Applied Energy 280 (2020) 115920

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Applied Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apenergy

Effect of piston bowl geometry and compression ratio on in-cylinder

combustion and engine performance in a gasoline direct-injection
compression ignition engine under different injection conditions
Leilei Xu a ,∗, Xue-Song Bai a , Yaopeng Li b , Mark Treacy a , Changle Li c , Per Tunestål c ,
Martin Tunér c , Xingcai Lu d
a
Department of Energy Sciences, Division of Fluid Mechanics, Lund University, Lund 22100, Sweden
b
Key Laboratory of Ocean Energy Utilization and Energy Conservation of Ministry of Education, Dalian University of Technology, PR China
c
Department of Energy Sciences, Division of Combustion Engines, Lund University, Lund 22100, Sweden
d
Key Lab. for Power Machinery and Engineering of M. O. E., Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 200240, PR China

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Keywords: Low temperature combustion (LTC) of high-octane number fuels in compression ignition engines offers an
Partially premixed combustion (PPC) opportunity to simultaneously achieve high engine thermal efficiency and low emissions of NO𝑥 and particulate
Homogeneous charge compression ignition matter without using expensive after-treatment technologies. LTC engines are known to be sensitive to the
(HCCI)
operation conditions and combustor geometry. It is important to understand the fundamental flow and
Transition
combustion physics in order to develop the technology further for commercial application. A joint numerical
Fuel stratification
Piston geometry
and experimental investigation was conducted in a heavy-duty compression ignition engine using a primary
Compression ratio reference fuel with an octane number of 81 to investigate the effects of injection timing, piston geometry,
and compression ratio (CR) on the fuel/air mixing and combustion covering different regimes of LTC engines,
homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI), partially premixed combustion (PPC), and the transition
regime from HCCI to PPC. The results show that with the same combustion timing, a higher CR leads to a
lower NO𝑥 , but a higher emission of UHC and CO. The piston geometry shows a significant impact on the
combustion and emission process in the transition regime while it has minor influence in the HCCI and PPC
regimes. It is found that high engine efficiency and low emissions of NO𝑥 , CO and UHC can be achieved in
the earlier PPC regime and later transition regime. The fundamental reason behind this is the stratification
of the mixture in composition, temperature and reactivity, which is dictated by the interaction between the
spray and the cylinder/piston walls.

1. Introduction during the intake/compression stroke to form a relatively lean and

Compression ignition engine is preferred for heavy-duty usage due
to their durability and higher thermal efficiency compared to spark
ignition engines [1,2]. However, conventional diesel combustion (CDC)
engines are facing significant challenges in meeting increasingly strin-
gent emission regulations due to high oxides of nitrogen (NO𝑥 ) and
particulate matter (PM) emissions [3]. Improvements in the accu-
racy and flexibility of common-rail injection systems [4] have allowed
detailed investigation of low-temperature combustion (LTC) concepts
such as, homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) [5–7] and
partially premixed combustion (PPC) [8,9], reactivity controlled com-
pression ignition (RCCI) [10,11], intelligent charge compression ig-
nition (ICCI) [12,13], diesel methanol dual fuel (DMDF) [14–16]. In
these LTC engines, one fuel is usually injected directly into the cylinder
stratified fuel/air mixture before the onset of ignition [17]. Thus,
LTC engines always require a high compression ratio (CR) (similar
to the CDC engine) to ignite the lean mixture. Staged combustion is
observed due to the in-cylinder mixture stratification, which offers
an opportunity to simultaneously achieve high thermal efficiency and
low NO𝑥 and PM emissions without using expensive after-treatment
technologies [1,5]. Compared to diesel fuel, low reactive fuels, like
gasoline, have a prolonged ignition delay and hence an improved
fuel–air mixing, which shows great advantages in the load extension
and knock control in direct-injection compression ignition (DICI) en-
gines [18]. However, gasoline DICI engines suffer from high unburned
hydrocarbons (UHC) and carbon monoxide (CO) emissions, and cold-
start problems at low loads owing to the low fuel reactivity [19,20].

