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In order to extend the HCCI high load operational limit, the effects of the distributions of temperature and fuel concentration on pressure rise rate (dP/dθ) were investigated through theoretical and experimental methods. The Blow-Down Super Charge (BDSC) and the EGR guide parts are employed simultaneously to enhance thermal stratification inside the cylinder. And also, to control the distribution of fuel concentration, direct fuel injection system was used. As a first step, the effect of spatial temperature distribution on maximum pressure rise rate (dP/dθmax) was investigated. The influence of the EGR guide parts on the temperature distribution was investigated using 3-D numerical simulation. Simulation results showed that the temperature difference between high temperature zone and low temperature zone increased by using EGR guide parts together with the BDSC system.

HCCI combustion can realize low NOx and particulate emissions and high thermal efficiency. Therefore, HCCI combustion has a possibility of many kinds of applications, such as an automotive powertrain, general-purpose engine, motorcycle engine and electric generator. However, the operational range using HCCI combustion in terms of speed and load is restricted because the onset of ignition and the heat release rate cannot be controlled directly. For the extension of the operational range using either an external supercharger or a turbocharger is promising. The objective of this research is to investigate the effect of the intake pressure on the HCCI high load limit and HCCI combustion characteristics with blowdown supercharging (BDSC) system. The intake pressure (Pin) and temperature (Tin) were varied as experimental parameters. The intake pressure was swept from 100 kPa (naturally aspirated) to 200 kPa using an external mechanical supercharger.

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.

Low temperature plasma ignition has been proposed as a new ignition technique as it has features of good wear resistance, low energy release and combustion enhancement. In the authors’ previous study, lean burn limit could be extended slightly by low temperature plasma ignition while the power supply’s performance with steep voltage rising with time (dV/dt), showed higher peak value of the rate of heat release and better indicated thermal efficiency. In this study, basic study of low temperature plasma ignition system was carried out to find out the reason of combustion enhancement. Moreover, the durability test of low temperature plasma plug was performed to check the wear resistance.

Control of turbulence during the compression stroke is suggested by both theoretical calculations and experimental results obtained with an LDV measurement in a motored engine. The authors have found experimentally that when an axial distribution of swirl intensity exists, a large-scale annular vortex is formed inside the cylinder during the compression stroke and this vortex generates and transports turbulence energy. A numerical calculation is adopted to elucidate this phenomenon. Then, an axial stratification of swirl intensity is found to generate a large-scale annular vortex during the compression stroke by an interaction between the piston motion and the axial pressure gradient. The initial swirl profile is parametrically varied to assess its effect on the turbulence parameters. Among calculated results, turbulence energy is enhanced strongest when the swirl intensity is highest at the piston top surface and lowest at the bottom surface of the cylinder head.

In this study, the characteristics of diesel spray droplets, such as the velocity and the diameter were simultaneously measured by using an improved ILIDS (Interferometric Laser Imaging for Droplet Sizing) method on a 2D plane to evaluate the droplet breakup modeling. In numerical analysis, DDM (Discrete Droplet Model) was employed with sub-models such as droplet breakup, droplet drag force and turbulence. Experiments have been performed with an accumulator type unit-injector system and a constant-volume high-pressure vessel under the condition of quiescent ambient gas. The injection pressure and ambient gas pressure were set up to 100 MPa and 0.1 / 1 MPa, respectively. The nozzle orifice diameter was 0.244 mm with a single hole. The measurement region was chosen at 40 ∼ 60 mm from the nozzle-tip. Numerical analysis of diesel sprays was conducted and the results were compared to the measured results.

In reciprocating internal combustion engines, the Otto cycle indicates the best thermal efficiency under a given compression ratio. To achieve an ideal Otto cycle, combustion must take place instantaneously at top dead center, but in fact, this is impossible. Meanwhile, if we allow slower piston motion around top dead center, combustion will be promoted at that period; then both the in-cylinder pressure and degree of constant volume will increase, leading to higher thermal efficiency. In order to verify this hypothesis, an engine with slower piston motion around top dead center, using an ideal constant volume combustion engine, was built and tested. As anticipated, the degree of constant volume increased. However, thermal efficiency was not improved, due to increased heat loss.

