Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology 30 (10) (2016) 4791~4799

www.springerlink.com/content/1738-494x(Print)/1976-3824(Online)
DOI 10.1007/s12206-016-0951-6

Experimental investigation on the effect of charge temperature on

ethanol fueled HCCI combustion engine†
Harisankar Bendu* and Murugan Sivalingam
Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Rourkela, India

(Manuscript Received January 9, 2016; Revised March 21, 2016; Accepted May 4, 2016)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Abstract

In this investigation, an attempt has been made to study by varying the charge temperature on the ethanol fueled Homogeneous charge
compression ignition (HCCI) combustion engine. Ethanol was injected into the intake manifold by using port fuel injection technique
while the intake air was heated for achieving stable HCCI operation. The effect of intake air temperature on the combustion, performance,
and emissions of the ethanol HCCI operation was compared with the standard diesel operation and presented. The results indicate that the
intake air temperature has a significant impact on in-cylinder pressure, ringing intensity, combustion efficiency, thermal efficiency and
emissions. At 170°C, the maximum value of combustion efficiency and brake thermal efficiency of ethanol are found to be 98.2% and
43%, respectively. The NO emission is found to be below 11 ppm while the smoke emission is negligible. However, the UHC and CO
emissions are higher for the HCCI operation.
Keywords: Charge temperature; Ethanol; Emissions; HCCI; LTC; Performance
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thermal nitrogen oxides (NOx) emission [2]. Low-temperature

1. Introduction
combustion (LTC) was employed in the HCCI combustion
Spark ignition (SI) and Compression ignition (CI) engine engines to improve thermal efficiency by reducing the heat
technologies have been existing over 100 years and been well transfer losses from the cylinder [3, 4]. The HCCI engines use
conceived. However, still there are some problems existing in relatively high compression ratios to achieve the auto-ignition
both the technologies such as air fuel supply, mixture forma- temperature of the fuel that significantly improves thermal
tion, and emissions. Conversion of SI to CI and vice versa has efficiency.
been attempted by many researchers, scientists, and engineers The auto-ignition temperature in the HCCI combustion var-
for several years. Similarly, the use of various low cetane fuels ies widely with a marginal change in the intake temperature of
in CI engines, and low octane fuels in SI engines have also 5-10°C [5]. The HCCI can be used to avoid the NOx
been focused by many researchers. Incorporation of these two aftertreatment in the next generation of CI engines [6]. The
objectives in a single device has been disproven for many HCCI engine can utilize both high and low Octane number
years. Homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) (ON) fuels, and hence, they are also called as flexible fuel
engine technology has been found to be closely matched and engines. Christensen et al. [7] have demonstrated the use of
considered to be a scope full one in the near future. The HCCI iso-octane to n-heptane fuels in an HCCI engine by varying
engine has the potential to improve the thermal efficiency the compression ratio from 10:1-28:1 and intake air tempera-
without compromising exhaust emissions in comparison with ture from 30 to 130°C in steps of 20°C. They reported that the
the conventional Internal combustion (IC) engines. In HCCI fuel atomization has been improved with port injection.
combustion, the homogeneous charge is utilized alike to SI Despite the advantages of HCCI engines, some significant
engine and auto-ignition of the mixture alike to CI engine. challenges required to overcome for a successful HCCI opera-
Thus, the HCCI operation is the hybrid nature of conventional tion [2]. The main issue is controlling the pressure rise rate
combustion processes [1]. The utilization of lean homogene- because ignition of homogeneous charge occurs simultane-
ous charge in HCCI engines suppresses the particulate matter ously throughout the cylinder that results in more uncontrolled
emission, and the lean combustion characteristics reduce the combustion.
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 7735854198
The most effective method for the preparation of homoge-
E-mail address: [email protected] neous charge is by using external mixture formation. Ganesh
†
Recommended by Associate Editor Kyoung Doug Min and Nagarajan [8] have inducted diesel fuel vapour in the
© KSME & Springer 2016
4792 H. Bendu and M. Sivalingam / Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology 30 (10) (2016) 4791~4799

