On-board generation of hydrogen to improve in-cylinder combustion and after-treatment efficiency and emissions performance of a hybrid hydrogen–gasoline engine

Hydrogen on-board fuel reforming has been identified as a waste energy recovery technology with potential to improve Internal combustion engines (ICE) efficiency. Additionally, can help to reduce CO₂, NO_x and particulate matter (PM) emissions. As this thermochemical energy is recovered from the hot exhaust stream and used in an efficient way by endothermic catalytic reforming of petrol mixed with a fraction of the engine exhaust gas. The hydrogen-rich reformate has higher enthalpy than the petrol fed to the reformer and is recirculated to the intake manifold, which will be called reformed exhaust gas recirculation (rEGR).The rEGR system has been simulated by supplying hydrogen (H₂) and carbon monoxide (CO) into a conventional Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) system. The hydrogen and CO concentrations in the rEGR stream were selected to be achievable in practice at typical gasoline exhaust temperatures (temperatures between 300 and 600 °C). A special attention has been paid on comparing rEGR to the baseline ICE, and to conventional EGR. The results demonstrate the potential of rEGR to simultaneously increase thermal efficiency, reduce gaseous emissions and decrease PM formation.Complete fuel reformation can increase the calorific value of the fuel by 28%. This energy can be provided by the waste heat in the exhaust and so it is ideal for combination with a gasoline engine with its high engine-out exhaust temperatures.The aim of this work is to demonstrate that exhaust gas fuel reforming on an engine is possible and is commercially viable. Also, this paper demonstrates how the combustion of reformate in a direct injection gasoline engine via reformed Exhaust Gas Recirculation (rEGR) can be beneficial to engine performance and emissions.     

A highly efficient six-stroke internal combustion engine cycle with water injection for in-cylinder exhaust heat recovery

A concept adding two strokes to the Otto or Diesel engine cycle to increase fuel efficiency is presented here. It can be thought of as a four-stroke Otto or Diesel cycle followed by a two-stroke heat recovery steam cycle. A partial exhaust event coupled with water injection adds an additional power stroke. Waste heat from two sources is effectively converted into usable work: engine coolant and exhaust gas. An ideal thermodynamics model of the exhaust gas compression, water injection and expansion was used to investigate this modification. By changing the exhaust valve closing timing during the exhaust stroke, the optimum amount of exhaust can be recompressed, maximizing the net mean effective pressure of the steam expansion stroke (MEP_steam). The valve closing timing for maximum MEP_steam is limited by either 1 bar or the dew point temperature of the expansion gas/moisture mixture when the exhaust valve opens. The range of MEP_steam calculated for the geometry of a conventional gasoline engine and is from 0.75 to 2.5 bars. Typical combustion mean effective pressures (MEP_combustion) of naturally aspirated gasoline engines are up to 10 bar, thus this concept has the potential to significantly increase the engine efficiency and fuel economy.     

Improving gasoline direct injection (GDI) engine efficiency and emissions with hydrogen from exhaust gas fuel reforming

Exhaust gas fuel reforming has been identified as a thermochemical energy recovery technology with potential to improve gasoline engine efficiency, and thereby reduce CO₂ in addition to other gaseous and particulate matter (PM) emissions. The principle relies on achieving energy recovery from the hot exhaust stream by endothermic catalytic reforming of gasoline and a fraction of the engine exhaust gas. The hydrogen-rich reformate has higher enthalpy than the gasoline fed to the reformer and is recirculated to the intake manifold, i.e. reformed exhaust gas recirculation (REGR).     

