On cold start operation of an SI engine, a catalyst shows poor performance before it reaches activation temperature. Therefore, fast warmup of the catalyst is very crucial to reduce harmful emissions. In this study, an appropriate control strategy is investigated to increase exhaust gas temperature through changes of spark timing. Combustion stability is also considered at the same time. Exhaust gas temperature and pressure of combustion chamber are measured to investigate the effects of spark timings on cold start and idle performance. Experiments showed that retarded spark timing promotes the combustion at the end of expansion stroke and increases exhaust gas temperature during cold start.

On cold start operation of an SI engine, a catalyst shows poor performance before it reaches activation temperature. Therefore, fast warmup of the catalyst is very crucial to reduce harmful emissions. In this study, an appropriate control strategy is investigated to increase exhaust gas temperature through changes of spark timing and exhaust valve timing. Combustion stability is also considered at the same time. Experiments showed that retarded spark timing promotes the combustion at the end of expansion stroke and increases exhaust gas temperature during cold start.An advance of exhaust valve timing decreases residual gas in cylinders due to decrease of valve overlap period. It helps improvement combustion stability by virtue of reduced residual gas. A control strategy of proper valve timing and spark timing is suggested in order to achieve fast light-off of the catalyst and stable operation of the engine in a cold start and idle operation