Lean mixture burning leads to a decrease in the temperature of the combustion process and it is one of the methods of limiting nitric oxide emissions. It also increases engine efficiency. An effective method to correct lean mixture combustion can be a two-stage system of stratified mixture combustion in an engine with a prechamber. This article presents the results of laboratory research on an SI engine (spark ignition) with a two-stage combustion system with a cylinder powered by gasoline and a prechamber powered by propane-butane gas LPG (liquefied petroleum gas). The results were compared to the results of research on a conventional engine with a one-stage combustion process. The test engine fuel mixture stratification method, with a two-stage combustion system in the engine with a prechamber, allowed to burn a lean mixture with an average excess air factor equal to 2.0 and thus led to lower emissions of nitrogen oxides in the exhaust of the engine. The test engine with a conventional, single-stage combustion process allowed to properly burn air-fuel mixtures of excess air factors λ not exceeding 1.5. If the value λ > 1.5, the non-repeatability factor COVLi increases, and the engine efficiency decreases, which makes it virtually impossible for the engine to operate. The engine with a two-stage combustion process, working with λ = 2.0, the Qin/Qtot = 2.5%, reduced the NOx content in the exhaust gases to a level of about 1.14 g/kWh. This value is significantly lower than the value obtained in a conventional engine, which worked at λ = 1.3 with comparable non-repeatability of successive cycles (about 3%) and a similar indicated efficiency (about 34%), was characterised by the emissions of NOx in the exhaust equal to 26.26 g/kWh.

Results of a research study into the velocity field in combustion chamber of internal combustion engine are presented in the paper. Measurements of fresh charge flow velocity in the cylinder axis and near the cylinder squeezing surface were performed. The hot-wire anemometer was used. The measurement results were used for analysis of turbulence field in the examined combustion chamber. It turned out that in the axis of cylinder the maximum of velocity occurs 30 deg before TDC and achieves 6 m/s. In the studied combustion chamber, the maximum value of turbulence intensity was close to 0.2 and it was achieved 35 deg BTDC. Additionally, the maximal velocity dispersion in the following cycles of the researched engine was at the level of 2 m/s, which is 35% of the maximum value of flow velocity. At a point located near the squeezing surface of the piston, a similar level of turbulence, but a the smaller value of the average velocity was achieved. The turbulence field turned out to be inhomogeneous in the combustion chamber.