International Journal of Engine Research

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Irregular combustion in supercharged spark ignition engines − pre-ignition and other

phenomena
C Dahnz and U Spicher

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International Journal of Engine Research 2010 11: 485

DOI: 10.1243/14680874JER609

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 485

Irregular combustion in supercharged spark ignition engines – pre-

ignition and other phenomena
C Dahnz* and U Spicher
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institut fuer Kolbenmaschinen, Karlsruhe, Germany

The manuscript was accepted after revision for publication on 13 September 2010.
DOI: 10.1243/14680874JER609

Abstract: Downsizing is one of the most promising concepts to reduce fuel consumption of gasoline
engines. However, it is currently limited by the occurrence of irregular combustion phenomena at high
loads. This paper provides an overview of the combustion phenomena to be taken into account. At first,
knock, extreme knock, surface ignition, and pre-ignition are briefly introduced by a description of their
phenomenology. Since pre-ignition is the newest and least explored of these phenomena, the results of a
study about its phenomenology and reasons for its occurrence are presented. Finally, auto-ignition in
general is discussed, taking into account its occurrence, its effect, and its avoidance. Thereby, the general
remarks about auto-ignition are related to the phenomena observable in real engines.

Keywords: spark ignition engine, downsizing, irregular combustion, auto-ignition, knock, extreme knock,
surface ignition, pre-ignition

1 INTRODUCTION 2 IRREGULAR COMBUSTION IN SUPERCHARGED

Owing to economic and ecologic reasons as well as
political influence, fuel consumption has emerged as one
of the most important issues in automotive engineering
during the past years. Downsizing is considered to be one
of the most promising single measures to improve fuel
efficiency of gasoline engines. Thereby, engine
displacement is reduced in order to shift part-load
operating points into regions of the operating map with
higher efficiency and thus lower specific fuel consumption.
Since maximum power in full-load operation decreases
owing to the reduction of displacement, engines are
supercharged, which leads to a higher specific loading of
the engines. For those supercharged engines multiple
combustion phenomena, some of which are not known for
naturally aspirated engines, have to be taken into account.
ENGINES
2.1 Knock
The most common type of irregular combustion in
gasoline engines is knock. This phenomenon has been
known for over a hundred years and has been investigated
extensively during this period. At high loads, auto-ignition
occurs in the unburned gas ahead of the propagating
flame front after the onset of spark-induced regular
combustion. Dependent on the thermodynamic state of
the surrounding mixture, the resulting reaction front can
propagate more or less rapidly throughout the remaining
unburned volume. If the reaction emerges as a
detonation, a shock wave is emitted, which passes through
the combustion chamber and excites its eigenmodes. The
characteristic pressure oscillations can be recognized in
the pressure trace shown in Fig. 1. The resulting structural
vibrations are responsible for the characteristic knocking
sound which gave its name to the phenomenon.

*Corresponding author: Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institut The pressure wave interferes with the surface layer at
fuer Kolbenmaschinen, Kaiserstraße 12, Karlsruhe, 76131, Germany. the combustion chamber walls, which leads to a locally
email: christoph.dahnz@kit.edu elevated heat transfer. In conjunction with the mechanical
loading caused by the high-pressure

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 486 C Dahnz and U Spicher

Fig. 1 Pressure trace of knocking combustion

gradients and vibrations, this can cause severe engine damage.

To avoid this, piezoelectric sensors using the inertia of a seismic
mass to detect structure-borne sound induced by knock are Fig. 2 Pressure amplitudes for extreme knock (top) and controllable
knock (bottom) [1]
employed in modern engines to operate them close to the knock
limit. This is possible because of the knock amplitudes being well
defined as a function of ignition timing. Hence, knock intensities 2.3 Surface ignition
are controllable. Once a knock intensity above a predefined As already mentioned, knock, as well as extreme knock, cause an
threshold is detected, the spark advance is reduced, which elevated heat transfer to the walls. As a consequence, parts of
decreases the risk of knock in the subsequent cycles at the cost the combustion chamber can be significantly heated up. This can
of a lower thermal efficiency. promote earlier auto-ignition in the end gas, which results in
even stronger knock and thus a heating of the critical
component. As a result, this effect referred to as surface ignition
2.2 Extreme knock
can act self-preserving or even selfamplifying. An example for
In some engines, another type of knocking combustion can be this behaviour is shown in Fig. 3. The diagram shows the pressure
observed. This phenomenon is referred to as super-knock, mega traces of four subsequent engine cycles with surface ignition and,
knock, or extreme knock. It is characterized by pressure as a reference, one of a regular combustion at the same
amplitudes which are significantly higher than in common knock. operating point.
Additionally, super-knock occurs stochastically so that it is not It is clearly visible that in the first cycle with surface ignition
controllable in the same manner as common knock. Figure 2 combustion starts considerably earlier than in the cycle with
shows an example of the knock characteristics of an engine at regular combustion. The first pressure rise is observable almost
two different operating points. Both diagrams show a variation of simultaneously with spark timing. Owing to this early onset,
spark timing. Beginning at 1.6 CAD (crank angle degrees) after combustion passes into very heavy knock. In the
knock limit aKL, ignition is advanced in four steps until 1.6 CAD
before knock limit.
At 3000r/min, knock amplitudes Dp increase almost linearly
with the spark advance. So at this operating point the knock
control described above works as intended. However, at
5000r/min extreme knock events exhibiting significantly higher
amplitudes occur stochastically, which can of course not be
avoided by a standard knock control.
Besides these differences, the progress of extreme knock is
very similar to that of common knock. Autoignition occurs in the
unburned gas after the onset of spark-induced combustion,
which results in a detonation.
Fig. 3 Pressure traces of consecutive cycles with surface ignition

