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Study of the compression ratio influence on the performance of an advanced

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Conference Paper · September 2008

DOI: 10.13140/2.1.4448.8009

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 THIESEL 2008 Conference on Thermo- and Fluid Dynamic Processes in Diesel Engines

Study of the compression ratio influence on the performance of an

advanced automotive diesel engine operating in conventional and
PCCI combustion mode

C. Beatrice, C. Guido, N. Del Giacomo and C. Bertoli

Istituto Motori – Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Viale Marconi 8, 80125 Napoli, Italy.

E-mail: c.beatrice@im.cnr.it
Telephone: +(39) 081 7177 186
Fax: +(39) 081 2396 097

Abstract. The present paper, carried out in a collaborative project between Istituto Motori and Centro Ricerche
Fiat, describes a detailed experimental analysis on the effect of the compression ratio on the performance of a
diesel engine operating both with an EURO 4 calibration (conventional combustion) and with an advanced low
NOx calibration, approaching the estimated EURO 6 emission limits (PCCI combustion). The employed engine
was the four-cylinder FIAT 1.9 Liter 16 Valve MultiJet. Starting from a reference engine configuration with a
compression ratio of 16.5, the compression ratio was reduced in two steps to 15.5 and 14.5 respectively. Each
compression ratio value was characterized in terms of thermodynamic parameters, emissions and fuel consump-
tion in some operating test points representative of the engine behaviour running on the NEDC cycle. The results
allowed the definition of the optimum range values of the compression ratio able to minimize the NOx-
particulate trade-off coupled with acceptable increment in unburned compound emissions (HCs+CO) and spe-
cific fuel consumption, helping to the definition of the guide-lines for the future EURO 6 engine design.

Notation

AR Aspect ratio.
BSFC Brake specific fuel consumption.
C.A. Crank angle.
CR Compression Ratio.
DOC Diesel Oxidation Catalyst.
dp/dtmax Maximum gradient value versus time of the cylinder pressure.
dp/dθmax Maximum gradient value versus crank angle of the cylinder pressure.
DPF Diesel Particulate Filter.
EGR Exhaust Gas Recirculation.
FC Fuel consumption.
Iz Moment of inertia with respect Z axis.
K-factor K-factor.
LD Light Duty Engine.
MBF50% Angular position corresponding to the 50% of Burned Fuel Mass, with respect to the
TDC.
Mz Momentum with respect Z axis.
NEDC New European Driving Cycle
PAH Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.
PCCI Premixed Combustion Compression Ignition.
Prail Pressure in the common rail.
Qpil Pilot injection quantity.
RR Reentrat ratio.
TDC Top Dead Center.
VCR Variable Compression ratio.
2 C. Beatrice, C. Bertoli, C. Guido, N. Del Giacomo

SOI Start Of Injection timing.

SOImain Start of main injection under conventional combustion and start of single shot injection with
PCCI operating mode.
SR Swirl Ratio.
St% Percentage of the opening position of swirl control flap in the intake duct.
Texh Engine exhaust temperature upstream turbine.
τid Ignition delay time.
VGT Variable Geometry Turbine.
VGT% Percentage of the opening position of VGT.

1. Introduction

A large field of the internal combustion engine research is today dedicated to the investigation on the new con-
cept of Premixed Combustion Compression Ignition (PCCI) operation mode. Despite the interesting advantages
offered by PCCI condition in terms of very low NOx and soot emissions, several problems still remain for its
large application to the modern diesel engines.
At the moment, one of the main issues, is the limitation of its use in the low and medium load/speed range of the
whole engine operating map, due to the difficulties in controlling contemporary both the premixed air-fuel
charge and the ignition timing. The extension to higher speed and load ranges, in fact, is coupled with problems
of combustion noise control and excessive fuel consumption increment (Beatrice et al., 2007). At the same time,
of course, it is essential to enlarge the PCCI applicability in the whole NEDC cycle, to take advantage of its well
known potentiality in reaching the very low NOx emissions in view of the future EURO 6 regulation. However
even if a further development in PCCI combustion does not guarantee the fulfilment EURO 6 limit, requiring a
foreseeable application of complex after-treatment systems as DeNOx plus DPF, PCCI use will help to reduce
the “load factor” on the exhaust catalytic systems, reducing the fuel consumption increment required for system
regeneration.
Many engine operating and geometrical parameters have a strong influence on both the quality of the premixed
charge and ignition timing and as a consequence on combustion characteristics of PCCI in the diesel engines
(Beatrice et al., 2007). Some operating parameters are quickly and precisely controlled by the adoption of tech-
nologically advanced accessories as swirl throttle valves, sophisticated turbo and EGR systems, variable valve
actuation system and so on. However, among all, the most effective parameter in controlling the ignition delay
time, by means of the controlled pressure and temperature values at TDC, remains the compression ratio (CR)
(Wagner et al., 2003; Kitabatake et al., 2007, Hamada et al., 2005). A lot of technological solutions for the reali-
zation of the real variable compression engine (VCR) are under development, but up to now they are still in the
prototype version; an example can be found in David at al. (2006). Therefore, in order to extend the PCCI appli-
cability to the modern light duty engines to the greatest possible engine operating area, the compression ratio has
to be chosen carefully. In fact, a too low CR value, if permits a long ignition delay period and so high premixing
air-fuel level (Hamada et al., 2005), it suffers for cold engine startability and reduced engine efficiency, mainly
at high load. On the contrary, an high CR gives no problems in cold starting and permits good performance at
high load but limits the premixing air-fuel time and the EGR tolerance thus reducing the benefits of PCCI com-
bustion.
To this aim, an extensive research program was planned between Istituto Motori and Centro Ricerche Fiat. The
experimental program lasted two years including both simulation and experimental activities. At the end of the
activities a complete database on the performance of the FIAT LD diesel engine versus compression ratio value
was carried out. Some of these results were already presented in a previous paper (Imarisio et al., 2007).
The present paper describes a part of the research activities performed within the project and in particular the re-
sults collected testing three different compression ratio values in a reference four-cylinder engine running in
conventional diesel and PCCI combustion mode. The explored CR values were chosen in cooperation with
Centro Ricerche Fiat on the basis of a preliminary analysis in a range of possible real solutions for the next gen-
eration of LD engines, taking into account also the current worldwide trends in diesel engine CR reduction.
In the following, the methodology used for the design of the piston geometries, the engine test bench characteris-
tics, the adopted testing methodology and the results analysis are described in detail.
The effect of compression ratio on LD diesel engines was explored in various previous experimental works;
some of them are reported in literature (Hamada et al., 2005, Kimura et al., 2001, Miyamoto et al., 2007, Walter
and Gatellier, 2003 Pedersen and Schramm, 2007, Araki et al., 2005, Laguitton et al., 2006) and regard studies
mainly performed on single-cylinder research engines. However a critical approach to the exploitation of low CR
values for emission reduction on both conventional and PCCI combustion is not present in literature until now.
Following this aim, the peculiarity of the present paper is the analysis of the effect of CR reduction on the per-
 Compression Ratio Influence on an Advanced PCCI Diesel Engine Performance 3

formance of a four-cylinder engine, at the state of the art of the current technology, and with the imposition of
realistic limits in smoke emission, combustion noise and fuel consumption increment with respect to the current
standards. This testing methodology will be carefully described in a dedicated section.

