HCCI, PCCI, RCCI, and GDCI are different combustion modes that have been developed to

improve the efficiency and reduce the emissions of internal combustion engines.

HCCI (Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition) is a mode of combustion where the air and

fuel are mixed homogeneously and compressed until auto-ignition occurs. This mode is typically

used in gasoline engines.

PCCI (Premixed Charge Compression Ignition) is a mode of combustion where the fuel is

premixed with air and then compressed until auto-ignition occurs. This mode is typically used in

diesel engines.

RCCI (Reactivity Controlled Compression Ignition) is a mode of combustion that combines

features of both HCCI and PCCI. In RCCI, two different fuels are injected separately into the

combustion chamber: one with high reactivity (such as gasoline) and one with low reactivity

(such as diesel). The two fuels are mixed and then compressed until auto-ignition occurs. RCCI

can be used in both gasoline and diesel engines.

GDCI (Gasoline Direct Injection Compression Ignition) is a mode of combustion that combines

gasoline direct injection with compression ignition. In GDCI, gasoline is injected directly into

the combustion chamber and then compressed until auto-ignition occurs. GDCI is typically used

in gasoline engines.

Low Temperature Combustion

Conventional diesel combustion is characterized by heterogeneous combustion, which creates

high temperature regions (responsible for higher NOx) and locally fuel-rich regions (responsible

for PM formation). LTC strategies have gained substantial attention due to their potential to
overcome the PM-NOx trade-off simultaneously. LTC is a general term used for advanced

combustion strategies, and it has several derivatives namely homogeneous charge compression

ignition (HCCI), reactivity controlled compression ignition (RCCI) and premixed charge

compression ignition (PCCI) etc. [1]. Akihama et al. [2] explained the fundamental theory of

LTC using local equivalence ratio vs. flame temperature curve (Figure 2). This figure also

represents the PM-NOx dilemma associated with conventional CI combustion mode in which

fuel-lean regions above 2200 K produce more NOx however fuel-rich regions above 1800 K

produces the PM predominantly. In their study, they suggested two critical parameters namely

adequate time for fuel-air mixing and low peak combustion temperature for simultaneous

reduction of NOx and PM. They reported that LTC can be achieved at temperatures, which are

significantly lower than the NOx formation window and local equivalence ratios required for

LTC are way below soot formation window. Kook et al. [3] also investigated the effects of

charge dilution on diesel-fueled LTC using exhaust gas recirculation (EGR). They reported that

charge dilution reduces the flame temperature and affects the local equivalence ratio due to lower

oxygen concentration and longer ignition delay. They experimentally verified the effect of

charge dilution on NOx and particulate formation reduction. However, this also enhanced the

incomplete combustion product formation such as CO and HC. To tackle this issue, different

derivatives of LTC were demonstrated by various researchers, as discussed in the next section.
Figure 2: Local equivalence ratio-flame temperature correlation of different low temperature

combustion techniques for simultaneous control of soot and NOx formation

1. HCCI Combustion

HCCI is one of the initial diesel combustion concepts, which combines advantages of CI

(stratified charge compression ignition) and SI (homogeneous charge spark ignition) combustion

modes because it uses premixed charge similar to that of SI mode however auto ignition happens

similar to that of CI mode. This concept was initially proposed by Onishi et al. [5], who applied

it in a gasoline-fueled two-stroke engine with an objective of increasing combustion stability at

part load conditions. His group named this combustion technique as “Active Thermo-

Atmospheric Combustion” (ATAC). In HCCI combustion mode, fuel is injected significantly

before the start of combustion (SoC) in the intake stroke. This ensures that sufficient time is

available for homogeneous fuel-air mixture formation. This homogeneous mixture undergoes
simultaneous combustion at multiple sites in the combustion chamber unlike SI (flame

propagation) or CI (locally rich flame front) combustion modes. Here, combustion phasing is

distinct from the injection timing and combustion is mainly controlled by chemical reaction

kinetics. HCCI combustion was easily implemented in SI engines [6-7] however diesel-fueled

HCCI engine development has several issues due to lower volatility of mineral diesel and cool

combustion chemistry [1, 8]. Gan et al. [9] and Dec and Kelly-Zion [10] used early and late fuel

injection strategies for achieving diesel HCCI combustion however these strategies resulted in

inferior combustion due to poor fuel-air mixing. Low volatility of diesel was found to be the

main hurdle in achieving satisfactory demonstration of diesel HCCI. To enhance the fuel-air

mixture quality, Ryan and Callahan [11] demonstrated external fuel-air mixture preparation

technique and supplied diesel into the intake air stream. Singh et al. [12] developed a ‘fuel

vaporizer’ to study the combustion, emission and performance characteristics of diesel and

biodiesel-fueled HCCI combustion. These studies reported superior emission characteristics of

HCCI combustion compared to conventional CI combustion mode however this technique

suffered from lack of combustion control, higher HRR, and higher levels of HC and CO

emissions, which limited its application, particularly at higher engine loads.

1.1 Working Principle of HCCI Engine

HCCI (Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition) is a mode of combustion where the air and

fuel are mixed homogeneously and compressed until auto-ignition occurs. This mode is typically

used in gasoline engines. The HCCI concept, which is proposed as an ultimate method of lean

burn, is completely different from other conventional combustion concepts like spark or

compression ignition. In the HCCI engine homogeneous mixture is created and it depends on

solution in the intake system or inside the cylinder. Homogeneous charge or air is drawn into the
cylinder during suction stroke and compressed to high enough temperature and pressure. To

achieve homogeneous spontaneous ignition of the charge preferable near TDC, high intake

temperature and the high compression ratio are required.

In contrast to SI and CI engines HCCI combustion lacks from the flame propagation.

