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892068

Homogeneous..Charge Compression..
Ignition (HCCI) Engines
R. H. Thrlng
Southwest Research Institute

International Fuels and lubricants

Meeting and Exposition
Baltimore, Maryland
September 25-28, 1989
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ISSN 0148-7191
Copyright 1989 Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc.

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Homogeneous=Charge Compression=
Ignition (HCCI) Engines
ABSTRACT
Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition
(HCCI) combustion can be made to occur in a four-
stroke engine with smooth and even combustion under
SOme circumstances. It offers the possibility of light
load operation without throttling, thus giving fuel
economy like a diesel, in the same engine allowing full
load operat~on with homogeneous charge, thus giving a
power denSity comparable to a gasoline engine.
This paper gives results of an experimental
program in which the ranges of permissible values of the
operating parameters were defined for HCCI operation
of a four-stroke engine. It was found that HCCI
required high exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) rates (in
the range of 13 to 33 percent) and high intake
temperatures (greater than 370'C). Under the right
conditions HCCI combustion produced fuel economy
results comparable with a D.1. diesel engine (ISFC in
the range 180 to 200 g/kWh).
It is suggested that a passenger car engine could
be deSigned that would use HCCI at idle and light load
to obtain economy like diesel, along with smooth
operation, while switching to conventional gasoline
engine operation at full power for good specific power
output.
THE MAJOR ADVANTAGE that a diesel engine has
over a spark-ignition (S.I.) engine is that its part-load
fuel economy is much better, because it can operate
unthrottled across the load range. The major advantage
that an SJ. engine has over a diesel is that its specific
power output is much higher because it has better air
utilization at full-load. This better air utilization results
from the use of homogeneous charge. Therefore, if an
engine could be designed that would operate unthrottled
~t light load, but with homogeneous charge at full load,
It would have the advantages of both types of engine.
Some stratified charge engines have attempted to
892068
R. H. Thrlng
Southwest Research institute
oper~te in this ma,:ner. However, these types of
stratified charge engmes have used complicated and
expensive fuel injection equipment.
This paper describes a different type of
combustion called Homogeneous Charge Compression
Ignition (HCCI). In this type of engine, a carburetor or
intake port fuel injector is used to provide a
homogeneous mixture of fuel and air to the combustion
chamber. The mixture is preconditioned by the addition
of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) or heating or both.
Combustion commences spontaneously toward the end
of the compression stroke. The timing of the
commencement of combustion is regulated by the
amount of EGR and the temperature of the charge.
The HCCI concept potentially offers the
advantages of both the diesel and the spark-ignition
engine. If HCCI can be made to operate at very low
equivalence ratios (I.e., very lean), then it will permit
light load engine operation without throttling. Such
operation should give fuel economy equivalent to that of
the diesel engine. At the same time, because it is a
homogeneous-charge engine, it can be operated in
spark-ignition mode at full power, and give the same
specific output as the gasoline engine. It should have
the great advantage over the diesel engine of producing
very low particulate emissions, because homogeneous
charge combustion generates very low particulate
emissions.
Operation at high loads in HCCI mode is
currently not possible. However, an engine designed to
operate with HCCI under part-load conditions would be
an engine more akin to a conventional gasoline engine
than a diesel engine. Such an engine would not require
a high pressure fuel injection system, but probably would
require a spark-ignition system for start-up and for high
load operation. A carburetor or a low pressure
electronic fuel injection system could be used. This
engine would operate in a conventional spark-ignition
mode at start-up and at high loads, but at part-load and
idle, HCCI combustion would be used. In this way the
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2 892068
high specific power output and low particulate emissions
of a gasoline engine could be obtained at the same time
as the good part-load and idle economy of a diesel. The
engine would be much quieter, however, than a diesel at
part-load and idle.
PREVIOUS WORK
HCCI has been called by various names. Onishi,
et al.( 1)' called it "ATAC," which stands for "Active
Thermo-Atmosphere Combustion." Noguchi, et al.'"
called it "TS," which stands for "Toyota-Soken," and Najt,
et alP) called it "CIHC," which stands for "compression-
ignited homogeneous charge."
Onishi, et aI., worked with two-stroke engines.
The results given in this paper differ from those of