∗ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: Leilei.Xu@energy.lth.se (L. Xu).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2020.115920
Received 10 June 2020; Received in revised form 13 September 2020; Accepted 23 September 2020
Available online 30 September 2020
0306-2619/© 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
L. Xu et al.
Further improvements are required for gasoline DICI engines to achieve
optimized fuel distribution in the cylinder, which is strongly affected
by the fuel injection system, injection strategy, injector-nozzle design
parameters, fuel physical and chemical properties, combustion chamber
(piston bowl) shape and operation conditions (CR, intake pressure and
temperature).
In our previous studies [21,22], the fuel stratification, emission
characteristics and engine performance during the transition from HCCI
to PPC in a gasoline DICI engine with a toroidal chamber were investi-
gated. According to the spray-wall impingement locations and fuel–air
mixture stratification, the whole injection timing range was divided
into four zones that involve three combustion regimes: HCCI, PPC, and
transition between HCCI and PPC. The results showed that the engine
efficiency in the PPC regime could be 2% higher than that in the HCCI
regime, but at the cost of higher NO𝑥 emission in the PPC regime.
For the transition regime, the fuel was separated into two streams in
both the bowl and squish region, which resulted in a lower maximum
pressure rise rate (MPRR) due to the sequential combustion. This
combustion process is beneficial for the load extension, however, with
a penalty of lower engine efficiency due to late ignition in the squish
region as a result of the high heat transfer loss and lower turbulence in
the squish region. Therefore, further investigation is required to balance
the fuel fraction inside and outside the piston bowl and promote the
fuel–air mixing process in the squish region, which are strongly affected
by the piston geometry.
The effect of combustion chamber geometry on the HCCI operation
was experimentally investigated by comparing two pistons, one with
a square bowl and another with a flat piston crown [23]. The results
showed that the gross indicated efficiency is lower with the square
combustion chamber due to the lower combustion efficiency and larger
heat losses. Dempsey et al. [24] compared two pistons, a stock re-
entrant piston and a modified piston with nearly no squish land, in a
light-duty engine operated with two different fuels. The results showed
that the induced mixing created by the stock piston was detrimental
to engine efficiency due to more heat transfer losses from premixed
combustion. Dolaket et al. [25] and Li et al. [26] reported that the
spray targeting had a major impact on the combustion process and the
stepped-piston bowl allowed more options of spray targeting and im-
proved charge preparation. A recent study [27] reported a novel profile
combining highly-reentrant sharp-stepped bowl with inner radial-lips
and demonstrated the full potential of optimized fuel stratification
and spray separation enabled by the radial mixing zone concept. The
stepped-bowl exhibited reduced soot and CO emissions and better fuel
economy than the conventional re-entrant piston at a medium load. The
experimental study of Channappagoudra et al. [28] revealed that the
engine with a modified re-entrant toroidal piston bowl improved engine
performance, combustion efficiency, and emission characteristics. Pre-
vious studies have demonstrated that the stepped-lip piston often, but
not always, shows greater potential in efficiency improvements over
re-entrant pistons, which is always attributed to the reduced wall heat-
loss. Up to date, the focus of most works has been restricted to the
influence of the piston bowl shape on thermal efficiency. Few works
systematically investigate the effects of the piston bowl geometry on
the mixture formation and fuel stratification in different combustion
regimes, which are very important for combining injection strategy
with piston bowl geometry to improve the engine performance.
Besides piston geometry, CR is another effective parameter in con-
trolling the combustion process and engine performance of CI engines.
In an ideal un-throttled Otto-cycle engine without heat transfer and
incomplete combustion loss, the engine efficiency can be improved
by increasing CR. However, for a real engine, the heat transfer and
incomplete combustion loss cannot be ignored which could account
for more than 15% of total fuel energy [29,30]. Increased CR has a
similar effect as simultaneously raising the inlet air temperature and
intake pressure, advancing ignition timing, and rising the temperature
and pressure at the end of compression stroke. Calam et al. [31]
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Applied Energy 280 (2020) 115920
investigated the effect of CR on combustion and exhaust emission in
an HCCI engine. The results showed that increasing CR leads to a
decrease in CO and UHC emissions, but higher NO𝑥 emission. Since
the intake temperature was kept constant in the experiment, the com-
bustion phases were changed under different CR which also affected
the engine efficiency and the emission. The experiment of Li et al. [26]
investigated the impacts of CR on the engine efficiency and emission
characteristics with the same combustion phase by adjusting the inlet
temperature. The results showed that the stepped-lip piston with a
CR of 17 yielded a higher engine efficiency, but higher CO and soot
emission than the straight-wall piston with a CR of 15. The fundamental
reasons behind the change in the efficiency and emissions caused by
the piston geometry and CR are however not clear, due to the lack of
experimental data on the in-cylinder mixture formation and subsequent
combustion process. Hence, it becomes imperative to use numerical
simulations to investigate the effects of CR and piston geometry on the
combustion and emission with the constant combustion phase in the
DICI engine.
The above literature survey reveals that the performance of gasoline
DICI engines is sensitive to the injection timing, CR and engine bowl
geometry. Systematic investigation of the effects of these parameters on
the in-cylinder combustion process is important for the development of
injection strategies. In this paper, a joint numerical and experimental
investigation was conducted in a heavy-duty engine fueled with PRF81
to investigate the effects of piston geometry, CR, and injection timing
on the fuel/air formation and combustion process during combustion
regime transition in DICI engines. The SOI was swept from −100 to
−20 ◦ CA ATDC to achieve different levels of charge stratification in
the cylinder while the intake air temperature was adjusted to keep the
CA50 at 3 ◦ CA ATDC. Two piston bowl shapes, a standard production
piston with the stepped-lip profile and a piston from the Scania D13
engine with straight-wall profiles were compared. By analyzing the
simulation results of the straight-wall piston, the impacts of CR are also
discussed in detail. This study aims to gain a comprehensive under-
standing of how the charge composition and temperature distribution
are affected by the injection timing and engine geometry.
2. Experimental and numerical setup
2.1. Experimental setup
The engine experiment was conducted on a four-stroke, six-cylinder
Scania D13 heavy-duty direct injection engine. After modification,
only one cylinder was activated with the independently controlled in-
take/exhaust and injection systems, as shown in Fig. 1. The bore/stroke
length is 130/160 mm, and the connecting rod is 255 mm. An external
compressor supplies the intake air with a maximum output pressure
of 11 bar. An externally-powered air heater was installed downstream
of the flow meter to heat the air to the desired temperature. The in-
take air temperature is controlled by a proportional–integral–derivative
(PID) controller with an accuracy of ±0.5 K. A back-pressure valve
was used to control the introduction of EGR, and the EGR cooling
temperature was set to 20 ◦ C. The back pressure was consistently kept
a little higher (0.05 ∼ 0.1 bar) than the intake pressure to simulate a
turbocharger’s use in an on-board engine. The concentrations of NO𝑥 ,
CO, UHC, intake and exhaust CO2 , and O2 were analyzed with the
AVL i60 emission measurement system. The high-pressure common rail
injector is an 8-hole solenoid injector with a 0.175 mm orifice diameter.
The spray umbrella angle is 120◦ . The experimental apparatus and its
measurement precision, and accuracy are described in our previous
studies [21].
Two combustion chamber types were compared in the experiment:
a straight-wall combustion chamber and a stepped-lip wall chamber,
as shown in Fig. 2. The stepped-lip chamber with a modified transition
to the squish region can enhance the turbulent flow within one zone
or between two adjacent zones. During the experimental testing, the
L. Xu et al.
Fig. 1. Schematic of the engine test facility [21,22].
Fig. 2. Two types of the piston used in the experiment.
straight-wall chamber has a geometry CR of 15.0 (hereafter referred to
as CR15), and the stepped-lip with a CR of 17.3 (hereafter referred to
as CR17). In order to evaluate the CR effect, the CR15 bowl is modified
to have a CR of 17 by reducing the piston bowl profile by 1.45 mm. The
modified piston (hereafter referred to as CR17(15)) has the same CR as
the piston CR17 and the same piston bowl profile as the piston CR15.
The profiles of each of the three piston cases are shown in Fig. 3.
During the experiments, the engine speed was maintained at 1200
rpm. The intake pressure was set at 1.25 bar, and the intake air
temperature was adjusted to keep the combustion phasing CA50 con-
stant at 3 ◦ CA ATDC. For the convenience of writing, unless specified
explicitly ‘‘CA ATDC’’ is abbreviated to ‘‘CA’’ in the following text: 0◦ CA
denotes the position of the piston at TDC; a negative CA denotes the
piston position before TDC, whereas a positive CA denotes the piston
position after TDC. The primary reference fuel, PRF81 (a mixture of
81% iso-octane and 19% n-heptane by volume), was chosen as a low
reactivity fuel which was found to require the same intake temperature
as gasoline (with a RON of 87 and MON of 81) [32] to maintain CA50
at 3 ◦ CA in the present engine. The common rail injection pressure was
set to 80 MPa, and the SOI was varied from −100 ◦ CA to −20 ◦ CA. The
energizing time was kept constant at 0.94 ms. The EGR rate was kept
at 50%.
2.2. Numerical setup
The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code, KIVA3V [33] cou-
pled with CHEMKIN [34] was used for the simulation of the en-
gine combustion process. The numerical simulations are based on the
Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) framework together with La-
