This paper presents a detailed exergy analysis of homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engines, including a crank-angle resolved breakdown of mixture exergy and exergy destruction. Exergy analysis is applied to a multizone HCCI simulation including detailed chemical kinetics. The HCCI simulation is validated against engine experiments for ethanol-fueled operation. The exergy analysis quantifies the relative importance of different loss mechanisms within HCCI engines over a range of engine operating conditions. Specifically, four loss mechanisms are studied for their relative impact on exergy losses, including (1) the irreversible combustion process (16.4%–21.5%), (2) physical exergy lost to exhaust gases (12.0%–18.7%), (3) heat losses (3.9%–17.1%), and (4) chemical exergy lost to incomplete combustion (4.7%–37.8%). The trends in each loss mechanism are studied in relation to changes in intake pressure, equivalence ratio, and engine speed as these parameters are directly used to vary engine power output. This exergy analysis methodology is proposed as a tool to inform research and design processes, particularly by identifying the relative importance of each loss mechanism in determining engine operating efficiency.

This paper evaluates strategies for reducing the intake temperature requirement for igniting biogas in homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engines. The HCCI combustion is a promising technology for stationary power generation using renewable fuels in combustion engines. Combustion of biogas in HCCI engines allows high thermal efficiency similar to diesel engines, with low net CO2 and low NOx emissions. However, in order to ensure the occurrence of autoignition in purely biogas fueled HCCI engines, a high inlet temperature is needed. This paper presents experimental and numerical results. First, the experimental analysis on a 4 cylinder, 1.9 L Volkswagen TDI diesel engine running with biogas in the HCCI mode shows high gross indicated mean effective pressure (close to 8 bar), high gross indicated efficiency (close to 45%) and NOx emissions below the 2010 US limit (0.27 g/kWh). Stable HCCI operation is experimentally demonstrated with a biogas composition of 60% CH4 and 40% CO2 on a volumetric basis, inlet pressures of 2–2.2 bar (absolute), and inlet temperatures of 200–210 °C for equivalence ratios between 0.19–0.29. At lower equivalence ratios, slight changes in the inlet pressure and temperature caused large changes in cycle-to-cycle variations, while at higher equivalence ratios these same small pressure and temperature variations caused large changes to the ringing intensity. Second, numerical simulations have been carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of high boost pressures and high compression ratios for reducing the inlet temperature requirements while attaining safe operation and high power output. The one zone model in Chemkin was used to evaluate the ignition timing and peak cylinder pressures with variations in temperatures at intake valve close (IVC) from 373 to 473 K. In-cylinder temperature profiles between IVC and ignition were computed using Fluent 6.3 and fed into the multizone model in Chemkin to study combustion parameters. According to the numerical results, the use of both higher boost pressures and higher compression ratios permit lower inlet temperatures within the safe limits experimentally observed and allow higher power output. However, the range of inlet temperatures allowing safe and efficient operation using these strategies is very narrow, and precise inlet temperature control is needed to ensure the best results.

This study investigates the effects of biogas composition on combustion stability for a purely biogas fueled homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engine. Biogas is one of the most promising renewable fuels for combined heat and power systems driven by internal combustion engines. However, the high content of CO₂ in biogas composition leads to low thermal efficiencies in spark ignited and dual fuel compression ignited engines. The study is divided into two parts: First experimental results on a biogas-fueled HCCI engine are used to illustrate the effects of intake conditions on combustion stability, and second a simulation methodology is used to investigate how biogas composition impacts combustion stability at constant intake conditions. Experimental analysis of a four cylinder, 1.9 L Volkswagen TDI diesel engine shows that biogas-HCCI combustion exhibits high gross indicated mean effective pressure (close to 8 bar), high gross indicated efficiency (close to 45%), and ultralow NO_x emissions below the US2010 limit (0.27 g/kWh). An inlet absolute pressure of 2 bar and inlet temperature of 473 K (200 °C) were required for allowing HCCI combustion with a biogas composition of 60% CH₄ and 40% CO₂ on a volumetric basis. However, slight changes in inlet pressure and temperature caused large changes in cycle-to-cycle variations at low equivalence ratios and large changes in ringing intensity at high equivalence ratios. Numerical analysis of biogas-HCCI combustion is carried out with a sequential methodology that includes one-zone model simulations, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis, and 12-zones model simulations. Numerical results for varied biogas composition show that at high load limit, higher contents of CH₄ in biogas composition allow advanced combustion and increased burning rates of the biogas air mixture. Higher contents of CO₂ in biogas composition allow lowered ringing intensities with moderate decrease in the indicated efficiency and power output. NO_x emissions are not highly affected by biogas composition, while CO and unburned hydrocarbons (HC) emissions tend to increase with higher contents of CO₂. According with the numerical results, biogas composition is an effective strategy to control the onset of combustion and combustion phasing of HCCI engines running biogas, allowing more stabilized combustion at low equivalence ratios and safe operation at high equivalence ratios. The main advantages of using biogas-fueled HCCI engines in CHP systems are the low sensitivity of power output and indicated efficiency to biogas composition, as well as the ultralow NO_x emissions achieved for all tested compositions.