Combustion initiation occurs simultaneously at whole volume of combustion chamber and burns

at the same time. Because the whole mixture burns almost homogeneously unstable flame

propagation is avoided. The HCCI non flame combustion process can be described as a

“premixed distributed reaction zone”. On the contrary to the SI engines where large cycle to

cycle variation occur, since the early flame development varies considerably due to mixture

inhomogeneity in the vicinity of the spark plug, HCCI cycle to cycle variations of combustion

are very small. Also in contrast to contemporary engines HCCI fast combustion causes very high
and fast heat and pressure release. Under some conditions where enough power was generated

Pmax exceeded 200 bar what is considered to be the critical limit for engine mechanisms [36]. To

avoid so fast combustion highly diluted mixture must be used. It is well known that the flame

propagation limit is practically about λ=1.7 in SI engines. In comparison with HCCI combustion,

the rich limit caused by strong knock intensity – high pressure – is λ=2.9. The case of highest

intake air temperature and pressure, up to λ=6.2 can still have stable operation [34]. They are

both leaner than λ in conventional engines, so operation of HCCI is possible only using very lean

mixture with which conventional combustion is not possible. Although stable HCCI operation

and its substantial benefits have been demonstrated at selected steady-state conditions, several

barriers must be overcome before HCCI engine can be widely applied to production automobile

and heavy-truck vehicles. A critical limitation of HCCI is that the engine is prone to misfire and

knock unless maintained within a certain operating window which makes control over a range of

operating conditions challenging. From the reason following research is required in several areas,

including: controlling ignition timing over a wide range of speeds and loads; extending the

operating range to high loads; limiting the rate of combustion heat release at high load condition;

providing smooth operation through rapid transient; achieving cold start; meeting emissions

standards especially hydrocarbons HC and carbon monoxide CO. As was mentioned above for

HCCI engine, the critical problems are the control of ignition timing and combustion rate

especially for variable load conditions. From a control standpoint, opposite to the SI engine

where combustion is controlled by spark timing or CI engine where moment of ignition

controlled is by the injection time one of the most striking features of HCCI is that in this engine

there is no actuating mechanism directly controlling start of combustion. From this reason

combustion control first of all under variable load conditions is the biggest challenge for HCCI
engine. In spite of the problems resulting from very complex combustion control systems HCCI

provide huge benefits as a future driving propulsion unit to both light and heavy duty engines.

HCCI is also applicable to be used outside the transportation sector such as those used for

electrical power generation. Recapitulating HCCI technology can be scaled to virtually every

size-class of engine from small motorcycle to large ship engines. From the reason that natural

gas has an extremely high octane rating (more than 110), HCCI must be operated at very high

compression ratios resulting in high efficiency and clean exhaust gases.

2. PCCI Combustion

PCCI combustion is almost similar to HCCI combustion and this can be easily implemented in

modern common rail direct injection (CRDI) diesel engines. In PCCI combustion, lean-premixed

fuel-air mixture is compression-ignited in order to avoid locally rich as well as high temperature

regions, where soot and NOx formations are high. PCCI combustion results in emission

characteristics quite similar to HCCI combustion, however it offers better control over the

combustion events. In PCCI combustion, important combustion parameters such as ignition

delay, combustion duration etc. can be controlled by controlling in-cylinder charge motion,

compression ratio, fuel injection parameters and EGR. Jain et al. [13-14] carried out detailed

investigations of PCCI combustion and developed an optimized fuel injection strategy. They

used multiple injections along with EGR and observed lower NOx reduction and PM emissions

due to EGR and multiple injections, respectively. Multiple fuel injection strategy showed

significant effect on the fuel-air mixture homogeneity and optimum EGR reduced the in-cylinder

temperature below the NOx formation threshold. Despite these advantages, PCCI combustion

could not be implemented in commercial engines so far due to lack of control over combustion
events at higher engine loads. Presence of large fuel quantity at high engine load leads to high

HRR, which can potentially damage the engine components.

PCCI combustion can be achieved by lengthening the time period between the SOI and SOC

thereby enhancing the air-fuel mixture before the SOC [87]. PCCI mode engine can be operated

stably in lean air-fuel ratio (AFR) like 34:1 and can operate in too lean AFR of 80:1 when the

ICT maintained at around 170 °C [11,86]. PCCI mode works under lean burn and it has higher

CR compared to the conventional SI engine. PCCI combustion starts after the end of fuel

injection; it is primarily governed by chemical kinetics and not by the diffusive mixing rate like

CCM engine. Therefore, combustion and injection are not overlapped and no direct control over

the combustion is possible [57]. Single-stage early DI fuel has been employed to achieve PCCI

combustion, but too earlier DI leads to wall impingements resulting in incomplete combustion.

To avoid such issues, the fuel injection is carried out in multiple or split injection mode. A large

amount of EGR is employed to control the ID period and in-cylinder gas temperature in the

PCCI combustion [88,89]. PCCI combustion is better than the HCCI combustion because of the

controlled combustion resulting from the partially premixed charge (Pr) and expected auto-

ignition region. Combustion phasing of the PCCI mode is controlled by operating parameters

(ICT, EGR, IT, etc.); though chemical kinetics still play a significant role. In PCCI mode, fuel is

supplied into the cylinder in three ways, such as port fuel, advanced direct and late direct

injection [90]. PCCI mode uses 70° narrow spray angle injector to keep the fuel spray within the

combustion chamber and avoids the wall wetting issues [91,92]. To prevent misfire, HC and CO

formations; CR of PCCI mode engine should be kept in the same level of CCM. PCCI

combustion with diesel fuel has some troubles due to the low volatility and high flammability,

including the formation of homogeneous charge, combustion control, limited working range,
wall impingement and UHC emissions [93]. Spark assisted PCCI (SAPCCI) model could be used

for lower volatile fuels like kerosene, biofuels and diesel. SAPCCI combustion has some

benefits; it utilizes low quality and CN fuels in IC engines relatively with better engine

characteristics [94]. In PCCI-DI (dual) mode, one fuel is injected at intake port to form a partial

homogeneous mixture and the same or another fuel directly injected into the cylinder like CCM

injection. The PCCI-DI combustion is majorly depending upon the pilot (DI) fuel quantity

because it determines the ID period and combustion rate [88,95]. In premixed compression

ignition low temperature combustion (PCI-LTC), single fuel or dual fuel usually injected in PFI

mode to form proper air and fuel mixture. Single fuel PCI-LTC has a lower combustion

temperature, and lean AFR leads to higher cycle-to-cycle variation problems. The dual fuel

premixed combustion used for achieving a lower NOx and soot emissions with higher indicated

thermal efficiency (60%) [96–99].