intake manifold, while the Exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) Table 1. Important properties of ethanol.
was used for controlling the combustion. They have found that
Formula C2H5OH
the NOx and smoke emissions were lower but the Unburned
Molecular weight 46.07
hydrocarbon (UHC) and carbon monoxide (CO) emissions
were found to be higher. Singh and Agarwal [9] have studied Oxygen content 34.73 (w %)
the combustion characteristics of the HCCI engine using ex- Research octane number 107
ternal mixture formation of diesel. They concluded that the Density @ 15°C 780 kg/m3
noisy combustion at high loads due to high Heat release rate Stoichiometric A/F ratio 9.00
(HRR). As ethanol is considered to be one of the potential Lower calorific value 26.9 MJ/kg
alternative liquid renewable fuels, recently many researchers Latent heat 840 kJ/kg
have started carrying out research on utilization of ethanol in Boiling point @ 1 atm 78.4°C
HCCI engines. Avinash et al. [10] have prepared the homoge-
neous charge of ethanol-diesel blends (10% and 20% ethanol
substitution by volume) using external mixture formation and Padala et al. [22] have performed image diagnostics of ethanol
compared with the conventional diesel engines. They have PFI sprays. They have found that the short injection sprays
observed that there were lean HCCI combustion and reduced dominated the overall spray development in the combustion
maximum pressure rise rate for a 20% ethanol addition. chamber compared to longer injection sprays. The heat recov-
Christensen et al. [11] have conducted the principal study ery from the exhaust gas to preheat the fresh intake air with a
on the ethanol-fueled HCCI engines and found to be efficient heat exchanger had been studied by Saxena et al. [1]. The high
than SI engines. They have also studied the HCCI combustion intake charge density of ethanol was due to its high latent heat
of ethanol with water injection [12] for further reducing the of vaporization [23].
NOx emissions. Sjoberg and Dec [13] have reported that the This study was aimed to investigate the influence of intake
HCCI combustion of high octane fuels like ethanol might air temperature of ethanol HCCI operation. For this purpose, a
exhibit a single stage heat release only, and not have Low- DI diesel engine was converted into the HCCI mode with a
temperature heat release (LTHR). Najt and Foster [14] af- Port fuel injection (PFI) of ethanol. Due to an adequate mixing
firmed that the HCCI combustion of lean mixtures can be time during suction and compression strokes, a complete ho-
achieved in an SI engine with the elevated intake charge tem- mogeneous charge was prepared. The behavior of the HCCI
peratures with a range of 300-500°C. Iida and Igarashi [15] engine in terms of the combustion, performance, and emission
have investigated that the increase in the charge temperature parameters were analyzed, compared with the conventional
from 24-82°C, increases the peak cylinder temperature after diesel engine with diesel and presented in this paper.
compression, and thus advanced the HCCI combustion. Pers-
son et al. [16] have explored the influence of air intake tem- 2. Experimental methodology
perature on the spark assisted and unassisted HCCI combus- 2.1 Experimental engine setup
tion using a negative valve overlap. They have reported that
either increase in the residuals or intake charge temperature The test engine used in this investigation was a single-
resulted in a low Coefficient of variation (COV) and stabilized cylinder, air-cooled, four-stroke diesel engine. The engine was
the combustion. The maximum limit for acceptable Pressure coupled with an electrical alternator for loading. The intake air
rise rate (PRR) is 10 bar/°CA [17]. The HCCI combustion of temperature was controlled independently based on the engine
micro free piston can solve two major problems; flame operational condition. Thus, high intake temperatures were
quenching and insufficient fuel retention time [18]. Mauyara attained. The properties of ethanol are listed in Table 1. The
and Agarwal [6] have experimentally investigated the cycle- engine parameters are specified in Table 2. The schematic
to-cycle variations of HCCI performance and combustion diagram of the test rig is presented in Fig. 1. All the experi-
parameters by changing the air intake temperature. They ments in this study were conducted at 1500 rpm with ethanol
found that increased air intake temperature causes high PRR as a sole fuel. The modifications of the engine included the
and knocking. However, a higher air intake temperature was following:
essential to auto-ignite the lean air-fuel mixture in the HCCI (i) The cylinder head of the engine was mounted with an in-
mode. They have also experimentally examined the ethanol- cylinder quartz pressure transducer.
fueled HCCI engine using Port fuel injection (PFI) technique (ii) A port fuel injector was fitted to the custom intake mani-
[19]. fold, and an electronic control unit was used to control the fuel
Xie et al. [20] ascertained from their study that alcohols injection.
have the tendency to auto-ignite relatively earlier and produce (iii) An intake air heating system was installed on the cus-
minor emissions. Mack et al. [21] have demonstrated the use tom intake manifold.
of wet ethanol using intake heating. They have studied the
effect of water in ethanol up to 60% blends and found that the A piezoelectric quartz pressure transducer was used to
stable HCCI combustion occurs for fuels up to 40% water. measure the instantaneous in-cylinder pressure with a resolu-
 H. Bendu and M. Sivalingam / Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology 30 (10) (2016) 4791~4799 4793