grangian Particle Tracking (LPT) method for the discrete spray droplets.
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Applied Energy 280 (2020) 115920
Several updated sub-models were used to improve the prediction accu-
racy of the mixing and combustion process in the engine. A modified
generalized renormalization Group (gRNG) 𝜅-𝜖 turbulence model with
adjusted model coefficients for variable-density flows was used to
model the turbulence in the engine, which can predict the turbulent
kinetic energy and flow length scale more accurately with compress-
ing/expanding flows [35]. A new injection rate model for the common
rail fuel injection systems was employed to evaluate the actual injection
duration, injection rate-shape, and liquid droplet initial velocity [36].
The Kelvin–Helmholtz (KH) instability model was used to predict the
primary breakup and the Rayleigh–Taylor (RT) accelerative instability
model was used to predict the secondary breakup [37]. The spray
collision model with enhanced grid independence was adopted [38].
A new spray/wall interaction model [39] and an enhanced liquid
film model [40] developed for particular emphasis on the premixed
charge engine-relevant conditions were introduced to reproduce the
liquid film dynamics, wall/spray interaction, wall/film heat flux, and
liquid film vaporization characteristics. A heat-transfer model [41]
improved by considering different heat transfer regimes in laminar
and turbulent boundary layers was employed to model the wall heat
flux. A multi-component quasi-dimensional vaporization model was
employed to model the multi-component fuel vaporization process of
liquid droplets. A skeletal PRF mechanism [42] made up of 136 species
and 617 reactions including NO𝑥 formation (thermal N2 O and NO2
pathways) [43] is employed to model the combustion process and
emission formation. The mechanism has been extensively validated
against experimental data, including the ignition delay time measured
in the shock tube, species mole fraction profiles in Jet-Stirred Reactor
(JSR), and laminar flame speeds. The chemistry is coupled with the
flow through a well-stirred reactor model that was shown to be suitable
for LTC engines [44], where the dominant mode of combustion is
ignition wave propagation.
A sector grid with periodic boundaries was adopted in the closed-
cycle computations from intake valve close (IVC) (−139.0 ◦ CA) to ex-
haust valve open (EVO) (137 ◦ CA) to improve computational efficiency.
Since the injector has 8 evenly distributed holes and is positioned in the
center of the cylinder head, a 45◦ sector mesh was accordingly chosen,
as shown in Fig. 3. Based on the motored case in the experiment, the
effective CR used in the simulation are respective 14.3 and 16.5 for
the CR15 and the CR17 pistons. A mesh-sensitivity study of the CR15
piston has been conducted using three different grid resolutions with
the same boundary conditions and initial conditions in our previous
study [22]. The results showed that the mesh with the cell size of
1.5 mm achieved satisfactory accuracy and high calculation efficiency.
However, the air/fuel flow in the stepped-lip piston is more complex,
the bowl mesh in CR17 piston is refined to 1.0 mm to accurately
capture the interaction between the spray and the wall. The emission
data are taken from the cylinder at EVO timing. For initial conditions,
the charge temperature, pressure, and species mass fractions were
assumed to be uniform in the entire combustion chamber. In the present
study, the minor components (UHC, CO, formaldehyde, and NO) were
not considered in the EGR due to the great difficulty implied by adding
them to a synthetic EGR mixture. EGR is assumed to the products of
complete combustion of a mixture of fuel and dry air [45–47]. The
initial flow inside a cylinder was assumed to be a solid-body rotational
flow with a swirl ratio of 2.1 (in accordance with experiments).
3. Overall engine performance, comparison between experiments
and numerical simulations
In this section, in-cylinder pressure, heat release rate, required
intake/IVC temperature, and emission data of the CR17 piston from
measurements and numerical simulations are presented, which serves
as validation of the numerical simulation of CR17 piston. The exper-
iment and simulation results of the CR15 piston have been discussed
and validated in our previous study [21,22].
L. Xu et al.
Fig. 3. A sketch of different piston profiles.
3.1. In-cylinder pressure and heat release rate
Fig. 4 shows the in-cylinder pressure and apparent heat release rate
(AHRR) from numerical simulations and experiments at SOI of −70
and −39 ◦ CA. When the SOI is retarded from −70 to −39 ◦ CA, the
peak AHRR increases and the duration of combustion decreases, which
gives rise to an increase in the pressure rise rate and peak pressure.
For the SOI of −39 ◦ CA, the simulated AHRR is lower than that of
experiment. The reason is that at the SOI of −39 ◦ CA the spray impinges
on the stepped-lip structure, forming two mixtures above and below the
step (further discussed in Section 5.2). This type of fuel distribution is
sensitive to the SOI. In the experiment, there is an injection delay time
between the energizing time and the actual SOI. In the simulation the
injection delay time was set to 0.3 ms, corresponding to 2.16 ◦ CA for
1200 rpm engine speed which may have contributed to the observed
discrepancy in AHRR.
3.2. Intake temperature
The required intake/IVC air temperatures to maintain CA50 of
3 ◦ CA at different SOI in the experimental and numerical simulations
for the CR17 piston are compared in Fig. 5(a). It is noticed that in the
experiment for the SOI of −28 and −32 ◦ CA, the CA50 is around TDC
instead of the specified value of 3 ◦ CA due to the experiment device
limitation. Hence, the actual required inlet temperature for these two
SOIs should be lower. In the following, validation of the UHC/CO/NO𝑥
and thermal efficiency is presented with the experiment CA50 for all
the cases of CR17, while in the comparison with the other two pistons
the CA50 is kept 3 ◦ CA. It can be seen that the overall trend of
initial temperature at IVC in the numerical simulations agrees very
well with that of the required intake temperature in the experiments.
The variations of both intake temperature or initial temperature under
different SOI show a ‘‘spoon’’ shape; the reason will be discussed in
Section 4.
The required IVC temperatures for three pistons to maintain the
CA50 of 3 ◦ CA at different SOI are shown in Fig. 5(b). The compression
process can be regarded as isentropic when both wall heat transfer and
the low-temperature reaction of fuel are ignored. Thus, the required
initial temperature can be estimated under different CR. It is calculated
that when the CR is increased from 15 to 17, the initial temperature
is reduced by 3.74% to achieve the same temperature at TDC (here
𝜅 = 1.388 and CR from IVC to TDC is 13.8 and 15.22 respectively).
The difference in the required IVC temperature at the same SOI is
consistent with the theoretical estimation when comparing the required
IVC temperature for the CR15 and CR17(15) pistons with the same
bowl shape. Thus, the differences in IVC temperature between CR17
and CR17(15) piston are attributed to different fuel–air distributions
affected by the piston geometry, which will be explained in detail later.
3.3. NOx emission
As shown in Fig. 6(a), the numerical simulation can accurately
reproduce the trend from the experiments of NO𝑥 emissions at different
SOI. When the SOI is earlier than −39 ◦ CA, the NO𝑥 emission is lower
than 50 ppm, corresponding to the 0.4 g/kWh [48], meeting the EURO
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Applied Energy 280 (2020) 115920
VI standard (the IMEP is around 4 bar and the fuel mass is 44 mg/cyc).
At SOI of −65 ◦ CA, a small peak of NO𝑥 can be found which is from
the combustion of the fuel-rich mixture in the squish region. When
the SOI is retarded to −40 ∼ −28 ◦ CA, the NO𝑥 emission increases
rapidly due to the more fuel distributed around the stoichiometric
mixture. Further retarding SOI causes a substantial reduction of NO𝑥
emission due to the higher heat transfer losses. The NO𝑥 emission
characteristics for the three piston cases are compared in Fig. 6(b).
Compared with CR15 and CR17(15) pistons, it can be found that
increasing CR significantly reduces NO𝑥 emission. Compared with CR15
and CR17(15) pistons, CR17 piston allows a more retarded SOI without
violating NO𝑥 regulation, i.e., the latest acceptable SOI with low NO𝑥
emission is postponed from −48 to −39 ◦ CA.
3.4. UHC emission
Fig. 7(a) shows the UHC emissions for the CR17 piston at different
SOIs from the experiment and numerical simulations. For an SOI earlier
than −50 ◦ CA, a large amount of fuel trapped in the crevice region
leads to the higher UHC emission. For an SOI later than −46 ◦ CA, all
the fuel is directly injected into the piston bowl and the UHC emissions
are much lower. The numerical simulation can accurately predict the
UHC emissions trend of the CR17 piston at different SOI.
From Fig. 7(b), it can be seen that the emission of UHC becomes
sensitive to the piston geometry and the CR after the combustion
transitions to the PPC regime with the SOI later than −50 ◦ CA. The UHC
emission of the CR15 piston is higher than that of the CR17 at the SOI of
−48 ∼ −35 ◦ CA, while the UHC emission of the CR17 is much higher in
the SOI of −35 ∼ −20 ◦ CA. Comparing the UHC emission characteristics
of CR15 and CR17(15) pistons, it can be found that the UHC emissions
increase with the increasing CR in the PPC regime.
3.5. CO emission
Fig. 8(a) shows that the current simulation can predict the variation
trend of the CO emission under different SOIs, but the value is higher
than that measured in the experiment, especially for the SOI earlier
than −50 and later than −40 ◦ CA. Besides the accuracy of simulation
method, the difference is possibly due to the error of wall temperature
presumed as constant of 450 K in the simulation. Furthermore, CO
prediction is rather sensitive to the chemical kinetic rates and the
coupling of turbulence with chemistry, and to the correct prediction of
the mixture stratification and spray/wall interaction [49,50]. Fig. 8(b)
compares the CO emission characteristics for the three piston cases.
When the SOI is earlier than −50 ◦ CA, the CO emission increases with
the increasing CR and the stepped-lip bowl.
3.6. Thermal efficiency
Fig. 9(a) compares the net thermal efficiency of the CR17 piston
case from the experiment and numerical simulation. In the study,
the net thermal efficiency is defined as the ratio of the net work to
the total fuel energy provided. The net work is calculated from the
integration of in-cylinder pressure and the change of cylinder volume
from IVC to EVO to remove the effect of pumping. It can be seen
L. Xu et al. Applied Energy 280 (2020) 115920