The objective of this study is to extend the high load operation limit of a gasoline HCCI engine. A new system extending the high load HCCI operation limit was proposed, and the performance of the system was experimentally demonstrated. The proposed system consists of two new techniques. The first one is the “Blow-down super charging (BDSC) system”, in which, EGR gas can be super charged into a cylinder during the early stage of compression stroke by using the exhaust blow-down pressure wave from another cylinder phased 360 degrees later/earlier in the firing order. The other one is “EGR guide” for generating a large thermal stratification inside the cylinder to reduce the rate of in-cylinder pressure rise (dP/dθ) at high load HCCI operation. The EGR guides consist of a half-circular part attached on the edge of the exhaust ports and the piston head which has a protuberant surface to control the mixing between hot EGR gas and intake air-fuel mixture.

In order to measure the spatial distribution of fuel jet concentration quantitatively, a technique combining methods of fluorescence with absorption was developed. LIF method can obtain the spatial fuel distribution qualitatively, but quantitative measurement is difficult. Meanwhile, laser-beam absorption method can quantitatively obtain the integrated jet concentration on the light-path. In addition, scanning the laser-beam allows for a quasi 2-D quantitative measurement of the jet concentration. Firstly, in this study, this measurement system was tested in a homogeneously charged field while varying the dopant NO2 concentration, the laser-beam scanning speed, and the ambient pressure. As a result, some data-correction techniques were developed to produce a quantitative measurement. Secondly, this system was applied to gaseous jet fields in a constant volume bomb.

The authors have been engaged in developing a new-generation two-stroke gasoline engine which could be employed ultimately for automobiles. By investigating the defects of the Schnurle-type two-stroke gasoline engine, a reverse uniflow-type direct injection engine has been developed and built. The newly introduced system employs stratified charge combustion in light to medium load conditions by using the technology already developed for the four-stroke direct injection gasoline engines while it can supply the maximum power output by using a super-charger and attaining homogeneous combustion. Engine performance is being tested experimentally. In order to analyze the performance test results, numerical analysis of in-cylinder phenomena, such as gas-exchange, gas motion, fuel spray formation, and mixture formation is carried out in this paper.

A Direct Injection Stratified Charge Rotary Engine ( DISC-RE ) with a pilot flame ignition system has been studied to find the possibility of simultaneous reductions of fuel consumption rate and HC exhaust gas emissions. Firstly, combustion characteristics in a model combustion chamber, which simulates the DISC-RE were examined from the viewpoints of calculation and experiment. The high speed photography and the indicated pressure analysis were experimentally performed while numerical calculations of the mixture formation and combustion processes were also carried out. As a result, it has been found that the combustion using the pilot flame ignition system is much activated and a better ignitability is attained under lean mixtures than using a spark ignition system. Secondly, a single rotor with 650 cc displacement DISC-RE was built as a prototype. Combustion characteristics and its performance were tested using a combustion analyzer.

Some SI (spark-ignition) engines fueled with gasoline for industrial machineries are designed based on the conventional diesel engine in consideration of the compatibility with installation. Such diesel engine-based SI engines secure a combustion chamber by a piston bowl instead of a pent-roof combustion chamber widely applied for SI engines for automobiles. In the development of SI engines, because knocking deteriorates the power output and the thermal efficiency, it is essential to clarify causes of knocking and predict knocking events. However, there has been little research on knocking in diesel engine-based SI engines. The purpose of this study is to elucidate knocking phenomena in a gasoline engine with a re-entrant piston bowl and swirl flow numerically and experimentally. In-cylinder visualization and pressure analysis of knock onset cycles have been experimentally performed. Locations of autoignition have been predicted by 3D-CFD analysis with detailed chemical reactions.

