Effect of ignition timing and hydrogen fraction on combustion and emission characteristics of natural gas direct-injection engine

An experimental study on the combustion and emission characteristics of a direct-injection spark-ignited engine fueled with natural gas/hydrogen blends under various ignition timings was conducted. The results show that ignition timing has a significant influence on engine performance, combustion and emissions. The interval between the end of fuel injection and ignition timing is a very important parameter for direct-injection natural gas engines. The turbulent flow in the combustion chamber generated by the fuel jet remains high and relative strong mixture stratification is introduced when decreasing the angle interval between the end of fuel injection and ignition timing giving fast burning rates and high thermal efficiencies. The maximum cylinder gas pressure, maximum mean gas temperature, maximum rate of pressure rise and maximum heat release rate increase with the advancing of ignition timing. However, these parameters do not vary much with hydrogen addition under specific ignition timing indicating that a small hydrogen fraction addition of less than 20% in the present experiment has little influence on combustion parameters under specific ignition timing. The exhaust HC emission decreases while the exhaust CO₂ concentration increases with the advancing of ignition timing. In the lean combustion condition, the exhaust CO does not vary much with ignition timing. At the same ignition timing, the exhaust HC decreases with hydrogen addition while the exhaust CO and CO₂ do not vary much with hydrogen addition. The exhaust NO_x increases with the advancing of ignition timing and the behavior tends to be more obvious at large ignition advance angle. The brake mean effective pressure and the effective thermal efficiency of natural gas/hydrogen mixture combustion increase compared with those of natural gas combustion when the hydrogen fraction is over 10%.     

Effect of ignition timing and hydrogen fraction on combustion and emission characteristics of natural gas direct-injection engine

An experimental study on the combustion and emission characteristics of a direct-injection spark-ignited engine fueled with natural gas/hydrogen blends under various ignition timings was conducted. The results show that ignition timing has a significant influence on engine performance, combustion and emissions. The interval between the end of fuel injection and ignition timing is a very important parameter for direct-injection natural gas engines. The turbulent flow in the combustion chamber generated by the fuel jet remains high and relative strong mixture stratification is introduced when decreasing the angle interval between the end of fuel injection and ignition timing giving fast burning rates and high thermal efficiencies. The maximum cylinder gas pressure, maximum mean gas temperature, maximum rate of pressure rise and maximum heat release rate increase with the advancing of ignition timing. However, these parameters do not vary much with hydrogen addition under specific ignition timing indicating that a small hydrogen fraction addition of less than 20% in the present experiment has little influence on combustion parameters under specific ignition timing. The exhaust HC emission decreases while the exhaust CO₂ concentration increases with the advancing of ignition timing. In the lean combustion condition, the exhaust CO does not vary much with ignition timing. At the same ignition timing, the exhaust HC decreases with hydrogen addition while the exhaust CO and CO₂ do not vary much with hydrogen addition. The exhaust NOx increases with the advancing of ignition timing and the behavior tends to be more obvious at large ignition advance angle. The brake mean effective pressure and the effective thermal efficiency of natural gas/hydrogen mixture combustion increase compared with those of natural gas combustion when the hydrogen fraction is over 10%. __________ Translated from Transactions of CSICE, 2006, 24(5): 394–401 [译自:内燃机学报]     

柴油机燃用柴油/甲醇混合燃料时的燃烧特性研究

通过添加助溶剂形成一种稳定的柴油／甲醇混合燃料，并开展了柴油机燃用此混合燃料的燃烧特性研究。研究结果表明：随着混合燃料中甲醇含量的增加，预混燃烧阶段的放热率增加，扩散燃烧时间缩短。滞燃期随甲醇含量的增加而增加，此现象在低负荷和高转速下更为明显。甲醇含量对快燃期长短影响较小，总燃烧期随甲醇含量的增加而缩短。低转速下放热率曲线中心随甲醇含量的增加而移近上止点，最大压力升高率和最高放热率随甲醇含量的增加而增加。高转速高负荷下放热率曲线中心随甲醇含量的增加而移近上止点，高转速低负荷下放热率曲线中心随甲醇含量的增加偏离上止点；高转速下最大压力升高率和最高放热率随甲醇含量的增加而增加，而进一步增加甲醇含量反而使最大压力升高率和最高放热率降低。当混合燃料中含氧量小于6％时，缸内最高压力随甲醇含量的增加而增加；进一步增加含氧量时缸内最高压力保持不变或略有降低。缸内最高平均气体温度基本上不随甲醇含量而变化。     

