2012-01-1134 Published 04/16/2012 Copyright 2012 SAE International doi:10.4271/2012-01-1134 saeeng.saejournals.

org

HCCI Load Expansion Opportunities Using a Fully Variable HVA Research Engine to Guide Development of a Production Intent Cam-Based VVA Engine: The Low Load Limit
Adam Weall, James P. Szybist and K. Dean Edwards
Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Matthew Foster, Keith Confer and Wayne Moore

Delphi Automotive Systems
ABSTRACT While the potential emissions and efficiency benefits of HCCI combustion are well known, realizing the potentials on a production intent engine presents numerous challenges. In this study we focus on identifying challenges and opportunities associated with a production intent cam-based variable valve actuation (VVA) system on a multi-cylinder engine in comparison to a fully flexible, naturally aspirated, hydraulic valve actuation (HVA) system on a single-cylinder engine, with both platforms sharing the same GDI fueling system and engine geometry. The multi-cylinder production intent VVA system uses a 2-step cam technology with wide authority cam phasing, allowing adjustments to be made to the negative valve overlap (NVO) duration but not the valve opening durations. On the single cylinder HVA engine, the valve opening duration and lift are variable in addition to the NVO duration. The content of this paper is limited to the low-medium operating load region at 2000rpm. Using different injection strategies, including the NVO pilot injection approach, the single-cylinder engine is operated over a load range from 160-390 kPa net IMEP at 2000 rpm. Changes to valve opening duration on the single-cylinder HVA engine illustrate opportunities for load expansion and efficiency improvement at certain conditions. For instance, the low load limit can be extended on the HVA engine by reducing breathing and operating closer to a stoichiometric air fuel ratio (AFR) by using valve deactivation. The naturally aspirated engine used here without external EGR confirmed that as operating load increases the emissions of NOx increases due to combustion temperature. NOx emissions are found to be one limitation to the maximum load limitation, the other being high pressure rise rate. It is found that the configuration of the production intent cam-based system represents a good compromise between valve lift and duration in the low to medium load region. Changing the extent of charge motion and breathing via valve deactivation prove beneficial at moderating the pressure rise rate and combustion stability and extending the low load limit at 2000rpm on the HVA engine. It also confirms that strategies using a pilot fuel injection are beneficial at low operating loads but that as operating load is increased, the benefits of multiple injection diminish to the point where a single injection offers the best performance. CITATION: Weall, A., Szybist, J., Edwards, K., Foster, M. et al., "HCCI Load Expansion Opportunities Using a Fully Variable HVA Research Engine to Guide Development of a Production Intent Cam-Based VVA Engine: The Low Load Limit," SAE Int. J. Engines 5(3):2012, doi:10.4271/2012-01-1134. ____________________________________

INTRODUCTION
In recent years a number of combustion concepts have been researched in order to reduce engine-out emissions and increase efficiency. These methods concentrate on low temperature premixed combustion to alleviate the engine-out emissions of both NOx and soot while simultaneously increasing engine efficiency. One such concept,

homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) has demonstrated significant potential but is faced with a number of implementation barriers. In order to achieve HCCI combustion in a 4 stroke engine there must be some method of raising the intake charge temperature to achieve autoignition at or near the TDC of the compression stroke. This can be achieved with the use of variable valve timing to produce negative valve overlap (NVO). NVO is achieved by

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closing the exhaust valves earlier than in conventional engines, thereby trapping a portion of the exhaust gases incylinder and recompressing them for the remainder of the exhaust stroke. The intake valve is then opened later than in a conventional engine so that the re-compressed exhaust can be expanded. HCCI operation is limited to part-load conditions due to high rates of in-cylinder pressure rise rate, making it applicable to only a small portion of the engine map. The higher efficiency at part-load conditions is challenged by the growth of hybrid-electric powertrains in production vehicles, which minimize the use of the engine at the lowest engine loads and operate the engine at more efficient higher-load conditions whenever possible. Thus, if HCCI is to remain a relevant means of increasing efficiency, there is a need for a greater emphasis on expanding the operating regime both to lower loads and to higher loads. More recently it has been shown that operating loads approaching idle speed conditions can be achieved using recompression effects combined with late fuel injection and spark-assistance [1]. The achievement of high load HCCI operation continues to be investigated using methods such as intake charge boosting, stratification and spark-assisted operation [3,4,5,6,7,8]. The requirement for a complex combustion control system combined with the need for an advanced valvetrain possessing a large degree of freedom has been confirmed in many HCCI studies. At the same time the sophistication of cam-based variable valve actuation (VVA) technology has progressed significantly and it is now feasible for a valve train with both intake and exhaust valve timing phasing as well as 2-step lift to be used on a production-intent engine platform [9]. The work presented in this paper explores the mechanism of multiple injection in a HCCI engine, then examines the effect of changing the valve train parameters in terms of valve lift, valve timing and NVO duration. Finally the effect of intake valve deactivation is investigated on HCCI combustion at the low load limit. The experimental investigation presented here is performed using a naturally aspirated single-cylinder engine with fully variable hydraulic valve actuation system supplied by Sturman Industries. The valve train approach is based around the design-space envisaged in a production-intent VVA multi-cylinder engine. The same compression ratio, fuel injection equipment (FIE) and fuel (E10) being used in an ongoing study on the multicylinder platform is used on the single-cylinder platform presented in this paper.