2.1 Working principle of PCCI Engine

PCCI (Premixed Charge Compression Ignition) is a mode of combustion where the fuel is

premixed with air and then compressed until auto-ignition occurs. This mode is typically used in

diesel engines.
RCCI Combustion

In RCCI, fuels with different reactivity are injected at planned intervals thereby maintaining the

expected reactivity in the cylinder for obtaining the desired combustion phasing and magnitude

[100]. RCCI mode uses in-cylinder fuel mixing with dissimilar reactivity, and numerous

injection patterns to control the combustion phase, combustion duration and magnitude of

combustion. Low reactivity fuel (LRF) is injected in PFI mode to create a uniform mixture of air,

fuel and combustion residuals. High reactivity fuel (HRF) is directly injected into the cylinder by

single or multiple injection strategies before the onset of premixed charge combustion reactions

[101]. RCCI combustion can operate over a wide range of engine loads with lower NOx

emissions, ringing intensity and acceptable pressure rise. RCCI mode can meet the PM and NOx

emissions regulation limits without after-treatments and produces higher thermal efficiency

(56%) [100,101]. Sometimes, RCCI and pilot dual fuel combustion are termed as dual fuel

premixed charge compression ignition (DF-PCCI) combustion and it can able to function in high

loads. At higher engine speed and load, the utilization of RCCI mode has barrier; i.e. the pressure
rise rate becomes considerably high which may damage the engine. RCCI mode engines

operated in full engine load and speed ranges if the pressure rise rate is below the critical value

(RI:5MW/m ) 2 [102,103]. Generally, the diesel engine is employed for RCCI mode research

studies along with high pressure common rail fuel injection systems. Reactivity can be

categorized into two types: one is global reactivity and another one is reactivity gradient. First

one is determined by the fuel type and its amount injected into the cylinder. The second one

depends on the injection strategy, like early or late injection and lower or higher cetane number

fuels [104,105]. Lower EGR rate has been introduced into the engine to obtain the desired

combustion phasing at higher speed and load [52].

RCCI mode is limited to half of the engine loads at 14.4:1 CR, after this range the NOx and soot

trade-off scenario could be changed [106,107]. HECC and SCCI models have been achieved

with the utilization of high volatile fuels (alcohols) to form homogeneous charge before the

SOC. SCCI engine can be operated with lean mixture or high EGR in partial loads thereby

reducing the fuel consumption and NOx emissions [109–111].

RCCI combustion technique was demonstrated for the first time at Engine Research Center,

University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA [15]. RCCI combustion has evolved as a dual-fuel

technique, wherein a lowreactivity fuel (such as gasoline/ alcohols/ compressed natural gas

(CNG)) is supplied via port fuel injection (PFI) or by using early direct injection (DI) to create a

homogeneous fuel-air mixture. To control the start of SoC, a high-reactivity fuel (such as mineral

diesel/ biodiesel) is injected directly into the combustion chamber at optimized start of injection

(SoI) timing. Due to this high reactivity fuel, combustion starts in high reactivity zones and then

proceeds to low reactivity zones of the combustion chamber. In RCCI combustion, combustion

parameters such as SoC, combustion duration, etc. can be controlled by the spatial stratification
of fuel reactivities. The combustion duration is controlled by the reactivity gradient, which also

affects pressure rise rates (PRR) as well as combustion noise. Low and high reactivity fuel

quantities control the SoC, which advances with increasing relative fraction of high reactivity

fuel. Dual fuel strategy allows easier control of combustion phasing. Combustion phasing is

essentially controlled by localized concentration of high reactivity fuel and SoI timing of high-

reactivity fuel. Table 1 shows the comparison of few LTC modes vis-a-vis conventional

combustion modes.

Previous research includes different derivatives of LTC such as HCCI combustion, PCCI

combustion and RCCI combustion for low-load applications in light-duty and heavy-duty

engines. Though, LTC derivatives have shown significant potential in simultaneously reducing

NOx and soot emissions, they bprimarily suffers from the issue of lack of combustion control,

which leads to knocking combustion at high loads and misfire or unstable combustion at low

loads (during engine start). These difficulties restrict the envelope of operation to narrow range

and do not cater to all operating conditions. This narrow operational range of LTC is the main

obstacle for its commercialization. Therefore several efforts were made by researchers to expand

the operational range of LTC and for this, turbochargers, superchargers and multiple injection

strategies were deployed, but it remained difficult for LTC to cover the entire operational range

for commercial diesel engines. Based on these observations, it was concluded that for real world

application of LTC and to extend its operating range to practical application domains, a more

conventional diesel combustion mode would be needed for remaining areas of engine operation,

where LTC is not possible. Since for high load range, simultaneous reduction of NOx and soot is

not possible for LTC, CI mode has to be used to enhance the efficiency and fuel economy as far

as possible. To tackle this problem, an intermediate solution namely ‘mode switching technique’
has been demonstrated. In mode switching technique, engine can operate in both LTC as well as

CI combustion mode, depending on engine operating condition, and it is emerging as an effective

solution for commercializing the LTC technology.

4. Gasoline Direct Injection Compression Ignition

GDCI (Gasoline Direct Injection Compression Ignition) is a mode of combustion that combines

gasoline direct injection with compression ignition. In GDCI, gasoline is injected directly into

the combustion chamber and then compressed until auto-ignition occurs.

Several attempts have been made to promote alternative and efficient powertrains for IC engines,

including the combustion at low temperature (LTC) concept. LTC has been widely studied as a

novel combustion mode, which offers the possibility to reduce both nitrogen oxide and

particulate matter via enhanced air-fuel mixing and intake charge dilution resulting in lower peak

combustion temperatures [2,3]. Compression ignition of gasoline (GCI) is a new combustion

concept in the extensive classification of combustion at low-temperature approaches. For this

autoignition, for example gasoline, is burned under high pressure conditions [4–9]. Compression

ignition of gasoline was first suggested by Kalghatgi to take advantage of the benefits of the high

vapor and high autoignition of petroleum gasoline-like fuel and the high ratio of compression

(CR) of CI engines to obtain maximum performance and near to zero emissions at the same time

[4]. However, the lubricity of market gasoline is not adequate to protect today’s fuel injection

components, so either the engine components must become more robust or fuel lubricity

additives will be needed. Furthermore, the major challenge for GCI is the very small cetane

value of gasoline that is usually estimated to be no higher than about 15. This low value leads to

long ignition delays and misfires. Therefore, the utilization of gasoline-diesel blends was

suggested in engine ignition strategies. Besides the lengthened autoignition, their altered physical

characteristics may promisingly influence the injection of fuel and characteristics of the jet spray,

that are equally crucial for homogeneous mixture of fuel-air configuration and the combustion

inside the cylinder of engine [10,11]. Later on, a certain portion of biodiesel was added to the

gasoline fuel to achieve fuel properties that are appropriate for GCI engines and can overcome

the autoignition problems observed in gasoline [12]. Despite many research efforts, many

challenges related to GCI operation for CI engines still exist. Gasoline shows low reactivity

characteristics, leading to unstable combustion for idle- to low-load operation, which will affect

the efficiency and emissions of the CI engine operation. The efficiency of a GCI engine is

estimated to be roughly equal that of a diesel engine and the emissions should be better than

those of an SI engine. This research project deals with improving the efficiency and emission

behaviors of CI engines using GCI mode and gasoline-biodiesel blend fuels. Understanding the

main properties of fuel and quantifying the influences of several parameters on CI engines on
compression ignition of gasoline mode, fueled with a biodiesel blended in gasoline are important

for speeding up the contributions and theory to realize the utilization of gasoline in diesel

engines and biofuels in the transportation area. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to contribute a

detailed review of several topics associated with GCI engines and the efforts made to improve

their efficiency and emissions, including their potential when using gasoline-biodiesel blends.