Influence of operating parameters on performance and emissions for a compression-ignition engine fueled by hydrogen/diesel mixtures

Hydrocarbon exhaust emissions are mainly recognized as a consequent of carbon-based fuel combustion in compression ignition (CI) engines. Alternative fuels can be coupled with hydrocarbon fuels to control the pollutant emissions and improve the engine performance. In this study, different parameters that influence the engine performance and emissions are illustrated with more details. This numerical work was carried out on a dual-fuel CI engine to study its performance and emission characteristics at different hydrogen energy ratios. The simulation model was run with diesel as injected fuel and hydrogen, along with air, as inducted fuel. Three-dimensional CFD software for numerical simulations was implemented to simulate the direct-injection CI engine. A reduced-reaction mechanism for n-heptane was considered in this work instead of diesel. The Hiroyasu-Nagel model was presented to examine the rate of soot formation inside the cylinder. This work investigates the effect of hydrogen variation on output efficiency, ignition delay, and emissions. More hydrogen present inside the engine cylinder led to lower soot emissions, higher thermal efficiency, and higher NO_x emissions. Ignition timing delayed as the hydrogen rate increased, due to a delay in OH radical formation. Strategies such as an exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) method and diesel injection timing were considered as well, due to their potential effects on the engine outputs. The relationship among the engine outputs and the operation conditions were also considered.     

Artificial Neural Network based prediction of performance and emission characteristics of a variable compression ratio CI engine using WCO as a biodiesel at different injection timings

Due to the increasing demand for fossil fuels and environmental threat due to pollution a number renewable sources of energy have been studied worldwide. In the present investigation influence of injection timing on the performance and emissions of a single cylinder, four stroke stationary, variable compression ratio, diesel engine was studied using waste cooking oil (WCO) as the biodiesel blended with diesel. The tests were performed at three different injection timings (24°, 27°, 30° CA BTDC) by changing the thickness of the advance shim. The experimental results showed that brake thermal efficiency for the advanced as well as the retarded injection timing was lesser than that for the normal injection timing (27° BTDC) for all sets of compression ratios. Smoke, un-burnt hydrocarbon (UBHC) emissions were reduced for advanced injection timings where as NO_x emissions increased. Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) was used to predict the engine performance and emission characteristics of the engine. Separate models were developed for performance parameters as well as emission characteristics. To train the network, compression ratio, injection timing, blend percentage, percentage load, were used as the input parameters where as engine performance parameters like brake thermal efficiency (BTE), brake specific energy consumption (BSEC), exhaust gas temperature (T_exh) were used as the output parameters for the performance model and engine exhaust emissions such as NO_x, smoke and (UBHC) values were used as the output parameters for the emission model. ANN results showed that there is a good correlation between the ANN predicted values and the experimental values for various engine performance parameters and exhaust emission characteristics and the relative mean error values (MRE) were within 8%, which is acceptable.     

Production of dimethyl ether and hydrogen by methanol reforming for an HCCI engine system with waste heat recovery – Continuous control of fuel ignitability and utilization of exhaust gas heat

Homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) is a promising technique to achieve high thermal efficiency and clean exhaust with internal combustion engines. However, the difficulty in ensuring optimal ignition timing control prevents its practical application. Previous research has shown that adjusting the proportion of dimethyl ether (DME) and hydrogen-containing methanol-reformed gas (MRG) can control the ignition timing in an HCCI combustion engine fueled with the two fuels. As both DME and MRG can be produced in endothermic methanol reforming reactions, onboard reforming utilizing the exhaust gas heat can recover the waste heat from the engine. A very high overall thermal efficiency can be achieved by combining the high engine efficiency with HCCI and the waste heat recovery. This research investigates the basic characteristics of methanol reforming in a reactor tube with different catalysts with the aim to produce fuels for the HCCI combustion system.     

柴油机部分均质预混燃烧模式下混合与化学控制参数对指示热效率的影响

基于部分均质预混燃烧(PPC)的柴油机研究开发和优化了一种混合燃烧控制策略,在平均指示压力(IMEP)高达1.1,MPa的负荷范围内实现了高的指示热效率以及超低排放.燃烧过程中的混合与化学控制参数包括了喷油定时、喷油模式(如多脉冲喷射)、增压压力、EGR率以及进气气门关闭定时等,通过优化耦合以上控制参数可以优化控制当量比与温度的变化路径,从而避开NOx与碳烟(Soot)生成区.基于热力学第一定律,通过能量平衡的分析方法研究了混合与化学控制参数对热效率的影响.研究表明,相对于排放而言,热效率受控制参数的影响更加敏感.     

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.     