11.85, and the engine is operated naturally aspirated without external EGR. The single cylinder engine is equipped with a hydraulic valve actuation (HVA) system, allowing independent control of each of the two intake and two exhaust valves, including opening and closing angle, opening duration and valve lift, including the option to disable a valve. While this makes it a very versatile research tool for this type of research, it is limited by the fact that the valve opening profile differs from a cam-based valve train. The rapid valve opening, dwell at maximum lift, and rapid valve closing give the valve event the appearance of a square wave rather than a conventional cam profile. This is discussed further in the appendix. Machining modifications have been made to the cylinder head to accommodate the small research module HVA system from Sturman Industries. Modifications include using custom intake and exhaust valves with longer valve stems. While the valve material is different than the production valves, the combustion chamber geometry is unchanged. Other changes to the engine include a custom exhaust system and a Kistler sparkplug with an integrated piezoelectric pressure transducer. In the production configuration from the original equipment manufacturer (OEM), the high pressure fuel pump for the gasoline direct injection (GDI) fueling system is driven by the intake cam shaft. However, because the cam shafts are removed, the fuel is supplied by an externally powered fuel pump. A picture of the engine is shown in figure 1.

Figure 1. Single cylinder engine. Table 1. Engine geometry.

EXPERIMENTAL SETUP SINGLE CYLINDER ENGINE

A highly modified GM 2.0L Ecotec engine with direct fuel injection is used for the study. The engine geometry is listed in table 1. Three of the cylinders of the production engine are disabled to allow single-cylinder operation, a custom piston is installed to increase compression ratio to Drivven Combustion Analysis Toolkit (DCAT) performs the crank-angle resolved data acquisition and combustion analysis. These measurements include cylinder pressure,

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valve lift feedback from each of the four valves and the command signal sent to the fuel injector. Crank-angle resolved data is recorded at 0.2degCA intervals over 300 consecutive cycles, and all references to indicated mean effective pressure (IMEP) refer to net IMEP. Engine emissions are measured using a standard emissions bench. NOX is measured using a chemiluminescence analyzer, CO and CO2 are measured using infrared analyzers, oxygen is measured using a paramagnetic analyzer and unburned hydrocarbon emissions (HC) are measured with a flame ionization detector. Smoke measurements are performed using a filter smoke number (FSN) instrument. Exhaust air-to-fuel ratio (AFR) is measured using both gaseous emissions and a wideband exhaust lambda sensor. Air mass flow is measured using a laminar flow element device and fuel flow is measured using a coriolis-effect based flow meter. Fuel rail pressure is regulated to a constant 100 bar. Engine coolant is maintained at 90C. The air supplied to the engine intake manifold is externally conditioned to 55% relative humidity and 25C using an air supply conditioning unit. The intake air temperature in this paper is measured inside the intake manifold before the intake port. The exhaust temperature is measured in the exhaust manifold directly after the exhaust port.

The limits of operation for the purposes of the single cylinder experiments are an upper limit of the coefficient of variance (COV) of IMEP of 5% and a maximum ringing intensity of 5 MW/m2. The RI relation proposed in [3] is applied in this paper and is reproduced below.

The limit of RI corresponds to a maximum pressure rise rate (MPRR) of 300 to 400 kPa/degCA given the range of peak pressure (PP) encountered at an engine speed of 2000 rpm. This is a conservative limit that would take into account the production intent limitations placed on a light duty engine. When multiple injection is used, the mass fraction between the pilot and the main injection event reported in this paper is measured by injecting fuel at the same operating condition without pilot injection while the engine is motoring. The fuel injection mass is measured by the coriolis fuel meter and the mass fraction is then determined. The large separation of the two injection events reduces the likelihood of injector interference and pressure wave effects to a minimum.

RESULTS SINGLE CYLINDER

The baseline HCCI operating point uses 4 valve operation and 3mm lift. The HVA valve lifts are shown in figure 2. Here the characteristic rise and fall of the HVA system is evident which possesses some inherent asymmetry as indicated. The choice of HVA valve duration was based upon the profile of the production intent HCCI cam profile shown in figure 2.

FUEL PROPERTIES
The single cylinder engine is operated using E10 with the specifications given in Table 2. The ISFC values presented in this paper are calculated using the net IMEP and the fuel mass flow rates measured by the coriolis fuel meter and are not normalized to the energy value of an E0 gasoline. Table 2. Test fuel.

ENGINE OPERATING STRATEGY SINGLE CYLINDER ENGINE

A baseline HCCI operating point is defined at 300 kPa IMEP and 2000rpm. At this operating load we first investigate effects of fuel injection parameter variation and valve characteristics before increasing or decreasing operating load to the limits of operation.

Figure 2. HCCI operating entry point : HVA valve lift profile and VVA cam profile. The negative valve overlap (NVO) duration of the baseline HCCI operating point is 180 degCA with intake and exhaust valve event durations of 104 degCA assuming 0.2mm lift. For a HCCI engine operating with NVO, the

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effect of direct fuel injection parameters is highly significant in contrast to a PFI engine where there is effectively no way to either adjust mixture stratification or to take advantage of fuel interactions during the NVO period. Numerous studies into the effects of direct injection in HCCI engines exist with most proposing the use of a pilot fuel injection before or during the NVO period followed by a main injection event after the NVO period has passed. A comparison of single and multi-injection in the single cylinder engine follows.

