HOMOGENEOUS CHARGE COMPRESSION IGNITION (HCCI Combustion)

Dr. Avinash Kumar Agarwal Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, INDIA

Introduction
Goal:
To reduce fuel consumption and harmful emissions Strategy: Improve conventional IC engines? Develop a new propulsion system?

The fuel engine challenge

Conventional Engines
combustion

2 Goals
City Air Quality
Local Pollution CO, HC, NOx, PM, O3, Noise

Conventional Fuels
(petroleum based) Reformulated (clean) gasoline diesel

D.I.S.I (gasoline) C.I.D.I.(diesel)

Alternative Engines
Combustion HCCI, CAI Electrochemistry H2 Fuel Cell Hybrid

+ Energy Saving
Global Pollution CO2, CH4, ...

Alternative Fuels
Gas : LPG, NG, DME, H2 GTL, BTL: Fisher-Tropsch Bio-Oxygenates EtOH,

Conventional IC engines
Spark-ignited engines
+ + Relatively cheap Emissions Low efficiency (throttle, knock limited) - Must run stoichiometric

Diesel engines
For both: after-treatment expensive

+ Higher efficiency and power - Emissions (Diesel dilemma)

Conventional SI engines
Theory: Fuel + air CO2 + H2O + N2 Reality: Fuel + air CO2 + H2O + N2 +
FuelInjector Oxygen sensor

CO + HC + NOx +
3-way catalyst ( = 1 required)

= 1?

Throttle Pumping losses

NOx CO HC

N2

H2O CO2

New propulsion systems

Fuel cells
+ Promising, if hydrogen from renewable source - Problems to solve before large-scale production - Well-to-wheel efficiency not significantly better

Hybrids
+ Good well-to-wheel efficiency - Expensive, complex?

Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) ?

Can We Avoid NOx ??

Each Engine Breaths" the Air

NOx formation cannot be avoided during combustion, because Nitrogen is the dominant part of fresh air.

Challenge to Achieve Homogenous Air/Fuel Mixture

Increased homogeneity + lower temperature = lower Soot and NOx

Conventional Propulsion Systems

Gasoline Diesel

Improve fuel efficiency:

Active Fuel Management Variable Valve Timing (VVT) Direct Injection Turbocharging Lean Combustion: HCCI / Stratified

Improve Emissions:
Low-Temperature Combustion Advanced Air Handling Model-Based & Closed-Loop Control Efficient NOx aftertreatment

New propulsion systems

Introduction
Fuel cells + Promising, if hydrogen from renewable source - Problems to solve before large-scale production - Well-to-wheel efficiency not significantly better Hybrids + Good well-to-wheel efficiency - Expensive, complex? Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) ?

The NOx/PM dilemma of diesel engines - and what about HCCI ?

0.05

Current Engine Technology

EURO III

Particulate Trap
0.025

Primary NOxReduction Primary Particulate Reduction

EURO IV

PM [g/km]

EURO V

HCCI ?
0.005

DeNOx-Systems
0.20 0.25 0.5

NOx [g/km]

adapted from A. Velji (Karlsruhe Univ.)

Why this world-wide growing interest in HCCI & CAI combustion ? NOx-PM dilemma of stratified charge engines (CIDI & DISI)
The new combustion processes such as gasoline CAI (Controlled Auto-Ignition) and diesel HCCI (Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition) are seen as :

a potential solution to overcome this dilemma an alternative and/or complementary answer to the sophisticated exhaust aftertreatment strategy

Potential of various combustion processes

100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

Gasoline DISI Gasoline Gasoline HCCI PFI stratified CAI CAI diesel lambda 1 lean lambda 1 lean

DI diesel
1500 rpm 3bar IMEP

Typical compared fuel consumption (%) between various gasoline and diesel engine combustion processes

An alternative and/or complementary answer to the sophisticated exhaust aftertreatment strategy

Alternative Strategies to meet Euro 5

After Treatment

Potential of various combustion processes

500 400 300 200 100 0

2.5

1
HCCI diesel DI diesel
1500 rpm 3bar IMEP

Gasoline DISI Gasoline Gasoline PFI stratified CAI CAI lambda 1 lean lambda 1 lean

Typical compared NOx emissions (ppm) between various gasoline and diesel engine combustion processes

The New CAI and HCCI Combustion Process- Principles

HCCI Combustion

Fuel/air mixture highly diluted by burned gases (fuel droplets surrounded by air), the mixture is compressed (temperature rises), selfself-ignition at a very large number of active sites sites throughout the fuel air mixture.

ignition at a very large number of active sites ?

From a conventional combustion by flame propagation ...

