A comparison between EGR and lean-burn strategies employed in a natural gas SI engine using a two-zone combustion model

Exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) strategy has been recently employed in natural gas SI engines as an alternative to lean burn technique in order to satisfy the increasingly stringent emission standards. However, the effect of EGR on some of engine performance parameters compared to lean burn is not yet quite certain. In the current study, the effect of both EGR and lean burn on natural gas SI engine performance was compared at similar operating conditions. This was achieved numerically by developing a computer simulation of the four-stroke spark-ignition natural gas engine. A two-zone combustion model was developed to simulate the in-cylinder conditions during combustion. A kinetic model based on the extended Zeldovich mechanism was also developed in order to predict NO emission. The combustion model was validated using experimental data and a good agreement between the results was found. It was demonstrated that adding EGR to the stoichiometric inlet charge at constant inlet pressure of 130 kPa decreased power more rapidly than excess air; however, the power loss was recovered by increasing the inlet pressure from 130 kPa at zero dilution to 150 kPa at 20% EGR dilution. The engine fuel consumption increased by 10% when 20% EGR dilution was added at inlet pressure of 150 kPa compared to using 20% air dilution at 130 kPa. However, it was found that EGR dilution strategy is capable of producing extremely lower NO emission than lean burn technique. NO emission was reduced by about 70% when the inlet charge was diluted at a rate of 20% using EGR instead of excess air.     

稀燃和EGR对汽油发动机性能影响研究

基于一台带有低压废气再循环系统的1.5 L涡轮增压直喷汽油发动机进行了稀燃和废气再循环(EGR)影响发动机燃烧性能的试验研究。结果表明,随着稀释率的上升,EGR和稀燃均导致发动机滞燃期、燃烧持续期延长,燃烧重心提前,有效燃油消耗率下降,排气温度下降,平均绝热指数上升。相同稀释率下,相比稀燃,EGR的滞燃期长,燃烧重心提前,两者燃烧持续期基本相等,稀释极限低,绝热指数小,排气温度低。在稀释率分别为20%、35.9%时,最大可减小有效燃油消耗率4.7%、7.2%。热容对燃油经济性的影响占主导地位,相同稀释率下,循环变动系数小于3%时,相比稀燃,EGR具有更好的燃油经济性。     

稀燃及废气再循环提高增压汽油机热效率的对比研究

在一台直列4缸增压直喷汽油机上针对万有特性最低油耗工况点,进行了稀薄燃烧与废气再循环(exhaust gas recirculation,EGR)提高发动机热效率的对比试验研究。试验结果表明:稀薄燃烧及EGR均能有效降低发动机燃油消耗率,稀释率分别为33%和19%时,采用稀燃和EGR时的最高有效热效率绝对值分别增加2.8%和1.7%,其中稀燃的有效热效率达到了39.9%,稀燃实现更高热效率主要归因于较低的传热损失和未燃损失。从燃烧角度来看,稀燃及EGR稀释都延长了燃烧滞燃期及持续期,但同样稀释率下稀燃的滞燃期更短,稀燃更高的稀释极限实现了更低的传热损失;但EGR抑制爆震,提前燃烧相位,使采用EGR时的排气能量损失低于稀燃。从排放角度来看,稀燃及EGR在高稀释率下均显著降低NO_x排放,而受益于高氧气浓度,相同稀释率下稀燃的HC及CO排放均低于采用EGR时,从而使稀燃的未燃损失更低。     

Implementation of multiple-pulse injection strategies to enhance the homogeneity for simultaneous low-NOx and -soot diesel combustion

The diesel combustion implemented with the use of a homogeneous lean charge has shown to produce simultaneous reduction of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and soot emissions at low-load conditions. Similarly, at higher load levels, a cylinder charge mixture weakened by the use of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) and enhanced homogeneity has also shown to result in simultaneous reduction of NOx and soot emissions. In this study multiple-shot injection experiments have been investigated as a means to enhance the homogeneity for simultaneous low-NOx and low-soot combustion at both low- and moderate-load conditions. Up to 8 fuel injection pulses per cylinder per cycle were applied to modulate the homogeneity history. The empirical results were conducted under independently controlled EGR, intake boost, and exhaust backpressure to enhance the flexibility in adapting the engine boundary conditions towards this type of combustion. Test results have been presented in increasing the engine load up to 9 bar IMEP.     