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 Irregular combustion in supercharged spark ignition engines 487

next two cycles, auto-ignition timing moves forward 3 INVESTIGATIONS ON PRE-IGNITION

because of the combustion chamber heating up. In the last
cycle plotted in this diagram, combustion starts at an 3.1 Methodology
extremely early stage of compression so that the complete
In order to determine reasons for pre-ignition, a
cylinder charge is consumed before auto-ignition can occur
combination of experimental and numerical investigations
in the end gas. As a consequence, there is no knock
was used. Numerical simulations were carried out to
observable in this cycle. However, because of the burned
investigate certain aspects concerning autoignition whose
gas being compressed, peak pressure and temperature are
results were combined with the results of key experiments
much higher than in regular combustion, which can cause
and general observations at the test bench to assess
immediate engine breakdown.
possible causes for pre-ignition.
Surface ignition is extremely dangerous but can be
avoided by a proper dimensioning of the cooling system
and the right choice of spark plug.
3.1.1 Experiments
For the experimental investigations, a turbocharged 2.0
2.4 Pre-ignition litre 4-cylinder production engine featuring gasoline direct
injection with lateral injector position was used. The
During recent years, with the appearance of highly
engine specifications are summarized in Table 1.
supercharged downsizing engines, a new combustion
The only modification to the production state was the
phenomenon has been observed in these engines,
application of a modified exhaust cam shaft, which
especially in full-load operation at low engine speed. This
enabled engine operation at significantly raised loads.
phenomenon, referred to as premature ignition or pre-
Thus, the operating conditions required to produce a
ignition, shows some similarities to extreme knock as well
sufficient amount of pre-ignitions could be reached. For
as to surface ignition. As in the case of surface ignition,
the experimental investigations, a reference operating
combustion obviously starts before the spark plug fires.
point with a torque of 360Nm at 1750r/min was defined.
But the phenomenon is neither self-preserving nor self-
The air/fuel ratio was set to l50.95 during all
amplifying. Instead, pre-ignition occurs stochastically, just
measurements. Spark timing was held constant at a value
like extreme knock. All three phenomena are noticeable by
ensuring knockfree operation throughout each parameter
very high knock amplitudes. Figure 4 shows pressure
variation. The test engine was equipped with various
traces for cycles with pre-ignition and regular combustion
sensors to monitor operating parameters. At each of the
at the same operating point.
Fig. 4 Pressure traces of regular combustion and preignition
Owing to the enormous knock amplitudes, preignition is [2]
considered one of the most important issues in the cylinders as well as in the intake and exhaust port of one
development of future downsizing engines. But as it is the of them, fast pressure transducers were applied to
newest and thus least explored of the described measure the pressure traces with a temporal resolution of
phenomena, there is still very little literature about it. 0.1 CAD. Additionally, temperature sensors
Hence, a study was carried out at the

Table 1 Test engine specifications

Manufacturer Volkswagen AG
Engine type 2.0l T-FSI
Displacement 1983cm3
Bore 82.5mm
Stroke 92.8mm
Compression ratio 10.5 : 1
Max. power 147kW at 5700r/min
Max. torque 280Nm at 1800–4700r/min
Fuel quality RON 98
Mixture formation DI, lateral injector position

Karlsruhe Institute of Technology to investigate the

reasons for the occurrence of pre-ignition. The following as well as slow pressure system based on
section provides an insight into the results of the study. transducers were used at photomultiplier
More detailed information can be found in references [2] various positions. technology (Smetec
and [3]. Besides these standard Imaging System – SIS [4])
measurement techniques, was applied to visualize
a high-speed camera combustion. For this

