Experimental study of the performances of a modified diesel engine operating in homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) combustion mode versus the original diesel combustion mode

Homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) combustion mode provides very low NO_x and soot emissions; however, it has some challenges associated with hydrocarbon (HC) emissions, fuel consumption, difficult control of start of ignition and bad behaviour to high loads. Cooled exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) is a common way to control in-cylinder NO_x production in diesel and HCCI combustion mode. However EGR has different effects on combustion and emissions, which are difficult to distinguish. This work is intended to characterize an engine that has been modified from the base diesel engine (FL1 906 DEUTZ-DITER) to work in HCCI combustion mode. It shows the experimental results for the modified diesel engine in HCCI combustion mode fueled with commercial diesel fuel compared to the diesel engine mode. An experimental installation, in conjunction with systematic tests to determine the optimum crank angle of fuel injection, has been used to measure the evolution of the cylinder pressure and to get an estimate of the heat release rate from a single-zone numerical model. From these the angle of start of combustion has been obtained. The performances and emissions of HC, CO and the huge reduction of NO_x and smoke emissions of the engine are presented. These results have allowed a deeper analysis of the effects of external EGR on the HCCI operation mode, on some engine design parameters and also on NO_x emission reduction.     

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.     

均质压燃(HCCI)燃烧过程控制方式的研究

均质压燃(HCCI)燃烧方式是目前内燃机燃烧领域的研究焦点。因HCCI发动机的燃烧过程主要由可燃混合气的化学动力学所控制，故很难在全负荷范围内控制它的着火时刻和燃烧放热率。因此，HCCI燃烧过程的控制成为HCCI研究热点。本文根据一些控制HCCI发动机燃烧过程的研究结果对其进行阐述。     

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.     

Effects of compression ratio on the combustion characteristics of a homogeneous charge compression ignition engine

The effects of homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engine compression ratio on its combustion characteristics were studied experimentally on a modified TY1100 single cylinder engine fueled with dimethyl ether. The results show that dimethyl ether (DME) HCCI engine can work stably and can realize zero nitrogen oxides (NO_x) emission and smokeless combustion under the compression ratio of both 10.7 and 14. The combustion process has obvious two stage combustion characteristics at ɛ = 10.7 (ɛ refers to compression ratio), and the combustion beginning point is decided by the compression temperature, which varies very little with the engine load; the combustion beginning point is closely related to the engine load (concentration of mixture) with the increase in the compression temperature, and it moves forward versus crank angle with the increase in the engine load at ɛ = 14; the combustion durations are shortened with the increase in the engine load under both compression ratios. __________ Translated from Chinese Journal Combustion Engine Engineering, 2006, 27(4): 9–12 [译自: 内燃机工程]     

Influence of biodiesel on engine combustion and emission characteristics

This paper discusses the influence of biodiesel on the engine combustion characteristics. The considered fuel is neat biodiesel from rapeseed oil. The considered engine is a bus diesel engine with injection M system. The engine characteristics are obtained by experiments and numerical simulation. The results obtained with biodiesel are compared to those obtained with mineral diesel under various operating regimes. In this way, the influences of biodiesel usage on the injection pressure, injection timing, ignition delay, in-cylinder gas pressure and temperature, heat release rate, exhaust gas temperatures, harmful emissions, specific fuel consumption, and on engine power are analyzed. Furthermore, the relationships among fuel properties, injection and combustion characteristics, harmful emissions, and other engine performance are determined. Special attention is given to possible explanations of higher NO_x emission in spite of lower in-cylinder gas temperature.     

Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) combustion: Implementation and effects on pollutants in direct injection diesel engines

Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) combustion is a combustion concept which offers simultaneous reductions in both NO_x and soot emissions from internal combustion engines. In light of increasingly stringent diesel emissions limits, research efforts have been invested into HCCI combustion as an alternative to conventional diesel combustion. This paper reviews the implementation of HCCI combustion in direct injection diesel engines using early, multiple and late injection strategies. Governing factors in HCCI operations such as injector characteristics, injection pressure, piston bowl geometry, compression ratio, intake charge temperature, exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) and supercharging or turbocharging are discussed in this review. The effects of design and operating parameters on HCCI diesel emissions, particularly NO_x and soot, are also investigated. For each of these parameters, the theories are discussed in conjunction with comparative evaluation of studies reported in the specialised literature.     

