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CHARACTERISTICS OF
HOMOGENEOUS CHARGE
COMPRESSION IGNITION (HCCI)
COMBUSTION AND EMISSIONS
OF n-HEPTANE
a b b
ZHIJUN PENG , HUA ZHAO , TOM MA & NICOS
c
LADOMMATOS
a
Department of Engineering and Design , University
of Sussex , UK
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering , Brunel
University , UK
c
Department of Mechanical Engineering , University
College London , UK
Published online: 16 Aug 2006.

To cite this article: ZHIJUN PENG , HUA ZHAO , TOM MA & NICOS LADOMMATOS
(2005) CHARACTERISTICS OF HOMOGENEOUS CHARGE COMPRESSION IGNITION (HCCI)
COMBUSTION AND EMISSIONS OF n-HEPTANE, Combustion Science and Technology,
177:11, 2113-2150, DOI: 10.1080/00102200500240588

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00102200500240588

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 Combust. Sci. and Tech., 177: 2113–2150, 2005
Copyright Q Taylor & Francis LLC
ISSN: 0010-2202 print/1563-521X online
DOI: 10.1080/00102200500240588

CHARACTERISTICS OF HOMOGENEOUS CHARGE

COMPRESSION IGNITION (HCCI) COMBUSTION
AND EMISSIONS OF n-HEPTANE
Downloaded by [Tulane University] at 18:50 18 January 2015

ZHIJUN PENG*
Department of Engineering and Design,
University of Sussex, UK

HUA ZHAO
TOM MA
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Brunel
University, UK

NICOS LADOMMATOS
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University
College London, UK

This paper reports the outcome from a systematic investigation car-

ried out on HCCI (Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition)
combustion of a diesel type fuel. The n-heptane was chosen in this
study to study the HCCI combustion characteristics of diesel
engines with premixed charge by port fuel injection. Measurements
were carried out in a single-cylinder, 4-stroke and variable com-
pression ratio engine. Premixed n-heptane=air=EGR mixture was
introduced into the cylinder by a port fuel injector and an external
EGR system. The operating regions with regard to Air=Fuel ratio
(A=F) and EGR rate were established for different compression
ratios and intake temperatures. The effects of compression ratios,

Received 21 September 2004; accepted 29 March 2005.

The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support to the work reported here
by European Union through the project of SPACE-LIGHT.

Address correspondence to z.peng@sussex.ac.uk

2113
 2114 Z. PENG ET AL.

intake temperatures, A=F and EGR rates on knock limit, auto-

ignition timing, combustion rate, IMEP and engine-out emissions,
such as NOx, CO, and unburned HC, were analysed. The results
have shown HCCI combustion of n-heptane could be implemented
without intake charge heating with a typical diesel engine com-
pression ratio. The attainable HCCI operating region was mainly
limited by the knock limit, misfire, and low IMEP respectively.
Higher intake temperature or compression ratio could extend the
misfire limit of the HCCI operation at low load area but they would
reduce the maximum IMEP limit at higher load conditions. Com-
pared with conventional diesel combustion, HCCI combustion with
diesel type fuels would lead to extremely low NOx emissions (less
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than 5 ppm) and smoke free exhaust, but would produce higher
HC and CO emissions. An increase in intake temperature or com-
pression ratio helped to reduce HC and CO emissions.

Keywords: HCCI, auto-ignition, n-heptane, diesel engine, EGR,

emission

INTRODUCTION
The superior performance and efficiency of diesel engines, as compared
to other types of internal combustion engines, make them the preferred
power plant for heavy-duty vehicles and other commercial applications.
Currently, diesel engine designers are challenged by the need to comply
with ever more stringent emission standards while at the same time with
improved engine efficiency. For conventional diesel engines, because
soot is formed in the fuel rich regions and NOx in the high temperature
regions, it has proved difficult to reduce both NOx and soot simul-
taneously. To eliminate the problem with fuel rich regions and high tem-
perature regions, HCCI (Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition)
combustion has been proposed and is being intensively investigated by
the automotive industry and academics.
HCCI combustion involves the compression-ignition of a premixed
mixture. It has emerged as a possible alternative combustion process
to the conventional spark ignition (SI) or compression ignition (CI) pro-
cess for internal combustion (IC) engines, owing to its potential for high
efficiency and extremely low emissions. Relevant researches on HCCI
combustion can be traced back to at least the late 1970s (Noguchi
et al., 1979; Onishi et al., 1979). But it was not until the last decade that
HCCI combustion has become a topic of intense interest. The initial
 HCCI COMBUSTION OF n-HEPTANE 2115

studies on HCCI combustion were mostly carried out on two-stroke and

four-stroke gasoline engines. Since the late 1990s, a number of studies
have been reported on HCCI combustion in four-stroke diesel engines.
In addition to the significant reduction of NOx emission as recorded in
gasoline engine HCCI combustion, it has been reported that HCCI com-
bustion in diesel engines has also the potential to achieve simultaneous
reduction in soot emissions, due to the lack of fuel rich zones and high
combustion temperature within the cylinder (Helmantel and Denbratt,
2004; Milovanovic and Chen, 2001; Ryan and Callahan, 1996; Suzuki
et al., 1998; Thring, 1989).
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HCCI combustion with diesel fuel has been demonstrated with fully
premixed mixture using port-fuel injection and more often with early
injection of fuel directly into the cylinder. In the case of premixed HCCI
operation, special arrangement was necessary, such as intake charge
heating and=or special port fuel injection system, to obtain complete
vaporization of fuel in the intake system (Christensen et al., 1999; Gray
and Ryan, 1997; Ryan and Callahan, 1996; Ryan et al., 2004). In con-
trast, the direct injection approach is more compatible with the pro-
duction engine, whether the early injection (Akagawa et al., 1999;
Docquier, 2003; Harada et al., 1998; Helmantel and Denbratt, 2004;
Iwabuchi et al., 1999; Takeda and Keiichi, 1996) or late injection (Kawa-
moto et al., 2004; Kimura et al., 2001; Krieger et al., 1997; Okude et al.,
2004) was used.
One of main challenges facing HCCI combustion is the control of
the combustion phasing (the onset of auto-ignition and the rate of heat
release), particularly under transient conditions. In conventional diesel
engines, the start of combustion and its subsequent heat release are con-
trolled indirectly by the fuel injection timing and the rate of fuel injec-
tion. In HCCI combustion, the ignition timing and heat release rate
are dictated by auto-ignition chemical kinetics. Thus, controlling the
combustion phasing requires tuning the auto-ignition kinetics, which
are affected by the charge composition, the temperature and pressure
histories of reactants during the compression process (Dec and Sjöberg,
2004). For controlling the auto-ignition timing and the heat release rate
of HCCI combustion in diesel engines, a variety of techniques have been
demonstrated, such as Variable Compression Ratio (VCR) (Christensen
et al., 1999; Haraldsson et al., 2002), Variable Valve Timing (VVT)
(Milovanovic et al., 2004; Sugimoto et al., 2004) and dual fuel injection
(Simescu et al., 2003; Strandh et al., 2004). All those techniques adjust
 2116 Z. PENG ET AL.

