these systems to work as it is getting them to work together, very quickly, and over
many thousands of miles and years of wear and tear. Perhaps just as challenging though will
be the problem of keeping these advanced control systems affordable.

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4. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN HCCI

Cummins has been researching HCCI for almost 15 years. Industrial engines run in-house
using HCCI combustion of natural gas have achieved remarkable emission and efficiency
results. However, Cummins has found that it is quite challenging to control the combustion
phasing over a real-world operating envelope including variations in ambient conditions, fuel
quality variation, speed and load. Because the new diesel emissions targets are beyond the
capability of conventional diesel engines, Cummins is investigating all options, including
HCCI, as part of their design palette and future engine strategy.

4.1. Fundamental Understanding

Over the last few years, a consensus has developed as to the nature of HCCI combustion. It is
now generally agreed that HCCI combustion is dominated by local chemical-kinetic reaction
rates with no requirement for flame propagation. This notion has been supported by
spectroscopic data indicating that the order of radical formation in HCCI combustion
corresponds to self-ignition rather than flame propagation. Recent analytical developments
also support the view that HCCI combustion is dominated by chemical kinetics, and an
analysis method based on this premise has had considerable success in predicting HCCI
combustion and emissions. If a truly homogeneous mixture exists at the time of combustion,
turbulence has little direct effect on HCCI combustion, but it may have an indirect effect by
altering the temperature distribution and the boundary layer thickness within the cylinder.
Small temperature differences inside the cylinder have a considerable effect on combustion
due to the sensitivity of chemical kinetics to temperature. As a result, heat transfer and
mixing are important in forming the condition of the charge prior to ignition. However, they
play a secondary role during the HCCI combustion process itself because HCCI combustion
is very rapid.

4.2.Advancements in Speed and Load Control

Combustion control is the biggest challenge to HCCI engines becoming a commercial
success. For this reason, several methods have been proposed for achieving HCCI engine

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control over the wide range of operating conditions required for typical transportation-engine
applications. Control technologies reported in the literature have demonstrated some degree
of success, but further R&D efforts are required. Some of the proposed methods include:
• Variable compression ratio (VCR): HCCI combustion is strongly affected by the
compression ratio of the engine. Therefore, a VCR engine has the potential to achieve
satisfactory operation in HCCI mode over a wide range of conditions because the
compression ratio can be adjusted as the operating conditions change. Conditions change
quickly in vehicular applications; consequently, a fast control system that modifies the
compression ratio in fractions of a second is necessary. Several options have been studied to
obtain VCR engines. One option is to mount a plunger in the cylinder head whose position
can be varied to change the compression ratio. The compression ratio could also be varied by
using an opposed-piston engine design having variable phase-shifting between the two
crankshafts. SAAB has recently announced the development of another method that is based
on a hinged, tilting cylinder arrangement. The DOE has sponsored a unique VCR engine
design, which is being developed by Envera and tested at Argonne National Laboratory.
Similar to the SAAB approach, the Envera approach varies the distance between the cylinder
head and the crankshaft. However, unlike the SAAB approach, the VCR mechanism fits
inside the crankcase and is expected to provide a faster response and require less energy. The
Envera design will be tested this summer with publication of results to follow. While any of
these systems or some other mechanism might succeed, only the variable-position plunger
system has been demonstrated in an HCCI engine For these tests, the plunger was controlled
by a hydraulic system allowing its position to be varied during engine operation. The data
show that the VCR system is capable of controlling HCCI ignition timing to maintain optimal
combustion phasing across a very wide range of intake temperatures and fuel types of varying
octane number. Although transient operation and variations in speed and load were not
reported, the results suggest that a VCR system with sufficiently fast response time is a strong
candidate for HCCI engine speed and load control. VCR would add some cost and
complexity to the engine. SAAB has announced plans to go into production with its VCR
system on a conventional SI engine

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• Variable valve timing (VVT): VVT can be used to change the trapped compression ratio of
the engine (i.e., the amount of compression after the gases are trapped by intake-valve
closure), and therefore VVT can achieve a similar effect on HCCI combustion as varying the
geometric compression ratio of the engine. An engine could be built with a high geometric
compression ratio, with lower trapped compression-ratios being obtained by delaying the
closing of the intake valve during the compression stroke. Engines with VVT have the added
benefit of allowing changes in the temperature and composition of the incoming charge by
retaining hot residual gases from the previous cycle in the cylinder. By varying the amount of
hot residual, the temperature and mixture of the new charge can be adjusted. Increasing the
temperature of the charge in this manner can be used to induce HCCI combustion even with
relatively low geometric compression ratios or under cold-engine conditions. In addition,
altering the charge composition with partial mixing of the residual could benefit combustion
rate control as will be discussed in Section V. VVT could be implemented in an engine with
mechanical, magnetic, or hydraulic valve actuators. Recently, researchers at Stanford
University, using an electro-hydraulic VVT system, have shown that HCCI combustion can
be induced in an engine with a relatively low (10:1) compression ratio. Stanford also showed
that the VVT system could be used to control combustion timing and to switch between SI
and HCCI operation from one cycle to the next. Like VCR, a VVT system would add cost to
the engine; however, several manufacturers already have VVT systems in production or are
planning to go into production within the next year or two.