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)’.     

柴油机放热规律在数值计算中的应用

柴油机缸内燃烧过程的模拟是柴油机工作过程模拟的基础,燃料燃烧放热规律决定了缸内压力变化和能量转换的过程,进而影响整个燃烧过程。笔者以TBD234V12增压中冷柴油机为母型机,根据热力学第一定律,利用MATLAB语言编制了柴油机实测示功图反算放热率的程序,计算出燃烧放热率,以此作为已知数据进行工作过程计算,为柴油机工作过程和燃烧过程的研究提供了更为真实准确的燃烧放热规律。同时,利用三韦伯曲线来模拟缸内的放热规律,在达到同样柴油机综合性能指标条件下,分析二者的共同点与不同点。     

均质压燃发动机燃烧特性的详细反应动力学模拟

应用CHEMKIN化学动力学软件包中的SENKIN模块模拟了正庚烷在HCCI发动机中的燃烧过程。通过修改SENKIN程序，加入了Woschni传热模型，并在正庚烷详细氧化机理中加入氮氧化物的生成机理，将此程序纳入发动机燃烧的零维单区模型。对多种工况参数下的HCCI燃烧和NOx排放进行了系统的计算，并分别讨论了进气温度、进气压力、压缩比、过量空气系数和转速等参数变化对HCCI发动机燃烧过程的影响。     

NO Relaxation Approach (NORA) to predict thermal NO in combustion chambers

In combustion models employing tabulated or global kinetics, the prediction of thermal NO is usually performed by either the direct resolution of Zel’dovich mechanism or the tabulation of the NO reaction rate using a laminar flamelet database and a progress variable representative of the fuel oxidation reactions, for instance temperature or a linear combination of major products mass fractions. It is known that the first method lacks accuracy if radical species such as N or O appearing in the NO reaction rate are not correctly estimated. The second method cannot lead to accurate predictions because NO reactions take place essentially when the fuel oxidation is over, therefore the NO reaction rate shows a very weak correlation with the progress variable. In this paper a new approach called NO Relaxation Approach (NORA), is proposed for the modeling of thermal NO. It allows a high accuracy when coupled with this type of combustion models. With NORA, the NO reaction rate is written as a linear relaxation towards the equilibrium value with a characteristic time τ. Both parameters are tabulated as functions of equivalence ratio, pressure, temperature and dilution mass fraction. NORA is first validated on homogeneous internal combustion engine cases, where it closely fits the complex chemistry results. It is then integrated into the turbulent combustion model ECFM3Z dedicated to piston engine applications. In this model a mixed tabulated (TKI) and global kinetics (CORK) approach is used to describe turbulent combustion. First applications on eight Diesel engine operating points show a good improvement with NORA compared to a classical resolution of Zel’dovich mechanism.     

The effects of injection timing on NOx emissions of a low heat rejection indirect diesel injection engine

Higher NO_x is one of the major problems to be overcomed in a low heat rejection (LHR) diesel engine as insulation leads to an increase in combustion temperature about 200–250 °C compared to an identical standard (STD) diesel engine. High combustion temperatures alter optimum injection timing of a LHR engine. With the proper adjustment of the injection timing, it is possible to partially offset the adverse effect of insulation on heat release rate and hence to obtain improved performance and lower NO_x. However, the injection timing and brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) trade-off must be considered together in performance and NO_x emission point of view. In this study, optimum injection timing was found with 4 crank angle (34° CA) retarded before top dead centre (BTDC) in LHR diesel engine in comparison to that of STD diesel engine (38° CA BTDC). When the LHR engine was operated with the injection timing of the 38 crank angle, which is the optimum value of the STD engine, it was shown that NO_x emission increased about 15%. However, when the injection timing was retarded to 34° CA in the LHR case, it was observed a decrease on the NO_x emissions with about 40% and the brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) with about 6% compared to that of the STD case. Thus, by retarding the injection timing, an additional 1.5% saving in fuel consumption was obtained.     