A comparative study of lean burn and exhaust gas recirculation in an HCNG-fueled heavy-duty engine

Two dilution strategies, exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) with a stoichiometric mixture and excess air with a lean mixture, were investigated for an 11 L, 6-cylinder H₂-blended compressed natural gas (HCNG) engine. The engine was operated at 1260 rpm and 50% of maximum engine load (575 Nm) at maximum brake torque for each strategy. To evaluate the EGR approach, the stoichiometric combustion mode was varied, and to evaluate the lean combustion mode, the excess air ratio was varied. The maximum EGR rate and lean flammability limit were constrained by the combustion stability. The dilution rate was employed to compare the dilution effect on engine performance and emission levels under identical levels of the dilution for both combustion modes. The thermal efficiencies under stoichiometric combustion with EGR were lower than those under lean combustion, owing to a higher pumping loss and a lower combustion speed. The total hydrocarbon emissions under the lean combustion mode were lower than those under the stoichiometric combustion mode only when the combustion speed was relatively slow, due to the higher mixing rate caused by the active combustion. As the dilution rate was increased in the lean combustion mode, the rate of decrease in NO_x emissions slowed compared to the stoichiometric combustion mode. The lowest level of engine-out NO_x emissions was observed under lean combustion.     

Comparison of the effects of EGR and lean burn on an SI engine fueled by hydrogen-enriched low calorific gas

A naturally aspirated spark ignition (SI) engine fueled by hydrogen-blended low calorific gas (LCG) was tested in both exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) and lean burn modes. The “dilution ratio” was introduced to compare their effects on engine performance and emissions under identical levels of dilution. LCG composed of 40% natural gas and 60% nitrogen was used as a main fuel, and hydrogen was blended with the LCG in volumes ranging from 0 to 20%. The engine test results demonstrated that EGR operations at stoichiometry showed a narrower dilution range, inferior combustion characteristics, lower brake thermal efficiency, faster nitrogen oxides (NO_x) suppression, and higher total hydrocarbon (THC) emissions for all hydrogen blending rates compared to lean burn. These trends were mainly due to the increased oxygen deficiency as a result of using EGR in LCG/air mixtures. Hydrogen enrichment of the LCG improved combustion stability and reduced THC emissions while increasing NO_x. In terms of efficiency, hydrogen addition induced a competition between combustion enhancement and increases in the cooling loss, so that the peak thermal efficiency occurred at 10% H₂ with excess air ratio of 1.5. The engine test results also indicated that a close-to-linear NO_x-efficiency relationship occurred for all hydrogen blending rates in both operations as long as stable combustion was achieved. NO_x versus combustion duration analysis showed that adding H₂ reduced combustion duration while maintaining the same level of NO_x. The methane fraction contained in the THC emissions decreased slightly with an increase in hydrogen enrichment at low EGR or excess air dilution ratios, but this tendency was diminished at higher dilution ratios because of the combined dilution effects from the inert gas in the LCG and the diluents (EGR or excess air).     

Effects of EGR on performance of engines with spark gap projection and fueled by biogas–hydrogen blends

In this study, the effects of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) on the behavior of a spark ignition engine fueled by hydrogen-blended low-calorific biogas were investigated, and its performance and emission characteristics were compared with those of the lean burn engine investigated in our previous work. The engine was operated at a constant rotational speed of 1800 rpm under a 60 kW power output condition, and a simulated biogas containing H₂ was used to realize a wide range of gas compositions. The engine test results demonstrate that when less than 20% H₂ was added to the biogas, the EGR operations had inferior fuel economy to the lean burn technique. However, when the H₂ blending ratio was increased, the EGR method achieved higher engine performance with lower NO_x emissions than the legal standard. Analyses of the O₂ fraction and thermal capacity variations of the inlet charge also indicated that a dilution (O₂ replacement) effect rather than a thermal effect was the dominant factor when EGR was introduced in a low-calorific biogas engine. Subsequently, in order to improve the engine efficiency as well as combustion characteristics, the spark gap was projected further into the combustion chamber with EGR engine operations. The engine test results show that repositioning the discharge location improved the thermal efficiency, and the maximum tolerable EGR rate increased because of spatial advantages such as relatively short flame propagation lengths and high electrode temperatures.     

