Experimental study of combustion and emission characteristics of ethanol fuelled port injected homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) combustion engine

The homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) is an alternative combustion concept for in reciprocating engines. The HCCI combustion engine offers significant benefits in terms of its high efficiency and ultra low emissions. In this investigation, port injection technique is used for preparing homogeneous charge. The combustion and emission characteristics of a HCCI engine fuelled with ethanol were investigated on a modified two-cylinder, four-stroke engine. The experiment is conducted with varying intake air temperature (120–150 °C) and at different air–fuel ratios, for which stable HCCI combustion is achieved. In-cylinder pressure, heat release analysis and exhaust emission measurements were employed for combustion diagnostics. In this study, effect of intake air temperature on combustion parameters, thermal efficiency, combustion efficiency and emissions in HCCI combustion engine is analyzed and discussed in detail. The experimental results indicate that the air–fuel ratio and intake air temperature have significant effect on the maximum in-cylinder pressure and its position, gas exchange efficiency, thermal efficiency, combustion efficiency, maximum rate of pressure rise and the heat release rate. Results show that for all stable operation points, NO_x emissions are lower than 10 ppm however HC and CO emissions are higher.     

Fuel design and management for the control of advanced compression-ignition combustion modes

Due to concerns regarding the greenhouse effect and limitations on carbon dioxide emissions, the possibility of a next-generation combustion mode for internal combustion engines that can simultaneously reduce exhaust emissions and substantially improve thermal efficiency has drawn increasing attention. The most prominent characteristic of new combustion modes, such as Homogenous-Charge Compression-Ignition (HCCI), Stratified-Charge Compression-Ignition (SCCI), and Low-Temperature Combustion (LTC), is the requirement of creating a homogenous mixture or controllable stratified mixture prior to ignition. To this end, a lean fuel/air mixture and/or a controllable high level of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) are employed to prolong the timescale of the ignition chemistry and port fuel injection or early in-cylinder injection is used to lengthen the mixing period. The mixture then undergoes controlled self-ignition near the top dead center (TDC) position due to the compression effect of the piston’s upward movement. It is worth noting that the entire combustion process lacks a direct method for the control of ignition timing and combustion rate, which are instead controlled primarily by chemical kinetics and, to a lesser extent, by turbulence and mixing. Because of the significant impacts of fuel physical–chemical properties on the ignition and combustion process, fuel design and management has become the most common approach for the control of ignition timing and combustion rate in such advanced combustion modes.This paper summarizes the concepts and methods of fuel design and management and provides an overview of the effects of these strategies on ignition, combustion, and emissions for HCCI, LTC, and SCCI engines, respectively. From part 2 to part 4, the paper focuses on the effect of fuel design on HCCI combustion. A fuel index suitable for describing ignition characteristic under HCCI operating conditions is first introduced. Next, the proposed fuel design concept is described, including principles and main methodologies. Strategies based on the fuel design concept (including fuel additives, fuel blending, and dual-fuel technology) are discussed for primary reference fuels (PRF), alternative fuels, and practical gasoline and diesel fuels. Additionally, the effects of real-time fuel design on HCCI combustion fueled with PRFs and dimethyl ether/liquefied petroleum gas (DME–LPG) are evaluated. Diesel HCCI combustion has suffered from difficulties in homogenous mixture formation and an excessively high combustion rate. Therefore, LTC, which concentrates on local combustion temperature and a balance of mixture formation timescale and ignition timescale, has been proposed by many researchers. In Part 5, this paper provides an overview of the major points and research progress of LTC, with a preliminary discussion of the fundamental importance of fuel properties and fuel design strategy on the LTC process and emissions. Due to the stratification strategy has the capable of extending the HCCI operation range to higher loads, SCCI combustion, which incorporates HCCI combustion into a traditional combustion mode, has the potential to be used in commercial engines. Thus, this paper discusses the principles and control strategies of fuel design and management and also summarizes recent progress and future trends. The effect of fuel design and management on SCCI combustion is assessed for high cetane number fuels and high octane number fuels as well as the in SCCI combustion of gasoline–diesel dual-fuel and blends.     