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488
purpose, combustion
radiation was collected by
an UV sensitive fibre
endoscope and lead to
the camera. Within the
camera system the
incoming light is projected
to an array of 1920
photomultiplier tubes
which convert light into
electric signals. These
signals are recorded with
a temporal resolution of
0.1 CAD and can be used
to reconstruct an image of
the combustion. With its
memory design featuring
circular data storage it
provides the facility to
record the engine cycles
not only after but also
before a predefined
trigger event. Thus, it was
possible to investigate
pre-ignition despite its
sparseness.
3.1.2 Numerical simulation
The numerical simulations
which were conducted
besides the experimental
investigations can be
divided into two groups.
On the one hand three-
dimensional (3D)
computational fluid
dynamic (CFD) simulations
of gas exchange and
mixture formation which
were carried out using the
commercial CFD code
STAR-CD by cd-adapco
provided information
about the thermodynamic
states within the
combustion chamber. On
the other hand,
simulations of the
detailed chemical
kineticswhich enabled the
assessment of auto-
ignition properties of the
air/fuel mixture were
Int. J. Engine Res. Vol. 11
C Dahnz and U Spicher
conducted for multiple 3.2.1 Phenomenology given in Fig. 5. The
scenarios. During these diagram shows a
Concerning the
numerical investigations, pressure trace of 11
phenomenology of
two different approaches consecutive cycles.
pre-ignition, two
with different levels of The five pre-ignition
different aspects can
detail were pursued. cycles are
be distinguished: on
Ignition delay times for distinguishable by
the one hand the
various combinations of peak pressures above
characteristics of its
thermodynamic state and 10MPa.
occurrence, on the
mixture composition were A statistical
other hand its
computed using the evaluation of all
development. Both
model of a homogeneous detected pre-ignition
aspects shall be briefly
reactor [5]. For the events shows the
discussed in the
investigation of spatial relevance of this
following section.
inhomogeneities such as phenomenon. The
Pre-ignition is a
droplets, particles, and diagram on the left
phenomenon
hot spots, a one- side of Fig. 6 shows a
occurring in a
dimensional combustion histogram of the
stochastic manner at
code was used [4]. percentage of pre-
operating points with
ignition sequences of a
low engine speed and
certain length
high load. Until now, it
3.1.3 Procedure detected during the
has not been possible
study.
At the beginning of the to predict the
The percentage of
study, all single occurrence of pre-
sequences decreases
mechanisms to be taken ignition reliably, not
monotonously with
into account as causes of even in a test engine
their length. But if
pre-ignition were equipped with
identified systematically instead of the number
pressure transducers
of sequences the
by arranging them into a at the cylinders and
tree structure according number of pre-
ports. The number of
ignitions therein is
to their physical working cycles exhibiting pre-
principles (see later in Fig. regarded, it shows that
ignition is very low,
1449 out of 1922
17). After that, even under operating
experimental detected pre-ignitions
conditions chosen to
(i.e. 75.4 per cent)
investigations as well as provoke it. During the
numerical simulations occurred in groups of
study presented in this
two or more.
were carried out. The paper a frequency of
results of both were used The diagram on the
less than four pre-
to assess each of the right side reveals the
ignitions per 10000
mechanisms with regard regularity of the
cycles and cylinder
to its probability. During detected sequences.
could be detected as a
this assessment, each The histogram of the
long-term average.
single mechanism was percentage of breaks
However, the
correlated with all the of a certain length
characteristic of
experimental and between two pre-
occurrence of pre-
numerical findings, ignitions within a
ignition is remarkable.
looking for conformances group shows that in
It mostly occurs in the
and contradictions. most cases the
form of intermittent
sequences are
sequences consisting
interrupted by just one
of multiple cycles with
3.2 Results regular burning cycle.
pre-ignition alternating
That means that pre-
with regular burning
ignitions and cycles
cycles. An example of
with regular
such a sequence is
combustion alternate
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in perfect regularity.
The second most
common break length
is zero. This means
that in some cases two
pre-ignitions appear in
two consecutive
cycles. Longer breaks
within a sequence are
very rare.
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
The progress of pre-
ignition was at first
investigated by evaluation
of cylinder pressure
traces. A typical example
of such a pressure trace is
plotted on the left side of
Fig. 7. It is clearly visible
that combustion starts
before spark timing,
causes a much higher
pressure rise than in
regular combustion and
finally passes into heavy
knock. For a more
detailed evaluation, the
JER609
Irregular combustion in supercharged spark ignition engines 489
respective pressure with the highspeed cycle is visible in the
gradients were compared. camera system during recordings with high
The result is illustrated on a cycle with pre- temporal resolution as a
the right side of Fig. 7. ignition. The visible sudden increase of flame
It is clearly visible combustion chamber surface followed by a
that pressure outlines are sketched periodic change of
gradients are of the on the background of luminosity induced by
same order both for the pictures to pressure waves passing
pre-ignition and facilitate orientation. through the combustion
regular combustion. The sequence starts at chamber.
Pressure trace of a pre-ignition sequence [2]
