Increase of high load limit in a gasoline HCCI engine

Engine operation in HCCI mode allows for improvement of thermal efficiency and substantial reduction NOX emission. The most production feasible solution for gasoline HCCI engine is application of exhaust gas trapping using a negative valve overlap. This technique increases thermal energy of a mixture, thus allowing for auto-ignition at moderate compression ratios. However, high exhaust gas re-circulation rate decreases volumetric efficiency. As a result, achievable engine loads are also reduced. Supercharging can be applied in order to improve volumetric efficiency and extend high load limit. However, increase of amount of intake air can lead to reduction of start of compression temperature via decrease of residuals in a mixture. In order achieve HCCI mode of combustion, temperature of start of compression must be kept within narrow limits. In this study experimental and modeling investigations were presented. Experiments were carried out using single cylinder research engine. The engine was equipped with fully variable valvetrain and direct gasoline injection. Application of mechanical boosting allowed for widening achievable load range in HCCI mode of operation. Numerical calculations allowed for determination of admissible valvetrain settings and intake pressure, which guarantee proper temperature of start of compression.