Combustion control in gasoline HCCI engine with direct fuel injection and exhaust gas trapping

Homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) seems to be the most promising solution for gasoline engines in the light of future emissions regulations. This novel combustion technique allows for significant reduction of fuel consumption and engine-out NOX emissions at low and medium engine load/speed conditions. High heat release rate enables realization of the Otto cycle close to ideal, increasing thermal efficiency. Among different approaches to invoke an auto-ignition of air-fuel mixture, exhaust gas trapping with the use of a negative valve overlap is under intensive investigations. The paper presents research results ofcontrolling an auto-ignition and combustion phasing in a single cylinder gasoline engine with direct fuel injection operated in the negative valve overlap mode. The experiments were performed at variable valvetrain settings, providing a control of EGR rate and volumetric efficiency. Additionally, the combustion process was investigated at variable air-fuel ratio. It was found that volumetric efficiency and EGR ratę are mainly dependent on exhaust valve timing, while a timing of intake valve determined combustion on-set and its duration. The effects of EGR rate and air-fuel ratio on combustion timing and exhaust gas emissions were isolated. The direct fuel injection showed its benefits versus mixture formation outside the cylinder. The application of variable injection timing provided additional possibility to control the combustion timing and exhaust emissions. However, it was found that the fuel injection strategy should be related to the engine load conditions.