Some recommendations are proposed to encourage GCI engine improvements and development

in the near future.

Gasoline compression ignition (GCI) is a new combustion mode that pertained to the extensive

category of LTC strategies. In this combustion mode, a fuel with high volatility property and low

reactivity characteristic, such as gasoline, burns solely by compression process [2–7] GCI was

first proposed by Kalghatgi to take advantage of good volatility and long ignition delay of

gasoline fuel and the high compression ratio of a diesel engine to achieve high efficiency and

low emissions simultaneously [2]. However, several technical issues related to GCI engine

concept must be fixed before mass production. Appropriate strategies of EGR and intake boost

have the capability of extending the engines operation range to higher loads[8–12] and further

potential to be used in GCI engines.

Gasoline compression ignition (GCI) is a new combustion mode that pertained to the extensive

category of LTC strategies. In this combustion mode, a fuel with high volatility property and low

reactivity characteristic, such as gasoline, burns solely by compression process [2–7] GCI was

first proposed by Kalghatgi to take advantage of good volatility and long ignition delay of

gasoline fuel and the high compression ratio of a diesel engine to achieve high efficiency and

low emissions simultaneously [2]. However, several technical issues related to GCI engine

concept must be fixed before mass production. Appropriate strategies of EGR and intake boost
have the capability of extending the engines operation range to higher loads[8–12] and further

potential to be used in GCI engines.

Challenges and Opportunities in GCI Engine Research

The common emission problems in CI engines are NOx and particulate matter (PM) formation

[22,23]. Serious environmental and health problems might be caused by air pollution which is

contributed by these emissions. Advanced technologies such as subsequent systems or after-

treatment systems are being promoted to solve and control these engine emissions. However,

these technologies are complicated, expensive, and reduce the primary benefit of CI engines.

Additionally, emission regulations, particularly for diesel engine vehicles, are getting to be

tighter everywhere throughout the globe. Therefore, researchers in the engine field have a

motivation to study the necessity of implementation of high vapor fuels, for instance gasoline

and other substitute fuels, for diesel engine combustion operations that afford high performance

but near-zero exhaust emissions. A sustainable substitute fuel that is very suitable for diesel

engines is biodiesel. Various renewable resources can be used to make biodiesel fuel [24,25].

Furthermore, it has proven that because the oxygen fraction in biodiesel has a main function of

reducing soot formation during the combustion process [26], biodiesel has excellent benefits in

reducing the soot emissions of CI engines [27,28]. The efficiency of diesel engines or diesel

engines are much higher than that of gasoline engines, according to some considerable analysis

[29]. First, CI engines can be run better at higher compression ratios because do not suffer

deterioration from knocking at high loads compared to SI engines. Second, part load operation

can be carried out in CI engines by reducing the injected fuel, instead of managing the air-mass

compressed in the chamber of combustion. Third, performance near to Energies 2019, 12, 238 5

of 27 an ideal cycle efficiency can be achieved due to the fact only air is trapped during the
compression movement in a CI engine, rather than an air-fuel mixture. However, the huge

emissions, especially soot/particulate matter/smoke and NOx, that are difficult to reduce by using

after-treatments, are always produced by CI engines using diesel fuel. On the contrary, lower

engine efficiency and lower exhaust emissions, especially nitrogen oxide and particulate matter

are produced by SI engines using a petroleum-based gasoline fuel. Therefore, based on these

realities, it is necessary to apply an advance combustion strategy to obtain an efficiency as high

as an CI engine and emit less emissions like an SI engine [4,30]. Nowadays, consideration is

being given to the GCI engine as the LTC method with the most potential because high thermal

efficiency and low emission behavior can be produced using this concept [20,31–36]. GCI

combustion is more practical to solve the issues of the complexity of combustion controllability

than other LTC concepts for CI engines, for example premixed-charge-CI (PCCI) and

homogeneous-charge-CI (HCCI), even though these concepts also offer interesting ignition

phenomena under homogeneously lean air-fuel mixing conditions [11,12,37–40]. Engine

experiments are very important for understanding the real phenomena of the combustion process

and emission behaviors of an IC engine. However, these are usually costly and complicated.

Therefore, only a few researchers have included engine experiments in their studies. An

extensive search of the literature showed that there are only a few references for experimental

studies of GCI engines, and studies on GCIs fueled with gasoline-biodiesel blends are even rarer.

Most of the studies use simulations and numerical methods. Thus, sequential and complementary

experimental studies are needed to achieve a better understanding of the process of combustion

inside the cylinder and emission behaviors of GCI engines fueled using blend of biodiesel in

gasoline fuel.
In the automotive industry, low-temperature combustion (LTC) has been known as an essential

concept that could reduce all emissions (e.g., soot and NOX) simultaneously while maintaining

the same or lower fuel consumption. Essentially, the LTC concept is about achieving a lower

combustion temperature by utilizing fuel stratification and fuel reactivity to reduce emissions

while maintaining high engine efficiency. To achieve LTC condition, there has been the

development of several advanced combustion concepts such as homogeneous charge

compression ignition (HCCI) [1–4], partially premixed combustion (PPC) [5,6], reactivity-

controlled compression ignition (RCCI) [7,8], and gasoline compression ignition (GCI) [9–11].

Among these, GCI is closest to conventional compression ignition (CI) of diesel fuel. The most

significant difference comes from a relatively lower fuel reactivity of gasoline compared to

diesel. There are growing research and development to improve GCI combustion because the

demonstration of GCI combustion has shown very promising results of achieving comparable

diesel-like efficiency at lower emissions.

Gasoline Compression Ignition Engine Technology

Gasoline Compression Ignition (GCI) is an advanced engine technology, utilizing low-octane

gasoline in place of diesel in CI engines. Gasoline is more volatile with high resistant to auto-

ignition, which facilitates homogenous mixing of fuel-air before SoC compared to diesel

operation. GCI technology combines the benefits of higher compression ratio (CR) operation of

CI engines and positive features of gasoline. It is expected that this new engine-fuel system will

be cost-effective because of use of low-octane gasoline, which would be cheaper, and can help

reduce exhaust emissions such as NOx and PM simaltaneously. Scope of utilizing a higher

percentage of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) exists, which can further help reduce PM and
NOx emissions. Mazda recently launched a new car SkyAktiv X, operating on GCI technology

(Mazda 2017).

