Experimental study on heat and exergy balance of a dual-fuel combined injection engine with hydrogen and gasoline

In this paper, a dual-fuel engine test rig with gasoline injected in the intake port and gasoline (or hydrogen) injected directly into the cylinder is built up; therefore, two injection models are realized. One is port fuel injection + gasoline direct injection (PFI + GDI), the other is port fuel injection + hydrogen direct injection (PFI + HDI). And the effects of two injection models on heat and exergy balance are investigated experimentally. The results show that, from the perspective of the first law of thermodynamics (heat balance), no matter what the injection mode is, the heat proportion of cooling water is the largest, the exhaust heat ratio and brake power are the second, which two are roughly equivalent, and the uncounted loss is the least. In PFI + GDI mode, the local mixture is too dense due to the increase of mixing ratio, which leads to insufficient combustion and a slight decrease of brake power ratio. However, due to the special characteristics of hydrogen, the increase of direct injection ratio improves the brake power ratio in PFI + HDI mode. Moreover, because of the short quenching distance of hydrogen, the cooling loss rises up with the increase of hydrogen ratio. The engine speed and load also have great impacts on heat distribution, but on account of the different physical and chemical properties between gasoline and hydrogen, resulting in varying degrees of impact and trends. On the basis of the second law of thermodynamics (exergy balance), it is found that no matter what injection mode is, the ratio of exergy destruction is always the highest, accounting for half of the total fuel energy, and the exhaust exergy ratio is lower than the brake power ratio. However, the proportion of exergy contained in cooling water is the smallest, which is quite different from the result of the first law of thermodynamics. The influences of several factors on engine energy balance are analyzed, and the differences and similarities between heat balance and exergy balance are compared. The two analytical methods are interrelated and complementary, and the purpose is to find a reasonable and comprehensive energy balance analysis method for internal combustion engine.     

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.     

Effects of second hydrogen direct injection proportion and injection timing on combustion and emission characteristics of hydrogen/n-butanol combined injection engine

Hydrogen and n-butanol are superior alternative fuels for SI engines, which show high potential in improving the combustion and emission characteristics of internal combustion engines. However, both still have disadvantages when applied individually. N-butanol fuel has poor evaporative atomization properties and high latent heat of vaporization. Burning n-butanol fuel alone can lead to incomplete combustion and lower temperature in the cylinder. Hydrogen is not easily stored and transported, and the engine is prone to backfire or detonation only using hydrogen. Therefore, this paper investigates the effects of hydrogen direct injection strategies on the combustion and emission characteristics of n-butanol/hydrogen dual-fuel engines based on n-butanol port injection/split hydrogen direct injection mode and the synergistic optimization of their characteristics. The energy of hydrogen is 20% of the total energy of the fuel in the cylinder. The experimental results show that a balance between dynamics and emission characteristics can be found using split hydrogen direct injection. Compared with the second hydrogen injection proportion (IP2) = 0, the split hydrogen direct injection can promote the formation of a stable flame kernel, shorten the flame development period and rapid combustion period, and reduce the cyclic variation. When the IP2 is 25%, 50% and 75%, the engine torque increases by 0.14%, 1.50% and 3.00% and the maximum in-cylinder pressure increases by 1.9%, 2.3% and 0.6% respectively. Compared with IP2 = 100%, HC emissions are reduced by 7.8%, 15.4% and 24.7% and NOx emissions are reduced by 16.4%, 13.8% and 7.9% respectively, when the IP2 is 25%, 50% and 75%. As second hydrogen injection timing (IT2) is advanced, CA0-10 and CA10-90 show a decreasing and then increasing trend. The maximum in-cylinder pressure rises and falls, and the engine torque gradually decreases. The CO emissions show a trend of decreasing and remaining constant. However, the trends of HC emissions and NOx emissions with IT2 are not consistent at different IP2. Considering the engine's dynamics and emission characteristics, the first hydrogen injection proportion (IP1) = 25% plus first hydrogen injection timing (IT1) = 240°CA BTDC combined with IP2 = 75% plus IT2 = 105°CA BTDC is the superior split hydrogen direct injection strategy.     

