Claims
- 1. An internal combustion engine comprising:
a plurality of combustion cylinders operable under homogenous charge compression ignition concepts; and at least one combustion cylinder operable on one of spark ignition concepts and combustion ignition direct injection concepts.
- 2. The engine of claim 1, said engine having a total number of combustion cylinders and at least 50% of said total number of combustion cylinders operable under homogenous charge compression concepts.
- 3. The engine of claim 2, said total number of combustion cylinders being at least eight.
- 4. The engine of claim 2, said total number of combustion cylinders being at least twelve.
- 5. The engine of claim 2, said total number of combustion cylinders being at least sixteen.
- 6. The engine of claim 1, said at least one combustion cylinder operable under spark ignition concepts using Miller cycle principles.
- 7. The engine of claim 6, said engine having a total number of combustion cylinders and at least 50% of said total number of combustion cylinders operable under homogenous charge compression concepts.
- 8. The engine of claim 6, said engine designed for single speed operation.
- 9. The engine of claim 1, said engine designed for single speed operation.
- 10. The engine of claim 1, said at least one combustion cylinder operable on one of spark ignition concepts and combustion ignition direct injection concepts also being operable under homogenous charge compression ignition concepts.
- 11. A work machine comprising:
a driven component; and an engine drivingly coupled to said component, said engine including;
a plurality of combustion cylinders operable under homogenous charger compression ignition concepts; and at least one combustion cylinder operable under one of spark ignition concepts and combustion ignition direct injection concepts.
- 12. The work machine of claim 11, said driven component being a generator.
- 13. The work machine of claim 11, said engine having a total number of combustion cylinders, and at least 50% of said total number of combustion cylinders operable under homogenous charge compression concepts.
- 14. The work machine of claim 13, said total number of combustion cylinders being at least eight.
- 15. The work machine of claim 13, said total number of combustion cylinders being at least twelve.
- 16. The work machine of claim 13, said total number of combustion cylinders being at least sixteen.
- 17. The work machine of claim 11, said at least one combustion cylinder operable under spark ignition concepts using Miller cycle principles.
- 18. The work machine of claim 17, said engine having a total number of combustion cylinders, and at least 50% of said total number of combustion cylinders operable under homogenous charge compression concepts.
- 19. The work machine of claim 11, said engine designed for single speed operation.
- 20. The work machine of claim 19, said driven component being a generator.
- 21. The work machine of claim 20, said at least one combustion cylinder operable under spark ignition concepts using Miller cycle principles.
- 22. The work machine of claim 11, said at least one combustion cylinder also being operable under homogenous charge compression ignition concepts.
- 23. A method for operating an engine, comprising:
providing a plurality of combustion cylinders; starting the engine by operating at least one of said plurality of combustion cylinders under one of spark ignition concepts and combustion ignition direct injection concepts; and after said first step of starting the engine, operating at least one of said cylinders under homogenous charge compression ignition concepts.
- 24. The method of claim 23, including controlling said engine to a single speed operation.
- 25. The method of claim 23, including operating at least one cylinder under spark ignition concepts using Miller cycle principles.
- 26. The method of claim 23, including converting operation of at least one cylinder from spark ignition concepts to homogenous charge compression ignition concepts after said starting step.
Government Interests
[0001] The Government of the United States of America has rights in this invention pursuant to Contract No. DE-FC05-970R22605 awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy.