An experimental investigation of the impact of added HHO gas on automotive emissions under idle conditions

The paper describes an experiment aimed at specifying the effects of adding Brown's gas (HHO gas) in automotive engines operating at idle speed. HHO gas was obtained from the author's parallel plate generator with a single central anode and two side cathodes separated by six neutral plates. The generator was powered by an external power source (power supply unit) and produced a constant HHO gas flow rate in the experiment. The so obtained HHO gas was added to the engine intake systems of 5 passenger cars – three SI engines, i.e. Fiat Cinquecento, Renault Twingo, and Opel Corsa and two CI engines, i.e. Skoda Octavia and Opel Combo. The engines operated in idling conditions. The MAHA MGT5 analyzer measured the concentrations of CO, HC, NOx in the exhaust gases of those cars first fueled by stock fuel (SF) only and then with added HHO gas, i.e. SF + HHO. The ambient conditions remained constant.The results show that fueling with an HHO gas additive has an impact on emissions: CO and HC concentrations in the exhaust gases were reduced in the most of the cases; NOx concentration was reduced in the SI engines but increased in the Diesel ones. Adding HHO gas to the engine intake system of the Fiat Cinquecento operating at idle slightly deteriorated the combustion process there (the impact of carburetor-based supply without feedback). Although HC concentration was lower by 24%, the amount of CO increased by 34% and nitrogen oxides hardly changed. CO concentration if any decreased in the other vehicles.The concentration of HC in the exhaust gases of each of the vehicles show that adding HHO gas to the original fuel, regardless of fueling methods and techniques, reduces the concentration of unburned hydrocarbons: by more than 20% in the Fiat and by about 40% in the others. The NOx concentration in the exhaust gases of each of the vehicles show that after adding HHO to the original fuel, the amount of NOx depends on a fueling method. In the SI engines with indirect injection, adding HHO gas to the intake system reduced the NOx concentration. In the Fiat with a carburetor without feedback, the NOx concentration remained practically unchanged but it increased in the CI engines if HHO gas was added to their intake systems.     

Enhancing compression ignition engine performance using biodiesel/diesel blends and HHO gas

The proposed experimental study aims to investigate the effect of adding HHO gas with a constant flowrate (50% of the engine capacity) on the thermal efficiency for six different Biodiesel/diesel blends, which are 0B, 10B, 15%B, 20B, 25B and 30B. For all the studied fuelling scenarios, it was decided to mix HHO gas with the inlet air perpendicularly on the air streamline by a constant flowrate aiming to enhance the thermal efficiency of the engine. The study assumed maintain the rotational speed of the engine is constant (four different speeds) while varying the engine torque. The experimental results were recorded for four different rotational speeds of the engine, which are 1500, 1750, 2000 and 2250 RPM. Obtained results investigated that, increasing biodiesel content resulted in reducing the engine's brake thermal efficiency and increasing its brake specific fuel consumption due to the relatively lower heat content of the biodiesel comparing with conventional diesel. Adding HHO gas to the engine resulted in enhancing the thermal efficiency due to its high heat content and it was observed that; 20B with HHO gas supply provided the highest brake thermal efficiency of the engine as well as reducing its brake specific fuel consumption.     

Comparative study on combustion and emission of SI engine blended with HHO by different injection modes of gasoline

As a hydrogen fuel for real-time production without storage, HHO has great research prospect and significance. In this paper, we conducted experiments on a spark ignition (SI) engine which has two independent fuel supply systems to compare two combination modes of gasoline port injection plus HHO (GPI + HHO) and gasoline direct injection plus HHO (GDI + HHO) at different HHO flow rate, λ, engine speed and load. The results show that, in both modes, HHO addition increases the maximum cylinder pressure and torque. With the increase of HHO flow rate, the flame development period and flame propagation period shorten, the crank angle corresponding to the maximum cylinder pressure is closer to top dead center. In addition, GDI + HHO mode has better engine performance. HHO has a significant effect on improving combustion stability. Especially at λ = 1.4, as HHO flow rate increases from 0 to 16 L/min, the coefficient of indicated mean effective pressure variation of GPI + HHO and GDI + HHO mode decreases by 69.17% and 58.29%, respectively. Moreover, HHO addition improves HC and CO emissions but increases NOx emissions. CO and HC emissions of GDI + HHO mode are the lowest under all conditions, and reaching the lowest value when HHO flow rate = 16 L/min. Besides, GDI + HHO mode not only has lower NO emissions under normal working conditions (λ = 1) but also can maintain a better combustion environment under lean-burn conditions (λ = 1.2, 1.4). In general, the application of HHO as fuel in engine can improve combustion and emission characteristics and GDI + HHO mode is the best combination of gasoline and HHO.     

