Engine speed and air-fuel ratio effect on the combustion of methane augmented hydrogen rich syngas in DI SI engine

The main challenge on the fueling of pure hydrogen in the automotive vehicles is the limitation in the hydrogen separation from the product of steam reforming and gasification plants and the storage issues. On the other hand, hydrogen fueling in automotive engines has resulted in uncontrolled combustion. These are some of the factors which motivated for the fueling of raw syngas instead of further chemical or physical processes. However, fueling of syngas alone in the combustion chamber has resulted in decreased power output and increased in brake specific fuel consumption. Methane augmented hydrogen rich syngas was investigated experimentally to observe the behavior of the combustion with the variation of the fuel-air mixture and engine speed of a direct-injection spark-ignition (DI SI) engine. The molar ratio of the high hydrogen syngas is 50% H₂ and 50% CO composition. The amount of methane used for augmentation was 20% (V/V). The compression ratio of 14:1 gas engine operating at full throttle position (the throttle is fully opened) with the start of the injection selected to simulate the partial DI (180° before top dead center (BTDC)). The relative air-fuel ratio (λ) was set at lean mixture condition and the engine speed ranging from 1500 to 2400 revolutions per minute (rpm) with an interval of 300 rpm. The result indicated that coefficient of variation of the indicate mean effective pressure (COV of IMEP) was observed to increase with an increase with λ in all speeds. The durations of the flame development and rapid burning stages of the combustion has increased with an increase in λ. Besides, all the combustion durations are shown to be more sensitive to λ at the lowest speed as compared to the two engine speeds.     

Numerical investigation of mixture formation and combustion in a hydrogen direct injection plus natural gas port injection (HDI + NGPI) rotary engine

Hydrogen direct injection (HDI) in cylinder is considered as an effective method to improve natural gas engine performance. The present study aims to bridge the gap on the HDI in rotary engine, and to investigate the effect of hydrogen injection timing (IT) and hydrogen injection duration (ID) on mixture formation and combustion process of a hydrogen direct injection plus natural gas port injection (HDI + NGPI) rotary engine. Numerical approach was used in this study for obtaining some critical information, which was difficult to obtain through experiment, such as flow field, fuel distribution and some intermediate concentration fields in cylinder. The research results showed that for mixture formation, the distribution law of the hydrogen and the natural gas at the late stages of the compression stroke (100^°CA (BTDC)), was as follows: at a fixed ID of 24^°CA, with retarded hydrogen IT, the stratification phenomenon of hydrogen became obvious increasingly, and the hydrogen distribution area moved towards the back of the combustion chamber continuously. At a fixed IT of 210^°CA (BTDC), with the extension in ID, the accumulation area of hydrogen reduced significantly, and the hydrogen continued to gather in the middle of the combustion chamber. For combustion process, the overall combustion rate for the hydrogen injection strategy which had an IT of 210^°CA (BTDC) and ID of 40^°CA (case ID5), was the fastest. This was due to the fact that compared with the leading spark plug (LSP), the combustion condition around the trailing spark plug (TSP) has a great influence on the combustion process. For case ID5 at ignition timing, the hydrogen concentration near the TSP is high enough for the rapid formation of flame kernel. Compared with case IT1 which had an IT of 390^°CA (BTDC) and an ID of 24^°CA, the improved combustion rate of case ID5 had a 11.7% increase in peak pressure, and a 7% decrease in NO emissions.     

Numerical study on effects of hydrogen direct injection on hydrogen mixture distribution,combustion and emissions of a gasoline/hydrogen SI engine under lean burn condition