The effect of hydrogen on the performance and emissions of an SI engine having a high compression ratio fuelled by compressed natural gas

The aim of this paper is investigation of the effect of hydrogen on engine performance and emissions characteristics of an SI engine, having a high compression ratio, fuelled by HCNG (hydrogen enriched compressed natural gas) blend. The experiments were carried out at 1500, 2000 and 2500 rpm under full load conditions of a modified Isuzu 3.9 L engine, having a compression ratio of 12.5. The engine brake power, brake thermal efficiency, combustion analysis and emissions parameters were realized at 5, 10 15 and 20 deg. CA BTDC (crank angle before top dead center) ignition timings and in excess air ratios of 0.9–1.3 fuelled by hydrogen enriched compressed natural gas (100/0, 95/5, 90/10 and 80/20 of % natural gas/hydrogen).The experimental results showed that the maximum power values were generally obtained with HCNG5 (5% hydrogen in natural gas) fuel. The optimum ignition timing that was obtained according to the maximum brake torque was retarded by the addition of hydrogen to CNG (compressed natural gas), while it was advanced by increasing the engine speed. Furthermore, it was observed that the BTE (brake thermal efficiency) generally declined with the hydrogen addition to compressed natural gas and increasing the engine speed. Additionally, the curves of cylinder pressure and ROHR (rate of heat release values) generally closed to top dead center with the increasing of the hydrogen fraction in the blend and a decreasing engine speed. The hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emissions generally obtained were lower than the Euro-5 and Euro-6 standards.     

不同点火时刻下天然气掺氢缸内直喷发动机燃烧与排放特性

在缸内直喷火花点火发动机上开展了天然气掺混0％-18％氢气的混合燃料不同点火时刻下的试验研究。结果表明：对于给定的喷射时刻和喷射持续期，点火时刻对发动机性能、燃烧和排放有较大影响，喷射结束时刻与点火时刻的间隔对直喷天然气发动机极为重要，喷射结束时刻与点火时刻的间隔缩短时，混合气分层程度高，燃烧速率快，热效率高。最大放热率等燃烧特征参数随点火时刻的提前而增加。HC排放随点火时刻的提前而下降，CO2和NOx排放随点火时刻的提前而增加，NOx排放的增加在大点火提前角下更明显。掺氢可降低HC排放，对CO和CO2排放影响不大。掺氢量大于10％时可提高天然气发动机热效率。     

甲醇-柴油混合燃料对发动机燃烧及排放特性的影响

在一台YTR3105直喷式柴油机上进行了小比例甲醇-柴油混合燃料发动机的燃烧及排放特性试验研究。结果表明:在相同的平均有效压力和转速下,随着甲醇含量的增加,燃料着火延迟相应增大,使得燃烧过程向上止点后移动。混合燃料的滞燃期比柴油长,预混燃烧放热率峰值增大,燃烧持续期缩短,缸内最大爆发压力和压力升高率增加。与纯柴油相比,甲醇-柴油混合燃料HC排放有所升高,但NOx和碳烟排放降低。大负荷时,CO排放显著下降。     

柴油机燃用柴油/二甲氧基甲烷混合燃料的燃烧特性研究

开展了柴油机燃用柴油／二甲氧基甲烷混合燃料的燃烧特性研究,为含氧燃料的使用和研究提供理论与试验依据。研究结果表明,在相同平均有效压力(pRMEP)和转速下,随着燃料中二甲氧基甲烷掺混比例(含氧量)的增加,放热率峰值增加,放热率曲线型心向上止点偏移,预混燃烧比例增加而扩散燃烧比例减小,燃烧过程等容度提高,发动机当量柴油的有效燃油消耗率降低,缸内气体最高平均温度无明显升高。柴油中添加DMM对主燃烧时间影响不大,但总燃烧时间变短。     