Table 2. Experimental engine specifications. Table 3. Uncertainties of the instruments used.

Engine parameters Instrument used Range Accuracy Uncertainties (%)

Rated power 4.4 kW CO 0-10 % ±0.03% ±1
Bore x stroke 87.5 mm x 110 mm Gas analyzer UHC 0-20000 ppm ±10 ppm ±0.5
Displacement 661 cc NO 0-5000 ppm ±50 ppm ±1
Rated speed 1500 rpm Smoke meter 0-100 % opacity ±1 ±1
Compression ratio 17.5:1 EGT indicator 0-900°C ±1°C ±0.15
Cooling method Air Pressure transducer 0-110 bar ±0.1 ±0.1
o
Intake valve closing/opening 35.5 aBDC/4.5° bTDC Speed sensor 0-10000 rpm ±10 rpm ±1
Exhaust valve closing/opening 4.5o aTDC/35.5° bBDC Crank angle
0-720°CA ±0.5° ±0.01
encoder
Charge amplifier ±1 ±0.1
Load indicator 250-6000 W ±10 ±0.2

to the maximum cylinder pressure [26]. The cylinder pressure

amplitude oscillation generated in HCCI combustion are 5-10
times greater than that of SI knocking combustion causes
noisy engine operation. The RI correlation [27] is dependent
on the maximum pressure rise rate (dP/dt)max, and also de-
pendent on the ratio of specific heat (γ), maximum cylinder
temperature (Tmax), maximum cylinder pressure (Pmax), and a
1. HCCI engine 8. Smoke meter 15. Port fuel injector term denoted as β. The β term represents the relationship be-
2. Flywheel 9. Pressure transducer 16. Pressure regulator tween MPRR and the peak amplitude of pressure oscillations.
3. Ac dynamometer 10. Charge amplifier 17. Fuel pump
4. Resistive load cell 11. Data acquisition system 18. Fuel tank 2
5. EGT sensor 12. Computer 19. Crank position sensor é æ dP ö ù
6. Exhaust manifold 13. Intake plenum êb ç ÷ ú
1 ë è dt ø max û
7. Exhaust gas analyzer 14. Air heater RI = g RTmax . (1)
2g Pmax
Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the experimental setup.
Yun et al. [28] have proposed a simplified version of RI
tion of 0.5 Crank angle degree (CAD) with the signal trig- correlation with the assumed values of γ, β and Tmax is shown
gered by the crankshaft encoder. The occurrence of cycle-to-
cycle variation during the engine operation can be avoided by æ ( MPRR ´ RPM ) 2 ö
recording a total of 200 consecutive engine cycles. The aver- RI = 2.88 ´ 10-8 çç ÷÷ . (2)
è Pmax ø
age of the recorded pressure traces is further post processed
with a combustion diagnostic software. The averaged pressure
data was used to compute several parameters such as (i) Ring- The RI compares the MPRR to the maximum cylinder pres-
ing intensity (RI), (ii) HRR, (iii) cumulative heat release, and sure at a specified engine speed. Hence, it can be used as
(iv) combustion timing (CA50) [1]. The HCCI engine tailpipe combustion noise indicator [26, 29]. The higher load limit of
exhaust emissions were sampled with the AVL 444 Digas HCCI combustion is defined by ringing intensity and of RI <
analyzer [24]. The CO, CO2, O2 gases were measured on vol- 6 MW/m2 is the acceptable value for noise [26].
ume percentages. The UHC and NO emissions were measured
in ppm. The smoke opacity was measured by an AVL 437
3. Results and discussions
diesel smoke meter [25] and maintained at 100±5°C to avoid
condensation. Table 3 lists the instruments used in the present In this section, the experimental results of the combustion,
study with their uncertainties. performance, and emission characteristics are presented for
ethanol-fueled HCCI operation at various engine loads in
comparison with the diesel operation by varying the intake air
2.2 Ringing intensity (RI)
temperature at a constant engine speed. The engine load was
Generally, the rate of pressure rise is measured in bar/CAD represented in the percentage of the rated load (4.4 kW) on the
and is used as one of the deciding parameters to fix some of engine. The HCCI engine closely follows the Otto cycle op-
the operating limits of combustion noise; the Ringing intensity eration. The knock limit at a high load is extended by the utili-
(RI) MW/m2, relates the Maximum pressure rise rate (MPRR) zation of high-octane fuels like ethanol compared to high
4794 H. Bendu and M. Sivalingam / Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology 30 (10) (2016) 4791~4799