汽车发动机怠速稳定性模糊控制系统试验研究

怠速工况运行品质是影响汽车发动机的经济性和排放性能的重要因素.在完成目标发动机喷油、点火系统控制匹配的基础上,以提高怠速运行稳定性为目标开发了怠速模糊控制器,编写了输入变量的模糊化、模糊推理过程以及模糊输出量的精确化等控制软件.采用模糊控制可以避免因汽车发动机怠速运行工况复杂造成难以建立精确数学模型,且可在发动机怠速工况时对转速进行较好的控制.发动机台架试验结果表明,采用模糊控制能有效改善汽车发动机的怠速运转稳定性,怠速运行质量显著提高.     

Reducing the idle speed of a spark-ignited gasoline engine with hydrogen addition

Reducing idle speed is an effective way for decreasing engine idle fuel consumption. Unfortunately, due to the increased residual dilution and dropped combustion temperature, spark-ignited (SI) gasoline engines are prone to suffer high cyclic variation and even stall at low idle speeds. This paper investigated the effect of hydrogen addition on the performance of an SI gasoline engine at reduced idle speeds of 600, 700 and 800 rpm. The test results shows that cyclic variation was raised with the decrease of idle speed but reduced obviously with the increase of hydrogen energy fraction (βH₂)$\left({\text{β}}_{{\text{H}}_2}\right)$. Decreasing idle speed and adding hydrogen were effective for reducing engine idle fuel consumption. The total fuel energy flow rate was effectively dropped from 30.8 MJ/h at 800 rpm and βH₂${\text{β}}_{{\text{H}}_2}$ = 0% to 17.6 MJ/h at 600 rpm and βH₂${\text{β}}_{{\text{H}}_2}$ = 19.9%. Because of the dropped fuel energy flow rate causing the reduced combustion temperature, both cooling and exhaust losses were markedly reduced after decreasing idle speed and adding hydrogen. HC and CO emissions were dropped with the increase of βH₂${\text{β}}_{{\text{H}}_2}$, but increased after reducing idle speed. However, NOx emissions were decreased after reducing idle speed and adding hydrogen, due to the dropped peak cylinder temperature.     

Analysis of combustion and pollutants formation in a direct injection diesel engine using a multi-zone model

A two-dimensional multi-zone model for the calculation of the closed cycle of a direct injection (DI) diesel engine is presented. The fuel spray is divided into small packages and the effect of air velocity pattern on spray development is taken into account. The calculation of swirl intensity variations during the cycle is based on hybrid solid body-boundary layer rotation scheme. Application of the mass, energy and state equations in each zone yields local temperatures and cylinder pressure histories. For calculating the concentration of constituents in the exhaust gases, a chemical equilibrium scheme is adopted for the C-H-O system of the eleven species considered, together with chemical rate equations for the calculation of nitric oxide (NO). A model for the evaluation of soot formation and oxidation rates is incorporated. A comparison is made between the theoretical results from the computer program implementing the analysis, with experimental results from a vast experimental investigation conducted on a direct injection, Lister-Petter diesel engine, with very encouraging results. Plots of temperature, equivalence ratio, NO and soot distributions inside the combustion chamber are presented, elucidating the physical mechanisms governing combustion and pollutants formation.     

The effect of reformer gas mixture on the performance and emissions of an HSDI diesel engine

Exhaust gas assisted fuel reforming is an attractive on-board hydrogen production method, which can open new frontiers in diesel engines. Apart from hydrogen, and depending on the reactions promoted, the reformate typically contains a significant amount of carbon monoxide, which is produced as a by-product. Moreover, admission of reformed gas into the engine, through the inlet pipe, leads to an increase of intake air nitrogen to oxygen ratio. It is therefore necessary to study how a mixture of syngas and nitrogen affects the performance and emissions of a diesel engine, in order to gain a better understanding of the effects of supplying fuel reformer products into the engine.     

Performance & emission analysis of HHO enriched dual-fuelled diesel engine with artificial neural network prediction approaches

Most of the studies on conventional fuel types that can be used in internal combustion engines have been made in order to improve performance values. Nowadays environmental problems have shown that emission values are more important and interest in low carbon alternative fuels has highly increased in recent years. In this study, performance and emission values of soybean biodiesel (B25) fuel mixture used in diesel engine were investigated in detail by making different ratios of hydroxy (HHO) enrichment (3, 5 and 7 L/min). HHO enrichments increased brake torque and power outputs with direct correlation to flow rate amount; at the same time brake specific fuel consumption has decreased. Also, one of the main objectives of this study is to predict the optimum hydrogen requirement against performance reductions and NO_x formations among test fuels (3, 5, and 7 L/min HHO enriched B25), too by using artificial intelligence. For developing the ANN structure, Levenberg-Marquardt (LM) learning algorithm was used to adjust the weights in the cascade forward network. The results show that the ANN model has 95,82%, 96,07%, and 92,35% estimation accuracies for motor torque, motor power, and NO_x emission, respectively.     