some parameters such as compression ratio, charge temperature, mixture

compositions including EGR rate so that the combustion phasing can be
kept at desired crank angle, meanwhile to achieve ideal operating range.
Most of recent researches into HCCI combustion in diesel engines
have been directed not only at an understanding of the combustion pro-
cess, but also at how combustion may be managed throughout the load
range of the engine. Haraldsson et al. (2002) investigated the effect of dif-
ferent compression ratio (18:1–14:1) on HCCI combustion with pre-
mixed mixture and found VCR can effectively adjust the combustion
phasing of HCCI combustion and meanwhile expand the operating range
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of HCCI combustion apparently. Other researchers (Christensen et al.,

1999; Docquier, 2003; Gray and Ryan, 1997; Helmantel and Denbratt,
2004; Ishima et al., 2003; Kawamoto et al., 2004) also reported that
VCR is a feasible way for expanding operating range of HCCI combus-
tion, in addition to control auto-ignition timing and combustion rate.
Gray and Ryan (1997) examined the effect of compression ratio on
auto-ignition timing and operating range of HCCI combustion of diesel
fuels with low compression ratio (<13:1) and suggested that the main
effect of compression ratio was to change the start of combustion. Chris-
tensen et al. (1999) concentrated on the investigation for different fuel
with different compression ratio and demonstrated that almost all fuel
could be used in a HCCI engine with the aid of VCR. Higher the octane
number of fuel was, higher the compression ratio was needed. Ishima
et al. (2003) examined operating range and fuel consumption of HCCI
combustion in a DI diesel engine with different compression ratio
(18.8–16.8) and proposed that the decrease of compression ratio would
improve combustion and get better SFC (Specific Fuel Consumption). In
a production passenger-car diesel engine with common-rail fuel injec-
tion, Helmantel and Denbratt (2004) employed early injection and
cooled external EGR for operating HCCI combustion with conventional
diesel fuel. As knocking combustion limited the power output to low load
range, reduced compression ratio (17.0:1 to 13.4:1 then 11.5:1) was
tested. It is reported that the reduced compression ratio caused the fuel
consumption increased, compared to conventional diesel combustion.
NOx and soot emissions reduced 98% and 95%, respectively.
As VCR can be used to control the combustion phasing of HCCI
combustion, it is available to run HCCI combustion under transient con-
dition with aid of flexible VCR. Different compression ratio can also be
obtained with VVT by adjusting Intake Valve Closure (IVC) timing to
 HCCI COMBUSTION OF n-HEPTANE 2117

achieve different initial charge volume at IVC. Using VCR to develop

HCCI combustion in diesel engines, it is necessary to capture enough
information for the effects of compression ratio on the combustion phas-
ing, operating range and emissions.
Compared to VCR, VVT is considered more suitable for operating
HCCI combustion. While VVT provides different internal EGR for
diluting the mixture and for heating the mixture, flexible VVT is fast
enough to control HCCI combustion on cycle-to-cycle base. As the
impact of VVT on HCCI combustion is presented through providing dif-
ferent initial charge temperature, EGR rate and A=F, it will be very
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important to clearly recognise effects of those three parameters for oper-

ating HCCI combustion. Docquier (2003) tested the influences of EGR
rates on auto-ignition timing and combustion duration of DI diesel
HCCI combustion with early injection and found auto-ignition timing
was advanced with the increase of EGR rates. Okude et al. (2004)
reported the results of employing different EGR rate and A=F to control
combustion phasing and shown that high EGR rate is feasible to adjust
combustion phasing under low A=F condition. Ryan et al. (2004) exam-
ined the effects of various operating parameters including compression
ratio, initial charge temperature, EGR rate, speed and fuel on the two-
stage auto-ignition timing of HCCI combustion on an E6 variable com-
pression ratio engine and suggested that the combustion phase could be
controlled by those parameters jointly or independently.
To facilitate the development of HCCI combustion in diesel engines,
it is crucial to establish a better and thorough understanding of the effects
of those relevant operating parameters on HCCI combustion phasing,
combustion performance and emissions. The main objective of the cur-
rent work is to carry out a comprehensive investigation on those effects
with diesel-type fuel. In addition to provide basic information on experi-
mental developments of HCCI combustion in diesel engines, such knowl-
edge will also be valuable for the advancement of predictive computer
models. Considering the purposes of the current research, in order to
concentrate on the auto-ignition and combustion processes involved,
the processes involved in the fuel atomization, evaporation, and its mixing
with air were excluded by means of port fuel injection of a highly volatile
fuel, n-heptane. The main reason that n-heptane was used to simulate die-
sel engine HCCI combustion is that it has a similar cetane number with
diesel fuel. Meanwhile, it shows a similar two-stage combustion process
as diesel fuels (Curran et al., 1998). In other investigations on HCCI
 2118 Z. PENG ET AL.

combustion in diesel engines, Zheng et al. (2004) also employed

n-heptane to examine two-stage combustion process.
In the experimental investigations of this research, when the effect of
an operating parameter was examined, other input parameters were kept
as comparative level. For instance, when the effects of compression ratio
were investigated, the intake temperature (Tin) was kept constant with
the assistance of the EGR cooler and the intake heater. For different
compression ratios, all possible operating ranges with regard to air-fuel
ratio (A=F) and EGR rate were explored. The EGR rate and A=F of each
test set-point were estimated by measuring exhaust gas content and
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intake gas content. Then the HCCI operation regions with regard to
A=F and EGR rate were determined for different compression ratios
and intake temperatures. The effects of engine operating parameters
on the auto-ignition timing, combustion period, exhaust emissions
(NOx, HC, CO), IMEP and ISFC would be presented and analysed.