5.5.1 Principle of GCI Combustion

Gasoline compression ignition (GCI) is an advanced LTC technique that can address the

problems associated with diesel engines. GCI engine operates on fully pre-mixed homogenous

combustion mode (like HCCI) at low load, on partially pre-mixed combustion (PPC) mode at

medium load, and on diffusion-controlled combustion (like a diesel engine) mode at high load

condition. Based on the level of mixture homogeneity, partially pre-mixed combustion (PPC) lies

in-between the HCCI and CI combustion modes. In PPC mode, fuel-air mixture is burned in

combination of both diffusion and pre-mixed mechanisms with bulk auto-ignition. At low loads,

fuel is injected in the intake stroke or at the start of compression stroke so that more mixture

homogeneity can be achieved whereas at high loads, gasoline is directly injected like diesel near

the top dead center (TDC) in the combustion chamber. In GCI engine, level of fuel stratification

needs to be improved with increasing engine load, since the ignition delay decreases with

increasing load. Therefore, a small amount of combustion takes place by auto-ignition, and the

remaining majority of fuel combustion dominated by diffusion process.

Gasoline compression ignition (GCI) has been shown as one of the advanced combustion

concepts that could potentially provide a pathway to achieve cleaner and more efficient

combustion engines. Fuel and air in GCI are not fully premixed compared to homogeneous

charge compression ignition (HCCI), which is a completely kinetic-controlled combustion

system. Therefore, the combustion phasing can be controlled by the time of injection, usually

postinjection in a multiple-injection scheme, to mitigate combustion noise. Gasoline usually has

research octane number (RON).

Compression ignition (CI) engines with conventional diesel combustion (CDC) have been

known to have high efficiency, but they also produce significant amounts of soot and emissions

that are harmful to human health and the environment. Soot is known to form mostly at fuel-rich

condition, with equivalence ratio ~ 4 or higher (Glassman, 1989), while the formation of NOx is

promoted at high combustion temperature ~2,700 K (Akihama et al., 2001, Fujimoto et al.,

2002). Increasingly stringent emission standards for low emission of soot and NOX demand

newly advanced engine combustion (AEC) concepts such as homogeneous charge compression

ignition (HCCI) (Onishi et al., 1979; Najt and Foster, 1983; Epping et al., 2002; Dec et al.,

2011), partially premixed combustion (PPC) (Noehre et al., 2006), gasoline compression

ignition (GCI) (Kalghatgi et al., 2006; Manente et al., 2009; Kalghatgi et al., 2010; Sellnau

et al., 2012; Ciatti et al., 2013), and reactivity controlled compression ignition (Kokjohn et al.,

2011). Simply speaking, these AEC concepts have a similar goal of utilizing the fuel

stratification and the reactivity of the charge (fuel and air) through various approaches such as

injection strategy, dilution, or fuel reactivity that can accomplish desirable combustion and

emission performance.

Application of low-temperature combustion (LTC) concept has since been explored extensively

to reduce in-cylinder emission of NOx and soot (Hasegawa and Yanagihara, 2003). The LTC

strategy can be illustrated on a temperature (T) and equivalence ratio (ϕ) map. These factors (T

and ϕ) strongly affect the combustion and emission processes.

The worldwide demand for transport fuels will increase significantly but will still be met

substantially (a share of around 90%) from petroleum-based fuels. This increase in demand will
be significantly skewed towards commercial vehicles and hence towards diesel and jet fuels,

leading to a probable surplus of lighter low-octane fuels. Current diesel engines are efficient but

expensive and complicated because they try to reduce the nitrogen oxide and soot emissions

simultaneously while using conventional diesel fuels which ignite very easily. Gasoline

compression ignition engines can be run on gasoline-like fuels with a long ignition delay to make

low-nitrogen-oxide low-soot combustion very much easier. Moreover, the research octane

number of the optimum fuel for gasoline compression ignition engines is likely to be around 70

and hence the surplus low-octane components could be used without much further processing.

Also, the final boiling point can be higher than those of current gasolines. The potential

advantages of gasoline compression ignition engines are as follows. First, the engine is at least as

efficient and clean as current diesel engines but is less complicated and hence could be cheaper

(lower injection pressure and after-treatment focus on control of carbon monoxide and

hydrocarbon emissions rather than on soot and nitrogen oxide emissions). Second, the optimum

fuel requires less processing and hence would be easier to make in comparison with current

gasoline or diesel fuel and will have a lower greenhouse-gas footprint. Third, it provides a path

to mitigate the global demand imbalance between heavier fuels and lighter fuels that is otherwise

projected and improve the sustainability of refineries. The concept has been well demonstrated in

research engines but development work is needed to make it feasible on practical vehicles, e.g.

on cold start, adequate control of exhaust carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons and control of

noise at medium to high loads. Initially, gasoline compression ignition engines technology has to

work with current market fuels but, in the longer term, new and simpler fuels need to be supplied

to make the transport sector more sustainable.

autoignites very easily, leading to high levels of engine-out soot and nitrogen oxides (NOx)

which are of increasing concern. The technologies needed to control soot and NOx emissions

make the diesel engine expensive. In the GCI concept, gasoline-like fuels in the gasoline

autoignition quality range are used instead of diesel fuel in diesel engines. The long ignition

delay (ID) of the fuel allows more time for mixing before combustion starts and enables much

easier control of soot and NOx emissions, potentially making the engine less complicated and

less expensive while keeping the high efficiency inherent to CI engines. Moreover, the fuel used

could have a low octane number and require less processing than today’s fuels; hence it will be

easier to make and will help the sustainability of refineries. Development of such technology will

also help to mitigate imbalances in the structure of the future fuel demand, as discussed below.

Another approach that is being considered for SI engines is ‘octane on demand’,10 where high-

octane fuel is supplied to the engine only when needed. This requires two fuel systems and the

development of appropriate control systems but allows the optimum use of the octane quality of

the fuel. In this paper, current engines and fuels and current projections on fuel demand and

supply are discussed in brief. Then, GCI technology, the fuel requirements of GCI and the

advantages, challenges and outlook for GCI technology are considered.