A numerical study on effects of hydrogen direct injection on hydrogen mixture distribution, combustion and emissions was presented for a gasoline/hydrogen SI engine. Under lean burn conditions, five different direct hydrogen injection timings were applied at low speeds and low loads on SI engines with direct hydrogen injection (HDI) and gasoline port injection. The results were showed as following: firstly, with the increase of hydrogen direct injection timing, the hydrogen concentration near the sparking plug first increases and then decreases, reaching the highest when hydrogen direct injection timing is 120°CA BTDC: Secondly, hydrogen can speed up the combustion rate. The main factor affecting the combustion rate and efficiency is the hydrogen concentration near the sparking plug: Thirdly, in comparing with gasoline, the NO_X emissions with hydrogen addition increase by an average of 115%. For different hydrogen direct injection timings, the NO_X emissions of 120°CA BTDC is the highest, which is 29.9% higher than the 75°CA BTDC. The hydrogen addition make the NO_X emissions increase in two ways. On the one hand, the average temperature with hydrogen addition is higher. On the other hand, the temperature with hydrogen addition is not homogeneous, which makes the peak of temperature much higher. In a word, the main factor of NO_X emissions is the size of high temperature zone in the cylinder: Finally, because the combustion is more complete, in comparing with gasoline, hydrogen addition can reduce the CO and HC emissions by 32.2% and 80.4% respectively. Since a more homogeneous hydrogen mixture distribution can influence a lager zone in the cylinder and reduce the wall quenching distance, these emissions decrease with the increase of hydrogen direct injection timing. The CO and HC emissions of 135°CA BTDC decrease by 41.5% and 71.4%, respectively, compared to 75°CA BTDC.     

The effects of fuel-injection timing at medium injection pressure on the engine characteristics and emissions of a CNG-DI engine fueled by a small amount of hydrogen in CNG

The experiments to determine the effect of fuel-injection timings on engine characteristics and emissions of a DI engine fueled with NG-hydrogen blends (0%, 3%, 5% and 8%) at various engine speeds were conducted. Three injection timings namely 120°, 180° and 300° CA BTDC with a wide open throttle at relative air-fuel ratio, λ = 1.0 were selected. The ignition advance angle was fixed at 30° CA BTDC, while the injection pressure was fixed at 1.4 MPa for all the cases. The tests were firstly performed at low engine speed of 2000 rpm to determine the engine characteristics and emissions. The results showed that the engine performance (e.g. Brake Torque, Brake Power and BMEP), the cylinder pressure and the heat release have the highest values at the injection timing of 180° CA BTDC, followed by the 300° CA BTDC and the 120° CA BTDC. The NO_x emission was found to be highest at the injection timing of 180° CA BTDC. The THC and CO emissions were found to decrease while the CO₂ emission increased with the advancement in the injection timing. The addition of a small amount of hydrogen to the natural gas was found to increase the engine performance, enhance combustion and reduce emissions for any selected injection timings. Secondly, the tests were carried out at variable engine speeds (i.e. 2000 rpm-4000 rpm) in order to further investigate the engine performance. The injection timings of 180° and 300° CA BTDC with CNG-H₂ blends were only selected for comparisons. The injection timing of the 300° CA BTDC was discovered to yield better engine performance as compared to the 180° CA BTDC injection timing after a cutoff engine speed of approximately 2500 rpm.     

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.     

Realizing low emissions on a hydrogen-fueled spark ignition engine at the cold start period under rich combustion through ignition timing control

This paper analyzed low emissions on a hydrogen-fueled spark ignition (SI) engine at the cold start period under rich combustion through ignition timing (IT) control. Cold start characteristics of hydrogen-fueled engine were investigated experimentally. The study was performed under different IT. The results demonstrated that when excess air ratio (λ) was 0.7 and IT varied from 25 °CA BTDC to 10 °CA ATDC, the peak cylinder pressure of the first cycle and the successful start time (SST) of hydrogen engine first increased and then decreased with the retard of IT. At 15 °CA BTDC, the hydrogen engine gained the shortest SST and the highest cylinder pressure in the first cycle. Flame development period (CA0-10) first shortened and then lengthened, and flame propagation period (CA10-90) prolonged when IT gradually retarded. The average NOx emissions efficiently reduced by 90.2%, HC and CO emissions caused by the evaporated lubricant oil reduced individually by 33.8% and 19.7% in the first 6 s during the cold start process with the retard of IT. Especially when IT delayed from 25 °CA BTDC to 15 °CA BTDC, the effect of IT on HC emissions was significant.     

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.     

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.     

