Reactivity Controlled Compression Ignition

(RCCI)

by

Abhijeet Chausalkar













2

Table of Contents

List of Figures ________________________________________________ 3
Nomenclature ________________________________________________ 4
Section 1 Introduction to RCCI___________________________________ 5
Section 2 Working Principle of RCCI______________________________ 7
Section 3 Chemical Kinetics of RCCI______________________________ 8
Section 4 Flame Propagation in RCCI_____________________________ 10
Section 5 Comparison of RCCI with conventional diesel regime_________ 10
Section 6 Advantage of RCCI____________________________________ 12
Section 7 Challenges in RCCI___________________________________ 12
Section 8 Conclusion__________________________________________ 12
References__________________________________________________ 13



















3

List of Figures

Figure 1: LTC, PCCI, HCCI, and conventional combustion regime [1]..5
Figure 2: High efficiency clean operating regimes shown in -T space [2].5
Figure 3: Ignition delay Characteristics of different fuels calculated using SENKIN
code (47) and reduced PRF mechanism (46). Initial pressure = 70 bar, Equivalence
Ratio = 0.5.[3]6
Figure 4: Schematic of cylinder injection and fuel distribution (Curran et al. SAE
2014-01-1324) [4]7
Figure 5: Cylinder Pressure Rise & Heat release [3]..8
Figure 6: In-cylinder RCCI Combustion [3] . 8
Figure 7: First Stage of RCCI [3] 9
Figure 8: Second Stage of RCCI [3] 9
Figure 9: Variation of Species [3] 9
Figure 10: Flame Growth versus the Distance [3] .10
Figure 11: Propagation of Laminar Flame from Injector in RCCI [3] .10
Figure 12: Comparison of Cylinder Pressure [3] 10
Figure 13: Comparison of Heat release rate [6] 11
Figure 14: Comparison of experimental values of NOx, Soot & thermal efficiency [3]
.11
Figure 15: Comparison of experimental values of NOx and Soot emissions of RCCI
vs Conventional Diesel at variable load [7] 11



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Nomenclature
Abbreviations
AFR Air Fuel Ratio
ATDC After Top Dead Center
CA Crank Angle
CDC Conventional Diesel Combustion
CH2O Formaldehyde
CI Compression Ignited
CO Carbon Monoxide
DEF Diesel Exhaust Fluid
DI Direct Injection
EGR Exhaust Gas Recirculation
GRI Gas Research Institute
HCCI Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition
HRR Heat Release Rate
IC Internal Combustion
LD Light-Duty
LTC Low Temperature Combustion
NOx Nitrogen Oxides
OH Hydroxyl Radical
PM Particulate Matter
PRR Pressure Rise Rate
RCCI Reactivity Controlled Compression Ignition
TDC Top Dead Center
UHC Unburned Hydrocarbons




Section 1 Introduction to RCCI
In recent years, many advanced
combustion strategies have been
proposed in order to meet current and
future emissions mandates. Most of
the current strategies can be grouped
in the category of premixed, low
temperature combustion (LTC). By
operating at low in-cylinder
temperatures and maintaining longer
ignition delay period, it is possible to
reduce NOx, soot emissions with the
added advantage of achieving high
thermal efficiency. Thermal NOx is the
dominant form of NOX emission when
engine operate at high temperatures
since activation energy required for
NO formation is high. Therefore, lower
in-cylinder temperature in LTC does
not allow to reach the threshold
activation energy resulting in low NOX
emissions. Further, longer ignition
delay allows more time for mixing
hence rich regions inside the cylinder
are reduced, inhibiting soot formation
in those regions. High thermal
efficiency is achieved in LTC due to
reduced heat transfer losses. Fig. 1
shows different operating windows in
terms of equivalence ratio and local
temperature of various combustion
strategies such as LTC, HCCI, PCCI.
From fig 1, it is clear that NOx and
soot are generated when engine
operates between local temperature of
2200 - 3000K and local equivalence
ratio of 2-6.Diesel engine operates in
the range of 2200 to 2600 K and
equivalence ratio range of 5 to 0.5
generating high level of soot and NOx
emissions. Other combustion concepts
shown in the figure such as HCCI,
PCCI and LTC operate in the
combustion regimes that generate very
low soot and low NOX emissions.
Based on LTC, researchers have
Fig.1:LTC, PCCI, HCCI, and diesel
engine [1]
Fig. 2: High efficiency clean operating
regimes shown in -T space [1]
shown experimentally and using
simulation that Homogeneous Charge
Compression Ignition (HCCI) and
Premixed Charge Compression
Ignition (PCCI) concepts are promising
techniques for simultaneous NOx and
soot reduction. HCCI is achieved by
creating a perfectly premixed charge
prior to ignition. An early injection, well
before TDC, is used to create a