Exploring the potentials of lean-burn hydrogen SI engine compared to methane operation

The global rush for decarbonization and the more restrictive emission regulations are pushing the research for cleaner powertrains to the transport sector. In this sense, this work contributes with an experimental investigation of the performance and emissions of a single-cylinder SI engine operating under lean-burn hydrogen combustion. Its performance, combustion parameters, exhaust emissions, and indicated efficiency for a wide range of mixture dilutions are then compared to methane under similar engine load conditions. Hydrogen achieved stable combustion up to lambda 3.4, presenting zero CO emission and very low HC emission for all tested operating conditions. Hydrogen operation also presented zero NOx emissions for conditions leaner than lambda 2.2 and 3.0 at 2000 and 3000 rpm, respectively, however, the NOx emissions increase as the mixture is enriched. The high in-cylinder pressure rise rate limited the operation at mixtures richer than lambda 1.3 at 2000 rpm. When compared to methane, the hydrogen allows de-throttle the engine to burn lean mixtures maintaining a proper flame speed, resulting in lower pumping losses, lower pollutants emissions for most of the conditions tested, and higher indicated efficiency, making hydrogen a promising fuel to replace conventional fuels on cleaner SI engines.     

Automotive spark-ignited direct-injection gasoline engines

The development of four-stroke, spark-ignition engines that are designed to inject gasoline directly into the combustion chamber is an important worldwide initiative of the automotive industry. The thermodynamic potential of such engines for significantly enhanced fuel economy, transient response and cold-start hydrocarbon emission levels has led to a large number of research and development projects that have the goal of understanding, developing and optimizing gasoline direct-injection (GDI) combustion systems. The processes of fuel injection, spray atomization and vaporization, charge cooling, mixture preparation and the control of in-cylinder air motion are all being actively researched, and this work is reviewed in detail and analyzed. The new technologies such as high-pressure, common-rail, gasoline injection systems and swirl-atomizing gasoline fuel injectors are discussed in detail, as these technologies, along with computer control capabilities, have enabled the current new examination of an old objective; the direct-injection, stratified-charge (DISC), gasoline engine. The prior work on DISC engines that is relevant to current GDI engine development is also reviewed and discussed.The fuel economy and emission data for actual engine configurations are of significant importance to engine researchers and developers. These data have been obtained and assembled for all of the available GDI literature, and are reviewed and discussed in detail. The types of GDI engines are arranged in four classifications of decreasing complexity, and the advantages and disadvantages of each class are noted and explained. Emphasis is placed upon consensus trends and conclusions that are evident when taken as a whole. Thus the GDI researcher is informed regarding the degree to which engine volumetric efficiency and compression ratio can be increased under optimized conditions, and as to the extent to which unburned hydrocarbon (UBHC), NO_x and particulate emissions can be minimized for specific combustion strategies. The critical area of GDI fuel injector deposits and the associated effect on spray geometry and engine performance degradation are reviewed, and important system guidelines for minimizing deposition rates and deposit effects are presented. The capabilities and limitations of emission control techniques and aftertreatment hardware are reviewed in depth, and areas of consensus on attaining European, Japanese and North American emission standards are compiled and discussed.All known research, prototype and production GDI engines worldwide are reviewed as to performance, emissions and fuel economy advantages, and for areas requiring further development. The engine schematics, control diagrams and specifications are compiled, and the emission control strategies are illustrated and discussed. The influence of lean-NO_x catalysts on the development of late-injection, stratified-charge GDI engines is reviewed, and the relative merits of lean-burn, homogeneous, direct-injection engines as an option requiring less control complexity are analyzed. All current information in the literature is used as the basis for discussing the future development of automotive GDI engines.     

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.     