Energy efficiency improvement strategies for a diesel engine in low‐temperature combustion

The lowered combustion temperature in diesel engines is capable of reducing nitrogen oxides and soot simultaneously, which can be implemented by the heavy use of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) or the homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) type of combustion. However, the fuel efficiency of the low‐temperature combustion (LTC) cycles is commonly compromised by the high levels of hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emissions. More seriously, the scheduling of fuel delivery in HCCI engines has lesser leverage on the exact timing of auto‐ignition that may even occur before the compression stroke is completed, which may cause excessive efficiency reduction and combustion roughness. New LTC control strategies have been explored experimentally to achieve ultralow emissions under independently controlled EGR, intake boost, exhaust backpressure, and multi‐event fuel‐injection events. Empirical comparisons have been made between the fuel efficiencies of LTC and conventional diesel cycles. Preliminary adaptive control strategies based on cylinder pressure characteristics have been implemented to enable and stabilize the LTC when heavy EGR is applied. The impact of heat‐release phasing, duration, shaping, and splitting on the thermal efficiency has also been analyzed with engine cycle simulations. This research intends to identify the major parameters that affect diesel LTC engine thermal efficiency. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

二甲醚均质压燃燃烧过程的试验研究

在一台单缸直喷柴油机上进行了二甲醚(DME)均质压燃(HCCl)燃烧过程的试验．研究结果表明，进气中加入30％的惰性气体CO2,发动机实现HCCl运转的负荷范围从0．05MPa扩展到0．35MPa．二甲醚在HCCl模式下表现出明显的双阶段着火特性，增加惰性气体的浓度，第一阶段着火始点滞后，燃烧放热峰值降低，燃烧持续期延长．排放测试表明，HCCl模式下发动机的NOx排放接近于零，可实现无碳烟排放，但CO和HC排放较高．     

Theoretical study of the effects of engine parameters on performance and emissions of a pilot ignited natural gas diesel engine

With the increasing concern regarding diesel vehicle emissions and the rising cost of the liquid diesel fuel as well, more conventional diesel engines internationally are pursuing the option of converting to use natural gas as a supplement for the conventional diesel fuel (dual fuel natural gas/diesel engines). The most common natural gas/diesel operating mode is referred to as the pilot ignited natural gas diesel engine (PINGDE) where most of the engine power output is provided by the gaseous fuel while a pilot amount of the liquid diesel fuel injected near the end of the compression stroke is used only as an ignition source of the gaseous fuel–air mixture. The specific engine operating mode, in comparison with conventional diesel fuel operation, suffers from low brake engine efficiency and high carbon monoxide (CO) emissions. In order to be examined the effect of increased air inlet temperature combined with increased pilot fuel quantity on performance and exhaust emissions of a PINGD engine, a theoretical investigation has been conducted by applying a comprehensive two-zone phenomenological model on a high-speed, pilot ignited, natural gas diesel engine located at the authors' laboratory. The main objectives of the present work are to record the variation of the relative impact each one of the above mentioned parameters has on performance and exhaust emissions and also to reveal the advantages and disadvantages each one of the proposed method. It becomes more necessary at high engine load conditions where the simultaneous increase of the specific engine parameters may lead to undesirable results with nitric oxide emissions.     

Homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) combustion of diesel fuel with external mixture formation

HCCI (Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition) has been touted for many years as the alternate technology of choice for future engines, preserving the inherent efficiency of CIDI (Compression Ignition Direct Injection) engines while significantly reducing emissions. 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 in the compression stroke) and late injection (usually after Top Dead Center (aTDC)). 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 one can use the turbulence intake process to create a homogeneous charge regardless of engine conditions. This eliminates the need for combustion system changes which were 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.     