Fig. 3. Effects of intake air temperature on ringing intensity.

Fig. 2. Effects of intake air temperature on cylinder pressure and rate
of heat release rate.

Cetane fuels like diesel. Additionally, the high latent heat of

ethanol suppresses the nitric oxides emissions. While the pres-
ence of oxygen and absence of soot (solid carbon) in the etha-
nol further decreases the smoke emission.

3.1 Combustion parameters

3.1.1 Cylinder pressure and rate of combustion

The main parameters which influence the cylinder pressure
are (i) volume changes, (ii) heat transfer, (iii) combustion, and
Fig. 4. Effect of intake air temperature on combustion duration.
(iv) leakage past the piston. Fig. 2 depicts the influence of
intake air temperature on the cylinder pressure and the rate of
heat release of ethanol-HCCI engine at maximum load. It can can produce aldehydes easily, and hence, the HRR is higher.
be noted that the cylinder pressure data of ethanol HCCI is The increase in the reaction rates with the increase in the tem-
higher than DI diesel operation at full load. The start of com- perature for combustion of ethanol causing early CAD com-
bustion of ethanol occurs earlier by 2-3°CA than that of diesel bustion that in turn increases convective heat transfer losses
due to the high intake air temperatures in the entire load spec- [2].
trum. The HCCI combustion of ethanol indicates that as the
increase in the intake air temperature causes an increase in the 3.1.2 Ringing intensity (RI) analysis
reaction rates. As the intake air temperature increases, the The upper load of HCCI combustion operating range is lim-
probability of molecular collisions also increases; hence the ited due to the high HRR resulting in a high-pressure rise rate
reaction rate increases, while the reaction time decreases. The followed by a heavy knock. This knock creates unacceptable
temperature increment of ethanol-HCCI causes an advanced levels of noise and sometimes damage to engine components.
start of combustion and higher peak pressure. The chemical Fig. 3 portrays the variation of RI with the load and charge
reaction rates are mainly affected by pressure rather than tem- temperature for the ethanol HCCI operation. The RI increases
perature, on the other hand, the important factor influencing with the engine load and the intake air temperature. As the
the peak cylinder pressure is still intake temperature [30]. The engine load increases, the in-cylinder gas temperature in-
maximum peak cylinder pressure at full load is found to be creases due to the advanced start of combustion which in turn
about 86 bar, and a mild knock is observed at 170°C. Simi- causes a higher HRR followed by a higher pressure rise rate.
larly, the misfire occurrence is found at 130°C. Hence, the Therefore, the combustion noise is influenced by the intake air
HCCI operating regime for each initial condition is limited for temperature. However, combustion efficiency improved with
knock and misfire [2]. the increased intake air temperature.
The combustion rate is very high in the HCCI, as combus-
tion occurs simultaneously to the whole cylinder charge. The 3.1.3 Combustion duration
combustion rate largely depends upon the species concentra- The time duration between the start of combustion and the
tion and temperature. From the figure it can be noted that, the end of combustion is termed as combustion duration, which is
ethanol HCCI operation exhibits a single stage HRR due to its measured in degree crank angle. It is calculated from the cu-
high octane number. Similar results were reported by few mulative heat release analysis. The start and end of combus-
researchers [13, 31, 32]. This indicates that, the premixed tion is taken as 5% and 95%, respectively, of the total heat
dominated combustion for the ethanol fuel HCCI combustion. energy is released. Fig. 4 shows the variation of the combus-
The single boiling point of ethanol fuel with two carbon atoms tion duration with engine load for the ethanol-HCCI operation,
 H. Bendu and M. Sivalingam / Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology 30 (10) (2016) 4791~4799 4795

