Modeling HCCI Combustion With High Levels of Residual Gas Fraction - A Comparison of Two VVA Strategies

Adjusting the Residual Gas Fraction (RGF) by means of Variable Valve Actuation (VVA) is a strong candidate for controlling the ignition timing in Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) engines. However, at high levels of residual gas fraction, insufficient mixing can lead to the presence of considerable temperature and composition variations. This paper extends previous modeling efforts to include the effect of RGF distribution on the onset of ignition and the rate of combustion using a multi-dimensional fluid mechanics code (KIVA-3V) sequentially with a multi-zone code with detailed chemical kinetics. KIVA-3V is used to simulate the gas exchange processes, while the multi-zone code computes the combustion event. It is shown that under certain conditions the effect of composition stratification is significant and cannot be captured by a single-zone model or a multi-zone model using only temperature zones. In light of these findings, KIVA-3V is also used to compare two VVA strategies (negative valve overlap and secondary exhaust valve opening) in terms of the mixing quality of the internal EGR with the fresh charge. The results indicate that for different valve strategies and same amount of internal EGR, the degree of temperature and composition stratification in the cylinder can be quite different.