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CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Emissions and fuel consumption are the two major worldwide

environmental and energy challenges in the current century. Given the large
number of vehicles manufactured worldwide, transportation is one of the
largest sources of both gas emissions and fuel consumption in the world. One
major solution to decrease emissions and fuel consumption in transportation is
the use of cleaner fuels and more efficient combustion in engines.
Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) is a promising concept
for combustion engines to reduce both emissions and fuel consumption. HCCI
is a high-efficiency technology for combustion engines. This makes HCCI an
alternative technology to conventional Spark/Diesel engines. HCCI engine
fundamentals, history, challenges and proposed solutions are introduced in
this chapter. An important HCCI problem is then identified for the study and
the scope of this study is outlined.

1.1 BACKGROUND

1.1.1 Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) History

The first HCCI engines were two-stroke engines. The main target
of these investigations was to eliminate misfire and to stabilize the
combustion process at part load. HCCI operation, when optimized, has been
shown to provide efficient and stable operation. Another successful two-
stroke Controlled Auto-Ignition (CAI) concept is the Activated Radical
Combustion (ARC). Honda used this combustion concept for motorcycles. In
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this case the HCCI-process was used to improve the stability of combustion
and to reduce HC-emissions and fuel consumption at part load. High EGR-
rates of up to 80% were used. At higher loads and at full load, the motorcycle
was driven as a conventional SI engine. Although being reported in numerous
research papers as a new combustion concept for reciprocating internal
combustion engines, HCCI also known as Controlled Auto-Ignition (CAI) has
been around for over 100 years. The first patent refers to inventing a hot-bulb
2-stroke oil engine by Carl W. Weiss in 1897(Olof Erlandsson 2002). The
Russian scientist Nikolai Semenov and his colleagues established the first
theoretical and practical exploitation of chemical-kinetics controlled
combustion for Diesel engines in the 1930s (Hua Zhao 2007). Later in the
1970s, Semenov and Gussak built the first CAI engine that controlled
combustion by using active species which were discharged from partially
burned mixture in a separate pre-chamber. But it was not until the late 1980s
that the terminology Homogenous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) was
introduced by Thring (1989) in the research work on studying the effect of
external EGR and air-fuel ratio on HCCI. Since the 1990s, the HCCI area had
grown to a large worldwide research topic. Two main reasons for the growth
of interest are higher fuel prices and more stringent emission regulations.

HCCI technology has high fuel flexibility and can be applied for a
wide range of fuels with different octane numbers. There has been a
significant growth in the diversity of the fuels that is used in HCCI engines.
HCCI fuels range from bio-fuels, to hydrocarbon fuels and reformed fuels.
HCCI engines could be scaled to virtually every size of transportation engines
from a small motorcycle to a large ship engine. In addition, application of
HCCI engines is not only limited to automotive applications but can be used
for stationary applications such as oil and gas production, power generation
and pipeline pumping. Over the last few years HCCI has been extensively
studied by numerous researchers to tackle HCCI challenges.
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1.1.2 HCCI Fundamentals

HCCI is the auto-ignition of a homogeneous mixture by

compression. An HCCI engine can be described as a hybrid of SI (Spark
Ignition) engine and CI (Compression Ignition) engine. As in a SI engine, fuel
is homogenously premixed with air, but the fuel auto ignites from
compression heating, as in a CI (Diesel) engine.

Figure 1.1 HCCI engine Vs traditional engines

HCCI engine works without using any external ignition source,

unlike traditional Spark Ignition and Diesel engines where ignition is started
with either spark or injected fuel respectively. Figure 1.1 (Carsten
Baumgarten 2006) shows a comparison between S.I, C.I and HCCI mode
operations. The HCCI principle incorporates the best features of both the SI
and C.I engine principles. The mixture is homogeneous, which minimizes the
Particulate Matter (PM) emissions. The mixture is compression ignited using
high compression ratios, has no throttling losses and has shorter combustion
duration, which leads to high efficiency. The SI engine has low efficiency at
part load, where as the HCCI engine has a higher efficiency. The Diesel
engine efficiency similar to that of HCCI engine, but it generates higher
amounts of Particulate Matter (PM) and Nitrogen Oxides (NOx). HCCI relies
on the auto-ignition of highly diluted or lean air/fuel mixture which allows an
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HCCI engine to run with a fuel consumption advantage compared to

conventional Spark/Diesel engines. Low temperature combustion caused by
the presence of excess air and diluents suppresses the rate of NOx formation.
Burning of premixed lean mixtures and the absence of diffusion-limited
combustion virtually remove the potential for soot formation in HCCI
engines. These factors may eliminate the requirement for NOx and soot after-
treatment systems. The combination of both high efficiency and ultra-low PM
and NOx emissions has made the HCCI engine an attractive alternative to
traditional engines.