Onishi, et al. because this paper covers a four-stroke
engine. They found that HCCI combustion (or ATAC,
as they referred to it) could be made to occur in a two-
stroke engine at low load over a wide speed range.
Combustion stability was much better than in the
standard engine and there were significant
improvements in fuel economy and exhaust emissions.
Schlieren photography of the combustion was carried
out with results quite similar to those obtained in
combustion studies. It was found that combustion was
initiated at many points in the combustion cbamber.
However, there were small time differences between tbe
start of combustion of tbese many points. Also, the
comhustion reactions were found to require a relatively
long time compared to conventional spark-ignited flame
propagation.
To attain HCCI combustion, the following
conditions \vere found to be important:
• The quantity of mixture and the air/fuel ratio
supplied to the cylinder must be uniform from
c)'cle to cycle.
• The scavenging directivity and velocity must have
cyclic regularity to ensure the correct condition of
the residual gases remaining in the cylinder.
o The temperature of the combustion chamber walls
must be suitable.
• The scavenging passage inlet must be located at
the bottom of the crankcase.
It was found that at very light loads, HCCI was
not sllccessful because charge temperatures were too
low. At very high loads, HCCI was not successful
because the residual gas quantity was too low. In
between these regions, HCCI combustion was successful.
Nogucbi also obtained HCCI combustion in a
tW(H·;troke engine. The results of Noguchi. et al. differ
from those of this paper because this paper covers a
'Numbers in parentheses designate references at the
end of the paper.
four-stroke eogine. The phenomena observed were
apparently the same as those observed by Onishi, but
Noguchi called it by a different name: "TS (Toyota-
Soken) combustion." Very stable combustion was
observed, with low emissions of HC and improved fuel
consumption. Operation in HCCI mode was possible
between 800 and 3200 rpm and 11 and 22 air/fuel ratio.
Delivery ratios of up to 0.5 could be achieved at idle
conditions. They observed that combustion could start
at lower temperatures and pressures than those required
for conventional diesel combustion. The combustion
behavior was different from that of conventional spark-
ignited combustion. Ignition occurred at numerous
points around the center of the combustion chamber
and the flame spread rapidly in all directions. The
combustion duration was shorter than tbat of
conventional combustion. It was proven that ignition
kernels were not generated from contaminants deposited
on the comhustion chamber walls (generally presumed
to be the cause of "run-on" phenomena in conventional
gasoline engines). To gain a better understanding of the
combustion, they set up an experimental apparatus for
detecting radicals in the combustion chamber. It was
found that the radicals showed higher peaks of luminous
intensity that disappeared at an earlier time than with
conventional spark-ignited combustion. In the case of
conventional spark-ignition combustion, all the radicals
such as OH, CH, C" H, and CI'IO, HO" 0 were
observed at almost the same crank angle. However,
with HCCI combustion, CHO, HO" 0 radicals were
detected first, followed by HC, C" and H radicals, and
finally the OH radical.
Najt, et alY' were able to achieve HCCI
combustion in a four-stroke engine. They used a CFR
single-cylinder engine with a shrouded intake valve. The
work of Najt, et al. differs from the work described in
this paper because Najt, et 'II. used a pancake
combustion chamber with a shrouded valve, whereas the
results given here were obtained with a wedge
combustion chamber and a plain valve. Also, this paper
describes results obtained with full boiling range fuel
instead of blends of two single boiling point components,
as described by Najt, et al. Several compression ratios
were tried, and it was found that, although higher ratios
would allow combustion at lower charge gas
temperatures, they also resulted in excessive heat release
rates. While a compression ratio of 7.5: 1 was
satisfactory, a compression ratio of 10: 1 was no!. Intake
temperatures were in the range of 480'K to 800'K.
Their average energy release rates were considerably
higher than those measured hy Onishi and Noguchi,
presumahly because the engine was a four-stroke.
ENGINE SETUP
The engine used for the experimental work was a
Llbeco CLR (Cooperative Lubricant Research). The
engine is a single-cylinder overhead valve engine with a
bore of 97mm and a stroke of 95mm (Fig. 1). It was
installed in an SwRI engine test cell and coupled to an
eddy-current dynamometer and a D.C. motor in tandem.
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892068 3

necessary to determine the power capacity of this heater,

and the final size was 7200 watts. This power allowed
mixture temperatures of up to 516°C (960°F) to be
achieved. Exhaust gas recirculation rate was measured
by using an infrared gas analyzer to measure CO,
concentration in the dried exhaust and intake gas flows,
using the following formula:

EGR = ..A- x 100%

B
where A = CO, concentration in the dried
intake, with EGR
B = CO, concentration in the dried
exhaust, with EGR

Sometimes EGR is referred to by the following

formula:

EGR = N x 100%
N, + N.

where N, = EGR flow rate, number of moles of

EGR per unit time.
Air flow rate, number of moles of air
per unit time.

It can be seen that the above two formulae are

equivalent.
A single CO, analyzer was used, with a two-way
Fig. 1. The Labeco CLR Engine switching valve as shown in Fig. 2.
Used For The Experimental Work Fig. 3 shows the fuel system. A single electronic
inlet port fuel injector was used to admit fuel to the
engine. The injector was triggered from a magnetic
pickup on the engine camshaft. Fuel quantity was
manually regulated, using a special electronic control
The dynamometer was used to absorb power from the box made by SwRI. The control box permitted the "on
engine, and the electric motor was used to drive the
engine for the purpose of friction measurement. An
overrun clutch was provided to disengage the D.C.
motor so that it would not turn while the engine was
firing. Under motoring conditions, the D.C. motor was
used to drive both the dynamometer and the engine.
The dynamometer was deactivated and absorbed almost
no power under these conditions. Nevertheless, the
power absorbed by the dynamometer was measured and
accounted for in the engine friction calculations. Both
the dynamometer and the D.C. motors were equipped
with electronic feedback speed controllers, made by CD 'FE AIR MEASUREMENT INSTRUMENT
(1) THROTTLE VALVE
SwRI, to maintain constant speed at all times. No 0) 7200 WATT INTAKE AlA HEATER

transient testing was carried out in this project. @ LABECO etA TEST ENGINE
® ElECTRONIC FUEL INJECTOR
Fig. 2 illustrates the gas handling system of the ® co/ MEASuREMENT OEVICE

experimental installation. A laminar flow element air (2) EGR VALVE

® E)(HAUST f'llE$$URE VALVE
meter was used to measure the air flow into the engine. ® EXHAUST f'WE