Reducing the idle speed of a gasoline rotary engine with hydrogen addition

This paper presented an experimental study about the idle performance of a rotary engine fueled with hydrogen and gasoline blends. The idle speed was reduced from original 2400 to 2300 and 2200 rpm, and hydrogen energy percentage (β_H2) was varied from 0% to 35.0%. Test results showed that cyclic variation was raised with the decrease of idle speed whereas reduced with the increase of β_H2. Both decreasing idle speed and increasing β_H2 were effective on reducing engine fuel consumption. Total fuel energy flow rate was effectively dropped from 22.4 MJ/h under “2400 rpm and β_H2 = 0%” to 20.01 MJ/h under “2200 rpm and β_H2 = 35.0%”. Combustion duration was reduced through increasing β_H2. HC and CO emissions were dropped with the increase of β_H2, but increased after reducing idle speed. CO₂ emission was decreased after reducing idle speed and adding hydrogen.     

A coupling dynamics and thermodynamics study of diesel pilot-ignition injection effect on hydrogen combustion of a linear engine

Linear hydrogen engine is a new type of energy conversion device to supports variable compression ratio operation for clean emission. However, the new hydrogen engine using conventional spark ignition shows slow combustion speed and low thermal efficiency. This study makes a preliminary assessment to discuss the application of diesel pilot-ignition technology in linear hydrogen engine aiming to accelerate combustion and improve efficiency. A new coupling model between dynamics and thermodynamics is proposed and then iteratively calculated to give insight the interrelationship of combustion and motion in a diesel pilot-ignited linear hydrogen engine, while the effect of injection position on the hydrogen engine combustion is also investigated to make clear the feasibility of combustion optimization. The results indicate that the linear hydrogen engine is speeded by properly advancing the injection to promote combustion, and it has a positive effect on in-cylinder gas temperature, pressure and pressure rise rate, unless the injection is too early which results in higher NO emissions and aggravate the working intensity of the engine. In addition, the closer the fuel injection is to the top dead center, the incomplete combustion of hydrogen and diesel in the cylinder, the decrease of engine fuel economy and the increase of soot emissions. There is an optimal thermal efficiency of 40.7% for the LHE when it operates in the 0.8 mm injection position condition.     

Enhancing idle performance of an n-butanol rotary engine by hydrogen enrichment

Rotary engine generally sustains poor fuel economy and emissions performance at idle condition. Hydrogen has excellent physicochemical properties that can serve as an enhancer to improve the performance of the original engine. In this paper, a modified rotary engine equipped with dual fuel (hydrogen and n-butanol) port injection system and electronic ignition module was developed to explore the influence of hydrogen supplement on enhancing the idle performance of n-butanol rotary engine. In this study, the engine was run at the idle and stoichiometric with the original spark timing. Hydrogen volume percentage in the total intake was gradually increased from 0% to 7.9% by adjusting the fuel flow rate of n-butanol. The experimental results indicated that the engine instability and fuel energy flow rate were both reduced by enlarging the hydrogen supplying level. Combustion periods were shortened thanks to the enrichment of hydrogen. The peak chamber temperature was heightened as hydrogen fraction increased due to the improved combustion. HC and CO emissions were severally reduced by 50.4% and 85.8% when the hydrogen volume percentage was raised from 0% to 7.9%. However, NOx emissions were mildly increased because of the raised chamber temperature by increasing hydrogen fraction.     

Emission characteristics of using HCNG in the internal combustion engine with minimum pilot diesel injection for greater fuel economy

Hydrogen and Compressed Natural Gas are great alternatives to the pure fossil fuels. Many researches confirm the advantages of using hydrogen and natural gas blended together for the internal combustion engine in both areas of improving performances and reducing emission levels. In a short to medium range terms, the air pollution throughout the globe could be significantly reduced by using HCNG in the internal combustion engine and in many other applications with the substitution of using HCNG as a main source of fuel or as a secondary source of fuel such as the dual fuel operation system in the diesel vehicle.     