Fig. 5. Effects of intake air temperature on combustion timing. Fig. 6. Effects of intake air temperature on brake thermal efficiency.

and compared with the diesel operation. It is noted that the

combustion duration is shorter for the ethanol-HCCI operation
and has a very less influence on the intake air temperature.
The presence of oxygen in ethanol promotes the combustion
rate and causes a lower combustion duration. At full load, the
combustion duration for ethanol is below 9.5° crank angle,
whereas for diesel is 37° crank angle. The higher combustion
duration for diesel is due to direct injection inside the combus-
tion chamber.

3.1.4 Combustion timing (CA50)

Fig. 7. Effect of intake air temperature on combustion efficiency.
The combustion timing is another important factor in the
HCCI mode characterized by CA50, the position of crank at
which 50% of the total heat released. For better performance for the lower engine loads due to the retarded start of combus-
of the HCCI engine, the CA50 must be controlled effectively. tion. The convective heat losses from the HCCI engine are
As the load increases, the CA50 window for the stable HCCI lower due to (i) the lower combustion temperature, (ii) shorter
engine operation becomes narrowed making the engine con- combustion duration, and (iii) little soot formation due to ho-
trol more challenging [33, 34]. The combustion stability and mogeneous mixture preparation. The advanced start of com-
combustion noise are controlled with CA50. Fig. 5 shows the bustion leads to the high HRR and higher combustion tem-
variation of the combustion timing with engine load for the peratures. Therefore, the heat loss increases from the surfaces
ethanol-HCCI operation and compared with diesel operation. of the piston and cylinder thus the net work done decreases.
The CA50 for diesel increases with the engine load probably On the other hand, retarding the start of combustion results in
due to increase in the fuel injection quantity. However, for a poor combustion efficiency due to lower combustion tem-
ethanol CA50 advances with the increase in the intake air perature and increased emissions. The maximum thermal effi-
temperature and engine load due to increase in the equivalence ciency for the ethanol HCCI operation is found to be 43% at
ratio of premixed ethanol with the engine load. At full load, 170°C. As the intake air temperature increases, the BTE also
the CA50 for ethanol is 1° before the Top dead center (TDC) increases for all the engine loads maybe due to the higher
for 170°C intake air temperature, which tends to a high com- combustion efficiency.
bustion noise at the high load that limits the operating range of
the ethanol HCCI operation. Since lack of direct control 3.2.2 Combustion efficiency
mechanism for the start of ignition in the PFI technique, the The effectiveness of fuel burning in the engine is measured
higher load limit of HCCI combustion is limited by a knock. by combustion efficiency. This can be calculated as the ratio
of cumulative HRR to the total heat energy supplied. Fig. 7
illustrates the variation of combustion efficiency with engine
3.2 Performance
load for the ethanol-HCCI operation and compared with the
3.2.1 Brake thermal efficiency (BTE) diesel operation. The combustion efficiency increases with the
The HCCI technology offers a higher brake thermal effi- engine load as well as with the intake air temperature due to
ciency than those of SI and CI engines [27]. The BTE mainly an increased overall in-cylinder temperature. At high intake
depends on the efficiency of combustion, compression ratio temperatures, the fuel oxidation reactions proceed at faster
and combustion phasing [8]. Fig. 6 shows the variation of rates leading to a complete combustion. The combustion effi-
BTE with engine load for the ethanol HCCI operation and ciency of ethanol is found to be 98.2% for 170°C probably
compared with diesel operation. The lower BTE is observed due to the oxygen content in the fuel.
4796 H. Bendu and M. Sivalingam / Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology 30 (10) (2016) 4791~4799