The exhaust pipe was connected to the intake pipe with

a 3/4-inch diameter pipe and a manual control valve for
exhaust gas recirculation (EGR). This size pipe was
found to be necessary due to the large EGR
requirements of this project. This mixture of air and Fig. 2. Experimental Setup
EGR was passed to an electric heater before being
admitted to the engine. Some experimentation was
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4 892068
time" of the injector to be varied from 1 ms to 13 ms.
Fuel was supplied to the injector using a fuel tank
pressurized with nitrogen gas to 37 lb/in' (2.56 bar).
Fuel flow rate was measured using a ball-in-tube type
flow meter. This metcr was calibrated using a burette
and stopwatch. The pressurized fuel tank was used in
place of the more normal electric fuel pump for two
reasons:
• it eliminated fuel pressure fluctuations, making
the ball-in-tube flow meter hard to read, and
• it eliminated heating of the fuel, so vapor lock
problems were avoided.
Because thc electronic control box was manually
regulated, there was no direct link between air flow and
fuel flow rates. For most of the test work, therefore, the
throttle position was held constant and the equivalence
ratio was controlled hy adjusting the fuel flow rate.
The engine was fitted with a flat crown Labeco
indirect injection diesel engine piston and connecting
rod. This build was uscd hecause it was anticipated that
the engine would be exposed to higher stresses than in
normal spark-ignition build, due to very rapid rates of
pressure rise occurring when the homogeneous-charge
compression-ignition took place in an uncontrolled
fashion. Initially the engine was assembled with a direct
injection flat cylinder head and the compression ratio
was set at 15.4: l. The intention was to operate at
several compression ratios with 15.4:1 as the highest.
Subsequently, the compression ratio was reduced to 8: I
hy replacing the cylinder head with a standard spark
ignition cylinder head. A Kistler 6121 cylinder pressure
transducer was fitted in the cylinder head. A spark plug
was also fitted in the cylinder head and a conventional
electronic spark ignition system was used. The spark
ignition was only used for start-up and \vas turned off
once stable HCCI comhustion had been established.
'I
Fun TMJK
Fig, 3. The Fuel System
TEST PROCEDURE
The Objective of the tests was to find the regions
in which HCCI combustion was possible and measure
engine performance in tbese regions. The meaning of
regions in tbis context is the ranges of the following
variables in which HCCI combustion is possible:
Speed
Load
Equivalence Ratio
EGR Rate
Inlet Gas Temperature
Compression Ratio
Fuel Type
Clearly it was not possible to choose several
values of each variable and carry out tests at every value
of every variable at every value of all the variables.
This approach would have required testing at about
3500 conditions. Therefore, a more economical test
procedure was used.
First, a baseline condition was determined, as
follows:
Engine Speed 1500 rpm
BMEP 20 Ib/in' (1.4 kg/cm')
EGR Rate 0%
Equivalence Ratio " = 1
Fuel Unleaded Gasoline
IRON+MON=871
2
Intake Temperature 32"C
Compression Ration 8:1
It was necessary to experiment to determine the
conditions under which the engine would run with HCCI
combustion. Thus, the initial engine build had a
compression ratio of 15:1, but under no circumstances
could HCCI operation be achieved at that compression
ratio. Consequently, compression ratio was reduced to
8: 1. The engine was set up to the baseline condition
shown above, with the spark ignition system operating.
This condition provided a particular setting for the
throttle, corresponding to 20 Ib/in' (1.41 kg/cm')
BMEP, which is considered to be a representative load
for a passenger car engine. This throttle position was
then used for almost all the tests and is designated
"standard throttle position" on the figures.
Each day during engine testing, the engine was
run in the spark-ignited mode while warming up the
engine and intake air. As the engine warmed, EGR was
increased gradually. The engine would begin to
erratically compression-ignite gasoline at 315"C and
diesel fuel at 275"C intake air temperature. Steady,
consistent comhustion commenced as intake air
temperature approached 360"C (325"C for diesel fuel).
As testing proceeded, it became clear that the
acceptable region of operation was quite narrow (see
Discussion of Results). One side of the narrow band
was defined by the limit of acceptable knocking. The
other side was defined by power limiting (i.e., there was
not enough power to overcome friction) or misfire.
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892068 5

For most of the testing, onc~ the target intake

/~
temperature was reached, the throttle position and EGR
rate were held constant and the fuel rate was varied to
give variation in equivalence ratio. The EGR rate was
varied in increments of 3 percent, and the fuel rate was
REGION
varied at each increment, and in this way the HCCI
operation regions were mapped for each intake air
temperature and fuel type.

DISCUSSION OF RESULTS

In the early stages of work, it was not known 0.9

o
whether HCCI combustion could be achieved, and under o
what conditions it might be achieved. Previous work 1. SATISFACTORY
J3 OPERATION
with two-stroke engines had indicated that HCCI would
only occur at light loads. At light load, two-stroke
. / /§ REG;"
engines have very high internal EGR rates, and the Ve
EGR is at high temperature. Thus it was expected that -
...... 0
°
high EGR rates and high intake temperatures would be o o
o 0
,
required. The engine was run on both gasoline and 0 Jil-----' 2.45 IlW
0
diesel fuel and the results are marked accordingly. 0 ", o 2.19IlW
,...... "'- """
0 0
For the initial attempt to achieve HCCI

~
0'
0 0 0 0
combustion, the engine was started in normal !'park~ 0
0
ignition mode with a small throttle opening. The engine °0 0 0
0
had a compression ratio of 15: I. The air temperature
~
0.'