不同喷射时刻下缸内直喷天然气发动机的燃烧特性

开展了天然气高压缸内直喷发动机不同喷射时刻时的燃烧特性研究。研究结果表明：燃料喷射时刻对发动机性能及排放有较大影响,喷射太迟会导致天然气和空气混合时间短,混合效果差,燃烧持续期长,放热速率慢。喷射过早会导致充量系数下降,燃料容易进入燃烧室狭缝间隙处,造成较高的HC排放。对于给定转速,发动机存在一个最佳燃料喷射提前角,此时缸内最高压力值最大,最大压力升高率和最大放热率最大,放热速率快,燃烧过程等容度好,火焰发展期、快速燃烧期和燃烧持续期短,发动机热效率高,HC、CO排放也维持较低水平。     

不同简化机理对高压直喷天然气船机燃烧和排放影响研究

基于三维CFD仿真软件模拟了高压直喷天然气船机的燃烧过程,探讨了四种不同简化程度机理对燃烧和排放的影响规律。结果表明：四种机理均能很好的预测高压直喷天然气船机在不同喷射时刻下的缸压和放热率。四个机理预测的燃烧相位和最高爆发压力随喷射时刻提前或推迟变化趋势一致;预测的不同燃烧相位的温度、当量比和NO_x分布存在较小差异。但35步机理和27步机理预测的碳烟排放比334步机理和250步机理高。整体上,受船机大尺度计算资源高限制,耦合简化的35步和27步机理的CFD模型预测的燃烧参数最大误差小于4.3%,预测的NO_x排放最大误差小于12.0%,能够满足船机工程开发需求。     

Effect of water injection and spark timing on the nitric oxide emission and combustion parameters of a hydrogen fuelled spark ignition engine

One of the main problems with hydrogen fuelled internal combustion engines is the high NO level due to rapid combustion. Use of diluents with the charge and retardation of the spark ignition timing can reduce NO levels in Hydrogen fuelled engines. In this work a single cylinder hydrogen fuelled engine was run at different equivalence ratios at full throttle. NO levels were found to rise after an equivalence ratio of 0.55, maximum value was about 7500 ppm. High reductions in NO emission were not possible without a significant drop in thermal efficiency with retarded spark ignition timings. Drastic drop in NO levels to even as low as 2490 ppm were seen with water injection. In spite of the reduction in heat release rate (HRR) no loss in brake thermal efficiency (BTE) was observed. There was no significant influence on combustion stability or HC levels.     

Influence of injection timing on performance,combustion and emission characteristics of a diesel engine running on hydrogen-diethyl ether,n-butanol and biodiesel blends

In the present research, 5% hydrogen was added to 95%diesel fuel, diethyl ether (DEE), n-butanol (nB), and spirulina microalgae in this investigation (SMA). The fuels were then tested using a numerical tool and the Diesel RK-Model programme in a single cylinder CI engine. The results showed that the 5%H95%DEE blend consistently showed the highest level of specific fuel consumption (SFC) with increasing trend as the injection timings was advanced. In terms of brake thermal efficiency (BTE), all blends experienced decreasing trend except for 5%H95%nB. The addition of 5% hydrogen into 95% n-butanol gave relatively stable level of BTE for the entire injection timings. Furthermore, all blends witnessed relatively the same exhaust gas temperature (EGT) trend with only minor changes. Not much significance was observed from the most retarded to the most advanced injection timing. In terms of peak in-cylinder pressure, all the investigated blends saw increasing trend with the advancing injection timing. However, they experienced slight reduction at the most advanced fuel injection timing (FIT). Except for 5%H95%SMA, all blends show the highest peak in-cylinder pressure at 26.5 deg. before TDC. With regards to the ignition delay (ID), 5%H95%nB always gave the longest ID except at the 29.5 deg. before TDC, while the 5%H95%DEE consistently showed the shortest ID with nearly the same value for all Its at around 1.8–3.1 deg. Regarding the emissions, the use of n-butanol (5%H95%nB) consistently produced the lowest CO₂, smoke, NO_X, and particulate matter (PM) emissions throughout the entire injection timings.     