Fig. 4. Comparison of in-cylinder pressure and AHRR for the CR17 piston at different SOI in the experiment and simulation.

Fig. 5. (a) Comparison of required inlet temperature to maintain the same CA50 for the CR17 piston at different SOI in the experiment and simulation; (b) Comparison of required
inlet temperature for the three pistons.

Fig. 6. (a) Comparison of NO𝑥 emission with the CR17 piston at different SOI in the experiment and simulation; (b) Comparison of NO𝑥 emission for different piston.

Fig. 7. (a) Comparison of UHC emission with the CR17 piston at different SOI in the experiment and simulation; (b) Comparison of UHC emission for different piston.

5
L. Xu et al.
Fig. 8. (a) Comparison of CO emission for the CR17 piston at different SOI in the experiment and simulation; (b) Comparison of CO emission for different piston.
that the thermal efficiency obtained from the numerical simulation is
slightly lower than the experimental value, except for the SOI range
of −46 ∼ −42◦ CA. The overall trend of variation in thermal efficiency
with the SOI from the experiments and simulations is consistent. When
the SOI range is from −48 to −30 ◦ CA, the thermal efficiency is the
highest. Fig. 9(b) compares the thermal efficiency of different piston
cases at different SOI. For the SOI earlier than −70 ◦ CA, the thermal
efficiency of CR15 piston is slightly higher than that of CR17 and
CR17(15) pistons. The CR17 piston with the SOI later than −48 ◦ CA is
more conducive to improve the engine thermal efficiency, especially at
the SOI of −48 ∼ −35◦ CA. The thermal efficiency of the CR17 piston
with SOI around −45 ◦ CA is as high as 46%, while the maximum
efficiency of CR15 is 42.6% at SOI of −35 ◦ CA. When the thermal
efficiency of the CR17 piston is at the maximum value, the emission
of UHC, NO𝑥 , and CO also remains at low levels. However, when the
thermal efficiency of the CR15 piston is at its maximum, its NO𝑥 and
CO emissions are relatively high. Comparing the engine efficiency of
the CR15 and CR17(15) pistons, it can be found that with the increasing
CR, the engine efficiency is slightly lower, contrary to the theoretical
analysis of the Otto cycle.
Comparing heat transfer loss of the CR15 and CR17(15) pistons in
Fig. 10(a), it can be seen that CR has little effect on the heat transfer
loss, which is affected by the fuel distribution and combustion rate [21].
In the current study, the combustion phase remains constant, so the
combustion rate is basically the same in these cases. On the other hand,
the piston geometry of CR15 and CR17(15) is almost unchanged, which
means that the distributions of the fuel/air mixture at one specific SOI
in CR15 and CR17(15) pistons are similar. Therefore, the heat transfer
loss of CR15 and CR17(15) pistons is expected to be similar. The piston
surface profile is more complex for CR17, and it has a much less heat
transfer loss than the CR17(15) engine except for the SOI range from
−50 to −40 ◦ CA. This indicates that the piston geometry has a more
significant impact on heat transfer loss than CR does.
The theoretical exhaust loss of the Otto cycle is 1/𝐶𝑅(𝜅−1) [51]
which leads to theoretically estimated exhaust losses for the CR15 and
CR17 pistons engines about 36.12% and 34.78%, respectively. Com-
paring the exhaust loss of CR15 with that of the CR17 and CR17(15)
engines in Fig. 10(b), it can be found that the exhaust loss of CR17
and CR17(15) is indeed smaller than that of the CR15 piston, and the
variation trend of exhaust loss with the SOI is almost the same, which
is in line with the theoretical analysis of the Otto cycle. The differ-
ence in the heat transfer loss between the CR17 and CR17(15) cases
can be attributed to the piston geometry. Comparing the incomplete
combustion loss of the CR15 and CR17(15) piston cases, the increase
in CR leads to an increase of incomplete combustion loss. The increase
of combustion loss is greater than the reduction of exhaust loss which is
the main reason behind the decrease of thermal efficiency of the CR17
engine (since the heat transfer loss is almost the same). Comparing the
CR17 and CR17(15) pistons, the CR17 piston has the lowest incomplete
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Applied Energy 280 (2020) 115920
combustion loss at the SOI of −50 ∼ −40 ◦ CA. If the SOI for this
piston occurs outside of this window, the incomplete combustion loss
of the CR17 piston is more serious than that of CR17(15) case which
is compensated by the low heat transfer loss at these SOI conditions.
This leads to a nearly identical thermal efficiency of these piston cases
at these SOIs.
4. Fuel stratification during transition from HCCI to PPC
There are three low-temperature combustion regimes involved in
the gasoline DICI engine: HCCI, PPC, and a transition between them.
The definition of these three regimes is based on the fuel/air mixing
state before the onset of ignition in the cylinder. The mixing state
can be evaluated by the mean and the spatial stratification of equiv-
alence ratio and temperature in the cylinder [22]. The mean effective
equivalence ratio of fuel/air mixture, 𝛷𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 , is defined as the local fuel
mass-weighted average of equivalence ratio in the entire cylinder,
𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙
∑
𝛷𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 = ℘𝑖 𝛷𝑖 , (1)
𝑖=1
The spatial stratification of equivalence ratio is quantified using the
standard deviation of equivalence ratio, 𝜎𝛷 ,
√
√𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙
√∑
𝜎𝛷 = √ ℘𝑖 (𝛷𝑖 − 𝛷𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 )2 , (2)
𝑖=1
where index 𝑖 denotes the local grid cell; the summation is made for all
grid cells in the cylinder (𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙 ). ℘𝑖 = 𝑚𝑓 𝑖 ∕𝑚𝑓 is the ratio of the mass
from the fuel in the 𝑖th cell to the total mass of fuel in the cylinder. The
mean effective temperature of fuel/air mixture, 𝑇𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 , and its standard
deviation, 𝜎𝑇 are defined similarly. Here, 𝑇𝑖 is the temperature of the
local cell.
𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙
∑
𝑇𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 = ℘ 𝑖 𝑇𝑖 , (3)
𝑖=1
√
√𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑙
√∑
𝜎𝑇 = √ ℘𝑖 (𝑇𝑖 − 𝑇𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 )2 , (4)
𝑖=1
In the DICI engine, 𝛷𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 and 𝑇𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 can be used to evaluate the reac-
tivity of the mixture, while 𝜎𝛷 and 𝜎𝑇 affects the speed of ignition wave
propagation [52,53]. For the ideal HCCI regime with no stratification,
the 𝜎𝛷 and 𝜎𝑇 are equal to zero. For the PPC regime, the 𝜎𝛷 and 𝜎𝑇 are
affected by the piston geometry and injection timing, and the values of
𝛷𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 and 𝜎𝛷 are greater than that in HCCI regime. Fig. 11(a) compares
the values of 𝛷𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 and 𝜎𝛷 for the three piston cases at −3 ◦ CA under
different SOI conditions. Comparing the CR15 and CR17(15) piston
cases it is found that the value of 𝛷𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 of CR17(15) is less than that of
the CR15, although the injected fuel mass and intake pressure are kept
the same in both engines. The total mole of air at IVC is determined
L. Xu et al.
Fig. 9. (a) Comparison of thermal efficiency for the CR17 piston at different SOI from the experiment and simulation; (b) Comparison of thermal efficiency for different piston.
Fig. 10. (a) Comparison of heat transfer for the CR17 piston at different SOI; (b) Comparison of exhaust and incomplete combustion for different piston.
by the equation 𝑃 𝑉 = 𝑛𝑅𝑇 . The temperature and volume at the IVC in
CR17(15) are respectively about 96.26% and 99.28% of the original
value in CR15. Hence, more air is trapped in the CR17(15) engine
at IVC, results in a leaner fuel/air mixture in the CR17(15) cylinder.
Comparing CR17 and CR17(15), it can be seen that when the SOI is
earlier than −50 ◦ CA, the 𝛷𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 is not sensitive to the piston geometry,
whereas the 𝜎𝛷 is slightly different in the two engines. In the HCCI
regime (SOI earlier than −80 ◦ CA), the values of 𝜎𝛷 in the CR17
piston are slightly larger, which means that the fuel distribution in the
cylinder is more stratified. In the transition regime (−63 ◦ CA < SOI <
−40 ◦ CA), the value of 𝜎𝛷 in CR17 piston is smaller, especially in the
SOI range from −48 to −35 ◦ CA, both 𝛷𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 and 𝜎𝛷 of the CR17 piston
are noticeably smaller than that of CR17(15) piston, which indicates
that the fuel/air mixing is faster in the CR17 piston. When the SOI is
later than −35 ◦ CA, the values of 𝛷𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 and 𝜎𝛷 in the CR17 piston
increase rapidly, and are much larger than that in the CR17(15) piston,
which means that the stepped-lip piston is not conducive to the fuel/air
mixing within this SOI window.
Fig. 11(b) compares the 𝑇𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 and 𝜎𝑇 in three piston cases at −3 ◦ CA
under different SOI conditions. As the SOI is retarded from −100 to
−20 ◦ CA, two distinctive classes of temperature stratification can be
found. The first is for the SOI range from −100 to −50 ◦ CA, where the
value of 𝜎𝑇 is greater than 80 K and the piston geometry has a marginal
effect. The second is for the SOI later than −40 ◦ CA, where the value
of 𝜎𝑇 is around 20 K and is insensitive to the SOI and piston geometry.
The transition of the two classes of temperature stratification occurs
from −50 to −40 ◦ CA, where the 𝜎𝑇 drops rapidly with retarding SOI.
The high temperature stratification class is within the SOI where the
spray impinges to the cylinder wall and/or to the piston top land. The
7
Applied Energy 280 (2020) 115920
low temperature stratification class is within the SOI where the spray
impinges to the piston bowl.
The piston geometry affects the fuel/air mixing process and thereby
the different fuel stratification at different SOI, which results in the
‘‘spoon’’ shape of the required inlet temperatures to maintain the same
CA50, cf. Fig. 5. In the HCCI regime (SOI earlier than −80 ◦ CA), the
fuel has a sufficient mixing time which results in a fuel/air mixture
homogeneous in space, and a high intake temperature required to ignite
the lean mixture. Within the range of SOI from −80 to −60 ◦ CA during
the transition regime, the fuel is injected towards the piston head in the
squish region and the fuel-rich mixtures in the squish region require
a high intake temperature to achieve ignition due to the cold wall.
As the SOI is retarded, more fuel is directly injected into the piston
bowl, where the fuel/air mixture has large spatial stratification, with
both fuel-lean and fuel-rich mixtures. The ignition occurs first in the
fuel-rich mixtures with a lower required intake temperature than that
for the HCCI regime. Further retarding the SOI, the fuel/air mixing
becomes less sufficient and the fuel-rich mixtures are found in the
region near the wall of the piston bowl. The required inlet temperature
quickly increases due to reduced time to heat the more stratified gas
mixture. The experiment and simulation results show that low emission
and high efficiency can be simultaneously achieved by optimizing the
concentration and temperature stratified both low conditions in the
DICI engine. In the following, three representative SOIs corresponding
to different modes will be selected to explore the effects of piston shape
and CR on engine performance and emission.
L. Xu et al. Applied Energy 280 (2020) 115920

