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2005-01-0117

SAE TECHNICAL
PAPER SERIES

Injection Mode Modulation for

HCCI Diesel Combustion
Wanhua Su, Hui Wang and Bin Liu
State Key Laboratory of Engines, Tianjin University

Reprinted From: Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) Combustion 2005

(SP-1963)

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Injection Mode Modulation for HCCI Diesel Combustion
Copyright © 2005 SAE International
ABSTRACT
In order to understand the effects of pulse injection
mode on power output and emissions in an HCCI diesel
engine, the pulse injection mode modulation was
investigated. A computer simulation code of common rail
injector FIRCRI was developed based on previous work
by the authors, including the simulation of dynamic
response and injected fuel amount. Then the injector
parameters were partly revised to meet the requirement
of pulse injections. By variation of control signals, a
series of injection modes were realized based on the
prejudgment of combustion requirement. The designed
injection modes included so called even mode,
staggered mode, hump mode and progressive increase
mode with four, five and six pulses. Engine test was
conducted with the designed injection modes. The
experimental results showed that the HCCI diesel
combustion was extremely sensitive to injection mode.
There were many ways to reach near zero NOX and
smoke emissions, but the injection mode must be
carefully designed for higher power output.
INTRODUCTION
For diesel-fueled HCCI engines, high compression ratio
can be used to enhance auto-ignition at light load, and
direct in-cylinder fuel injection can be used to control
combustion timing. However, the low temperature
chemistry of diesel fuel tends to cause a rapid auto-
ignition once compression temperature exceeds a
threshold, leading to an overly advanced combustion
phasing. In addition, the low volatility of diesel fuel
together with its propensity of auto-ignition attributed to
high fuel cetane number makes it extremely difficult to
form a homogeneous mixture required to explore the full
benefit of simultaneous reduction of NOx and soot
emissions. Most of proposed diesel HCCI engines only
require one fuel handling system. Its high fuel injection
pressure causes inevitable wall wetting, which is the
source of increased uHC and possible smoke number. A
fuel injection technology that can help homogeneous
mixture formation without fuel wall impingement is in
active demand.
2005-01-0117
Wanhua Su, Hui Wang and Bin Liu
State Key Laboratory of Engines, Tianjin University
In addition, HCCI combustion is normally limited to the
low and medium load operations by the excessive rate
of the pressure rise due to simultaneous heat release of
the whole charge in the cylinder. Conventional diesel
combustion is therefore still required at higher load
conditions. The engine fuel handling system, therefore,
should be well suitable in both conditions of HCCI
combustion and conventional diesel combustion. The
previous work done by the authors has presented a new
HCCI combustion technology [1,2,3], which operates the
engine with HCCI combustion at low loads, combined
HCCI combustion and lean diffusion combustion at
medium and high loads. The combined combustion
process was basically organized by the multi-pulse fuel
injection strategy. Recently, the multiple injection
strategy was applied successfully in passenger car size
common rail DI diesel engines in HCCI mode, in order to
achieve thorough mixing of the air and fuel and to avoid
wall wetting [4,5]. Near zero engine emission of NOX was
confirmed in part load conditions. However, for
adaptation of injection system parameters to wider
operation of the homogeneous diesel combustion one
needs to investigate the mechanism of mixing process,
including the effects of multiple injection parameters on
spray atomization, evaporation and mixing, so that the
injection mode required to low engine emissions and
potential high thermal efficiency at a certain engine
condition can be precisely designed. The authors
reported a computer simulation result of effects of pulse
injection parameters on evaporation and mixing [3]. It
showed that the multiple injection timing was of
paramount interests since it determined in-cylinder
conditions of pressure and temperature, and so that
determined the effectiveness of evaporation and mixing.
For earlier injection cases, the pulse width showed a
strong impact on evaporation and mixing rate. Hence,
the short pulse width should be employed for earlier
injection pulses. The dwell time was an important factor
and short dwell time would result in less stratification of
the fuel for later injection cases. Naturally, it was
important to match and optimize the above three
injection parameters, and then the engine could operate
in a well-premixed mode [3]. In the present paper a series
of injection modes for homogenous diesel combustion is
designed and modulated. The engine test results from
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application of these injection modes are given and
discussed.
INJECTION MODE MODULATION
SIMULATION OF FIRCRI COMMON RAIL INJECTOR
Fig.1 is the schematic of the FIRCRI common rail
injector. Fuel with high pressure in the common rail flows
in two ways, one flows into the control chamber through
the flow-in measuring orifice and then into the buffer
chamber of the control valve through the flow-out
measuring orifice. Under the pulse injection action, the
control valve moves up and down in transient mode and
the flow area of the control valve varies all the time, the
other way, the fuel in the common rail flows into the fuel
chamber of injector tip and then into the sac volume of
the injector tip as the needle moves up. As the pressure
in the sac volume varies, the pulse injection is
conducted.
multi-pulse injection modulation system, as shown in
Fig.4. The system is a PC computer based data
acquisition and multi-pulse injection controlling system.
By the standard data bus of the PC computer, the
computer resources of hardware and software can be
fully employed for the purpose of synthesizing of driving
signals for a designed injection mode. Two
programmable logical GAL chips are also incorporated
in the signal logical synthesizer, which simplify creation
and management of the control signals of the pulse
width and the dwell time and by which up to 10 pulses
can be flexibly controlled.
Electromagnet Control Valve
Buffer Chamber
Flow-out Measuring Orifice
Flow-in Measuring Orifice
Control Chamber

Tab.1 shows the simulation results of injection mode,

which include four pulses, seven control signals and Hydraulic Piston
three injection modes named as the mode before
modulation (BM), the even mode (EM) and the
progressive increase mode (PIM). Looking at the Fuel Chamber of
resulting data in Tab.1, the BM mode is the original Injector Tip
injection mode of the injector, which is presented by Tip Orifice Common Rail
solid line in Fig.2. The control signals of pulse width and
Sac Volume of
dwell time for each pulse as shown in Tab.1 are set Injector Tip Engine Cylinder
equally as 0.17ms and 1ms respectively. From Fig. 2,
however, it is seen that the measured injection rate Fig. 1 Schematic of Simulation System
pattern is completely irregular before modulation.