Research on combustion and emission characteristics of a hydrous ethanol/hydrogen combined injection spark ignition engine under lean-burn conditions

Ethanol, as one of the carbon-neutral fuels for spark ignition (SI) engine, has been widely used. Dehydration and purification of ethanol during production process will lead to high energy consumption. If hydrous ethanol can be directly applied to the engine, the cost of use will be greatly reduced. Due to the high latent heat of vaporization of ethanol and water, it is necessary to consider the performance of atomization, evaporation and combustion stability when hydrous ethanol is used in engine. As a zero-carbon fuel, hydrogen has excellent characteristics such as low ignition energy, fast flame propagation speed and wide combustion limit. The combination of hydrous ethanol and hydrogen can reduce the use cost and ensure better combustion performance. Therefore, this study explores the performance of hydrous ethanol/hydrogen in SI combined injection engine. The hydrous ethanol is injected into the intake port and the hydrogen is directly injected into the cylinder during the compression stroke. In this study, we firstly analyze the optimal water blending ratio (ω) of hydrous ethanol, which including 0, 3%, 6%, 9% and 12%. The experimental results show that the hydrous ethanol with 9% water ratio has the best performance without hydrogen addition. Based on the 9% water ratio, the effects of hydrogen blending ratio (0, 5%, 10%, 15% and 20%) on the combustion and emission under different excess air ratio (λ) (1, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4). Hydrogen addition can increase the degree of constant volume combustion, so that the maximum cylinder pressure and temperature increase with the increase of the hydrogen blending ratio (HBR). When λ = 1.3 and HBR = 20%, the maximum in-cylinder pressure can be increased by 108.64% compared to pure hydrous ethanol. Hydrogen effectively increases the indicated mean effective pressure (IMEP) and reduces the coefficient of variation of IMEP (COV_IMEP). Adding hydrogen can reduce CO and HC emissions, while NO_x emissions will increase. When λ = 1.2 and HBR increasing from 0 to 20%, the NOx emissions increase by 106.75%, but it is still less than the NOx emissions of pure hydrous ethanol at λ = 1. On the whole, hydrogen direct injection can improve the combustion performance of hydrous ethanol and achieve stable combustion under lean-burn conditions.     

Effect of ammonia addition on combustion and emission characteristics of hydrogen-fueled engine under lean-burn condition

Hydrogen (H₂) is a carbon-free fuel with many excellent combustion characteristics, but abnormal combustion is one of the main obstacles to the promotion and application of hydrogen-fueled engines. This experimental study aims to investigate the suppression of the heat release rate (HRR) of a hydrogen-fueled engine through the addition of ammonia (NH₃). The engine was run at 1300 rpm, with manifold absolute pressure (MAP) of 61 kPa and NH₃ addition ratio of 0% and 2.2%, under lean-burn conditions. The results showed that the addition of small amounts of ammonia reduced the combustion rate of the fuel mixture, prolonged the flame development period (CA0-10) and propagation durations (CA10-90) of the engine, and reduced the peak in-cylinder pressure and peak HRR under lean-burn conditions. The addition of ammonia increased the peak indicated mean effective pressure (IMEP) and the peak indicated thermal efficiency (ITE) of the engine. The addition of ammonia resulted in increased nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions.     

Influence of hydrogen peroxide emulsification with gasoline on the emissions and performance in an MPFI engine