Characterization of ringing intensity in a hydrogen-fueled HCCI engine

Homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) is a promising alternative combustion strategy having higher thermal efficiency while maintaining the NO_x and soot emissions below the current emissions mandates. The HCCI combustion engine has typically lower operating load range in comparison to conventional engines. The HCCI combustion is constrained by various operational limits such as combustion instability limit, combustion noise limits, emission limits and peak cylinder pressure limit. High load limit of HCCI combustion is typically limited by very high heat release rate, which leads to ringing operation. Intense ringing operation leads to very high combustion noise, and heavy ringing operation can also damage the engine parts. Thus, it is important to investigate the characteristics of ringing intensity (RI) in HCCI engine. Hydrogen fueled HCCI engine combines the potential advantages of alternative fuel as well as the alternative combustion strategy. This study presents the RI characterization and prediction using chemical kinetics and artificial neural network (ANN) for hydrogen-HCCI operation. In the first part of the study, the effect of equivalence ratio (φ), inlet temperature (T_ivc), and engine speed on ringing intensity is investigated using chemical kinetics model. Based on ringing operation characteristics of hydrogen HCCI engine, ANN model is used to predict the ringing intensity (RI) for different engine operating conditions (i.e., φ T_ivc, engine speed) and different combustion parameters. The result indicates that RI increases with advanced combustion phasing (CA₅₀), higher inlet temperature, and equivalence ratio. To control the ringing operation, the CA₅₀ position needs to be retarded by optimizing the T_ivc and φ. Maximum engine operating range is found for lower engine speed (i.e., 1000 rpm) and reduces with increase in the engine speed. The results showed that the RI is strongly correlated to the CA₅₀ position with a correlation coefficient of 0.99 at constant inlet temperature. The ANN results also show that ANN model predicts RI with sufficient accuracy. The ANN model predicts RI with engine operating conditions as well as combustion parameters with a correlation coefficient of 0.97 and 0.95 respectively.     

Evaluation of heat transfer correlations for HCCI engine modeling

Combustion in HCCI engines is a controlled auto-ignition of well-mixed fuel, air and residual gas. The thermal conditions of the combustion chamber are governed by chemical kinetics strongly coupled with heat transfer from the hot gas to the walls. The heat losses have a critical effect on HCCI ignition timing and burning rate, so it is essential to understand heat transfer process in the combustion chamber in the modeling of HCCI engines. In the present paper, a comparative analysis is performed to investigate the performance of well-known heat transfer correlations in an HCCI engine. The results from the existing correlations are compared with the experimental results obtained in a single-cylinder engine. Significant differences are observed between the heat transfer results obtained by using Woschni, Assanis and Hohenberg correlations.     

二甲基醚/天然气双燃料均质压燃的燃烧特性

应用零维热力学模型和化学反应动力学模型计算并分析了二甲基醚(DME)／天然气(CNG)双燃料均质压燃(HCCI)运行工况范围，计算与试验结果相吻合．采用DME／CNG双燃料方式可以有效地扩展HCCI的运行工况范围，发动机转速为1400r／min，最大平均有效压力可达O．52MPa．在一台单缸直喷式柴油机上进行了DME／CNG双燃料HCCI燃烧过程的试验研究，结果表明，DME／CNG双燃料燃烧过程表现出明显的两阶段放热过程，随着CNG浓度增大，缸内最大爆发压力增大，燃烧始点略有推迟，燃烧第二放热峰值增大．而DME浓度对燃烧过程的影响主要通过影响第一阶段放热过程，进而影响第二阶段放热，随着DME浓度加大，第一放热峰值增大，燃烧始点提前，导致第二放热峰值增大，缸内最大爆发压力增大，主燃期缩短，当DME浓度太高时，发动机将出现爆震．     

均质压燃式(HCCI)燃烧的研究

均质压燃式（HCCI）燃烧方式是目前内燃机燃烧领域的研究热点。HCCI燃烧是以预混合燃烧和低温反应为特征的燃烧方式。采用HCCI燃烧方式可以同时有效降低柴油机的NOX和碳烟排放，并提高柴油机的循环热效率。HCCI发动机通常工作在高空燃比和较低的压缩比条件下，工作范围较小，高负荷时功率输出不足。“双模式”HCCI发动机是解决上述问题的有效途径，并成为近期HCCI发动机研究中的热点。     

Simulation of HCCI combustion in air-cooled off-road engines fuelled with diesel and biodiesel

