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This study applies a state feedback based Closed-Loop Combustion Control (CLCC) using Fast Thermal Management (FTM) on a multi cylinder Variable Compression Ratio (VCR) engine. At speeds above 1500 rpm is the FTM's bandwidth broadened by using the VCR feature of this engine, according to a predefined map, which is a function of load and engine speed. Below 1500 rpm is the PID based CLCC using VCR applied instead of the FTM while slow cylinder balancing is effectuated by the FTM. Performance of the two CLCC controllers are evaluated during an European EC2000 drive cycle, while HC, CO and CO2 emissions are measured online by a Fast Response Infrared (FRI) emission equipment. A load and speed map calculated for an 1.6L Opel Astra is used to get reference values for the dynamometer speed and the load control. The drive cycle test is initiated from a hot engine and hence no cold start is included. Commercial RON/MON 92/82 gasoline, which corresponds to US regular, is utilized.

Simultaneous OH- and formaldehyde LIF measurements have been performed in an HCCI engine using two laser sources working on 283 and 355 nm, respectively. Two ICCD camera systems, equipped with long-pass filters, were used to collect the LIF signals. The simultaneous images of OH and formaldehyde were compared with heat-release calculated from the pressure-trace matching the cycle for the LIF measurements. The measurements were performed on a 0.5 l single-cylinder optical engine equipped with port-fuel injection system. A blend of iso-octane and n-heptane was used as fuel and the compression ratio was set to 12:1. The width of the laser sheet was 40 mm and hence covered approximately half of the cylinder bore. At some 20 CAD BTDC low temperature reactions is present and formaldehyde is formed. The formaldehyde signal is then rather constant until the main heat-release starts just before TDC, where the signal decreases rapidly to low values.

This work has focused on studying the in-cylinder pressure fluctuations caused by rapid HCCI combustion and determine what they consist of. Inhomogeneous autoignition sets up pressure waves traversing the combustion chamber. These pressure waves induce high gas velocities which causes increased heat transfer to the walls or in worst case engine damage. In order to study the pressure fluctuations a number of pressure transducers were mounted in the combustion chamber. The multi transducer arrangement was such that six transducers were placed circumferentially, one placed near the centre and one at a slight offset in the combustion chamber. The fitting of six transducers circumferentially was enabled by a spacer design and the two top mounted transducers were fitted in a modified cylinder head. During testing a disc shaped combustion chamber was used. The results of the tests conducted were that the in-cylinder pressure experienced during rapid HCCI-combustion is inhomogeneous.

This paper presents a study of the turbulence field in an optical diesel engine operated under motored conditions using both large eddy simulation (LES) and Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV). The study was performed in a laboratory optical diesel engine based on a recent production engine from VOLVO Car. PIV is used to study the flow field in the cylinder, particularly inside the piston bowl that is also optical accessible. LES is used to investigate in detail the structure of the turbulence, the vortex cores, and the temperature field in the entire engine, all within a single engine cycle. The LES results are compared with the PIV measurements in a 40 × 28 mm domain ranging from the nozzle tip to the cylinder wall. The LES grid consists of 1283 cells. The grid dynamically adjusts itself as the piston moves in the cylinder so that the engine cylinder, including the piston bowl, is described by the grid.

Interest in ion current sensing for HCCI combustion arises when a feedback signal from some sort of combustion sensor is needed in order to determine the state of the combustion process. A previous study has revealed that ion current sensors in the form of spark plugs can be used instead of expensive piezoelectric transducers for HCCI combustion sensing. Sufficiently high ion current levels were achieved when using relatively rich mixtures diluted with EGR. The study also shows that it is not the actual dilution per se but the actual air/fuel equivalence ratio which is important for the signal level. Conclusions were made that it is possible to obtain information on combustion timing and oscillating wave phenomena from the measurements. However, the study showed that the ion current is local compared to the pressure which is global in the combustion chamber.

The present study uses a numerical model to investigate the effects of flow turbulence on premixed iso-octane HCCI engine combustion. Different levels of in-cylinder turbulence are generated by using different piston geometries, namely a disc-shape versus a square-shape bowl. The numerical model is based on the KIVA code which is modified to use CHEMKIN as the chemistry solver. A detailed reaction mechanism is used to simulate the fuel chemistry. It is found that turbulence has significant effects on HCCI combustion. In the current engine setup, the main effect of turbulence is to affect the wall heat transfer, and hence to change the mixture temperature which, in turn, influences the ignition timing and combustion duration. The model also predicts that the combustion duration in the square bowl case is longer than that in the disc piston case which agrees with the measurements.

This study applies Closed-Loop Combustion Control (CLCC) using Variable Compression Ratio (VCR) and cylinder balancing using variable lambda to solve the problem. Step changes of set points for combustion phasing, Compression Ratio (CR), and load together with ramps of engine speed and inlet air temperature are investigated. Performances of the controllers are investigated by running the engine at either a constant amount of injected fuel corresponding to an approximate load of 1.5 or 2.5 bar BMEP and/or constant speed of 2000 rpm. Commercial RON 92 gasoline is used in the test. The CLCC is found to be fast and effective and has a potential of handling step changes in a matter of cycles, while the speed and temperature ramps need some more optimization of the CLCC. The CR controller is very fast and has a time constant corresponding to three engine cycles at 2000 rpm.