Single Injection Event Operation (4Valve - 3mm Lift)

The effect of first using a single injection event is examined using the valve timing shown above while adjusting fueling to maintain 300 kPa IMEP load. The fuel injection parameter varied is DI timing and its variation can be seen in terms of secondary variables in figures 3, 4 and 5. Spark assist is applied with a 20degATDC spark event for stability.

Figure 5. Single injection SOI (NOx and Lambda). The effect of injection timing is significant. The range of stability (COV) and noise (RI) limits can be spanned with a DI timing change from 335 to 365 degATDC SOI parameter variation. At the same time the combustion phasing responds within 5degCA for the same SOI variation and ISFC is minimum at an SOI of 340degCA at combustion phasing of 8degCA ATDC. This does indicate some control scope over combustion phasing and it also shows that operation with less than 2% COV, RI of less than 3 MW/m2 and 235 g/kWh can be achieved within this parameter space, while keeping the valve timing constant. In order to examine the effect of valve duration the previous configuration is re-measured with a valve duration increased from the baseline 104degCA to 112degCA. The valve events are centered around their middle anchor so this means that the duration increase advanced EVO and IVO, and retarded EVC and IVC values. A single direct injection SOI of 320 degATDC is chosen. The effect of spark at this lean operating point is to advance the combustion phasing by 1degCA, leading to a minimal decrease in ISFC of around 1-2 g/kWh compared to the condition where the spark is not used. However, the predominant effect is the change in valve timing. The results are plotted in figures 3,4,5 as single points, where it can be seen that for the optimal combustion phasing of 8-9degCA ATDC, ISFC was reduced to 226 g/kWh while COV was marginally over 3%. NOx concentration was well below 10ppm. To summarize, increasing valve duration from 104degCA to 112degCA at this operating point reduces fuel consumption while operating with acceptable combustion stability. This indicates that optimization of valve cam profiles in a production VVA engine can lead to reductions in ISFC. Nevertheless it must be considered that there exist physical limitations to the design of a conventional cam profile in terms of durability and that the effects of engine breathing seen on a HVA valvetrain may well differ from a cam-based VVA system. For these reasons, overall trends

Figure 3. Single injection SOI (COV of IMEP and RI).

Figure 4. Single injection SOI (ISFC and CA50).

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rather than specific optimizations are emphasized in this paper.

Multiple Injection Event Operation (4Valve 3mm Lift)

The previous section has shown that it is possible to operate with a single injection event occurring after the NVO period and before the intake valve opens. The use of a multiple injection strategy with a pilot event during NVO and a main event after NVO has been investigated in several publications where both exothermic reactions and fuel reforming leading to a greater propensity for auto-ignition to occur have been identified, [10,11,12,13,14,15]. These mechanisms would also be present in the case of a single injection with SOI during the NVO period which explains the change in combustion phasing seen in figures 3,4,5. Comparable effects are seen in spark-assisted HCCI when a single injection event is advanced toward the NVO period, [3].

quantity it can also be observed that its effect reduces as the SOI approaches 360 deg ATDC. This would suggest that the exothermic and/or fuel reforming mechanism is reduced when the fuel has less residence time in the NVO high pressure and temperature phase of the NVO period. By examining figures 6 and 7 it can be seen that the higher pilot quantity advances combustion phasing significantly and leads to an increase in the ringing intensity however operation at a reduced RI of much less than 5 MW/m2 is possible with a range of pilot quantity and pilot SOI configurations.

Pilot Injection Quantity and Pilot Injection SOI

The results shown here investigate the effect of pilot injection using the same valve timing as the previous section with 104degCA duration shown in figure 2. In this section the main injection SOI is 240degCA ATDC (occurring during the intake valve event) and the pilot injection quantity and SOI is varied. In these tests a pilot injection event is necessary when the main injection event timing is retarded to this magnitude. This can also be seen by examining figure 3 where single injection retard leads to increased levels of COV of IMEP. Therefore at this level of fueling the interaction (exothermic and/or fuel reforming) between fuel injection (be it single or multiple injection) and NVO is necessary for stable combustion to occur. The multiple injection strategy used holds the mass fraction of pilot to main injection at 5% and 15% and then varies the pilot SOI. As with all tests the overall fueling is adjusted to maintain a constant load (300 kPa IMEP in this section), involving minor trimming of fuel injection durations. The results are shown in figures 6,7,8. Fuel consumption is approximately constant at 232 g/kWh which shows a reduction of 4g/kWh compared with the single injection used in the previous section and NOx concentrations below 15ppm. Combustion phasing is affected considerably by pilot SOI in a similar manner to that seen with a single injection in the previous section. The combustion stability and RI tradeoff seen in figure 6 is comparable again with the single injection results. This confirms that the SOI of the pilot injection does have significant effect over the combustion event. The pilot quantity has a complimentary effect however where it may be possible to use either pilot SOI variation OR pilot quantity variation as a control parameter. This would allow for example the use of a fixed pilot quantity which has certain advantages in terms of FIE hardware linearity and response that will be discussed later in this paper. In terms of pilot

Figure 6. Pilot injection SOI (COV of IMEP and RI).

Figure 7. Pilot injection SOI (ISFC and CA50).

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Table 3. Effect of main injection SOI.

Figure 8. Pilot injection SOI (NOx and Lambda).