1.2 HCCI CHEMISTRY

The HCCI oxidation chemistry determines the auto-ignition timing,

the heat release rate, the reaction intermediates and the final products of
combustion. HCCI combustion of most fuels, especially typical Diesel fuels,
displays a two-stage heat release as shown in Figure 1.2 (Carsten Baumgarten
2006). The first stage of heat release is associated with low temperature
kinetic reactions (low temperature oxidation, LTO) and the second and much
stronger one (main reaction) is the high temperature oxidation (HTO). The
time delay between LTO and HTO is attributed to the negative temperature
coefficient regime (NTC).

Figure 1.2 Two-stage heat release of HCCI Diesel combustion

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In this NTC regime, the overall reaction rate decreases though the in-cylinder
temperature increases, which leads to a lower reactivity of the system. About
7-10% of the energy is released during LTO; the rest is released during HTO.

The major difference between the conventional Diesel combustion

and the HCCI process lies in the composition of fuel vapour at ignition. Due
to very heterogeneous fuel-air mixture, conventional combustion starts at
those local mixture regions having the best ignition conditions, then the heat
generated from the combustion of these local sections enhances ignition of the
neighbouring regions. After ignition, the conventional Diesel combustion
begins at a very fast high temperature oxidation of the premixed air-fuel
quantity, which has been generated during ignition delay (premixed peak).
The rate of heat release by the subsequent diffusion burning depends on the
velocity of the turbulent mixing of unburned or partially burnt fuel and air. In
Figure 1.2, the premixed peak near TDC and the subsequent comparatively
slow diffusion burning are shown. In the case of HCCI combustion on the
other hand, the whole cylinder charge reacts simultaneously. The whole
charge is first oxidized according to the LTO chemistry and then, after a
second delay (NTC region), passes to the high temperature oxidation. In order
to achieve a homogeneous air-fuel mixture, the time available for mixing
must be maximized, and fuel injection must be advanced. However, this often
leads to an early start of LTO and HTO reactions. Because the whole charge
reacts simultaneously, the heat is released in a very short time, resulting in a
considerable pressure rise, increase of noise (higher dp/d) and peak pressure
compared to the conventional Diesel combustion.

1.3 HCCI CHALLENGES

There are many obstacles that must be overcome in order to realize

the advantages of HCCI combustion in modern engines. The three main
challenges are
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1. The homogenization of fuel, air, and recycled burnt gases

prior to ignition,
2. The control of ignition and combustion timing, and

3. The control of heat release rates.

Although advantageous over traditional engines in thermal

efficiency and NOx emission, HCCI combustion has several main difficulties.
These include control of combustion timing, limited power output,
Homogenous mixture preparation, high unburned Hydrocarbon (HC), Carbon
Monoxide (CO) emissions and Weak cold-start capability.

HC and CO emissions in HCCI are normally higher than their

equivalent of Diesel engines. However, reducing HC and CO emissions from
HCCI engines is easier than reducing NOx and soot emissions from Diesel
engines. High HC and CO emissions in HCCI are mainly due to low in-
cylinder temperature caused by lean-burn or high-dilution combustion. This
can result in incomplete combustion and decrease of post-combustion
oxidation rates inside the cylinder. Results show that CO-to-CO2 reactions in
HCCI are sensitive to the combustion temperature and a minimum peak
temperature of 1500 K is required to oxidize CO. As the charge is made
leaner by decreasing fuelling or increasing EGR rates, the production of HC
and CO is dominated by incomplete bulk-gas reactions. The problem of weak
cold-start capability in HCCI engines can be solved by using a dual mode (SI-
HCCI / CI-HCCI) technique where the engine starts in the SI / CI mode.

Table 1.1 lists the major HCCI challenges and solutions proposed
to address specific problems. The problem of high HC and CO emissions in
HCCI is also linked to control of combustion timing since HC and CO
emissions highly depend on the location of ignition. Despite a plurality of
different proposed solutions, each of the proposed solutions has its own
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drawbacks. Variable intake temperature, variable intake pressure and variable

coolant temperature have slow response time, while Variable Compression
Ratio (VCR) and Variable Valve Timing (VVT) are technically difficult to
implement. Practicality and cost effectiveness are the main concerns with
most of the proposed options such as water injection, modulating two or more
fuels.

