SPCCI-Spark controlled compression ignition

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I thank Lord Almighty for guiding me in every step towards completion of

my seminar. I would like to express our deepest gratitude towards Mr.Anshad,
The Principal, Malabar College of Engineering and Technology for creating
an excellent academic atmosphere in the college, and for his extreme support and
encouragement. I am very much thankful to Dhinesh VD, Asst. professor,
Automobile Engineering Department For his valuable support, guidance, and
suggestions. I extend my deepest gratitude towards seminar coordinator Mr.
Renjith PR, Head of the Department, Automobile Engineering Department
For his careful and meticulous reviews which improved quality of the work. I
sincerely thank all my friends and classmates who in one way or the other helped
me in the completion of this work. I truly admire my parents for their constant
encouragement and their enduring Support which is inevitable for the success of
our venture.

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SPCCI-Spark controlled compression ignition

ABSTRACT

Spark controlled compression ignition or SPCCI. This system is an effort

to combine the benefits of a traditional spark ignition gasoline engine with the
benefits of compression ignition diesel engine. It also offers the low-end grunt
traditionally found in a diesel engine, but with smooth high rpm performance
traditionally found in gasoline engines. With high efficiency across a wide range
of rpms and engine loads, the engine allows much more latitude in the selection
of gear ratios, providing both superior fuel economy and driving performance.

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SPCCI-Spark controlled compression ignition

CONTENT

CHAPTER TITLE PG NO.

1 INTRODUCTION 1

2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2

HCCI- HOMOGENOUS CHARGE

3 4
COMPRESSION IGNITION

4 GOALS & CHALLENGES 6

5 SOLUTION 7

6 SPCCI- WORKING 9

7 CONCLUSION 13

8 REFERENCE 14

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SPCCI-Spark controlled compression ignition

LIST OF FIGURES

No. Title Pg No.

1 Figure- 1 7

2 Figure- 2 8

3 Figure- 3 10

4 Figure- 4 11

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 SPCCI-Spark controlled compression ignition

CHAPTER- 1
INTRODUCTION

One of the most significant developments in internal combustion engine (ICE) technology
for decades, Mazda’s innovative Skyactiv-X Spark Controlled Compression Ignition (SpCCI)
combustion system is slated for production in 2018. It has the potential to extend the practical
life of gasoline engines, which are increasingly under threat from both global emissions
legislation and the accelerating development of electric vehicles (EVs). Homogeneous charge
compression ignition (HCCI) engines combine a diesel's torque and fuel efficiency with a gas
engine's cleaner emissions. The HCCI technique has been a goal of automakers since the hot-
bulb compression engine was first prototyped in the late 1800s. There have been many hurdles
to jump, including getting the timing, temperature and mixture right, but Mazda thinks it has
done just that with its new Skyactiv-X four cylinder. The company also predicts, and we agree,
that the internal-combustion engine is going to be around for a few decades before it all goes to
nuclear or unobtainium or whatever is next.

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 SPCCI-Spark controlled compression ignition

CHAPTER – 2
LITERATURE REVIEW

Most vehicles on the road are powered by internal combustion engines. The most common
internal combustion engines for vehicles are fuelled with petrol or diesel. Around the world,
private cars are mostly powered by petrol internal combustion engines, while commercial
vehicles e.g. buses and trucks are driven by diesel internal combustion engines. Although both
engines have similar structures, they have significant differences in terms of operation, energy
efficiency, and the amounts and types of emission they produce.

In 1794 Robert Street patented an internal combustion engine, which was also the first to
use liquid fuel (gasoline). There after many improved versions of the internal combustion
engines were introduced. Including spark ignition and compression ignition engines were also
developed. A simple design of spark ignition gasoline engine is given by Spark-ignition gasoline
engine, Mitsuo Hitomi,Noriyuki Iwata,Masahisa Yamakawa,Toshiaki Nishimoto,Takashi
Yohso,Takayoshi Hayashi, Mazda Motor Corp, 2010. another patented for compression ignition
engine, George Stephen Kammer, Geneva, Switzerland Application February 21, 1939, Serial
No. 257,743 was one of the earliest for compression ignition engines. As years passes by and
EV’s taking over the automotive industries, internal combustion engines are still developing.

One of the most imported invention in the last few decades since the invention of
compression ignition engine is the HCCI (Homogenous charge compression ignition). Many
prototypes were introduce in the early 2000s. Like In 2007-2009, General Motors demonstrated
HCCI with a modified 2.2 L Ecotec engine installed in Opel Vectra and Saturn Aura. The engine
operates in HCCI mode at speeds below 60 miles per hour (97 km/h) or when cruising, switching
to conventional SI when the throttle is opened and produces fuel economy of 43 miles per
imperial gallon(http://articles.sae.org/6635).