A simulation code was developed based on the authors’ 40 BM

EM
previous work [6], thus parameter study could be 35 P IM
Injection Rate (mm /ms)

conducted in dynamic process of the pulse injection. The

30
3

response time of the injector was described as electro-

25
magnet open response Tieo, electro-magnet close
response Tiec, hydraulic open response Tiho and 20
hydraulic close response Tihc, as shown in Fig.3. The 15
footnote i denoted the number of pulse. The above 10
revision of the simulation code allowed us to optimize 5
the injector parameters for the purpose of fastest and
0
symmetry hydraulic open and close response and a 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0
suitable amount of fuel to be injected during pulse T im e (m s)
injection. The final fitting of injector hydraulic parameters Fig. 2 Injection Modes Modulation of Simulation
showed that both of the hydraulic open and close
responses of this injector were about 0.25ms and the
injected fuel amount was about 50mm3, as required. 6
Control Signal

4 Tiec
Then simulation study of injection mode modulation was
2
conducted by variation of electronic control signals such 0
as pulse width and dwell time for each individual pulse, 0 1 2 3 4 5
while the injector hydraulic parameters were fixed. 0.045
Control Valve

Tieo Tihc
Lift ( mm)

0.030
0.015
As shown in Fig.2, the even injection mode and the 0.000
progressive increase injection mode were realized in 35 0 1 2 3 4 5
28
computer simulation. The corresponding data of control
injection Rate

21 Tiho
(mm /ms)

signals of pulse width and dwell time are given in Tab.1. 14

3

7
0
Based on the fitted injector hydraulic parameters, the 0 1 2 3 4 5
Time (ms)
pre-designed injection modes were modulated on the
Fig. 3 Definition of Response Time
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Table 1 Parameter of Control Signals in Simulation

Pulse width Dwell time Pulse width Dwell time Pulse width Dwell time Pulse width
Control signals
Ⅰ (ms) Ⅰ (ms) Ⅱ (ms) Ⅱ (ms) Ⅲ (ms) Ⅲ (ms) Ⅳ (ms)
BM 0.17 1.0 0.17 1.0 0.17 1.0 0.17
EM 0.172 1.0 0.175 1.01 0.18 1.01 0.18
PIM 0.17 1.0 0.168 0.94 0.174 0.92 0.17