Effects of split injection proportion and the second injection timings on the combustion and emissions of a dual fuel SI engine with split hydrogen direct injection

In this paper, a new kind of injection mode, split hydrogen direct injection, was presented for a dual fuel SI engine. Six different first injection proportions (IP1) and five different second injection timings were applied at the condition of excess air ratio of 1, first injection timing of 300°CA BTDC, low speed, low load conditions and the Minimum spark advance for Best Torque (MBT) on a dual fuel SI engine with hydrogen direct injection (HDI) plus port fuel injection (PFI). The result showed that, split hydrogen direct injection can achieve a higher brake thermal efficiency and lower emissions compared with single HDI. In comparison with single HDI, the split hydrogen direct injection can form a controlled stratified condition of hydrogen which could make the combustion more complete and faster. By adding an early spray to form a more homogeneous mixture, the split hydrogen direct injection not only can help to form a flame kernel to make the combustion stable, but also can speed up the combustion rate through the whole combustion process, which can improve the brake thermal efficiency. By split hydrogen direct injection, the torque reaches the highest when the first injection proportion is 33%, which improves by 1.13% on average than that of single HDI. With the delay of second injection timing, the torque increases first and then decreases. With the increase of first injection proportion, the best second injection timing is advanced. Furthermore, by forming a more homogeneous mixture, the split hydrogen direct injection can reduce the quenching distance to reduce the HC emission and reduce the maximum temperature to reduce the NO_X. The split hydrogen direct injection can reduce the HC emission by 35.8%, the NO_X emissions by 7.3% than that of single HDI.     

Combustion and emissions characteristics of a hybrid hydrogen–gasoline engine under various loads and lean conditions

The addition of hydrogen is an effective way for improving the gasoline engine performance at lean conditions. In this paper, an experiment aiming at studying the effect of hydrogen addition on combustion and emissions characteristics of a spark-ignited (SI) gasoline engine under various loads and lean conditions was carried out. An electronically controlled hydrogen port-injection system was added to the original engine while keeping the gasoline injection system unchanged. A hybrid electronic control unit was developed and applied to govern the spark timings, injection timings and durations of hydrogen and gasoline. The test was performed at a constant engine speed of 1400 rpm, which could represent the engine speed in the typical city-driving conditions with a heavy traffic. Two hydrogen volume fractions in the total intake of 0% and 3% were achieved through adjusting the hydrogen injection duration according to the air flow rate. At a specified hydrogen addition level, gasoline flow rate was decreased to ensure that the excess air ratios were kept at 1.2 and 1.4, respectively. For a given hydrogen blending fraction and excess air ratio, the engine load, which was represented by the intake manifolds absolute pressure (MAP), was increased by increasing the opening of the throttle valve. The spark timing for maximum brake torque (MBT) was adopted for all tests. The experimental results demonstrated that the engine brake mean effective pressure (Bmep) was increased after hydrogen addition only at low load conditions. However, at high engine loads, the hybrid hydrogen–gasoline engine (HHGE) produced smaller Bmep than the original engine. The engine brake thermal efficiency was distinctly raised with the increase of MAP for both the original engine and the HHGE. The coefficient of variation in indicated mean effective pressure (COVimep) for the HHGE was reduced with the increase of engine load. The addition of hydrogen was effective on improving gasoline engine operating instability at low load and lean conditions. HC and CO emissions were decreased and NOx emissions were increased with the increase of engine load. The influence of engine load on CO₂ emission was insignificant. All in all, the effect of hydrogen addition on improving engine combustion and emissions performance was more pronounced at low loads than at high loads.     

柴油机燃用F-T柴油与0号柴油混合燃料的燃烧特性

根据实测的喷油器针阀升程和示功图,开展了直喷式柴油机燃用F-T柴油与0号柴油混合燃料时燃烧特性的研究．试验用燃料为0号柴油、含25%和50%F-T柴油的混合燃料以及100%F-T柴油．结果表明,在相同工况下,随着混合燃料中F-T柴油比例的增加,喷油延迟角增大,而喷油持续期变化不大．滞燃期随着F-T柴油比例的增加而缩短,其中当F-T柴油的比例由0增至25%时,滞燃期缩短最为明显,此后进一步增加F-T柴油的比例,滞燃期缩短幅度减小．随着混合燃料中F-T柴油比例的增加,预混燃烧放热峰值降低,扩散燃烧放热峰值增大,燃烧持续期略有延长,缸内最高燃烧压力和气体最高平均温度降低,最大压力升高率显著下降,发动机的燃烧噪音和机械损失减小,有效燃油消耗率和有效热效率得到改善．     

