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An author's previous studies addressed a combustion system which reduces emissions, noise, and fuel consumption by using PCCI with the split injection of fuel. This concept relies on the premixed combustion of the first injected fuel and accelerated oxidation by the second injected fuel. Although this combustion system requires the optimization of the timing of the second injection, the details of how noise and emissions are reduced have not been elucidated. In this paper, the authors explain the mechanism whereby emissions and noise are reduced by the second injection. In-cylinder visualizations and numerical simulations both showed an increase in smoke and CO as the second injection timing was advanced, as induced by the inhibited oxidation of the rich flame. When the second injection timing is excessively retarded, the amount of soot forming around the near-nozzle increased.

To improve the thermal efficiency of an internal combustion engine, the application of ceramics to heat loss reduction in the cylinders has been studied [1-2]. The approach taken has focused on the low heat conductivity and high heat resistance of the ceramic. However, since the heat capacity of the ceramic is so large, there is a problem in that the wall temperature increases during the combustion cycle. This leads to a decrease in the charging efficiency, as well as knocking in gasoline engines. To overcome these problems, the application of thermal insulation without raising the gas temperature during the intake stroke has been proposed [3-4]. As a means of achieving this, we developed a "temperature swing heat insulation coating" [5, 6, 7, 8, 9]. This reduces the heat flux from the combustion chamber into the cooling water by making the wall temperature follow the gas temperature as much as possible during the expansion and exhaust strokes.

Over the last few decades, in-cylinder visualization using optically accessible engines has been an important tool in the detailed analysis of the in-cylinder phenomena of internal combustion engines. However, most current optically accessible engines are recognized as being limited in terms of their speed and load, because of the fragility of certain components such as the elongated pistons and transparent windows. To overcome these speed and load limits, we developed a new generation of optically accessible engines which extends the operating range up to speeds of 6000 rpm for the SI engine version, and up to in-cylinder pressures of 20 MPa for the CI engine version. The main reason for the speed limitation is the vibration caused by the inertia force arising from the heavy elongated piston, which increases with the square of the engine speed.