Effect of advancing the closing angle of the intake valves on diffusion-controlled combustion in a HD diesel engine

An experimental investigation has been performed on the modification of in-cylinder gas thermodynamic conditions by advancing the intake valve closing angle in a HD diesel engine. The consequences on the diffusion-controlled combustion process have been analysed in detail, including the evolution of exhaust emissions and engine efficiency. This research has been carried out at full load (100%) and low engine speed (1200 rpm) with the aim of generating a long and stable diffusion-controlled combustion process. The intake oxygen mass concentration was kept at 17.4% to obtain low NO_x levels in all cases. The required flexibility on intake valve motion has been attained by means of an electro-hydraulic variable valve actuation system. The results obtained from advancing the intake valve closing angle (IVC) have shown an important reduction on in-cylinder gas pressure and density, whereas the gas temperature showed less sensitivity. Consequently, the diffusion-controlled combustion process is slowed down mainly due to the lower in-cylinder gas density and oxygen availability. Important effects of advancing IVC have also been observed on pollutant emissions and engine efficiency. Where NO_x production decreases, soot emissions increase. Finally, the results of pollutant emissions and engine efficiency have been compared with those obtained retarding the start of injection.     

增压中冷车用柴油机EGR率阶跃工况响应

利用实时EGR率测量系统及瞬态工况测控平台对增压中冷柴油机废气再循环(EGR)阶跃工况下的EGR率、进气量、发动机转矩、燃烧过程特征参数、排气烟度及气态有害排放物的响应历程进行了试验研究.试验结果表明:在1 600 r/min5、0%负荷工况,EGR率从0分别阶跃到3%、5%、13%和28%时,EGR率、进气流量及发动机有效转矩响应速度较快且相近,均为0.5 s左右;排气烟度和以最高燃烧压力表征的缸内燃烧过程趋于稳定状态历时较长且时间相近,不同EGR率阶跃时均为2.5 s左右;以气态有害物排放表征的柴油机排放响应历时最长为6 s左右.这说明在EGR阶跃工况下,当EGR率达到稳定时,由于燃烧边界条件存在迟滞效应,从而会导致燃烧过程、有害物排放存在较长的延迟.     

Performance and emission comparison of a supercharged dual-fuel engine fueled by producer gases with varying hydrogen content

This study investigated the effect of hydrogen content in producer gas on the performance and exhaust emissions of a supercharged producer gas–diesel dual-fuel engine. Two types of producer gases were used in this study, one with low hydrogen content (H₂ = 13.7%) and the other with high hydrogen content (H₂ = 20%). The engine was tested for use as a co-generation engine, so power output while maintaining a reasonable thermal efficiency was important. Experiments were carried out at a constant injection pressure and injection quantity for different fuel–air equivalence ratios and at various injection timings. 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. Two-stage combustion was obtained; this is an indicator of maximum power output conditions and a precursor of knocking combustion. Better combustion, engine performance, and exhaust emissions (except NO_x) were obtained with the high H₂-content producer gas than with the low H₂-content producer gas, especially under leaner conditions. Moreover, a broader window of fuel–air equivalence ratio was found with highest thermal efficiencies for the high H₂-content producer gas.     

Influence of biodiesel on engine combustion and emission characteristics

This paper discusses the influence of biodiesel on the engine combustion characteristics. The considered fuel is neat biodiesel from rapeseed oil. The considered engine is a bus diesel engine with injection M system. The engine characteristics are obtained by experiments and numerical simulation. The results obtained with biodiesel are compared to those obtained with mineral diesel under various operating regimes. In this way, the influences of biodiesel usage on the injection pressure, injection timing, ignition delay, in-cylinder gas pressure and temperature, heat release rate, exhaust gas temperatures, harmful emissions, specific fuel consumption, and on engine power are analyzed. Furthermore, the relationships among fuel properties, injection and combustion characteristics, harmful emissions, and other engine performance are determined. Special attention is given to possible explanations of higher NO_x emission in spite of lower in-cylinder gas temperature.     