Spark ignition (SI) engines have been a major contributor from the transportation sector towards the increased emissions to the environment. Modifications to the SI engine like structural modifications, pre, and post-combustion treatments have been investigated in the literature. The use of oxygenated additives to gasoline fuel has been major research interest in curbing the emissions without any significant loss in engine performance. Hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) has not been investigated as an additive in SI engines although its effect is demonstrated for compression ignition (CI) engines. This paper aims to address this gap by ascertaining the influence of H₂O₂ concentration on SI engine emissions and performance. H₂O₂ is varied from 0 to 1.5% and the engine speed varied from 1500 to 3000 rpm by operating at a constant load. A total of 16 trials (with three replicates) is carried out. The output responses are brake thermal efficiency (BTE), brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC), emissions of CO, CO₂, HC, and NOx. Artificial neural networks are adopted to ascertain the relation between the inputs and the output responses. Emulsifying gasoline with 1.5% H₂O₂ resulted in an average reduction of CO and HC emissions by 21.1% and 28.6% respectively with an overall average of 25.3% of reduction in the NOx. The average BTE at all engine speeds increases from 21.6% for G0 to 23.8% for G1.5 and an overall average of 10.5% reduction in BSFC is obtained. The study shows that H₂O₂ can be employed as an emulsifier to gasoline fuel, however, more rigorous studies are required to ascertain its impact, volatility, and storage.     

稀燃汽油机混合气分层优化技术

采用“气道内二交燃油喷射”技术以实现汽油机稀混合气燃烧。将每循环所需燃油量分两部分喷射,一部分燃油为缸内提供均质稀混合气,另一部分燃油借助地气流动和适时喷射使混合气形成“局部分层”。在一台五气门汽油上实验证实,这种新喷油方式能够节油17%,比传统稀燃方式提高稀燃能力2个空燃比单位,并进一步降低HC和NOx排放浓度30%-50%,调节两部分喷油的分配比例,可自由控制火花塞周围混合气浓度及其它区域混合气的浓度。     

Effect of manifold injection of hydrogen gas in producer gas and neem biodiesel fueled CRDI dual fuel engine

The high flammability of hydrogen gas gives it a steady flow without throttling in engines while operating. Such engines also include different induction/injection methods. Hydrogen fuels are encouraging fuel for applications of diesel engines in dual fuel mode operation. Engines operating with dual fuel can replace pilot injection of liquid fuel with gaseous fuels, significantly being eco-friendly. Lower particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen oxides (NO_x) emissions are the significant advantages of operating with dual fuel.Consequently, fuels used in the present work are renewable and can generate power for different applications. Hydrogen being gaseous fuel acts as an alternative and shows fascinating use along with diesel to operate the engines with lower emissions. Such engines can also be operated either by injection or induction on compression of gaseous fuels for combustion by initiating with the pilot amount of biodiesel. Present work highlights the experimental investigation conducted on dual fuel mode operation of diesel engine using Neem Oil Methyl Ester (NeOME) and producer gas with enriched hydrogen gas combination. Experiments were performed at four different manifold hydrogen gas injection timings of TDC, 5°aTDC, 10°aTDC and 15°aTDC and three injection durations of 30°CA, 60°CA, and 90°CA. Compared to baseline operation, improvement in engine performance was evaluated in combustion and its emission characteristics. Current experimental investigations revealed that the 10°aTDC hydrogen manifold injection with 60°CA injection duration showed better performance. The BTE of diesel + PG and NeOME + PG operation was found to be 28% and 23%, respectively, and the emissions level were reduced to 25.4%, 14.6%, 54.6%, and 26.8% for CO, HC, smoke, and NO_x, respectively.     

Effects of hydrogen injection strategy on the hydrogen mixture distribution and combustion of a gasoline/hydrogen SI engine under lean burn condition

Hydrogen is a carbon free energy carrier with high diffusivity and reactivity, it has been proved to be a kind of suitable blending fuel of spark ignition (SI) engine to achieve better efficiency and emissions. Hydrogen injection strategy affects the engine performance obviously. To optimize the combustion and emissions, a comparative study on the effects of the hydrogen injection strategy on the hydrogen mixture distribution, combustion and emission was investigated at a SI engine with gasoline intake port injection and four hydrogen injection strategies, hydrogen direct injection (HDI) with stratified hydrogen mixture distribution (SHMD), hydrogen intake port injection with premixed hydrogen mixture distribution (PHMD), split hydrogen direct injection (SHDI) with partially premixed hydrogen mixture distribution (PPHMD) and no hydrogen addition. Results showed that different hydrogen injection strategy formed different kinds of hydrogen mixture distribution (HMD). The ignition and combustion rate played an important role on engine efficiency. Since the SHDI could use two hydrogen injection to organize the HMD, the ignition and combustion rate with the PPHMD was the fastest. With the PPHMD, the brake thermal efficiency of the engine was the highest and the emissions were slight more than that with the PHMD. PHMD achieve the optimum emission performance by its homogeneous hydrogen. The engine combustion and emission performance can be optimized by adjusting the hydrogen injection strategy.     