• Ignition-enhancing additives: HCCI engine control could be achieved by using two fuels
with different octane ratings. The system could be designed to have a main fuel with a high
octane number, while the secondary fuel, with a low octane number, is injected as needed to
advance combustion. This procedure has recently been studied for a combination of methane
and dimethyl ether (DME). However, this method typically requires carrying and refilling
two fuel tanks. Ideally, the amount of the secondary fuel being consumed would be minimal,
and the tank could be refueled only at the maintenance intervals. Alternatively, the addition
of ozone to the intake has been shown to be an excellent HCCI ignition improver,

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substantially advancing HCCI combustion even at very low concentrations. The system for
producing the ozone is inexpensive and has a fast response, but does require electrical power.

• Thermal control: The possibility also exists to control HCCI combustion by controlling the
temperature, pressure, and composition of the mixture at the beginning of the compression
stroke. In this methodology, thermal energy from exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) and
compression work from a supercharger are either recycled or rejected to obtain sati sfactory
combustion. The main advantage of this method is its simplicity, since it does not require
major engine modifications or use of fuel additives. The disadvantage of this method is that it
may be too slow to react to the rapidly changing conditions that typically exist in
transportation applications. A full transient response analysis of this type of system has yet to
be performed and would depend on the specific system used.

4.3. Results Using Different Fuels

One of the advantages of HCCI combustion is its intrinsic fuel flexibility. HCCI combustion
has little sensitivity to fuel characteristics such as lubricity and laminar flame speed. Fuels
with any octane or cetane number can be burned, although the operating conditions must be
adjusted to accommodate different fuels, which can impact efficiency, as discussed below.
An HCCI engine with VCR or VVT could, in principle, operate on any hydrocarbon or
alcohol liquid fuel, as long as the fuel is vaporized and mixed with the air before ignition.
The literature shows that HCCI has been achieved with multiple fuels. The main fuels that
have been used are gasoline, diesel fuel, propane, natural gas, and single- and
dual-component mixtures of the gasoline and diesel primary reference fuels (iso-octane and
n-heptane, respectively). The applicability of these fuels to HCCI engines is discussed below.
Other fuels (methanol, ethanol, acetone) have also been tried in experiments, but with
inconclusive results.
• Gasoline: Gasoline has multiple advantages as an HCCI fuel. Gasoline also has a high
octane number (87 to 92 in the U.S. and up to 98 in Europe), which allows the use of
reasonably high compression ratios in HCCI engines. Actual compression ratios for
gasoline-fueled HCCI engine data vary from 12:1 to 21:1 depending on the fuel octane

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number, intake air temperature, and the specific engine used (which may affect the amount of
hot residual naturally retained). This compression-ratio range allows gasoline-fueled HCCI
engines to achieve relatively high thermal efficiencies (in the range of diesel-fueled CIDI
engine efficiencies). A potential drawback to higher compression ratios is that the engine
design must accommodate the relatively high cylinder pressures that can result, particularly at
high engine loads (see discussion in Section V B). Additional advantages of gasoline include
easy evaporation, simple mixture preparation, and a ubiquitous refueling infrastructure.

• Diesel Fuel: Diesel fuel autoignites rapidly at relatively low temperatures but is difficult to
evaporate. To obtain diesel-fuel HCCI combustion, the air-fuel mixture must be heated
considerably to evaporate the fuel. The compression ratio of the engine must be very low (8:1
or lower) to obtain satisfactory combustion, which results in a low engine efficiency.
Alternatively, the fuel can be injected in-cylinder, but without air preheating, temperatures
are not sufficiently high for diesel-fuel vaporization until well up the compression stroke.
This strategy often results in incomplete fuel vaporization and poor mixture preparation,
which can lead to particulate matter and NOx emissions. However, one concept for direct
injection of diesel fuel, involving late injection (after TDC) with high swirl, has been
successful at thoroughly vaporizing and mixing the fuel before ignition at light loads. This
mode of operation is used in the Nissan MK engine, to be discussed in the next sub-section.
In addition, diesel fuel has an extensive refueling infrastructure.
• Propane: Propane is an excellent fuel for HCCI. High efficiencies can be achieved with
propane-fueled HCCI engines because propane has a high octane number (105). Because
propane is a gaseous fuel, it can be easily mixed with air. Some infrastructure also exists for
propane. Because it can be maintained as a liquid at moderate pressures, the amount of fuel
that can be stored onboard a vehicle is comparable to what can be stored for typical liquid
fuels.