Table 2 Test Injection Mode and Engine Condition

Pulse width of injection Pulse injected fuel mass (mg) Total fuel mass
(ms) Equivalence
CASE Dwell time Pulse mass deviation (%) (mg)/
ratio
NO. Fuel mass
φ
Ⅰ Ⅱ Ⅲ Ⅳ Ⅴ Ⅵ Ⅰ Ⅱ Ⅲ Ⅳ Ⅴ Ⅵ deviation (%)
0.752 0.992 0.576 0.424 7.381 28.90 12.78 3.254
4H1 52.30 / 6.219 0.2996
0.424 0.440 0.576 10.92 13.61 35.70 123.8
0.928 0.88 0.72 0.56 10.79 22.84 20.15 4.110
4H2 57.89 / 5.348 0.3332
0.432 0.448 0.48 17.55 9.783 20.94 103.0
0.768 0.96 0.568 0.576 8.060 24.08 10.85 7.201
4H3 50.20 / 16.54 0.2865
0.416 0.512 0.592 23.08 19.22 33.15 65.92
0.776 0.912 0.504 0.76 7.774 21.11 6.831 17.72
4S 28.47 21.11 34.33 24.48
53.43 / 17.92 0.3076
0.408 0.512 0.544
0.864 0.768 0.688 0.688 12.48 9.712 7.997 12.65
4E 42.83/11.58 0.2475
0.464 0.48 0.496 12.89 19.39 53.42 36.11
0.688 0.928 0.464 0.912 0.448 3.881 23.99 4.982 22.60 3.316
5S 58.78 / 20.56 0.3372
0.448 0.496 0.416 0.464 28.20 26.47 61.08 24.34 90.46
0.768 0.72 0.976 0.592 0.704 7.636 8.406 33.06 12.40 5.476
5H1 66.98 / 5.65 0.3869
0.432 0.4 0.448 0.464 13.32 24.66 7.63 23.38 74.94
0.832 0.752 0.672 0.832 0.656 12.67 11.78 10.87 15.46 8.358
5E 59.13 / 8.24 0.3404
0.464 0.4 0.432 0.416 6.661 18.22 23.9 44.97 80.72
0.736 0.736 0.784 0.672 0.848 6.693 8.260 15.58 10.02 21.40
5PI1 61.96 / 4.95 0.3568
0.432 0.4 0.432 0.448 14.64 21.91 23.46 48.66 21.35
0.816 0.864 0.848 0.544 0.56 8.867 12.33 21.67 9.006 5.630
5H2 57.51/19.77 0.3323
0.432 0.448 0.496 0.56 26.95 30.12 23.81 34.48 70.28
0.672 0.88 0.832 0.704 0.72 4.028 8.248 13.28 10.49 16.48
5PI2 52.53/20.24 0.3035
0.4 0.4 0.448 0.512 25.25 51.89 34.23 52.38 29.50
0.704 0.912 0.496 0.864 0.464 0.896 4.966 22.50 6.578 19.21 3.941 18.97
6S 76.17 / 11.56 0.4328
0.448 0.496 0.416 0.464 0.448 20.25 14.68 31.05 20.931 76.19 38.51
0.72 0.848 0.656 0.768 0.736 0.64 5.196 16.07 13.06 13.11 9.53 6.859
6H1 63.83 / 15.90 0.3650
0.432 0.448 0.448 0.432 0.416 21.12 34.70 27.54 46.10 58.57 66.88
0.864 0.672 0.784 0.736 0.72 0.832 14.26 9.964 13.80 15.86 7.004 18.81
6E 79.69 / 11.91 0.4541
0.464 0.432 0.384 0.464 0.416 5.014 12.54 18.56 28.04 84.45 58.47
0.768 0.704 0.704 0.656 0.832 0.752 8.108 7.740 12.03 6.506 18.43 17.19
6PI 69.99 / 18.19 0.4036
0.448 0.368 0.448 0.4 0.432 19.35 31.49 25.48 59.77 36.48 42.29
0.688 0.944 0.656 0.816 0.528 0.544 3.724 13.06 8.410 17.74 8.644 5.449
6H2 57.03/22.95 0.3295
0.4 0.464 0.512 0.528 0.56 32.11 38.72 57.34 51.93 68.39 86.85
0.832 0.8 0.784 0.72 0.512 0.656 9.483 8.708 12.02 14.79 6.725 6.319
6H3 58.05/9.585 0.3354
0.432 0.432 0.48 0.528 0.576 19.79 22.58 31.99 28.58 35.01 36.49
the corresponding dwell time in millisecond. The next
Tab.2 is a list of the modulated injection modes and the column in Tab. 2 gives the pulse fuel mass in the upper
corresponding engine test conditions. The modulation line and the pulse mass deviation of 120 injections in the
injection modes are represented in this paper by a digit lower line. The fuel mass in each pulse features the
+ an alphabet for the purpose of convenience, as 4H. injection mode. For the same injection mode, the pulse
The digit 4 denotes the pulse number and the alphabet mass ratios among pulses are also very important factor
H denotes the character of the pulse patterns, which is influencing engine performance. Therefore the injection
classified in several modes. The typical modes given in modes with various mass ratios are also given in Tab. 2,
this paper are the even mode (EM), hump mode (HM), which are represented as mode H1, H2 or PI1, PI2 and
progressive increase mode (PIM) and staggered mode so on. The measured pulse mass deviation varies
(SM), as shown in Fig. 5. The second column of Tab. 2 depending on the pulse injection mass and the pulse
gives the measured pulse width of injection rate in number. For a short pulse with a small injection mass
millisecond for each pulse in the upper line of the sub- the measured mass deviation usually presents a large
columns denoted as Ⅰ, Ⅱ and so on. The lower line is value.
 Downloaded from SAE International by Univ of California Berkeley, Friday, July 27, 2018

Control signal
60
For about the same injection mass, look at mode 5SM,
4 4H1 Injection mode
40 the early pulse usually presents smaller deviation and

Injection rate (mg/ms)

Voltage of control signal(V)
2 20
0 0 the later pulse usually presents larger deviation. Those
4 4H2 40 are probably due to the dynamic response
2 20
0 0 characteristics of the hydraulic system of the CR injector,
4 4H3 40 which causes the work process of each pulse to vary
2 20
0 0
from one pulse to another pulse.
4 4S 40
2 20
0 0
ENGINE TEST
4 4E
20
2 The experimental set-up is just as the same as the
0 0
0 1 2 3 4 5 previous work [1,2,3]. The test engine, shown in Fig.6 is a
Time (ms) heavy-duty inline six-cylinder truck engine. In this study,
(a) Four Pulses Injection Modes the engine is modified so that the cylinder 1 is used as
the test cylinder and the other five cylinders are used as
C o n tr o l s ig n a l
4 In je c tio n m o d e 60 a motor to drive the test cylinder. The test cylinder is
5S 40
2 20 equipped with a FIRCRI common rail fuel injection
Voltage of control signal (V)

0
4
0
60 system [6], a separate air supply system and a separate

Injection rate (mg/ms)

5H1 40
2 20
0
exhaust system. The air supply system comprises an air
0
4 5E1
40 compressor, a surge tank, an intake air filter and a
2 20
0 0 pressure control valve. A gate valve in the exhaust pipe
4 5 P I1 40 of cylinder 1 is used to control the exhaust backpressure,
2 20
0 0 which is normally caused by a turbocharger. Tab.3
4 40
2
5H2
20 shows the specifications of the test engine. Tab.4 gives
0 0
40
the measuring equipment for emissions. The engine
4 5 P I2
2 20 speed for all the test cases is kept at 1400rpm, the
0 0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
intake temperature is kept at 309K, and the intake
T im e ( m s ) pressure is regulated at 1.32MPa, 1.63MPa and
(b) Five Pulses Injection Modes
1.84MPa.
C o n tr o l s ig n a l
4 6S
In je c tio n m o d e 60 RESULT AND DISSCUSION
40
2 20
Voltage of control signal (V)