Fig. 11. 𝛷𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 , 𝑇𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 and their standard derivations at −3 ◦ CA for different SOI and piston.

5. Effect of CR and piston bowl geometry in different combustion Table 1

Engine performance and emission for the three pistons under the HCCI regime with
regimes
SOI of −100 ◦ CA.
Parameter CR15 CR17(15) CR17
5.1. HCCI regime (SOI = −100 ◦ CA)
IVC temp. (K) 408.8 387.9 383.5
CA10 (CA) −1.108 −1.889 −1.580
It is seen in Fig. 12(a) that in-cylinder pressure of CR17 and IMEP (bar) 3.774 3.743 3.700
CR17(15) is higher than that of CR15 due to high CR, while the peak EISFC (g/kwh) 196.73 198.36 200.77
pressure of CR17 is slightly higher than that of CR17(15). The low- Net work (%) 40.67 40.33 39.85
temperature reaction stage can be identified from the heat release rate Combustion loss (%) 12.67 14.47 18.00
Heat transfer (%) 18.26 18.20 14.54
in the crank angle range of −30 ∼ −15 ◦ CA for the three pistons. The
Exhaust loss (%) 28.40 27.00 27.61
start of the low-temperature reaction of the CR15 piston is earlier than MPRR (bar/CA) 5.74 4.25 4.23
that of the other two pistons due to the higher 𝛷𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 and 𝑇𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 before NO𝑥 emission (g/kwh) 0.016 0.003 0.014
the onset of the low-temperature reaction (cf. Fig. 12(b)). The high- CO emission (g/kwh) 30.38 52.81 72.25
UHC emission (g/kwh) 19.40 18.58 22.24
temperature reaction stage for the three piston cases is quite different:
the peak heat release rate and 𝑇𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 of the CR15 piston are much higher
than those of the CR17 and CR17(15) pistons due to the larger 𝛷𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 .
𝑇𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 of CR17 is slightly higher than that of CR17(15). The peak heat re-circulation zone is near the axis of the cylinder where the fuel
release rate of CR17(15) is higher and later than that of CR17 due to is seldom reached. The fuel/air mixture in the bottom pit is richer,
different fuel stratification. corresponding to the first ignition site, cf. CR17 case in Fig. 12.
Table 1 compares the engine performance and emissions for the As seen in Fig. 14(a), the temperature of the squish region is much
three pistons under the HCCI regime. In this study, PRF81 is used, lower than that of the bowl region before CA10 due to the squish
which has a different low heating value (LHV) than diesel, making wall cooling. Hence the leaner and lower temperature mixture in the
it difficult to compare with the engine performance of diesel fuel. squish region has a long ignition delay time, and combustion in the
Therefore, a diesel equivalent indicated specific fuel consumption squish region occurs during the expansion stroke. Comparing CR15
(EISFC) [14] is defined as, and CR17(15) pistons after combustion, the value of 𝑇𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 in the bowl
𝑚 𝑓 𝐻𝑓 𝑚 𝑓 𝐻𝑓 1 region of the CR15 piston is much higher due to the fuel-rich mixture,
EISFC = = 𝐸𝑉 𝑂
, (5) while 𝑇𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 in the squish region is almost same. The peak temperature
𝐻𝑑 𝑊𝑖 𝐻𝑑 ∮𝐼𝑉 𝐶 𝑃 𝑑𝑉
of the CR17 and CR17(15) pistons in the bowl region is almost same
where, 𝑊𝑖 is the indicated work from IVC to EVO; 𝐻𝑓 and 𝐻𝑑 are due to the similar 𝛷𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 , while the value of 𝑇𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 of CR17 piston during
respectively the lower heat value of PRF81 and diesel. For the gasoline the expansion stroke is higher than that of the CR17(15) piston due
HCCI regime, the NO𝑥 emission is near zero. With the increased CR, to the higher stratification. The reason is that the fuel distribution of
the lower 𝛷𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 leads to more moderate combustion with smaller heat the CR17(15) piston cylinder is more uniform (both 𝜎𝛷 and 𝜎𝑇 are the
transfer loss and MPRR, as well as higher incomplete combustion loss smallest), cf. Fig. 13, which means that the combustion process is more
with higher CO emission. The effects of lower 𝛷𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 are magnified similar to the HCCI mode, while the fuel distribution of the CR17 piston
for the stepped-lip piston, resulting in a larger combustion loss, con- is more stratified, and the combustion process is sequential from the hot
sequently a lower engine efficiency. Thus, the low 𝛷𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 operation, and/or fuel-rich region to the cold and/or fuel-lean region, so its heat
i.e., low loads, should be avoided for the HCCI regime to prevent the release process is more prolonged, resulting in a higher 𝑇𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 during
low fuel combustion efficiency, combustion stability, and high CO and the expansion stroke.
UHC emissions. The variations of CO respectively in the bowl and squish regions
The combustion process and emissions are related to the fuel/air at specific crank angles are illustrated in Fig. 14(b). CO residing in
mixing in the cylinder. Fig. 13 presents the 𝛷 distribution before the cylinder is a result of the dynamic competition of generation and
the onset of ignition (at −3 ◦ CA) for the three pistons. The fuel/air oxidation. For the HCCI regime, the oxygen is sufficient; thus, as long as
distribution of CR15 and CR17(15) pistons is similar. The values of 𝜎𝛷 the temperature is higher than 1500 K, CO can be completely oxidized
and 𝜎𝑇 decrease with an increasing CR, indicating that the distribution to CO2 . A larger equivalence ratio and a shorter combustion duration
of composition and temperature is more homogeneous. The fuel/air are beneficial for a faster oxidation process of CO. The CO variation
distribution of the CR17 piston is noticeably different: the stepped-lip trend of CR15 and CR17(15) pistons is almost the same due to the
separates the fuel into three re-circulation zones in the bowl region, the similar fuel distribution in the cylinder, but the peak value of CO
first one is above the stepped-lip near the squish region; the second re- in the CR17(15) piston case is higher. The reason is that the overall
circulation zone is below the stepped-lip in the bottom pit; the third equivalence in the CR15 piston is higher than that in the CR17(15)