Statistical evaluation of pre-ignition sequences
This is strong evidence 166 CAD with an
of the combustion in increment of 2 CAD.
cycles with pre- Top dead centre is at
ignition being 180 CAD, spark timing
deflagrative. Higher 5 CAD thereafter.
pressure gradients It is obvious that
indicating transition to combustion starts at a
detonation are not small, well-defined flame
noticeable until the kernel left of the spark
onset of knock. plug. The subsequent
A similar conclusion combustion can be
can be drawn from the characterized as
results of the optical deflagrative flame
measurements. Figure propagation owing to the
8 shows a sequence of limited flame speed. The
photographs recorded knock arising later in the
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490
3.2.2 Temperature
variation
A comprehensive
temperature variation
was carried out to
determine the influence
of gas and engine
temperature on pre-
ignition frequency. Thus,
Fig. 7 Pressure rise after pre-ignition and regular combustion. Pressure traces (left) and gradients (right;
smoothed)
Fig. 8
coolant and charge air
temperature were varied
independently within a
parameter range limited
by the comparability of
operating conditions.
Since all measurements
should be run in knock-
free operation with
Int. J. Engine Res. Vol. 11
C Dahnz and U Spicher
constant load, spark preignition frequency 3.2.3 Fuel variation
timing, and air/fuel ratio, normalized to 10000
the maximum engine cycles, based on Another parameter
variation was carried
temperatures of coolant 100000 cycles for each
out to determine the
and charge air were data point.
influence of different
limited to 95uC and 30uC, It is clearly visible that
fuels on preignition
respectively. This is pre-ignition frequency is
frequency. During the
because for higher values strongly dependent on
fuel variation, three
spark timing would have coolant temperature and
commercial fuels
had to be adjusted to slightly dependent on
Optical recordings of a typical pre-ignition
avoid knock, which would charge air temperature.
exhibiting research
have caused Whereas for a rising
octane numbers RON
impermissibly high coolant temperature a
95, RON 98, and RON
exhaust gas temperatures significant decrease of
100 were tested as
unless the mixture were pre-ignition frequency is
well as another RON
strongly enriched. The observable, the influence
100 fuel which had
results of the of charge air temperature
been stored in a barrel
temperature variation are is undefined.
for several years.
given in Fig. 9. The
Again, all testing was
diagram shows the
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conducted with
constant load, spark
timing, and air/fuel
ratio. For each fuel a
total of 100000 cycles
were evaluated. The
results are illustrated
in Fig. 10. For the
actual fuels, pre-
ignition frequency
tends to decrease with
increasing octane
number. But the last
fuel in the test shows a
completely different
behaviour. Despite its
knock limit being
impaired
Fig. 9 Results represents
temperature variation
Fig. 10
fuel variation [2]
marginally, it shows a
significantly higher
preignition tendency
than the other fuels
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Irregular combustion in supercharged spark ignition engines 491
tested. This is ascribed points which are most
to a change of physical critical with respect to
properties owing to auto-ignition are plotted
preferential onto the map of ignition
evaporation of volatile delay times.
components during The illustration reveals
storage. the strong inhomogeneity
in the combustion
chamber. Owing to the
3.2.4 Optical investigations poor mixture preparation
the resulting bandwidth of
Based on the data
the air/fuel ratio is very
recorded with the
large. Another effect
high-speed camera
which is clearly visible is
system, the progress
the strong coupling of
of combustion in
temperature and air/fuel
cycles with pre- Fig. 11
ratio owing to fuel
ignition could be of pre-ignition origins [2]
evaporation. Since the
investigated. The
evaporation of fuel
results have already 3.2.5 Numerical results droplets draws heat from
been discussed above.
As already described the surrounding gas, the
Furthermore, the
above, ignition delay temperature decreases.
distribution of pre-
times were computed for As a result, rich regions in
ignition origins could
a wide range of the combustion chamber
be evaluated. The
thermodynamic states. As are relatively cold and hot
result is illustrated in
the most important regions relatively lean.
Fig. 11, which shows
factors are temperature Therefore, that minimum
the view through the
and air/fuel ratio, special ignition delay times
endoscope into the
attention was paid to appear neither in the
combustion chamber.
them. During a hottest nor in the richest
Each dot in the picture
comprehensive parameter cells but at intermediate
of the origin
study, a map of ignition states.
of one optically
delay times tign was Even the minimal
detected preignition. It
generated for the relevant ignition delay times do
is clearly visible that
parameter range of not reach values less than
there is no
temperature T and 5ms (which correspond to
accumulation of
ignition locations at air/fuel ratio l.
any component of the The computed values
combustion chamber. could be used to assess
Instead, pre-ignition mixture states within the
origins are spread over combustion chamber
a wide range along the determined by CFD
plane of the cylinder simulation with respect to
head gasket. their ability to auto-ignite.
Figure 12 shows the result
of this consideration. In
the left diagram, the
mixture states are
illustrated. Each black dot
represents one cell of the
CFD mesh at 10 CAD
before top dead centre, a
time which is considered
decisive for preignition. In
the right diagram, the
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492 C Dahnz and U Spicher

