Influence of Engine Speed on Autoignition and Combustion Characteristics in a Supercharged HCCI Engine

Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) combustion has attracted widespread interest because it achieves high efficiency and can reduce particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions simultaneously. However, because HCCI engines lack a physical means of initiating ignition, it is difficult to control the ignition timing. Another issue of HCCI engines is that the combustion process causes the cylinder pressure to rise rapidly. The time scale is also important in HCCI combustion because ignition depends on the chemical reactions of the mixture. Therefore, we investigated the influence of the engine speed on autoignition and combustion characteristics in an HCCI engine. A four-stroke single-cylinder engine equipped with a mechanically driven supercharger was used in this study to examine HCCI combustion characteristics under different engine speeds and boost pressures. The results revealed that the engine speed range can be expanded by a mechanically driven supercharger. It was also found that there was no change in the ignition delay time under conditions of a constant equivalence ratio even at different engine speeds. The findings of this study provide important knowledge for controlling the ignition timing.