大缸径船用柴油机部分预混压燃的试验研究

以某中速船用柴油机为研究对象,试验研究了基于两次喷射技术对于船用柴油机性能和燃烧特性的影响。结果表明,基于两次喷射技术可以实现大缸径船用柴油机PPCI燃烧模式,两次喷射的预喷正时、预喷油量及燃油喷射压力对于PPCI燃烧过程有明显影响。通过两次喷射策略在单缸机试验研究,可以确定适用于大缸径船机的PPCI燃烧的燃油喷射控制策略：在Pe0.3MPa下,采用喷射压力105 MPa +预喷时刻20°CA BTDC +预喷油量20%,在Pe0.6MPa时,喷射压力120 MPa +预喷时刻35°CA BTDC +预喷油量28%的喷油策略,可以实现较为理想的部分预混均质压燃PPCI燃烧,燃油消耗率可改善3.1%~6.2%,soot排放降低51%~62%,压升率降低58~70%。本文研究为船用柴油机满足未来EEDI法规及低噪声设计提供有效支撑。     

直喷二甲醚在汽油机中压缩自燃特性的试验研究

在一台单缸光学发动机中,利用高速摄像和热力学分析方法,研究了不同缸内残余废气率(iEGR率)下DME喷射时刻(SOI)从曲轴转角-15°变化到-40°过程中自身的燃烧过程。结果表明,在不同iEGR率下,随着SOI提前,燃烧重心前移,燃烧持续期减小,放热率峰值增加,当到达某一特定的SOI值之后,燃烧重心后移,燃烧持续期增加,放热率峰值减小。当SOI在-25°～-15°范围内时,iEGR率32%工况下的燃烧相位迟于iEGR率25%工况,而当SOI为-30°和-40°时iEGR率为32%下的燃烧相位较早。火焰的形态与DME的自燃区域有关。随着SOI提前,初始自燃点逐渐远离喷嘴侧,自燃区域更为分散。在不同工况下,随着瞬时放热率增加,火焰的相对光强增加,用相对光强变化趋势可以表征瞬时放热率的变化。     

Flexible syngas-biogas-hydrogen fueling spark-ignition engine behaviors with optimized fuel compositions and control parameters

This paper presents the results research on the optimal fuel compositions and the control parameters of the spark ignition engine fueled with syngas-biogas-hydrogen for the purpose of setting up a flexible electronic control unit for the engine working in a solar-biomass hybrid renewable energy system. In syngas-biogas-hydrogen mixture, the optimal content of hydrogen and biogas is 20% and 30%, respectively. Exceeding these thresholds, the improvement of engine performance is moderate, but the pollution emission increases strongly. The optimal advanced ignition angle is 38°CA, 24°CA, and 18°CA for syngas, biogas, and hydrogen, respectively. With the same content of hydrogen or biogas in the mixture with syngas, the advanced ignition angle of the hydrogen-syngas blend is less than that of the syngas-biogas blend by about 4°CA at the engine speed of 3000 rpm. The derating power of the engine is 30% and 23% as switching from the hydrogen and biogas fueling mode to the syngas fueling mode, respectively. However, NO_x emission of the engine increase from 200 ppm (for syngas) to 2800 ppm (for biogas) and to over 6000 ppm (for hydrogen). The optimal advanced ignition angle, the optimal equivalence ratio of the syngas-biogas-hydrogen fuel mixture vary within the limits of the respective values for syngas and hydrogen. To improve the engine efficiency and reduce pollutant emissions, the loading control system of the engine should prioritize the adjustment of the fuel flow and then the adjustment of the air-fuel mixture flow.     

Effect of injection timing on the exhaust emissions of a diesel engine using diesel–methanol blends

Environmental concerns and limited resource of petroleum fuels have caused interests in the development of alternative fuels for internal combustion (IC) engines. For diesel engines, alcohols are receiving increasing attention because they are oxygenated and renewable fuels. Therefore, in this study, the effect of injection timing on the exhaust emissions of a single cylinder, naturally aspirated, four-stroke, direct injection diesel engine has been experimentally investigated by using methanol-blended diesel fuel from 0% to 15% with an increment of 5%. The tests were conducted for three different injection timings (15°, 20° and 25 °CA BTDC) at four different engine loads (5 Nm, 10 Nm, 15 Nm, 20 Nm) at 2200 rpm. The experimental test results showed that Bsfc, NO_x and CO₂ emissions increased as BTE, smoke opacity, CO and UHC emissions decreased with increasing amount of methanol in the fuel mixture. When compared the results to those of original injection timing, NO_x and CO₂ emissions decreased, smoke opacity, UHC and CO emissions increased for the retarded injection timing (15 °CA BTDC). On the other hand, with the advanced injection timing (25 °CA BTDC), decreasing smoke opacity, UHC and CO emissions diminished, and NO_x and CO₂ emissions boosted at all test conditions. In terms of Bsfc and BTE, retarded and advanced injection timings gave negative results for all fuel blends in all engine loads.     