Main Injection SOI

While the effect of pilot injection strategy during the NVO of an HCCI engine is widely reported there is less investigation into the effect of the main injection SOI. It is generally thought that the SOI of the main injection should be early enough to allow adequate mixing but at the same time shouldn't interact with the NVO period in the same way that the pilot injection does. In this study an SOI of 240degATDC was initially used which means the fuel is injected during the intake valve event. The possible effect of the main SOI is examined by holding the pilot injection constant at 393degCA ATDC with a pilot mass fraction of 5%. A number of measurements are then taken using main SOI of 280 and 240deg ATDC. The injection strategy is shown in figure 9 where the intake valve interaction with the main injection can be seen. Using a spark event at 40deg ATDC it is possible to achieve the results shown in table 3.

Both conditions are comparable in terms of combustion phasing and ISFC but differ considerably in terms of COV of IMEP and RI. The main injection event during the intake valve opening duration leads to cyclic variation of peak pressure rise rate and results in a greater variation in IMEP. This shows that in a direct injection HCCI engine, consideration must be given to the timing of the main injection event. The effect shown here was particularly sensitive to the amount of fuel injected. At fueling rates lower than used at this operating point this effect of main SOI is not seen. For reference, the filter smoke numbers do not vary during these tests and remain at the limit of the detection ability of the smoke meter, as is the case in all other HCCI measurements presented in this paper. To summarize, the results of this sub-section investigating the effects of fuel injection parameters show the potential for combustion phasing adjustment. The optimization of valve timing using a 3mm lift profile and multiple injection strategies shows stable combustion exhibiting moderate combustion noise with ISFC at or below 230 g/kWh at a load of 300 kPa IMEP.

Low Load Operating Limit (3mm Lift Including Intake Port Deactivation)
It has been shown that lean HCCI operation is possible at 300 kPa IMEP using either a single fuel injection event early in the compression stroke or multiple injection events involving a pilot injection during the NVO period. Combustion stability at this operating load does not present significant limitations, emissions of NOx remained acceptably low and overall efficiency was high. In contrast, the level of combustion instability increases for a reduction of operating load to below 300 kPa IMEP at 2000 rpm. In this operating region the use of the pilot-NVO approach is found to be beneficial when compared with single injection operation. The interaction between this and the effects of valve timing and duration is discussed in this sub-section (valve lift is maintained at 3mm).

Figure 9. Multiple fuel injection strategy.

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At low operating loads, in order to maintain combustion stability at or below a limit of 5% COV of IMEP the application of both single injection and multiple injection is attempted. The multiple injection strategy with a pilot event during NVO is found to achieve the best stability to ISFC tradeoff. However the sensitivity of combustion phasing to pilot quantity and pilot timing is high. The sensitivity to pilot SOI for a fixed pilot mass is found to be higher than for a fixed pilot SOI with variation of pilot mass. i.e. pilot timing sweeps may be a more effective control parameter, which correlates with previous findings [12,13]. Nevertheless, the amount of fuel injected during the NVO remained important and it is found necessary to inject a greater mass fraction of fuel in the pilot event when compared with the higher 300 kPa IMEP operating point. Stable HCCI operation (defined as COV IMEP <5%) is achieved at 2000rpm at an operating load of 200 kPa IMEP. At this operating point the sensitivity to different pilot injection mass fractions and valve durations is then examined. The main injection SOI is fixed at 280 degCA ATDC (however retardation to 240degCA could also be tolerated at this operating point). Pilot SOI is fixed at 400degCA ATDC and the pilot mass fraction is varied between 5% and 20%. The greatest pilot mass fraction advanced the combustion phasing considerably leading to reductions in efficiency therefore only the 5% and 10% mass fraction cases are shown here. Figures 10,11,12 show the effect of valve duration (both intake and exhaust) on COV of IMEP, ISFC, CA50, NOx and lambda. The effect of deactivating one of the intake valves is also examined and is included in these figures denoted (IV deactivated).

Figure 11. Pilot mass and valve duration (ISFC and CA50).

Figure 12. Pilot mass and valve duration (NOx and Lambda). The valve duration is varied while keeping the EVO and IVC settings constant. This means that as the valve duration increases, the trapped exhaust gas fraction and the NVO duration are both reduced. The valve profiles are shown compared to a fixed cam profile with 3mm lift in figure 13. The combination of a reduced valve duration and increased NVO raises the RGF and recompression effects leading to an increase in the propensity for auto-ignition to occur. Pilot fuel injection is a complimentary approach which via recompression-fuel interaction effects can also increase the propensity for auto-ignition to occur. By comparing these valve configurations we are able to examine whether an increase in the pilot injection-recompression effect is beneficial or whether an increase in NVO duration and RGF is beneficial in this operating region. It can be readily seen that the HVA profiles differ from a cam profile in their rise and fall characteristics. The effect of valve duration on engine breathing, trapped residual gas fraction and NVO duration between the HVA system and a cam based system are not directly comparable. However trends can be evaluated and it can be seen that the data in

Figure 10. Pilot mass and valve duration (COV of IMEP).

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figures 10,11,12 show an increased valve duration combined with an increased NVO fuel injection strategy is beneficial in terms of fuel consumption and stability. Also shown on figure 13 is the HVA 3mm lift profile that was used in the previous section and shown in figure 2. It can be envisaged that a single cam profile similar to that shown would be ideal for spanning the low load limit through the low-mid range of 300 kPa IMEP with the use of valve phasing and fuel injection parameter control. It also emphasizes the control possibilities offered by fuel injection parameters and their ability to reduce the necessary degrees of freedom present in the valve train.