Fig. 8. Effects of intake air temperature on the exhaust gas tempera- Fig. 10. Effects of intake air temperature on CO emissions.
ture.
than that of diesel which is due to the low-temperature com-
bustion of ethanol.

3.3.2 Carbon-monoxide (CO) emissions

In the HCCI engines, the carbon-monoxide (CO) emissions
were formed due to insufficient oxidation temperature of the
gases caused by the LTC. Fig. 10 portrays the variations of
CO emission with the engine load for the ethanol-HCCI
operation and compared with diesel operation. The decrease in
the CO emission is observed with the engine load due to in-
crease in the peak cylinder temperature. The lower CO
emission is due to advanced start of combustion while high
Fig. 9. Effects of intake air temperature on UHC emissions. CO emission is due to late combustion phasing [35]. The CO
emission for the ethanol HCCI operation is higher than diesel
3.2.3 Exhaust gas temperature (EGT) operation due to lower combustion temperature. The CO
Fig. 9 shows the variation of EGT with the engine load for emission is higher at a lower intake air temperature (130°C)
the ethanol-HCCI operation and compared with the diesel and loads due to misfire. The lower load limit of the ethanol-
operation. The EGT increases with the engine load for all fueled HCCI operation is constrained by the CO emission.
intake temperatures, as expected. However, the EGT de-
creases with the intake temperature. As the intake temperature 3.3.3 Nitric oxide (NO) emission
increases, the start of combustion is advanced which is due to The three principal factors that affect the formation of nitric
the faster chemical kinetics and reaction rates. An early start oxide (NO) in any combustor are (i) availability of oxygen
of combustion with the short combustion duration causes high and nitrogen, (ii) temperature favorability of the burned gases,
convective heat transfer. This in turn increases the burned hot and (iii) the residence time. The blends of alcohols signifi-
gases residence time within the cylinder causes reduction in cantly reduces the exhaust emissions and improves efficiency
the EGT. [36].
In IC engine the NO is formed during the post-flame com-
bustion process in the region of high temperature. The NO
3.3 Engine emission analysis
formation is very sensitive towards the temperature and the
3.3.1 Unburned hydrocarbon (UHC) oxygen concentration. Since the oxygen concentration is cru-
The formation of UHC emissions in the HCCI engines indi- cial for combustion efficiency, the combustion temperature
cates the incomplete combustion of hydrocarbon fuel due to a must be decreased to avoid the formation of the nitric oxides
LTC. The combustion temperature is much lower near the [37]. Fig. 11 depicts the change in the NO emission with the
walls of the combustion chamber due to heat losses. Greater engine load in comparison to the diesel operation. The in-
parts of UHC emissions arises from the combustion chamber crease in the NO emission is observed with the engine load for
wall regions [12]. Fig. 9 portrays the variation of the UHC the ethanol HCCI operation because of high combustion tem-
emissions with engine load for the ethanol-HCCI operation perature of the burned gases. The increase in the residence
and compared with the diesel operation. The decrease in the time of the burned gases with increase in the intake tempera-
UHC emission with the engine load was observed from the ture causes high NO emission due to the early start of combus-
figure due to an increase in the equivalence ratio with the load. tion. For diesel, the NO emission is higher compared to that of
Also, the higher intake air temperature decreases the UHC ethanol due to diffusion combustion. The NO emission is 96%
emissions. In HCCI operation of ethanol, the UHC is higher lower for PFI of the ethanol HCCI operation compared to that
 H. Bendu and M. Sivalingam / Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology 30 (10) (2016) 4791~4799 4797