Application of exhaust gas fuel reforming in diesel and homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engines fuelled with biofuels

This paper documents the application of exhaust gas fuel reforming of two alternative fuels, biodiesel and bioethanol, in internal combustion engines. The exhaust gas fuel reforming process is a method of on-board production of hydrogen-rich gas by catalytic reaction of fuel and engine exhaust gas. The benefits of exhaust gas fuel reforming have been demonstrated by adding simulated reformed gas to a diesel engine fuelled by a mixture of 50% ultra low sulphur diesel (ULSD) and 50% rapeseed methyl ester (RME) as well as to a homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engine fuelled by bioethanol. In the case of the biodiesel fuelled engine, a reduction of NO_x emissions was achieved without considerable smoke increase. In the case of the bioethanol fuelled HCCI engine, the engine tolerance to exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) was extended and hence the typically high pressure rise rates of HCCI engines, associated with intense combustion noise, were reduced.     

甲醇发动机的点火正时和喷射正时优选的试验研究

缸内喷射、火花助燃甲醇发动机是在缸内形成一种层状分布的不均匀混合气，为获得优良的燃烧和排放性能，存在一个最佳的点火和喷射正时。此时着火延迟期最短，缸内混合气浓、稀分布最合理，平均火焰传播速度最快，热效率最高，效率和排放折衷最好。本文详细介绍了点火正时和喷射正时的优选过程及对缸内混合气浓度分布及燃烧过程的影响。     

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

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

Control of the combustion behaviour in a diesel engine using early injection and gas addition

Multiple injections and natural gas addition were investigated as ways to modify combustion behaviour, and therefore pollutant emissions and specific fuel consumptions, inside a direct injection Diesel engine equipped with a common rail injection system. During the experimental tests, engine efficiency, in terms of fuel consumption, and pollutant emissions, in terms of nitric oxides, opacity, carbon monoxide and total hydrocarbons, have been measured.The tested multiple injection strategy consisted of the simultaneous use of early and pilot injections. This strategy has been compared with the more traditional techniques based on the use of either pilot or early injections. During the tests, the effects of several injection parameters were analysed, like duration and timing of early, pilot and main injections. Results show that, mainly for medium values of engine torque and speed, the injection of a small fuel quantity during the early stage of the compression stroke, coupled with the pilot injection, may be effective in reducing specific fuel consumption if compared to the only pilot or only early injection strategies. Furthermore, this result is obtained whit a simultaneous reduction in nitric oxides and particulate. However, unburned hydrocarbons levels remain constant or usually increase. Early injection is in effect a way to obtain a very lean premixed charge, both globally and locally, inside the combustion chamber. Therefore, it has been shown that nitric oxides and soot, deriving respectively from an inhomogeneous distribution of temperatures and a locally rich mixture, both decrease performing the early and pilot before the main injection.Concerning the natural gas addition, it has been premixed with the engine intake air before the turbocharger and used in small percentages, in order to improve the engine combustion and to reduce pollutant emissions, in particular the soot produced during the mixing-controlled combustion phase. Experiments underlined that, using the natural gas as an additive fuel, while performing the Diesel fuel main injection, leads to keep practically unchanged engine efficiency with respect to the traditional Diesel fuel operation mode. Concerning the emission levels at the exhaust, the use of small quantities of gas (10–30% respect to the total fuel energy) improves the oxides – soot trade-off; however, at the same time, total hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide emissions are characterized by higher values.     

Numerical investigation and Pareto optimization on performance,emission and in-cylinder reforming characteristics for two cylinder reciprocating engine with COx free fuel

The main objective of this study is to introduce the applicability of ammonia to the downsized compression ignition diesel engine for power generation or range extender. For this research objective, the two cylinder engine, which was the result of the previous study, fueled with diesel-ammonia blends was considered and the performance and NOx emission tendency were identified using the numerical method. Ammonia was mixed with diesel via injection at a specific fuel energy fraction (0%, 5%, 10%, or 15%) to evaluate the engine performance and emission characteristics. In addition, concept of “in-cylinder reforming” was introduced adopting negative valve overlap (NVO) by advancing the exhaust valve closing time to investigate the effect of adding ammonia as a hydrogen carrier. Subsequently, the primary variables affecting the brake-specific fuel consumption and NO_X are determined via multi-objective Pareto analysis. The optimal Pareto front confirms that exhaust valve timing exerts a greater effect on the performance and emissions than injection timing. Moreover, in-cylinder reformed hydrogen was increased under negative valve overlap strategy.     

