Wall-guided spark assistance for cold operations in gasoline compression ignition engines

A method of operating an engine, comprising:

• containing a plurality of combustion reactions in a plurality of cylinders, where each cylinder is configured to form a containment boundary for a corresponding combustion reaction;
• positioning a plurality of pistons in the plurality of cylinders, where each piston of the plurality of pistons comprises a piston bowl formed with a step-lipped design;
• injecting fuel into the plurality of cylinders with a plurality of fuel injectors, where each fuel injector of the plurality of fuel injectors is configured to inject the fuel into a corresponding cylinder of the plurality of cylinders, and where the injected fuel is combined with air to form an air-fuel mixture;
• generating a plurality of ignition arcs with a plurality of spark plugs, where each spark plug of the plurality of spark plugs is positioned to generate an ignition arc in the corresponding cylinder, thereby initiating the corresponding combustion reaction;
• facilitating a swirling motion of the air-fuel mixture in each cylinder at least partially with the piston bowl of the piston positioned in the corresponding cylinder;
• directing, in each cylinder, a spray plume of the air-fuel mixture toward a corresponding spark plug of the plurality of spark plugs with the piston bowl of the piston positioned in the corresponding cylinder;
• wherein the step-lipped design comprises a protrusion positioned between an upper cavity and a lower cavity that are each concentric with a center of a corresponding piston bowl.