8
L. Xu et al. Applied Energy 280 (2020) 115920

Fig. 12. In-cylinder pressure & heat release rate and 𝛷𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 &𝑇𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 with respect to the crank angle for different pistons in the HCCI regime (SOI of −100 ◦ CA).

Fig. 13. 𝛷 distribution at the −3 ◦ CA for the three pistons under the HCCI regime with the SOI of −100 ◦ CA.

Fig. 14. Mean in-cylinder temperature and CO emission in different region for the three pistons under the HCCI regime with the SOI of −100 ◦ CA.

piston, cf. Fig. 13, thus the combustion duration in these zones is
short so that CO is oxidized to CO2 quicker. For CR17 piston, the
composition is more stratified than that in CR17(15) and most of the
fuel is distributed in the larger equivalence ratio zone, so the peak value
of CO is smaller. Besides, three locally high 𝛷 fuel/air mixtures are
formed in the cylinder of CR17. After CA50, more CO is produced by
combustion of the mixture above the lip close to the squish region,
resulting in a peak of CO later than that in the CR15 and CR17(15)
pistons. Because of the low combustion temperature and lean mixture
in the squish region, CO in the squish region is difficult to oxidize
further. The combustion process in the squish region of CR17 piston is
the worst, so the remaining CO in the CR17 squish region is the highest.
5.2. Transition regime (SOI = −45 ◦ CA)
In this section, SOI of −45 ◦ CA, which has the highest thermal
efficiency of the CR17 piston, cf. Fig. 9, is selected. From the heat
release rate trace shown in Fig. 15(a), the start of the low-temperature
reactions of the CR15 and CR17 pistons is almost the same and earlier
than that of CR17(15), which is different from that in the HCCI regime.
The reason is that before the low-temperature reaction, the values of
𝑇𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 of the CR15 and CR17 pistons are almost the same and greater
than that of CR17(15) piston, cf. Fig. 15(b). Furthermore, the value of
𝛷𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 in the CR17 piston is the lowest, which indicates that the CR17
piston is favorable for the fuel/air mixing. It can be seen from the in-
cylinder pressure trace that the maximum pressure of CR17 piston is
greater, and the pressure decreases slowly during the expansion stroke
which is conducive to the improvement of engine efficiency. The heat
release process of the CR15 and CR17(15) pistons is quite similar. A
sudden heat release rate peak is observed in the early stage of the high-
temperature reaction; then, the heat release rate declines gradually.
The heat release rate in CR17 piston stays at a high level for several
crank angles after reaching the peak. As shown in Fig. 16, for the CR15
and CR17(15) cases the onset of ignition occurs first in the fuel-rich
mixture, where the high value of the joint PDF of 𝛷 and 𝑇 indicates
that a large amount of fuel is in the fuel-rich and high temperature
region to be ignited first, resulting in the peak of AHRR. After that,

9
L. Xu et al. Applied Energy 280 (2020) 115920

Fig. 15. In-cylinder pressure & heat release rate and 𝛷𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 &𝑇𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 with respect to the crank angle for different piston under the transition regime with the SOI of −45 ◦ CA.