Effect of ammonia addition on combustion and emissions performance of a hydrogen engine at part load and stoichiometric conditions

The development of alternative fuels is important in the fight against climate change. Both hydrogen and ammonia are renewable energy sources and are carbon-free combustible fuels. In a recent experimental study, the performance and emission characteristics of a spark-ignition engine burning a premixed hydrogen/ammonia/air mixture were evaluated. The manifold absolute pressure was adjusted to 61 kPa and the engine speed was stabilized at 1300 rpm. The difference between a mixture with a 2.2% volume fraction of ammonia and a pure hydrogen fuel was analyzed in comparison. Specifically, the addition of ammonia increased the ignition delay and flame development periods and reduced the rate of in-cylinder pressure rise. In conjunction with the ignition timing strategy, the addition of ammonia did not affect the engine performance. Nitrogen oxides emissions are increased due to the addition of ammonia. The experimental results suggest that ammonia can be used as a combustion inhibitor, which provides a new reference for the development of hydrogen-fuelled engines.     

On the capabilities and limitations of predictive,multi-zone combustion models for hydrogen-diesel dual fuel operation

Compared with traditional hydrocarbon fuels, hydrogen provides a high-energy content and carbon-free source of energy rendering it an attractive option for internal combustion engines. Co-combusting hydrogen with other fuels offers significant advantages with respect to thermal efficiency and carbon emissions.This study seeks to investigate the potential and limitations of multi-zone combustion models implemented in the GT-Power software package to predict dual fuel operation of a hydrogen-diesel common rail compression ignition engine. Numerical results for in-cylinder pressure and heat release rate were compared with experimental data. A single cylinder dual-fuel model was used with hydrogen being injected upstream of the intake manifold. During the simulations low (20 kW), medium (40 kW) and high (60 kW) load conditions were tested with and without exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) and at a constant engine speed of 1500 rpm. Both single and double diesel injection strategies were examined with hydrogen energy share ratio being varied from 0 to 57% and 0–42 respectively. This corresponds to a range in hydrogen air-equivalence ratios of approximately 0–0.29.The results show that for the single-injection strategy, the model captures in-cylinder pressure and heat release rate with good accuracy across the entire load and hydrogen share ratio range. However, it appears that for high hydrogen content in the charge mixture and equivalence ratios beyond the lean flammability limit, the model struggles to accurately predict hydrogen entrainment leading to underestimated peak cylinder pressures and heat release rates. For double-injection cases the model shows good agreement for hydrogen share ratios up to 26%. However, for higher energy share ratios the issue of erroneous hydrogen entrainment into the spray becomes more accentuated leading to significant under-prediction of heat release rate and in-cylinder pressure.     

Performance and emissions of a supercharged dual-fuel engine fueled by hydrogen-rich coke oven gas

This study investigated the engine performance and emissions of a supercharged dual-fuel engine fueled by hydrogen-rich coke oven gas and ignited by a pilot amount of diesel fuel. The engine was tested for use as a cogeneration engine, so power output while maintaining a reasonable thermal efficiency was important. Experiments were carried out at a constant pilot injection pressure and pilot quantity for different fuel-air equivalence ratios and at various injection timings without and with exhaust gas recirculation (EGR). The experimental strategy was to optimize the injection timing to maximize engine power at different fuel-air equivalence ratios without knocking and within the limit of the maximum cylinder pressure. The engine was tested first without EGR condition up to the maximum possible fuel-air equivalence ratio of 0.65. A maximum indicated mean effective pressure (IMEP) of 1425 kPa and a thermal efficiency of 39% were obtained. However, the nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions were high. A simulated EGR up to 50% was then performed to obtain lower NOx emissions. The maximum reduction of NOx was 60% or more maintaining the similar levels of IMEP and thermal efficiency. Two-stage combustion was obtained; this is an indicator of maximum power output conditions and a precursor of knocking combustion.     

Part-load characteristics of direct injection spark ignition engine using exhaust gas trap

Internal exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) is an effective strategy to reduce pumping loss and improve fuel economy using mixture dilution than traditional external EGR. In this paper, the internal EGR was obtained by exhaust gas trap (EGT) using the negative valve overlap (NVO) method. The effects of EGT on the part-load characteristics, including energy conversion, combustion and emission characteristics were studied in a direct injection spark ignition (DISI) engine. The experimental results showed that EGT can save fuel consumption by 5–16% due to reduced pumping loss and improved combustion efficiency, while it also can increase the engine cyclic variation and combustion duration. The engine cyclic variation increases with increasing of the EGT level; this can be overcome by advancing spark timing to stabilize the combustion. The flame propagation and compression combustion occurred simultaneously when high EGT level and high compression ratio were adopted; the combined combustion can reduce combustion duration but increase the engine cyclic variation. The stratified mixture using the two-stage injection strategy can reduce the engine cyclic variation and shorten the combustion duration so as to improve the thermal efficiency. Moreover, the second injection mass ratio and timing take an important effect on the combustion and emission characteristics in DISI engines using EGT strategy.     