Figure 14. HVA and VVA valve profiles (low load limit).

Figure 13. HVA and VVA valve profiles (valve duration variation). The use of valve deactivation at low operating loads shows benefit in terms of combustion stability. When operating with the largest valve duration and 10% pilot injection mass there is evidence that intake valve deactivation improved the stability-ISFC tradeoff. The mixture lambda value decreased with intake valve deactivation from 1.55 to 1.35 at the leanest operating points in figure 12. Emissions of NOx show no significant change as a result of this change in global AFR at this operating point.

Figure 15. Low load limit cylinder pressure. The experimental in-cylinder pressure along with the results from the GT-Power model is shown in figure 15 for the 160 kPa operating point. The injection strategy and spark timing is seen in table 4. Pilot fraction is 50% of the injected mass and the pilot SOI is 15 degrees before the TDC of gas exchange. This is the most effective pilot SOI at this operating point enabling a significant increase in combustion stability to be achieved. COV of IMEP is 5.4% and the RGF is calculated as 35% from the GT-Power model. Table 4. Low load operating limit parameters.

Further Reduction of Operating Load

A further reduction in operating load to 160 kPa IMEP is possible at 2000rpm with the use intake valve deactivation. This was made possible by the increased stability exhibited when operating nearer to stoichiometric AFR. The valve profiles used at the 200 kPa and 160 kPa IMEP operating points can be seen in figure 14 with the inclusion of the 3mm HCCI cam profile. The production-intent cam phasing system is therefore indicated to be able to operate at this low load limit especially when we consider that at low valve lifts the HVA profile matches better the cam profile and would be expected here to represent the cam profile shown very well.

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Thus, a 3mm valve lift profile with the HVA system allows stable operation at 300 kPa IMEP as well as stable operation at operating loads as low as 160 kPa IMEP with intake valve deactivation. The next subsection presents an overview of the maximum load under lean conditions.

Lean HCCI Load Increase Limit (Naturally Aspirated Operation Without External EGR)
At operating loads above 300 kPa IMEP at 2000rpm it is found that a pilot fuel injection into the NVO is detrimental to engine performance because of overly advanced combustion phasing, and the associated high RI and high NOx emissions. Instead, these points are operated with a single fuel injection. Intake and exhaust valve phasing is used with a HVA valve lift profile comparable to the 3mm VVA cam based profile shown in figure 2. At operating loads above 200 kPa IMEP valve deactivation is not used and the engine operated in 4 valve mode. Figure 16 shows the ISFC as load is increased for maximum torque spark timing on the single cylinder engine. Also shown is the ISFC measured for lean HCCI with the low load limit operating with intake valve deactivation. The COV of IMEP increases to just over the 5% COV of IMEP limit and the tradeoff for combustion stability and combustion noise (in terms of ringing intensity) is shown in figure 17 with the highest load exhibiting 5-6 MW/m2. SI combustion is not normally evaluated in terms of ringing intensity and is not included on figure 17 (for reference the value of RI was less than 1 MW/m2 for the SI combustion points). The NOx emissions and lambda are shown in figure 18. Here we see that the NOx emissions increase with load from under 5ppm at the low load limit up to nearly 60ppm as the limit of ringing intensity is reached. In further experiments it has been confirmed that any further increase in operating load led to increases in combustion noise and a rapid increase in the emissions of NOx to levels above 150ppm.

Figure 17. Load variation for SI and lean HCCI (COV of IMEP and RI).

Figure 18. Load variation for SI and lean HCCI (NOx and lambda). The results shown in this section correlate well with those of previous work and show that both NOx and combustion noise become limitations when a lean HCCI engine platform is operated at higher loads. Numerous other methods of increasing the operating range of HCCI and related advanced combustion strategies, and include include intake air charge boosting [6], fuel injection stratification [8,8] and stoichiometric spark assisted operation [3,4,5]. Intake charge boosting combined with external EGR are the planned next stages on this engine platform, however the scope of this study is limited to naturally aspirated lean HCCI, and it is informative to examine the upper load limitations under these conditions.

DISCUSSION
Figure 16. Load variation for SI and lean HCCI (ISFC). It can be seen that NVO pilot injection during the NVO period is not necessary on this engine platform at loads of 300 kPa and higher. It is found that stable HCCI operation is possible at 300 kPa IMEP without the pilot NVO strategy by using a moderate advance of main SOI from 280 to 300 degATDC. At higher operating loads the NVO strategy leads