• Natural Gas: Because natural gas has an extremely high octane rating (about 110), natural
gas HCCI engines can be operated at very high compression ratios (15:1 to 21:1), resulting in
high efficiency. However, similar to gasoline or propane, the engine design must

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accommodate the relatively high cylinder pressures that can result. Natural gas is widely
available throughout the U.S.

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CHAPTER 5

5. Early Applications of HCCI Technology

Currently, two commercially available engines run in HCCI mode over part of their duty
cycles. In both cases, HCCI operation is limited to light-load conditions, with the engines
reverting to conventional combustion systems at high loads, as discussed below.
5.1. Nissan "MK" Combustion System
The "Modulated Kinetics" (MK) system, developed by Nissan, incorporates in a regular CIDI
engine using diesel fuel. At light load, the engine operates with high swirl, high EGR, and
retarded injection timing. Under these conditions, the time required to achieve nearly
complete mixing is shorter than the time required for fuel auto-ignition . Therefore,
near-homogeneous combustion occurs. At these low loads, the equivalence ratio is low;
therefore, the homogeneous combustion results in extremely low NOx and particulate matter
emissions. Retarded fuel injection generally results in low efficiency. However, reduced heat
transfer losses mitigate this problem. Consequently, the original efficiency of the CIDI engine
is maintained or slightly improved. The engine runs in MK mode at low load and switches to
regular diesel operation at high loads. Current research efforts are directed at extending the
range of operation of the engine in MK mode. The plan is to extend the MK region of
operation to include the entire area of the load/speed map where the 10-15 mode Japanese
emissions test takes place. The 10-15 mode test is considered to be representative of urban
driving, and it covers an operating range from idle to slightly less than half of the rated load
and speed of the engine.

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5.2. Honda AR Motorcycle Engine

Fig. Honda AR Motor cycle engine

The Honda Active Radical (AR) engine is a2-stroke cycle, single-cylinder engine that is now
commercially available for motorcycles (see Figure). The AR engine is also a dual-mode
engine. It operates as a spark-ignition engine at high loads, at idle, and for cold-starts. The
engine transitions to HCCI combustion at low load. The engine has a low (6.1:1) trapped
compression ratio, and HCCI operation is obtained by throttling the exhaust. With exhaust
throttling, the engine operates with a high fraction of hot residual gases, which is enough to
obtain HCCI combustion, even at a very low compression ratio. Exhaust throttling is
decreased as the load increases, until finally the residual fraction is too low to keep the engine
operating in HCCI mode. At this point, the engine switches to a conventional spark-ignition
operation mode. The performance map has a "transition region" where the engine can operate
in both HCCI mode and SI mode.
The AR engine has demonstrated considerable advantages in fuel economy, which is 27
percent better than a regular 2-stroke cycle engine under "real-life" riding condition.
Drivability is also substantially improved. Hydrocarbon emissions are also reduced by 50

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percent with respect to a regular 2-stroke cycle engine. However, without emission controls,
hydrocarbon emissions are still very high compared to the current automotive emissions
standards.

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HCCI ENGINES

CHAPTER 6

6. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

Recent research has greatly expanded our understanding of HCCI, the controlling
mechanisms, and HCCI engine operation strategies. However, substantially more R&D effort
is required before heavy and light-duty HCCI engines will be ready for production in the U.S.
The main areas requiring R&D are outlined below. In addition, enabling technologies such as
VVT are applicable to several of these areas as discussed below.
6.1. Ignition Timing Control
R&D is needed to develop control methods for HCCI engines in order to overcome the
challenge of maintaining ignition timing as load and speed are varied. Maintaining optimal
ignition timing is more challenging for HCCI engines than for conventional engines because
no positive mechanism, such as spark or fuel-injection, determines ignition timing.
In HCCI engines, ignition timing is determined by the chemical kinetic reaction rates of the
mixture, which are controlled by time, temperature, and mixture composition. Of these
parameters, ignition timing is most sensitive to temperature. As engine speed and load (time
and mixture) are varied, the ignition timing will also vary, unless the charge temperature is
adjusted to compensate. Note that the amount of compensation required is a strong function
of fuel type, with one-stage-ignition fuels (e.g., gasoline) requiring much less compensation
for changes in speed and load than two-stage-ignition fuels (e.g., diesel fuel).
Various methods of controlling the charge temperature near TDC have been suggested and
some have been demonstrated for limited conditions. Perhaps the most straightforward way
to control charge temperature in an HCCI engine is to add a variable amount of hot EGR to
the intake; however, the response is slow, and transients are not handled well. Alternatively,
varying the temperature by mechanical variation of the compression ratio (VCR) has recently
been demonstrated as an excellent way of controlling HCCI ignition timing. This technique
could be adapted to automatic controls. For example, SAAB has recently announced plans to
go into production with a variable compression ratio SI engine using a clever tilting-cylinder
mechanism that could easily be adapted to HCCI engines. Finally, VVT might be the most
versatile way of controlling the charge temperature. VVT would allow the charge temperature
to be varied both by varying the effective compression ratio and by varying the amount of hot