Table 1.1 Main HCCI challenges and proposed solutions

HCCI Challenges Proposed Solutions

Control of combustion timing
Homogeneous Mixture
Preparation
Changing temperature history of mixture:
VVT and residual/exhaust gas trapping
o Exhaust gas trapping
o Modulating intake and exhaust flows
o Combination of both
Variable Compression Ratio (VCR)
Variable EGR
In-cylinder injection timing
Modulating intake temperature
Water injection
Variable coolant temperature
Changing mixture reactivity:
Modulating two or more fuels
Fuel additives and reforming
Variable EGR
Port fuel injection
Early in-cylinder injection
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1.4 PIONEERING RESEARCH IN HCCI COMBUSTION

The concept of HCCI was initially investigated for gasoline

applications by Onishi et al (1979) in order to increase the combustion
stability of two-stroke engines. They found that significant reduction in
emissions and an improvement in fuel economy could be obtained by creating
conditions that led to spontaneous ignition of the in-cylinder charge. Stable
HCCI combustion could be achieved between low and high load limits with
gasoline at a compression ratio of 7.5:1 over the engine speed range from
1000 to 4000 rpm. Noguchi et al (1979) performed a spectroscopic analysis
on HCCI combustion by experimental work on an opposed piston two-stroke
engine. From optical investigations they noted that ignition took place at
numerous points throughout the cylinder and no discernable flame front was
observed during combustion. Using spectroscopic methods to detect the
intermediate species, they measured high levels of CH2O, HO2, and O radicals
within the cylinder before auto-ignition. These species are characteristic of
low temperature auto-ignition chemistry of larger paraffinic hydrocarbon
fuels. After ignition, they observed high concentrations of CH, H, and OH
radicals, which were indicative of high temperature chemistry during the bulk
burn.

Building on previous work on two-stroke engines, Najit and Foster

(1983) extended the work to four stroke engines and attempted to gain
additional understanding of the underlying physics of HCCI combustion.
They concluded that HCCI auto-ignition is controlled by low temperature
(below 1000 K) chemistry and the bulk energy release is controlled by the
high temperature (above 1000 K) chemistry dominated by CO oxidation.
Combined with the previous work of Onishi et al 1979, it can be concluded
that, unlike traditional SI combustion that relies on the flame propagation and
Diesel combustion that is heavily dependent on the fuel/air mixing, HCCI
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combustion is a chemical kinetic combustion process controlled by

temperature, pressure, and composition of the in-cylinder charge.
Correspondingly, they noted that HCCI combustion suffers from a lack of
control of the ignition process and a limited operating range. Thring (1989)
further extended the work of Najit et al (1983) in four-stroke engines by
examining the performance of an HCCI engine operated with a fully-blended
gasoline. It was also found that the operating regime was restricted to part
load operation, and control of the auto-ignition timing was problematic.

As discussed above, initial efforts with HCCI involved gasoline

fuelled engines, and this technology continues to be strongly pursued today.
In many researches, gasoline fuelled HCCI combustion is also called
controlled auto-ignition (CAI) combustion. However, the need to reduce
emissions from Diesel engines led to investigation into the potential of
Diesel-fuelled HCCI beginning in the mid-1990s. For Diesel fuel, port fuel
injection is the most straightforward approach for obtaining a premixed
charge and this approach has been used in some of the earlier investigations
of Diesel fuelled HCCI Ryan et al (1996) used port fuel injection to supply
Diesel fuel into the intake air stream. An intake air heater upstream of the fuel
injection point allowed preheating, with engine compression ratios varying
between 7.5 and 17:1. From this study and the following study on the same
engine some observations were made as follows: (1) For Diesel fuelled HCCI,
very premature ignition and knocking occurred using normal Diesel
compression ratios; (2) Relatively high intake temperatures were required to
minimize the accumulation of liquid fuel on surfaces in the intake system; and
(3) Unburned HC emissions was very high, but NOx emissions were dramatically
reduced.