An experimental analysis of hydrogen enrichment on combustion characteristics of a gasoline Wankel engine at full load and lean burn regime

In this paper, a gasoline Wankel engine was modified and equipped with self-developed hybrid electronic control unit to experimentally investigate the effect of hydrogen-enrichment level on combustion characteristics of a gasoline Wankel engine at wild open throttle position and lean burn regime. Testing were carried out under constant engine speed of 3000 rpm and the lean operating limit of the original gasoline engine. The spark timing was set at 15 °BTDC. The hydrogen energy fraction in the intake was gradually increased from 0% to 10%. The results showed that hydrogen enrichment was effective on improving the combustion process through the shortened of the flame development and the flame propagation periods, advancing the central heat release, increasing the HRRmax and reducing the cyclic variation proportionally to the amount of hydrogen added to the air fuel mixture. Furthermore, increasing hydrogen fraction in the intake improves the engine economy by reducing the cooling loss.     

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 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.     

Experimental investigations on the effect of fuel injection parameters on diesel engine fuelled with biodiesel blend in diesel with hydrogen enrichment

Fuel injection pressure and injection timing are two extensive injection parameters that affect engine performance, combustion, and emissions. This study aims to improve the performance, combustion, and emissions characteristics of a diesel engine by using karanja biodiesel with a flow rate of 10 L per minute (lpm) of enriched hydrogen. In addition, the research mainly focused on the use of biodiesel with hydrogen as an alternative to diesel fuel, which is in rapidly declining demand. The experiments were carried out at a constant speed of 1500 rpm on a single-cylinder, four-stroke, direct injection diesel engine. The experiments are carried out with variable fuel injection pressure of 220, 240, and 260 bar, and injection timings of 21, 23, and 25 °CA before top dead center (bTDC). Results show that karanja biodiesel with enriched hydrogen (KB20H10) increases BTE by 4% than diesel fuel at 240 bar injection pressure and 23° CA bTDC injection timing. For blend KB20H10, the emissions of UHC, CO, and smoke opacity are 33%, 16%, and 28.7% lower than for diesel. On the other hand NOx emissions, rises by 10.3%. The optimal injection parameters for blend KB20H10 were found to be 240 bar injection pressure and 23 °CA bTDC injection timing based on the significant improvement in performance, combustion, and reduction in exhaust emissions.     

Direct injection of hydrogen main fuel and diesel pilot fuel in a retrofitted single-cylinder compression ignition engine

Up to 90% hydrogen energy fraction was achieved in a hydrogen diesel dual-fuel direct injection (H2DDI) light-duty single-cylinder compression ignition engine. An automotive-size inline single-cylinder diesel engine was modified to install an additional hydrogen direct injector. The engine was operated at a constant speed of 2000 revolutions per minute and fixed combustion phasing of ?10 crank angle degrees before top dead centre (°CA bTDC) while evaluating the power output, efficiency, combustion and engine-out emissions. A parametric study was conducted at an intermediate load with 20–90% hydrogen energy fraction and 180-0 °CA bTDC injection timing. High indicated mean effective pressure (IMEP) of up to 943 kPa and 57.2% indicated efficiency was achieved at 90% hydrogen energy fraction, at the expense of NO_x emissions. The hydrogen injection timing directly controls the mixture condition and combustion mode. Early hydrogen injection timings exhibited premixed combustion behaviour while late injection timings produced mixing-controlled combustion, with an intermediate point reached at 40 °CA bTDC hydrogen injection timing. At 90% hydrogen energy fraction, the earlier injection timing leads to higher IMEP/efficiency but the NO_x increase is inevitable due to enhanced premixed combustion. To keep the NO_x increase minimal and achieve the same combustion phasing of a diesel baseline, the 40 °CA bTDC hydrogen injection timing shows the best performance at which 85.9% CO₂ reduction and 13.3% IMEP/efficiency increase are achieved.     