Optical study on the effects of the hydrogen injection timing on lean combustion characteristics using a natural gas/hydrogen dual-fuel injected spark-ignition engine

Lean combustion has the potential to achieve higher thermal efficiency for internal combustion (IC) engines. However, natural gas engines often suffer from slow burning rate and large cyclic variations when adopting lean combustion. In this study, using a dual-fuel optical engine with a high compression ratio, the effects of direct-injected hydrogen on lean combustion characteristics of natural gas engines was investigated, emphasizing the role of hydrogen injection timing. Synchronization measurement of in-cylinder pressure and high-speed photography was performed for combustion analysis. The results show that the direct-injected hydrogen exhibits great improvement in lean combustion instability and power capability of natural gas engines. Visual images and combustion phasing analysis indicate that the underlying reasons are ascribed to the fast flame propagation with hydrogen addition. Regarding the direct injection timings, it is found that late injection of direct-injected hydrogen can achieve higher thermal efficiency, manifesting advanced combustion phasing, and increased heat release rate. Specifically, the flame propagation speed is elevated by approximately 50% at ?100 CAD than that of ?250 CAD. Further analysis indicates that the improvement of engine performance is ascribed to the increased volumetric efficiency and in-cylinder turbulence intensity, manifesting distinct flame centroid pathways at different injection timings. The current study provides insights into the combustion optimization of natural gas engines under lean burning conditions.     

The effect of hydrogen injection parameters on the quality of hydrogen–air mixture formation for a PFI hydrogen internal combustion engine

To research the quality of the hydrogen–air mixture formation and the combustion characteristics of the hydrogen fueled engine under different hydrogen injection timings, nozzle hole positions and nozzle hole diameter, a three-dimensional simulation model for a PFI hydrogen internal combustion engine with the inlet, outlet, valves and cylinder was established using AVL Fire software. In the maximum torque condition, research focused on the variation law of the total hydrogen mass in the cylinder and inlet and the space distribution characteristics and variation law of velocity field, concentration field and turbulent kinetic energy under different hydrogen injection parameters (injection timings, nozzle hole positions and nozzle hole area) in order to reveal the influence of these parameters on hydrogen–air mixture formation process. Then the formation quality of hydrogen–air mixture was comprehensively evaluated according to the mixture uniformity coefficient, the remnant hydrogen percentage in the inlet and restraining abnormal combustion (such as preignition and backfire). The results showed that the three hydrogen injection parameters have important influence on the forming quality of hydrogen–air mixture and combustion state. The reasonable choice of the nozzle hole position of hydrogen, nozzle hole diameter and the hydrogen injection time can improve the uniformity of the hydrogen–air mixing in the cylinder of the hydrogen internal combustion engine, and the combustion heat release reaction is more reasonable. At the end of the compression stroke, the equivalence ratio uniform coefficient increased at first and then decreased with the beginning of the hydrogen injection. When hydrogen injection starting point was with 410–430°CA, equivalence ratio uniform coefficient was larger, and ignition delay period was shorter so that the combustion performance index was also good. And remnant hydrogen percentage in the inlet was less, high concentration of mixed gas in the vicinity of the inlet valve also gathered less, thus suppressing the preignition and backfire. With the increase of the distance between the nozzle and the inlet valve, the selection of the hydrogen injection period is narrowed, and the optimum hydrogen injection time was also ahead of time. The results also showed that it was favorable for the formation of uniform mixing gas when the nozzle hole diameter was 4 mm.     

Effect of hydrogen addition on combustion and emissions performance of a spark ignition gasoline engine at lean conditions

