1. Introduction to Gasoline Compression Ignition Technology: Future Prospects

Gasoline Compression Ignition (GCI) engines offer the prospect of diesel-like high efficiency while making the control of particulates and NOx emissions much easier. In the GCI concept, gasoline-like fuels which are much more difficult to autoignite compared to diesel fuels, are used with injection strategies which enable partially premixed combustion. However, there is much more time to mix the fuel with oxygen in the cylinder compared to diesel fuel so that premixed combustion becomes much easier and particulate and NOx emissions can be reduced substantially. The injection pressures can be lower than in modern diesel engines, using diesel fuel, where very high injection pressures have to be used to promote premixed combustion. Moreover, the focus of the after-treatment system shifts to controlling HC and CO rather than particulates and NOx. Hence a GCI engine can be cheaper than a modern diesel engine while providing a similar high efficiency. In addition, a GCI engine could be run on low octane fuels which offers further benefits by reducing energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the refinery during manufacture. This first chapter, outlines the GCI process and provides brief descriptions of the chapters that follow.