Engine combustion processes There are three major combustion processes in IC engines: (a)

spark ignition (SI) where the fuel and air are premixed and compressed and where heat release

occurs by flame propagation initiated by an electric spark; (b) compression ignition (CI) where

the fuel is injected into the hot high-pressure environment near the top of the compression stroke

and where heat release occurs as the fuel mixes with oxygen and autoignites; (c) homogeneous

charge compression ignition (HCCI) where the fuel and air are fully premixed and compressed
and where heat release occurs by autoignition of the bulk charge. These three processes can be

expressed as the corner points in a triangle, as shown in Figure 1. There are many other IC

engine combustion processes which are combinations of these three, as discussed by

Johansson,16 and GCI is one of these combinations. The efficiency of SI engines is limited by

knock associated with autoignition in the ‘end gas’ ahead of the expanding flame front. For any

given fuel, the maximum pressure and the maximum temperature that can be reached in the end

gas are limited by knock. The engines used in commercial transport have to be larger and heavier

than those used in passenger cars; therefore, they have to run at lower speeds, and knock is more

of a problem because of the longer time available for autoignition. Hence SI engines are not

usually used in commercial transport. The efficiency of SI engines at low loads is particularly

poor because of increased pumping losses since they have to run at a fixed air-to-fuel ratio and

use a throttle to reduce the amount of air breathed in. Pumping losses are also higher in SI

engines than in CI engines because they compress a mixture of fuel and air rather than just air

before heat release.14–16 However, SI engines can use three-way catalysts to control the tailpipe

emissions effectively. Currently, all CI engines are diesel engines using diesel fuel. Diesel

engines are much more efficient than SI engines are because they do not suffer from the

constraints discussed in the previous paragraph. However, they suffer from high soot

(particulate) and NOx emissions, which are of increasing public concern. Modern diesel engines

are more expensive than SI engines because of the technology such as high-pressure injection

and complex after-treatment systems needed to control soot and NOx emissions. GCI engines are

CI engines which use gasoline-like fuels. HCCI efficiency is very high, but the maximum load

that HCCI engines can achieve is limited because of excessive pressure rise rates. The upper load

limit of HCCI engines can be increased with more mixture or temperature stratification (see, for
example, the papers by Aroonsrisopon et al.19 and Hwang et al.20) but then the mixture is not

‘homogeneous’, and this type of combustion system should not be termed HCCI. At low loads,

where HCCI engines have heat release rates sufficiently low to enable them to run, the soot and

NOx levels can be exceptionally low. Also, HCCI combustion is difficult to control in practical

engines because there is no in-cycle control of the combustion phasing unlike in SI engines and

diesel engines where control is provided by the timing of the spark and the final fuel injection

respectively. Hence it is unlikely that HCCI engines where the fuel and air are fully premixed

can be developed for practical applications. GCI is HCCI-like combustion that aims for

conditions where the fuel and air are sufficiently premixed to obtain low soot and NOx emissions

but in-cycle control can be achieved by the timing of the final injection pulse.

4.5 Water Injection

With a large latent heat of vaporization, water has the effect of substantially cooling the charge

air as the liquid water vaporizes. Furthermore, the water vapor acts as a diluent in the combustion

process, decreasing NOx emissions and suppressing knock reactions in much the same way as

the cooled EGR gas. The application of water cooling is not a novelty in ICEs, and the first

successful use of WI for suppressing combustion knock can be traced back to the early 1930s.

During World War II, similar use of WI was made in the operation of high output aircraft

engines, and additional studies were conducted on various kinds of engines until the 1980s. To

fulfill more and more rigorous CO2 and pollutant emissions regulations recently, the WI

technique has again been investigated to explore its potential benefits on both the SI (spark

ignition) and CI (compression ignition) engines. To summarize, cooling effects suppressing

knock combustion in turbocharged SI engines result in possibilities to apply a higher CR, higher
boost level and advanced spark timing thus improving power output and efficiency as well as

better part load performance. For the turbocharged CI engine, due to NOx reduction achieved

with water addition in the combustion processes, strict emission regulations could be fulfilled,

and other measures, such as optimizing the fuel injection timing, can be adopted to further

minimize the fuel consumption and soot emission. However, many problems still need to be

addressed with respect to utilization on different types of engines, such as mechanisms of WI

with different aims, comparison of different implementations, optimum WI parameters and

maximum potential. In addition, the on-board vehicle utilization of WI brings some new issues

regarding cost, robustness, water consumption and emissions. Although lots of research on WI

has been reported in recent years, no systematic review of those problems is conducted to the

authors’ knowledge. This paper aims to present a comprehensive review of research progresses

and future trends of WI to improve the combustion, emissions and efficiency of the ICE. First,

the injection and evaporation processes of water are discussed, followed by mechanisms of the in

cylinder combustion process with water addition to give a deeper understanding of this

technique. Next, current research activities on WI applied on different types of engines are

summarized. Furthermore, comparisons and combinations of WI with other engine techniques

are reviewed. Finally, some other critical issues of WI applied on the ICE are presented.

2. Water injection and evaporation

The water injection and evaporation processes determine the mixture (fuel, air and water)

formation, evolution and combustion processes in the cylinder, which should be reviewed first

before further exploring mechanisms and comparing applications on various kinds of ICEs.

2.1. Implementations of water injection

of the hottest spots within the cylinder, while at the same time the negative effects and the

amount of injected water are minimized. To introduce water into the cylinder, many possible

locations can be selected as the WI points, which have their own advantages and drawbacks

especially when applied on different types of ICEs. As shown in Fig. 1, typical WI

implementations can be categorized into three kinds with respect to injection locations and

methods:

a) Single point WI upstream or downstream of the compressor or post charge air cooler;

b) Multipoint WI into the intake runner or intake port;

c) Direct WI into the cylinder via a separate injector or the same injector as fuel.

2.1.1. Pre/after the compressor or charge air cooler water injection

For the turbocharged ICEs, water can be directly injected into pipes upstream of the compressor,

downstream of the compressor or downstream of the charge air cooler, which is commonly

known as intake air humidification or fumigation [28]. To evaluate those different

implementations, some guiding factors should be considered, such as the maximum allowable

intake air humidity, good evaporation, ease of application and maintenance. Good evaporation is

especially important for the intake air humidification in order to avoid water condensation and

accumulation in the intake system, to ensure even distributions of water flowing into each

cylinder, to limit cycle to cycle variations and abnormal emissions, to eliminate possibilities of

cylinder liner corrosion problems and contaminations of lubrication oil. Since the temperature

before the compressor is near ambient unless it is pre-heated, good evaporation of water droplets

upstream of the compressor could be a problem although the low pressure upstream of the
compressor favors the evaporation. With air mist flowing into the compressor, some water

droplets continue to evaporate, which decreases the compression temperature and results in a

high compressor efficiency. The addition of water increases compressor work but the additional

mass flow will also increase the turbine work of the turbocharger. The fluid properties will

change which will also affect the compressor and turbine work. However, big water droplets can

lead to serious damage of the compressor blades. It is challenging to atomize the water to a small

enough particle size to avoid damage and to ensure complete evaporation. If proper precautions

are taken, humidification of intake air is possible before the compressor with the advantage of

long residence time and good mixing of air and vapor before flowing into the intake manifold.