0 0
FOUR PULSES INJECTION MODES
Injection rate (mg/ms)

4 6H1 40
2 20
0 0
40
4
2
6E
20
For four pulses injection, several injection modes can
0 0 get very low NOX emission as shown in Fig.7, when start
4 6PI 40
2 20 timing falls in a timing interval of 110~90 deg. CA BTDC.
0
4
0
40
Especially, for the test case of injection mode 4SM at
6H2
2 20 start timing of 110 deg. CA BTDC the NOX emission is 8
0 0
4 6H3 40 ppm (0.15g/kWh) and the engine specific power output
2
0
20
0
represented by IMEP/fuel (mg) reaches to 8.7 kPa/mg. It
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 is much higher than do other modes. For instance, it is
T im e ( m s )
higher than that of the mode 4H2M by 1.8 times (see
(c) Six Pulses Injection Modes Fig.10). Looking at the CO emission in Fig.8, the CO
Fig. 5 Typical Modulated Injection Mode emission of injection mode 4SM is much lower than that

Pulse trigger Pulse width

generator 1 controller1 ┅ Driver
┇
┇
┇

Signal logical
synthesizer
Logical Pulse trigger Pulse width
PC control & generator n controller n
Computer data Injector
acquisition
card
Control
signals Injection rate
Injection rate
reset flow meter
Injection mass

Fig. 4 Schematic of Injection Mode Modulation System

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8 9 10 11 0 .9
C ase 4 H 1 (P in = 1 .3 2 b a r)
12 C ase 4 H 2 (P in = 1 .3 2 b a r)
7 C ase 4 H 3 (P in = 1 .3 2 b a r)
6 13 0 .8
C ase 4 S (P in = 1 .3 2 b a r)
0 .7

spec.NOx (g/(kWh))
C ase 4 E (P in = 1 .3 2 b a r)
C ase 4 E (P in = 1 .6 3 b a r)
0 .6
0 .5
5 0 .4

14 0 .3
0 .2
3
0 .1
4 70 80 90 100 110 120 130
In je c tio n tim in g (d e g .C A B T D C )
Fig. 7 Effects of various 4 pulse Injection
Modes on NOx Emission
15
2 1
160 C ase 4 H 1 (P in = 1 .3 2 b a r)
C ase 4 H 2 (P in = 1 .3 2 b a r)
140 C ase 4 H 3 (P in = 1 .3 2 b a r)
1.Exhaust gas analyzer; 2. Bosch smoke meter; C ase 4 S (P in = 1 .3 2 b a r)
120

spec.CO (g/(kWh))
3. Single cylinder exhaust 4. Pressure controlling C ase 4 E (P in = 1 .3 2 b a r)
port; valve; C ase 4 E (P in = 1 .6 3 b a r)
100
5. EGR pipe; 6. Controlling valve;
7. Common rail injector; 8. Single cylinder inlet port; 80
9. Air tank; 10. Pressure control valve;
60
11. Air Compressor 12. Common rail;
13. Fuel pump; 14. Control system; 40
15. Exhaust pipe.
Fig. 6 Schematic of Experimental Set-up 20
0
Tab. 3 Specifications of the Test Engine 50 60 70 80 90 100 110
In je c tio n tim in g (d e g .C A B T D C )
Bore (mm) 126
Fig. 8 Effects of various 4 pulse Injection
Stroke (mm) 130 Modes on CO Emission
Compression ratio 15
C ase 4 H 1 (P in = 1 .3 2 b a r)
Swirl ratio 1.8 1 .2 C ase 4 H 2 (P in = 1 .3 2 b a r)
FIRCRI common rail C ase 4 H 3 (P in = 1 .3 2 b a r)
Fuel system injector 1 .0 C ase 4 S (P in = 1 .3 2 b a r)
C ase 4 E (P in = 1 .3 2 b a r)
Injection pressure (MPa) 80 C ase 4 E (P in = 1 .6 3 b a r)
Smoke (BSU)

0 .8
Orifice number×Diameter
7×0.23 0 .6
(mm)
Injection mode Multi-pulse injection 0 .4
Combustion chamber BUMP
0 .2

Tab. 4 Measuring Equipment of the Emissions 0 .0

50 60 70 80 90 100 110
Emissions Measuring Equipment
In je c tio n tim in g (d e g .C A B T D C )
NO Chemiluminescent analysis Fig. 9 Effects of various 4 pulse Injection
Modes on Smoke Emission
Smoke Filter type
CO Nondispersive infrared C ase 4 H 1 (P in = 1 .3 2 b a r)
12 C ase 4 H 2 (P in = 1 .3 2 b a r)
C ase 4 H 3 (P in = 1 .3 2 b a r)
of other modes. It implicates that the combustion
IMEP/Fuel (kPa/mg)

11 Knock C ase 4 S (P in = 1 .3 2 b a r)
C ase 4 E (P in = 1 .3 2 b a r)
temperature for 4SM injection mode is higher and the 10 ☆ C ase 4 E (P in = 1 .6 3 b a r)
combustion is conducted more completely. It is due to ☆
9
the distribution of air/fuel mixture benefiting to
homogeneous compression combustion. The author’s 8
previous simulation found that an air/fuel mixture of 7
more homogenous distribution and mainly confined in 6
the engine combustion bowl led to more complete
combustion with reasonably high temperature and 5
reasonably low NOX formation rate [3]. Otherwise, 50 60 70 80 90 100 110
typically, for the mode 4H2M the first pulse mass is In je c tio n tim in g (d e g .C A B T D C )
about 1.4 times more than that of mode 4SM. It Fig. 10 Effects of various 4 pulse Injection
leads longer Modes on Specific IMEP
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30 pulse mass for modes 4SM and 4H2M. It seems that the
Pulse injected fuel mass (mg) 4 H 2 (fu e l m a s s ) first and second pulses of 4H2M are too large to avoid
25 4 S (fu e l m a s s )
wall wetting and the last pulse is too small to take the
advantage of last pulse in high rate of evaporation and
20
mixing, which are caused by increase in pressure and
15 temperature in the cylinder.