The present work describes the elaboration of a predictive tool consisting on a phenomenological multi-zone model, applicable to the simulation of HCCI combustion of both diesel and biodiesel fuels. The mentioned predictive tool is created with the aim to be applied in the future to perform engine characterization during both pre-design and post-design stages. The methodology applied to obtain the proposed predictive model is based on the generation of an analytical mechanism that, given a set of regression variables representing the engine operative conditions, provides the user with the optimal figures for the scaling coefficients needed to particularize both the ignition delay and the heat release rate functional laws, which rule the combustion development in the proposed multi-zone model for HCCI engines. The validation of the proposed predictive multi-zone model consists on the comparison between chamber pressure curve derived from the simulations and experimental data based on a DEUTZ FL1 906 unit modified in order to allow HCCI combustion operation mode using diesel EN590 and rapeseed biodiesel. Finally, evidences of the capabilities of the proposed model to be used as a predictive tool applicable to the analysis of off-road engines under HCCI conditions are provided, consisting in the characterization and optimization of the operational maps related to both Brake Specific Fuel Consumption and NOx emissions.     

二甲醚均质压燃发动机燃烧特性的研究

二甲醚均质压燃发动机由一台单缸柴油机改造而成,其压缩比为10．7。二甲醚气体随进气进入气缸,形成均质混合气。通过试验采集分析缸内压力,结果表明二甲醚均质压燃燃烧是一个两阶段放热过程,分别发生在610K和900K左右。第一阶段放热量较少,约占10％,正常情况下第二阶段集中在上止点附近,释放出70％以上的燃料热量。发动机负荷对最大缸压力及其出现位置、压力升高率和放热率曲线形状等都有重要影响,而发动机转速对它们的影响比较小。     

Assessing LES models based on tabulated chemistry for the simulation of Diesel spray combustion

In the context of large-eddy simulation (LES) of Diesel engine combustion, two LES combustion models are proposed. Their ability to predict autoignition delays and heat release of an autoigniting liquid α-methylnaphthalene/n-decane jet injected into a constant-volume chamber under Diesel-like conditions is assessed. These models retain the tabulation of a complex chemistry scheme using autoigniting homogeneous reactors (HR) at constant pressure. This allows accounting for the chemical complexity of heavy hydrocarbon fuels over the wide range of conditions representative for Diesel engines, at comparatively low CPU time overhead. The tabulated homogeneous reactor (THR) approach assumes the local structure of the reaction zone to be that of an HR, while the approximated diffusion flame (ADF) approach is based on autoigniting strained diffusion flames. Two variants of each approach are considered, either neglecting sub-grid-scale mixture fraction variance (THR and ADF models), or accounting for it via a presumed β-PDF (THR-pdf and ADF–PCM models). LES results indicate that the ADF model assuming diffusion flame structures tends to predict faster propagation of the combustion toward less reactive mixture fractions then the THR model. Moreover, neglecting the mixture fraction fluctuations strongly overestimates initial experimental heat release rates after autoignition. Comparison between models shows that this assumption yields higher reaction rates and temperature levels close to the stoichiometric mixture fraction zones. Predictions in terms of autoignition are remarkably close with all models, and exhibit very few variations from one realization to the other. Variations in global heat release rate become more apparent for different realizations at later instants, in relation to the interaction of large flow scales with combustion.     

A computational study to analyze the effect of equivalence ratio and hydrogen volume fraction on the ultra-lean burning of the syngas-fueled HCCI engine

This computational study investigates the equivalence ratio and hydrogen volume fraction effect on the ultra-lean burning of the syngas-fueled homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engine. In this research, low calorific syngas, composed of different compositions of H2, CO, and CO2, is used as a fuel in the HCCI engine that is operated under an overly lean air-fuel mixture. ANSYS Forte CFD package with Gri-Mech 3.0 chemical kinetics was used to analyze the in-cylinder combustion phenomena, and the simulation results were validated with experimental tests in the form of in-cylinder pressure and heat release rate at different equivalence ratios.The results indicate that changing the equivalence ratio produces a negligible change in combustion phasing, while it positively impacts the combustion and thermal efficiency of this syngas-fueled HCCI engine under lean conditions due to the high burning rate in the squish region. Moreover, an increased equivalence ratio increases MPRR due to the rich mixture combustion. The results also represent that the high-volume fraction of H2 in syngas fuel causes an advanced burning phase, improves the combustion performance of the HCCI engine at all equivalence ratio conditions, and causes slightly high NOx emissions.