EXPERIMENT
Test Engine
The research engine used for this investigation was a Ricardo E6, which
is of the single cylinder type with overhead poppet valves, and has a bore
of 76 mm and a stroke of 111 mm. The combustion chamber is cylindri-
cal in shape. The compression ratio of the engine is continuously vari-
able between 4.5:1 and 20:1, and may be changed during engine
operation by means of a worm gear that controls the cylinder head height
relative to the crankshaft. The engine is coupled to swinging field
AC dynamometer allowing accurate manual speed control. Table 1
summarizes its specifications.

Table 1. Specifications of Ricardo E6 research engine

Intake valve opening 8 BTDC

Intake valve closing 36 ABDC
Exhaust valve opening 43 BBDC
Exhaust valve closing 6 ATDC
Bore 76 mm
Stroke 111 mm
Displacement 0.50 litre
Connecting rod length 245 mm
Compression ratio 4.5:1 20:1
 HCCI COMBUSTION OF n-HEPTANE 2119

The test fuel, n-heptane, was delivered to the intake air through a
standard Bosch port fuel injector at 2.7 bar. The fuel injection was con-
trolled by an Electronic Control Unit which was developed for the modi-
fied fuel injection system of the E6 engine. The injection timing was
10 ATDC during intake stroke. The amount of fuel injected varied
from 3.5 mg=cycle to 10 mg=cycle depending on different operating
conditions.
To implement HCCI combustion in the engine, a number of modifi-
cations to the intake and fuel system were required. Figure 1 shows the
external EGR system used to obtain EGR rates of up to 70–80% (by
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mass) during testing. EGR was admitted through a gate valve to the inlet
manifold approximately 1 meter upstream of the inlet port. This arrange-
ment served two purposes: (i) to allow the EGR=air mixture to become
homogeneous before entering the cylinder, and (ii) to cool or reheat the
EGR through an EGR cooler or an air heater. This could effectively de-
couple the initial charge temperature from the exhaust gas temperature,
which would not be the case if exhaust were admitted downstream of the
heater.

Figure 1. External EGR and gas sampling systems.

 2120 Z. PENG ET AL.

A 3 KW air heater was closed-loop controlled to allow the inlet port

temperature held accurately to within 1C. Similarly, the engine coolant
temperature was also closed-loop controlled, set at 80C 0.2C. This
was found necessary to ensure that the cylinder head temperature
remained constant irrespective of engine load.

Measurement Systems
Heat release analysis was performed by a computer based on data
acquired by an acquisition system. A real-time analysis program was
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developed based on the Labview data acquisition system. The cylinder

pressure from a water-cooled pressure transducer (Kistler type 7061B)
was recorded by the system from which heat-release data, net-indicated
mean effective pressure (IMEP), and coefficient of variation in IMEP
(COVIMEP) were then calculated. Real-time knock analyses could also
be carried out by setting a band-pass filter to single out the characteristic
engine knock frequency ( 8 kHz). Measurements of the amplitude of this
filtered trace resulted in very accurate determination of the knock-limited
boundary of each operation condition. In this study, an amplitude thresh-
old of 0.5 bar was set to define whether knock had occurred for each indi-
vidual cycle. Considering the cyclic variations, when measuring incipient
and non-destructive knock phenomenon within the engine, a sample
number of cycles would contain both knocking cycles and non-knocking
cycles. The Knock Occurrence Frequency (KOF) was a measure of the
percentage of knocking cycles (knocking above the predefined 0.5 bar
threshold) out of the total number of cycles recorded. In this study, the
engine was said to be knocking if the KOF equalled or exceeded 10%.
NOx measurements were taken using a SIGNAL 4000 VM heated
vacuum Chemiluminescence NOx analyser and unburned Hydrocarbon
emissions were measured using a SIGNAL 3000HM FID total hydro-
carbon analyser. Both analysers used heated sample lines to keep the
sample temperature not less than 190C. This did minimize errors asso-
ciated with water condensation and species absorption. The auto-
ranging function of the analyzers which set the measurement range to
the most suitable level also minimized the errors. For instance, in this
investigation, either 0–4 ppm or 0–10 ppm range of the NOx analyser
was utilized depending on the NOx level higher or lower than 4 ppm.
The accuracy and repeatability of both analysers were reported to be
0.1% or 0.2 ppm, whichever greater.
 HCCI COMBUSTION OF n-HEPTANE 2121

Test Procedure
Preliminary testing was necessary to determine the acceptable engine
operating conditions that would allow a reasonable HCCI region for
each of the compression ratios and the intake temperatures being tested.
Intuitively, the size of the region (A=F and EGR rate) should be depen-
dent on the relative difference between the actual end-of-compression
charge temperature and the minimum required to auto-ignite the fuel.
After some experimentation, the engine conditions giving reasonable
HCCI operational range in the study were set at:
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Engine Speed 1500 rpm

Airflow WOT
Coolant Temperature 80C
Oil Temperature 55C
Inlet Charge Temperature 30C, 70C, 105C
Compression Ratio 12:1, 15:1, 18:1

All of the tests carried out here were performed under the above
operating conditions. When the effect of different compression ratios
was examined, the intake temperature was fixed at 105C. The com-
pression ratio was fixed at 18:1 when the effect of different intake tem-
peratures was tested. All the testing was carried out at wide open
throttle (WOT) and the A=F was varied by the fuel flow rate through
the injector. EGR rate was gradually increased in increments of approxi-
mately 10% for each fuel setting, from zero to maximum allowable for
combustion to occur. For every operating condition, the result of heat
release analyse was averaged over 100 cycles.