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Mercedes-Benz developed a prototype engine called DiesOtto, with controlled auto

ignition. It was displayed in its F 700 concept car at the 2007 Frankfurt Auto
Show.(Development of a Direct Injection-Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (DI-
HCCI) Heavy Duty DiesOtto Engine by using Effervescent Atomization," SAE Technical Paper
2009-01-2701, 2009) but none were able to able to get it done and make ready for production.

In August 2017 MAZDA announced their new engine model called ‘SKYACTIV-X’.
Mazda claims this to be a major breakthrough in the engine technology (Yamasaki, Y.,
Umahashi, S., Uesugi, Y., Ma, Q. et al., "Development of Dynamic Models for an HCCI Engine
with Exhaust Gas Rebreathing System," SAE Technical Paper 2015-01-1803, 2015).

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 SPCCI-Spark controlled compression ignition

CHAPTER- 3
HCCI- HOMOGENEOUS CHARGE COMPRESSION IGNITION

Homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) is a form of internal combustion in

which well-mixed fuel and oxidizer (typically air) are compressed to the point of auto-ignition.
As in other forms of combustion, this exothermic reaction releases energy that can be
transformed in an engine into work and heat.

HCCI combines characteristics of conventional gasoline engine and diesel engines.

Gasoline engines combine homogeneous charge (HC) with spark ignition (SI), abbreviated as
HCSI. Diesel engines combine stratified charge (SC) with compression ignition (CI),
abbreviated as SCCI.

As in HCSI, HCCI injects fuel during the intake stroke. However, rather than using an
electric discharge (spark) to ignite a portion of the mixture, HCCI raises density and temperature
by compression until the entire mixture reacts spontaneously. Stratified charge compression
ignition also relies on temperature and density increase resulting from compression. However,
it injects fuel later, during the compression stroke. Combustion occurs at the boundary of the
fuel and air, producing higher emissions, but allowing a leaner and higher compression burn,
producing greater efficiency.

Controlling HCCI requires microprocessor control and physical understanding of the

ignition process. HCCI designs achieve gasoline engine-like emissions with diesel engine-like
efficiency. HCCI engines achieve extremely low levels of oxides of nitrogen emissions (NOx)
without a catalytic converter. Hydrocarbons (unburnt fuels and oils) and carbon monoxide
emissions still require treatment to meet automobile emissions control regulations.

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 SPCCI-Spark controlled compression ignition

Advantages

 Since HCCI engines are fuel-lean, they can operate at diesel-like compression ratios (>15),
thus achieving 30% higher efficiencies than conventional SI gasoline engines.
 Homogeneous mixing of fuel and air leads to cleaner combustion and lower emissions.
Because peak temperatures are significantly lower than in typical SI engines, NOx levels are
almost negligible. Additionally, the technique does not produce soot.
 HCCI engines can operate on gasoline, diesel fuel, and most alternative fuels.
 HCCI avoids throttle losses, which further improves efficiency.

Disadvantages

 Achieving cold start capability.

 High heat release and pressure rise rates contribute to engine wear.
 Autoignition is difficult to control, unlike the ignition event in SI and diesel engines, which
are controlled by spark plugs and in-cylinder fuel injectors, respectively.
 HCCI engines have a small power range, constrained at low loads by lean flammability limits
and high loads by in-cylinder pressure restrictions.
 Carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrocarbon (HC) pre-catalyst emissions are higher than a
typical spark ignition engine, caused by incomplete oxidation (due to the rapid combustion
event and low in-cylinder temperatures) and trapped crevice gases, respectively.

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 SPCCI-Spark controlled compression ignition

CHAPTER – 4
GOALS & CHALLENGES

The goal of the hybrid combustion method is to allow a higher-than-stoichiometric air-

fuel ratio intake charge to burn more evenly and in a stable fashion. Traditionally, an extremely
lean mixture in a standard spark-ignition gasoline engine offers an unstable combustion event.
To control such lean gasoline mixtures, compression-combustion needs to be used in those areas
of the engine map. However no reliable or practical method of switching between combustion
methods on the fly exists.