2. Reference four-cylinder engine

The engine selected for the research is the FIAT 1.9 MultiJet. Its displacement represent the most popular size of
diesel engine for passenger car in the European market. The main characteristics of the engine in its EURO 4
version are listed in Table 1.

Table 1. FIAT 1.9 MultiJet specifications

Engine type In-line 4 cylinders
Bore [mm] 82.0
Stroke [mm] 90.0
Compression Ratio 17.5
Displacement [cm3] 1910
Valves per cylinder 4
Bosch Common Rail 2nd generation
Injection system
(1600 bar of maximum injection pressure)
Injector Bosch CRIP 2.2, Centred 7 holes microsac
Turbocharger Single stage VGT, model Garrett GT1749MV
Swirl control Throttle valve on intake duct electronically controlled
Catalyst system Closed-couple DOC plus underfloor DOC
Maximum Power 112 kW @ 4200 rpm
Maximum Torque 320 Nm @ 2000 rpm

The engine is fully instrumented for indicated signal measurements in each cylinder (cylinder pressure, injection
pressure, energizing injector current). At the engine exhaust, smoke was measured by a high-resolution (0.01
FSN) smoke meter (AVL415S), while gaseous emissions were measured upstream and downstream the oxida-
tion catalyst by means of an analysis test bench (AVL-CEB-2).
An overview of the engine layout scheme with the main sensors positions is displayed in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1. FIAT 1.9 MultiJet engine layout.

The fuel employed for the tests is a commercial low sulphur diesel fuel, sold in Italy by AGIP Petroli with the
name of “BluDiesel”, whose characteristics, respecting the EN 590 standards, are listed in Table 2.
4 C. Beatrice, C. Bertoli, C. Guido, N. Del Giacomo

Table 2. Main specifications of the employed fuel

Density [Kg/m3] 830.0
Kinematic viscosity [mm2/s] 3
Flash point [°C] 55
Water, max [mg/Kg]] 200
Distillation temperature [°C] 65%> 250
(% of volume recovered) 85%< 350
Ash, max [% weight] 0.01
Sulfur, max [mg/Kg] 10
Cetane number 51
PAH content, max [% weight] 11
Net Heating Value [MJ/Kg] 43,1
C:H Ratio (H=1) 6,4

3. Compression ratio value selection and piston bowl design

The current CR standard of most of the EURO 4 engines is in the range 17.0÷18.0. The reference engine in its
EURO 4 production version is 17.5 (see Table 1). However a brief survey on the most advanced LD PCCI en-
gines reported in literature, points out that the modified engines have a CR value in the range between 17 and 12
approximately (Imarisio et al., 2006, Hotta et al., 2005, Kanda et al. 2005, Kawamoto et al., 2004, Huang et al.,
2005, Araki et al., 2005, Helmantel and Denbratt, 2006, Duret et al., 2004, Vignaud et al., 2006, Cooper et al.,
2006). Also the last trends in diesel engine development indicate a tendency in compression ratio reduction in a
range between 16.5 and 15.5 (Imarisio et al., 2006, Hara et al., 2004).
Looking at the results of the papers dedicated to the analysis of the CR effect on PCCI performance (Wagner et
al., 2003; Kitabatake et al., 2007, Hamada et al., 2005, Walter and Gatellier, 2003 Pedersen and Schramm, 2007,
Araki et al., 2005) it appears clear that the reduction of CR in a range of 14÷16, with respect to the current value
of EURO 4 engine, permits the increment of upper engine load limit curve of PCCI applicability, without dete-
rioration of BSFC. However, as a general overview and as clarified in the introduction, it is unclear which are
the real limits in CR reduction, considering some practical constrains as BSFC and noise increment that have to
be maintained within limit values.
On the basis of the above considerations, three scaled CR values were selected for the experimental program:
16.5, 15.5 and 14.5.
The designs of the three piston bowls, corresponding to the three CR values, were carefully performed with the
3D simulation by Centro Ricerche Fiat.
Starting from the design of the EURO 4 piston shape, the following guide-lines for piston shape design were
met:
• To maintain the same air flow structure at the end of compression stroke in order to assure about the
same swirl and turbulence characteristics versus CR;
• To avoid an increase in the squish height and keep constant the internal diameter, in order to increase
the k-factor (see in Tab. 3 the definition) and to keep the same squish flow inside the bowl during com-
pression stroke;
• To keep the same lip profile of the bowl in order to guarantee the same structural robustness at rated
power.

In this way, all the characteristics of air-flow mixing process (spray/wall interaction, spray dispersion etc.) and
combustion products oxidation of the designed bowl shape of the production piston should be preserved. Fur-
thermore, the difference carried out by experiments will be ascribed mainly to the CR variation.
At the end of the work the three shapes were licensed as plotted on the left of Fig. 2. In the same figure, on the
right, it is also reported the scheme of the piston geometry indicating some main geometrical parameters.
 Compression Ratio Influence on an Advanced PCCI Diesel Engine Performance 5

Fig. 2. Piston bowl shape for the three selected CR values. In the figure is reported also the Z axis assumed as the central axis
of the cylinder.

The well known geometrical factors of the bowl design, RR, K-factor and AR, corresponding to the three CR
values, are reported in Table 3 together with the definition of each factor. The significance and the importance of
each factor on the diesel combustion can be easily found in literature and also described by Cipolla et al. (2007).

Table 3. Geometrical factors of the bowl geometry for the three CR values
Parameter Formula CR 16.5 CR 15.5 CR 14.5
K-factor [%] Bowl volume/Combustion chamber volume 75.2 76.8 78.4
RR [%] (Dext-Dint)/Dint 9.3 10.9 13.5
AR [%] Hmax/Dext 33.0 34.0 35.2

Tab.3 indicates that all the factors increase with CR reduction. K-factor increases as desired, the others show a
progressive increase versus CR precisely due to the bowl enlargement keeping the same geometrical structure.
The air flow patterns for the three CRs 20 crank angle degrees before the TDC is plotted in Fig. 3. The plots are
the result of an engine cycle simulation without injection performed at Istituto Motori with KIVA3V code.

CR 14.5 CR 15.5

CR 16.5

Fig. 3. Air flow patterns for the three selected CR values 20 crank angle degrees before the Top Dead Center. The arrows are
plotted with the same scale for all CR.