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premixed charge. PCCI combustion is
achieved by enhancing the pre
combustion mixing time and
introducing high levels of EGR .This is
done to reduce the peak equivalence
ratio from the threshold soot formation
equivalence ratio limit and to reduce
temperature for lower NOx. From the
above discussion and figure 2, it is
inferred that when engine operates
under conditions when local
equivalence ratio is in between 0.2-1
and local temperature is in between
1500-2000K, the combustion is highly
efficient (near 100% combustion
efficiency).But premixed low
temperature combustion
strategies(HCCI & PCCI) face two
major problems. They are:
1. Control of Combustion Phase
2. Control of Heat Release Rate
Further, it was inferred from various
studies on HCCI using gasoline,
diesel, gasoline/diesel blends that
optimum efficiency depends on
reactivity of the fuel in different
operating conditions [3]. For example,
in a diesel engine when in cylinder
charge temperature is around 725 K &
combustion phasing of 8 CA , neat
diesel provides optimum fuel reactivity
to achieve optimum combustion
efficiency whereas when the
temperature is increased to 780K ,
optimum combustion efficiency is
maintained using 70-30 blend of diesel
and gasoline. This is because with the
combustion duration of 8 CA at
elevated temperature of 780K, neat
diesel could not achieve optimum
combustion efficiency due to increase
heat losses and reduced thermal
efficiency [3]. Hence, reactivity of
fuel becomes critical with the
operating conditions i.e changing
operating conditions results in
different in cylinder conditions,
demanding different fuel reactivity
conditioned to maintain optimum
combustion efficiency. Further,
controlling the combustion phase &
heat release rate is important in
HCCI engine to maintain optimum
combustion efficiency.
Fig. 3: Ignition delay Characteristics of
different fuels calculated using
SENKIN code (47) and reduced PRF
mechanism (46). Initial pressure = 70
bar, Equivalence Ratio = 0.5. [3]
The figure 3 implies that different fuels
due to distinct reactivitys has different
ignition delay characteristics and has a
distinct narrow operating range where
the combustion efficiency is maximum.
Hence, there is need to use different
fuel blends (fuel reactivitys) to ensure
optimum combustion efficiency so that
combustion phase can be
appropriately controlled. Partial
ultimately NOX and soot emissions.
Therefore, a new concept evolved by
using approaches for overcoming
problems in HCCI and it is called as
RCCI, abbreviated as Reactivity
controlled charge ignition. It is also
called as dual fuel PCCI. RCCI
combustion is achieved using in-


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cylinder blending of two fuels with
different auto ignition characteristics
utilizing the reactivitys of different
fuels to control the combustion phase
and heat release rate. Section 2
explains the working principle of RCCI.
Section 2 Working Principle of RCCI
Fig. 4 Schematic of cylinder injection
and fuel distribution in RCCI [4].
In a four stroke engine working on
RCCI, low reactivity fuel say gasoline
is injected in the cylinder in the early
phase of compression stroke. A pulse
is used for injection and this pulse is
timed to mix with intake air so that it is
too lean to produce appreciable soot
or nitrogen oxides upon combustion,
but not so lean that it creates
significant amounts of unburned
hydrocarbons and carbon
monoxide.Since low reactivity fuel is
injected early, more time is available
for the formation of mixture of gasoline
and air till this mixture is compressed
and ignited. Hence in RCCI, ignition
delay is longer than diesel engine.
Long ignition delay ensures
homogenous premixed mixture within
the cylinder at the end of compression
stroke. High reactivity fuel say diesel
using a direct injector is injected in this
mixture to start the combustion. Diesel
provides local rich air fuel mixture
required for auto ignition. Diesel is
injected to maintain blending ratio of
two fuels (gasoline/diesel) for optimum
combustion phase and heat release
rate. The timing and volume of these
pulses are optimized to control the
combustion event to maximize
efficiency. Since RCCI combustion is
controlled by the reactivitys of the
fuels hence the combustion occurs in
stages. For example, RCCI using
gasoline/diesel blend has two stage of
combustion, low temperature and high
temperature combustion. First stage of
combustion is diesel like i.e. low
temperature combustion since diesel is
injected for starting the combustion.
No flame propagation is observed but
as the combustion progresses flame
starts to form at some distance from
the tip of the injector initiating second
stage of combustion i.e high
temperature combustion. A laminar
flame propagates from the cylinder
periphery to the centre during RCCI
combustion.Therefore, the RCCI
engine integrates combustion phasing
and duration control to achieve high
efficiency and low emissions by using
fuels with differing reactivitys delivered
through multiple injections to achieve
optimum fuel reactivity stratification.
Among the fuel choice for RCCI,
gasoline is well suited for high load
conditions whereas diesel is best for
low load conditions due to their
reactivity towards combustion.
Blending ratio of gasoline and diesel
are used to optimize the combustion
and emissions. This enhanced
combustion process improves
performance, at all load conditions.