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to advance of combustion phasing and an increase of the ringing intensity with non-optimal phasing in terms of ISFC. In contrast at the operating load of 200 kPa it is beneficial to use the pilot NVO strategy. This correlates well with findings elsewhere that showed that the requirement for NVO pilot was limited in the 300-400 kPa IMEP operating region [16]. In terms of the ratio of fuel injected in the pilot it is found at the lowest load studied of 160 kPa IMEP that a 50% split of pilot and main fuel injection exhibits combustion stability of approximately 5% COV of IMEP. A recent study of near idle conditions in a HCCI engine also confirmed that a 50% pilot injection was necessary to maintain acceptable combustion stability with the pilot injection timing occurring earlier than 370deg ATDC [1]. The optimal pilot SOI in the present study was found to be 375deg ATDC in terms of low load stability. Investigation of intake valve deactivation on a VVA GDI engine [17] confirms that in-cylinder air-fuel distribution is reduced as a result of the increase in charge motion leading to a more uniform air-fuel mixture in a direct injection gasoline engine. This correlates with similar findings found elsewhere [18]. An increase in combustion stability at low operating loads was reported in the GDI engine studied in [17] which incidently is the same base engine design as the single cylinder engine in this paper operating with comparable main fuel injection timings. The increase in low load stability in [17] and [18] is found when operating a stoichiometric GDI engine not a HCCI engine. However it is interesting to note that during the present study at the low load limit the presence of a spark event was necessary to increase combustion stability and that deactivating an intake valve reduced the air fuel ratio. This may suggest that the spark assist was more effective when the air fuel ratio was richer. It can be argued that the effect of valve deactivation on reducing the in-cylinder AFR could also be achieved by increasing the NVO duration and/or reducing the valve lift. Firstly, an increase in NVO duration (and increase in trapped gas fraction) could increase combustion instability with the colder exhaust gas exhibited at the low load limit. Secondly, a reduction in valve lift (and duration) from the 3mm profile would seem impractical compared to the ability to deactivate an intake valve, with 4 valve operation used at increased operating loads. The reasons for an increase in low load stability found in HCCI operation when deactivating an intake valve in terms of in-cylinder flow i.e. swirl are beyond the scope of this study and require further investigation.

posed difficulties in terms of the response between injector duration and injected mass. Advances in fuel injector technology advance rapidly and an improvement in the low flow response of the injector would have great benefits in for example control stability. Current efforts in industry strive to meet requirements that are beneficial to multi injection HCCI operational requirements. Implementation of multiple injection SI systems for the purposes of reducing particulates or improving fuel economy are of increasing interest. The need for small quantities of fuel to be injected separately from a main homogeneous injection while supporting a dynamic range of a naturally aspirated or boosted gasoline engine at full load is goal that the industry is working to meet and is one that will be synergistic with the needs of a HCCI multi injection FIE. The requirements of such a system for HCCI involve delivering a high quality fuel spray at quantities at or below 1mg/pulse in some cases. The precision of the fuel delivery at these small quantities is of the utmost importance as it contributes directly to the consistency of the NVO exothermic reactions supporting low load HCCI combustion. Variations in quantity or quality of the injection at this point lead directly to variations in combustion phasing and IMEP. Efforts to address the needs for low flow injection capabilities while maintaining full load dynamic range is a challenge the industry is working to meet as a system solution. The complete FIE must be considered in this endeavor as design aspects of the DI pump, fuel rail, injector and injector driver can all contribute negatively to the achievement of a full dynamic range - low flow injector design if not carefully considered during the design phase of the FIE. With improved FIE hardware, it should be possible to further optimize performance and control of HCCI combustion processes

VVA VALVETRAIN IMPLEMENTATION

The investigation into valve lift and duration made possible by the fully variable HVA system showed that the 3mm cam profiles used in the production-intent multicylinder engine was near optimal in its ability to cover the low to medium 2000rpm load range in combination with appropriate fuel injection parameter settings. Although not presented here, the higher lift and longer duration offered by a 4mm lift profile was also found to be able to effectively cover a large part of the operating region shown using both intake and exhaust valve deactivation while the lower lift and shorter duration 3mm profile type was used effectively at the low load limit region using intake valve deactivation alone. Following further optimization of pilot NVO strategies, a valvetrain using one lift profile on one intake port and one exhaust port may well be able to accommodate HCCI operation at 2000rpm. This simplification would reduce the required complexity of a production-intent valvetrain and easily allow for alternative

LOW FLOW INJECTOR CHARACTERISTICS

The strategy to reach the low load limit of 160 kPa IMEP uses 3mm valve lift and intake valve deactivation. It must be mentioned that the pilot injection strategy used at the low operating loads was subject to the limitations of a standard GDI injector which is not designed to accommodate the low flow rates used during pilot injection. Experimentally, this

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cam profiles to be available for mode switching and for conventional SI operation. Of course the addition of a low lift cam profile intended for operation at different engine speeds than 2000rpm would also be feasible. Nevertheless, the opportunity for valvetrain simplification is indicated due to the wide control space offered by a complex fuel injection system capable of two or more injection events. Since the HCCI operational domain exists at residual levels not supported by spark ignited engines, it is difficult for commercial valvetrain systems to accommodate the breathing requirements of both modes of operation. A four valve system requires an abrupt change in the breathing of the engine employing modifications to phasing, changing cam profiles and de-throttling simultaneously to a high residual, de-throttled breathing mode. This abrupt change, regardless of the valvetrain approach used, is difficult to manage in the transition between combustion modes as the transient changes in breathing always blend residual mixtures incompatible to robust combustion for both SI and HCCI modes. Advanced valvetrain solutions becoming available may alleviate some of the controls burden placed on throttle or phasing control while maintaining robust combustion and a balanced torque output for four valve HCCI/SI transition and control. A two valve implementation, where one of the intake and exhaust valves are deactivated depending on whether the engine is operating in a low load SI or a HCCI combustion mode, may allow for the valvetrain to dedicate cam profiles and phasings per valve for low load to either SI or HCCI operation. This application may have the benefit of utilizing a lightly throttled or de-throttled SI cam profile and phasing. Thi would decrease the controls complexity required for smooth HCCI/SI transitions. The application of such a system requires the exhaust and intake systems also have a higher load cam profile set that may operate with all four valves active. This approach is available today through commercial valve deactivation and multi-step valvetrain systems and is just one of the potential solutions to the challenges the valvetrain systems face to transition across the mutually exclusive domains of the SI and HCCI during low load operation.