Energy transition to renewable sources and more efficient technologies is needed for sustainable development. Although this transition is expected to take a longer time in developing countries, strategies that have been widely explored by the international academic community, such as advanced combustion modes and microgeneration, could be implemented more easily. However, the implementation of these well-known strategies in developing countries requires in-depth research because of the specific technical, environmental, social, and economic conditions. The present research relies on the use of biogas-fueled HCCI engines for power generation under sub-atmospheric conditions provided by high altitudes above sea level in Colombia. A small air-cooled commercial Diesel engine was modified to run in HCCI combustion mode by controlling the air–biogas mixture temperature using an electric heater at a high speed of 1800 revolutions per minute. An experimental setup was implemented to measure and control the most important experimental variables, such as engine speed, biogas flow rate, intake temperature, crank angle degree, intake pressure, NOx emissions, and in-cylinder pressure. High intake temperature requirements of around 320 ${}^{\circ }$C were needed to achieve stable HCCI combustion; the maximum net indicated mean effective pressure (IMEPn) was around 1.5 bar, and the highest net indicated efficiency was close to $32\%$. Higher intake pressures and the addition of ozone to the intake mixture were numerically studied as ways to reduce the intake temperature requirements for stable HCCI combustion and improve engine performance. These strategies were studied using a one-zone model along with detailed chemical kinetics, and the model was adjusted using the experimental results. The simulation results showed that the addition of 500 ppm of ozone could reduce the intake temperature requirements by around 50 ${}^{\circ }$C. The experimental and numerical results achieved in this research are important for the design and implementation of HCCI engines running biogas for microgeneration systems in developing countries which exhibit more difficult conditions for HCCI combustion implementation.

One of the key factors of the current energy transition is the use of hydrogen (H₂) as fuel in energy transformation technologies. This fuel has the advantage of being produced from the most primary forms of energy and has the potential to reduce carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. In recent years, hydrogen or hydrogen-rich mixtures in internal combustion engines (ICEs) have gained popularity, with numerous reports documenting their use in spark ignition (SI) and compression ignition (CI) engines. Homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engines have the potential for substantial reductions in nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter (PM) emissions, and the use of hydrogen along with this kind of combustion could substantially reduce CO₂ emissions. However, there have been few reports using hydrogen in HCCI engines, with most studies limited to evaluating technical feasibility, combustion characteristics, engine performance, and emissions in laboratory settings at sea level. This paper presents a study of HCCI combustion using hydrogen in a stationary air-cooled Lombardini 25 LD 425-2 modified diesel engine located at 1495 m above sea level. An experimental phase was conducted to determine the intake temperature requirements and equivalence ratios for stable HCCI combustion. These results were compared with previous research carried out at sea level. To the best knowledge of the authors, this is the first report on the combustion and operational limits for an HCCI engine fueled with hydrogen under the mentioned specific conditions. Equivalence ratios between 0.21 and 0.28 and intake temperatures between 188 °C and 235 °C effectively achieved the HCCI combustion. These temperature values were, on average, 100 °C higher than those reported in previous studies. The maximum value for the indicated mean effective pressure (IMEPn) was 1.75 bar, and the maximum thermal efficiency (ITEn) was 34.5%. The achieved results are important for the design and implementation of HCCI engines running solely on hydrogen in developing countries located at high altitudes above sea level.