What means this self-

to a precisely controlled simultaneous ignition in the whole space of the combustion chamber !

In HCCI, No flame propagation.

Figure : SI flame propagation in 2-Stroke engine at 9000 rpm *

*

Figure : HCCI combustion in 2-Stroke engineat 17000 rpm.

Ekenberg, M. In-Cylinder Fluid Flow, Fuel Preparation and Combustion in SI Engines -Application of Optical Diagnostics, Doctoral Thesis, Department of Heat and Power Engineering, Lund Institute of Technology, Lund, Sweden 2002. ISBN 91-7874-178-5

The HCCI combustion event can be neatly divided into three stages, each dominated by either fluid mechanics or chemistry
1.0 Fraction of Fuel Energy Consumed 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.0 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60 80 Crank Angle (deg) Pre-combustion - Fluids dominated Combustion
- Very rapid heat release - No time for mixing

Post-Combustion - Little heat release

-Oxidation/mixing of partially or unreacted mixture

- Slow chemistry

build up of the radical pool H + O2 + M HO2 + M H2O2 + M OH + OH + M RH + HO2 R + H2O2

Ignition and combustion

HCCI combustion
HCCI Combustion
Defined here as fully premixed combustion with ignition initiated kinetically near top of compression stroke (traditional HCCI) -- Temperature is main initiator of combustion Intake heating, retained exhaust, higher compression ratio Burning rate must be moderated Lean mixtures excess air Dilute mixtures EGR, retained exhaust, and/or excess air - Advantages - potential for more efficient combustion Fast combustion, unun-throttled operation (maybe), high compression ratio (maybe) Low NOx and low smoke - Risks - under development - potential issues include Lower power density, more difficult to control, combustion noise, control compromises leading to reduced fuel efficiency, more sensitive to fuel variations

HCCI Combustion

Active ThermoThermo-Atmosphere Combustion (ATAC) Activated Radical (AR) combustion CompressionCompression-Ignited Homogeneous Charge (CIHC) HomogeneousHomogeneous-Charge CompressionCompression-Ignition (HCCI) Controlled Auto ignition (CAI) Homogeneous charge intelligent Multiple Injection Combustion System (HiMICS ) (HiMICS) Homogeneous Charge Diesel Combustion (HCDC) Narrow Angle Direct Injection (NADITM) Premixed CompressionCompression- Ignited (PCI) combustion

Different names attributed to almost same process by various research groups

HCCI Combustion

HCCI combustion merits and challenges

Merits
Low combustion temperature resulting to very low NOx formation There is no lean/rich region in cylinder resulting in no sootNOx trade-off Engines capability to idle and to operate at part-load without necessity to throttle using highly diluted mixture. Much lower cyclic variation leading to improvement in engines design parameters Fuel consumption benefit of 2025% compared to SI.

Challenges
Controlling Ignition timing and Combustion rate Expending Useful Operating Range Managing Transient Operation Reducing HC and CO emissions Additional components/equipments making HCCI possible lead to increase cost

HCCI Combustion Comparison with CI and SI

Summary of combustion concepts

Spark Ignition Spark Ignition Flame Propagation Premixed combustion Throttled Port injection Stoichiometric Compression Ignition Auto Ignition Flame Propagation Premixed and diffusive combustion UnUn-throttled Direct Injection with swirl HCCI Auto Ignition No Flame Propagation Premixed volumetric combustion UnUn-throttled Port and Direct Injection

Variable Stoichiometry (Lean Lean / dilute to rich) Stoichiometry

HCCI Combustion HCCI Combustion

Limits of combustion in HCCI engines

Heat release occurs by autoignition of prepre-mixed fuel/air mixture

Two operating limits Knock Limit when pressure rise rate is unacceptably high. Occurs when available fuel autoignition (resistance) quality quality is much lower than the engine requirement requirement Instability or misfire limit when cyclic variation is unacceptably high. Occurs when available fuel autoignition quality quality is much higher than the engine requirement requirement

Operating Range for HCCI Engine

8

B M E P (b a r)

6 4 2 0
0 1000

SI
HCCI HCCI
2000

SI/CI

engine speed (rpm)

3000

4000

5000

Area of HCCI combustion in an equivalence fuel/air ratio and combustion temperature map

Schematic illustration of HCCI envelope for a vehicle application

Power output
HCCI Combustion
A current drawback of HCCI combustion is that it is presently limited in power output. To increase power output :

HCCI Engine Configuration Dedicated HCCI

Dual Mode

Super Charging and TurboTurbo- charging Development of Dual Mode Engines

HCCI Diesel

HCCI Spark Ignition

HCCI Combustion

Fuel Introduction Strategies

Pre-mixed charge compression ignition (HCCI) engines have been operated successfully with upstream fuel injection or fumigation, as well as direct fuel injection into the combustion chamber
Intake Intake Exhaust Exhaust

