Effects of Exhaust Gas Recirculation on the Homogeneous Charge Combustion Process of n-Heptane at Different Load Conditions

Effects of exhaust gas recirculation （EGR） on homogeneous charge combustion of n-heptane was studied through simulation and experiment. Experiments were carried out in a single cylinder, four-stroke, air cooled engine and a single cylinder, two-stroke, water cooled engine. In the four-stroke engine, experiments of the effects of EGR were examined using heated N2 addition as a surrogate for external EGR and modifying engine to increase internal EGR. The ignition timing was sensitive to EGR due to thermal and chemical effects. EGR or extra air is a key factor in eliminating knock during mid-load conditions. For higher load operation the only way to avoid knock is to control reaction timing through the use of spark ignition. Experimental and modeling results from the two-stroke engine show that auto-ignition can be avoided by increasing the engine speed. The two-stroke engine experiments indicate that high levels of internal EGR can enable spark ignition at lean conditions. At higher load conditions, increasing the engine speed is an effective method to control transition from homogeneous charge compression ignition （HCCI） operation to non-HCCI operation and successful spark ignition of a highly dilute mixture can avoid serious knock.