Table 2 a large re-circulation zone. With the piston moving up (−3 ◦ CA), for
Engine performance for the three pistons under the transition regime with the SOI of
both the CR15 and CR17(15) pistons, the fuel in the squish region
−45 ◦ CA.
is transported to the bowl region following the squish flow motion,
Parameter CR15 CR17(15) CR17
forming a relatively lean mixture at the edge of the piston bowl. Since
IVC temp. (K) 388.2 363.15 377.77
more fuel flows into the squish region of CR17 piston, the fuel flowing
CA10 (CA) 0.096 −0.292 −0.719
Comb. Duration (CA) 7.738 9.197 7.962 back to the bowl region forms a relatively fuel-richer mixture above
IMEP (bar) 3.937 3.831 4.263 the stepped-lip. As the piston moves down after TDC, for the CR15 and
EISFC (g/kwh) 188.55 193.77 174.16 CR17(15) pistons, the leaner mixture at the edge of bowl flows back
Net work (%) 42.44 41.30 45.95 into the squish region (5 ◦ CA), further mixing with air, cf. 5 ◦ CA in
Combustion losses (%) 6.516 11.411 4.084
Fig. 17; However, for the CR17 piston, the fuel/air mixture below and
Exhaust energy (%) 33.209 30.129 32.764
Heat losses (%) 17.835 17.164 17.205 above the stepped-lip has a similar equivalence ratio and temperature
MPRR (bar/CA) 6.787 6.842 5.942 distribution. Hence, the mixture above the stepped-lip is ignited before
NO𝑥 emission (g/kwh) 1.016 0.633 0.084 it enters into the squish region.
CO emission (g/kwh) 35.69 51.71 21.55
As shown in Fig. 18(a), combustion in the squish region of the CR15
UHC emission (g/kwh) 5.262 12.766 2.713
and CR17(15) pistons is poor due to the lean mixture. 𝑇𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 in the
squish region is lower than 1300 K and CO in the squish region could
not be further oxidized to CO2 . As shown in Fig. 18(b), CO of the CR15
the fuel-leaner mixture is subsequently ignited. In particular, there are and CR17(15) pistons in the squish region increases monotonously and
high PDF mixtures around 𝛷 ∼ 0.5–0.7 and 𝑇 ∼ 900–950 K. Ignition of no obvious oxidation process can be found. However, the combustion
these mixtures gives rise to local peaks in AHRR profiles which results in the squish region of the CR17 is at a similar speed as in the bowl
in the rapid fluctuations after the peak AHRR. For the CR17 piston, the region due to the fuel-richer mixture in the squish region. 𝑇𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 in the
onset of first ignition is at fuel-lean mixture (𝛷 ∼ 0.7 and 𝑇 ∼ 1000 K). squish and bowl region of the CR17 piston is similar. Ignition of the
The joint PDF of 𝛷 − 𝑇 is relatively smoother, which results the AHRR mixture in the squish region is slightly delayed after the ignition in the
profile of the CR17 piston case relatively smoother. bowl, which leads to a reduced MPRR. Since the temperature of CR17
As listed in Table 2, the required IVC temperature of CR17 to in the squish region is high, CO could be oxidized to CO2 rapidly. It is
maintain the same CA50 is much higher than that of CR17(15) due interesting to note that CO variation in the bowl region for the three
to the leaner mixture, cf. Fig. 15(b). Compared to the HCCI regime, the piston cases is significantly different: the peak value of CO of the CR17
fuel/air mixture is fuel-richer, and the combustion duration is shorter; is much higher than that of the CR15 and CR17(15) pistons; CO of the
hence the CA10 is postponed for all pistons. It is interesting to note CR17(15) reduces at the lowest rate; the final CO of CR15 is the lowest.
that the EISFC of the CR17 piston is significantly reduced, achieving the The difference of the CO emission among the three pistons is explained
optimum of all the SOIs. The combustion efficiency is the lowest among by the PDF of equivalence ratio, as shown in Fig. 19.
all pistons, the heat transfer loss is relatively low, and the exhaust loss For CR15 and CR17(15) pistons, the combustion temperature is
is also lower than that of the CR15 piston. Furthermore, the MPRR of much higher than that of CR17 piston due to more fuel distributed
CR17 is also relatively small; the NO𝑥 emission of the CR17 is far lower around the stoichiometric mixture. Therefore CO is oxidized to CO2
than the EURO VI emission standards, and UHC and CO emissions are at the quickest rate and CO peak in the bowl region is much lower
also significantly lower than that of the other two pistons. Comparing than that of the CR17 piston. Comparing the PDF of 𝛷 for CR17(15)
the CR15 and CR17(15) pistons, the EISFC, UHC, and CO increase with and CR15 piston, it can be seen that for the CR17(15) piston more
the increased CR along with a higher incomplete combustion loss. fuel is distributed in the equivalence ratio less than 0.5, and the
As can be seen in Fig. 17, with the CR15 and CR17(15) pistons most combustion temperature of the CR17(15) piston is lower than that
of the fuel is directly injected into the bowl and flows along the wall of of CR15. Therefore, the CO oxidation rate is lower in the CR17(15)
the piston bowl in a clockwise direction forming a large re-circulation piston, causing the lowest CO decrease rate. For the CR17 piston, the
zone in the center of the bowl, and a small part of the fuel is injected PDF is relatively concentrated on leaner mixtures with low PDF for
to the piston head at the beginning of fuel injection, which results in equivalence ratio greater than 0.8. The CO generated in the early stage
fuel distribution at the CA = −20 ◦ CA separated in the bowl and squish of combustion has not been oxidized in time; hence, the peak CO is
region respectively, as shown at CA = −20 ◦ CA in Fig. 17. With the very high. For the CR17 piston, oxygen is sufficient and the combustion
CR17 piston, the momentum of fuel spray drives the fuel flow along the temperature is higher than 1500 K; hence, the CO oxidation is fast.
piston step after impinging on the stepped-lip structure. Thus, more fuel Table 2 shows that the NO𝑥 emission of the CR15 and CR17(15) pistons
flows into the squish region than that of the CR15 piston. The rest of the are high. NO𝑥 is mainly formed in the high temperature region, usually
fuel flows along the bottom pit wall in a clockwise direction forming in the mixture with equivalence ratio of 0.8 ∼ 1.2. Fig. 19 shows that

10
L. Xu et al. Applied Energy 280 (2020) 115920

Fig. 16. Joint PDF of 𝛷-T distribution at −3 ◦ CA for the three piston cases with SOI of −45 ◦ CA. The iso-contour shows the ignition delay time computed for homogeneous
fuel/air mixtures under the given 𝜙 and T condition with initial pressure of 40 bar (similar to that in the engine at −3 ◦ CA) [21,22]. The color and size of the symbol indicate
the values of the PDF, with large size and red represent high PDF and blue low PDF.

Fig. 17. Velocity vectors and 𝛷 distribution at different crank angle in the three pistons under the transition regime with the SOI of −45 ◦ CA.

Fig. 18. Mean cylinder temperature and CO trace for the three pistons under the transition regime with the SOI of −45 ◦ CA.

11
L. Xu et al. Applied Energy 280 (2020) 115920

Table 3
Engine performance data for the three pistons under the PPC regime with the SOI of
−35 ◦ CA.
Parameter CR15 CR17(15) CR17
IVC temp. (K) 386.62 359.64 363.95
CA10 (CA) 0.648 0.539 −0.06
Comb. Duration (CA) 7.499 8.12 9.083
IMEP (bar) 3.949 3.859 3.984
EISFC (g/kwh) 188.0 192.4 186.3
Net work (%) 42.56 41.59 42.94
Combustion losses (%) 5.0 9.95 9.68
Exhaust energy (%) 34.63 31.09 32.29
Heat losses (%) 17.81 17.37 15.09
MPRR (bar/CA) 8.202 9.455 6.258
NO𝑥 emission (g/kwh) 1.332 1.113 1.002
CO emission (g/kwh) 32.56 54.92 55.33
UHC emission (g/kwh) 2.586 8.357 6.899