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residual in the chamber, with the latter having potential advantages for high-load operation
and cold-start.

6.2.Combustion Rate Control for High-Load Operation

R&D is needed to develop methods to slow the rate of combustion in HCCI engines at high
engine loads to prevent excessive noise and engine damage. (Due to a combination of
relatively slow kinetics and small inhomogeneity’s in the charge, the heat release rate in
HCCI engines is generally slow enough for smooth operation and acceptable noise levels at
low and moderate loads. However, at high loads, the kinetic rates are faster, and the heat
release rate from near homogeneous HCCI can become very rapid, causing unacceptable
noise and eventual engine damage.) At least two solutions appear feasible as described in the
following. First, on a shorter time horizon, at high loads the engine could switch over and run
as a conventional SI or CIDI engine. SI operation has advantages for control of NOx
emissions, and gasoline-like fuels offer additional advantages. On the other hand, CIDI
operation has the advantage of high efficiency. Conversion to SI operation may require
reducing the compression ratio, which would be straightforward for an engine equipped with
a VVT or VCR system. The recent results from the Stanford VVT engine indicate that this
type of concept can work, but R&D efforts are needed to advance the concept to a wider
range of operation and to develop strategies to smoothly transition between HCCI and SI or
CIDI operation under load and during strong transients.
Second, the charge temperature and/or mixture could be partially stratified to smooth out the
heat release rate. Because even small variations in intake temperature (~10° C) can
significantly alter HCCI ignition timing, thermal stratification is a feasible means of
spreading out the heat release. Thermal stratification could be accomplished by variable
in-cylinder flows that produce non-uniform heat-transfer rates or by incomplete mixing of the
cool, fresh fuel/air mixture with hot residual combustion products. In addition to thermal
stratification, partial mixture stratification of iso-thermal components (either the fuel/air
mixture or the fresh charge/residual mixture) can also produce staged HCCI combustion. The
potential of partial charge stratification (thermal and/or species) is largely unexplored. The
extent to which stratification can extend the smooth operating range of an HCCI engine is

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unknown, but it is highly probable that the range could be extended substantially. R&D is
required to determine the potential of this technique and to develop practical methods for
achieving the required stratification and to investigate whether this stratified operation
increases NOx and particulate matter emissions.
6.3.Cold-Start
R&D is needed to develop concepts to overcome the challenge of ignition in cold HCCI
engines without compromising the warm engine performance. Past research has focused on
warm-engine HCCI operation, and little, if any, research has been conducted to address the
issue of cold start.
HCCI combustion is strongly dependent on the charge temperature. During cold-start, the
fuel/air charge receives no preheating from the intake manifolds and ports, and heat transfer
from the compressed charge to the cold combustion chamber walls is high. The combination
of these effect can significantly reduce the compressed-gas temperature and prevent an HCCI
engine from firing. Three solutions appear possible. First, the engine could be started as a
conventional spark-ignition (SI) engine, then switched to HCCI mode after a short warm-up.
This scheme would likely require the compression ratio to be reduced during the SI, warm-up
operation, which could be readily accomplished on an engine equipped with a VVT or VCR
system to handle transients. VVT has the added benefit of allowing the hot residual to be
retained from the previous cycle; thereby allowing a more rapid transition to HCCI. Second,
the engine could be started in HCCI mode by increasing the compression ratio during cold
start, with a VVT or VCR system. Third, a glow plug could be used to assist HCCI ignition
until the engine warms up. Combinations of these systems might also be used.

6.4.Emission Control
R&D is needed to develop emission control systems and control strategies to overcome the
challenge of maintaining acceptable levels of emissions, particularly at low loads. At low and
moderate loads, HCCI engines emit very low levels of NOx; consequently, no emissions
control is required to reduce NOx. However, as the operating range is extended to high loads,
NOx emissions can become excessive, and the combustion rate and can become too rapid, as
discussed previously.