Exergy analysis of hydrogen/diesel combustion in a dual fuel engine using three-dimensional model

In the present study, the energy and exergy analysis were carried out for a Deutz dual fuel (diesel + hydrogen) engine at different gas fuel-air ratios (ø_H2 = 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, and 0.8) and constant diesel fuel amount (6.48 mg/cycle). The energy analysis was performed during a closed cycle by using a three-dimensional CFD code and combustion modeling was carried out by Extend Coherent Flame Model- Three Zone model (ECFM-3Z). For the exergy analysis, an in-house computational code is developed, which uses the results of the energy analysis at different fuel-air ratios. The cylinder pressure results for natural gas/diesel fuelled engine are verified with the experimental data in the literature, which shows a good agreement. This verification gives confidence in the model prediction for hydrogen- fuelled case. With crank position at different gas fuel-air ratios, various rate and cumulative exergy components are identified and calculated separately. It is found that as gas fuel-air ratio increases from 0.3 to 0.8, the exergy efficiency decreases from 43.7% to 34.5%. Furthermore, the value of irreversibility decreases from 29.8% to 26.6% of the mixture fuels chemical exergies. These values are in good agreement with data in the literature for dual fuel engines.     

Experimental investigation of combustion characteristics and NOx emission of a turbocharged hydrogen internal combustion engine

In order to alleviate the contradictions of increasingly prominent environmental pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and oil resource security issues, the search for renewable and clean alternative energy sources is getting more and more attention. Hydrogen energy is known as a future energy source because of its safety, reliability, wide range of resources and non-polluting products. Hydrogen internal combustion engine combines the technical advantages of traditional internal combustion engines and has comprehensive comparative advantages in terms of manufacturing cost, fuel adaptability and reliability. It is one of the practical ways to realize hydrogen energy utilization. In this paper, the combustion characteristics and NOx emission of a turbocharged hydrogen engine were investigated using the test data. The results showed the combustion duration (the crank angle of 10%–90% fuel burned) at 1500 rpm and 2000 rpm was equal and the combustion duration is much bigger than the other loads when the BMEP is 0.27 MPa. The reason is the effect of the turbocharger on the gas exchange process, which will influence the combustion process. The cylinder pressure and pressure rise rate were also investigated and the peak pressure rise rate was lower than 0.25 MPa/°CA at all working conditions. Moreover, the NOx emission changed from 300 ppm to 1200 ppm with engine speed increasing and the maximum value can reach to 7000 ppm when the equivalence ratio is 0.88 at 2500 rpm, maximum brake torque. The NOx emission shows different changing tendencies with different working conditions. Finally, these conclusions can be used to develop controlling strategies to solve the contradictions among power, brake thermal efficiency and NOx emission for the turbocharged hydrogen internal combustion engines.     