Effect of hydrogen addition on RCCI combustion of a heavy duty diesel engine fueled with landfill gas and diesel oil

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of hydrogen addition on RCCI combustion of an engine running on landfill gas and diesel oil. A single cylinder heavy– duty diesel engine is set in operation at 9.4 bar IMEP. A certain amount of diesel fuel per cycle is fed into the engine and hydrogen is added to landfill gas while keeping fixed fuel energy content. The developed simulation results confirm that hydrogen addition which is the most environmental friendly fuel causes the fuel consumption per any cycle to reduce. Also, the peak pressure is increased while the engine load is reduced up to 4%. Landfill gas which is enriched with hydrogen improves the rate of methane dissociation and reduces the combustion duration at the same time the engine operation would not be exposed to diesel knock. Moreover, hydrogen addition to landfill gas would reduce engine emissions considerably.     

Study of low emission homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engine using combined internal and external exhaust gas recirculation (EGR)

This paper focuses on the effects of internal and cooled external exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) on the combustion and emission performance of diesel fuel homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI). The use of fuel injection before the top center (TC) of an exhaust stroke and the negative valve overlap (NVO) to form the homogeneous mixture achieves low NO_x and smoke emissions HCCI. Internal and external EGR are combined to control the combustion. Internal exhaust gas recirculation (IEGR) benefits to form a homogeneous mixture and reduces smoke emission further, but lower the high load limits of HCCI. Cooled external EGR can delay the start of combustion (SOC) effectively, which is very useful for high cetane fuel (diesel) HCCI because these fuels can easily self-ignited, making the SOC earlier. External EGR can avoid the knock combustion of HCCI at high load, which means it can expand the high load limit. HCCI maintains low smoke emission at various EGR rates and various loads compared with a conventional diesel engine because there are no fuel-rich volumes in the cylinder.     

Experimental investigation of premixed combustion limits of hydrogen and methane additives in ammonia

In this study, a specially designed premixed combustion chamber system for ammonia-hydrogen and methane-air laminar premixed flames is introduced and the combustion limits of ammonia-hydrogen and methane-air flames are explored. The measurements obtained the blow-out limits (mixed methane: 400–700 mL/min, mixed hydrogen: 200–700 mL/min), mixing gas lean limit characteristics (mixed methane: 0–82%, mixed hydrogen: 0–37%) and lean/rich combustion characteristics (mixed methane: ? = 0.6–1.9, mixed hydrogen: ? = 0.9–3.2) of the flames. The results show that the ammonia-hydrogen-air flame has a smaller lower blow-out limit, mixing gas ratio, lean combustion limit and higher rich combustion limit, thereby proving the advantages of hydrogen as an effective additive in the combustion performance of ammonia fuel. In addition, the experiments show that increasing the initial temperature of the premixed gas can expand the lean/rich combustion limits of both the ammonia-hydrogen and ammonia-methane flames.     

Numerical study of EGR effects on reducing the pressure rise rate of HCCI engine combustion

The effects of the inert components of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) gas on reducing the pressure rise rate of homogeneous charge compression ignition engine combustion were investigated numerically by utilizing the CHEMKIN II package and its SENKIN code, as well as Curran’s dimethyl ether reaction scheme. Calculations were conducted under constant volume combustion and engine combustion (one compression and one expansion only, respectively) conditions. Results show that with constant fuel amount and initial temperature and pressure, as EGR ratio increases, combustion timings are retarded and the duration of thermal ignition preparation extends non-linearly; peak values of pressure, pressure rising rate (PRR), and temperature decrease; and peak values of heat release rate in both low temperature heat release (LTHR) and high temperature heat release decrease. Moreover, maximum PRR decreases as CA50 is retarded. With constant fuel amount, mixtures with different EGR ratios can obtain the same CA50 by adjusting the initial temperature. Under the same CA50, as EGR ratio increases, the LTHR timing is advanced and the duration of thermal ignition preparation is extended. Maximum PRR is almost constant with the fixed CA50 despite the change in EGR ratio, indicating that the influence of EGR dilution on chemical reaction rate is offset by other factors. Further investigation on the mechanism of this phenomenon is needed.     