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1. Hydrocarbon (HC) and Carbon Monoxide (CO) Emissions: HCCI engines have generally
been found to have fairly high HC emissions. At high loads the HC engine-out emissions are
similar to those of an SI engine and can probably be controlled with an oxidation catalyst.
However, at low loads (e.g., idle) HC emissions become worse, presumably because
temperatures are so low that fuel near the wall does not burn. In addition, at very light loads,
the temperatures become too low to complete the CO-to-CO2 reactions. A partially stratified
injection scheme would likely mitigate the low-load problems. Rather than having a
homogeneous mixture that is very lean throughout, the fuel could be concentrated near the
center of the cylinder. Not only would these mixtures burn well in HCCI mode, but fuel
would not be near the walls or crevices; therefore, HCs from these sources would also be
eliminated. Partially stratified fueling could be accomplished by a DI fuel injection system
similar to those being explored for gasoline SIDI engines or by a special intake flow
arrangement similar to those used by Mitsubishi and Toyota on their early, stratified charge
SI engines. These systems could substantially reduce HCs at low load, but an oxidation
catalyst will still likely be required. Research is needed to determine the potential of partial
charge stratification techniques or other methods for controlling HC and CO emissions. In
addition, R&D efforts are needed for the development of a low-temperature oxidation
catalyst appropriate for HCCI engines operating at light load.
2. NOx Emissions at High Loads: HCCI engines produce very low levels of NOx because
they operate with a very dilute, premixed charge. As the fuel addition is increased to produce
more power, the charge becomes less dilute and combustion temperature increases, which can
eventually lead to significant NOx emissions. For near-homogeneous HCCI engines, the
rapid combustion rate at higher loads typically limits the power output before NOx emissions
become excessive. Using partially stratified (in temperature or composition) charge
compression ignition (SCCI) as described previously, the operating range could be extended
to higher loads but with a more distributed heat release that minimizes peak temperatures and
hence NOx. Research will be required to determine the extent to which fuel load can be
increased with SCCI before NOx emissions become a problem. R&D efforts are required to
explore these options and other potentially promising methods to control NOx at high loads
while maintaining the efficiency advantages of HCCI/SCCI-type combustion.

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CHAPTER 7

7. COMPARISON BETWEEN HCCI IGNITION AND SPARK

IGNITION.

7.1. Cause studied

Four HCCI cases and one SI case were selected from two stroke engine test programme for
simulation. The case conditions are summarized in table and operating conditions were
illustrated in fig. Each of the cases, including SI condition, uses the same valve timing.
Case A B C D E
Engine speed 2250 2753 3255 3258 1500
[rev/min]
IMEP[bar] 1.967 2.61 3.834 1.566 3,91

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Overall AFR 19.39 18.67 19.17 19.15 20.82

Fuel 5.74 7.149.85 9.85 4.47 10.51
injection
mass[mg]
Operation HCCI HCCI HCCI HCCI SI
mode

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CHAPTER 8
8. HCCI ENGINE DESIGN
8.1. Variable Compression Ratio (VCR)
The effect of CRs ranging from 10:1 to 28:1 on various fuels was extensively studied. VCR
can be achieved using a modified cylinder head that its position can be altered during
operation using a hydraulic system. NOx and smoke emissions were not affected by CR and
were generally very low. However, an increased CR resulted in higher HC emissions and a
decrease in combustion efficiency. Others reported that decreasing inlet temperatures and
lambdas, higher CRs were need to maintain correct maximum brake torque and concluded
that variable CR can be used instead of inlet heating to achieve HCCI combustion.
Furthermore, the effect of CR on HCCI combustion in a direct-injection diesel engine was
also investigated. The CR could be varied from 7:5:1 to 17:1 by moving the head and
cylinder liner assembly relative to the centreline of the crankshaft. Acceptable HCCI
combustion was achieved with ignition timing occurring before TDC – with misfire being
exhibited if ignition timing was further delayed – with CRs from 8:1 to14:1. However, with a
knocking intensity of 4 (where audible knock occurs at 5 on a scale from zero to ten), the
acceptable HCCI operation was limited at CRs from 8:1 to 11:1.

