HCCI engine full form is Homogeneous charge compression ignition engine. HCCI is a form of internal combustion in which well-mixed fuel and air are compressed to the autoignition temperature of the fuel. HCCI provide huge benefits as a future driving propulsion unit to both light and heavy-duty engines. Let us have a deep insight into the pros and cons of the HCCI engine in this article.
Advantages of the HCCI engine :
- Fuel-saving.
- Lean fuel operated diesel-like compression ratio.
- Clean combustion and lower emissions.
- The peak temperature is lower than the SI engine.
- NOx and soot emissions are negligible.
- Operated on all alternative fuels.
- Low throttling losses.
- HCCI is also applicable to be used outside the transportation sector such as those used for electrical power generation.
- HCCI must be operated at very high compression ratios resulting in high efficiency and clean exhaust gases.
Disadvantages of HCCI engine :
- High in-cylinder pressure may cause damage to the engine.
- Fast heat release and pressure rise contribute to engine wear.
- Auto-ignition is difficult to control.
- Constraints at low load.
- Small power range.
- Problems at high load condition because of cylinder pressure restrictions.
- CO emissions are high as compared to the SI engine.