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Section 3 Chemical Kinetics of
RCCI
RCCI is a new combustion concept
and research is still ongoing to
understand the chemical mechanism
going during RCCI process within the
cylinder. Many aspects of RCCI
chemical mechanism are still under
study. In a study done on heavy-duty,
Fig. 5: Cylinder Pressure Rise & Heat
release [3]
single cylinder, optically accessible
research engine, it is found that
radicals CH2O (formaldehyde), OH
play a dominant role in the combustion
process of RCCI [3]. This study uses
n-heptane and isooctane as primary
fuels representing gasoline for RCCI.
Fig 5 shows the cylinder pressure
distribution and heat release rate
during RCCI in study. In fig 5, low
temperature heat release is primarily
due to n-heptane decomposition. The
high temperature heat-release begins
near -6 ATDC and peaks near 2
ATDC. The relatively symmetric shape
of the high-temperature heat release
curve suggests that no mixing
controlled combustion is present,
consistent with the long ignition dwell.
Fig. 6: In-cylinder RCCI Combustion
[3]
The figure confirms that the
combustion in RCCI occurs in two
stages, low temperature and high
temperature combustion stages. The
mechanism of reaction zone in RCCI
appear as sequential auto ignition
[3]. Here, it is important to understand
what is sequential auto ignition?
From fig 6, it is clear that during RCCI
combustion, initially small auto ignition
pockets appear at -5
.
ATDC and then
by -3
.
ATDC, these small pockets
merge to form reaction zone. Image at
+1 ATDC to +5 ATDC indicate that the
reaction zone move towards the
injector located at the centre. Hence
from these images, it is inferred that
auto ignition process in RCCI is
sequential. Further, it is interesting to
understand the role of H2CO
(formaldehyde) and OH radicals during
the RCCI combustion. Imaging studies
has been conducted to understand the
onset, distribution and location of
these radicals during first and second
stage of combustion [3]. Consider
following chemiluminescence images:


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Fig. 7: First Stage of RCCI [3]










Fig. 8 Second Stage of RCCI [3]








Fig. 9 Variation of Species [3]

Fig 9 indicates that formaldehyde
radical (red) are formed during the first
stage of combustion and OH radical
(green) are formed during second
stage of combustion. No OH radical
built up is observed in the low
temperature combustion (first stage).
Fig 7 & 8 imply that the formaldehyde
(red) is formed near the centre of the
piston bowl rim because it contains
large concentration of n-heptane and
therefore it is inferred that low
temperature combustion is due to
decomposition of low reactivity fuel.
The second stage starts when piston is
near to TDC (-11ATDC). Initial
presence of OH radical (green) is
observed with the onset of second
stage of combustion at -3 ATDC.
Presence of OH radical can be
observed by combustion luminosity.
Decomposition of high reactivity
fuel initiates the formation of OH
radical.It is important to note here that
two stages of combustions having
different radical pool is the result of
different reactivitys of the fuels (n
heptane and isooctane). The high-
temperature reaction zone grows from
the liner towards the center of the
combustion chamber. The point at
which the ignition starts and reaction
zone starts growing is mainly
controlled by difference in the fuel
reactivity. The ignition location is
controlled by the location of the
highest concentration of high reactivity
fuel (e.g., diesel fuel) and that the
combustion process proceeds in a
staged event from regions of high to
low fuel reactivity.
Other study [5] suggest that as the in-
cylinder fuel blending ratio is varied
towards lower global reactivity blends
(up to 25/75% diesel/gasoline ratio),
the ignition delay gets longer and the


