A flywheel-driven rapid compression and expansion machine is developed and utilized for experimental study of homogeneous charge compression ignition combustion. Compression ignition of homogeneous charge in IC engines offers possibilities of realizing ultra-lean engine operation with greatly reduced NOx and particulate formation. Fundamental investigations are carried out in order to better understand this ideal engine combustion mechanism. Perfectly premixed propane-air mixtures of various equivalence ratio are compression-ignited in the rapid compression and expansion machine, and the characteristics of the auto-ignition and the following combustion process are analyzed.