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In this study, in order to clarify the mechanism of preignition occurrence in highly boosted SI engine at low speed and high load operating conditions, directphotography of preignition events and light induced fluorescence imaging of lubricant oil droplets during preignition cycles were applied. An endoscope was attached to the cylinder head of the modified production engine. Preigntion events were captured using high-speed video camera through the endoscope. As a result, several types of preignition sources could be found. Preignition caused by glowing particles and deposit fragments could be observed by directphotography. Luminous flame was observed around the piston crevice area during the exhaust stroke of preignition cycles.

The authors investigated the reasons of how a preignition occurs in a highly boosted gasoline engine. Based on the authors' experimental results, theoretical investigations on the processes of how a particle of oil or solid comes out into the cylinder and how a preignition occurs from the particle. As a result, many factors, such as the in-cylinder temperature, the pressure, the equivalence ratio and the component of additives in the lubricating oil were found to affect the processes. Especially, CaCO3 included in an oil as an additive may be changed to CaO by heating during the expansion and exhaust strokes. Thereafter, CaO will be converted into CaCO3 again by absorbing CO2 during the intake and compression strokes. As this change is an exothermic reaction, the temperature of CaCO3 particle increases over 1000K of the chemical equilibrium temperature determined by the CO2 partial pressure.

The objective of this study is to develop a practical technique to achieve HCCI operation with wide operation range. To attain this objective, the authors previously proposed the blowdown supercharge (BDSC) system and demonstrated the potential of the BDSC system to extend the high load HCCI operational limit. In this study, experimental works were conducted with focusing on improvement of combustion stability at low load operation and the reduction in cylinder to cylinder variation in ignition timing of multi-cylinder HCCI operation using the BDSC system. The experiments were conducted using a slightly modified production four-cylinder gasoline engine with compression ratio of about 12 at constant engine speed of 1500 rpm. The test fuel used was commercial gasoline which has RON of 91. To improve combustion stability at low load operation, the valve actuation strategy for the BDSC system was newly proposed and experimentally examined.

The authors investigated the reasons of how a preignition occurs in a highly boosted gasoline engine. Based on the authors' experimental results, theoretical investigations on the processes of how a particle of oil or solid comes out into the cylinder and how a preignition occurs from the particle. As a result, many factors, such as the in-cylinder temperature, the pressure, the equivalence ratio and the component of additives in the lubricating oil were found to affect the processes. Especially, CaCO3 included in an oil as an additive may be changed to CaO by heating during the expansion and exhaust strokes. Thereafter, CaO will be converted into CaCO3 again by absorbing CO2 during the intake and compression strokes. As this change is an exothermic reaction, the temperature of CaCO3 particle increases over 1000K of the chemical equilibrium temperature determined by the CO2 partial pressure.

The effect of properties of lubricating oil on low speed pre-ignition (LSPI) was investigated. Three different factors of oil properties such as cetane number, distillation characteristics and Calcium (Ca) additive (with and without) are prepared and examined. Then actual engine test of LSPI was carried out to evaluate the effect and to clarify the mechanism and role of lubricating oil. Finally it is clarified that the oil cetane number and/or Ca additive strongly affect LSPI phenomena.

Effects of measurement method, coolant temperature and fuel composition on soot emissions were examined by engine experiments. By reducing the pressure fluctuation in the sampling line, the measured soot emissions with better stability and reproducibility could be obtained. With lower coolant temperatures, larger soot emissions were yielded at much advanced fuel injection timings. Compared to gasoline, soot emissions with a blend fuel of normal heptane, isooctane and toluene were significantly decreased, suggesting the amounts of aromatic components (toluene or others) should be increased to obtain a representative fuel for the predictive model of particulate matter in SIDI engines.

LSPI is an important issue to enable and enhance the effect of downsizing in SI engines. Experimental work was carried out by using 4 cylinder turbocharged gasoline engine, attaching the extra supercharger to get a higher boost pressure. Many parameters of driving condition, engine specification and lubricants were studied and some of them were extracted as the major items which affect the possibility of LSPI. Coolant temperature and Calcium (Ca) additive to lubricant had strong effect on the frequency of LSPI. Combustion strategy of strong miller cycle and LPEGR were also studied and compared in very high BMEP condition. Finally IMEPg of 3MPa at 1500rpm was achieved by using a single cylinder test engine equipped with 2-stage mechanically supercharged intake system.

LSPI (Low speed pre-ignition) is a serious issue in highly boosted gasoline engines. The causes have been studied and lube oil affects the onset. In order to examine the effect of lubricating oil consumption on super knock caused by pre-ignition, measurements of in-cylinder pressure, temperature, oil consumption by sulfur trace at steady and transient conditions were conducted. Also, new piston ring pack was applied to reduce both of blow-by gas and oil consumption. As a result, accumulated oil during deceleration was found to cause pre-ignition after acceleration. The pre-ignition frequency is much higher than in steady condition, however, the amount of oil does not directly affect pre-ignition frequency, but dilution of oil and evaporation of oil/fuel and other parameters, such as temperature, pressure, and oil additives determine pre-ignition onset. In order to see the mechanism of pre-ignition onset, numerical simulations were conducted.

An optimization of thermal management system in a gasoline engine is considered to improve thermal efficiency by minimizing the cost increase without largely changing the configuration of engine system. In this study, the influence of water temperature and intake air temperature on thermal efficiency were investigated using an inline four-cylinder 1.2L gasoline engine. In addition, one-dimensional engine simulations were conducted by using a software of GT-SUITE. Brake thermal efficiency for different engine speeds and loads could be quantitatively predicted with changing the cooling water temperature in the cylinder head. Then, in order to predict the improvement of the fuel consumption in actual use, vehicle mode running simulation and general-purpose engine transient mode simulation were carried out by GT-SUITE. As a result, it was found that by controlling the temperatures of the cooling water and intake gas, thermal efficiency can be improved by several percent.

The purpose of this paper is to find a way to extend the high load limit of homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) combustion. A newly developed rapid compression and expansion machine (RCEM) was employed to reproduce the typical HCCI high load condition. The in-cylinder turbulence was created by the special piston which equipped with a flow guide plate. Meanwhile, the ambient temperature distribution in the cylinder was determined by the wall temperature controlling system which was controlled by the independent coolant passages. In addition, the numerical simulation by using large eddy method coupled with a detailed chemical reaction was conducted as well. The results show that HCCI mode is potential to be improved at high load condition in full consideration of in-cylinder temperature, flow, and turbulence.