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fuel reactivity stratification is improved.
That implies a premixed stage of
combustion slightly lowered and a
flame propagation enhanced,
shortening combustion duration.
Section 4 Flame Propagation in
RCCI
Flame growth is not observed close to
the injector due to sequential auto
ignition points at different location but
as the distance from the injector
Fig 10: Flame Growth versus the
Distance from Injector in RCCI [3]
increases, the flame starts to form and
follow laminar pattern. Fig 10 shows
the growth of flame as function of
distance from the injector.
There is no flame close to the injector
due to lean nature of charge that is
insufficient to support the growth of
flame. Fig 11 shows that the laminar
flame propagates after some distance
from the injector and the flame speed
increases as it moves away from the
centre of combustion chamber. Flame
speed is typically in the range of 20
cm/s to 75 cm/s.



Fig 11: Propagation of laminar flame
[3]
Section 5 Comparison of RCCI with
Conventional Diesel combustion
regime (CDC) & alternate
approaches (EGR etc)
In this section, comparison of diesel
and RCCI combustion regime has
been done.
Fig 12: Comparison of cylinder pressure
[6]
Figure 12 & 13 compares experimental
and simulation results of RCCI and
conventional diesel engine. At 10 CA
after TDC, the peak pressure and heat
release rate is 120MPa and 600 J/CA
for RCCI combustion whereas for
conventional diesel engine it is
100MPa and 300J/CA. It implies that in
RCCI, the peak pressure is 20%


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higher and heat release rate is 100%
above the conventional diesel engine
combustion parameters.
Fig.13 Comparison of Heat release
rate [6]







Fig.14 Comparison of in cylinder
temperature of RCCI and Diesel
combustion [6]
Hence, thermal efficiency of RCCI
combustion is higher than diesel
engine since it takes advantage of
the optimisation strategy used on
the basis of reactivity of the fuel to
control the combustion phase and
heat release rate. Further, it will be
interesting to study the comparison of
emission characteristics of RCCI with
conventional diesel engine. Consider
table 1 for comparing the emission
characteristics. From the table, it is
inferred that reduction of 99.89% in
NOx and 84.2% in soot is achieved
using RCCI over diesel combustion
regime, but level of incomplete
combustion in the form unburnt
hydrocarbons is higher by order of
19.Increase in UHC is due to large ring
pack crevice volume.
Table 1: Comparison of emission
characteristics of RCCI and Diesel
engine [3]

Regimes
NOx
(g/kWh)
Soot
(g/kWh)
Incomplete
Combustion
(%)
RCCI 0.011 0.012 2
Diesel 10 0.076 0.1
Several experiments have been done
to evaluate the validity and
effectiveness of RCCI combustion with
respect to US tier 2 Bin 5 emission
norms and other alternate approaches
The results are shown in fig 14 & 15
Figure 14: Comparison of experimental
values of NOx, Soot & thermal
efficiency [3]