was gradually increased until the engine began to knock. ~1.001\;w REmO"~
The EGR was then turned on and increased until
knocking was reduced, although at this compression 26 29 31 33
ratio, knocking could not be eliminated. TI,e ignition PERCENT EXHAUST GAS RECIRCULATION

system was then turned off to see if the engine would

continue running without it. Various settings of throttle
position, air temperature and EGR rate were tried.
Satisfactory HCCI was never achieved with the 15: 1
compression ratio.
The compression ratio was reduced to R: 1 and the
process was repealed. As the intake air temperature
was increased, the engine began to knock at an air
temperature of 315"C. The engine operator retarded
the ignition but noticed no change in engine operation
or cylinder pressure diagram. The ignition system was
then turned off and the engine continued to run in the
same way as before. The EGR rate was increased,
knocking was eliminated and the engine ran smoothly.
It was found that more consistent cnmbustion could be
achieved by increasing the intake air temperature to
370"C.
Exploration of the satisfactory operation regions
was carried Ollt, in terms of intake temperature,
equivalence ratio and EGR rate. Fig. 4 shows a sample
of .some of the results obtained. The results in the
figure pertain to an intake temperature of 400"C,
although similar maps were also obtained at 370-C and
42SOC. The data points on the figure indicate actual
operating points. It can be seen that there were three
regions of unsatisfactory operation designated in the
figure: "misfire region," "power-limited region," and
"knock region." In the misfire region, either the mixture
was too rich, or the EGR was excessive for consistent
combustion and misfire resulted. In the power-limited
region, either the mixture was too lean, or the EGR was
excessive for the indicated power to exceed the friction
Fig, 4. HCCI Operation Map
Engine Speed: 1500 RPM
Fuel: Gasoline
Throttle Position: Standard
Intake Temperature: 400"C
power. However, combustion was still quite steady and
smooth under these conditions. In the knock region,
comhustion was so rapid that the engine was very noisy
and the condition was designated knocking. However,
the engine would continue to operate and produce
power. It was also ohserved that deep in the knock
zone, knock could become excessively heavy, and engine
comoustion timing would become more and more
advanced until the engine would finally stop firing
altogether.
At very lean equivalence ratios the engine would
not generate enough power at the set throttle opening
to overcome its own friction. This region is designated
"power-limited region" in the figure. It is interesting to
note that the limiting factor here was not erratic bUfl1ing
or misfire. The comhustion at the limit condition was
quite steady and consistent as shown in Fig. 5. The
diagram is a photograph of a large number of cylinder
pressure traces superimposed, and it can be seen that
cyclic irregularity is quite small. The start of
combustion was rather late in the cycle, just after TDC,
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6 892068

the increase in maximum permissible EGR or decrease

in leanest permissible equivalence ratio. The second
reason is that if equivalence ratio becomes too lean or
EGR rate too high, then propagation of the flame front
can no longer be supported and combustion ceases.
There is also an intermediate state where the flame
front propagates so slowly that the amount of useful
work done is much reduced. Another occurrence is
where the flame front starts to propagate but is then
extinguished before it passes completely across the
combustion chamber.
The first reason given above for reaching limiting
values (that is, inadequate spark energy) does not apply
to HCCI since combustion does not commence from a
spark plug. It is thought that combustion commences
almost simultaneously at many points over the whole
combustion chamber. It may then proceed by flame
front propagation from these points. It is likely that the
Fig. 5. Lean Power Limit further heating of the gases by the combustion that has
T, 400°C already occurred would then encourage and cause other
o 0.33 points of combustion commencement. Therefore, the
EGR 17% second reason for combustion limits (flame front
but the pressure rise rate was not excessive and quenching) also does not apply to HCCI, because unlike
subjectively the engine seemed to be running quite conventional S.l. combustion, where there is only a
smoothly. This would be an acceptable mode of INTAKE TEMPERATURE.., 370'C _

operation for light load and idle. 300 400'C- -

Cylinder pressure diagrams at an air/fuel ratio 260 42S-C------
richer than the lean limit. but still lean, and a higher #//////////
'50 KNOCK REG'ON
EGR rate (36 percent) showed that, compared with Fig.
5, combustion started a little earlier (close to TDC), and '40
the pressure rise was greater. However, engine 220
combustion was still smooth. This condition was 200
probably the best HCCI operating condition. 180
While operating in the satisfactory operation
region on the rich side of the knock zone, the traces 300
looked rather similar to those at the above condition, 260
except that combustion started a little later. One '50
noticeable feature of all the traces was that HCCI ~
~

~~ '40
operation displayed very little cyclic irregularity under
these conditions, and all the pressure traces in the :J 220
.... ,.., __0-_ "_
diagrams were almost superimposed. 200 ~- '--0-- --=----......"
A... __

