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A Study on the Effects of a Higher Compression Ratio in the 2016-01-0722

Combustion Chamber on Diesel Engine Performance Published 04/05/2016

Yoshihiro Funayama, Hiroshi Nakajima, and Kiyohiro Shimokawa

Hino Motors, Ltd.

CITATION: Funayama, Y., Nakajima, H., and Shimokawa, K., "A Study on the Effects of a Higher Compression Ratio in the
Combustion Chamber on Diesel Engine Performance," SAE Technical Paper 2016-01-0722, 2016, doi:10.4271/2016-01-0722.

Copyright © 2016 SAE International

Abstract in Figure 1. Since ITE is calculated by subtracting cooling loss and

pumping loss from theoretical thermal efficiency (TTE), which above
In order to improve the brake thermal efficiency of the engine, such
the amount of work that can be theoretically obtained, improving that
as cooling and friction losses from the theoretical thermal efficiency,
efficiency while keeping these losses to a minimum is critical to
it is necessary to minimize various losses. However, it is also
achieving better BTE.
essential to consider improvements in theoretical thermal efficiency
along with the reduction of the various losses.

In an effort to improve the brake thermal efficiency of heavy-duty

diesel engines used in commercial vehicles, this research focused on
two important factors leading to the engine's theoretical thermal
efficiency: the compression ratio and the specific heat ratio. Based on
the results of theoretical thermodynamic cycle analyses for the effects
of the above two factors, it was predicted that raising the compression
ratio from a base engine specification of 17 to 26, and increasing the
specific heat ratio would lead to a significant increase in theoretical
thermal efficiency.

In the next step, by using a single-cylinder research engine, effects of
the above factor on the indicated and brake thermal efficiencies were
investigated. The geometric compression ratio was changed by
variation of the combustion chamber volume, and the specific heat
ratio in cylinder gas was controlled by adjustment of excess air and
EGR rate through an external air supply system.
Relative to 8 points improvement for theoretical thermal efficiency
derived from initial theoretical analyses (by the combination of
higher compression ratio and higher specific heat ratio), 6 points and
4 points improvements were observed in the indicated thermal
efficiency and the brake thermal efficiency, respectively.
Introduction
With the need to reduce emissions of the global warming gas CO2
and to reduce transportation costs in truck transport, society faces
growing needs for superior fuel efficiency in diesel engines, and there
are high expectations for further fuel efficiency improvements.
The fuel consumption of an engine is determined by its brake thermal
efficiency (BTE). Improvements in BTE result from improved
indicated thermal efficiency (ITE) and reduced friction loss, as shown
Figure 1. Heat Balance of a Heavy-duty Diesel Engine
In recent years, many of the studies related to improving engine
thermal efficiency have been based on thermodynamic cycle theory.
Kitabatake et al. [1] reported improvements to ITE within a wide
range of BMEP 900 kPa or less by increasing the engine geometrical
compression ratio from 16.5 to 20 and by using a variable valve
actuation system to change the effective compression ratio while
maintaining the expansion ratio. Uchida et al. [2] achieved
improvements in ITE by increasing the expansion ratio. This was
done by increasing the geometrical compression ratio further to 22
and also by using a variable valve actuation system to adjust the
effective compression ratio while maintaining the expansion ratio.
However, they reported that because more supercharging was
required to maintain the excess air ratio and the higher pressure inside
the cylinders increased friction loss, there was no improvement in
BTE. Akihisa et al. [3] have studied of high-expansion ratio cycles in
gasoline engines, and identified improvements to thermal efficiency
resulting from higher expansion ratios in those engines. There are
also reports [4] that indicate it is possible to achieve gasoline engine
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BTE to that of diesel engines by using a high expansion ratio and a Figure 4 shows the results of the diesel cycle theoretical thermal
variable valve actuation system that are optimized for the bore/stroke efficiencies compared with compression ratios for different specific
ratio, and by further improving combustion. heat ratio. The cut-off ratio for the theoretical thermal efficiencies
analysis was used as same value at the evaluation point in Figure 3.
Due to the diesel engine characteristics of compression ignition with
In this analysis, the cut-off ratio was assumed to be independent of
direct injected diesel oil, it is relatively easy to increase the geometrical
either the compression ratio or the specific heat ratio, and used
compression ratio, which leads directly to a higher expansion ratio. For
constant value as same as that at the evaluation point in Figure 3.
this reason, diesel engine generally has high thermal efficiency.
However, it is necessary to aim for further thermal efficiency
The specific heat ratios used in this analysis were calculated from the
improvements to meet the need for fuel consumption reduction.
gas composition resulting from complete combustion of the intake air
and injected fuel with 25 deg. C gas temperature. A specific heat ratio
In this study, for aiming to improve the BTE of heavy-duty diesel
of 1.29 indicates an excess air ratio of 1.5 and EGR rate of 30 %,
engines used in commercial vehicles, compression ratio and specific
while 1.34 indicates an excess air ratio of 2.9 and an EGR rate of 0 %.
heat ratio, key basic factors that determine the engine's TTE, are
focused on and examined the thermal efficiency improvement effects
resulting from significant changes to these factors.