Experimental investigation on the effect of intake air temperature and air–fuel ratio on cycle-to-cycle variations of HCCI combustion and performance parameters

Combustion in HCCI engines is a controlled auto ignition of well-mixed fuel, air and residual gas. Since onset of HCCI combustion depends on the auto ignition of fuel/air mixture, there is no direct control on the start of combustion process. Therefore, HCCI combustion becomes unstable rather easily, especially at lower and higher engine loads. In this study, cycle-to-cycle variations of a HCCI combustion engine fuelled with ethanol were investigated on a modified two-cylinder engine. Port injection technique is used for preparing homogeneous charge for HCCI combustion. The experiments were conducted at varying intake air temperatures and air–fuel ratios at constant engine speed of 1500 rpm and P-θ diagram of 100 consecutive combustion cycles for each test conditions at steady state operation were recorded. Consequently, cycle-to-cycle variations of the main combustion parameters and performance parameters were analyzed. To evaluate the cycle-to-cycle variations of HCCI combustion parameters, coefficient of variation (COV) of every parameter were calculated for every engine operating condition. The critical optimum parameters that can be used to define HCCI operating ranges are ‘maximum rate of pressure rise’ and ‘COV of indicated mean effective pressure (IMEP)’.     

天然气发动机的研究现状

天然气能降低发动机的有害物排放,是一种比较理想的发动机代用燃料。稀燃天然气发动机具有较高的热效率和较低的NOx排放。均质充量压缩着火(HCCI)燃烧也是提高稀燃天然气发动机热效率的方法之一,并有很低的NOx排放。本文综述了稀燃天然气发动机和HCCI天然气发动机的研究进展,尤其是燃烧室形状、点火系统、充量分层、加氢等对天然气发动机性能的影响及天然气HCCI发动机的燃烧与排放特点。     

适用于HCCI发动机的异辛烷氧化的化学动力学模型(Ⅱ)——一个新的骨架机理

构造了一个包括40种组分和69个反应的异辛烷氧化的骨架机理，该机理可以较准确计算着火点、燃烧速率以及HC、CO和NOx的排放，适用于HCCI发动机的多维模型的计算。通过与激波管、速压机、喷射搅拌反应器和HCCI发动机实验数据的比较表明，该反应机理在不同温度、压力和当量比下，尤其在高压、稀薄的反应条件下具有很好的性能。在HCCI发动机的单区模型计算中骨架机理计算结果与Curran等人的详细机理计算结果基本相同。     

辛烷值对均质压燃发动机燃烧特性和性能的影响

通过不同比例的正庚烷和异辛烷混合得到不同辛烷值的混合燃料，在一台单缸直喷式柴油机上研究燃料辛烷值对均质压燃发动机燃烧特性、性能和排放特性的影响．研究结果表明，燃料辛烷值增加，着火始点推迟，燃烧反应速率降低，缸内爆发压力降低．燃料辛烷值增高，均质压燃向大负荷工况拓宽，燃料辛烷值较高时，存在极限转速，辛烷值增加，极限转速降低．对于每一工况，存在一个最佳经济性的燃料辛烷值，负荷增大，最佳辛烷值增高；随着燃料辛烷值增高，发动机NO、HC和CO排放增加，尤其是HC排放增加更为明显．对于均质压燃发动机，低负荷工况适合燃用低辛烷值燃料，高负荷工况适合燃用高辛烷值燃料。     

An investigation of hydrogen-fuelled HCCI engine performance and operation

This paper presents the findings of an experimental investigation into the operation of a compression ignition (CI) engine in homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) mode using hydrogen fuel. Factors that were investigated include engine efficiency, emissions and mechanical loads.     