Hydrogen has many excellent combustion properties that can be used for improving combustion and emissions performance of gasoline-fueled spark ignition (SI) engines. In this paper, an experimental study was carried out on a four-cylinder 1.6 L engine to explore the effect of hydrogen addition on enhancing the engine lean operating performance. The engine was modified to realize hydrogen port injection by installing four hydrogen injectors in the intake manifolds. The injection timings and durations of hydrogen and gasoline were governed by a self-developed electronic control unit (DECU) according to the commands from a calibration computer. The engine was run at 1400 rpm, a manifold absolute pressure (MAP) of 61.5 kPa and various excess air ratios. Two hydrogen volume fractions in the total intake of 3% and 6% were applied to check the effect of hydrogen addition fraction on engine combustion. The test results showed that brake thermal efficiency was improved and kept roughly constant in a wide range of excess air ratio after hydrogen addition, the maximum brake thermal efficiency was increased from 26.37% of the original engine to 31.56% of the engine with a 6% hydrogen blending level. However, brake mean effective pressure (Bmep) was decreased by hydrogen addition at stoichiometric conditions, but when the engine was further leaned out Bmep increased with the increase of hydrogen addition fraction. The flame development and propagation durations, cyclic variation, HC and CO₂ emissions were reduced with hydrogen addition. When excess air ratio was approaching stoichiometric conditions, CO emission tended to increase with the addition of hydrogen. However, when the engine was gradually leaned out, CO emission from the hydrogen-enriched engine was lower than the original one. NO_x emissions increased with the increase of hydrogen addition due to the raised cylinder temperature.     

Combustion behaviors of a direct-injection engine operating on various fractions of natural gas–hydrogen blends

Combustion behaviors of a direct injection engine operating on various fractions of natural gas–hydrogen blends were investigated. The results showed that the brake effective thermal efficiency increased with the increase of hydrogen fraction at low and medium engine loads and high thermal efficiency was maintained at the high engine load. The phase of the heat release curve advanced with the increase of hydrogen fraction in the blends. The rapid combustion duration decreased and the heat release rate increased with the increase of hydrogen fraction in the blends. This phenomenon was more obviously at the low engine speed, suggesting that the effect of hydrogen addition on the enhancement of burning velocity plays more important role at relatively low cylinder air motion. The maximum mean gas temperature and the maximum rate of pressure rise increased remarkably when the hydrogen volumetric fraction exceeds 20% as the burning velocity increases exponentially with the increase of hydrogen fraction in fuel blends. Exhaust HC and _CO2${\mathrm{CO}}_2$ concentrations decreased with the increase of the hydrogen fraction in fuel blends. Exhaust _NOx${\mathrm{NO}}_x$ concentration increased with the increase of hydrogen fraction at high engine load. The study suggested that the optimum hydrogen volumetric fraction in natural gas–hydrogen blends is around 20% to get the compromise in both engine performance and emissions.     

An experimental study on performance,emission and combustion parameters of hydrogen fueled spark ignition engine with the timed manifold injection system

In the present study, a single cylinder spark ignition (SI) engine is modified to operate with hydrogen gas with ECU (Electronic Controlled Unit) operated timely manifold injection system. Performance, emission and combustion parameters are studied at MBT (Maximum Brake Torque) spark timing with WOT (Wide Open Throttle) position. All trials are performed in the speed range of 1100 rpm–1800 rpm. Baseline observations are recorded with gasoline for comparison purpose. Results have shown that maximum brake power is reduced by 19.06% and peak brake thermal efficiency is increased by 3.16% in the case of hydrogen operation. Reduction in NO_x emission is observed for hydrogen at higher engine speed. The maximum net heat release rate is two times higher and the peak cylinder pressure is 1.36 times higher for hydrogen as compared to gasoline at the engine speed of 1400 rpm.     

Effect of hydrogen addition to intake gas on combustion and exhaust emission characteristics of a diesel engine

The present study experimentally investigated the performance and emission characteristics of the diesel engine with hydrogen added to the intake air at late diesel-fuel injection timings. The diesel-fuel injection timing and the hydrogen fraction in the intake mixture were varied while the available heat produced by diesel-fuel and hydrogen per second of diesel fuel and hydrogen was kept constant at a certain value. NO showed minimum at specific hydrogen fraction. The maximum rate of incylinder pressure rise also showed minimum at 10 vol. % hydrogen fraction. However, it is desirable to set the maximum rate of incylinder pressure rise less than 0.5 MPa/deg. to realize low level of combustion noise and NO emission. We attempt to reduce further NO and smoke emissions by EGR. As the result, in the case of the diesel-fuel injection timing of −2 °. ATDC with 3.9 vol. % hydrogen addition, the smoke emission value was 0%, NO emission was low, the cyclic variation was low, and the maximum rate of incylinder pressure rise was acceptable under a nearly stoichiometric condition without sacrificing indicated thermal efficiency.