Determination of A/F and EGR Rate

For each experimental break point, the engine was operated at a constant
compression ratio, intake temperature, fuel flow rate and EGR valve
opening. In-cylinder A=F and EGR rate were calculated by measuring
dry molar fractions of O2, CO2 and CO in the inlet and the exhaust lines
by an OLIVER K650 MOT analyser (see Figure 1).
An analytical approach has been developed for calculating the over-
all A=F and EGR rate in the cylinder. A set of equations relating inlet
and exhaust gas species including CO and unburned HC allows the
 2122 Z. PENG ET AL.

simultaneous calculation of A=F and EGR rate without measuring inlet

airflow directly. This has advantages over less accurate methods (e.g.,
UEGO sensors) that do not account for exhaust unburned hydrocarbons,
which can be a significant proportion of the injected fuel under some
HCCI combustion conditions. The calculation is mainly based on the
combustion equation:
nR ½aCHb Oc þ dðO2 þ 3:773 N2 Þ
þ nR f ðge CO2 þ he CO þ je O2 þ ke N2 þ le H2 O þ se CH4 Þ
¼ nP ðge CO2 þ he CO þ je O2 þ ke N2 þ le H2 O þ se CH4 Þ ð1Þ
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where, nR and nP are the number of moles of reactants and products

respectively. a and d are wet molar fraction of injected fuel and inlet
air (not including excess air in EGR which would be added into intake
mixture by nR f ) respectively. ge, he, je, ke, le, and se are wet molar fraction
of their following species in exhaust gas respectively.
In Eq. (1), H2 in the exhaust gas is omitted as the engine was always
operated with lean air=fuel mixtures. NOx emissions are also negligible.
Because the SIGNAL 3000HM FID total hydrocarbon analyser
employed in this study gives no information about the type of hydrocar-
bons, all hydrocarbons in the exhaust gas are represented in Eq. (1) by
CH4, which is used as calibration gas for the analyser.
The wet molar fractions of O2, CO2 and CO in inlet gas and exhaust
gas are related to the measured dry molar fractions by

x ¼ ð1  lÞx 0 ð2Þ

And the wet molar fraction of exhaust products in the inlet mixture
including excess air is
xi
f ¼ )xi ¼ f  xe ð3Þ
xe

By solving the following carbon balance equation, oxygen balance

equation and hydrogen balance equation
nR a ¼ ðnP  nR f Þðge þ he þ se Þ ð4Þ

nR ðac þ 2dÞ ¼ ðnP  nR f Þð2ge þ he þ 2je þ le Þ ð5Þ

nR ab ¼ ðnP  nR f Þð2le þ 4se Þ ð6Þ

 HCCI COMBUSTION OF n-HEPTANE 2123

The in-cylinder A=F is given by

m_ a
A=F Ratio ¼
m_ f
nR ðc þ gi Þð32 þ 3:773
28:16Þ
¼ ð7Þ
nR ½að12:011 þ 1:008b þ 16cÞ þ fse ð12:011 þ 4
1:008Þ
and the gravimetric EGR rate is given by
m_ egr
EGRm ¼ ð8Þ
m_ egr þ m_ r
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where b and c are the H=C ratio and O=C ratio of fuel, respectively. ma,
mf, mEGR and mr are the masses of air, fuel, EGR and reactant compo-
nents (intake air and injected fuel), respectively.

HCCI Combustion Analysis

Unlike the heat release rate of conventional internal combustion engines
which can be directly demonstrated by the mass fraction burned, the heat
release of HCCI combustion mainly depends on the chemical reaction
speed due to all the fuels in the cylinder start to be involved in the reac-
tions almost at the same time theoretically, if the mixture is assumed
complete homogeneous. In a similar way to that of the mass fraction
burned in the analysis of premixed spark ignition combustion, a concept
of the fraction of heat released is introduced. Figure 2 shows such a heat
fraction released curve for n-heptane. It can be seen that the curve is
characterised by a two-stage auto-ignition and heat release process. As
it was shown by Halstead et al. (1977), the first stage of the auto-ignition
and heat release is associated with the cool flame or the low temperature
reactions following the partial oxidation of fuel molecule and its sub-
sequent isomerization. The second stage ‘hot’ ignition is caused by the
formation of more active branching agent at the higher temperature fol-
lowing the low temperature reactions. Figure 2 shows that the amount of
heat released during the first stage was less than 20% in most cases and it
varied with the A=F and the amount of EGR. The higher the EGR rate,
the less heat released in the first stage. In contrast, the leaner the mix-
ture, the more heat released in this stage.
Since the period between the two stages could be as long as 15 CA, it
was necessary to determine the auto-ignition timings of both the first
stage and the second stage involved in the heat release process as shown
 2124 Z. PENG ET AL.
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Figure 2. Heat Fraction Released (HFR) curves for different A=F and EGR rate.
(CR ¼ 18:1, Tin ¼ 105C).

in Figure 3. In addition, the start and the end of the combustion was
considered to occur at the crank angles when the rate of heat fraction
released had increased to above or decreased to below 1%=CA degree.
Therefore, the combustion duration was defined as the period during
which the rate of heat fraction released was greater than 1%=CA.

Figure 3. Heat Fraction Released (HFR) and the rate of HFR. (Lambda ¼ 5.9, EGR
rate ¼ 0, CR ¼ 18:1, Tin ¼ 105C).
 HCCI COMBUSTION OF n-HEPTANE 2125

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

In addition to study the effects of A=F and EGR rate on HCCI combus-
tion of n-heptane, the investigation consisted of other two purposes. One
was to examine the influence of the intake temperature. With a constant
compression ratio of 18:1, three different intake temperatures of 30C,
70C and 105C were tested. Meanwhile, the effect of the compression
ratio was investigates under three different compression ratios of 18:1,
15:1 and 12:1 with a constant intake temperature of 105C.
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HCCI Operational Region

Figure 4 shows the engine’s HCCI operation region when it was operated
at 18:1 compression ratio and 30C intake temperature. The horizontal
axis represents the total gravimetric percentage of EGR in the cylinder,
and the vertical axis represents the overall relative A=F (Lambda or k) of
the cylinder charge. The operating range is bounded with three limits
Knock Limit, Misfire and Low IMEP. Those iso-contour lines in the
operation range show the trend of IMEP, whose values can be found
on the lines.
In Figure 4, the ‘Misfire’ limit line was drawn with a 35% COVIMEP
value and the ‘Low IMEP’ line was plotted at zero IMEP. Those points