8.2.Supercharging and turbocharging

Supercharging (2bar boost pressure) was shown to increase the Indicated Mean Effective
Pressure (IMEP) of an engine under HCCI combustion to 14bar. Supercharging was used
because of its capability to deliver increased density and pressure at all engine speeds while
turbocharging depends on the speed of the engine. However, this resulted in lower efficiency
due to the power used for supercharging. Supercharging resulted in greater emissions of CO
and HC, greater cylinder pressure, longer combustion duration and lower NOx emissions.
There were no combustion related problems in operating HCCI with supercharging and the
maximum net indicated efficiency achieved was 59%. On the contrary, others investigated
the effect of turbo charging on HCCI combustion. A Brake Mean Effective Pressure (BMEP)
of 16bar (compared to 6bar without turbo charging and 21bar with the unmodified diesel
engine) and an efficiency of 41.2% (compared to 45.3% with the unmodified diesel engine)

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were achieved. Furthermore, CO and HC emissions decreased with increasing load, but NOx
emissions increased. However, at higher loads, as the rate of pressure increased and the peak
pressure approached their set limit (i.e. peak pressure greater than 200bar), ignition timing
was retarded at the expense of combustion efficiency. Thus, in order to improve the
combustion efficiency at high boost levels, cooled EGR rates was introduced, and it was
shown that under those conditions, the combustion efficiency increased only slightly.
Homogenous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) Engines Even though EGR has been
employed by various researchers, the results are not always consistent within the research
community. Depending on the method of EGR used (trapped exhaust gases due to valve
timing, or exhaust gases re-introduced in the manifold), the results can vary, since both the
temperature and chemical species present might not be the same in all cases.
Both aforementioned methods were employed, where the first method relied on trapping a set
quantity of exhaust gas by closing the exhaust valves relatively early, while in the second
method, all the exhaust gases were expelled during the exhaust stroke, but during the intake
stroke, both the inlet and exhaust valves opened simultaneously, to draw in the engine
cylinder both fresh charge and exhaust gas. It was shown that HCCI combustion is possible
with EGR and without preheating the inlet air and that increasing the quantity of exhaust
gases advances the ignition timing. Furthermore it was concluded that HCCI can become
reproducible and consistent by controlling the ignition timing by altering the EGR rate.
Others achieved EGR, by throttling the exhaust manifold, which increased the pumping work
and reduced the overall efficiency. They concluded that:
• ​With increasing EGR, and thus decreasing A/F ratio and slower chemical reactions, the inlet
gas temperature must also be increased
• ​With increasing amounts of EGR, the combustion process becomes slower, resulting in
lower peak pressure and lower rate of heat release and therefore longer combustion rates.
• ​Both the combustion and gross indicated efficiencies increased with increasing EGR. Based
on further work, it was concluded that EGR had both thermal and chemical effects on HCCI
combustion and that active species in the exhaust gases promoted HCCI. Others however,
reported contradicting results, where varying the EGR had little effect on combustion timing,
on gross IMEP, combustion efficiency and net indicated efficiency. However, in those cases,

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the EGR was taken from the exhaust pipe and through a secondary pipe re-introduced in the
inlet pipe where it was mixed with the fresh air mixture. There was no indication of pipe
insulation or of the temperature of the EGR gases. Therefore, if the temperature of the gases
was lower or of the same order as the intake gas temperature, then the effect of the EGR
might have been reduced to only dilution effects.
Others on the other hand, investigated the importance of EGR stratification on HCCI
combustion. It was found that HCCI combustion started near the centre of the combustion
chamber at the boundary between the hot exhaust gases, situated at the centre due to poor
scavenging characteristics of the valves, and the fresh intake charge. The importance of the
mixing of the EGR and the fresh-air mixture was identified, since by controlling the EGR
stratification, the combustion timing might also be controlled. The effect of homogeneous
and inhomogeneous cooled EGR on HCCI combustion has also been investigated. For the
homogeneous case, the fresh air and EGR gases were mixed upstream of the intake port and
thus well-mixed before the fuel injector. For the inhomogeneous case, EGR gases were
introduced downstream the fuel injector and therefore there was no time for proper mixing.
128 Advances in Internal Combustion Engines and Fuel Technologies With inhomogeneous
EGR supply, auto-ignition timing was advanced (due to local hot spots of fresh air-fuel
mixture) but the overall combustion was slower (due to local cold spots of exhaust gas-fuel
mixture), than with homogeneous EGR supply.

8.3.Fuel injection strategies

Fuel injection strategies is one of the most important topics under research for HCCI
combustion, as it can be easily controlled, compared to VCR, multiple fuel injection, etc, to
alter HCCI combustion, by varying the injection timing and duration, and the injector
location and type. It was shown that even injector nozzle optimizations can be employed to
alter the fuel spray and affect HCCI combustion. Injector location was also investigated by
using both port injection – to create a premixed fuel-air mixture – and direct injection – to
control the timing of auto-ignition . Others, focused on different fuel injection strategies;
injecting the fuel in a 20 litre mixing tank before the engine intake port and injecting the fuel
just outside the engine intake port. The first treatment resulted in a homogeneous mixture,