Theoretical Analysis of Thermal Efficiency

Equation (1) in Figure 2 represents the TTE of the diesel cycle. As
can be seen from Equation (1), the TTE of the diesel cycle (ηth) is
expressed by the compression ratio (ε) and the specific heat ratio (κ),
and the cut-off ratio (σ). The compression ratio is related the
geometric compression ratio in the cylinder, the specific heat ratio is
affected by the EGR rate and the air excess ratio, cut-off ratio
corresponds to the combustion period. Therefore, these are an
important factor that determines the basic performance of the engine.

Based on Equation (1), possibilities of much improvement in thermal

efficiency by changing the compression ratio and specific heat ratio Figure 3. Frequency of fuel consumption during highway driving and
were investigated. evaluation point

From the results of Figure 4, an approximately 5 point increase in

TTE was predicted when the compression ratio was increased from
17 to 26, and an approximately 3 point increase when specific heat
ratio of the gases in the cylinder was increased from 1.29 to 1.34.
This indicates the possibility that the combination of these two
factor’s changes could achieve up to an 8 point improvement in
thermal efficiency.

Figure 2. Strategies for achieving a high thermal efficiency diesel engine

(1)

This study was applied to the diesel engine mounted in heavy-duty, Figure 4. Effect of compression ratio and specific heat ratio on theoretical
long-haul commercial trucks that are mainly driven on highways. thermal efficiency

Figure 3 shows the fuel consumption map of heavy-duty diesel

engine for long-haul trucks relative to the engine torque curve when
cruising at 80 km/h on the Tomei Expressway in Japan, and the
evaluation point that was used in this study.
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Combustion Analysis by 3D Simulation
In a direct injection diesel engine, studies of the engine in the high
compression ratio condition over 26 are quit few. Therefore, engine
performance is largely unknown at such a high compression ratio.
In order to realize a high compression ratio, it is necessary to
relatively small volume of the combustion chamber. Therefore, flame
interaction easily on a combustion chamber wall. In addition, since
the in-cylinder gas becomes hot and dense, diesel combustion is
likely to vary significantly as compared with conventional
combustion. The effects of the higher compression ratio on
combustion phenomenon and exhaust gases were therefore
investigated by using 3D combustion simulations and then
combustion chamber shapes study were performed to determine what
shape was suitable for the high compression ratio.
The calculation code used in this study was the GTT code that was
developed by Wakisaka et al. [5] Foster et al. Model [6] as a reference
for the combustion module, was uniquely modified inhouse, with taking
into account the temperature dependence of soot growth substances.
This examination was limited to low speed, low load conditions.
These results indicated that optimizing combustion made it possible
to achieve higher engine thermal efficiency at the high compression
ratio such as ε26. Furthermore, if the smoke exhausted with the same
air can be reduced, reducing the air required for combustion and
reducing the pumping loss resulting from high boosting becomes
possible. It is believed that this will be effective in improving fuel
consumption in engines.
Test Engine
Test Engine Specifications
A single-cylinder research engine based on a heavy-duty truck engine
was used as the test engine. The engine specifications are shown in
Table 2. This single-cylinder engine is a 4-valve direct-injection
diesel engine with a displacement of 1,478 cc. A common rail-type
injection system was installed, and an injector driven by a solenoid
valve was used. The piston material FCD used in heavy-duty engines
was produced in-house.