Increasing the intake temperature from 370"C to 180 6 .., .55

400°C increased the area of the satisfactory operating
region. In particular, leanest equivalence ratio was 300

reduced; for example, at 20 percent EGR, the leanest 260

equivalence ratio was reduced from 0.4 to 0.33. Also, '""hi;,
: is:
the maximum EGR tolerance was increased from 29
'50
~ yh'h"~A
240 ,,
percent to 32 percent. These figures are quite extreme
220
,
for a four-stroke homogeneous-charge engine; normally, ---0
such an engine would not tolerate an equivalence ratio 200 ---."
leaner than about 0.6, nor an EGR rate higher than 180 6 - .65
about 30 percent. It is interesting to speculate about the
reasons for this phenomenon. In a conventional spark-
,
17
.
20
,
23
,
26
,
2' 31
ignition engine there are two reasons for the limiting
PERCENT EXHAUST GAS RECIRCULATION
values of equivalence ratio and EGR rate. The first is
that if equivalence ratio becomes too lean or EGR rate Fig. 6. Indicated Specific Fuel Consumption
too high, the temperature and time requirements of the Versus EGR Rate
flame kernel in the spark gap become greater than the Engine Speed: 1500 RPM
spark energy is able to provide. This can be mitigated Fuel: Gasoline
to some extent by using a high energy ignition system, Throttle Position: Standard
but the improvement is usually quite small in terms of
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892068 7

INTAKE TEMPfRATURE - 370'C 0----0

single flame front, there are multiple flame fronts at 360
4oo'C 13-- --e.
many points in the combustion chamber. Even if some
of the flame fronts are extinguished, there will still be "" 425'C 0-----0

many others to continue the process of heat release. It '"

300
'NOC< REmON ///1////////
is recommended as a result of this study that further
work be carried out into the nature of HCCI '"
combustion, to see if the above explanation can be '"
verified. Combustion photography is the recommended '"
technique. '"
'00
Fig. 6 shows Indicated Specific Fuel Consumption EGA = 29%
(ISFC) versus EGR rate for three intake temperatures '"
and three equivalence ratios. ISFC was calculated using , .•
o~
measured engine friction data, along with fuel flow rate
and brake torque. The shaded regions represent engine 360
operation with knock. It is noticeable that the ISFCs
are good. The best ISFCs are from 180 to 200 g/kWh '"
(132 to 147 g/psh or 0.296 to 0.329 Ib/IHPh), which is ""
300
similar to those obtained from a direct injection diesel
engine. This is consistent with the concept explained in '"
'60
the introduction to this report. It appears that there is
a trend toward reduced ISFC as EGR rate is increased '"
at an equivalence ratio of 0.65. Thus, at 17 percent '"
EGR, ISFC is about 260 g/kWh, while at 31 percent '00
EGR =31%
EGR, ISFC has fallen to about 200 g/kWh. This trend '"
is reduced as the equivalence ratio is made more lean
until at an equivalence ratio of 0.45, EGR rate does not "
appear to have any effect on ISFC. The explanation is
that at the richer equivalence ratios, as the EGR rate
was reduced the engine went into knock. As the engine Fig. 7. Indicated Specific Fuel Consumption
went into knock, the increased heat transfer to the Versus Equivalence Ratio
combustion chamher walls caused an increase in the Engine Speed: 1500 RPM
wall temperature that resulted in a gradual advance of Fuel: Gasoline
the ignition timing. If the engine was operated in light Throttle Position: Standard
knock, this condition would stabilize in about one throttle was quite small. This was primarily because the
minute. However, the over-advanced timing would high EGR rates increased the manifold pressure much
cause an increase in fuel consumption. above the value normally applicable to that throttle
Fig. 7 shows ISFC versus equivalence ratio for an opening.
EG R rate of 31 percent. The curve shows a tendency A brief investigation was also carried out on the
to increasing ISFC with increasing equivalence ratio. effect of engine speed. As speed was increased the
This is the same trend as would be seen in a satisfactory operating area was reduced, and the e~gine
conventional spark~ignition engine. The curves show could not be made to run in HCCI mode above 2000
that the engine runs into knock as equivalence ratio is rp,:,. When engine speed was reduced to 1000 rpm, the
increased, hut the exact value where knock commences satISfactory operating area was increased (Fig. 8). Since
depends on the EGR rate. At 17 percent EGR rate, the start of combustion is dependent upon the physics
knock commenced at around 0.5 equivalence ratio, while and chemIstry of the gases in the comhustion chamber
at 31 percent EGR rate, knock commenced at around rather than dependent upon a spark event, it is perhaps
0.75 equivalence ratio. This is to be expected since not surprising that the operation of the engine in HCCI
increased EGR rate decreases combustion temperatures mode is strongly speed-dependent. As engine speed is
and decreases the reactivity of the end gas. Increasing increased, the time available for precombustion
equivalence ratio from lean toward stoichiometric reactions to occur in the charge during the compression
increases combustion temperatures. Therefore, it is to stroke is reduced. Therefore, combustion commences
be expected tbat the knock limit would he closer to later in the cycle and power output and efficiency are
stoichiometric at high EG R rates. reduced. It is interesting to speculate as to how to
All the testlng described above was carried out overcome this problem. For example, decreased EGR
with the throttle set in the position that gave a BMEP rate appears to speed up the reaction process.
of 1.4 kg/em' (20 Ib/in') during that baseline test. The Therefore, a reduction in EGR rate as engine speed was
throttle was then opened to the wide open position. It increased might permit control of combustion
was found that the results were almost the same as commencement.
those obtained with the throttle partially open. The A comparison of ISFC results at 1000 rpm with
reason is that the air flow rates increased only about 8 results at 1500 rpm showed that at an equivalence ratio
percent, because tbe pressure difference across the of 0.45, the results were quite similar. However, at 0.55
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8 892068