As expected, from the Figure 2 the main air flow patterns appear very similar, with the main difference for CR
16.5 in the central part of the bowl. In terms of swirl ratio behaviour versus CR, Figure 4 reports the three curves
for the three CRs. The slight increase of swirl ratio versus CR decrease depends on the friction loss reduction
due to the surface-volume ratio reduction as well as from the increase of moment of inertia. In fact, following the
swirl ratio formula (Heywood, 1998):
Mz (1)
SR =
rpm
Iz ⋅π ⋅
30

Lowering the CR, the moment of inertia Iz is reduced and the momentum Mz decrement is less effective due to
the lowered friction loss as can be observed in the two graphs in Fig. 5.
6 C. Beatrice, C. Bertoli, C. Guido, N. Del Giacomo

5.0

4.5 RC 16.5
RC 15.5
4.0 RC 14.5

Swirl Ratio [a.u.]

3.5

3.0

2.5
SR@ -180 c.a. [°] = 2.7
2.0

1.5
-50 -30 -10 10 30 50
crank angle [°]

Fig. 4. Swirl ratio (SR) versus crank angle for the three CR values.

4.0 1350

3.5 1300
RC 16.5
RC 15.5 1250
3.0 RC 14.5 RC 16.5
Iz [g*cm /s]
Iz [g*cm ]
2

RC 15.5
1200
RC 14.5
2.5
1150

2.0
1100
SR@ -180 c.a. [°] = 2.7
1.5 1050
-50 -30 -10 10 30 50 -50 -30 -10 10 30 50
crank angle [°] crank angle [°]

Fig. 5. Moment of inertia (on the left) and Momentum (on the right) versus crank angle for the three CR values.

The differences for the three bowls are small and so the differences in terms of ignition delay time as well as
combustion evolution can be ascribed mainly to the thermodynamic status at the start of injection timing (SOI)
derived by CR variation.

4. Test methodology

In general, when experimental engine tests are performed in order to evaluate the influence of geometrical and/or
operating parameter on combustion performance, the analyzed parameter is varied with respect to a reference
well known condition. This is often observable in a lot of works on single cylinder research engines.
However, with this methodology, even if it is possible to put into evidence the parameter influence, very impor-
tant from a scientific and technical point of view, it is difficult to evaluate the transferability of the results or
trends to a real four cylinder engine. The reason is that hardware or software constrains present in the real engine
configuration are not carefully considered in the single cylinder experimental tests or are difficultly reproducible.
So, the single cylinder research engine data are useful to analyze the effect of parameter variation but not for the
quantitative evaluation of four cylinder engine improvement.
Furthermore, often, the tests are carried out in some operating steady state points that are poorly representative of
the engine performance in the whole NEDC cycle that includes also transient conditions. On the contrary, the
analysis of the CR reduction effect on engine performance under NEDC cycle or transient conditions requires an
ad hoc engine calibration for each CR step.
 Compression Ratio Influence on an Advanced PCCI Diesel Engine Performance 7

On the basis of these considerations, in order to point out the CR influence on the engine performance, taking
into account both the practical limits of the real engine configuration and a test point matrix reasonable represen-
tative of the engine behaviour during the NEDC procedure, the following test methodology was chosen.
Starting from an engine configuration with CR equal to 16.5, the CR was progressively reduced to 15.5 and to
14.5.
For each engine configuration, under conventional combustion, a first characterization with the standard EURO
4 calibration was performed in terms of trade-off NOx-PM, varying the EGR rate, in five steady state operating
points as listed in Table 4.

Table 4. Selected engine operating points with conventional combustion

Notation Engine speed [rpm] Engine load – BMEP [bar]
C1 1500 2
C2 1500 5
C3 2000 2
C4 2000 5
C5 2500 8

During the tests, in order to evaluate the CR effect on the engine performance with the lowest fuel consumption
variation, for each CR value only the SOI of the main injection (SOImain) and the throttle position of VGT
(VGT%) were progressively adjusted to keep constant MBF50% value and boost pressure in the intake manifold.
In the same way, to avoid the combustion noise deterioration caused by premixed fraction combustion increase
with low CR, the pilot injection quantity (Qpil) was adjusted for each CR value in order to maintain constant the
maximum gradient of the cylinder pressure. As well known, in this way it is possible to put in evidence the CR
effect on the combustion improvement without influence of EGR circuit functionality (hysteresis, temperature
variation in EGR circuit due to CR change etc.), evaluating how much the CR reduction permits to lower the
NOx-PM trade-off.
For PCCI tests, starting from a first whole engine calibration supplied by Centro Ricerche Fiat relative to a CR
equal to 16.5, the engine operating points were tested for each CR value in a engine speed range from 1400 rpm
to 3000 rpm and increasing the engine load from idle until one of the following limits were reached:
• 5% of fuel consumption increment with respect to the EURO 4 calibration value;
• 80 bar/ms of maximum pressure rise (dp/dtmax) for each engine condition preserving the current comfort
standards;
• 1.5 FSN of exhaust smoke value as estimated limit in order to avoid excessive DPF system loading,
when adopted.

The choice of 5% of maximum FC increment with respect to EURO 4 standards can appear too high preliminar-
ily considering the current trends strongly focused on FC reduction. However, its choice depends on the fact that
the engine has an EURO 4 configuration, so a further contribution to FC improvement by PCCI use are expected
from EURO 5 and EURO 6 technology. Foreseeing the PCCI application to EURO 5 and to EURO 6 engines, a
current 3% of FC increment could be recovered by technology upgrade. The difference of 2% of the accepted FC
increment is due to the injection pressure control system that has the pressure regulator placed on the rail. There-
fore, at same condition, the injection pump sends to the rail the total inlet fuel flow. On the contrary, the refer-
ence FC data of EURO 4 calibration refers to an engine scheme with a Bosch CP1h high-pressure injection
pump that works only on the fuel flow injected in the cylinder (pressure regulator placed on the inlet channel of
the pump) reducing the friction power required by the injection pump. The difference in FC penalty for the pre-
sent injection system configuration as a whole with respect to EURO 4 arrangement was estimated of about 2%.
In this way, the exploration of PCCI combustion mode permits the identification of the maximum load curve
versus rotating speed, and then of the relative applicable engine operating area, for each CR value. This also al-
lows to the identification of the factors limiting or improving the PCCI application to diesel engines.
Of course, as followed with conventional combustion test methodology, the SOImain of the single shot injection
adopted in the PCCI calibration was tuned varying the CR in order to respect the prefixed limits of FC increment
and maximum cylinder pressure rise, while VGT aperture was adjusted, varying the CR to maintain constant the
intake charge pressure. Any change on the EGR actuation map was actuated assuming that the engine out NOx
emissions in the operating area with PCCI calibration were preliminarily inside the post EURO 5 regulation, and
taking into account that too high EGR level could affect the vehicle driveability.
The adopted operating points of the PCCI calibration are displayed in Fig. 6, together with the markers of the test
points chosen for conventional combustion analysis and the engine operating area of the vehicle, equipped with
the same engine (Alfa Romeo 147 with an inertia mass of 1350 kg), that runs in the NEDC cycle.
8 C. Beatrice, C. Bertoli, C. Guido, N. Del Giacomo

12
Steady state test points in conventional and PCCI combustion

10
PCCI

Engine load - BMEP [bar]

Conventional
8

2
NEDC operating area
0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000
Engine speed [rpm]

Fig. 6. Engine operating points with conventional and PCCI combustion together with the operating area of the engine exe-
cuting the NEDC cycle.