The effect of EGR and hydrogen addition to natural gas on performance and exhaust emissions in a diesel engine by AVL fire multi-domain simulation,GPR model,and multi-objective genetic algorithm

In this study, the effect of adding hydrogen to natural gas and EGR ratio was conducted on a diesel engine to investigate the engine performance and exhaust gases by AVL Fire multi-domain simulation software.For this investigation, a mixture of hydrogen fuel and natural gas replaced diesel fuel. The percentage of hydrogen in blend fuel changed from 0% to 40%. The compression ratio converted from 17:1 to 15:1. The EGR ratios were in three steps of 5%, 10%, and 15%, with different engine speeds from 1000 to 1800 RPM. The Gaussian process regression (GPR) was developed to model engine performance and exhaust emissions. The optimal values of EGR and the percentage of hydrogen in the blend of HCNG were extracted using a multi-objective genetic algorithm (MOGA).The results showed that by increasing EGR, thermal efficiency, the engine power, and specific fuel consumption decreased due to prolongation of combustion length while cumulative heat release increased but, its effect on cylinder pressure is insignificant. Adding hydrogen to natural gas increased the combustion temperature and, consequently NOx. While the amount of CO and HC decreased. The results of GPR and MOGA illustrated that at different engine speeds, the optimum values of EGR and HCNG were 6.35% and 31%, respectively.     

Research on the inducing factors and characteristics of knock combustion in a DI hydrogen internal combustion engine in the process of improving performance and thermal efficiency

Hydrogen energy is gaining greater attention because of the energy crisis and CO2 emissions, and knock combustion has become the main obstacle to improving thermal efficiency and power performance of hydrogen engines, which is an important method of hydrogen energy application. In this paper, the knock characteristic parameters and the factors affecting knock tendency of a 2.0 L DI hydrogen engine are investigated experimentally. The results reveal the variation in knock intensity is not linear with the retarding of SOI, which is related to the cylinder mixture distribution. Furthermore, methods such as increasing injection pressures can be useful in reducing the knock intensity. Equivalence ratio has a greater impact on knock compared with other parameters. The conclusions can be used in the further exploration of the knock combustion mechanism in DI hydrogen engines.     

Numerical study of EGR effects on reducing the pressure rise rate of HCCI engine combustion

The effects of the inert components of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) gas on reducing the pressure rise rate of homogeneous charge compression ignition engine combustion were investigated numerically by utilizing the CHEMKIN II package and its SENKIN code, as well as Curran’s dimethyl ether reaction scheme. Calculations were conducted under constant volume combustion and engine combustion (one compression and one expansion only, respectively) conditions. Results show that with constant fuel amount and initial temperature and pressure, as EGR ratio increases, combustion timings are retarded and the duration of thermal ignition preparation extends non-linearly; peak values of pressure, pressure rising rate (PRR), and temperature decrease; and peak values of heat release rate in both low temperature heat release (LTHR) and high temperature heat release decrease. Moreover, maximum PRR decreases as CA50 is retarded. With constant fuel amount, mixtures with different EGR ratios can obtain the same CA50 by adjusting the initial temperature. Under the same CA50, as EGR ratio increases, the LTHR timing is advanced and the duration of thermal ignition preparation is extended. Maximum PRR is almost constant with the fixed CA50 despite the change in EGR ratio, indicating that the influence of EGR dilution on chemical reaction rate is offset by other factors. Further investigation on the mechanism of this phenomenon is needed.     

Experimental investigations on a hydrogen diesel homogeneous charge compression ignition engine with exhaust gas recirculation

In this experimental study, hydrogen was inducted along with air and diesel was injected into the cylinder using a high pressure common rail system, in a single cylinder homogeneous charge compression ignition engine. An electronic controller was used to set the required injection timing of diesel for best thermal efficiency. The influences of hydrogen to diesel energy ratio, output of the engine and exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) on performance, emissions and combustion were studied in detail. An increase in the amount of hydrogen improved the thermal efficiency by retarding the combustion process. It also lowered the exhaust emissions. Large amounts of hydrogen and EGR were needed at high outputs for suppressing knock. The range of operation was brake mean effective pressures of 2–4 bar. The levels of HC and CO emitted were not significantly influenced by the amount of hydrogen that was used.