Impact of HHO produced from dry and wet cell electrolyzers on diesel engine performance,emissions and combustion characteristics

Water electrolysis produces HHO gas by using sodium hydroxide catalyst. Dry and wet cells designs are applied producing the gas flow rates at 0.5 and 0.75 LPM, respectively. Tests are done in a diesel engine at engine speed variation and full load. Performance, combustion characteristics and emissions investigations of diesel engines using HHO gas from dry and wet cells are performed. HHO gas addition enhances the brake thermal efficiency by 2 and 2.5% but the exhaust gas temperature highest decreases for dry and wet cells are 8 and 10%, respectively about diesel oil. The maximum decreases are evaluated as for CO (15, 22%), HC (31, 39%), NO_x (35, 42%) and smoke emissions (25, 35%), respectively for dry and wet cells about diesel fuel. The improvements in cylinder pressures are 5 and 10%, respectively and the heat release rate enhancements are 4.5 and 6.5%, respectively about pure diesel for dry and wet configurations.     

Effect of anodes-cathodes inter-distances of HHO fuel cell on gasoline engine performance operating by a blend of HHO

Control emission pollution associated with oil combustion is a major concern of researchers worldwide. A blend of HHO has been introduced to the combustion elements to reduce emission and drive the combustion reaction toward stoichiometric condition. HHO fuel production unit based on an electrolysis process has been designed and built with an ability to alter Anode-Cathode plate's inter-distances and integrated to Honda G 200 (197 cc single cylinder engine). The gap between the plates was adjusted to 3, 5, 7 and 10 mm. Tests reveal that mixing HHO, air, and gasoline cause an enhancement in engine performance and emissions. The emission tests have been done with varying the engine speed and preserve the electrolyte concentration and temperature. The results show that enhancement in combustion characteristics is strongly affected by the gap between cell plates. The maximum produced power and minimum fuel consumption were associated with the case of 10 mm cathode-anode plates distance where hydrocarbons (HCs) and carbon monoxide emissions have been reduced to about 40% at different operating speeds. Whereas, 5 mm gap case has the highest impact on emission reduction.     

Experimental study of various effects of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) on combustion and emissions of an automotive direct injection diesel engine

Cooled exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) is a common way to control in-cylinder NO_x production and is used on most modern high-speed direct injection (HSDI) diesel engines. However EGR has different effects on combustion and emissions production that are difficult to distinguish (increase of intake temperature, delay of rate of heat release (ROHR), decrease of peak heat release, decrease in O₂ concentration (and thus of global air/fuel ratio (AFR)) and flame temperature, increase of lift-off length, etc.), and thus the influence of EGR on NO_x and particulate matter (PM) emissions is not perfectly understood, especially under high EGR rates. An experimental study has been conducted on a 2.0 l HSDI automotive diesel engine under low-load and part load conditions in order to distinguish and quantify some effects of EGR on combustion and NO_x/PM emissions. The increase of inlet temperature with EGR has contrary effects on combustion and emissions, thus sometimes giving opposite tendencies as traditionally observed, as, for example, the reduction of NO_x emissions with increased inlet temperature. For a purely diffusion combustion the ROHR is unchanged when the AFR is maintained when changing in-cylinder ambient gas properties (temperature or EGR rate). At low-load conditions, use of high EGR rates at constant boost pressure is a way to drastically reduce NO_x and PM emissions but with an increase of brake-specific fuel consumption (BSFC) and other emissions (CO and hydrocarbon), whereas EGR at constant AFR may drastically reduce NO_x emissions without important penalty on BSFC and soot emissions but is limited by the turbocharging system.     

The effects of hydrogen enriched natural gas under different engine loads in a diesel engine

Natural gas, which is among the alternative fuels, has become widespread in the transportation as it is both economical and environmentally friendly. While the use of natural gas is at a significant level in spark ignition engines, it has not yet been implemented in compression ignition engines (CI) as it worsens combustion due to ignition delay. In CI engines, however, the combustion properties of natural gas (NG) can be improved by adding hydrogen (H₂) to NG. This is one of the methods applied to use natural gas in CI engines. In this experimental study, two different volumetric rates of NG and NG/H₂ mixtures were added to the combustion air in a CI engine, and engine performance and emissions were examined under different engine loads. The experiments were performed at two different engine speeds, four different engine loads and no-load condition. An engine cylinder pressure of 59.16 bar, which is the closest value to the 59.39 bar obtained in the use of diesel fuel, was obtained at 1500 rpm for “Diesel + NG(500 g/h)” and 59.9 bar (highest values) was obtained for “Diesel + (500 g/h) [80%NG+20%H₂]" at 1750 rpm. For “Diesel + NG(250 g/h)” (Mix1) and “Diesel + NG(500 g/h)” (Mix2), as the engine speed increases, at the point where the maximum in-cylinder pressure is obtained occurs further to the right from top dead center (TDC). With the addition of 500 g/h NG, an increase of 4.5% was achieved in the cylinder pressure at full load, while an increase of 6.5% was achieved in the case of using “Diesel + (500 g/h) [80%NG+20%H₂]". Although the effect of the NG and NG/H₂ mixtures on in-cylinder pressure was small, the fuel consumption and thermal efficiency improved. Substantial improvements in hydrocarbon (HC) emissions were observed with the use of “Diesel + (250 g/h)[80%NG+20%H₂]”. Carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions decreased with speed increase, but no significant differences in terms of CO₂ emissions were observed between the mixtures. There was a maximum difference of 15% between the diesel and the mixtures in CO₂ emissions. Although there was a decrease in nitrogen oxide (NO_x) levels with the increase in engine speed, the lowest NO_x emissions of 447.6 ppmvol was observed in “Diesel + NG(250 g/h)” (Mix1) at 1750 rpm at maximum load.     