From Fig. 6 it is easily observable that the selected test points with both conventional and PCCI combustion are
well representative of the engine performance in the NEDC operating area.

5. Effect of CR on engine performance with conventional combustion

In the present paragraph the results carried out running the engine under conventional combustion for all CR
configurations will be analyzed. Taking into account the large amount of data, only the most significant test
points will be presented, also considering that the not reported test points have shown a behaviour very similar to
their closer operating point analyzed in the paper.
Fig. 7 shows the trade-off Soot-NOx (on the left) and CO-NOx (on the right) versus CR, performed varying the
EGR rate in the first test point C1. Soot is converted in mass emission from smoke measurement by means of the
following AVL correlation reported in (AVL application note AT1007E, 2002):

1 (2)
Soot[ g / m 3 ] = ⋅ 5.32 ⋅ FSN ⋅ e ( 0.31⋅FSN )
0.405

0.04 40
Test condition: C1 Test condition: C1
CR 16.5 CR 16.5
EGR 47%
CR 15.5 CR 15.5
0.03 30
CR 14.5
CO raw [g/kWh]

CR 14.5
Soot [g/kWh]

0.02 20

EGR ≈38%
0.01 10
EGR 0%
EGR 47% EGR 0%
0 0
0 2 4 6 8 10 0 2 4 6 8 10
NOx [g/kWh] NOx [g/kWh]

Fig. 7. NOx-Soot (on the left) and NOx-CO trade-off (on the right) versus CR obtained varying the EGR rate in the test point
C1.

The NOx-soot trade-off shows that at low load it is very easy to reduce NOx with EGR, also keeping very low
level of soot. With CR 16.5, only at highest EGR, a slightly increase of soot is detectable. Lowering CR to 15.5
and subsequently to 14.5, a drastic drop of smoke, and so soot, was revealed for all EGR rates. For the last two
CRs, the classic trade-off was practically absent, and a progressive contemporary reduction of both NOx and
 Compression Ratio Influence on an Advanced PCCI Diesel Engine Performance 9

soot was measured. This is a typical result for the modern automotive engines with low CR running at low load
and low speed, and it depends on the smoothed transition from the conventional diesel combustion to a PCCI
combustion when EGR is increased at the maximum admissible value and CR is reduced. This explanation will
be clearly depicted in the next where the indicated cycles will be analyzed. For this reason, at low load and low
speed as the C1 condition, generally the engine is tuned optimizing the NOx-CO trade-off reported in the right
plot of Fig. 7. From the right diagram it is notable the significant increase of CO emission lowering the CR
value. The CR 14.5 is particularly critical. HCs emissions follow about the same trend of CO, as reported in Fig.
8.

20 EGR 47%
Test condition: C1
CR 16.5
CR 15.5
15 CR 14.5
HC raw [g/kWh]

10
EGR ≈38%

EGR 0%
0
0 2 4 6 8 10
NOx [g/kWh]

Fig. 8. NOx-HC trade-off versus CR obtained varying the EGR rate in the test point C1.

In C1 condition, the pressure rise and as a consequence, the combustion noise, is generally low and also reducing
the CR any increment of dp/dθmax was detected. Therefore only SOImain and VGT% were adjusted in order to
keep the same MBF50% and boost pressure increasing the EGR rate. This is shown in Fig. 9 where pilot quantity
and SOImain versus the exhaust lambda are plotted and in Fig. 10 reporting the dp/dθmax (on the left) and
MBF50% (on the right) versus lambda. The lambda is calculated for each step of EGR rate. As expected, to keep
the same MBF50% value, SOImain has to be advanced due to both the EGR increase and the CR reduction. Of
course, if MBF50% is fixed for all conditions, VGT% adjustment versus CR requires only small variation in or-
der to maintain the same level of the intake boost pressure.

2
16
Test condition: C1
Test condition: C1

1.5 12
SOImain [c.a. ° BTDC]
Qpil [mm3/stroke]

CR 16.5
CR 15.5
8
1 CR 14.5

CR 16.5 4
0.5 CR 15.5
CR 14.5 0
0 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5
1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 -4
Lambda Lambda

Fig. 9. Qpil (on the left) and SOImain (on the right) versus lambda in the test point C1 for all CR values.
10 C. Beatrice, C. Bertoli, C. Guido, N. Del Giacomo

6 14
Test condition: C1 Test condition: C1
5 13

MBF50% [c.a. ° ATDC]

max [bar/c.a. °]

4 12

3 11
dp/dteta
dp/dθ

2 CR 16.5 10 CR 16.5
CR 15.5 CR 15.5
1 CR 14.5 9 CR 14.5

0 8
1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5
Lambda Lambda

Fig. 10. dp/dθmax (on the left) and MBF50% (on the right) versus lambda in the test point C1 for all CR values.

The respect of a constant MBF50% versus CR permits to limit the FC deterioration reducing CR. Fig. 11 (left
side), for all CR values, displays the BSFC for all CR values measured during trade-off execution.

370 250
Test condition: C1 Test condition: C1
360
Texh upstream Turbo [°C]

230

350
BSFC [g/kWh]

CR 16.5
210
CR 15.5
340
CR 14.5
190
330 CR 16.5
CR 15.5
170
320 CR 14.5

310 150
1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5
Lambda Lambda

Fig. 11. BSFC (on the left) and Texh (on the right) versus lambda in the test point C1 for all CR values.