10 FIVE PULSES INJECTION MODES

5 The designed five pulses injection modes (see Fig. 5 (b))

cover a staggered mode (SM), a hump mode (HM), an
0
0 4 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40 even mode (EM) and a progressive increase mode
C ra n k A n g le (PIM). In contrast to the four pulses mode, the mode
Fig. 11 Pulse injected fuel mass and pulse width of 5SM shown in the Fig.14, 15 gives the lowest power
injection of 4H2M and 4SM modes output and the highest CO emission in all the designed
modes, which implicates very low combustion
penetration, resulting in more serious wall wetting or
temperature. This is probably due to the bad injection
probably more fuel droplets in the periphery of the
rate pattern, in which the ratios of large pulse fuel to the
clearance between the piston and the cylinder head.
short pulse fuel are too large, resulting in serious wall
Because of the low temperature there, the fuel droplets
stuck on the liner or in the corner can not take part in 0 .6
combustion, which is the main reason of decrease of Case 5S
0 .5
power output. It was also found that a little stratification Case 5H1

spec.NOx (g/kWh)
Case 5E1
of fuel in the combustion would cause rapid increase in 0 .4 Case 5 P I1
NOX formation [7,8 and appendix]. The 4SM injection mode Case 5H2
Case 5 P I2
creates staggered pulse-injection and consequently 0 .3
staggered pulse spray penetration, which seeds the
injected fuel in wider space, resulting in more 0 .2
homogeneous distribution. In addition, the last pulse of a
4SM injection mode ends at 70 deg. CA BTDC, when 0 .1

the start timing is set at 110 deg. CA BTDC. There is 90 1 00 110 120
about 50 degrees CA left for mixing of the last pulse In je ctio n tim in g (d e g .C A B T D C ))
injection while the in-cylinder pressure and temperature
Fig. 12 Effects of various 5 pulse Injection
become quite high. Therefore, the last pulse injection of Modes on NOx Emission（Pin=1.32bar）
5SM has a relatively benefit condition for atomization,
evaporation and mixing. But the higher combustion 1.1
Case 5S
temperature probably happens to cause the 1.0
Case 5H1
0.9
unevaporated droplets carbonized, which forms in the Case 5E1
0.8 Case 5PI1
earlier injection pulses, resulting in increased smoke as
Smoke (BSU)

0.7 Case 5H2

shown in Fig.9 and reduced CO emission as shown in 0.6
Case 5PI2
Fig. 8. When retarding the start timing from 110 deg. CA 0.5
BTDC to 90 deg. CA BTDC, see Fig.9, the smoke 0.4
emission is improved and an acceptable NOX-smoke 0.3
trade off (NOX =0.82 g/kWh and smoke number=0.4BSU) 0.2
can be obtained. 0.1
0.0
50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120
The three 4HM (hump mode) injection modes were Injection tim ing (deg.CA BTDC)
prejudged as the best injection modes in all the pre-
designs. It was based on the consideration that 4HM Fig. 13 Effects of various 5 pulse Injection
Modes on Smoke Emission（Pin=1.32bar）
modes started with short pulses, which would be good in
reducing spray penetration and avoiding wall wetting. 200 Case 5S
Case 5H1
That was one of the key problems for early injection. The 180 Case 5E1
4HM modes ended also with short pulses, which would 160 Case 5PI1
spec.CO (g/kWh)

140 Case 5H2

be good in reducing spray mixing time, avoiding fuel Case 5PI2
120
stratification and diffusion combustion. However, the
100
experimental results (see Fig.10) revealed that the three
80
4HM modes gave lower specific power output, even 60
though the NOX and smoke emissions were very low 40
(0.16g/kWh or 6 ppm). As above mentioned, incomplete 20
combustion caused by wall wetting and residual liquid 0
fuel droplets in corner region led lower specific power 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120
output. Note Fig.11, which shows the distribution of Injection timing (deg.CA BTDC)

Fig. 14 Effects of various 5 pulse Injection

Modes on CO Emission（Pin=1.32bar）
 Downloaded from SAE International by Univ of California Berkeley, Friday, July 27, 2018

9 occurs and mixing time is enough. It seems that portion

C ase 5S
C ase 5H 1
of 0.53% for mode 5SM is too small to take the
IMEP/FUEL (kPa/mg) 8 advantage of the last pulse injection. Besides, a small
C ase 5E 1