The effect of HRG gas addition on diesel engine combustion characteristics and exhaust emissions

Extensive studies have been dedicated in the last decade to the possibility to use hydrogen in the dual-fuel mode to improve combustion characteristics and emissions of a diesel engine. The results of these studies, using pure hydrogen or hydrogen containing gas produced through water electrolysis, are notably different.The present investigation was conducted on a tractor diesel engine running with small amounts of the gas—provided by a water electrolyzer—aspirated in the air stream inducted in the cylinder. The engine was operated at light and medium loads and various speeds.It was found that the addition of HRG gas has a slight negative impact, up to 2%, on the engine brake thermal efficiency. Smoke is significantly reduced, up to 30%, with HRG enrichment, while NO_x concentrations vary in both senses, up to 14%, depending on the engine operation mode. A relative small amount of HRG gas can be used with favorable effects on emissions and with a small penalty in thermal efficiency.     

柴油机瞬时转速的建模及仿真研究

通过利用等效圆盘等效轴法建立了两自由度的柴油机瞬时转速模型,并对其进行了仿真计算,由此得到了柴油机空车不同转速下和柴油机转速为1500r/min、不同负荷工况下的仿真结果,较为精确地揭示了瞬时转速的变化规律,为利用瞬时转速对柴油机进行状态监测以及故障诊断提供理论上的基础。     

Performance, emissions and heat release characteristics of direct injection diesel engine operating on diesel oil emulsion

Emulsions of diesel and water are often promoted as being able to overcome the difficulty of simultaneously reducing emissions of both oxidises of nitrogen (NO_x) and particulate matter from diesel engines. In this paper we present measurements of the performance and NO_x and hydrocarbon emissions of a diesel engine operating on a typical diesel oil emulsion and examine through the use of heat release analysis differences found during its combustion relative to standard diesel in the same engine. While producing similar or greater thermal efficiency and improved NO_x and hydrocarbon emission outcomes, use of the emulsion also results in an increase in brake specific fuel consumption. Use of the emulsion is also shown to result in a retarded fuel injection, but smaller ignition delay for the same engine timing. As a result of these changes, cylinder pressures and temperatures are lower.     

Emissions and fuel consumption characteristics of an HCNG-fueled heavy-duty engine at idle

The idle performance of an 11-L, 6-cylinder engine equipped with a turbocharger and an intercooler was investigated for both compressed natural gas (CNG) and hydrogen-blended CNG (HCNG) fuels. HCNG, composed of 70% CNG and 30% hydrogen in volume, was used not only because it ensured a sufficient travel distance for each fueling, but also because it was the optimal blending rate to satisfy EURO-6 emission regulation according to the authors' previous studies. The engine test results demonstrate that the use of HCNG enhanced idle combustion stability and extended the lean operational limit from excess air ratio (λ) = 1.5 (CNG) to 1.6. A decrease of more than 25% in the fuel consumption rate was achieved in HCNG idle operations compared to CNG. Total hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emissions decreased when fueled with HCNG at idle because of the low carbon content and enhanced combustion characteristics. In particular, despite hydrogen enrichment, less nitrogen oxides (NO_x) were emitted with HCNG operations because the amount of fuel supplied for a stable idle was lower than with CNG operations, which eventually induced lower peak in-cylinder combustion temperature. This low HCNG fuel quantity in idle condition also induced a continuous decrease in NO_x emissions with an increase in λ. The idle engine test results also indicate that cold-start performance can deteriorate owing to low exhaust gas temperature, when fueled with HCNG. Therefore, potential solutions were discussed, including combustion strategies such as retardation of spark ignition timing combined with leaner air/fuel ratios.