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while the second treatment resulted in a mixture with fluctuations of the order of 4 to 6mm.
Regardless of the preparation method however, combustion was inhomogeneous with very
large spatial fluctuations. Furthermore, the local combustion kernels did not have a tendency
to be more frequent in the central part of the combustion chamber, where the temperature was
assumed to be higher than in the vicinity of the walls. They were unable though to identify
the process that caused the very inhomogeneous combustion initiation. Others also
investigated the effect of various injection patterns and their combination on HCCI
combustion.
In particular, the following three fuel injection patterns were investigated: (i)
Injection during the negative valve overlap interval to cause fuel reformation, (ii) injection
during the intake stroke to form a homogeneous mixture and (iii) injection during the
compression stroke to form a stratified mixture. It was found that with fuel reformation, the
operating range of HCCI combustion was extended without an increase in the NOx
emissions. Furthermore, limited operation was observed with late injection timing that also
led to high NOx emissions. Two other injection systems were also employed: (i) a premixed
injection injector in the intake manifold to create a homogeneous charge and (ii) a DI injector
to create a stratified charge. Thus by varying the amount of fuel injected through the DI
injector (from 0 to 100%) and varying the injection timing of the DI injector (from 300 to
30°CA BTDC) different stratification levels were achieved. It was found that HCCI
combustion was improved at the lean limit with charge stratification, while CO and HC
emissions decreased. On the contrary, at the richer limit, a decrease in combustion efficiency
was evident at certain conditions. It was concluded that charge stratification causes locally
richer regions that, in the lean limit, improved combustion efficiency by raising the
in-cylinder temperature during the early stages of the auto-ignition process, while at the rich
limit, the change in the in-cylinder temperature does not affect the combustion efficiency to
such an extent.
The possibility of using a Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI) injector and varying the injection
timing to control HCCI combustion has also been investigated. It was concluded that the
most homogeneous mixture was formed with early injection timings, while fuel
inhomogeneity’s (and thus regions with richer fuel concentration) were present with retarded

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injection timings. With retarded injection timing and thus increased fuel inhomogeneity,
combustion of locally richer mixtures caused an increase in the combustion temperature that
as a result, caused higher combustion efficiency, an increase in NOx emissions but a decrease
in CO and HC emissions. Furthermore, with late retarded injection timings, a decrease in the
combustion efficiency (and increase in the CO and HC emissions) was observed due to fuel
impingement on the piston surface. It was concluded that fuel stratification can be used to
improve HCCI combustion under very lean conditions but that great care is needed to avoid
the formation of NOx due to locally near-stoichiometric fuel concentrations.

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8.4.Operational limits and emissions

With stable HCCI combustion over a range of CRs, fuels, inlet temperatures and EGR rates,
operation maps of HCCI operation have been produced by various researchers for a wide
number of production engines. The effect of these parameters on BMEP, IMEP, combustion
efficiency, fuel economy and NOx, HC and CO emissions has been analysed in detail. There
is a vast, and some time contradicting, background literature especially on emissions and in
the present subsection, no assumptions have been made on the author’s behalf; the data is
presented in this subsection as analysed by the various researchers. This subsection is not
aimed to act a complete review on all the experiments conducted on all engines, but to
present to the reader the complexity in analysing HCCI engine operation. The modified
Scania DSC12 engine was used to run a multi cylinder engine in HCCI mode and to provide
quantitative figures of BMEP, emissions and cylinder-to-cylinder variations.
The engine was run at 1000, 1500 and 2000RPM and various mixtures of ​n​-heptane and
isoo​ ctane were used to phase the combustion close to maximum BMEP. A BMEP of up to
5bar was achieved by supplying all cylinders with the same fuel, but for higher loads, the fuel
injected in each cylinder had to be individually adjusted as small variations led to knocking in
individual cylinders. Even though a wide load range (1.5 to 6.15bar) was achieved with no
preheated air, preheating at low loads improved the CO and HC emissions. It was concluded
that HCCI was feasible in a multi cylinder engine and that the small temperature and lambda
cylinder-to-cylinder variations were acceptable. However, it would be impractical to alter the
fuel mixture in a commercial engine in order to vary the octane number, as was done in the
experiments.
A naturally-aspired Volkswagen TDI engine with propane as fuel, was used to investigated
the effect of different fuel flow rates and intake gas temperature on BMEP, IMEP, efficiency
and CO, HC and NOx emissions. It was concluded that:
• ​Combustion efficiency increased with increasing fuel flow rate or increasing intake gas
temperature.
• ​NOx emissions increased with increasing fuel flow rate and increasing intake gas
temperature.

