Sensitivity of natural gas HCCI combustion to fuel and operating parameters using detailed kinetic modeling

This paper uses the HCT (Hydrodynamics, Chemistry and Transport) chemical kinetics code to analyze natural gas HCCI combustion in an engine. The HCT code has been modified to better represent the conditions existing inside an engine, including a wall heat transfer correlation. Combustion control and low power output per displacement remain as two of the biggest challenges to obtaining satisfactory performance out of an HCCI engine, and these are addressed in this paper. The paper considers the effect of natural gas composition on HCCI combustion, and then explores three control strategies for HCCI engines: DME (dimethyl ether) addition, intake heating and hot EGR addition. The results show that HCCI combustion is sensitive to natural gas composition, and an active control may be required to compensate for possible changes in composition. The three control strategies being considered have a significant effect in changing the combustion parameters for the engine, and should be able to control HCCI combustion