In the same plots, only for CR 16.5 the variance bars calculated as average measure on three repetitions are re-
ported. Fig. 11 reveals that if a FC penalty is expected with low CR due to a contemporary reduction of thermo-
dynamic efficiency (expansion ratio decrement) and combustion efficiency (unburned emission increment), the
SOImain adjustment with CR permits to lower the BSFC deterioration. This behaviour is mainly ascribable to the
combustion efficiency decrement instead of the thermodynamic efficiency reduction. The low thermodynamic
efficiency reduction versus CR with the tuning of combustion, it is explainable considering that for low CR the
mechanical losses are reduced and with lean mixture, the expansion stroke reduction doesn’t leads necessary to
higher exhaust temperature linked with a thermodynamic efficiency decrement. This result is also confirmed by
the very similar values, among all CRs, of the exhaust temperature (Texh) measured upstream the turbine and
plotted in the right diagram of Fig. 11. These results are in line with results of Laguitton et al. (2006) relative to
the effect of CR (in the range 16÷18.5) on a single-cylinder PCCI engine performance.
All above considerations on engine behaviour in C1 conditions for the three CR values are well evidenced by the
pressure cycle analysis carried out from Fig. 12. The curves are relative to a lambda value roughly equal to the
EURO 4 calibration one, for the same operating point.
 Compression Ratio Influence on an Advanced PCCI Diesel Engine Performance 11

60 25
Test condition: C1 - Lambda 2.1 Test condition: C1 - Lambda 2.1
50 RC 16.5 20
RC 16.5
RC 15.5
Cylinder pressure [bar]

RC 15.5
40 RC 14.5
15 RC 14.5

ROHR [%/°]
30
10

20
5

10
0
0 -10 0 10 20 30
-20 0 20 40 -5
C.A. [°] C.A. [°]

Fig. 12. Cylinder pressure trace (on the left) and ROHR curve (on the right) versus CR in the test point C1 for a lambda value
2.9.

As reported before, from Fig. 12 it clearly appears the tendency to shift towards a super diluted lean combustion
(similar to PCCI operating mode) reducing the CR value. This behaviour explains the contemporary NOx and
soot emission reduction as displayed in Fig. 7. Also the classical thermodynamic effect of pilot combustion that
increases pressure and temperature before SOImain event, becomes imperceptible, and the pilot influence is lim-
ited to the effect of radicals, deriving from the partial oxidation of the pilot fuel. This consideration is derived not
only by the ROHR analysis, but also from tests without pilot injection that confirm a pilot influence on ignition
delay time of main injection. As a consequence, it is reliable the hypotesis that a large fraction of HC and CO
emissions linked with the lowest CR, is imputable to the bad combustion of pilot injection due to excessive wall
wetting of the fuel and its over-dispersion inside the combustion chamber. For these reasons, a pilot combustion
efficiency improvement and an adequate control of HC and CO emissions could be performed adopting a differ-
ent injection strategy based on the shift from a conventional pilot injection, generally phased 1000 µs before the
SOImain to a very close pilot injection phased about 200 ÷ 300 µs before SOImain, avoiding the pilot fuel disper-
sion inside the bowl volume.
Another contribution to unburned compound emissions could depend on the wall wetting of the main injection,
considering the significant SOImain advancement reducing the CR (Fig. 9).
In the operating point C3 (2000 rpm and 2 bar of BMEP), the engine has shown trends practically equal to the
test point C1 and so its analysis is omitted for brevity. Also at 5 bar of BMEP the engine has produced the same
results between the two testing speed: 1500 and 2000 rpm (C2 and C4 test points). Therefore, the engine re-
sponse for these conditions can be made analyzing only the C4 point.

80 15
Test condition: C4 - Lambda 2.5
70
RC 16.5 - Cyl.1
RC 16.5 - Cyl.1
RC 15.5 - Cyl.1
60 RC 15.5 - Cyl.1
RC 14.5 - Cyl.1 10
Cylinder pressure [bar]

RC 14.5 - Cyl.1
50
ROHR [%/°]

40
5
30

20
0
10 -20 0 20 40

0 Test condition: C4 - Lambda 2.5

-20 0 20 40 -5
C.A.[°] C.A.[°]

Fig. 13. Cylinder pressure trace (on the left) and ROHR curve (on the right) versus CR in the test point C4 for a lambda value
of 2.5.

Fig. 13, put in evidence the change of engine behaviour versus CR increasing the engine load. In fact, in this
case, due to the prominent tendency to reach a noisy combustion with low CR, in order to maintain the same val-
ues of dp/dθmax and MBF50% for all CRs, Qpil has to be increased while SOImain, especially for CR 14.5, has to
12 C. Beatrice, C. Bertoli, C. Guido, N. Del Giacomo

be retarded notwithstanding the low CR value, due to the strong effect of big Qpil. These trends are very well il-
lustrated in the Figures 14 and 15 respectively. The Qpil increment is easy detectable also from Fig. 13 looking at
the heat release rate of pilot fuel combustion. As a consequence, a progressive deterioration of FC was measured,
mainly due to the increase of Qpil. This trend is relievable in Fig. 16 where BSFC versus lambda for all CR val-
ues is plotted. In the dp/dθmax diagram (left side of Fig. 14) is also displayed the values relative to two tests for
CR 15.5 and CR 14.5 respectively, performed with a lambda equal to the nominal engine calibration and the
same Qpil of the CR 16.5 case. The diagram put into evidence that a strong increment of the pressure rise, corre-
sponding to very noisy combustion, occurs with low CR values when any action to compensate the ignition de-
lay time increase is undertaken.

8 17
CR 16.5
Test condition: C4
7 CR 15.5
16

MBF50% [c.a. ° ATDC]

CR 14.5
max [bar/c.a. °]

6 CR 15.5 (Qpil=CR 16.5)

CR 14.5 (Qpil=CR 16.5) 15
5
dp/dteta

14
dp/dθ

4
CR 16.5
13 CR 15.5
3
Test condition: C4 CR 14.5
2 12
1.5 1.7 1.9 2.1 2.3 2.5 2.7 1.5 1.7 1.9 2.1 2.3 2.5 2.7
Lambda Lambda

Fig. 14. dp/dθmax (on the left) and MBF50% (on the right) versus lambda in the test point C4 for all CR values.

8 4
Test condition: C4 Test condition: C4
3 CR 16.5
SOImain [c.a. ° BTDC]

6 CR 15.5
Qpil [mm3/stroke]

2
CR 14.5
4 1

0
2 CR 16.5
CR 15.5 -1
CR 14.5
0 -2
1.5 1.7 1.9 2.1 2.3 2.5 2.7 1.5 1.7 1.9 2.1 2.3 2.5 2.7
Lambda Lambda

Fig. 15. Qpil (on the left) and SOImain (on the right) versus lambda in the test point C4 for all CR values.

270
Test condition: C4 440 Test condition: C4
CR 16.5
CR 16.5
CR 15.5
Texh upstream Turbo [°C]

420 CR 15.5
CR 14.5
260 400 CR 14.5
BSFC [g/kWh]

380

360
250
340

320

240 300
1.5 1.7 1.9 2.1 2.3 2.5 2.7 1.5 1.7 1.9 2.1 2.3 2.5 2.7
Lambda Lambda

Fig. 16. BSFC (on the left) and Texh (on the right) versus lambda in the test point C4 for all CR values.