Fig. 12 Results of the CFD simulations. Overview (left) and corresponding ignition delay times
(right) [2] contrast, for very high gas scenario. The results
temperatures homo- shown are valid for
approx. 52 CAD at the droplets of n-heptane
given engine speed). This in a stoichiometric
is certainly much too long mixture of iso-octane
to cause auto-ignition, the and air. This is, of
more so as this is a worst- course, not an
case scenario in which the appropriate
ignition delay times are representation of the
computed for constant fuels and lubricants
conditions. In the real used in real engines.
engine, these conditions However, it could be
are only reached at the shown qualitatively
end of compression. Thus, that droplets may
real ignition delay can be promote auto-ignition
expected to be much under certain
longer. conditions.
In a second study, the
influence of droplets of a
Fig. 13 Ignition
4 limits
DISCUSSION
highly ignitable fluid,
for droplet ignition [2]
potentially lubricant oil or
highboiling components geneous auto-ignition 4.1 Causes of pre-ignition
of the fuel, on auto- occurs independently
of whether a droplet is During the assessment
ignition was investigated.
present or not. But of mechanisms
For this purpose a one-
between these two suspected to promote
dimensional combustion
extremes there is a pre-ignition, most of
code including detailed
domain in which the mechanisms
chemical kinetics as well
autoignition properties shown in Fig. 17
as heat and mass transfer
are dominated by the turned out to be
was used. Figure 13 shows
presence of the impossible or at least
the computed ignition
droplet. very improbable for
limits as a function of
However, because the investigated
droplet temperature Tdr
of the high configuration. One
and gas phase
computational effort mechanism showed to
temperature Tg.
of the simulations be the most probable.
It is clearly visible that This mechanism
for low gas temperatures using the one-
dimensional ascribes the
no auto-ignition is occurrence of pre-
observable during a combustion code, a
simple fuel model had ignition to the
reasonable time. By presence of highly
to be used for this