7
C ase 5P I1 portion of the last pulse mass must lead large portion of
C ase 5H 2
C ase 5P I2 early injection, resulting in more serious wall wetting.
6 Looking at Fig.12-15, the both modes of 5PI2M and
5H2M get NOX emission less than 0.16g/kWh and
5
smoke number less than 0.3BSU at injection timing of 90
4 and 110 deg. CA. BTDC. But the mode 5PI2M gets the
highest specific power output in all the test modes. The
3 mode 5PI2M starts injection with a small pulse (pulse
50 60 70 80 9 0 1 00 11 0 1 20 1 30 140
mass is only 4.0mg), then gradually increases pulse
Injection tim ing (deg.C A B T D C )
mass. Note Fig.16, the second pulse mass and the third
Fig. 15 Effects of various 5 pulse Injection pulse mass are all less than the corresponding pulse
Modes on Specific IMEP（Pin=1.32bar）
mass for mode 5H2M (8.25:12.33, 13.28:21.67
30 respectively). The forth pulse masses for mode 5PI2M
5 H 2 (fu e l m a s s )
Pulse injected fuel mass (mg)

5 S (fu e l m a s s ) and 5H2M are almost the same value. However, the last
25 5 P I2 ( f u e l m a s s ) pulse mass for 5PI2M is higher than that of mode 5H2M
(16.48:5.63). It seems that the distribution of pulse mass
20
for 5PI2M benefits both eliminating wall wetting and
15 taking the advantage of the last pulse in mixture
formation. From the point of view of NOX emission there
10 are many injection modes, which can realize near zero
NOX and smoke emissions by advancing injection timing.
5 Advancing injection timing gives longer mixing time,
benefiting formation of homogeneous mixture. However,
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 advancing injection timing worsens the condition of
C r a n k a n g le evaporation and mixing for pulse spray and increases
Fig.16 Pulse injected fuel mass and pulse width of the tendency of wall wetting. Since the fuel stuck on the
injection of 5H2M, 5SM and 5H3M modes cylinder liner can’t take part into combustion, no
34 1 .8 4 b a r
contribution to NOX and smoke emissions is given by the
1 1 0 d e g .C A B T D C
wall wetting fuel, but it causes decrease of power output
Thermal efficiency (%)

9 0 d e g .C A B T D C (1 .8 4 b a r)
32
5H2 (1 .6 3 b a r)
and degradation of thermal efficiency, accompanying
30 5 P I2 (1 .3 2 b a r)
(1 .8 4 b a r) 1 .6 3 b a r
with high CO emission and low combustion temperature.
28 (1 .6 3 b a r)
(1 .3 2 b a r)
Fig.17 gives the engine test results of effects of intake
26 pressure on NOX emission, power output and thermal
1 .3 2 b a r
24 1 .3 2 b a r efficiency. It is clear shown that for various injection
22 modes the power output and thermal efficiency increase
0 .3 0 1 .8 4 b a r remarkably as intake pressure increases. It is because
that increase in intake pressure results in improvement
spec.NO (g/(kWh))

0 .2 5
of mixing and reduction of pulse spray penetration.
(1 .3 2 b a r)
0 .2 0 1 .6 3 b a r
However, the effect of intake pressure on NOX emission
1 .3 2 b a r
(1 .3 2 b a r) is depending on the concrete conditions of mixture
x

0 .1 5
1 .3 2 b a r
0 .1 0
5 .5
Fig.17 Effects of intake pressure on NOx, smoke number and
thermal efficiency of 5H2M and 5PI2M modes
wetting caused by large pulse injection. The pulse
mass distribution is given in Fig.16. The ratios of large
pulse mass to small pulse mass are 4~6. In comparison
with the mode 4SM (see Fig.11), the ratio is only 2.7.
The portion of the last pulse mass is 33% for mode 4SM
and 0.53% for mode 5SM. The influence of the portion of
last pulse mass is more complicated. Because the in-
cylinder pressure and temperature have remarkably
increased, compared to early injection pulse, the
condition of evaporation and mixing of pulse spray is
improved. Therefore, the last pulse mass should be
designed as much as possible, only if no wall wetting
(1 .8 4 b a r) (1 .8 4 b a r)
formation. For instance, for mode 5H2M at injection
1 .6 3 b a r
(1 .6 3 b a r) (1 .6 3 b a r) 1 .8 4 b a r
timing 90 deg. CA BTDC, as intake pressure increases,
6 .0 6 .5 7 .0 7 .5 8 .0 8 .5
NOX emission is worsened, but the power output is
S p e c ific p o w e r o u t p u t ( k P a / m g ) improved. Obviously, the improvement of power output
is due to reduction of wall wetting. The worsening of
NOX emission in principle is due to heterogeneity of
mixture, especially, due to the existence of liquid fuel
droplets after start of combustion. If considering the
benefiting change for the case of injection timing at
110deg. CA BTDC as shown in Fig.17, it can be
concluded that the worsening of NOX emission is mainly
due to increase in concentration stratification caused by
confined spray penetration of the later pulse injections at
higher in-cylinder pressure and temperature.
 Downloaded from SAE International by Univ of California Berkeley, Friday, July 27, 2018

6 S (p u ls e w id th )
0 .6 C ase 6S1
6 H 2 (p u ls e w id th )
C ase 6H1 6 H 3 (p u ls e w id th )
50

Pulse width of injection (ms)

C ase 6E 0 .9
0 .5

Pulse injected fuel mass (mg)

C ase 6PI 45 0 .8
spec.NOX (g/(kWh))

C ase 6H2
40
0 .4 C ase 6H3 0 .7
35
6 S (fu e l m a s s ) 0 .6
0 .3 30 6 H 2 (fu e l m a s s ) 0 .5
25 6 H 3 (fu e l m a s s )
0 .4
0 .2 20
15 0 .3