In Figure 16 is also reported the variance bars for the CR 16.5 measured as described before for C1 test condi-
tions. Significant differences were observed only for CR 14.5, while in the case of CR 15.5, for all lambda val-
ues, the FC increment was at the limit of the test to test variation. However, the FC deterioration was mainly im-
 Compression Ratio Influence on an Advanced PCCI Diesel Engine Performance 13

putable to Qpil increment, while the thermodynamic efficiency reduction with low CR was almost insignificant as
in C1 test case. In fact, it was measured that the percentage of FC increment was roughly equal to the Qpil incre-
ment and also the plot of Texh for the C4 test case (on the right of Fig. 16), very similar for all CR values, con-
firms a negligible thermodynamic efficiency variation versus CR as in C1 test case.
The correspondent emission trends for the present test point C4 are displayed in Fig. 17 and 18 in terms of NOx-
soot, NOx-CO and NOx-HC trade-off respectively.

0.2 8
Test condition: C4
CR 16.5 Test condition: C4
CR 16.5
CR 15.5
0.15 6 CR 15.5
CR 14.5
CR 14.5

CO raw [g/kWh]
Soot [g/kWh]

CR 15.5 (Qpil=CR 16.5)

CR 14.5 (Qpil=CR 16.5)
0.1 EGR ≈ 27% 4

0.05 2
EGR ≈ 22%
EGR 0%

0 0
0 2 4 6 8 0 2 4 6 8
NOx [g/kWh] NOx [g/kWh]

Fig. 17. NOx-Soot (on the left) and NOx-CO trade-off (on the right) versus CR obtained varying the EGR rate in the test
point C4.

8
Test condition: C4 CR 16.5
CR 15.5
6 CR 14.5
HC raw [g/kWh]

0
0 2 4 6 8
NOx [g/kWh]

Fig. 18. NOx-HC trade-off versus CR obtained varying the EGR rate in the test point C4.

In terms of NOx and soot emissions, it is noticeable that NOx are always controlled by EGR level and differently
by low load condition (C1 test case), the necessity to adequate the Qpil (in order to keep constant the dp/dθmax)
does not permit to lower the soot emission exploiting the longer ignition delay of the low CR values. In fact, in
this test case the reduction of CR leads to not remarkable improvements in NOx-Soot trade-off. To confirm the
limitation on NOx-soot trade-off improvement by Qpil adjustment, Fig. 17 also reports the results (single points)
on NOx and soot emission of both CR 15.5 and CR 14.5 for the test conditions with the same Qpil of CR 16.5.
Without Qpil adjustment a significant effect of CR on smoke emission becomes clear.
The unburned compounds as HC and CO versus EGR follow the typical trend at medium load, where the reduc-
tion of the mass flow rate at the exhaust (due to the increase of the EGR) has a predominant effect on the in-
crease of the concentration, showing a progressive decrement of HC and CO flow mass rate versus EGR. Re-
garding the CR effect on HC and CO, the engine follows the same trends of C1 test point, with a marked rise of
both HC and CO.
In the C5 operating point tested with conventional combustion (2500 rpm and 8 bar of BMEP), the engine has
shown a behaviour very similar to C4 test point, with very small effect of CR on both NOx-soot trade-off and FC
penalty. Therefore, omitting the description of this last test point the following main results can be summarized
for the CR effect on the engine behaviour with conventional diesel combustion:
• At low engine load condition the lowering of CR tends to shift the combustion toward very lean PCCI
conditions characterized by very low level of NOx and soot exhaust concentration and a large amount
of CO and HC emissions with small effect on BSFC, mainly dependent on the combustion efficiency
reduction;
14 C. Beatrice, C. Bertoli, C. Guido, N. Del Giacomo

• At medium engine load, lowering the CR, notwithstanding the use of a pilot fuel injection, the combus-
tion tends to very noisy conditions. If the noise level, and so dp/dθmax has to be taken constant, the Qpil
has to be increased limiting the potentiality of low CR values on NO-soot trade-off. The BSFC variation
depends mainly on the Qpil increase and the combustion efficiency decrement, while negligible variation
of thermodynamic efficiency versus CR was detected. Also at medium engine load the increment of
regulated unburned compounds was remarkable;
• Looking at the whole engine behaviour versus CR with conventional combustion, the CR value of 15.5
appears the best compromise between NOx-soot trade-off improvement, unburned emission increment
and FC penalty.

6. Effect of CR on engine performance with PCCI combustion

As introduced before, PCCI combustion was realized with a single shot injection, taking care to not overcome
the prefixed limits on dp/dθmax, FC increment and smoke emission. For all explored engine speed ranges
(1000÷3000 rpm), with no changes in the engine calibration and adjusting only the SOImain and the VGT%, the
torque was continuously increased until one of the three limits was reached. With this test procedure the follow-
ing maximum engine load curve versus speed with PCCI combustion mode for the three CR values was carried
out:
FC increment w respect to E4 level [%]

5 10 2.5
CR 16.5
CR 15.5
Engine load - BMEP [bar]

4 8 2
CR 14.5

Smoke [FSN]
3 6 1.5
RC 16.5
2 RC 15.5 4 1
RC 14.5
1 2 0.5

0 0 0
500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500
Engine speed [rpm] Engine speed [rpm]

Fig. 19. On the left, maximum engine torque curve versus speed with PCCI combustion within the prefixed limits on
dp/dθmax, FC increment and smoke emission versus speed for all CR values. On the right, FC increment with respect to
EURO 4 standards and smoke versus speed for all CR values.

The left chart in Fig. 19 illustrates that reducing the CR only small increments in maximum engine torque are
possible without changing the engine technology (EURO 4) and calibration. The SOImain was adjusted in order to
reach the fixed limit on dp/dθmax value in each point and so the maximum torque was limited by the achievement
of FC increment limit, as reported on the right of Fig. 19. As expected considering the PCCI characteristics, the
higher FC with respect to conventional combustion depends on the low fuel conversion efficiency as well as on
the thermodynamic efficiency reduction due to the needs to retard the MBF50% value. In the same diagram the
smoke curve versus speed is also displayed. Smoke limit was never reached while a strong drop of smoke values
were observed for CR 15.5 and 14.5. The corresponding NOx emissions were very similar among all CRs since,
under PCCI conditions, they are mainly dependent on EGR level. They are plotted in the left diagram of Fig. 20,
while on the right the corresponding emissions of HC and CO are displayed.
 Compression Ratio Influence on an Advanced PCCI Diesel Engine Performance 15

4 25 12
RC 16.5
RC 16.5
RC 15.5 10
20 RC 15.5
3 RC 14.5

CO raw [g/kWh]
HC raw [g/kWh]
EURO 4 level RC 14.5 8
NOx [g/kWh]

15
2 6
10
4
1
5 2

0 0 0
500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500
Engine speed [rpm] Engine speed [rpm]

Fig. 20. NOx emission of the maximum engine load curve with PCCI combustion versus speed for all CR values. On the
right, HC and CO emission of the maximum engine load curve with PCCI combustion versus speed for all CR values.