Comparison between direct and indirect (prechamber) spark ignition in the case of a cogeneration natural gas engine,: part II: engine operating parameters and turbocharger characteristics

In the first paper (part I), prechamber ignition in cogeneration natural gas engines has been shown to significantly intensify and accelerate the combustion process, offering a further potential to reduce the exhaust gas emissions while keeping efficiency at a high level. This second part discusses the influence of the engine operating parameters (spark timing and load) and the turbocharger characteristics with the objective of evaluating the potential to reduce the exhaust gas emissions, particularly the CO emissions, below the Swiss limits (NO_X and CO emissions: 250 and 650 mg/m_N³, 5% O₂, respectively), without exhaust gas after treatment. The advantage of using an unscavenged prechamber is conditioned by a significant delay of the spark timing in order to generate substantial gas jets. This results in a large decrease in peak cylinder pressure and in an important reduction of NO_X, CO and THC emissions. Minimum emissions are achieved at a spark timing of about 8° CA_BTDC. In comparison with the direct ignition, the prechamber ignition yields approximately 40% and 55% less CO and THC emissions, respectively. However, this also leads to about 2%-point lower fuel conversion efficiency. The optimisation of the turbocharger results in a recovery of about 1%-point in fuel conversion efficiency, but a consequent change in the exhaust manifold gas dynamics attenuates the reduction in THC emissions. At the rated power output (150 kW), the prechamber ignition operation fulfils the Swiss requirements for exhaust gas emissions and still achieves a fuel conversion efficiency higher than 36.5%.     

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.     

Vehicle evaluation of neat methanol—compromises among exhaust emissions,fuel economy and driveability

Methanol was evaluated as an alternative fuel in vehicles with spark-ignited, internal-combustion engines. Acceptable driveability was achieved with a methanol-fuelled car equipped with electronic fuel injection (EFI) which was modified to provide proper air-fuel ratios for methanol. the target level for driveability was not achieved with a methanol-fuelled carburetted car modified to provide proper air-fuel ratios for and increased vaporization of methanol. With the EFI car, using the average equivalence ratio (Φ_a = 0·96) and spark timing designed for the production gasoline car, exhaust emissions and fuel economy with methanol fuelling were compared to those with gasoline. With methanol, compared with gasoline, 60 per cent lower NO_x, 3·5 times higher unburned fuel emissions (UBF), and similar CO engine emissions were measured. the air pollution significance of the higher UBF emissions from methanol combustion is unknown because the UBF species (mainly methanol) are different from those from gasoline combustion. A catalytic converter decreased emissions of UBF and CO similarly for both fuels. Fuel economy with methanol—about half that of gasoline on a volume basis—was 7–10 per cent better on an energy basis than that with gasoline. With methanol fuelling, spark timing and Φ_a were varied from production values to obtain a more acceptable compromise among driveability, exhaust emissions and fuel economy. While fuelling with methanol at Φ_a = 0·96, using best power rather than production spark timing increased fuel economy 3 to 6 per cent without significantly affecting emissions and driveability. As Φ_a was leaned to 0·62 while maintaining best-power spark timing engine and tailpipe (after converter) CO emissions decreased, engine UBF emissions increased, NO_x and tailpipe UBF emissions were not greatly affected, and driveability deteriorated. With best-power spark timing and the Φ_a for maximum economy (0·83), driveability was acceptable, and CO and NO_x emissions met the 1977 standards. At Φ_a = 0·83, NO_x emissions were reduced below the statutory standard (0·4 g/mile) by retarding spark timing; however, driveability and fuel economy deteriorated. Although the feasibility and benefits of operating vehicles with neat methanol have been demonstrated, not all problems of methanol fuelling (for example, cold start) were addressed. In addition, other alternatives such as obtaining hydrocarbon liquids from coal or using methanol as fuel for stationary powerplants must also be considered to obtain the most efficient utilization of energy resources.