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 SPCCI-Spark controlled compression ignition

CHAPTER – 5
SOLUTION

Mazda’s solution with SPCCI is that instead of trying to switch back and forth between spark-
ignition and traditional compression-ignition (based on load and performance conditions),
they’ve modified the mechanics of how compression-ignition works. By introducing the use of
a spark plug into the traditional compression-ignition process, there were two positive results.
The range of the load map where SPCCI is effective was vastly enlarged over that of traditional
compression-ignition, and there is now an easy way to switch between traditional spark-ignition
and the more efficient compression-ignition on the fly.

fig 1

This new combustion method has required a number of supporting engine architecture
changes, like a new piston design, an all-new super-high-pressure fuel-injection system, a “high-
response air supply” (which is Mazda’s fancy way of saying roots-style supercharger) and

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in-cylinder sensors. Mazda says that one of the reasons for this current technological
breakthrough is the availability of the required much higher-precision electronic controls.

fig 2

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 SPCCI-Spark controlled compression ignition

CHAPTER—6
SPCCI- WORKING

Mazda’s SPCCI breaks from the experimental HCCI engines that bigger automakers have
demonstrated (but never put into production) in that it employs a spark plug to control
combustion events. Starting with the intake stroke, an ultra lean air/fuel mixture is introduced to
the cylinder. The air/fuel ratio varies but is always far greater than stoichiometric, or the ideal
14.7:1 air/fuel ratio, and so lean that it cannot be ignited by spark—hence the need for
compression ignition. A baffle on the intake port introduces swirl to the combustion chamber,
making the primary air/fuel mixture hug the cylinder wall. At the end of the compression
stroke, a second squirt of fuel is injected right next to the spark plug—where it’s held like a bird
in the eye of a hurricane by the swirling mixture and quickly ignited by spark. The flame spreads
from the plug out and down, creating a pressure wave moving opposite the rising piston. The
increase in the cylinder’s effective pressure (not the flame front) combusts the primary air/fuel
mixture and initiates the power stroke. Mazda exerts yet finer control over the blending between
spark and compression ignition by altering the flame’s pressure wave using injection- and spark-
timing adjustments. Changes to that pressure wave, of course, translate to changes in the
effective cylinder pressures.

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 SPCCI-Spark controlled compression ignition

fig 3

Because a SPCCI system can control the spark plug timing, it can better optimize ignition
timing events under all load and driving conditions. That is how SPCCI so greatly expands the
effective area of the load map over traditional HCCI. Additionally, because there is a constant
spark plug in use, the system can seamlessly switch back to a more traditional spark-ignition
method in rpm or load ranges in which compression-ignition is either not possible, or less-than-
ideal.

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 SPCCI-Spark controlled compression ignition

fig 4

In order for this hybrid process to work, two separate air-fuel ratios must be maintained
within the cylinder at once. The outer “zone” must be lean enough to allow compression-
ignition, while the inner “zone” must be rich enough to allow spark-ignition. Mazda has been
able to control this through a split fuel injection process.

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 SPCCI-Spark controlled compression ignition

Advantages

• More Power and Torque, Better and More Consistent Fuel Economy.
• It offers the low-end grunt traditionally found in a diesel engine, but with smooth high-
rpm performance traditionally found in gasoline engines.
• Another additional benefit to this hybrid combustion method is lower tailpipe emissions.
The HCCI method offers a much cleaner burn, as the lower combustion temperatures
don’t allow oxides of Nitrogen to form. While there is still a hot ignition point, the overall
combustion temperature is lower, and offers a more complete burn than a traditional
spark-ignition combustion.

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 SPCCI-Spark controlled compression ignition

CHAPTER – 7
CONCLUSION

If this technology pans out, it will likely be pursued in the name of efficiency and a
reduction in emissions, as the worldwide demand to go green increases. The sky active-X
technology could be the next big thing in the IC engines. As of now this technology is still in
testing, and mazda plans to start their production in 2019. Even though the EV’s will take over
the automotive sectors in the future, there is still time for improvement with the internal
combustion engine. It will still play a major part in the future.

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SPCCI-Spark controlled compression ignition

CHAPTER – 8
REFERENCE

 Spark-ignition gasoline engine, Mitsuo Hitomi,Noriyuki Iwata,Masahisa

Yamakawa,Toshiaki Nishimoto,Takashi Yohso,Takayoshi Hayashi, Mazda Motor
Corp, 2010.

 COMPRESSION IGNITION ENGINE, George Stephen Kammer, Geneva,

Switzerland Application February 21, 1939, Serial No. 257,743

 http://articles.sae.org/6635

 Development of a Direct Injection-Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (DI-

HCCI) Heavy Duty DiesOtto Engine by using Effervescent Atomization," SAE
Technical Paper 2009-01-2701, 2009

 Yamasaki, Y., Umahashi, S., Uesugi, Y., Ma, Q. et al., "Development of Dynamic
Models for an HCCI Engine with Exhaust Gas Rebreathing System," SAE Technical
Paper 2015-01-1803, 2015

 http://www.enginelabs.com/news/mazdas-new-spark-controlled-compression-
ignition-revealed/

 http://articles.sae.org/15622/

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