Numerical investigation of the effect of injection timing under various equivalence ratios on energy and exergy terms in a direct injection SI hydrogen fueled engine

In the present article, a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) method and a home-made FORTRAN code have been utilized to investigate the effects of injection timing under various equivalence ratios on the first and second laws of thermodynamics terms in a hydrogen fueled Direct Injection Spark Ignition (DISI) engine. The results show a good agreement with the experimental data. Exergy terms such as exergy transfer with work, exergy transfer with heat, exergy transfer with exhaust gas and fuel chemical exergy were computed based on principles of the second law. Also Entropy generation per cycle is calculated. Special attentions are given to recognize and quantify the irreversibility of combustion process basing on the different injection timings and equivalence ratios. The obtained results indicated that combustion irreversibilities and exhaust gas availability are more affected by varying the equivalence ratio and amount of fuel availability that transfers to environment with exhaust gases increased by increasing the equivalence ratio. Varying the equivalence ratio had different effect on the accumulated work availability reduced to fuel availability at the late and early injection strategies. Also, entropy generation reduced by retarding the hydrogen injection timing and decreasing the equivalence ratio. Changing in injection timing has its maximum effect on Φ = 0.6 equivalence ratio.     

Hydrogen impacts on performance and CO2 emissions from a diesel power generator

This work investigates the performance and carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from a stationary diesel engine fueled with diesel oil (B5) and hydrogen (H₂). The performance parameters investigated were specific fuel consumption, effective engine efficiency and volumetric efficiency. The engine was operated varying the nominal load from 0 kW to 40 kW, with diesel oil being directly injected in the combustion chamber. Hydrogen was injected in the intake manifold, substituting diesel oil in concentrations of 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% on energy basis, keeping the original settings of diesel oil injection. The results show that partial substitution of diesel oil by hydrogen at the test conditions does not affect significantly specific fuel consumption and effective engine efficiency, and decreases the volumetric efficiency by up to 6%. On the other hand the use of hydrogen reduced CO₂ emissions by up to 12%, indicating that it can be applied to engines to reduce global warming effects.     

CFD analysis of hydrogen injection pressure and valve profile law effects on backfire and pre-ignition phenomena in hydrogen-diesel dual fuel engine

This paper focuses on optimizing the hydrogen TMI (timed manifold injection) system through valve lift law and hydrogen injection parameters (pressure, injection inclination and timing) in order to prevent backfire phenomena and improve the volumetric efficiency and mixture formation quality of a dual fuel diesel engine operating at high load and high hydrogen energy share. This was achieved through a numerical simulation using CFD code ANSYS Fluent, developed for a single cylinder hydrogen-diesel dual fuel engine, at constant engine speed of 1500 rpm, 90% of load and 42.5% hydrogen energy share. The developed tool was validated using experimental data. As a results, the operating conditions of maximum valve lift = 10.60 mm and inlet valve closing = 30 °CA ABDC (MVL10 IVC30) prevent the engine from backfire and pre-ignition, and ensure a high volumetric efficiency. Moreover, a hydrogen start of injection of 60 °CA ATDC (HSOI60) is appropriate to provide a pre-cooling effect and thus, reduce the pre-ignition sources and helps to quench any hot residual combustion products. While, the hydrogen injection pressure of 2.7 bar and an inclination of 60°, stimulate a better quality of hydrogen-air mixture. Afterwards, a comparison between combustion characteristics of the optimized hydrogen-diesel dual fuel mode and the baseline (diesel mode) was conducted. The result was, under dual fuel mode there is an increase in combustion characteristics and NOx emissions as well as a decrease in CO2 emissions. For further improvement of dual fuel mode, retarding diesel start of injection (DSOI) strategy was used.     