As well known, the application of PCCI combustion generates a strong rise of unburned emissions and if PCCI
engine management is coupled with the CR reduction, a further rise in HC and CO exhaust concentration is ex-
pected, as illustrated in the above diagram.
The exploration of the maximum engine torque versus speed with PCCI combustion has put in evidence that
negligible improvement can be achieved in the maximum attainable load with CR reduction without changing
the engine hardware or its management. At the same time, a sharp rise in unburned emission was found, whereas
a remarkable drop in exhaust smoke was observed.
To investigate this behaviour, the analysis of indicated signal can give useful information. For this purpose, the
test point at 1800 rpm and 4 bar of BMEP was selected for the comparison. It is one of the points in the middle
of the maximum torque curve versus speed and all CRs have given the same maximum torque. The relative cyl-
inder pressure, injector energizing current and ROHR curves are plotted in Fig. 21.

70 140 25
PCCI mode - 1800 rpm @ 4 bar BMEP PCCI mode - 1800 rpm @ 4 bar BMEP

60 120 20
Injector energizing current [A] .

50 100
Cylinder pressure [bar]

15
ROHR [%/c.a. °]

CR 16.5
40 80 CR 15.5
10 CR 14.5
30 60
CR 16.5
5
20 CR 15.5 40
CR 14.5
0
10 20

0 0 -5
-20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 -10 0 10 20 30 40
C.A.[°] C.A.[°]

Fig. 21. Cylinder pressure traces and injector energizing current curves on the left, ROHR curves on the right, versus CR in
the test point 1800 rpm at 4 bar of BMEP with PCCI combustion mode.

The analysis of the curves shows the increase in the ignition delay time reducing CR. The ignition delay time
(τid) increment was higher in the change from CR 16.5 to 15.5 than from CR 15.5 to 14.5. It is supposed that be-
yond other secondary factors that can affect the ignition delay time versus CR as fluid-dynamics and so on, the
main reason could be the influence of the negative temperature coefficient of τid. In fact, reducing the CR in the
range 16.5÷14.5, the final compression temperature at TDC, for the considered operating point, varies in the
range from about 1050K to 900K. In this range the typical τid of diesel fuel as a function of pressure and tem-
perature shows the classical negative temperature coefficient (NTC) for temperature below 1000K (see Pfahl et
al., 1996 and Yanagihara, 2001). Therefore if the τid falls in the NTC range passing from CR 15.5 to 14.5 it is
expectable a reduced effect of CR lowering on τid. This explains also the reduced difference on smoke between
CR 15.5 and CR 14.5 with respect to the comparison between CR 15.5 and CR 16.5.
This trend was generally detected for all tested conditions except in some case. In particular at 1000 rpm, the
very noisy conditions at maximum engine torque (4.3 bar of BMEP) with the lowest CR (14.5) required a later
SOImain with respect to the other CR values.
16 C. Beatrice, C. Bertoli, C. Guido, N. Del Giacomo

Through the analysis of the data in all the tested points, two main factors were identified as limiters of the attain-
able engine torque with PCCI combustion: the fuel consumption and the smoke emission, since dp/dθmax was
controlled by SOImain adjustment, it affects as a consequence FC and smoke.
Among all the operating engine parameters influencing the three limiting factors, two parameters were recog-
nized as the most effective: the swirl control flap position (St%) and the nominal injection pressure (Prail). At the
maximum attainable torque, to limit the smoke below the 1.5 FSN, the swirl ratio has been regulated at its me-
dium-high operating range (2.5÷4) corresponding to a very closed position of the flap. This actions limit the
permeability of the intake duct, thus reducing the volumetric efficiency and increasing both the pumping loss and
the fuel dispersion under local over-leaning mixture within piston bowl. Furthermore, to control the smoke, Prail
has been kept high, so increasing fuel impingement quantity on piston bowl, dp/dθmax and the power requirement
from the high pressure injection pump.
The VGT% was not very effective in increasing the engine load, as the closure VGT stator at a small boosting
pressure rise an equivalent backpressure rise occurs without evident effect on engine load. For different turbo-
charger systems (for example two-stage turbo) an improvement could be expected.
However, considering the strong advantage of the low CR in terms of smoke, an evaluation of the possibility to
improve the maximum engine torque with PCCI combustion by means of a different engine management of the
SR and Prail level was carried out. The injection strategy was not considered, as the analysis of sensibility re-
quires the variation of too many parameters, like the number of injections, fuel distribution versus injection, tim-
ing of all etc. So to this aim, the maximum attainable engine torque with PCCI combustion was parameterized as
function of St% and Prail. Both parameters were progressively lowered, always optimizing SOImain in each condi-
tions, until the limits on FC and smoke were reached again. The new maximum PCCI engine torques for both
CR 15.5 and CR 14.5 are reported in Fig. 22.

5
Engine load [bar]

2 R.C. 16.5
R.C. 15.5
1
R.C. 14.5
0
500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500
Engine speed [rpm]

Fig. 22. Maximum attainable PCCI engine torque versus speed.

The maximum torque was increased from about 4 bar to 6 bar of BMEP. For CR 16.5 the improvement was neg-
ligible because the smoke emissions were very close to the limit of the reference calibration.
To give a brief overview of the engine sensitivity to the swirl ratio and injection pressure parameterization, four
diagrams are reported in Fig.23, displaying the comparison in terms of BSFC increment (upper-left), the smoke
emissions (upper-right), the NOx emissions (lower-left) and HC+CO emissions (lower-right) with respect to
EURO 4 level for the reference PCCI calibration and the SR%-Prail optimized calibration for the RC 14.5 in op-
erating point 2200 rpm at 6 bar of BMEP.
 Compression Ratio Influence on an Advanced PCCI Diesel Engine Performance 17

Engine speed 2200 rpm Engine speed 2200 rpm

BSFC increment w respect to E4 standard [%]

20 1.5
4 bar of BMEP 4.5 bar of BMEP 6 bar of BMEP 4 bar of BMEP 4.5 bar of BMEP 6 bar of BMEP

16

Smoke [FSN]
12

8
0.5

0 0
reference optimized reference optimized reference optimized reference optimized reference optimized reference optimized
calibration calibration calibration calibration calibration calibration
Engine speed 2200 rpm Engine speed 2200 rpm
2 12
4 bar of BMEP 4.5 bar of BMEP 6 bar of BMEP 4 bar of BMEP 4.5 bar of BMEP 6 bar of BMEP
10
1.6

HC+CO emission [g/kWh]

NOx emission [g/kWh]

8
1.2
6
0.8
4

0.4
2

0 0
reference optimized reference optimized reference optimized reference optimized reference optimized reference optimized
calibration calibration calibration calibration calibration calibration

Fig. 23. BSFC (upper-left), smoke emissions (upper-right), NOx emissions (lower-left) and HC+CO emissions (lower-right)
with respect to EURO 4 level for the reference PCCI calibration and the SR%-Prail optimized calibration for the RC 14.5
versus engine load at engine speed of 2200 rpm.

