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As it is the case for Diesel engines, the Gasoline Direct Injection engines are using higher and higher injection pressures. The state of the art gasoline Direct Injection (GDI) engines are currently using injection pressures as high as 500 bar. A lot of work is also currently ongoing on Gasoline Compression Ignition (GCI) engines which use even higher injection pressures (above 1 000 bar). A high injection pressure means that a high pressure pump has to be used and so, proper lubricity has to be brought by the fuel. In the mean time the use of biofuels is increasing and several studies have shown the positive impact of ethanol on the energy consumption of gasoline engines mainly thru an octane number effect.

In Spark Ignition engines, the heat release rate is not only piloted by the mixture reactivity but also by its sensitivity to stretch effects. Only few results can be found in the literature about flame stretch effect in SI engine configurations. For this study, three different fuels (Methane, Propane, Iso-octane) were studied, but at different air-fuel lean mixture conditions, to present almost equivalent laminar flame speeds and thermo-dynamical properties at ignition timing condition. Besides those mixtures present different Lewis numbers which are relevant parameters to describe flame-stretch interactions. Mie-scattering tomography was then performed in an optical Spark Ignition (S.I.) engine. Using a high speed camera, flame propagation images were acquired through the piston. Thermodynamic analyses based on in-cylinder pressure traces were performed to estimate in-cylinder temperature and burnt mass fraction during the engine cycle.

Future engines and vehicles will be required to reduce both regulated and CO2 emissions. To achieve this performance, they will be configured with advanced hardware and engine control technology that will enable their operation on a broader range of fuel properties than today. Previous work has shown that an advanced compression ignition bench engine can operate successfully on a European market gasoline over a range of speed/load conditions while achieving diesel-like engine efficiency and acceptable regulated emissions and noise levels. Stable Gasoline CI (GCI) combustion using a European market gasoline was achieved at high to medium engine loads but combustion at lower loads was very sensitive to EGR rates, leading to longer ignition delays and a steep cylinder pressure rise.

The current decrease in fossil energy resources requires a diversification of the liquid and gaseous fuels potentially consumable in internal combustion engines. The use of these fuels modifies the combustion process and the heat released as well. In a Spark Ignition (SI) engine, the heat released is mainly piloted not only by the mixture reactivity but also by its sensitivity to stretch effects. Only a few results can be found in the literature about stretch effects for SI engine configurations. The purpose of the present paper is to evaluate stretch effects on the flame front propagation in an optical SI engine and to investigate the relative importance of these effects depending on the fuel considered. Different air-fuel mixtures presenting different flame stretch sensitivities were selected. Four different engine regimes (1400, 1600, 1800 and 2000 rpm) were studied for all the mixtures in order to evaluate the impact of different turbulence intensities.

Future vehicles will increasingly be required to improve their efficiency, reduce both regulated and CO₂ emissions, and maintain acceptable levels of driving, safety, and noise performance. To achieve this high level of performance, they will be configured with more advanced hardware, sensors, and control technologies that will also enable their operation on a broader range of fuel properties. These capabilities offer the potential to design future vehicles to operate on the most widely available and GHG-reducing fuels. In previous studies, fuel flexibility has been demonstrated on a compression ignition bench engine and vehicle equipped with an advanced engine management system, closed-loop combustion control, and air-path control strategies. An unresolved question is whether engines of this sort can operate routinely on market gasoline while achieving diesel-like efficiency and acceptable emissions and noise levels.