The second central finding of this study is a pilot fuel injection event into the NVO is advantageous at the lowest engine loads, but becomes detrimental at engine loads greater than 300 kPa IMEP. The increase in temperature and/or enhanced fuel reactivity that is accomplished through NVO pilot injection is necessary of operation at the lowest loads. However, at loads above 300 kPa IMEP it leads to overly advanced combustion, high rates in cylinder pressure rise, and an increase in NOx emissions. Additional findings are as follows The effect of fuel injection parameters in terms of pilot timing and quantity was to advance or retard the combustion phasing and allow some control of combustion phasing. RI and COV of IMEP are sensitive to the timing of of the main fuel injection at a load of 300 kPa IMEP. The more advanced main injection increased stability and reduced COV. ISFC was not affected. The combustion phasing was sensitive to the SOI of the main injection event when operating without pilot injection at higher operating loads. The use of a split injection strategy at low loads to increase combustion stability shows benefits. There is no evidence for a significant increase in ISFC when using a single fuel injection at higher operating loads. Intake valve deactivation allows the low load limit to be expanded to a high idle operating point Valvetrain solutions supporting transitions to and from HCCI and SI, lessening burdens on controls systems, are becoming increasingly available. A systems approach must be implemented when developing the FIE to be capable of low flow, multi injection strategies for HCCI and maintain full dynamic range.

REFERENCES
1. 2. Wermuth, N., Yun, H., and Najt, P., Enhancing Light Load HCCI Combustion in a Direct Injection Gasoline Engine by Fuel Reforming During Recompression, SAE Int. J. Engines 2(1):823-836, 2009, doi: 10.4271/2009-01-0923. Urushihara, T., Yamaguchi, K., Yoshizawa, K., and Itoh, T., A Study of a Gasoline-fueled Compression Ignition Engine - Expansion of HCCI Operation Range Using SI Combustion as a Trigger of Compression Ignition, SAE Technical Paper 2005-01-0180, 2005, doi: 10.4271/2005-01-0180. Yun, H., Wermuth, N., and Najt, P., Extending the High Load Operating Limit of a Naturally-Aspirated Gasoline HCCI Combustion Engine, SAE Int. J. Engines 3(1):681-699, 2010, doi: 10.4271/2010-01-0847. Szybist, J., Nafziger, E., and Weall, A., Load Expansion of Stoichiometric HCCI Using Spark Assist and Hydraulic Valve Actuation, SAE Int. J. Engines 3(2):244-258, 2010, doi: 10.4271/2010-01-2172. Manofsky, L., Vavra, J., Assanis, D., and Babajimopoulos, A., Bridging the Gap between HCCI and SI: Spark-Assisted Compression Ignition, SAE Technical Paper 2011-01-1179, 2011, doi: 10.4271/2011-01-1179. Dec, J. and Yang, Y., Boosted HCCI for High Power without Engine Knock and with Ultra-Low NOx Emissions - using Conventional Gasoline, SAE Int. J. Engines 3(1):750-767, 2010, doi: 10.4271/2010-01-1086.

CONCLUSIONS
The first central finding of this study is that the load range that can be attained for naturally aspirated HCCI operation does not require the full authority of an HVA valve train, and instead can be done with the authority provided by a flexible production-intent cam-based VVA system. While valve profiles and NVO duration are important parameters, the fuel injection strategy can be used to control the engine through a range of engine loads. Further, it is a valve deactivation strategy rather than a change in valve lift profile that enables the lowest load point of 160 kPa IMEP, making it more compatible for production-intent platforms.