understanding of the combustion phenomena occurring

?!!!#%if~"
" 0
in the HCCI combustion.

_.- ~ ,,
Some brief testing was carried out with diesel
J.'
0
fuel. Fig. 9 shows the mapping of the regions on diesel
fuel compared with those on gasoline. It can be seen
OPERATING BOUNDARIES 0
that there was coosiderable extension of the satisfactory
'0
operating region to higher EGR rates. It is also
\ noticeable that the satisfactory operating region was
\
. I \ 0 much extended on the rich side of the knock region.
I \ 0
I \ One possible explanation for these phenomena is that a
0/ \0 proportion of the diesel fuel was not burning in the
SATISFACTORY OPERATION \ combustion chamber. This would allow operation under
'REGION \
, o , /
/
/0
P apparently very rich conditions since the equivalence
/
I ratio for the portion of the mixture that was burning
.1
0 /' t could have been quite normal. For the above
~~ I

.6

/
,
.P-_------
0
0

0
~
e
0
0 explanation to be correct would require some degree of
charge stratification, which could be caused by poor
atomization of the fuel. The diesel fuel was introduced
,/ 0
using the same electronic fuel injector as for the
.6 gasoline. However, this type of fuel injector is not
designed for diesel fuel and poor atomization was
obtained. Attempts to improve atomization by heating
the fuel were not successful.

INTAKE TEMPf:RATURE ~ J7O"C

PERCENT EXHAUST GAS RECIRCULATION

'.1

Fig. 8. HCCI Operation Map

Engine Speed: 1000 RPM
Fuel: Gasoline
Throttle Position: Standard
Intake Temperature: 400'C
equivalence ratio, ISFC was better at 1O~0 rpm,
particularly at the lower EGR rates. At an eqmvalence
ratio of 0.65, the results showed no significant difference
at the high EGR rates but at low EGR rates ISFC was
much lower at 1000 rpm. However, under these
conditions the engine was knocking at 1500 rpm and not

~~
at 1000 rpm. This fact is interesting in itself since in a
normal S.1. engine, the tendency would be to knock
more at 1000 rpm because there would be more time
for pre-knock reactions to occur in the end gases. In