Fig. 19. PDF of 𝛷 at −3 ◦ CA for three piston under the PPC regime with the SOI of
−45 ◦ CA.
PDF in the equivalence ratio range of 0.8 ∼ 1.2 is the highest for CR15,
followed by CR17(15) and CR17 has the lowest PDF for 𝛷 > 0.8. The
equivalence ratio of all mixtures in the CR17 piston is less than 0.8,
almost no NO𝑥 is generated.
5.3. PPC regime (SOI = −35 ◦ CA)
The case with SOI = −35◦ CA which achieved the highest thermal
efficiency with the CR15 piston is selected to compare the fuel mixing
and engine performance for the three pistons in the PPC regime. From
the heat release rate trace in Fig. 20(a), it can be found that the start
of the low-temperature reaction is delayed to −20 ◦ CA and the value of
𝑇𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 for the three piston cases are almost the same (around 780 K). The
high-temperature reaction stage for the three cases is quite different:
the heat release process of CR17 and CR17(15) is similar and the peak
heat release rate is much lower than that of the CR15 piston which
is different from that of the HCCI and transition regimes. However, it
is interesting to note that MPRR of the CR17(15) piston is the largest,
followed by the CR15 and CR17 pistons, as listed in Table 3. The reason
will be discussed further based on the PDF of 𝛷 for the three piston
cases. From the 𝛷𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 distribution in Fig. 20(b). 𝛷𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 of the CR17
piston is the smallest, which indicated that the CR17 piston is favorable
for the fuel/air mixing at the SOI of −35 ◦ CA.
Table 3 lists the engine performance and emissions for the three
pistons with the SOI of −35 ◦ CA in the PPC regime. Compared with the
HCCI and transition regimes, the fuel distribution is more concentrated
on the high 𝛷 range due to the relatively late injection, as shown in
Fig. 21. The local mixture is richer, and combustion is faster; thus, CA10
is delayed with the same CA50. Compared with CR15 and CR17(15)
pistons, the EISFC of the CR17 piston decreases slightly. The NO𝑥
emissions for the three piston cases are far beyond the EURO VI
emission standards.
The previous section shows that the issue of the straight-wall piston
at the SOI of −45 ◦ CA is the incomplete combustion of the lean fuel/air
mixture at the edge of the bowl. When the SOI is delayed to −35 ◦ CA
for the CR15 and CR17(15) straight-wall piston, the fuel spray impinges
on different parts of the bowl during the whole injection duration: the
spray impinges on the vertical wall of the bowl, forming a clockwise
flow stream that transports the fuel into the center of the bowl; with
the piston moving up, the spray-wall impingement location moves
towards the bottom wall, and the amount of fuel is transported by a
counter-clockwise stream along the vertical wall of the bowl. Hence,
the fuel/air mixture at the edge of the bowl is also fuel-richer, as
shown in Fig. 21, which means that the fuel-richer zone is close to the
piston surface. Therefore, the high-temperature region is attached to
the surface, which results in a larger heat transfer loss. For the CR17
piston, at the SOI of −35 ◦ CA, the spray-wall impingement occurs below
the stepped-lip, causing the fuel to flow along the pit wall, and then
finally separate from the wall to form a mixture with an ascent gradient
of equivalence ratio from bowl wall to the cylinder axis, which can
significantly reduce the heat transfer loss. However, a small amount
of fuel is distributed above the stepped-lip due to the spread effect,
forming a very fuel-lean mixture, as shown in Fig. 21.
Fig. 22 compares the PDF of the equivalence ratio for the three
piston cases at −3 ◦ CA. It can be seen that since the SOI is relatively
late and the fuel has not been fully mixed with air, there is more fuel
distributed in the equivalence ratio range from 0.8 ∼ 1.2 in the three
pistons, which leads to high NO𝑥 emissions in the PPC regime due to
the high combustion temperature. It is known that MPRR is affected by
the combustion speed of the mixture, whereas the combustion speed
is affected by the stratification of 𝛷 and temperature in the cylinder.
In the late SOI cases, the 𝜎𝑇 is lower, cf. Figs. 21 & 11b. Hence, the
combustion speed is influenced more by fuel stratification. The total
fuel mass within the equivalence ratio range from 0.8 to 1.2 is almost
the same for CR15 and CR17(15) piston, but there is more fuel in
the fuel-rich region (𝛷 > 1) for the CR15 while there is more fuel in
the fuel-lean region (𝛷 < 1) for the CR17(15). The mixture with the
𝛷 > 1 requires mixing with the surrounding air (oxygen) to complete
the combustion, which is significantly affected by the turbulence in
the cylinder. The mixture with 𝛷 < 1 burn much faster due to the
sufficient amount of O2 in the mixture. Furthermore, the value of 𝜎𝛷
in the CR17(15) case is lower than that in the CR15 case, as shown in
Fig. 21, which means that the fuel distribution is more homogeneous.
Hence, the MPRR of the CR17(15) is higher than that of the CR15
piston. For the CR17 piston, more fuel is distributed in the mixture
with equivalence ratio less than 0.8, which has the longest combustion
duration, thus the lowest MPRR.
The CO emissions for the three pistons are still high at SOI =
−35 ◦ CA, especially for the CR17 and CR17(15) pistons, as listed in
Table 3. The variation of 𝑇𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 in the bowl and squish regions versus
crank angle is shown in Fig. 23(a). 𝑇𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 in the bowl region of the CR15
is the highest due to the fuel-rich mixture, followed by the CR17(15)
then CR17 pistons. Compared with the SOI of −45 ◦ CA, the combustion
process in the squish region of CR15 and CR17(15) is greatly improved
in the PPC regime. However, the combustion temperature in the squish
region is still lower than 1500k due to the late combustion. As shown
in Fig. 23(b), the CO generation process is still dominant in the squish
region. Compared with the HCCI and transition regimes, the peak value
of CO in bowl region is significantly lower, which is mainly due to the
rapid oxidation of CO after its formation in the equivalence ratio of 0.8
∼ 1.2 where combustion temperature is highest and the O2 is relatively
sufficient. However, the CO oxidation in the bowl region during post-
combustion is much different for the three pistons. The CO for the CR15
piston reduces rapidly because of the high temperature and the lower
amount of fuel distributed in the lean region. CO emission in the CR17

12
L. Xu et al.
Fig. 20. In-cylinder pressure & heat release rate and 𝛷𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 &𝑇𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 with respect to the crank angle for different piston under the PPC regime with the SOI of −35 ◦ CA.
Fig. 21. 𝛷 distribution at the −3 ◦ CA for the three pistons under the PPC regime with the SOI of −35 ◦ CA.
Fig. 22. PDF of 𝛷 at −3 ◦ CA for three piston under the PPC regime with the SOI of
−35 ◦ CA.
and CR17(15) cases are reduced at a similar rate due to the similar
temperature and PDF of the lean mixture. From Fig. 22, the total fuel
fraction in the extreme lean region (𝛷 < 0.2) follows the order of CR17,
CR17(15), and CR15, which leads to the same order of exhaust CO
emission.
6. Conclusions
Numerical and experimental investigations were conducted in a
heavy-duty gasoline DICI engine with different piston geometrical pro-
files, compression ratio, and injection timing. The following conclusions
are drawn from the present study.
• The required intake temperature to maintain a constant CA50 for
different SOI and piston profiles shows a ‘‘spoon’’ shaped profile.
13
Applied Energy 280 (2020) 115920
The influence of the piston geometry is mainly reflected in the
transition regime, corresponding to the SOI of −50 ∼ −30 ◦ CA.
• For the HCCI and transition regimes, the concentration stratifica-
tion is low while the temperature stratification is high. For the
PPC regime, the concentration stratification increases when the
SOI is retarded, while the temperature stratification is low. Low
emissions and high efficiency can be simultaneously achieved
under low stratification conditions of both concentration and
temperature.
• When the CA50 and inlet pressure are kept constant, increasing
CR significantly reduces the NO𝑥 emission, while the UHC and
CO emissions increase. Furthermore, the increase of CR leads to
decreased engine efficiency.
• In terms of emissions and engine efficiency, the piston with a
stepped-lip profile is not advantageous in improving the perfor-
mance in the HCCI regime. CO and UHC emissions are relatively
high due to the poor combustion in the squish region. However,
stepped-lip piston helps to increase the PDF of the fuel-rich
mixture, which can decrease the required inlet temperature and
mitigate the cold-start issue at low load.
• In the transition regime, the stepped-lip piston is favorable toward
the balance the fuel fraction inside and outside the piston bowl
and promotes the fuel–air mixing process in the squish region,
which simultaneously improves the combustion in the squish
region and reducing the MPRR and the emissions, especially for
the NO𝑥 emission to meet the EURO VI emission standard.
• To simultaneously improve the engine efficiency and decrease
the emission, the injection strategy and piston bowl geometry
should be co-optimized to achieve a fuel/air mixture with three
characteristics: a mixture with fuel-lean near the wall and fuel-
rich further away from the wall to significantly reduce the heat
transfer loss; low concentration and temperature stratification to
decrease the CO and UHC emissions; less fuel distributed in the
equivalence ratio range of 0.8 ∼ 1.2 to reduce the NO𝑥 formation.
L. Xu et al.
Fig. 23. Mean in-cylinder temperature and total mass of CO in different regions of the cylinder for the three pistons under the PPC regime with the SOI of −35 ◦ CA.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Leilei Xu: Investigation, Simulation, Data processing, Analysis,
Writing - original draft. Xue-Song Bai: Methodology, Writing - review
& editing, Supervision. Yaopeng Li: Simulation, Methodology. Mark
Treacy: Reviewing, Data processing. Changle Li: Performed the ex-
periments, Data processing. Per Tunestål: Performed the experiments,
Data processing. Martin Tunér: Performed the experiments, Data
processing. Xingcai Lu: Supervision.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to
influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Swedish Research Council (VR)
and Swedish Energy Agency (STEM) through Competence Centre for
the Combustion Processes (KCFP) at Lund University, and the Natural
Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51961135105). The simula-
tions were performed on resources provided by the Swedish National
Infrastructure for Computing (SNIC) at NSC, HPC2N and PDC.
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