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ignitable droplets of
lubricant oil in the
combustion chamber.
It is assumed that
these droplets are
released from the top
land during the
deceleration phase
before the piston
reaches top dead
centre. A schematic
illustration is given in
Fig. 14.
The main factor
influencing droplet
release from the oil
wiped off from the
cylinder liner during
the compression
stroke is its surface
tension [6]. Thus, a
model has been set up
to describe the
influence of engine
operating conditions
on the surface tension
Fig. 14
release from top land [2]
of the lubricant. In this
context, great
importance is attached
to oil dilution by liquid
fuel. It is assumed that
the dissolved fuel
impairs the properties
of the lubricant oil so
JER609
Irregular combustion in supercharged spark ignition engines 493
that a higher degree of temperature of the oil
oil dilution results in a film is directly linked
higher amount of to the coolant
droplets released and temperature [7]. For a
thus pre-ignitions. For rise of coolant
the engine used during temperature of 20uC,
this study, an elevated an increase of the
degree of oil dilution same order can be
can be expected owing expected for the oil
to the lateral injector temperature. At the
position. CFD relevant temperature
simulations of the range, this results in a
mixture formation reduction of the liquid
show a large amount fuel fraction of about
of liquid fuel 43% for the fuel used
transported to the during the
cylinder liner opposite temperature variation.
to the injector. This decline of liquid
During the fuel fraction
Fig. 16 Liquid fuel fraction
evaluation of the corresponds to the
for the tested
experimental results, a decrease of pre- fuels (top) and
simple approach was ignition frequency. corresponding
chosen to estimate the pre-ignition
degree of oil dilution frequencies
because of the (bottom)
phenomena of
condensation,
solution, and
evaporation of a
multicomponent fuel
interacting with a
multi-component
lubricant being too
complex to be
analysed in detail. The
estimated
temperature of the
lubricant oil adhering
to the cylinder liner is
compared with the
boiling curve of the
Fig. 15 Influence of coolant
fuel: the higher the temperature on
fraction of fuel being liquid fuel
in liquid state at that fraction (top)
given temperature, and
the higher the corresponding
resulting oil dilution. pre-ignition
frequencies
Figures 15 and 16
(bottom)
show how the results
of the variations of
coolant temperature
and fuel, respectively,
coincide with the
proposed mechanism.
It is known that the
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494 C Dahnz and U Spicher