0 .1 10 0 .2
5 0 .1
0 .0 0 0 .0
90 95 100 105 110 115 120 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60
In je c tio n tim in g (d e g .C A B T D C ) C ra n k a n g le
Fig. 18 Effects of various 6 pulse Injection Fig.22 Pulse injected fuel mass and pulse width of injection
Modes on NOx Emission (Pin =1.32bar) of 6SM, 6H2M and 6H3M modes
C ase 6S

Thermal efficiency (%)

38 120deg.CA BTDC
0 .5 C ase 6H1 (1.84bar)
110deg.CA BTDC
C ase 6E 36 (1.63bar)
C ase 6PI Case 6H2 1.84bar
(1.84bar)
0 .4 C ase 6H2 34 Case 6H3
(1.63bar)
C ase 6H3
Smoke (BSU)

32 (1.32bar) 1.84bar

0 .3 1.32bar 1.63bar
30 1.32bar
28 1.63bar
0 .2 0.30 1.63bar

sepc.NOX (g/(kWh))
0.24
0 .1 0.18 1.63bar
(1.63bar)
(1.63bar)
50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 0.12 1.32bar 1.32bar (1.84bar)
In je c tio n tim in g (d e g .C A B T D C ) 0.06 (1.84bar)
(1.32bar)
Fig. 19 Effects of various 6 pulse Injection 0.00 1.84bar
1.84bar
Modes on Smoke Emission (Pin=1.32bar)
7.2 7.6 8.0 8.4 8.8 9.2 9.6
180 C ase 6S Specific power output (kPa/mg)
C ase 6H 1
C ase 6E Fig.23 Effects of intake pressure on NOx emission and
150
spec.CO (g/(kWh))

C ase 6PI thermal efficiency of 6H2M and 6H3M modes

C ase 6H 2
120 C ase 6H 3
SIX PULSES INJECTION MODES
90

60 Fig.18, 19 and 20 show the engine test results of NOX,

smoke and CO emissions respectively and Fig.21 shows
30 the specific power output at various injection timing. The
mode 6SM again reveals relatively higher NOX emission
0
50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 and CO emission in comparison with other tested
In je c tio n tim in g (d e g .C A B T D C ) injection modes, and very poor specific power output.
Fig. 20 Effects of various 6 pulse Injection Looking at the pulse mass distribution shown in Fig.22, it
Modes on CO Emission (Pin=1.32bar) is found that the poor performance of mode 6SM is
13 C ase 6S
attributed to the same defect in injection pattern design
12 C ase 6H1 as mode 5SM, which is described in last paragraph. For
IMEP/Fuel (kPa/mg)