Knocking occurs within the high-speed range of small two-stroke engines used in handheld work equipment. High-speed knock may be affected by the engine speed and delivery ratio. However, evaluation of these factors independently using experimental methods is difficult. Therefore, in this study, these factors were independently evaluated using numerical calculations. The purpose of this study was to clarify the mechanism by which the intensity of high-speed knocking that occurs in small two-stroke engines becomes stronger. The results suggest that temperature inhomogeneity due to insufficient mixing of fresh air and previously burned gas may induce high-speed knocking in the operating range at high engine speeds.

A prediction model of the cycle-to-cycle variation of the in-cylinder flow in IC engines which employs the time averaged k-ε turbulence model is proposed. The concept is based on an assumption that the power spectrum of the cycle-to-cycle variation can be deduced from the power spectra of both the mean velocity and turbulence intensity. To validate this model, in-cylinder velocity measurement in a transparent cylinder engine with a 2-valve cylinder-head is made using an LDV system. Comparisons of in-cylinder flow fields between the calculation and measurement show a good agreement in the cycle-to-cycle variation as well as the turbulence intensity. Finally, this model is applied to three kinds of flow fields to examine how the cycle-to-cycle variation may be effected. As a result, it is found that the swirl flow is effective to reduce the cycle-to-cycle variation, while the tumbling flow enhances the turbulence generation around the compression TDC.

Conventional two-stroke engines have defects such as unstable combustion, high fuel consumption rate and high HC emissions. In order to overcome the defects, a direct fuel injection system and a novel scavenging system were adopted. The authors tested a newly developed reverse uniflow-type two-stroke direct injection gasoline engine that was designed by numerical simulations. In comparison with the base engine at low engine speed, HC emission was decreased by up to 80%, and BSFC was reduced by around 40%. Power and BSFC were superior to those of a latest port-injection four-stroke engine. Furthermore, it was found that engine performance of exhaust gas emissions, fuel economy or output power can be selectively optimized by switching homogeneous and stratified combustion.

Low temperature plasma ignition has been proposed as a new ignition technique as it has features of good wear resistance, low energy release and combustion enhancement. In the authors’ previous study, lean burn limit could be extended by low temperature plasma ignition while a voltage drop during discharge, leading to the transition to arc discharge, was found. In this study, the structure of plug and power supply’s performance with steep voltage rising with time, dV/dt, are examined to investigate the effects on combustion performance. As a result, comparing three power sources of conventional, IES and steep dV/dt, steep dV/dt showed small cycle-to-cycle variation and shorter combustion period, leading to higher peak value of the rate of heat release and better indicated thermal efficiency by relatively 6% and 4% compared to CIC and IES, respectively.

To survive the severe regulations for both the exhaust gas emissions and fuel economy, research on small two-stroke gasoline engines from both the experimental and theoretical viewpoints is quite necessary. In the present study, firstly, performance tests of a direct injection small two-stroke gasoline model engine were carried out. Based on these experimental results, three-dimensional flow calculations from scavenging pipe to exhaust pipe during the gas-exchange and piston compression processes were made with the same experimental conditions. As a result, the gas exchange process was investigated and some problems were clarified. Secondly, parametric calculations with changing just exhaust port timings were performed to solve the problems found in the above calculations.

The purpose of this paper is to find a way to extend the high load limit of homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) combustion. This paper presents the effect of in-cylinder flow and stratified mixture on HCCI combustion by experiments and three-dimensional computer fluid dynamics coupled with a detailed chemical reaction calculation. The first study was conducted using a rapid compression and expansion machine (RCEM) equipped with a flow generation plate to create in-cylinder turbulent flow and with a control unit of in-cylinder wall temperature to create in-cylinder temperature distribution. The study assesses the effect of the turbulent flow and the temperature distribution on HCCI combustion. In the second study, the numerical simulation of HCCI combustion was conducted using large eddy simulation coupled with a detailed chemical reaction calculation. The study analyzes the interaction between in-cylinder turbulent flow and mixture distribution and HCCI combustion.

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.

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.