The results of the fuel However, it must be 1. ig

variation can be
interpreted similarly. In
this case, the temperature
of the oil film is the same
in all cases but the fuels
exhibit different boiling
curves. Thus, the liquid
stated that this W ni
assessment seems to be h ti
not universally valid. e o
Considering the results n n
reported from d ?
investigations using other o 3.
engines, there seem to be es H

Fig. 17 Estimation of pre-ignition mechanisms [2]

fuel fractions are again other mechanisms a o
different. Figure 16 shows dominant in these cases. ut w
the boiling curves for all For example, wetting of o- ca
fuels used during the the cylinder liner owing to ig n
variation at the relevant the lateral injector ni a
temperature range. It is position was found to be ti ut
obvious that the liquid crucial for pre-ignition in o o-
fuel fractions differ this engine. It is known, n ig
significantly. The lower however, that pre-ignition oc ni
diagram reveals that can occur in engines with cu ti
these differences port injection as well. r? o
correspond to the Hence, it is useful to 2. n
observed preignition reflect on pre-ignition and W b
frequencies. The ability of the related phenomena hi e
lubricant oil droplets to from a more general ch av
promote auto-ignition perspective. e oi
under certain conditions ff d
was shown by numerical ec e
simulations. Altogether, 4.2 Pre-ignition and t d
the described mechanism other combustion h ?
corresponds best with the phenomena as
Each of these questions
experimental and There are three main th
numerical findings. An shall be briefly discussed
questions arising while e
in this section.
overview of the complete considering auto-ignition a
results of the study is ut The reason for all the
phenomena. combustion phenomena
illustrated in Fig. 17. o-
mentioned in this paper
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(i.e. knock, extreme
knock, surface ignition,
and pre-ignition) is the
ignition delay time within
the unburned mixture
locally dropping below a
critical level. To assess
auto-ignition scenarios, a
simplifying consideration
can be used. At first, it is
useful to define a variable
describing the criticalness
of a thermodynamic state
Fig. 18
in the combustion
chamber. This is strongly
related to the ignition
delay time, but common
definitions are not
appropriate for engine
applications because they
are measured or
computed under constant
conditions. Nevertheless,
for transient engine
operation, a similar
quantity can be defined:
an integral ignition delay
time. For this purpose, an
in-cylinder pressure trace
has to be considered. It
can be assumed that the
pressure is uniform
throughout the
combustion chamber.
Thus, the pressure trace
can be used to calculate
an average temperature
and compute a resulting
ignition delay time for the
unburned portion of the
charge at any time during
JER609
Irregular combustion in supercharged spark ignition engines 495
the cycle, even after the slightly, and finally drops (referred to as ignition
onset of combustion. To steeply after the onset of delay fraction) can be
take into account the spark initiated plotted to visualize the
thermodynamic history of combustion. Once criticality of the
the mixture, the immediate autoignition thermodynamic state.
preceding pressure and has occurred owing to the If this fraction reaches
temperature trace is used imposed pressure trace, a value of 1.0
to determine the ignition the ignition delay time
delay at a certain time t0. remains constant.
At this time, the pressure For a real engine, of
is held constant until course, the described
auto-ignition is detected. average calculation is
For the definition of time not sufficient. Since
Integral ignition delay time
periods a reference time for auto-ignition the
has to be defined. For this minimal ignition delay
purpose, the closure of time in the
the inlet valve seems to combustion chamber
be convenient because is crucial,
after this time tIVC the inhomogeneities have
system can be considered to be taken into
as closed. A schematic account. At first,
illustration of the reproducible
definition of the integral inhomogeneities in
ignition delay time tign,int is the temperature
given in the diagram on distribution and
the left side of Fig. 18. mixture composition
Determination of induced by the non- Fig. 19 Auto-ignition
integral ignition delay uniform distribution of fraction for
times for each crank angle structural temperature supercharged
a yields the diagram given and the influence of engines
on the right side of Fig. mixture preparation auto-ignition will occur.
18. The diagram shows a reduce the minimal The result of these
typical curve for a ignition delay times. considerations is
supercharged engine at Additionally, the curve illustrated in Fig. 19.
full load with spark timing is spread to a band Obviously, the auto-
after top dead centre. The owing to turbulent ignition condition is easily
ignition delay time fluctuations. reached during the
decreases during the In a next step, the second rise of ignition
compression stroke, ratio of elapsed time delay fraction. This is
reaches a minimum at top to ignition delay time attributable to the
dead centre, increases expanding combustion
Int. J. Engine Res. Vol. 11
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496
products highly
compressing the
unburned mixture. But as
for auto-ignition only the
unburned mixture has to
be considered: the
diagram can be cut off at
the right side where the
flame front has come
sufficiently close to the
walls that the remaining
end gas volumes can
cause no damage in case
of autoignition. As long as
the auto-ignition fraction
reaches the value of 1.0 at
the right side of this line
combustion is
characterized as regular
combustion.
The illustration also
reveals another
correlation. The
combustion-induced rise
of ignition delay fraction
as well as the time of
flame front arrival is
determined by spark
timing. If spark timing is
advanced towards top
dead centre, the
temperature level raises.
Thus, flame speed
increases so that the
temporal difference
between spark timing and
flame arrival decreases
slightly. At the same time
the combustioninduced
raise in the curve of
ignition delay fraction is
shifted towards top dead
centre owing to the
earlier onset of
combustion. But since the
ignition delay time is
strongly dependent on
temperature, the rise of
the ignition delay fraction
also becomes steeper.
This overcompensates the
shift of flame front arrival
so that the auto-ignition
limit is reached before
flame front arrival. That is
Int. J. Engine Res. Vol. 11
C Dahnz and U Spicher
why for supercharged between pre-ignition and and heat conduction at
engines spark timing has knock is given by the start the flame front. The
to be shifted into the of regular combustion. resulting combustion,
expansion stroke at full Once auto-ignition referred to as
load. occurs, its progress is deflagration, is rather
Owing to this late spark strongly dependent on the slow. For lower
timing, supercharged thermodynamic state of gradients, the shock
engines show auto- the surrounding mixture. wave emanating from
ignition characteristics The most important factor the initial auto-ignition
which are substantially is the homogeneity of is sufficient to heat up
different from those of reactivity, which is the gas to its auto-
naturally aspirated strongly correlated to ignition temperature.
engines. As Fig. 19 shows, temperature and air/fuel Thus, the flame front
the ignition delay fraction ratio. Figure 21 shows a propagates with a
has a local maximum regime classification speed of the order of
before spark timing. For based on exemplary the speed of sound of
the load conditions temperature distributions the burned gas. This
reached in actual engines, around an auto-ignition type of combustion is
neither the mean origin (exothermal centre) called a detonation. If
thermodynamic state nor [8]. In this illustration, the temperature is
even the overlaid scatter spatial inhomogeneities of almost uniform in the
band is close enough to reactivity in general are whole volume, auto-
the autoignition limit to represented by those of ignition occurs nearly
be critical (except in the the temperature field. simultaneously in the
case of overheated This is admissible because entire domain. In the
components which cause of the enormous influence case of such a thermal
repeated surface ignition of temperature on explosion, no flame
by permanent exceeding reactivity. front can be observed.
of the autoignition limit). For very high For auto-ignition in
But stochastic effects such gradients in the engines, conditions
as droplets can cause temperature field leading to immediate
additional deviations from around the exothermal detonation are hardly
the scatter band so that in centre, the speed of reached. But there are
single cycles auto-ignition flame propagation is intermediate states
can occur already around dominated by diffusion between deflagration
the local maximum. and
These considerations
are summarized in Fig. 20.
Dependent on whenthe
ignition delay fraction
reaches the auto-ignition
limit, phenomena can be
separated. As already
mentioned the domain
right of the line of flame
arrival marks regular
combustion. At the left
side of it, the domain of
knock (and extreme Fig. 20 Differentiation of Fig. 21 Classificati
knock) is attached, combustion auto-ignition regimes
followed by the domain of phenomena. detonation for which
Scatter band and combustion starts as
pre-ignition and surface
examples for
ignition, respectively, an accelerating
pre-ignition and
around top dead centre. knock deflagration before
By definition, the border passing into
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 Irregular combustion in supercharged spark ignition engines 497