"MITE~
.5
the HeCI engine, however, in a sense the whole charge
is end gas since there is no "flame front" in the normal / /,"JWER
sense of the expression. By the same argument, / / REG'ON / /

therefore, one would expect combustion to begi~ earlier 1.90lkW

at 1000 rpm. If combustion was later than optImum at

1500 rpm, then the ISFC at 1000 rpm 'could be expected
to be better than at 1500 rpm. This is consistent with " "
P£ACENT EXHAUST GAS ReC1I'CULATlON
"
the results at an equivalence ratio of 0.55 and EGR
rates below 23 percent. Therefore, if the above Fig. 9. HCCI Operation Map
explanation was correct, combustion at 1500 rpm, Engine Speed: 1500 RPM
equivalence ratio of 0.55 and EGR rates below 23 Fuel: Diesel, DF-2
percent should be later than optimum. It is Throttle Position: Standard
recommended that further work be carried out with Intake Temperature: 370'C
combustion analysis to verify this and to get a better
 Downloaded from SAE International by University Of Newcastle, Thursday, August 09, 2018
892068
ISFC values as low as 140 g/kWh were measured
using diesel fuel, but it should be noted that under these
conditions so much power was being put into the intake
air that the intake temperature exceeded the exhaust
temperature by as much as 2Ye. The electric heating
elements had a combined power consumption of 7.2 kW.
If this power consumption is allowed for, then ISFC is
very high. Clearly, further research is needed to find
ways of operating engines in HCCI mode without the
need to supply large amounts of heat energy to the
intake. One possibility is the use of heated surfaces in
the combustion chamber.
CONCLUSIONS
The following conclusions were reached as a
result of this investigation:
• It was confirmed that Homogeneous Charge
Compression Ignition (HCCI) combustion can be
made to occur io a four-stroke engine.
• It was confirmed that under the right conditions,
HCCI combustion produces fuel economy results
comparable with a D.l. diesel engine (ISFC in the
range of 180 to 200 g/kWh).
• It was confirmed that HCCI combustion requires
high EGR rates (in the range of 13 to 33 percent)
and high intake temperatures (greater than
370'C).
• HCCI combustion has not yet been made to
operate at conditions other than low speed and
low load in a four-stroke engine. However. it
may be that HCCI would be feasible with low
EGR rates at very high speed.
• Two-stroke engines, however, have produced
reasonable power in the HCCI mode. The
difference may be that two-stroke engines have
much more internal EGR than four-stroke
engines.
• HCCI combustion under favorable conditions
produces very low cyclic irregularity. An example
of a favorable condition is equivalence ratio of 0.5
and EGR rate of 23 percent.
• Before HCCl can be made practical. it will be
necessary to find ways of operating engines in the
HCCI mode without the nced to supply large
amounts of heat energy to the intake (one
possibility is the use of heated surfaces in the
combustion chamber; another is the use of multi-
stage turbocharging without intercoolcrs).
• The effect of EG R rate and intake temperature
on the timing of start of combustion should be
determined.
9
• Efforts should be made to expand the load range
over which HCCI can be made to operate.
• HCCI may be very interesting for low-speed
stationary power plants.
• HCCI with other fuels (such as natural gas)
should be investigated.
• The use of HCCI with low EGR rates at very
high speeds should be investigated.
• The nature of HCCI combustion should be
investigated to determine why it will tolerate very
lean mixtures and high EGR rates (combustion
photography is recommended).
• Since it is known that knock in conventional
engines produces soot. an investigation should be
conducted to determine whether HCCI
combustion is a heavy or light particulate
emissions producer.
A possible application for HCCI would be a
passenger car engine using HCCI at idle and light load.
switching to conventional spark-ignition gasoline engine
operation at full power. This would offer fuel economy
similar to a diesel engine at idle and light load, along
with very smooth operation at these conditions. At the
same time, a specific power output significantly better
than diesel (and the same as a gasoline engine) would
be achieved at full power.
REFERENCES
l. Onishi. S.. S. H. Jo. K. Shoda. P. D. Jo and S.
Kato, "Active Thermo-Atmospheric Combustion
(ATAC)--A New Combustion Process for Internal
Combustion Engines," SAE Paper 790501.
2. Noguchi, M.• Y. Tanaka. T. 'Tanaka and Y.
Takuchi. "A Study on Gasoline Engine
Combustion by Observation of Intermediate
Reactive Products During Combustion." SAE
Paper 790840.
3. Najt. P. M. and D. E. Foster. "Compression-
Ignited Homogeneous Charge Combustion," SAE
Paper 830264.
 Downloaded from SAE International by University Of Newcastle, Thursday, August 09, 2018

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