Combustion phasing in a Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) engine can be achieved by affecting the time history of pressure and temperature in the cylinder. The most common way has been to control the inlet air temperature and thereby the temperature in the cylinder at the end of the compression stroke. However this is a slow parameter to control, especially cycle to cycle. A multi cylinder engine using Variable Compression Ratio (VCR) for controlling the compression temperature and consequently the combustion phasing is used in the experiments. Operating range in terms of speed and load is investigated in naturally aspirated mode. Trade-off between inlet air temperature and Compression Ratio (CR) is evaluated. Primary reference fuels, isooctane / n-heptane, are used during the tests. High speed HCCI operation up to 5000 rpm is possible with a fuel corresponding to RON 60. The effect of octane number with and without exhaust cam phasing is also investigated.

This study applies Closed-Loop Combustion Control (CLCC) using Fast Thermal Management (FTM) on a multi cylinder Variable Compression Ratio (VCR) engine together with load control, to achieve a favorable combustion phasing and load at all times. Step changes of set points for combustion phasing, Compression Ratio (CR), and load together with ramps of engine speed with either constant load, i.e. load control enabled, or constant fuel amount are investigated. Performances of the controllers are investigated by running the engine and comparing the result with CLCC using VCR, which was used in an earlier test. Commercial RON/MON 92/82 gasoline, which corresponds to US regular, is used in the transient tests. Limitations to the speed ramps are further examined and it is found that choice of fuel and its low temperature reaction properties has large impact on how the CLCC perform.

This paper presents large eddy simulation (LES) and experimental studies of the combustion process of ethanol/air mixture in an experimental optical HCCI engine. The fuel is injected to the intake port manifolds to generate uniform fuel/air mixture in the cylinder. Two different piston shapes, one with a flat disc and one with a square bowl, were employed to generate different in-cylinder turbulence and temperature field prior to auto-ignition. The aim of this study was to scrutinize the effect of in-cylinder turbulence on the temperature field and on the combustion process. The fuel tracer, acetone, is measured using laser induced fluorescence (LIF) to characterize the reaction fronts, and chemiluminescence images were recorded using a high speed camera, with a 0.25 crank angle degree resolution, to further illustrate the combustion process. Pressure in the cylinder is recorded in the experiments.

A 0.5 liter optical HCCI engine firing a mixture of n-heptane (50%) and iso-octane (50%) with air/fuel ratio of 3 is studied using large eddy simulation (LES) and laser diagnostics. Formaldehyde and OH LIF and in-cylinder pressure were measured in the experiments to characterize the ignition process. The LES made use of a detailed chemical kinetic mechanism that consists of 233 species and 2019 reactions. The auto-ignition simulation is coupled with LES by the use of a renormalized reaction progress variable. Systematic LES study on the effect of initial temperature inhomogeneity and turbulence intensity has been carried out to delineate their effect on the ignition process. It was shown that the charge under the present experimental condition would not be ignited without initial temperature inhomogeneity. Increasing temperature inhomogeneity leads to earlier ignition whereas increasing turbulence intensity would retard the ignition.

Cycle resolved wall temperature measurements have been performed in a one cylinder port injected optical Scania D12 truck engine run in HCCI mode. Point measurements at various locations were made using Laser-Induced Phosphorescence (LIP). Single point measurements with thermographic phosphors utilize the temperature dependancy of the phosphorescence decay time. The phosphorescence peak at 538 nm from the thermographic phosphor La2O2S:Eu was used to determine temperature. A frequency tripled 10 Hz pulsed Nd:YAG laser delivering ultra violet (UV) radiation at 355 nm was used for excitation of the phosphor. Detection in the spectral region 535 - 545 nm was performed every cycle with a photo multiplier tube connected to a 3 GHz oscilloscope. Measurements were made at four points on the cylinder head surface and two points on the outlet and inlet valves respectively. For each location measurements were made at different loads and at different crank angle degrees (CAD).

This paper presents a strategy for closed-loop control of a multi cylinder turbo charged Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) engine. A dual fuel port injection system allows control of combustion timing and load individually for each cylinder. The two fuels used are isooctane and n-heptane, which provides a wide range of autoignition properties. Cylinder pressure sensors provide feedback and information regarding combustion. The angle of 50% heat release is calculated in real time for each cycle and used for timing feedback. Inlet air preheating is used at low loads to maintain a high combustion efficiency.

Combustion initiation in an HCCI engine is dependent of several parameters that are not easily controlled like the temperature and pressure history in the cylinder. So achieving the same ignition condition in all the cylinders in a multi-cylinder engine is difficult. Factors as gas exchange, compression ratio, cylinder cooling, fuel supply, and inlet air temperature can differ from cylinder-to-cylinder. These differences cause both combustion phasing and load variations between the cylinders, which in the end affect the engine performance. Operating range in terms of speed and load is also affected by the cylinder imbalance, since misfiring or too fast combustion in the worst cylinders limits the load. The cylinder-to-cylinder variations are investigated in a multi-cylinder Variable Compression Ratio (VCR) engine, and the effect it has on the engine performance.