detonation. In this result, combustion limit moves towards explained above, is

case, transition to always starts in the top dead centre. But attributed to excessive
detonation is strongly form of deflagration. at the same time, if inhomogeneities in
dependent on the This is recognizable by auto-ignition happens the local ignition delay
volume of unburned the smooth pressure to occur, the resulting time occurring in a
mixture available for rise in the first phase knock amplitudes stochastic manner.
the flame front to of preignition and become much higher Primarily, these effects
accelerate. Hence, surface ignition (see because of the have to be eliminated
homogeneous Fig. 3 and Fig. 4). This gradients becoming in order to raise the
mixtures and large type of combustion smaller. So for the allowable load level.
volumes of unburned would not be that avoidance of knock This means that in the
mixture are crucial for harmful by itself. But and extreme knock case of the engine
destructive auto- since this type of auto- the flame front used for the
ignition. ignition corresponds to propagation is the investigations
Given these a spark-induced decisive factor. It has described above, the
considerations, ignition at a very early to be ensured that the source of lubricant oil
irregular combustion time at a mostly flame propagates in a droplets must be
phenomena can be disadvantageous regular manner so that eliminated (e.g. by an
estimated. As already location, in the course there are no end gas improved spray
mentioned above, of the subsequent volumes which are targeting). After that,
auto-ignition after the combustion secondary able to cause load can be raised
onset of regular auto-ignition is likely detonation. Thus, a further. Then perhaps
combustion is to occur for which the better balance of other stochastic
attributable to the argumentation knock resistance and effects such as solid
unburned mixture described above is thermal efficiency can particles may become
being compressed by applicable. Hence, be reached. crucial. If they are also
the expanding these types of auto- Currently, the eliminated and the
combustion products. ignition mostly result allowable load in load is raised even
Hence, the complete in extreme knock. downsizing engines is higher, at a certain
end gas, which can be Finally, measures to limited by pre-ignition. load level the scatter
almost homogeneous, avoid auto-ignition are The damaging effect of band illustrated in Fig.
approaches the auto- discussed. As already preignition is not due 19 will reach the auto-
ignition limit. As a described above, there to the primary auto- ignition limit. That
result, gradients in this are three main factors ignition itself but to means cyclical
case are sufficiently decisive for knock: the the resulting extreme variations and
small to cause ignition delay time knock later in the turbulent fluctuations
transition to must have a minimum course of combustion. are sufficiently high to
detonation if the within the end gas at Hence, the same cause auto-ignition. In
remaining end gas which auto-ignition argumentation as in this case a significantly
volume is large can occur; the the case of knock elevated frequency of
enough. In these surrounding gas must should be applicable. auto-ignition can be
cases, knock or even be sufficiently But since flame expected, justlike in
extreme knock can be homogeneous; and propagation after pre- the case of surface
detected. If the the volume of ignition cannot be ignition. So in order to
volume is small, auto- unburned mixture influenced with reach even higher
ignition develops as a around the ignition respect to its temporal loads, the scatter band
deflagration, which is kernel must be large or spatial developing, has to be minimized.
neither detectable nor enough so that a all measures based on This can be achieved
harmful. detonation can an optimization of by a better mixture
By contrast, auto- emerge. If the mixture flame propagation are preparation and a
ignition before the is homogenized, the ineligible. Thus uniform temperature
onset of regular probability of a local primary auto-ignition distribution
combustion is always minimum causing has to be categorically throughout the
attributed to excessive auto-ignition is prevented. Primary cylinder head. Both
inhomogeneities. As a reduced. So the knock auto-ignition, as factors result in a
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498 C Dahnz and U Spicher

lower degree of namely knock, extreme ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Forschungsheft no.

inhomogeneity of knock, surface ignition, S 907, 2010.
reactivity. Hence, the and pre-ignition were 4 Maas, U. and
effect of this described with respect to The authors wish to Warnatz, J. Ignition
express their thanks to processes in
homogenization is the characteristics of their
the hydrogen-oxygen
directly related to the appearance. mixtures.
problem of rising Since pre-ignition is the Forschungsvereinigung
Combustion and
knock amplitudes newest and least explored Verbrennungskraftmaschi Flame, 1988, 74(1),
described above. of these phenomena, nen e. V. (FVV, 53–69.
Another aspect to be special attention was paid Frankfurt/Main, Germany) 5 Esser, C., Maas, U.,
mentioned is the strong to this phenomenon. The and the Deutsche and Warnatz, J.
correlation between the results of a study about Forschungsgemeinschaft Chemistry of the
phenomena. Pre-ignition the phenomenology of (DFG, Bonn, Germany) for auto-ignition in
funding the study about hydrocarbon air
cannot be treated pre-ignition as well as the
pre-ignition presented in mixtures up to
separately from knock. reason of its occurrence
octane and its
Figure 19 reveals that for were summarized. Within this paper. Furthermore,
relation to engine
a raised load (i.e. the this study, possible the authors would like to knock. International
curve of ignition delay reasons for pre-ignition thank the industrial Symposium on
fraction is shifted towards were identified partners involved for their Diagnostics and
the auto-ignition limit) the systematically and helpful support. modeling of
knock limit is also strongly assessed by taking into combustion in
affected. For constant account the results of reciprocating
F Authors 2010
engines, JSME, 1985.
spark timing, the point of experimental and
6 Rangert, B.
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