Figure 4. HCCI operating region with regard to A=F and EGR rate (CR ¼ 18:1,
Tin ¼ 30C).
 2126 Z. PENG ET AL.

in the operating range (some points out of the range) are actual test
break points. Although HCCI combustion could still be operated at
those out-of-the-range points, either COVIMEP or IMEP has been
beyond the limit.
The figure also shows that the HCCI combustion of n-heptane could
be achieved over a very wide range of A=F and EGR rates at a com-
pression ratio of 18:1. The bottom (high load) limit of the HCCI region
was bounded by the knocking combustion or the rapid heat release rate
as the mixture became richer. Unlike HCCI operation with gasoline fuel
in the same engine (Oakley et al. 2001), the knock limit of the HCCI
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combustion of n-heptane could not approach Lambda 1.0. This was true
even at lower compression ratios and higher intake temperatures, as to
be shown later. In addition, the Lambda attainable at zero EGR was
approximately 5.0  6.0, much higher than the Lambda 3.0 as observed
with gasoline fuel (Oakley et al., 2001). Furthermore, the HCCI combus-
tion of n-heptane could tolerate a very high EGR rate of up to 70% with
30C intake temperature. This tolerance can be further enhanced with
the increase of the intake temperature (see Figure 7).
The right and the top-right of the region were limited by misfire due
to the increasing amount of CO2 and H2O at higher EGR rates. When
operating near this limit, the engine operation was characterised with
intermittent misfire cycles. The frequency of misfire increased as the limit
was approached. This could be explained by the fact that a misfire cycle
led to a reduction in CO2 and H2O in the cylinder charge in the following
cycle and hence, effectively shifted the operating point from right to top
left (low EGR, high k). After several misfire cycles, the in-cylinder
condition would be such that stable HCCI combustion could start again
until CO2 and H2O content in exhaust gases would extinguish the com-
bustion again. This is shown as increased COVIMEP in Figure 5. However,
it should be pointed out that at the top left region, the engine operation
was stable until the IMEP reached zero, despite the high COVIMEP
values shown in Figure 5. The increase of COVIMEP at this area was
probably caused by very low IMEP values. Therefore, the top left limit
of this HCCI combustion was actually determined by the lower limit of
IMEP that would be sufficient to overcome the frictional losses in the
engine.
Figure 4 also shows that the engine’s power output was mainly con-
trolled by the amount of fuel injected per cycle which is shown in
Figure 6 by unit mg=cycle. The maximum IMEP (3.7 bar) was achieved
 HCCI COMBUSTION OF n-HEPTANE 2127
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Figure 5. The effect of A=F and EGR rate on COVIMEP (CR ¼ 18:1, Tin ¼ 30C).

around Lambda 1.5 and EGR rate 65%. It is noted when the test
approached the maximum IMEP, the power output was very sensitive
to the EGR rate. A slight reduction in EGR rate could cause knocking
combustion and a little increase of EGR rate would cause the engine
to misfire, as indicated by the large COVIMEP variation in Figure 5.

Figure 6. Average fuel mass per cycle (mg=cycle) (CR ¼ 18:1, Tin ¼ 30C).
 2128 Z. PENG ET AL.

Effect of Compression Ratio and Intake Temperature on HCCI

Operational Region
The effect of the intake temperature on the HCCI operation was inves-
tigated at 30C, 70C and 105C with a constant compression ratio 18:1
and the results are shown in Figure 7. As the intake charge temperature
was increased from 30C to 105C, the top (lean) and bottom (rich) limits
were hardly affected. However, the higher intake charge temperature did
substantially extend the misfire limit to much higher EGR rate. In the
present engine setup, the maximum EGR rate was limited to 80% due
to limited backpressure available.
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Figure 8 shows the effect of the intake temperature on IMEP for two
EGR rates. Lines with solid symbols represent the results without EGR
and lines with empty symbols are with 40% EGR rate. It can be seen,
regardless of the EGR rate, a lower intake temperature produced a
higher IMEP value and this trend was more noticeable at lower A=F.
The maximum IMEP was reduced from 3.7 bar to 2.7 bar as the intake
temperature was increased from 30C to 105C. This was mainly due to
the reduction of the in-cylinder charge mass with the increase in intake
temperature.
The effect of the compression ratio was examined at 18:1, 15:1 and
12:1 with a constant intake temperature of 105C and the results are
shown in Figure 9. It can be seen that the reduction in compression ratio

Figure 7. Effect of the intake temperature on HCCI combustion operating region

(CR ¼ 18:1).
 HCCI COMBUSTION OF n-HEPTANE 2129
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Figure 8. Effect of the intake temperatures on IMEP (CR ¼ 18:1).

decreases the possibility of knocking combustion and then pulls the

knock limit to lower A=F (richer mixture) area. This caused the
maximum IMEP to increase from 2.7 bar to 3.5 bar. From this result,
it can be concluded that the change of the compression ratio is a very
effective way to expand the operating range of HCCI combustion
to lower A=F area, then to extend the high load limit. These results

Figure 9. Effect of the compression ratio on HCCI combustion operating region

(Tin ¼ 105C).
 2130 Z. PENG ET AL.
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Figure 10. Effect of the compression ratios on IMEP (Tin ¼ 105C).

correspond with previous researches carried out by other researchers.

However, what was not mentioned by other researchers is that lower
compression ratio curtailed substantially both the misfire limit at high
EGR and low load limit at high k.
Figure 10 shows the effect of compression ratio on IMEP at two
EGR rates. It is noted that, with a relatively rich (small k) mixture with-
out EGR, higher compression ratio produced lower IMEP for same
Lambda value and intake temperature. This may appear contradictory
to the conventional thinking or experience that high compression ratio
should lead to higher engine output. Close examination of their ignition
timings and combustion durations from the heat release analysis, it was
found that higher compression ratio resulted in a very early auto-ignition
timing and a very short combustion duration (this will be shown in the
next section) for a relatively rich mixture without EGR. As a result,
the combustion took place during the end of the compression stroke
and hence, reduced power output. However, under high dilution con-
ditions such as high A=F or high EGR rate, higher compression ratio
led to higher IMEP value.
If regarding compression ratio 18:1 and intake temperature 105C as
a baseline, according to Figures 7 and 9, the higher load limit of a diesel
engine’s HCCI operation can be increased by either or both lower intake
temperature and compression ratio. In practice, the lower intake
temperature can be readily facilitated with a combination of VVT, an
 HCCI COMBUSTION OF n-HEPTANE 2131

intercooler and EGR cooler. Whereas, the variable compression ratio

can be available with the aid of VCR or VVT.

