Active valvetrain for homogeneous charge compression ignition

Homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI), also known as controlled autoignition (CAI) or the premixed charge compression ignition (PCCI) engine concept, has the potential to be highly efficient and to produce low NOx, carbon dioxide, and particulate matter emissions. However, it experiences problems with cold start in a gasoline HCCI engine, running at idle and at high loads, which, together with controlling the combustion over the entire speed/load range, limits its practical application. A way to overcome these problems is to operate the engine in ‘hybrid mode’, where the engine operates in HCCI mode at low, medium, and cruising loads and can switch to or from spark ignition (SI) or diesel (CI) mode for a cold start, idle, and higher loads. Such an engine will have frequent changes in engine load and speeds and therefore frequent transitions between HCCI and SI combustion modes. The valvetrain and engine management system (EMS) have to provide a successful control of HCCI mode and a fast and smooth transition keeping all relevant engine parameters within an acceptable range. Consequently, this leads to high demands on the valvetrain and therefore a need for a very high degree of flexibility. The aim of this paper is to present the potential of a fully variable valvetrain (FVVT) system, the Lotus active valvetrain (AVT™), for controlling HCCI combustion and enabling fast and smooth mode transitions in a HCCI/SI engine fuelled with commercially available gasoline (95 RON) and in a HCCI/DI engine fuelled with diesel (50 CN) fuel.