The combustion chamber shapes used in the calculations are shown Table 2. Test Engine Specifications
in Table 1. In the same high compression ratio condition, in order to
investigate the difference in wall interference of the flame into the
cavity wall, two types of the combustion chamber shape were
analyzed deep bowl type and shallow dish type. The engine operating
conditions (λ, EGR rate, injection quantity, injection pressure,
injection timing) used for the calculation are the same as those for the
evaluation point shown in Figure 3.

Table 1. Combustion Chamber Shapes

A schematic diagram of the test engine system is shown in Figure 6.

Figure 5 shows the history of the amount of in-cylinder soot obtained
by the combustion simulation. As a result, it is clarified that the soot
oxidation in the cylinder in a shallow dish is faster than that in a deep
bowl, and a possibility of reducing the smoke by shallow dish
combustion chamber has been suggested.
This engine system achieves high supercharging and high EGR rate
by means of an external supercharger, EGR valve and exhaust
pressure control valve are located behind the exhaust surge tank.
Adjusting these valves makes it possible to independently control the
excess air ratio and EGR rate.

Figure 5. Histories of changes in average soot in cylinder Figure 6. Schematics Diagram of the Test Engine System
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The EGR rate is calculated from the ratio of CO2 concentrations in
the intake and exhaust. Controlling the EGR cooler in the EGR flow
passage and the heater inside the intake surge tank allows any intake
temperature to be set. The fuel used for the tests was JIS#2 diesel fuel
in product.
The cooling loss of the engine was calculated from the cooling water
flow rate and the temperature difference between the engine inlet and
outlet. In addition, heat loss in the EGR cooler was calculated from
the gas flow rate and the gas temperature difference between the EGR
cooler inlet and outlet. The lubrication oil and coolant were
controlled to a temperature of 80 deg. C, and forcibly circulated by
means of external pumps.
Test Conditions
Four test conditions shown in Table 3 were investigated, in order to
compare engine performance with different compression ratios,
combustion chamber shapes, and specific heat ratios.
Test Results and Discussions
1. Comparison of Thermal Efficiency
1-1. Effect of a Higher Compression Ratio
In order to clarify the effects of the higher compression ratio, Case1
and Case2 in Table 3 were firstly compared at the evaluation point.
Although an improvement of approximately 5 points resulting from
the higher compression ratio had been predicted based on the TTE
calculation, the experimental results consisted of improvements of 3
points in ITE and 1.5 points in BTE, as shown in Figure 7.
The reason for the difference between the TTE and the indicated and
brake thermal efficiencies was that although the higher compression
ratio increased the indicated work as shown by the P-V diagram in
Figure 7, the higher in-cylinder pressure resulted in higher cooling
loss and friction loss.

Two compression ratios were used: 17 and 26. For the compression
ratio of 26, two different shapes (a deep bowl and a shallow dish)
were used to investigate the effects of the combustion chamber shape.

Specific heat ratio as a base condition was 1.29. These conditions are
the same as the study of the TTE (Air excess ratio 1.5, EGR rate of
30%). For higher specific heat ratio (1.34), it was realized in the EGR
cut and high boosting (Air excess ratio 2.9, EGR rate of 0%).