11
C ase 6E the mode 6PIM, knock combustion happens at injection
C ase 6PI
10 C ase 6H2
timing 90 deg. CA BTDC. Further advancing or retarding
9 k n o c k re g io n C ase 6H3 injection timing, knock combustion can be avoided.
knock
p o in t
Advancing injection timing results in increase of mixing
8
knock time of injected fuel and in reduction of fuel
7
p o in t concentration stratification. Because of reduction of local
6
richer mixture, the auto-ignition reaction rate is reduced
5
and knock combustion is eliminated. Retarding injection
4
timing to 50 and 70 deg. CA BTDC, the mixing time
3
usually becomes very short. Especially, for six pulse
50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120
In je c tio n tim in g (d e g .C A B T D C )
injection the last pulse actually is injected near or after
auto-ignition. It means that a part of fuel completes
Fig. 21 Effects of various 6 pulse Injection mixing process, but another part of fuel burns in diffusion
Modes on Specific IMEP (Pin=1.32bar)
combustion mode, resulting in increase of NOX emission.
 Downloaded from SAE International by Univ of California Berkeley, Friday, July 27, 2018
As shown in Fig. 20, the mode 6H2M gets lowest CO
emission due to higher combustion temperature created
by richer mixture diffusion combustion, accompanying
with increase of NOX emission, at retarded injection
timing. In order to fully take the advantage of later pulses
one must take account of pressed mixing time in six
pulse injection modes. Therefore the hump modes
6H2M and 6H3M perform well at injection timing 110
and 120 deg. CA BTDC in NOX and CO emissions and
the specific power output, because of the pulse mass
distribution featured as gradually reduced last pulses.
Comparing all the engine emission and specific power
output data, the modes 6H2M and 6H3M with suitable
injection timing can obtain lowest NOX emission and
highest specific power output. On the other hand, modes
6H2M and 6H3M are very sensitive to injection timing
and tend to happen knock combustion. In fact, the
combustion with 6H2M and 6H3M is really close to pure
HCCI combustion, since it features as entire combustion,
rapid heat release with high power output and low NOX
and smoke emissions.
The effects of intake pressure on NOX emission and
thermal efficiency are given in Fig. 23. The modes 6H2M
and 6H3M at injection timings 110 and 120 deg. CA
BTDC are studied. As the intake pressure increases
from 1.32bar to 1.63bar and 1.82bar, for all the studied
cases, measured thermal efficiency increases and NOX
emission decreases. Considering the fact that the
thermal efficiency in the present cases depends only on
combustion completeness and the NOX emission
depends only on the homogeneity of the mixture, the
effects in improvement of thermal efficiency and NOX
emission by increase of intake pressure, in the final
analysis, attribute to improvement of mixing, including
elimination of wall wetting and uniform distribution of
injected fuel. Therefore, in brief, the aim of injection rate
modulation is at mixing organization, complying with
combustion.
SUMMARY
1. The HCCI diesel combustion organized by multiple
injection strategy is extremely sensitive to the
injection mode. There are many ways to reach near
zero NOX and smoke emissions, but the injection
mode must be careful modulated for higher power
output.
2. The aim of injection rate modulation is at flexible
control of mixing process for preparation of
homogenous mixture. The injection rate pattern, the
mass ratios between pulses and the pulse number
have been proved to be very important parameters
in injection mode. For early injection pulses, the
modulation should emphasize the effectiveness of
elimination of wall wetting, by setting small and
gradually increased pulses. For later injection pulses,
the modulation should completely take the
advantage of last pulse in mixture formation,
injecting as much fuel as possible in last pulse (as
PIM mode). The limit of the last pulse mass is mixing
time. As the pulse number increases, the last pulse
mass should be reduced to meet reduced mixing
time.
3. The injection mode modulation technology
developed in this study, including the injector
parameter fitting and the electronic signal design,
has been improved to be a powerful tool in
organizing HCCI diesel combustion.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The research is supported by the National Natural
Science Foundation of China through its key project
funding, and by the Ministry of Science and Technology
through its 973 National Key Project on HCCI
Combustion Engines and Fuels.
REFERENCES
1. Wanhua Su, Tiejian Lin, and Yiqiang Pei, A Compound
Technology for HCCI Combustion in a DI Diesel Engine
Based on the Multi-Pulse Injection and the BUMP
Combustion Chamber, SAE Paper 2003-01-0741, 2003
2. Wanhua Su, Tiejian Lin, Hua Zhao and Yiqiang Pei,
Research and Development of an Advanced Combustion
System for the Direct Injection Diesel Engine, Proc.
IMechE. Vol. 219 Part D: J. Automobile Engineering.
3. Wanhua Su, Xiaoyu Zhang, Tiejian Lin, Yiqiang Pei and
Hua Zhao, Study of Pulse Spray, Heat Release, Emissions
and Efficiencies in A Compound Diesel HCCI Combustion
Engine, Proceedings of ASME-ICE ASME Internal
Combustion Engine Division 2004 Fall Technical
Conference, ICEF2004-927, 2004
4. Arjan Helmantel and Ingemar Denbratt, HCCI Operation of
a Passenger Car Common Rail DI Diesel Engine With
Early Injection of Conventional Diesel Fuel, SAE paper
2004-01-0935, 2004
5. Ralf Buchwald, Maximilian Brauer, André Blechstein,
Ansgar Sommer and Jörn Kahrstedt, Adaption of Injection
System Parameters to Homogeneous Diesel Combustion,
SAE paper, 2004-01-0936, 2004
6. Wanhua Su, Yang Wang, Tiejian Lin, Hui Xie, Yiqiang Pei,
Shaoan Li, Gang Cheng, and Xiaobo Wang, A Study of
Effects of Design Parameters on Transient Response and
Injection Rate Shaping for a Common Rail Injector System,
SAE paper 2001-01-3506, 2001
7. Haozhong Huang and Wanhua Su, A New Reduced
Chemical Kinetic Model of n-heptane for HCCI Engine
Combustion, SAE paper, 05P-523, 2004
8. Huang Haozhong, Su wanhua, Analysis of Chemical
Kinetics of n-Heptane Combustion and Combustion
Boundary in HCCI Engine Conditions, Proceedings of
Society of Engineering Thermophysics Symposium,
044038, 2004, in Chinese
 Downloaded from SAE International by Univ of California Berkeley, Friday, July 27, 2018

CONTACT

Prof. Wanhua Su
State Key Laboratory of Engines
Tianjin University
Tianjin, China 300072
Tel: 86 22 27403214
Fax: 86 22 27383362
E-mail: whsu@tju.edu.cn

APPENDIX

MAIN POINTS OF REFERENCE 7 RELATED WITH

THIS STUDY

The effects of fuel/air equivalence ratio on NO formation

were studied by development of a deduced h-heptane
chemical kinetic model at HCCI combustion conditions.
As shown in appendix Fig.1, after occurrence of hot
flame, NO fraction increases rapidly and then keeps
constant. For the case of equivalence ratio equals 1, NO
fraction increases firstly and then drops down little.
Finally, stands at 3900ppm. The latter is due to the in-
cylinder high temperature, which lead NO created at
high temperature return to N2. At the cases of
equivalence ratio equals 0.4 and 0.5, the resultant NO
fraction is 76.3ppm and 1420ppm respectively. The
latter is higher by 9 times. For the cases of equivalence
ratio of 0.2, the NO is only 0.01ppm, which is about
1/4000 at equivalence ratio of 0.4. Therefore, the effect
of equivalence ratio on NO formation is extremely
important. Increase of equivalence ratio results in rapid
increase of NO by several number orders. For the low
equivalence ratio range, equivalence ratio<0.4, the
above mentioned trend is more obviously observed.
According to the above data, it can be inferred that
concentration stratification will results in increase of NO
emission at HCCI lean combustion condition.

5
10
4 φ=0.2
10 φ=0.4
NO concentration (ppm)

10
3 φ=0.5
2
φ=0.7
10 φ=1.0
1
10
0
10
-1
10
-2
10
-3
10
-30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50
Crank angle
Appendix Fig. 1 Effects of fuel/air equivalence ratio
on the concentration of NO emission
(intake temperature T0=325K, intake pressure
P0=0.12MPa, compression ratio ε =14.4,engine
speed n=1400rpm )