Experimental investigation of the effect of spark plug gap on a hydrogen fueled SI engine

In this work, an experimental study on the performance and exhaust emissions of a commercial hydrogen fueled spark ignition engine (HFSIE) was performed at partially and full wide open throttle (50% and 100% WOT) positions. The engine is a four-stroke cycle six-cylinder, engine volume of 4.9 L, port fuel injection, hydrogen fueled SI engine with a bore of 102.1 mm, a stroke of 101.1 mm and a compression ratio of 13.5:1. The experiments were performed using 3 different spark plug gaps (SPG) (0.4, 0.6 and 0.8 mm), varied engine speeds of 1000–3000 rpm and two ignition timing values (10 and 15° CA BTDC) at 50% and 100% wide open throttle (WOT). SPG is a factor affecting the performance of the engine depending on the engine structure. Maximum power values were obtained at 0.6 mm SPG for both 50% and 100% WOT at ignition timing values of 10 and 15° CA BTDC. The maximum efficiency values were obtained with a 0.8 mm SPG at 50% WOT. At 100% WOT position, the maximum efficiency values were obtained with a 0.6 mm spark plug gap (SPG) at ignition timing values of 10 and 15° CA BTDC. A significant decrease in NO emission was observed using hydrogen for all WOT and SPGs.     

Influence of advanced injection timing on the performance and emissions of CI engine fueled with ethanol‐blended diesel fuel

Ethanol has been considered as an alternative fuel for diesel engines. On the other hand, injection timing is a major parameter that sensitively affects the engine performance and emissions. Therefore, in this study, the influence of advanced injection timing on the engine performance and exhaust emissions of a single cylinder, naturally aspirated, four stroke, direct injection diesel engine has been experimentally investigated when using ethanol‐blended diesel fuel from 0 to 15% with an increment of 5%. The original injection timing of the engine is 27° crank angle (CA) before top dead center (BTDC). The tests were conducted at three different injection timings (27, 30 and 33° CA BTDC) for 30 Nm constant load at 1800 rpm. The experimental results showed that brake‐specific energy consumption (BSEC), brake‐specific fuel consumption (BSFC), NO_x and CO₂ emissions increased as brake‐thermal efficiency (BTE), smoke, CO and HC emissions decreased with increasing amount of ethanol in the fuel mixture. Comparing the results with those of original injection timing, NO_x emissions increased and smoke, HC and CO emissions decreased for all test fuels at the advanced injection timings. For BSEC, BSFC and BTE, advanced injection timings gave negative results for all test conditions. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Combustion and emission characteristics of an Acetone-Butanol-Ethanol (ABE) spark ignition engine with hydrogen direct injection

Butanol could reduce emissions and alleviate the energy crisis as a bio-fuel used on engines, but the production cost problem limits the application of butanol. During the butanol production, ABE (Acetone-Butanol-Ethanol) is a critical intermediate product. Many studies researched the direct application of ABE on engines instead of butanol to solve the production cost problem of butanol. ABE has the defects of large ignition energy and vaporization heat. Hydrogen is a gaseous fuel with small ignition energy and high flame temperature. In this research, ABE port injection combines with hydrogen direct injection, forming a stratified state of the hydrogen-rich mixture around the spark plug. The engine speed is 1500 rpm, and λ is 1. Five αH₂ (hydrogen blending fractions: 0, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%) and five spark timings (5°, 10°, 15°, 20°, 25° CA BTDC) are studied to observe the effects of them on combustion and emissions of the test engine. The results show that hydrogen addition increases the maximum cylinder pressure and maximum heat release rate, increases the maximum cylinder temperature and IMEP, but the exhaust temperature decreases. The flame development period and flame propagation period shorten after adding hydrogen. Hydrogen addition improves HC and CO emissions but increases NO_x emissions. Particle emissions decrease distinctly after hydrogen addition. Hydrogen changes the combustion properties of ABE and improves the test engine's power and emissions. The combustion in the cylinder becomes better with the increase of αH₂, but a further increase in αH₂ beyond 5% brings minor improvements on combustion.