Since this research is an initial feasibility study designed to

investigate the effects of the compression ratios and the specific heat
Figure 7. Effect of higher compression ratio on thermal efficiency
ratios on thermal efficiency, nozzle specifications and injection
conditions were not optimized. In practice, the same specifications
Furthermore, in order to understand the combustion behavior
(e.g., nozzle hole diameter, number of nozzles, nozzle angle) were
difference by compression ratio, the heat release rates in Case1 and
used for all injector nozzles, and injection quantity (105 mm3/st),
Case2 were compared. As shown in Figure 8, Case2 was confirmed a
injection pressure (160 MPa), injection timing (0 deg. ATDC), pilot
reduction in the peak of the heat release rate as compared to Case1.
injection quantity (2.5 mm3/st) and other fuel injection conditions
were also kept identical.

Engine operating conditions were the same as for the evaluation point
shown in Figure 3 used to calculate TTE.

Table3. Test conditions

Figure 8. Comparison of heat release rate between Case1 and Case2

Therefore, although improvement of thermal efficiency by the higher

compression ratio is obtained in Case2, incomplete combustion was
considered to make the thermal efficiency significantly different from
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the theoretical one. In other words, if it is possible to improve

combustion against Case2, further it can be said that the thermal
efficiency is likely to be improved.

In order to improve the combustion of Case2, a shallow dish

combustion chamber, which had been clarified to be superior to soot
emission in 3D simulation, were applied.

1-2. Effect of Different Combustion Chamber Shapes

In the next step, at the same compression ratio of 26, Case2 and 3
were compared, switching from a deep bowl combustion chamber to
a shallow dish-shaped one to evaluate the effects of the combustion
chamber shape. Although the effects of the combustion chamber
shape were not considered in the analyses of TTE, the experimental
engine results showed an increase of 2 points in both indicated and
brake thermal efficiencies. Figure 10. Comparison of heat release rate between Case2 and Case3

The P-V diagram around TDC is shown in Figure 9. The pressure
history in that figure indicates that, the pressure inside the cylinder
after reaching peak cylinder pressure remained higher in Case3 than
in Case2. This resulted in an increase in indicated work in Case3.
Generally, it is said that friction loss correlates highly with engine
speed and maximum cylinder pressure [7]. However, with this change
to a shallow dish shape, a difference in combustion pressure behavior
was observed after peak cylinder pressure. This is believed to indicate
that the increase in friction loss was minimized, which leads to the
conclusion that indicated work was efficiently converted to the brake
work.
However, shortening the combustion period (cut-off ratio) leads to
significantly higher improvements in ITE and BTE than in TTE,
which suggests that, in addition to the shorter combustion period,
other factors contribute to improving ITE and BTE. Specifically, the
modified shape of the combustion chamber in Case 3 produced a
different combustion configuration that suppressed increases in heat
loss during diesel combustion. This resulted in a shorter combustion
period and is highly likely to have contributed to improved ITE.
Also, as the integrated heat release makes clear, combustion in Case 3
is more active than that in Case 2 after the peak cylinder pressure.
This implies that indicated work was converted into BTE without
increasing mechanical loss.

Figure 9. Effect of combustion chamber shape on thermal efficiency

As seen in Figure 10, it is indicated that for Case3 the peak heat
release rate change to be higher and the heat release rate after the
peak was improved.
Figure 11. Comparison of integrated heat release between Case2 and Case3
In other words, at the same compression ratio, Case3 can be said to
To compare the emission performance in these different combustion
exhibit improve overall combustion compared to Case2.
chamber shapes, smoke emission characteristics comparison with air
excess ratio (by changing EGR rate) under constant boost pressure
Figure 11 shows the integrate heat release from Figure 10 organized
condition is shown in Figure 12.
as calculated heat release rates. The results indicate that the crank
angle at which combustion reaches 90% heat release at Case3 is
This figure indicate that the smoke emission characteristics in Case3
about 5 deg. CA earlier than at Case2, shortening the combustion
could be improved significantly compared to Case2 even in the same
period by 20%. This phenomenon is seen as equivalent to the
high compression ratio (lower air excess ratio could be realized in
shortening of the cut-off ratio, which is effective at improving TTE.
same smoke level). These are the same tendency as previous
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estimation by simulation analyses. This result implies the reason why

the soot oxidation has been improved, considering with behaviors of
heat release rate in Figure 10.