在汽油机上实施HCCI的技术策略

均质混合气压燃(HCCI)燃烧方式，是一种克服常规柴油机和汽油机缺点、集常规汽油机和柴油机优点于一体的新概念燃烧。本文分析了汽油机实施HCCI的可行性，介绍了HCCI发动机实用化所面临的问题，提出了双工作模式的折衷方案：在中低负荷工况实施HCCI，而在大负荷工况和冷起动工况恢复常规发动机工作方式。推荐可变压缩比(VCR)方案、可变废气再循环率(EGR)方案、可变排气门关闭时刻方案，以及废气再循环滚流分层充气方案等。为尽快在汽油机上实施HCCI燃烧方式指出了技术方向。     

一种新的燃烧方式——均匀充量压缩着火的研究进展

分析均质充量压缩着火的特点,国外将均质充量压缩着火方式应用于往复式发动机中的研究现状,阐述燃料系统的设计,并探讨在我国开展均质充量压缩着火研究工作的必要性和方案。     

废气再循环与燃料辛烷值对均质压燃发动机性能和排放影响的试验研究

在一台单缸直喷式柴油机上研究了废气再循环（EGR）对不同辛烷值燃料均质压燃（HCCI）发动机性能和排放特性的影响。结果表明，混合气较稀，EGR对指示热效率影响较小，其影响和燃料辛烷值有关；混合气变浓，EGR对指示热效率的影响增大。不同辛烷值燃料最高指示热效率出现在高EGR率、混合气较浓的区域，并且靠近爆震燃烧边界，辛烷值为60的燃料最高指示热效率最高，并且覆盖的工况区域最宽。高EGR率区域，EGR对HC排放的影响十分明显，EGR率升高，HC排放急剧增大，而且随着燃料辛烷值增大，这种趋势越明显；CO排放与缸内燃烧温度有较大的相关性，EGR率升高，CO排放升高。NOx排放出现急剧升高的“拐点”是判断HCCI爆震燃烧的一个重要判据，EGR率增大，“拐点”出现的混合气浓度增大，在正常工作范围内，NOx排放极低，EGR对NOx排放几乎没有影响。     

Progress and recent trends in homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engines

HCCI combustion has been drawing the considerable attention due to high efficiency and lower nitrogen oxide (NO_x) and particulate matter (PM) emissions. However, there are still tough challenges in the successful operation of HCCI engines, such as controlling the combustion phasing, extending the operating range, and high unburned hydrocarbon and CO emissions. Massive research throughout the world has led to great progress in the control of HCCI combustion. The first thing paid attention to is that a great deal of fundamental theoretical research has been carried out. First, numerical simulation has become a good observation and a powerful tool to investigate HCCI and to develop control strategies for HCCI because of its greater flexibility and lower cost compared with engine experiments. Five types of models applied to HCCI engine modelling are discussed in the present paper. Second, HCCI can be applied to a variety of fuel types. Combustion phasing and operation range can be controlled by the modification of fuel characteristics. Third, it has been realized that advanced control strategies of fuel/air mixture are more important than simple homogeneous charge in the process of the controlling of HCCI combustion processes. The stratification strategy has the potential to extend the HCCI operation range to higher loads, and low temperature combustion (LTC) diluted by exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) has the potential to extend the operation range to high loads; even to full loads, for diesel engines. Fourth, optical diagnostics has been applied widely to reveal in-cylinder combustion processes. In addition, the key to diesel-fuelled HCCI combustion control is mixture preparation, while EGR is the main path to achieve gasoline-fuelled HCCI combustion. Specific strategies for diesel-fuelled, gasoline-fuelled and other alternative fuelled HCCI combustion are also discussed in the present paper.     

DME／CNG双燃料均质压燃发动机性能试验研究

研究了二甲基醚和天然气双燃料均质压燃发动机性能和排放特性.结果表明,采用高十六烷值燃料二甲基醚和高辛烷值燃料天然气,可以拓宽均质压燃的运行工况范围.均质压燃发动机在中等负荷工况,热效率比传统压燃式发动机高.小负荷工况,采用二甲醚和大比例EGR方案可以提高热效率.和传统压燃式或点燃式发动机不同,均质压燃发动机的着火始点对经济性影响不大.均质压燃发动机的NOx排放极低,比原机降低95%以上.随着二甲基醚浓度增加,NOx排放增加,HC和CO排放降低;接近爆震燃烧区域,NOx排放急剧升高,而接近稀燃极限区域,HC和CO排放急剧升高,发动机热效率降低.     