The results from these pioneering investigations indicate the strong

potential of HCCI to improve thermal efficiency of gasoline fuelled engines
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and substantially reduce NOx and soot emissions of Diesel fuelled engines.
Furthermore, these results confirmed the dominating role of chemical kinetics
in HCCI combustion, which has significance to the following studies.
However, they also foresaw some problems of this new combustion mode.

1.5 CHALLENGES OF HCCI COMBUSTION

Based on the pioneering research of HCCI combustion, obstacles

that must be overcome before the potential benefits of HCCI combustion can
be fully realized in production applications became clear with more and more
studies. This section describes the main difficulties with this combustion
mode.

1.5.1 Combustion Phasing Control

One of the principal challenges of HCCI combustion is control of

the combustion phasing. Unlike conventional combustion, a direct method for
controlling the start of combustion is not available. Instead, the start of
combustion is established by the auto-ignition chemistry of the air-fuel
mixture. Auto-ignition of a fuel-oxidizer mixture is influenced by the
properties of the mixture and by the time-temperature history to which it is
exposed. Hence, combustion phasing of HCCI engines is affected by the
following factors: auto-ignition properties of the fuel, fuel concentration,
residual rate and, possibly, reactivity of the residual, mixture homogeneity,
compression ratio, intake temperature, latent heat of vaporization of the fuel,
engine temperature, heat transfer to the engine and other engine-dependent
parameters.
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1.5.2 Noise, UHC and CO Emissions

The second main challenge for HCCI operation is the potential

increase in noise, unburned hydrocarbon (UHC) and CO emissions. As with
all homogeneous combustion systems, a significant portion of the in-cylinder
fuel is stored in crevices during the compression stroke and escapes
combustion. Moreover, the burned gas temperature is too low to consume
much of this unburned fuel when it re-enters the cylinder during the
expansion stroke. This results in a significant increase in both HC and CO
emissions relative to conventional combustion. In addition, the peak burned
gas temperatures are too low (lower than 1400 K or 1500 K) to complete the
CO to CO2 oxidation at low loads, and the combustion efficiency deteriorates
precipitously. This loss of combustion efficiency combined with ignition
difficulties limits the effectiveness of HCCI combustion at the lightest loads.
At higher loads the rate of pressure rise can become so large that engine noise
increases significantly, and if left unchecked, engine damage may occur.

1.5.3 Operation Range

In addition to the above problems, another fundamental barrier in

the HCCI development is extending the operating load range while
maintaining the full HCCI benefit. Extending the operating range is as
important as the auto-ignition process. In addition to expanding the HCCI
operation to higher load, very light load operation is also limited, because
there is insufficient thermal energy to trigger auto-ignition of the mixture late
in compression stroke. Moreover, excess CO and HC emissions in
combination with low exhaust gas temperature at near-idle operation makes
this combustion mode less appealing from the perspective of combustion
efficiency and exhaust emission.
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1.5.4 Cold Start

Since temperatures are very low at cold start operation and the heat
loss from the compressed charge to the cold combustion chamber walls is
very high, the HCCI engine will encounter a major difficulty in firing during
cold start. To overcome this difficulty, the engine may have to be started in a
conventional mode and then switched to the HCCI mode after a short warm-
up period. Therefore, maintaining a real homogeneous combustion after cold
start will also be a real challenge. HCCI operation for cold starts is an area
where more developmental effort is needed. Achieving a robust HCCI
combustion at very light load with full HCCI benefits in fuel efficiency and
emissions is as important as extending the HCCI operation to high loads.

1.5.5 Homogeneous Mixture Preparation

Effective mixture preparation and avoiding fuel/wall interactions

are crucial for achieving high fuel efficiency, reducing HC and PM emissions,
and preventing oil dilution. Fuel impinging on the surfaces of the combustion
chamber has been proven to be disadvantageous to HC emissions even for
moderately volatile fuels such as gasoline. Mixture homogeneity has an effect
on auto-ignition reactions that control the HCCI combustion phasing, and
there is significant evidence that low NOx emissions can be produced even
with some degree of mixture inhomogeneity within the combustion chamber.
Homogeneous mixture preparation is most difficult for fuels with reduced
volatility such as Diesel, which requires elevated intake air temperatures for
low-smoke operation when port-injected.

Based on pioneering research, HCCI combustion has been

attractive in recent years due to the potential in significantly reducing NO x
and particulate emissions whilst achieving high thermal efficiency at part
loads with the development of electronic control technology, numerical
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simulations and optical technology. Great progress has been made in the three
main research fields of HCCI, which are, fundamental theory, gasoline-
fuelled HCCI combustion and Diesel-fuelled HCCI combustion.
Circumfusing the above three aspects, not only models applied to HCCI
research and the effects of fuel characteristics on HCCI were discussed, but
also the process of extending HCCI concept is focused on with more and
more researches.