Direct Injected HCCI Engine

Port Fuel Injected HCCI Engine

source

HCCI Combustion Phasing Control

HCCI Combustion
METHODS FOR CONTROLLING HCCI COMBUSTION PHASING

ALTER MIXTURE REACTIVITY

There are two fundamental approaches for ALTER TIMETEMPERATURE HISTORY controlling the start of HCCI OF THE MIXTURE combustion:
Mixture Reactivity TimeTime-Temperature History

Blend 2 or More Fuels Fuel Additives Fuel Pre-Conditioning Reactive Residual Amt.

Modulate Intake Air Temp. In-Cylinder Injection Timing Water Injection Variable Valve Timing Variable Compression Ratio

source

HCCI Combustion

(1)Intake

of a premixed charge

(2) The charge is compressed

(4) Infinitesimaly later

(3)

The charge is compressed further

Combustion in HCCI
In

this combustion process a homogeneous fuelair mixture compressed resulting, in auto-ignition throughout the body of the mixture. The HCCI combustion process puts two major requirements on the conditions in the cylinder: 1. The temperature after compression stroke should equal the auto-ignition temperature of the fuel/air mixture. 2. The mixture should be diluted enough to give reasonable burn rate.

Combustion Contd.
In DICI combustion process is mixing (Turbulent diffusion) controlled. In HCCI no direct control over ignition timing.

Figure: A comparison between HCCI and DICI. In a HCCI engine, combustion starts at several points. In a traditional DICI engine, combustion starts around the fuel injector.

Combustion Contd.
In ATAC entire mass is active but the reaction rate is low both locally and Globally. This means that the combustion process will take some time even if all the charge is active.

Figure: The difference between SI and HCCI combustion process. Q= total amount of heat, q=heat per mass unit, w=mass
S: Onishi, S. Hong Jo, K. Shoda, P Do Jo, S. Kato:Active Thermo-Atmosphere Combustion (ATAC) - ANew Combustion Process for Internal Combustion Engines, SAE 790501

Comparison with Convention IC Engines

Conventional CIDI versus HCCI Combustion

Effect of EGR & Fueling on combustion

Sensitivity of EGR on Cylinder Pressure and Combustion

Sensitivity of Fueling on Cylinder Pressure and Combustion

What are the outstanding issues? Operating Range for HCCI Engine
8

B M E P (b a r)

6 4 2 0
0 1000

SI/CI SI HCCI HCCI

2000 3000 4000 5000

engine speed (rpm)

Predicted NOx emissions vs. engine loadfor typical HCCI and DI Diesel combustion.

Schematic illustration of HCCI envelope for a vehicle application

HCCI Emissions Vs Diesel

HCCI: A future Engine Strategy

Merits Challenges

High thermal efficiency Low NOx emissions Low PM emissions Fuel consumption benefit of 20-25% compared to SI.

Controlling Ignition timing and Combustion rate Expending Useful Operating Range Managing Transient Operation Reducing HC and CO emissions Additional components/equipments making HCCI possible lead to increase cost

Combustion Phasing and Control

Combustion phasing of HCCI engines is affected by: Auto-ignition properties of the fuel Fuel concentration Residual rate and, possibly, reactivity of the residual Mixture homogeneity Compression ratio Intake temperature, latent heat of vaporization of the fuel, and engine temperature Heat transfer to the engine Other engine-dependent parameters

Methods of controlling HCCI combustion Phasing

Alter Mixture Reactivity

Alter Time Temperature History of mixture Modulate intake temp. In-Cyl. injection timing Water injection Variable CR Variable valve EGR

Blend 2 or more fuels Fuel additives Fuel pre-conditioning EGR ?

Fuel Injection Technique

HCCI Fuel Introduction

Port Injection

In-Cylinder Injection

Late In-Cylinder Injection

Early In-Cylinder Injection

Power output

A current drawback of HCCI combustion is that it is presently limited in power output. To increase power output : Super Charging and Turbocharging Development of Dual Mode Engines

HCCI Engine Configuration Dedicated HCCI

Dual Mode

HCCI Diesel

HCCI Spark Ignition

Summary: HCCI Combustion

High

compression ratio, Auto-ignition, Mixture is Lean, Very high combustion rate Combustion takes place spontaneously and homogeneously without flame propagation. Local temperature is close to bulk mean temperature Low NOx and PM emissions High thermal efficiency Combustion Phasing and Control is difficult