催化燃烧对均质压燃发动机燃烧特性影响的数值模拟

通过运用DETCHEM软件包,对甲烷在催化剂Rh表面的详细反应机理进行了分析,结果表明数值模拟结果与实验数据相当吻合;通过耦合DETCHEM软件包及CHEMKIN软件包中的SENKIN模块,对活塞顶涂有催化剂铑的均质压燃(HCCI)发动机的燃烧过程进行了数值计算,建立了单区和多区模型．利用单区模型分析了催化燃烧对HCCI发动机着火时刻的影响,同时讨论了催化燃烧对燃烧过程中主要化学组分浓度变化的影响,结果表明催化燃烧会使HCCI发动机着火时刻提前;利用多区模型分析了催化燃烧对HCCI发动机的未燃碳氢化合物(UHC)、氮氧化合物(NOx)排放的影响,结果表明催化燃烧能降低UHC的排放,但会提高NOx的排放．     

双点火及补气对摩托车发动机性能影响的研究

针对摩托车发动机经济性差、排放高的问题,笔者在一台加装了双火花塞和进气补气系统的单缸摩托车发动机上,在不同转速条件下,就双火花塞点火和补气对内燃机燃烧与排放特性的影响进行了试验研究。试验结果表明,采用双点火配合进气补气的方法可以有效降低发动机CO、HC排放及比燃油消耗率。在转速为3500r.min-1的条件下,采用双点火配合进气补气的发动机比燃油消耗率较原机降低约12.5%。在发动机转速高于3000r.min-1时,采用双点火也可以在一定程度上改善发动机经济性并降低CO和HC排放。但NOx排放在双点火条件下较原机略有升高。     

Applying the multi-zone model in predicting the operating range of HCCI engines

In this paper, a multi-zone model is developed to predict the operating range of homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engines. The boundaries of the operating range were determined by knock (presented by ringing intensity), partial burn (presented by combustion efficiency), and cycle-to-cycle variations (presented by the sensitivity of indicated mean effective pressure to initial temperature). By simulating an HCCI engine fueled with iso-octane, the knock and cycle-to-cycle variations predicted by the model showed satisfactory agreement with measurements made under different initial temperatures and equivalence ratios; the operating range was also well reproduced by the model. Furthermore, the model was applied to predict the operating range of the HCCI engine under different engine speeds by varying the intake temperatures and equivalence ratios. The potential to extend the operating range of the HCCI engine through two strategies, i.e., variable compression ratio and intake pressure boosting, was then investigated. Results indicate that the ignition point can be efficiently controlled by varying the compression ratio. A low load range can be extended by increasing the intake temperature while reducing the compression ratio. Higher intake temperatures and lower compression ratios can also extend the high load range. Boosting intake pressure is helpful in controlling the combustion of the HCCI engine, resulting in an extended high load range.     

Experimental investigations on a hydrogen diesel homogeneous charge compression ignition engine with exhaust gas recirculation

In this experimental study, hydrogen was inducted along with air and diesel was injected into the cylinder using a high pressure common rail system, in a single cylinder homogeneous charge compression ignition engine. An electronic controller was used to set the required injection timing of diesel for best thermal efficiency. The influences of hydrogen to diesel energy ratio, output of the engine and exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) on performance, emissions and combustion were studied in detail. An increase in the amount of hydrogen improved the thermal efficiency by retarding the combustion process. It also lowered the exhaust emissions. Large amounts of hydrogen and EGR were needed at high outputs for suppressing knock. The range of operation was brake mean effective pressures of 2–4 bar. The levels of HC and CO emitted were not significantly influenced by the amount of hydrogen that was used.