1.5.6 Extension of HCCI Concept Stratification Combustion

A great deal of HCCI research has revealed that the process

involved in mixing fuel and air has important effects on the HCCI combustion
process. With HCCI, the start of combustion is dictated by auto-ignition
chemical kinetics. Thus controlling the combustion phasing requires tuning of
the auto-ignition kinetics, which is affected by the charge composition, the
pressure and temperature histories of the reactants during the compression
process. In fact, it is impossible to get an absolutely homogeneous mixture in
the operation of practical HCCI engines. A little inhomogeneity in fuel
concentration and temperature appearing in mixing can produce significant
effects on the auto-ignition and combustion process. Therefore, solving the
HCCI control problems has led to the investigation of various control
strategies that may move away from homogeneous mixtures.

With homogeneous charge, 10% of the fuel can exit the cylinder
unburned. Consequently, this amount of the fuel does not contribute to
pressure rise. If one imagines that all of the fuel was supplied via direct
injection to the cylinder with less fuel in the quenching zones, the operational
equivalence ratio in the combustion zone would rise relative to the
homogeneous charge operation. Thus it would be possible to reduce the
amount of fuel residing in the quenching zones using charge stratification.
Consequently, the fuel economy could be improved and the HCCI operating
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range can be expanded. Richter et al (2000) performed engine imaging

experiments to assess the magnitude and role of inhomogeneities in HCCI
operation. They concluded that charge inhomogeneities were potentially
significant and play an important role in the combustion process.

In the limit of homogeneous reactants and adiabatic combustion,

ignition timing and pollutant emissions would be governed solely by chemical
kinetics. Turbulence and turbulence/chemistry interactions (TCI) play
increasingly important roles. Both experimental and computational studies
have shown that turbulence and TCI can influence ignition timing and
emissions for practical HCCI engines. It can be concluded from the above
analysis that the auto-ignition and combustion processes are related to
turbulence and inhomogeneity of charge and temperature in HCCI
combustion. That is, auto-ignition and combustion processes can be
effectively controlled by controlling turbulence and inhomogeneity of charge
and temperature. It is observed that utilizing the inhomogeneity is an
important path to achieve clean and high efficiency combustion in engines.
Consequently, advanced control strategy of fuel/air mixture is more important
than simple homogeneous charge in the control of HCCI combustion
processes. Control of charge thermal stratification, concentration and
components is the key to achieve clean and high efficiency combustion in
engines. Charge stratification is mainly controlled by advanced fuel injection
techniques and turbulence control such as in the MULINBUMP (Multi-
Injection and BUMP Combustion Chamber) compound combustion system.

1.6 EVOLUTION IN CONTROL STRATEGIES OF DIESEL-

FUELLED HCCI ENGINES

In Diesel HCCI combustion, it is difficult to prepare homogeneous

mixture because of the lower volatility, higher viscosity and lower resistance
to auto-ignition of Diesel fuel. First, elevated temperatures are required before
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significant vaporisation occurs, making it easier to form a premixed

homogeneous charge. Second, Diesel fuel has significant cool-combustion
chemistry, leading to rapid auto-ignition once compression temperatures
exceed about 800 K. This can lead to overly advanced combustion phasing
and high combustion rates. Accordingly, the essential factor needed to
achieve Diesel HCCI combustion is mixture control, including both charge
components and temperature control in the whole combustion history and
high pre-ignition mixing rates.

Ryan et al (1996), Gray et al (1997) and Christensen et al (1999)

investigated Diesel fuelled HCCI with port fuel injection as part of an
investigation on variable compression ratios in controlling HCCI with various
fuel types. The results are in general agreement with those of Ryan et al
(1996) and Gray et al (1997) In addition, they found that smoke emissions
were significant for some conditions, and although NOx emissions were very
low, they were not as low as those with gasoline. These trends were thought
to be due to poor vaporization of diesel fuel resulting in an inhomogeneous
mixture. Furthermore, in order to avoid knock, compression ratios need to be
reduced in HCCI combustion with port fuel injection, which leads to the
deterioration in engine economy. Therefore, at present, this approach is used
in combination with other means.