An experimental investigation on DI diesel engine with hydrogen fuel

The internal combustion engines have already become an indispensable and integral part of our present day life style, particularly in the transportation and agricultural sectors [Nagalingam B. Properties of hydrogen. In: Proceedings of the summer school of hydrogen energy, IIT Madras, 1984]. Unfortunately the survival of these engines has, of late, been threatened due to the problems of fuel crisis and environmental pollution. Therefore, to sustain the present growth rate of civilization, a nondepletable, clean fuel must be expeditiously sought. Hydrogen exactly caters to the specified needs. Hydrogen, even though “renewable” and “clean burning”, does give rise to some undesirable combustion problems in an engine operation, such as backfire, pre-ignition, knocking and rapid rate of pressure rise [Srinivasa Rao P. Utilization of hydrogen in a dual fueled engine. In: Proceedings of the summer school of hydrogen energy, IIT Madras, 1984; Siebers DL. Hydrogen combustion under diesel engine conditions. Hydrogen Energy 1998;23:363–71]. The present investigation compares the performance and emission characteristics of a DI diesel engine with gaseous hydrogen as a fuel inducted by means of carburation technique and timed port injection technique (TPI) along with diesel as a source of ignition [Swain N, Design and testing of dedicated hydrogen-fueled engine. SAE 961077, 1996]. In the present study the specific energy consumption, NO_x emission and the exhaust gas temperature increased by 6%, 8% and 14%, respectively, and brake thermal efficiency and smoke level reduced by 5% and 8%, respectively, using carburation technique compared to baseline diesel. But in the TPI technique, the specific energy consumption, exhaust gas temperature and smoke level reduced by 15%, 45% and 18%, respectively. The brake thermal efficiency and NO_x increased by 17% and 34%, respectively, compared to baseline diesel. The emissions such as HC, CO, and CO₂ is very low in both carburation and TPI techniques compared baseline diesel.     

Comparative exergy analyses of gasoline and hydrogen fuelled ICEs

Comparative exergy models for naturally aspirated gasoline and hydrogen fuelled spark ignition internal combustion engines were developed according to the second law of thermodynamics. A thorough analysis of heat transfer, work, thermo mechanical, and chemical exergy functions was made. An irreversibility function was developed as a function of entropy generation and graphed. A second law analysis yielded a fractional exergy distribution as a percentage of chemical exergy of the intake. It was found that the hydrogen fuelled engine had a greater proportion of its chemical exergy converted into work exergy, indicating a second law efficiency of 41.37% as opposed to 35.74% for a gasoline fuelled engine due to significantly lower irreversibilities and lower specific fuel consumption associated with a hydrogen fuelled ICE. The greater exergy due to heat transfer or thermal availability associated with the hydrogen fuelled engine occurs due to a greater amount of convective heat transfer associated with hydrogen combustion. However, this seemingly high available thermal energy or thermal ‘exergy’ is misleading due to the higher cooling load which decreases the power of a hydrogen fuelled ICE. Finally, a second law analysis of both hydrogen and gasoline combustion reactions indicate a greater combustion irreversibility associated with gasoline combustion. A percentage breakdown of the combustion irreversibilities were also constructed according to information found in literature searches.     

Study on combustion and emission characteristics of a n-butanol engine with hydrogen direct injection under lean burn conditions

The n-butanol fuel, as a renewable and clean biofuel, could ease the energy crisis and decrease the harmful emissions. As another clean and renewable energy, hydrogen properly offset the high HC emissions and the insufficient of dynamic property of pure n-butanol fuel in SI engines, because of the high diffusion coefficient, high adiabatic flame velocity and low heat value. Hydrogen direct injection not only avoids backfire and lower intake efficiency but also promotes to form in-cylinder stratified mixture, which is helpful to enhance combustion and reduce emissions. This experimental study focused on the combustion and emissions characteristics of a hydrogen direct injection stratified n-butanol engine. Three different hydrogen addition fractions (0%, 2.5%, 5%) were used under five different spark timing (10° ,15° ,20° ,25° ,30° CA BTDC). Engine speed and excess air ratio stabled at 1500 rpm and 1.2 respectively. The direct injection timing of the hydrogen was optimized to form a beter stratified mixture. The obtained results demonstrated that brake power and brake thermal efficiency are increased by addition hydrogen directly injected. The BSFC is decreased with the addition of hydrogen. The peak cylinder pressure and the instantaneous heat release rate raises with the increase of the hydrogen addition fraction. In addition, the HC and CO emissions drop while the NOx emissions sharply rise with the addition of hydrogen. As a whole, with hydrogen direct injection, the power and fuel economy performance of n-butanol engine are markedly improved, harmful emissions are partly decreased.