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• ​CO and HC emissions decreased with increasing fuel flow rate and increasing intake gas
temperature. 130 Advances in Internal Combustion Engines and Fuel Technologies
Furthermore, at the lowest intake gas temperature operating point, the combustion process
varied considerably from cylinder to cylinder, but became more consistent with time as the
engine temperature increased.
Allen and Law produced operation maps of the modified Lotus engine under HCCI
combustion when running at stoichiometric A/F ratio. The operational speed range was found
to lie between 1000-4000RPM with loads of 0.5bar BMEP at higher speeds and 4.5bar at
lower speeds. The limitation at high speeds was due to knocking while at low speeds it was
thought to be due to insufficient thermal levels in the cylinder due to the very small amount
of fuel being burned. It was concluded that compared with SI combustion:
• ​Fuel consumption was reduced by up to 32%.
• ​NOx emissions were reduced by up to 97%.
• ​HC emissions were reduced by up to 45%.
• ​CO emissions were reduced by up to 52%.

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CHAPTER 9
9. ADVANTAGES OF HCCI

● Lean combustion returns 15 percent increase in fuel efficiency over a conventional spark
ignition engine.
● Cleaner combustion and lower emissions (especially NOx) than a conventional spark
ignition engine.
● Compatible with gasoline as fuel.
● Fuel is burned quicker and at lower temperatures, reducing heat energy loss compared to a
conventional spark engine.
Throttle less induction system eliminates frictional pumping losses incurred in traditional
spark engines. The advantages of HCCI are numerous and depend on the combustion system
to which it is compared. Relative to SI gasoline engines, HCCI engines are more efficient,
approaching the efficiency of a CIDI engine. This improved efficiency results from three
sources: the elimination of throttling losses, the use of high compression ratios (similar to a
CIDI engine), and a shorter combustion duration (since it is not necessary for a flame to
propagate across the cylinder). HCCI engines also have lower engine-out NOx than SI
engines. Although three-way catalysts are adequate for removing NOx from
current-technology SI engine exhaust, low NOx is an important advantage relative to
spark-ignition, direct-injection (SIDI) technology, which is being considered for future SI
engines.

HCCI engines have substantially lower emissions of PM and NOx

Another advantage of HCCI combustion is its fuel-flexibility. HCCI operation has been
shown using a wide range of fuels. Gasoline is particularly well suited for HCCI operation.
Highly efficient CIDI engines, on the other hand, cannot run on gasoline due to its low
acetone number. With successful R&D, HCCI engines might be commercialized in light-duty
passenger vehicles by 2010, and by 2015 as much as a half-million barrels of oil per day may
be saved.
Tests have also shown that under optimized conditions HCCI combustion can be very
repeatable, resulting in smooth engine operation. The emission control systems for HCCI
engines have the potential to be less costly and less dependent on scarce precious metals than
either SI or CIDI engines. HCCI is potentially applicable to both automobile and heavy truck
engines. In fact, it could be scaled to virtually every size-class of transportation engines from
small motorcycle to large ship engines. HCCI is also applicable to piston engines used
outside the transportation sector such as those used for electrical power generation and
pipeline pumping.

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9.1. Disadvantages of HCCI

● High cylinder pressures require stronger (and more expensive) engine constructiSon.
● More limited power range than a conventional spark engine.
● The many phases of combustion characteristics are difficult (and more expensive) to
control.
It is clear that HCCI technology offers superior fuel efficiency and emissions control
compared to the conventional tried-and-true spark ignition gasoline engine. What's
not-so-certain yet is the ability of these engines to deliver these characteristics inexpensively,
and, probably more importantly, reliably over the life of the vehicle. Continued
advancements in electronic controls has brought HCCI to the precipice of workable reality,
and further refinements will be necessary to push it over the edge into everyday production
vehicles.

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CONCLUSION
HCCI is the most commonly used name for the auto-ignition of various fuels and is one of
the most promising alternatives to SI combustion and CI combustion. In an IC engine, HCCI
combustion can the achieved by premixing the air-fuel mixture and compressing it until the
advances in Internal Combustion Engines and Fuel Technologies temperature is high enough
for auto-ignition to occur. HCCI combustion can be described by the oxidation of the fuel
driven solely by chemical reactions governed by chain-branching mechanisms and two
temperature regimes exist for these reactions – one below 850K (low temperature oxidation
or cool flame combustion) and one around 1050K (high temperature oxidation or main
combustion). This auto-ignition phenomenon has been the focus of various researchers since
the early 20th century.
Using HCCI engines will be beneficial to both economically and environmentally, as it
releases low amount of NOx and consumes very less fuel. In future we may get these engines
which will work even in high loads.

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REFERANCES
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compression ignition (HCCI) engines: key research and development issues. SAE
publication PT-94, 2003, pp. 325–348
3. M. Konno and Z. Chen. Ignition mechanisms of HCCI combustion process fueled
with methane/DME composite fuel. SAE Paper No. 2005-01-0182, 2005.
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