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Weall et al / SAE Int. J. Engines / Volume 5, Issue 3(August 2012) 7. Dec, J., Yang, Y., and Dronniou, N., Boosted HCCI - Controlling Pressure-Rise Rates for Performance Improvements using Partial Fuel Stratification with Conventional Gasoline, SAE Int. J. Engines 4(1): 1169-1189, 2011, doi:10.4271/2011-01-0897. Dahl, D., Andersson, M., Berntsson, A., Denbratt, I. et al., Reducing Pressure Fluctuations at High Loads by Means of Charge Stratification in HCCI Combustion with Negative Valve Overlap, SAE Technical Paper 2009-01-1785, 2009, doi:10.4271/2009-01-1785. Hendriksma, N., Kunz, T., and Greene, C., Design and Development of a 2-Step Rocker Arm, SAE Technical Paper 2007-01-1285, 2007, doi: 10.4271/2007-01-1285. Koopmans, L., Ogink, R., and Denbratt, I., Direct Gasoline Injection in the Negative Valve Overlap of a Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition Engine, SAE Technical Paper 2003-01-1854, 2003, doi: 10.4271/2003-01-1854. Urushihara, T., Hiraya, K., Kakuhou, A., and Itoh, T., Expansion of HCCI Operating Region by the Combination of Direct Fuel Injection, Negative Valve Overlap and Internal Fuel Reformation, SAE Technical Paper 2003-01-0749, 2003, doi:10.4271/2003-01-0749. Song, H. and Edwards, C., Optimization of Recompression Reaction for Low-Load Operation of Residual-Effected HCCI, SAE Technical Paper 2008-01-0016, 2008, doi:10.4271/2008-01-0016. Song, H., Padmanabhan, A., Kaahaaina, N. and Edwards, C., Experimental study of recompression reaction for low-load operation in direct-injection homogeneous charge compression ignition engines with n-heptane and i-octane fuels, International Journal of Engine Research August 1, 2009 vol. 10 no. 4 215-229, doi: 10.1243/14680874JER03309. Aroonsrisopon, T., Nitz, D., Waldman, J., Foster, D. et al., A Computational Analysis of Direct Fuel Injection During the Negative Valve Overlap Period in an Iso-Octane Fueled HCCI Engine, SAE Technical Paper 2007-01-0227, 2007, doi:10.4271/2007-01-0227. Waldman, J., Nitz, D., Aroonsrisopon, T., Foster, D. et al., Experimental Investigation into the Effects of Direct Fuel Injection During the Negative Valve Overlap Period in an Gasoline Fueled HCCI Engine, SAE Technical Paper 2007-01-0219, 2007, doi: 10.4271/2007-01-0219. Persson, H., Pfeiffer, R., Hultqvist, A., Johansson, B. et al., Cylinderto-Cylinder and Cycle-to-Cycle Variations at HCCI Operation With Trapped Residuals, SAE Technical Paper 2005-01-0130, 2005, doi: 10.4271/2005-01-0130. Moore, W., Foster, M., Lai, M., Xie, X. et al., Charge Motion Benefits of Valve Deactivation to Reduce Fuel Consumption and Emissions in a GDi, VVA Engine, SAE Technical Paper 2011-01-1221, 2011, doi: 10.4271/2011-01-1221. Mittal, M., Hung, D., Zhu, G., and Schock, H., High-Speed Flow and Combustion Visualization to Study the Effects of Charge Motion Control on Fuel Spray Development and Combustion Inside a DirectInjection Spark-Ignition Engine, SAE Int. J. Engines 4(1):1469-1480, 2011, doi:10.4271/2011-01-1213.

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CONTACT INFORMATION
James P. Szybist szybistjp@ornl.gov Matt Foster matt.foster@delphi.com

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Research sponsored by the U. S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Vehicle Technologies Program, under contract DEAC05-00OR22725 with UT-Battelle, LLC. It is also performed under cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) no. NFE-10-02739 between UTBattelle, LLC and Delphi Automotive Systems LLC.

CA50 Crank position at 50% of cumulative apparent heat release COV Coefficient of variance (net unless otherwise stated) DI Direct injection EVO Exhaust valve opening EVC Exhaust valve closing EV Exhaust valve FIE Fuel injection equipment HCCI Homogeneous charge compression ignition ISFC Indicated specific fuel consumption (not normalized for E10 fuel) IVO Intake valve opening IVC Intake valve closing IV Intake valve LIVC Late intake valve closing MPPR Maximum pressure rise rate NA Not available NVO Negative valve overlap PP Peak pressure RGF Residual gas fraction RI Ringing intensity SA-HCCI Spark-assisted homogeneous charge compression ignition SI Spark ignition 2V 2 valve operation (one intake and one exhaust valve deactivated) 4V 4 valve operation (one intake valve deactivated when noted)

DEFINITIONS/ABBREVIATIONS
ATDC After top dead centre

Weall et al / SAE Int. J. Engines / Volume 5, Issue 3(August 2012)

APPENDIX HVA CHARACTERISTICS

The single cylinder engine was equipped with the Sturman Industries HVA system. It has been shown in the body of this paper that this can be used to evaluate the trends that are shown with different valve timing, lift and duration. However the characteristics lift profile does differ from a conventional cam and some investigation was carried out to evaluate the possibilities of better-reproducing a cam based system. The hydraulic pressure used to control the valve movements on the HVA system is normally set to an optimum (in terms of response time and stability) which varies depending upon engine speed. The tests carried out here were at fixed engine speed so the effect of reducing the hydraulic pressure was examined in order to reduce the gradient of the valve opening and closing slope in order to improve the correlation between HVA and VVA cam profiles.

Figure A1.

Figure A2.

Weall et al / SAE Int. J. Engines / Volume 5, Issue 3(August 2012)

The HVA profile along with a 3mm cam profile are shown in figure A1. The hydraulic pressure is reduced from 1700 psi to 1000psi in steps and is also shown in the same figure. It can be seen that for a reduction in pressure, the HVA profile does converge on the cam profile. However it must be considered that the tail during valve closing is also retarded when the pressure is reduced which can affect flow through the valve. To illustrate this, the intake air mass flow during motored operation at 800rpm for the same variation of pressure is shown in figure A2.It can be seen that the mass flow through the valve reduces as the hydraulic pressure is reduced. At 1300 psi the mass flow starts to increase in this case which correlates with the point when the tail of the valve closing event is retarding in figure A1 (1000 psi for example). In order to be able to match the cam profile with good accuracy, the valve duration would have to be reduced to compensate for this effect however further reduction of the HVA valve duration is limited. Due to the difficulties in reproducing a cam profile with this HVA system, the system optimal hydraulic pressure is used at all operating points in this paper.