1.7 EARLY DIRECT INJECTION HCCI

Because of the disadvantage of port fuel injection, an early direct

injection approach towards achieving Diesel-fuelled HCCI has been
investigated. Compared with premixing in the intake port, this approach offers
three potential advantages. 1) By injecting the fuel in the compression stroke,
the higher in-cylinder temperatures and densities can help vaporize the Diesel
fuel and promote mixing. This allows cooler intake temperatures, reducing the
propensity for early ignition. 2) With a carefully designed fuel injectors, the
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possibility exists to minimize fuel wall wetting that can cause combustion
inefficiency and oil dilution. 3) In principle, only one fuelling system is
required for both HCCI and conventional Diesel operation. The main
disadvantage of early DI for HCCI is that it is easy to produce wall wetting
due to over-penetration of the fuel. Finally, it should be noted that controlling
combustion phasing is still a critical issue for early-DI HCCI because
injection timing does not provide an effective means of directly controlling
combustion phasing as in conventional Diesel combustion. Several different
methods of early-DI HCCI have been investigated, including dual-injection
techniques that combine early-DI HCCI with a conventional Diesel injection.
Many combustion systems of early direct injection HCCI have been
developed such as PREDIC (Premixed lean Diesel combustion)/MULDIC
(multiple stage Diesel combustion), UNIBUS (uniform bulky combustion
system) and MULINBUMP (compound Diesel HCCI combustion system).

1.8 LATE DIRECT INJECTION HCCI

One of the most successful late injection DI HCCI systems for

achieving Diesel fuelled HCCI is the MK (modulated kinetics) combustion
system developed by the Nissan Motor company. The principles of this late
injection HCCI combustion process are described by Kawashima et al (1998)
and Kimura et al (2000). In order to achieve the diluted homogeneous mixture
required for HCCI, a long ignition delay is extended by retarding the injection
timing from 7 deg bTDC to 3 deg aTDC and by using high levels of EGR,
sufficient to reduce the oxygen concentration to 15-16%. Rapid mixing was
achieved by combining high swirl with toroidal combustion-bowl geometry.
The operating range for the first generation MK system was limited to about
one-third of peak torque and half speed. In the MK mode, NOx emissions
were reduced substantially (to about 50 ppm) without an increase in PM.
Combustion noise was also significantly reduced. In addition, with this late-
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DI HCCI technique, combustion phasing is controlled by injection timing,

which is an advantage over port fuel injection and early-DI HCCI techniques.

1.9 PREMIXED/DIRECT-INJECTED HCCI COMBUSTION

In premixed/direct-injected HCCI combustion, port injection was

chosen for the main fuel supply to create a homogeneous charge, and direct
fuel injection into the cylinder was used to change the concentration and
position of local fuel-rich regions with the purpose of controlling HCCI
combustion. Homogeneous charge compression ignition Diesel combustion
(HCDC) is the earliest premixed/direct injected HCCI combustion system
proposed by Odaka et al (1999). In their system, most of the fuel was injected
into the intake manifold to form a homogeneous pre-mixture and was ignited
with a small amount of fuel directly injected into the cylinder. This system
can reduce both NOx and smoke emissions better than ordinary Diesel
engines. Smoke is reduced near-uniformly as the premixed fuel ratio is
increased.

1.10 PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION

Problem identification in HCCI engine research area is based on

the challenges that are discussed in section 1.5. It is observed that, control of
combustion timing is a major area of research and it depends upon ignition
timing. Ignition timing affects different aspects of the operation of HCCI
engines including the operating range, the combustion stability, engine
performance and the emission characteristics. The main HCCI benefits and
challenges are directly linked to HCCI ignition timing as shown in Figure 1.3
(Carsten Baumgarten 2006). The operating range is influenced by ignition
timing as late ignition lead to high cyclic variation which determines the
instability limit. Conversely, early ignition lead to high peak pressure and
high pressure rise rate which determine the knock limit. Combustion
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efficiency depends on ignition timing and completeness of combustion

deteriorates by shifting the ignition later in the expansion stroke which
increases the potential of partial burn and misfired cycles. This can influence
CO and HC emissions. Ignition timing also affects the peak combustion
temperature which has a direct impact on NOx emissions. The thermal
efficiency and the engine work output are also affected by ignition timing and
less work is produced by releasing energy partway down the expansion stroke
for late ignition.