Effect of A/F and EGR Rate on Auto-ignition Timing and

Combustion Duration
Figures 11 and 12 shows the auto-ignition timing contours of the low
temperature reaction (LTR) and its duration with 18:1 compression ratio
and 30C intake temperature. As described in Section 2.5, the start and
end of LTR was defined as the crank angle at which the rate of HFR was
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above 1%=(CA degree). In Figure 11, it can be seen that the auto-
ignition of LTR varies from 25 to 19 degree BTCD depending on differ-
ent EGR rate and A=F. It is also noted that the LTR auto-ignition timing
was affected dominantly by the EGR rates. It is known that EGR can
affect the auto-ignition process through its dilution effect (replacement
of O2) and heat capacity effect (lower compression temperature). Since
the mixture was very lean with abundant oxygen and the fact that the
A=F had little effect on the mixture’s LTR auto-ignition timing, the lower
compression temperature due to EGR’s higher heat capacity was likely
responsible for the retarded start of LTR. In contrast, Figure 12 shows
that the LTR duration was affected mainly by the fuel concentration
which corresponds to the fuel amount injected per cycle (Figure 6).

Figure 11. Effect of A=F and EGR rate on the auto-ignition timing of the low temperature
reactions stage (CR ¼ 18:1, Tin ¼ 30C).
 2132 Z. PENG ET AL.
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Figure 12. Effect of A=F and EGR rate on the combustion duration of the low temperature
reactions stage (CR ¼ 18:1, Tin ¼ 30C).

EGR (and A=F) also played an influence on the duration. But it princi-
pally replaced oxygen with exhaust gas then reduced A=F. For same fuel
amount, the effects of EGR and A=F were very weak. The results indi-
cate that the low temperature reactions took place over a longer period
of time as the mixture became leaner. The duration increased from 4 to
8.5 degree crank angle from the highest fuel concentration to the lowest
fuel concentration in the operating region.
Figure 13 shows the effect of A=F and EGR rate on the start of the
main combustion stage (MCS). Here ‘‘start’’ rather than ‘‘auto-ignition
timing’’ is used because auto-ignition has already started from the low
temperature reactions stage. The start of MCS is critical for the total
combustion process as most heat is released during the main combustion
stage. If the complete combustion process is considered in its entirety, this
timing should be treated as its auto-ignition timing. As shown in Figure 13,
the start of the main combustion stage changed from 16 to 9 degree BTDC
from low EGR area to high EGR area. The variation trend with A=F and
EGR rate did not correspond with the trend of auto-ignition timing of
LTR. In the operating region, it was affected by both the A=F and EGR
rate depending on the operating condition. For very lean mixtures
(k > 9:0), it was mainly dependent upon the A=F. For low A=F mixtures,
the EGR rate had a dominant effect on the start of MCS. This is corre-
sponding with the results reported by Okude et al. (2004).
 HCCI COMBUSTION OF n-HEPTANE 2133
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Figure 13. Effect of A=F and EGR rate on the start of the main combustion stage
(CR ¼ 18:1, Tin ¼ 30C).

As shown in Figure 14, the trend of the combustion duration of

the main combustion stage was very similar with the trend of the
auto-ignition timing of LTR. It was also affected mainly by the fuel

Figure 14. Effect of A=F and EGR rate on the combustion duration of the main combustion
stage (CR ¼ 18:1, Tin ¼ 30C).
 2134 Z. PENG ET AL.

concentration in most of the HCCI operational region. Only in the

maximum IMEP area with the richest mixture and higher EGR rate,
EGR rate played a little more role for the variation of the duration. In
the region where the effect of the fuel concentration dominated, the com-
bustion duration was longest, up to 25-degree crank angle in the middle
part of the map. This could be caused by the combined effect of slower
reactions and smaller quantities of fuels to be burned. Initially, as the
mixture became leaner the combustion reactions slowed down due to
lower combustion temperature. As the mixture became even leaner, the
reduction in the amount of fuel to be burned dropped substantially that
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the overall combustion duration started to decrease.

It should be noted that the heating function of EGR was excluded in
this paper for discussing its effect on HCCI combustion. As the main
effect of EGR heating function is increasing the charge temperature,
basically its presentation can be reflected from the effect of intake tem-
perature. If the hot EGR was considered for controlling HCCI combus-
tion phasing, higher EGR rate would possibly advance auto-ignition
timing like Docquier’s (2003) finding, rather than retard the start of com-
bustion. In this study, it is valuable with experimental methods to find the
role of EGR in HCCI combustion except its heating function. For vari-
ous function of EGR in HCCI combustion in term of its thermal
(increase in heat capacity), dilution, chemical, heating and overall
effects, relevant information can be found from numerical analysis
results of Zhao et al. (2001).
Under 18:1 compression ratio, the compression-end-temperature
was so high that the start of the combustion took place too early. Under
high fuel concentration conditions, very short combustion duration
caused all fuel largely consumed before TDC (near the knock limit area
in Figure 14). To avoid this, a lower compression ratio should be
considered for those high load or rich mixture conditions. The effect
of compression ratio on the combustion phasing will be demonstrated
in next section.