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Figure 15: Comparison of experimental
values of NOx and Soot emissions of
RCCI vs Conventional Diesel at
variable load [7].
Figure 14 implies that use of RCCI in a
diesel engine increases its thermal
efficiency by 17.5% as compared to
baseline Euro 4 diesel engine. Higher
thermal efficiency of RCCI is due to
lower heat losses in the cycle. In
addition to this, it is higher than all the
other alternate approaches .Further,
NOx emission reduction is 93.33% and
soot reduction is 78.2% as compared
to baseline Euro 4 diesel engine.
Further, RCCI approach indicates
significant emission benefits as
compared to other alternate
approaches using 50% EGR levels in
Euro 4 engine. Results in figure 15
imply that RCCI generates lower NOx
and Soot emissions at low and high
load conditions as compared to
conventional diesel engine hence
RCCI strategy is consistently reducing
NOx and soot emissions at all load
conditions in engine.
Section 6 Advantages of RCCI
1. RCCI shows extremely low engine
out NOx and soot emissions, well
below the US Tier 2 bin 5 emission
standards without after treatment
devices.
2. RCCI combustion show higher
thermal efficiency than conventional
diesel engine due to lower heat losses.
3. Fuel savings of 20 percent as
compared to conventional diesel
engines
4. Lower engine costs since expensive
high pressure fuel injector is replaced
by relatively low pressure fuel injector.
5. Use of DOC with RCCI reduces the
PM emission by 47% compared to
30% with conventional diesel engine
and 9% with PCCI
6. Many advanced engines provide
high output and efficient fuel use, but
performance declines markedly at low
loads or while idling. The RCCI engine
overcomes this obstacle through
stratified fuel reactivity and a throttle
upstream from the intake port to
maintain the optimal fuel/air mixture.
Section 7 Major Challenges in RCCI
1. Higher hydrocarbon emissions
due to large crevice volume of
the piston.
2. Higher carbon monoxide
emissions that are inline with
the emissions due to gasoline
fuel.
3. Lower exhaust temperature
presenting difficult oxidation of
HC and CO emissions.
Maximum exhaust temperature
in RCCI is around 300 K where
in a conventional diesel engine
(CDC) maximum exhaust
temperature is 550K. Lower
exhaust temperature will cause
difficulty in the oxidation of HC
emissions since hydrocarbons
oxidation also take place in the
exhaust of the engine.
Section 8 Conclusion
From the above study, it is concluded
that RCCI is an innovative approach
that can be effectively used to increase
fuel efficiency, reduce NOX and soot
emission to meet stringent emission
norms. Difference in fuel reactivitys is
used to control the combustion phase
and heat release rate in low
temperature premixed engine. Engine
is designed to inject low reactivity fuel
early in the compression stage and
high reactivity fuel is injected near the


13

TDC for initiating the combustion. Low
reactivity fuel generates low
temperature combustion stage
whereas high reactivity fuel produces
high temperature stage in RCCI
combustion. The mechanism of
reaction zone in RCCI appear as
sequential auto ignition. Formaldehyde
and OH radical pool plays critical role
in the combustion stages of RCCI. No
flame is observed near the injector but
as the distance from the injector
increases, the flame growth is
observed. Recent studies in RCCI
include experimental and simulations
studies on different fuels such as
gasoline/diesel,ethanol/diesel,gasoline
/biodiesel. RCCI generates higher CO
and HC emissions as compared to
diesel which is one important
challenge in further optimising the
RCCI. Higher HC emission is due to
large crevice volume. Another
challenge in RCCI is its lower exhaust
temperature than diesel.
References
1. Neely, G. D., Sasaki, S., Huang,
Y., Leet, J. A., and Stewart, D.
W. New Diesel Emission
Control Strategy to Meet US
Tier 2 Emissions Regulations,
SAE Technical Paper 2005-01-
1091, 2005, doi:10.4271/2005-
01-1091
2. Park, S. W. and Reitz, R. D.,
Numerical Study on the Low
Emission Window of Homog-
eneous Charge Compression
Ignition Diesel Combustion,
Combustion Science and
Technology, 179(11):2279-
2307,2007,doi: 10.1080/
00102200701484142

3. Sage Lucas Kokjohn, Rolf D.
Reitz, REACTIVITY
CONTROLLED
COMPRESSION IGNITION
RCCI, PhD Thesis, 2012, UMI
Number: 3503916
4. Curran, S., Gao, Z., and
Wagner, R., "Reactivity
Controlled Compression Ignition
Drive Cycle Emissions and Fuel
Economy Estimations Using
Vehicle Systems Simulations
with E30 and ULSD," SAE Int.
J. Engines 7(2):2014,
doi:10.4271/2014-01-1324
5. Jess Benajes, Santiago
Molina
a
, Antonio Garca
a
, An
investigation on RCCI
combustion in a heavy duty
diesel engine using in-cylinder
blending of diesel and gasoline
fuels, Applied Thermal
Engineering Volume 63, Issue
1, 5 February 2014, Pages 66
76.
6. Kokjohn, S. L., Hanson, R. M.,
Splitter, D. A., and Reitz, R. D.,
Fuel Reactivity Controlled
Compression Ignition (RCCI): A
Pathway to Controlled High-
Efficiency Clean Combustion,
International Journal of Engine
Research, 12(3):209-226, 2011,
doi:10.1177/146808741140154
8

7. WARF Brochure, The RCCI
Engine, Breakthrough Fuel
Efficiency, Low NOx & Soot
Emissions, March 2014.