It clearly shows the overall improvement of engine performance with acceptable increment of smoke, well
within the fixed limit. NOx emissions tend to increase slightly with the reduction of the premixing level. This
trend is supposed to depend on the progressive reduction of the leaning mixture zone for an increase of
stoichiometric or rich mixture zone characterized by high flame temperature. This hypothesis is supported by the
presence of diffusive combustion trace in the ROHR curve of the optimized calibration as shown in the right
diagram of Fig. 24. The same figure also shows the strong advantage in terms of combustion phasing, with re-
spect to the TDC, reducing swirl ratio and injection pressure. These, together with the fuel conversion efficiency
improvement with the optimized calibration, are the main factors producing the BSFC reduction (upper-left dia-
gram of fig.23). Fuel conversion efficiency is not reported for brevity but its trend can be estimated looking at
the HC+CO diagram reported in Fig. 23.

70 140 25
PCCI mode - 2200 rpm @ 4.5 bar BMEP PCCI mode - 2200 rpm @ 4.5 bar BMEP
60 120
20
Injector energizing current [A] .

reference calibration
50 100
Cylinder pressure [bar]

optimized calibration
15
ROHR [%/c.a. °]

40 80
10
30 60

reference calibration 5
20 40
optimized calibration
10 20 0

0 0 -5
-20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 -10 0 10 20 30 40
C.A.[°] C.A.[°]

Fig. 24. Cylinder pressure trace and injector energizing current curve at left, and ROHR curve at right, versus engine calibra-
tion in the test point 2200 rpm at 4.5 bar of BMEP for the CR 14.5 with PCCI combustion mode.
18 C. Beatrice, C. Bertoli, C. Guido, N. Del Giacomo

Similar trends were observed in all the tested engine speed range. As said before no change in engine hardware
and injection strategy were applied.
Only at 3000 rpm, for all CR values, the exhaust smoke level showed a significant rise very close to the limit,
due to the lower Prail, as reported in Fig. 25; thus any torque improvement with CR reduction was possible at the
highest tested engine speed. This result depends on the short time available for air-fuel premixing during the τid
at high engine speed, and as a consequence the combustion evolution tends towards diffusive characteristics.
This trend is notable in the plot on the right of Fig. 25.

1.5 70 24
Engine speed 3000 rpm @ 3.8 bar of BMEP PCCI mode - 3000 rpm @ 3.8 bar BMEP
60

18
50

Cylinder pressure [bar]

1

ROHR [%/c.a.°]
Smoke [FSN]

40
12
30
reference calibration
0.5 20
optimized calibration 6

10

0 0
0 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40
reference calibration optimized C.A.[°]

Fig. 25. Smoke emission (at left), cylinder pressure trace and ROHR curve (at right), versus CR in the test point 3000 rpm at
3.8 bar of BMEP for the CR 14.5 with PCCI combustion mode.

Unburned compound emission remains at very high level at the engine exhaust and tend to increase reducing the
CR despite the use of an optimized recalibration. Downstream the catalyst HC and CO were found at the same
level of EURO 4 standards when the catalyst operates beyond the light-off temperature. However, this last result
is not very important because NEDC procedure foresees the cold start phase where the catalyst is not active.
Therefore the high unburned emission penalty of low CR engines appears one of the main problem to their de-
velopment, as also pointed out by Kitano et al. (2006) in a study on cold starting performance of a low CR en-
gine.
The following main results can be summarized for the CR reduction on the engine behaviour with PCCI combus-
tion:
• In every engine condition FC penalty versus CR reduction was very small and mainly dependent on
combustion efficiency reduction. With the chosen operating constrains on cylinder pressure and smoke
and without change the calibration, the only CR reduction is not capable of increasing the maximum at-
tainable PCCI engine load that for our engine was about 4 bar of BMEP;
• The pollutants emissions are characterized by a marked drop in smoke and a drastic rise in HC and CO
while NOx remain mainly sensible to the adopted EGR level;
• The drop in the smoke level at the exhaust can be easily exploited to improve the maximum torque.
Working only on the reduction of both swirl ratio and injection pressure, pumping and friction loss can
be lowered and intake duct permeability increased. This permitted to bring the maximum PCCI engine
torque at about 6 bar of BMEP, reducing at the same time the unburned emissions;
• It is confirmed that also for PCCI operating mode, the possibility to adjust the combustion phasing in
the expansion stroke together with the friction losses reduction does not cause the FC deterioration for
low CR engines and permits to lower the NOx emission well beyond the EURO 5 limit;
• One of the key issue with low CR PCCI engine appears the very high HC and CO emission, that cannot
be controlled by after-treatment system during cold start. For this reason, looking at the overall engine
performance, and taking into account the use of an engine with the current technology, a CR value
around 15.5 appears the best compromise.

Conclusions

The paper presents the main results from an extensive research program performed at the Istituto Motori in co-
operation with Centro Ricerche Fiat and based on the analysis of compression ratio influence on the current two
liter class FIAT diesel engine operating with conventional as well as PCCI combustion.
 Compression Ratio Influence on an Advanced PCCI Diesel Engine Performance 19

The aim of the work was to explore the potentiality of CR reduction to improve engine emission without signifi-
cant penalty on fuel consumption. Combustion chambers were carefully designed by Centro Ricerche Fiat in or-
der to keep the same flow structure among all CR values.
The most important results, without changes on engine architecture and calibration, were that the CR reduction is
very effective on smoke abatement and has negligible effects on fuel consumption in the NEDC engine operating
area. NOx emission is mainly controlled by the EGR level and so it is almost insensitive to CR variation, while
the unburned compounds (HC and CO) appear as a key issue, considering the sharp rise of their emission lower-
ing the CR.
On the basis of the above reported results, it is pointed out that, independently from the possible adoption of a
DeNOx system, in order to reduce at the most the NOx emissions, the CR reduction (or its control by means of
advanced technology solutions) appears one of the key factors for PCCI application improvement, especially in
the range of CR values here explored.
For a complete assessment of the CR reduction benefits, the preservation or the improvement of the current rated
power target and the management of the high HC and CO emissions during cold start remain open questions.
These issues will be addressed in some future work.

Acknowledgments

Authors would like to thank Dr. Silvio Canale, Dr. Maria Grazia Lisbona and Dr. Marco Tonetti of Centro
Ricerche Fiat, for their support in the providing scientific cooperation, data and engine components.

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