Effect of Intake Temperature and Compression Ratio on

Auto-ignition Timing and Combustion Duration
Figures 15 and 16 show effects of the intake temperature and the com-
pression ratio on the LTR auto-ignition timing. It can be seen that the
higher intake temperature or compression ratio, the earlier the LTR
 HCCI COMBUSTION OF n-HEPTANE 2135
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Figure 15. Effect of the intake temperature on the auto-ignition timing of the low
temperature reactions stage (CR ¼ 18:1).

started, as the end-of-compression charge temperature was raised with

increasing intake temperature or compression ratio. For every 35–40C
increase in intake temperature or 3-unit increase in compression ratio,

Figure 16. Effect of the compression ratio on the auto-ignition timing of the low
temperature reactions stage (Tin ¼ 105C).
 2136 Z. PENG ET AL.

the auto-ignition timing of low temperature reactions advanced by 4–5

degrees of crank angle, irrespective of A=F and EGR rate. The effects
of the compression ratio and the intake temperature on the combustion
duration of LTR are shown in Figures 17 and 18. As expected, either
higher intake temperature or higher compression ratio reduced the
LTR combustion duration.
Figures 19 and 20 shows the effect of the intake temperature and the
compression ratio on the start of the main combustion stage. When the
intake temperature was increased from 30C to 70C, the start of main
combustion was brought forward by 3–4 degrees of crank angle, inde-
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pendent of A=F or EGR rate. Further increase in temperature from

70C to 105C had less effect on the main combustion timing. In
addition, it is noted from Figures 15 and 19 that the intake charge tem-
perature had less impact on the start of the main combustion than that of
the low temperature reactions, particularly in the high EGR region. As
shown in Figure 20, for every 3 unit increase in the compression ratio,
the main combustion was advanced by about 5–6 degrees of crank angle,
similar to its effect on the auto-ignition timing of the low temperature
reactions.
Figures 21 and 22 shows the effect of the intake temperature and the
compression ratio on the main combustion duration. For relatively rich

Figure 17. Effect of the intake temperature on the combustion duration of the low tempera-
ture reactions stage (CR ¼ 18:1).
 HCCI COMBUSTION OF n-HEPTANE 2137
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Figure 18. Effect of the compression ratio on the combustion duration of the low tempera-
ture reactions stage (Tin ¼ 105C).

mixtures, the combustion period was reduced as the intake temperature

went up. The shorter combustion duration observed for very lean mix-
tures was due to the onset of partial burning. In addition, the results
show that the effect of the intake temperature on the combustion

Figure 19. Effect of the intake temperature on the start of the main combustion stage
(CR ¼ 18:1).
 2138 Z. PENG ET AL.
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Figure 20. Effect of the compression ratio on the start of the main combustion stage
(Tin ¼ 105C).

duration was more noticeable with EGR than without EGR. As shown in
Figure 22, the compression ratio had a similar but large effect on the main
combustion duration, due to both increased temperature and pressure.

Figure 21. Effect of the intake temperature on the main combustion duration (CR ¼ 18:1).
 HCCI COMBUSTION OF n-HEPTANE 2139
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Figure 22. Effect of the compression ratio on the main combustion duration (Tin ¼ 105C).

Exhaust Emissions
Figure 23 shows the effect of A=F and EGR rate on NOx emissions
(ppm). From the map, it can be seen that NOx emissions were less than
4 ppm under 18:1 compression ratio and 30C intake temperature. Even
with different compression ratios (15:1 and 12:1) and intake temperature

Figure 23. Effect of A=F and EGR rate on NOx emissions (CR ¼ 18:1, Tin ¼ 30C).
 2140 Z. PENG ET AL.
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Figure 24. Effect of A=F and EGR rate on the maximum combustion temperature
(CR ¼ 18:1 Tin ¼ 30C).

(70C and 105C), it was found that NOx emissions in the investigation
were hardly higher than 5 ppm. As mentioned in previous paragraphs,
the measurement error was less than 0.2 ppm. Compared to the NOx
emissions of conventional IC engines, this level (less than 4 ppm) can
be expressed as ‘‘near zero NOx emissions.’’ This can be readily
explained by the results shown in Figure 24, in which the maximum com-
bustion temperature contours calculated from in-cylinder pressure data
were plotted. As the combustion temperature was well below the critical
temperature of 1800 K (1527C) for NO formation through thermal (or
Zeldovich) mechanism (Miller et al., 1989; Turns, 1995), little NO was
produced during the HCCI combustion operation.
From Figure 23, it can be seen that NOx emissions kept a little
increase from 2 ppm to 4 ppm, mainly depending on the increase of
EGR rate from 0 to 70%. This is opposite to the trend of NOx emis-
sions of conventional engines and suggests that NOx emissions of
HCCI combustion are more related to chemical kinetics but little to
the combustion temperature if it is less than 1800 K. Very low NOx
emission of HCCI combustion in diesel engines has also been reported
by other researchers, such as 10–13 ppm shown by Docquier (2003), 3–
15 ppm shown by Helmantel and Denbratt (2004), less than 10 ppm
shown by Ishima et al. (2003). It was also demonstrated that NOx
 HCCI COMBUSTION OF n-HEPTANE 2141
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Figure 25. Effect of A=F and EGR rate on HC emissions (CR ¼ 18:1, Tin ¼ 30C).

emissions of diesel engine HCCI combustion is very dependent on the

charge homogeneity. With DI fuel injection systems, if the injection
timing is not early enough, there will not be enough time for forming
homogeneous mixture, then locally combustion will more like conven-
tional diesel combustion and more NOx emissions will be produced
(Ishima et al., 2003).
HC emissions (ppm) map with regard to A=F ratio and EGR rate is
shown in Figure 25. In acceptable operating region, HC emissions varied
between 1,600 ppm and 2,800 ppm. The highest HC emission occurred
on the right hand side of the HCCI region, where misfire started to
appear. The minimum HC formation was located at Lambda 9.0 with
10% EGR rate. The increase in HC emission with leaner mixtures was
known to be caused by the lower combustion temperature. However, it
is not clear why HC emission increased as the mixture became richer
than Lambda 9.0. As shown in Figure 26, CO emissions were high and
got increase with the increase of A=F and EGR rate. There is little
resemblance between the CO and HC contours, despite the fact that
both were result of low temperature combustion. Detailed explanations
will require detailed chemical kinetics analyses.
Figures 27 and 28 show effects of the intake temperature and the
compression ratio on the HC emissions. In general, increases of intake
temperature and compression ratio help reducing the HC emission.
 2142 Z. PENG ET AL.
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Figure 26. Effect of A=F and EGR rate on CO emissions (CR ¼ 18:1, Tin ¼ 30C).