For the WI after the compressor, the charge air temperature is high and often greater than the

boiling point of water, which can accelerate the evaporation process of the injected water. With

this humidification process, the charge air temperature can be cooled down so that the coolant

flow across the intercooler could be reduced to maintain a desired post-intercooler temperature,

and a mist catcher should be adopted to avoid droplet condensation in the intake manifold [28].

Under some conditions, it may even be possible to eliminate the intercooler altogether and rely

solely on the evaporation of water [29,30]. Another possible location for WI downstream the

compressor is after the intercooler. Since the humidification potential is less due to the low

temperature and high pressure of the charged air out of the intercooler, only a small amount of

water can be held in the cooled charge air. In addition, the available time for water evaporation is

much shorter here compared with the above two locations since the injection point is quite close

to the combustion chamber. Therefore, the post charger air cooler injection may be a feasible

injection system, if only small amount of water is either sufficient for operation or if it is

combined with another injection system. With those characteristics, the intake air humidification
is especially attractive for engines operating on heavy fuel oil where the use of EGR is difficult

and expensive. In addition, intake air humidification is more easily integrated on large marine

engines due to the spacious installation room, low engine and compressor speeds, steady

operating conditions and easy water acquisition [27]. To get a high proportion of water addition,

the humidity of the air should be near saturation as it enters the cylinder, and the intake manifold

temperature should be as high as the engine can tolerate. Sulphuric acid corrosion, often referred

to as cold corrosion, is another significant problem in marine engines even with low-Sulphur

fuels, and advanced cylinder liner and piston technologies should be considered. But for those

high-speed vehicle engines, intake air humidification may not be a good choice if a large amount

of water is required, and specific precautions should be considered seriously for the injection and

evaporation processes in a large operating range.

2.1.2. Intake runner or port water injection

The intake runner and intake port are another two alternative locations for the WI, and the main

advantage is the easy implementation similar to a PFI (port fuel injection) system. In general, the

gasoline PFI system can be directly used for the WI with little modifications [31], which shows

the highest probability for short term series production. Furthermore, the amount of water

injected into each cylinder is controlled by the water injector directly to ensure even distribution.

Since the injection points are very close to the combustion chambers, not enough time is

available for the water to fully evaporate before flowing into the cylinder, and the relatively low

temperature and high pressure of the cooled charge air also slow down the evaporation rate.

Therefore, it is hard to assume a fully evaporation process outside the cylinder for the intake

runner or port WI, which will be further discussed in Section 2.2. Thus, those features make the

intake runner or port WI more suitable for the knock control in the gasoline engine.
2.1.3. Direct in-cylinder water injection

Water can also be injected into the cylinder directly with a separate injector, a traditional fuel

injector or a specially designed fuel/water injector. The main advantage of direct in-cylinder WI

is the flexible control of water amount and distributions in the cylinder at the right time, which

can adjust the fuel/air/water concentrations in the combustion zone and decrease the water

requirement. Drawbacks are also obvious, such as the cost of a high-pressure injection system,

packaging and robustness. The primary benefit of WI via a separate injector is that both the

injected mass flow rate and the injection timing can be controlled separately from the fuel

injection. WI during the intake stroke and compression stroke may have different effects on the

engine volumetric efficiency, in-cylinder evaporation and mixture evolution. In general, water

should be injected to ensure that there is no liquid film build upon the cylinder wall and that

evaporation is complete before the end of the compression stroke. However, inappropriate WI

timing and spray with respect to the fuel injection will locally quench the flame, contaminate

lubrication oil, increase the cycle-to-cycle variation and other emissions [32]. For the GDI

(gasoline direct injection) engine, integrating the water injector into the combustion chamber

consumes a lot of the package volume available. A more feasible solution may be the

combination of port fuel injection and direct water injection or emulsion water injection.
Stratified fuel/water direct injection with a specially designed injector, often adopted on the

diesel engine, is slightly better than the direct WI with a separate injector. The amount of water

injected in sequence with fuel from the same injector can also be varied although the timing of

injection is dependent on the fuel injection and water/fuel ratio. The liquid water is inserted close

to the flame and away from the cylinder wall. With stratified injection, it is easier to cool the

flame zone directly rather than cool the entire combustion chamber [33]. This allows for high

NOx reduction without compromising other values such as fuel consumption and emissions like

HC and CO. This arrangement can also minimize the negative impact on overall engine

reliability compared with a poorly placed nozzle which may over-cool the combustion chamber

and lead to ignition delay and incomplete combustion [34]. However, additional cost on

modification of the injector make this system less popular compared to other WI systems.

Fuel/water emulsion with the addition of emulsifier, primarily adopted on the diesel engine for

NOx reduction, needs almost no engine modification for the implementation [35]. The presence

of a surfactant (or emulsifier), which is a typical chemical additive attracting the immiscible

liquids, plays an important role in forming a stable emulsion. In addition, different types and

percentages of the chemical additives determines the type of emulsions. With larger amounts of

surfactant, normally up to 10%, micro-emulsion can be generated compared to the normal

emulsion with up to 2% of surfactant [36,37]. Thus, microemulsion has a much smaller dispersed

water droplet with the diameter size ranging from 5–20 nm compared to 1–10 µm of the normal

emulsion. Regarding the engine power and emission performances, Ithnin et al. [37] indicated

that not much difference can be observed with those two types of emulsion fuels. Even though

the micro-emulsion has more stable thermodynamic properties, the high cost of micro-emulsion

restricts its commercialization. The main disadvantage of using fuel emulsion technology is the
limitation of the amount of water that can be added to the system [38]. For fuels emulsified with

water, there is always an inherent risk that an excess of water may be injected into the cylinder

either too early or too late in the combustion process. This can cause cooling of the entire

cylinder and lead to increased ignition delay, engine noise and retarded combustion. Another

disadvantage is that engine operation at low loads and at stops and starts are sometimes hindered,

which limits the utilization of this technique on vehicle engines. In addition, an increased engine

operation cost, like a more extended and developed distribution network of fuel/water emulsion

or a complex on-board emulsion production system equipped on the engine, should be evaluated

seriously. For the gasoline engine, the technology of pre-mixed macro emulsions of water and

gasoline is proposed and investigated. In this system, water is metered into a mixing chamber

filled by the pre-pressurized fuel flow of 4–5 bar, where those two fluids are mechanically

sheared by a static mixing device [39,40]. Thus, short-term time-resistant emulsions can be

obtained, and emulsifying additive is avoided. Pumped by the high-pressure pump, stabilized

emulsions flow through the fuel supply system to the fuel injectors. With no modification of the

cylinder head, this implementation is relatively easy to integrate into an existing engine. Since

water is directly injected into the combustion chamber with fuel, chamber-wall wetting can be

minimized, which shows great potential for the future gasoline water injection.

