Compression ignition petrol engine

[aidan]

If the injection timing is changed to suit, why can't it work?

It is probably more suited to a direct injection engine, and would possibly be a solution to the low revs nature of them.

But is there an actual reason stopping this from working?

[VWRacer]

Actually, petrol CI engines have been around for at least 30 years that I know of. For many years the US military ran at least some medium duty all-fuel CI trucks on anything from alcohol to petrol to kerosene to diesel, or a random mix of the above. On one of my joint tours with the US Army we had these trucks. When I found out that they could burn any liquid fuel I went down to talk with the guys about them. There was some sort of specific gravity sensor on the fuel control that adjusted how much fuel was injected, based on the fuel mix in the line. They had special pumps and fuel systems that did not use the fuel for lubrication and which were resistant to alcohol.

What kind of project did you have in mind?

[aidan]

No project really, I really just expected a reason why it could not be done.
I guess there is theory to what characteristics the engine will have (noise, power/torque, max revs) in comparison to equivalent diesel, maybe even if a 2 stroke CI petrol is feasible, though i'm sure that also has been done many times.

[Master ACiD]

theres 2 stroke compression ignition methanol engines. they even have carburettors. i had one in my remote controlled car.