The suppression of smoke emissions under lower air excess ratio

makes it possible to reduce the pumping loss, since required EGR
amount and boost pressure could be reduced. It can be expected
further improvement of the BTE. Higher compression ratio, as
described in section 1-1 (from 17 to 26), would lead to TTE increase
of 5 points.

Figure 13. Effect of specific heat ratio on thermal efficiency

If constant pressure combustion would be realized in Case4, further

higher specific heat ratio improvement could be expected since higher
boosting within the restriction of in-cylinder pressure contributes to
increasing specific heat ratio.

The reason of deviation between the TTE the ITE is considered that
the reduced EGR rate would lead to combustion temperature
increase, and result in decreasing in-cylinder specific heat ratio and
increasing cooling loss.

Figure 12. Effect of Combustion Chamber Shape on the Soot Emission
Characteristics (Evaluation Testing)
On the other hand, the switching of combustion chamber shape to
shallow dish type in addition to the higher compression ratio (Case3)
could achieve 5 points improvement in ITE rather than the Case1,
which is the same as the increase in TTE.
From these results, it is clarified that even under in-cylinder condition
derived from higher compression ratio, combustion improvement
with suppression of smoke emission is very important for increasing
the ITE. Especially, it is crucial to make the combustion after the
peak cylinder pressure active for the BTE improvement.
2. Comparison of Mechanical Friction Loss
Mechanical friction loss is expressed as differences between ITE and
BTE. Figure 14 shows the dependency of the mechanical friction
losses with the peak cylinder pressures for all cases. It is clarified that
mechanical friction loss highly correlates with peak cylinder pressure,
and the mechanical friction loss in Case4 was observed to be
approximately 2 points higher than base condition (Case1).
The increase of mechanical friction loss in Case4, in conjunction with
the higher cylinder pressure, is also considered to attribute to
increasing friction loss during the compression stroke by rising of the
boost pressure.

1-3. Effect of a Higher Specific Heat Ratio

Figure 13 shows a comparison of thermal efficiencies between Case3
and Case4. The specific heat ratio in the cylinder in Case4 is raised
from 1.29 (Case3) to 1.34 by EGR cut and increasing the air excess
ratio through higher boosting. As described the above, in the
theoretical approximately 3 points increase of the TTE had been
expected by increasing the specific heat ratio of 1.34.

Although about 2 points improvement of TTE had been obtained in

the theoretical analyses in this condition (specific heat ratio 1.34), test
results indicate only about 1 point and 0.5 point improvements for the
ITE and the BTE, respectively.

In this Case4, even though the peak cylinder pressure was raised, the Figure 14. Effect of mechanical friction loss on peak cylinder pressure
BTE was still increased to 0.5 points. This is because the indicated work
increase derived from the higher specific heat ratio would overcome the
friction loss increase due to the peak cylinder pressure raising.
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3. Comparison of Cooling Loss
Figure 15 shows the cooling loss of each case. Although the cooling
loss has increased from Case1 to Case2, it is confirmed that cooling
loss has decreased in the Case3 where a shallow dish type was
applied. Since the cavity diameter was changed to be enlarged by
shallow dish, it is considered that this cooling loss reduction was
caused by avoidance of the flame interaction on the piston wall and
suppression of the air flow movement in the cylinder.
Figure 15. Comparison of cooling loss
On the other hand, despite heat rejection from EGR cooler was
eliminated by the EGR cut in Case4, reduction of the overall cooling
loss compared to Case3 was slight. This is because the rising of
combustion temperature by the EGR cut, lead to the increasing of
cooling loss in the cylinder.
4. Improvement of Thermal Efficiency
Figure 16 is to be based Case1, a thermal efficiency comparison with
the Case4, which has both improvement effects of the higher
compression ratio and the higher specific heat ratio. In Case4,
although theoretically 8 points improvement of thermal efficiency is
predicted, 6 points and 4 points improvements can be obtained for the
ITE and the BTE, respectively. These results indicate that higher
compression ratio and higher specific heat ratio are the direction of
improving the thermal efficiency.
Figure 16. Improvement of thermal efficiency
The in-cylinder pressure restriction preventing the specific heat ratio
from reaching the target is one probable reason for the 2 points
deviation between the theoretical and indicated thermal efficiencies.
As another reason, in order to realize a high compression ratio, it is
necessary to relatively small volume of the combustion chamber.
Therefore, it becomes easy that flame interact with a combustion
chamber wall, and probably because the cooling loss is increased.
Also, based on the results of the analysis in Section 2, the 2 points
deviation between the indicated and brake thermal efficiencies is
thought to be due to increased mechanical friction loss caused by the
rise of the peak cylinder pressure.
Summary
In order to study paths of improving engine BTE, thermal efficiency
improvements with significant change of compression ratio and
specific heat ratio as engine basic factors were investigated by using a
single-cylinder research engine. As a result of increasing compression
ratio from 17 to 26 and enhanced specific heat ratio from 1.29 to
1.34, the following findings are obtained.
1. Although 8 points improvement in TTE was predicted, 6 points
improvement in ITE and 4 points improvement in BTE are
obtained in the engine test.
2. It was confirmed that, for the same high compression ratio,
optimizing combustion improves thermal efficiency and
alleviates the emissions.
3. The 2 points divergence between the TTE and ITE is attributed
to the effects of increased cooling loss due to smaller
combustion chamber caused by the high compression ratio. On
the other hand, the 2 points divergence between the ITE and
BTE is attributed to increased mechanical friction loss caused
by the higher peak cylinder pressure resulting from setting a
higher compression ratio and a higher specific heat ratio.
It was confirmed that a higher compression ratio and higher specific
heat ratio are effective in improving thermal efficiency. However,
achieving further improvement in BTE will require improving
combustion at higher compression ratios and taking countermeasures
to reduce cooling and mechanical friction losses.
References
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Improvement in Brake Thermal Efficiency of a Single-Cylinder
Diesel Engine by Means of Independent Control of Effective
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5. Wakisaka, T., et al. :Numerical Prediction of Mixture Formation Definitions/Abbreviations

and Combustion Processes in Premixed Compression Ignition
BMEP - Brake Mean Effective Pressure
Engines, COMODIA2001, pp.442-449, (2001)
ηth - Theoretical Thermal Efficiency of the Diesel Cycle
6. Fusco, A., Knox-Kelecy, A.L., Foster, D.E. : Application of a
Phenomenological Soot Model to Diesel Engine Combustion, ε - Compression Ratio
COMODIA94, pp.571-576, (1994) κ - Specific Heat Ratio
7. Chen, S. and Flynn, P., "Development of a Single Cylinder σ - Cut-Off Ratio
Compression Ignition Research Engine," SAE Technical Paper λ - Air Excess Ratio
650733, 1965, doi:10.4271/650733.
EGR - Exhaust Gas Recirculation
Contact Information DI - Direct Injection
Yoshihiro Funayama FCD - Ferrum Casting Ductile
Engine Research Department Hino Motors, Ltd. ATDC - After Top Dead Center
3-1-1, Hino-dai, Hino-shi TTE - Theoretical Thermal Efficiency
Tokyo 191-8660, Japan
ITE - Indicated Thermal Efficiency
yoshihiro.funayama@hino.co.jp
BTE - Brake Thermal Efficiency

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