The Influence of Intake Pressure and Ethanol Addition to Gasoline on Single- and Dual-Stage Autoignition in an HCCI Engine

Abstract

Autoignition in HCCI engines is known to be controlled by the combustion kinetics of the in-cylinder fuel/air mixture which is highly influenced by the amount of low-temperature and intermediate-temperature heat release (LTHR and ITHR) that occurs. At lower intake pressures (typically 1.8 bar absolute) gasoline behaves as a two-stage heat release fuel. Furthermore, ethanol blending into gasoline strongly affects heat release characteristics, and this warrants further investigation. This paper experimentally investigates the conditions under which gasoline transitions from a single-stage heat release fuel to a two-stage heat release fuel as intake pressure is increased. Experiments were performed in single-cylinder HCCI engine fueled with two research-grade gasolines, FACE A and FACE C. These gasolines were tested neat, and with 10% and 20% (by volume) ethanol add...