4. Conclusions
In this investigation, the HCCI operation was examined by
applying the charge heating strategy in a single cylinder, four-
stroke diesel engine fueled with ethanol at 1500 rpm. The inlet
air temperature was changed from 130-170°C at a step of
10°C, and the homogeneous charge was prepared using PFI of
ethanol. Since the homogeneous mixture was prepared outside
the engine cylinder, wall wetting and mixing did not arise.
The effect of intake air temperature on the auto-ignition tim-
ing, heat release rate, combustion timing and emissions on the
Fig. 11. The changes in the NO emissions with the engine load and ethanol-fueled HCCI engine were studied and compared with
intake temperature compared to diesel fuel. the standard DI diesel operation. From the results of this in-
vestigation, the following conclusions are drawn.
·Increasing the intake air temperature advanced the com-
bustion phase and decreased the EGT.
·The increase in the intake air temperature increased the
in-cylinder pressure and ethanol are more sensitive to the
intake air temperature.
·The operating regime of HCCI was limited. The higher
load was limited by combustion noise, and the lower
load was limited by the CO emissions.
·Maximum combustion efficiency and thermal efficiency
for the ethanol HCCI operation was found 98.2% and
43% respectively for intake temperature of 170°C.
·The UHC and CO emissions were found to be higher for
Fig. 12. The changes in the smoke emissions with the engine load and the ethanol HCCI operation than that of diesel DI opera-
intake temperature compared to diesel fuel. tion due to low-temperature combustion.
·The NO emissions were found to be about 11 ppm for
of diesel operation. The maximum NO emission is observed at the ethanol HCCI, which was about 97% lower com-
full load. At full load operation, the maximum NO emission of pared to that of diesel DI operation.
11 ppm is noticed for the ethanol-fueled HCCI operation for ·The smoke opacity for the ethanol HCCI operation was
170°C charge temperature. below 0.1% which is negligible compared to that of die-
sel DI operation.
3.3.4 Smoke opacity
The three principle factors that affect the formation of
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 H. Bendu and M. Sivalingam / Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology 30 (10) (2016) 4791~4799 4799

05.061. Harisankar Bendu received his

[36] A. Datta and B. K. Mandal, Numerical investigation of the M.Tech. degree in Mechanical engineer-
performance and emission parameters of a diesel engine fu- ing from NIT Rourkela, India in 2010.
elled with diesel - biodiesel - methanol blends, J. Mech. Sci. Currently he is a Ph.D. scholar of NIT
Technol., 30 (2016) 1923-1929, doi:10.1007/s12206-016- Rourkela in Mechanical engineering
0351-y. since 2012. He worked as Assistant
[37] A. Sharma and S. Murugan, Investigation on the behaviour Professor for 2 years. He is carrying out
of a DI diesel engine fueled with Jatropha Methyl Ester research work in the field of HCCI en-
(JME) and Tyre Pyrolysis Oil (TPO) blends, Fuel, 108 gines. His research interests include alternative fuels, emission
(2013) 699-708, doi:10.1016/j.fuel.2012.12.042. control, thermodynamics and LTC.