Figure 1.3 Major HCCI benefits and draw backs with respect to
ignition timing

Since ignition timing is the main control parameter in HCCI

engines, the quality of HCCI operation depends on the quality of the system
used to control ignition timing. However, control of ignition timing,
particularly for a wide range of load and speed, has been recognized as the
most challenging problem in HCCI engines. This is because of the absence of
a specific event to initiate the combustion and high sensitivity of HCCI to the
variations in the charge properties. At lower loads, combustion starts too late
to have a sustainable combustion. In contrast, at higher loads, the combustion
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starts too early causing a large heat release rate which causes a phenomenon
called combustion knock. Precise control of temperature, pressure and
composition of the air fuel mixture is needed to prevent: misfire, excessive
peak pressure or excessive pressure gradient which could damage the engine
and increase NOx generation. Understanding the effect of modifying the
engine charge properties on the ignition timing is essential to predict and
control HCCI engines.

Figure 1.4 Operation limit of HCCI combustion using controlled timing

Figure 1.4 (Carsten Baumgarten 2006) indicates the limits between

which the combustion timing is to be controlled. This requires identifying
patterns of cyclic variations in HCCI ignition timing and determining
different HCCI operating regions with distinct cyclic variation characteristics.
The change of the relevant thermodynamic values is unsteady from one cycle
to the other, and a model-based combustion control with a precise prediction
of charge composition and thermodynamic conditions is required. The goal is
to have a model that can predict HCCI combustion timing. The resulting
model should be accurate enough to create control strategies.
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From the overall discussion it was found that, the current direction
for all published Diesel HCCI research is mixture preparation using the direct
injection system, referred to as internal mixture formation. The benefit of
internal mixture formation is that it utilizes an already available direct
injection system. Direct injected Diesel HCCI can be divided into two areas,
early injection (early during the compression stroke) and late injection
(usually after Top Dead Centre (TDC)). Early direct injection HCCI requires
carefully designed fuel injector to minimize the fuel wall wetting that can
cause combustion inefficiency and oil dilution. Late direct injection HCCI
requires a long ignition delay and rapid mixing rate to achieve the
homogeneous mixture. The ignition delay is extended by retarding the
injection timing and rapid mixing rate was achieved by combining high swirl
with toroidal combustion-bowl geometry.

There is a compromise between Direct Injection (DI) and HCCI

combustion regimes. Even under ideal conditions, it can prove difficult to
form a truly homogeneous charge, which leads to elevated emissions when
compared to true homogenous charge combustion and also strongly contribute
to the high sensitivity of the combustion phasing to external parameters. The
alternative to the internal mixture formation is, predictably, external mixture
formation. By introducing the fuel external to the combustion chamber the
turbulence during the intake process can be used to create a homogeneous
charge regardless of engine conditions. This eliminates the need for
combustion system changes which are necessary for the internal mixture
formation method. With this method, the combustion system remains fully
optimized for direct injection and also capable of running in HCCI
combustion mode with nearly ideal mixture preparation. The key to the
external mixture formation with Diesel fuel is proper mixture preparation.
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In the present investigation a fuel vapouriser and an ultrasonic

atomiser were used to achieve excellent HCCI combustion in a single cylinder
air-cooled direct injection Diesel engine. No modifications were made to the
combustion system. In the study vaporised and very finely disintegrated
Diesel fuel (Fuel vapouriser and Ultrasonic atomiser) was mixed with air to
form a homogeneous mixture and inducted into the cylinder during the intake
stroke. To control the early ignition of Diesel vapour-air mixture, cooled
(30C) Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) technique was adopted.
Experiments were conducted and results are compared with conventional
Diesel fuel operation (DI @ 23 deg bTDC and 200 bar nozzle opening
pressure). In addition, from the experimental data, thermodynamic closed
loop model was developed for combustion control or phasing. HCCI engine
combustion was simulated using STAR-CD to study the in-cylinder pressure,
temperature and fuel distribution.

The thesis is organized into seven main chapters. Chapter 1 gives

an introduction about HCCI combustion process and its main challenges,
along with brief definition of the problem. Chapter 2 gives a detailed report
on literature survey and summarises the important findings of the earlier
research work. Chapter 3 details the development of Ultra Sonic Fuel
Injection (USFI) system. Chapter 4 details the Experimental setup for the
HCCI engine with external mixture formation. In Chapter 5 the results and
findings are discussed in detail. Chapter 6 presents the conclusion of the work
and future scope.