2.2. Water evaporation

After being injected, water should first mix with the air flow and then evaporate, which has

significant effects on the engine intake, compression and further combustion processes. Hoppe et

al. [41] separated the effects of specific heat and vaporization enthalpy of water on the in-

cylinder compression temperature based on the fuel-air cycle, which showed the charge cooling

effect of WI is almost entirely due to the high latent heat of vaporization. Therefore, the water
evaporation process, which depends on not only the implementations discussed above but also

the engine operating conditions, should be discussed thoroughly especially for the intake

runner/port WI and the direct incylinder WI. Under suitable conditions, water vaporization may

result in cooling, and hence, increase density of the inlet fuel-air mixture just prior to closing of

the intake valve. On the other hand, if sufficient time is not available especially with high engine

speeds, low charge temperature or short distance between the injection point and the intake

valve, the induction process will be unaltered by the injection of water. In addition, for highly

boosted engines with a highly efficient charge air cooler, the cooled fresh charge may be at or

near 100% relative humidity [26]. Under this condition, water injected in the intake runner/ port

will not evaporate. Instead, liquid water will enter the cylinder and evaporate during the

compression stroke as the in-cylinder pressure and temperature rise. Nicholls et al. [22]

evaluated effects of two different water evaporation models on the intake and compression

processes. The phase equilibrium model assumes the water vapor existing in a continuously

shifting phase-equilibrium with liquid water during the induction process, and the liquid phase

model is based on the assumption that sufficient time is not available for water evaporation

throughout the induction process. Thus, those two models correspond to the two possible

extremes of water vaporization rate. Theoretical analysis indicated that the intake charge density

and IMEP (indicated mean effective pressure) are much higher with the phase equilibrium model

compared with those of the liquid phase induction model, while no obvious increase in

volumetric efficiency was observed in the later experimental research. To simplify the simulation

of the water evaporation process, the gasoline evaporation process can be used as a good

reference. With the water injector located upstream the port fuel injector and the maximum

water/fuel ratio of 0.3, De Bellis et al. [42] assumed 20% of the total mass of water vaporizes
immediately upon the injection and described the in-cylinder water evaporation rate with a semi-

empirical correlation resembling the fuel evaporation process in a 1D simulation model.

Although no data was available to verify the reliability of this assumption, De Bellis et al. [42]

also stressed that problems such as oil dilution, misfire, or partial combustion were not detected

in the experimental campaign, which suggested a good evaporation in the real engine. To

simulate a more accurate evaporation process of port WI with a 1D model, Cavina et al. [43]

adopted a port injector and a fictitious direct in-cylinder injector to split the evaporation

proportions of the injected water in the intake runner and the cylinder, but this modelling

approach was not predictive. However, to realize a similar evaporation process as the gasoline,

WI with the gasoline injector needs a much higher injection pressure due to the low evaporation

saturated vapor pressure compared with that of the gasoline. If the water droplet is also assumed

to be of similar size as the gasoline, the water droplets potentially never undergo full

vaporization process before combustion like the gasoline [44]. Therefore, special attentions

should be paid when injecting water with traditional gasoline injectors. Battistoni et al. [45]

indicated that the primary atomization quality, which ultimately depends on the nozzle design

and injection pressure, is a key point to improve the performance of the WI system. The location

and targeting of the water injector are also very important. CFD (computational fluid dynamics)

simulations of liquid water distributions shown in Fig. 2 indicated that the installation of the

water injector very close to the inlet valves, mimics a “quasi-direct” WI with respect to the

installation far upstream in the intake runners. Wall film formation that reduces charge cooling

and premature vaporization outside of the cylinder are the main causes for the lower efficiency

of the intake runner installation, which decrease substantial gains in terms of combustion control

and knock suppression. With a 3D simulation model of the port WI on a GDI engine, d’ Adamo
et al. [46] compared evaporations of the liquid fuel and water in the cylinder at different engine

speeds. The results showed that a lower in-cylinder temperature level can slow down the phase

transition processes, and liquid water is more affected than liquid fuel because of its higher latent

heat of vaporization. Under low to medium speed conditions, no more than 50% liquid water is

evaporated at 700 CAD (crank angle degree). With the in-cylinder water injection timing at the

IVC (intake valve closing) timing, Kim et al. [44] superimposed the saturation temperature and

dew-point temperature lines on the in-cylinder temperature and pressure buildup map in order to

roughly evaluate the phase of the water. As shown in Fig. S1, a delay of evaporation process

would occur when the in-cylinder temperature is lower than the saturation temperature of water

early in the compression stroke, and rapid vaporization of water accompanying effective charge

cooling would be expected when the in-cylinder temperature is higher than the saturation

temperature of the water as the “evaporation zone” depicted in Fig. S1(a). Bhagat et al. [32]

conducted CFD simulations of the vaporization profile and liquid film formation over the crank

angle with the in-cylinder water injection timing of 60 degree and 90 degree BTDC (before top

dead center). The results showed that the crank angle of 50% water evaporation with injection

timing of 90 degree BTDC is 100 degree crank angle earlier than that with injection at 60 degree

BTDC at the engine speed of 2000 rpm, and a 28% increase in wall film mass was predicted for

injection at 60 degree BTDC compared to injection at 90 degree BTDC. Thus, an accurate

evaluation of the water evaporation shows great importance in the design and optimization of

different WI systems and also for an accuracy calculation of heat release rate. Sometimes it is

necessary to judge whether the injected water fully evaporates or not especially since this may

have implication on avoiding corrosion problems or lubrication oil contaminations. Since it is

unrealistic to detect the water phase with a sensor, an empirical evaluation with the measured or
calculated temperature can be used to approximate whether the air is saturated or unsaturated as

shown in [44].