Similar effects of the intake temperature and the compression ratio were
also observed on the CO emissions, as shown in Figures 29 and 30.
The exception was found when the engine was operating at 12:1 com-
pression ratio and high Lambda values, where the sudden increase of
HC did not appear in CO emissions.

Figure 27. Effect of the intake temperature on HC emissions (CR ¼ 18:1).

 HCCI COMBUSTION OF n-HEPTANE 2143
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Figure 28. Effect of the compression ratio on HC emissions (Tin ¼ 105C).

Indicated Specific Fuel Consumption (ISFC)

Figure 31 shows the ISFC map of HCCI combustion of n-heptane at a
compression ratio of 18:1 and intake temperature 30C. The lowest ISFC
value was about 180 g=kwh. This corresponds a 45.2% engine efficiency

Figure 29. Effect of the intake temperature on CO emissions (CR ¼ 18:1).

 2144 Z. PENG ET AL.
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Figure 30. Effect of the compression ratio on CO emissions (Tin ¼ 105C).

(fuel conversion efficiency). The lowest ISFC was obtained in the richest
mixture region, where the maximum IMEP was found. The ISFC
increased monotonically with the A=F, probably due to the slower
combustion process (see Figure 12).
As shown in Figure 32, higher intake charge temperature tended
to increase fuel consumption. One reason should be that higher intake

Figure 31. Effect of A=F and EGR rate on ISFC (CR ¼ 18:1, Tin ¼ 30C).
 HCCI COMBUSTION OF n-HEPTANE 2145
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Figure 32. Effect of the intake temperature on ISFC (CR ¼ 18:1).

temperature reduced the volumetric efficiency. Meanwhile, too high

intake temperature advanced combustion phasing too much in the com-
pression stroke so that all fuel energy was released before TDC with rich
mixture (low lambda, 105C, referring Figures 19 and 21). For the effect
of compression ratio, it was reported by other researchers that increased

Figure 33. Effect of the compression ratio on ISFC (CR ¼ 18:1).

 2146 Z. PENG ET AL.

compression ratio would improve fuel consumption (Helmantel and

Denbratt, 2004). In this investigation, it can be found from Figure 33
that 15:1 compression ratio reduces ISFC compared to 12:1 com-
pression ratio. Under 18:1 compression ratio, the fuel consumption
was higher than 15:1 compression ratio. It should also be caused by
too early combustion phasing (Figures 20 and 22).
In practical HCCI combustion application, the combustion phasing
should always be adjusted to be at right crank angle position. For achiev-
ing better fuel consumption, higher compression ratio should be con-
sidered. On the other hand, it is necessary to reduce compression ratio
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for extending HCCI combustion operating region to high load area.

Then an optimum compression ration should be calibrated for balancing
fuel consumption and operating region. It is an objective of this research
to discover the information regarding the effects of compression ratio
and other operating parameters on HCCI combustion performances of
diesel fuel.

SUMMARY
Experiments on a single-cylinder, 4-stroke and variable compression
ratio engine have been carried out in order to study the Homogeneous
Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) or Controlled Auto Ignition
(CAI) combustion of a diesel type fuel, n-heptane. The effects of A=F,
EGR rate, compression ratio and different intake temperature on the
HCCI operational region and engine’s performance and emissions were
investigated. Main findings from the results obtained can be summarised
as follows.

1. In the HCCI operation of n-heptane, the auto-ignition combustion

was characterised by the two-stage heat release process. Most heat
was released during the second stage of combustion.
2. It was found that engine-out NOx emissions of the HCCI combustion
of n-heptane are near zero level (less than 5 ppm).
3. Compared to HCCI=CAI operation with gasoline fuel, premixed
HCCI combustion of diesel fuel could be obtained for a range of
A=F and EGR dilutions without intake charge heating. Its operational
region was found to be limited at high load by violent combustion with
relatively rich mixture, misfire at high EGR dilution, and IMEP out-
put with very lean mixture.
 HCCI COMBUSTION OF n-HEPTANE 2147

4. The high load limit of HCCI can be extended by operating at a lower

compression ratio, and in particular by lowering the intake charge
temperature when the violent combustion was caused by the advanced
heat release.
5. With specified compression ratio and intake temperature, the auto-
ignition timing of the low temperature reactions was mainly affected
by EGR but hardly by A=F. The timing was retarded with increasing
EGR. The dominant effect of EGR on the start of the main combus-
tion process was displayed at lower A=F area. At higher A=F range, it
was A=F which gives more impact on the start of the main combustion
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process. Whereas both the low temperature and high temperature

combustion durations were mostly dependent upon A=F.
6. Both reductions of compression ratio and intake temperature retarded
the auto-ignition timing of the low temperature reactions and the start
of the main combustion stage. Combustion durations of two combus-
tion stages were expanded by the reductions of compression ratio and
intake temperature.
7. High HC and CO emissions of HCCI combustion could be decreased
by increasing the intake charge temperature or the compression ratio.
However, the higher charge temperature tended to increase the fuel
consumption.

NOMENCLATURE

AC alternative current
ATDC after the top dead centre
A=F air=fuel ratio
BTDC before the top dead centre
CA crank angle
CAI controlled auto-ignition
CI compression ignition
CO carbon monoxide
COV coefficient of variation
CR compression ratio
EGR exhaust gas recirculation
HC hydrocarbon
HCCI homogeneous charge compression ignition
HFR heat fraction released
 2148 Z. PENG ET AL.

IC internal combustion
IMEP indicated mean effective pressure
ISFC indicated specific fuel consumption
IVC inlet valve closure
KOF knock occurrence frequency
Lambda relative air=fuel ratio (k)
LIF laser induced fluorescence
LTRS low temperature reactions stage
MCS main combustion stage
NOx nitrogen oxides
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NTC negative temperature coefficient

SI spark ignition
TDC top dead centre
Tin intake temperature
VCR variable compression ratio
VVT variable valve timing
Superscript
o crank angle or temperature
‘ dry molar fraction
Subscript
a air
e exhaust gas
f fuel
i inlet gas
in inlet gas
P products
R reactants

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