Use of palm oil-based biofuel in the internal combustion engines: Performance and emissions characteristics

Palm oil (PO) was treated using different methods in order to use and test it as fuel in Compression Ignition (CI) engines. The treatments include PO preheated and preparation of PO/diesel oil blends, using mixtures of PO with waste cooking oil (WCO), which are converted into esters by a transesterification process. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the potential of the palm oil-based biofuels to replace diesel oil in CI engines.Tests were conducted in a single cylinder, four-stroke, air-cooled, direct injection diesel engine (no engine modifications were required). Experiments were initially carried out with diesel oil for providing baseline data. All the tested fuels have a low heating value compared to diesel fuel. A high fraction of PO in diesel fuel decreases the heating value of the blend. The brake thermal efficiency increases for the PO/Diesel blends. HC emissions for all those fuels except for the PO/Diesel blends are found lower, while CO emissions rise for all types of fuels. NO_x emissions are higher at low load, but lower at full load, for the engine fueled with PO and lower both at middle and full load for the engine fueled with the esters.     

NOX emissions of compression ignition engines fueled with various biodiesel blends: A review

There are some challenges about NO_X emissions exhausted from diesel engines fueled with biodiesel. Due to increasingly stringent emission regulations, the different methods such as varying the engine operating parameters, treatment with antioxidant additive and blending fuels have been adapted to reduce emissions of biodiesel combustion. One of the effective methods is the combustion of dual or blending fuels. Various fuels such as gasoline, hydrogen, natural gas, biogas, different types of alcohols and also fuel additives have been used to reduce biodiesel disadvantages. This study reviews the potential of the different fuels as an additive in biodiesel fuel in correspond to reduce NO_X emissions. The general reduction of NO_X has been observed with the presence of gasoline, biogas and alcohols in biodiesel blends. The reduction of NO_X in biodiesel-hydrogen, biodiesel-diesel or biodiesel–CNG combustion has not been observed through all engine conditions. Moreover the retarding injection timing, the lower injection pressure, EGR higher than 30% can result in the reduced NO_X emissions. However it seems the decrease in NO_X emissions can be achieved by the use of most fuels in blending with biodiesel under all engine operating conditions, if only the proper injection parameters and blending proportions of fuels are set.     

Review of NOx reduction technologies in CI engines fuelled with oxygenated biomass fuels

Oxygenated fuels like biodiesel and alcohols have the potential to provide a reliable and a cost effective alternative to India's increasing future energy demands. They have a prospective future since they are renewable and can be produced easily in India's rural areas. Due to rapid industrialization and the increased number of vehicles on the road, the energy needs of the country are increasing rapidly. Oxygenated fuels can substantially replace the large demand for diesel to generate power for the industries and to fuel diesel engines of the vehicles. In spite of the many advantages of using them, most of the researchers have reported higher NO_x emissions, which is a deterrent to the market expansion of these fuels. The present program aims to review the NO_x emissions from the CI engines fuelled with oxygenated fuels. To meet the stringent emission norms, the various NO_x reduction technologies like use of additives, retarded fuel injection timing, biodiesel emulsion with water, and exhaust gas recirculation are reviewed. The results of the most effective and low cost technique of EGR in DI diesel engine fuelled with biodiesel–diesel blends and tri-compound oxygenated diesel fuel blends (ethanol–biodiesel–diesel fuel blends and methanol–biodiesel–diesel fuel blends) are presented.     

Experimental investigations of performance,emission and combustion characteristics of Karanja oil blends fuelled DICI engine

Vegetables oils are simplest route of biofuel utilization in direct injection compression ignition (DICI) engines however several operational and durability problems are encountered while using straight vegetable oils in CI engines due to their high viscosity and low volatility. Reduction of viscosity by blending or exhaust gas heating leads to savings in chemical processing cost incurred on transesterification. In this experimental study, performance, emission and combustion characteristics of Karanja oil blends (K10, K20, K50 and K100) with mineral diesel were investigated in unheated conditions in a direct injection CI engine at different engine loads and constant engine speed (1500 rpm) vis-à-vis baseline data from mineral diesel. Analysis of performance parameters such as brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC), thermal efficiency, and exhaust gas temperature; mass emissions of various gaseous pollutant species; combustion parameters such as in-cylinder pressure rise, instantaneous heat release and cumulative heat release etc. were carried out. Detailed combustion analysis revealed that the combustion duration increased significantly even with smaller concentration of Karanja oil in the fuel blend. HC, CO and Smoke emissions were found to decrease for 20–50% (v/v) Karanja oil content in the fuel blends.     

Effect of methanol fumigation on performance and emission characteristics in a waste cooking oil-fuelled single cylinder CI engine

Use of bio-oils in diesel engines results in increased NOx and smoke and reduced brake thermal efficiency. Dual-fuel engines can use a wide range of fuels mainly alcohols and yet operate with high thermal efficiency and simultaneous reduction of NO and smoke emissions. The present study aims to explore the effect of methanol–waste cooking oil (WCO) dual-fuel mode on performance and emission characteristics in a single cylinder Compression ignition (CI) engine producing 3.7 kW at 1,500 rpm. WCO was injected in the conventional injection system, replacing diesel as pilot fuel. Methanol was fumigated along with intake air using a variable jet carburetor, which was installed in the inlet manifold. The methanol was fumigated, and the energy share was varied for each load till the knock limit. Performance parameters like brake thermal efficiency (BTE) and emission parameters like HC, CO, NO, and smoke emissions were tested for various energy shares of methanol with WCO as a pilot fuel. The results show that an increase in methanol fumigation reduced BTE at lower loads. At 75% and 100% load conditions, BTE was higher with methanol addition. The maximum BTE was observed for 38% methanol share, which is about 11% higher, compared to WCO at 100% load condition. Methanol fumigation aided in the simultaneous reduction of NO and smoke emission, and the maximum reduction was occurred with 51% methanol share at 100% load condition. HC and CO emissions were higher at all load conditions with methanol fumigation.     

Biofuels and thermal barrier: A review on compression ignition engine performance,combustion and exhaust gas emission

The performance of an internal combustion engine is affected when renewable biofuels are used instead of fossil fuels in an unmodified engine. Various engine modifications were experimented by the researchers to optimise the biofuels operated engine performance. Thermal barrier coating is one of the techniques used to improve the biofuels operated engine performance and combustion characteristics by reducing the heat loss from the combustion chamber. In this study, engine tests results on performance, combustion and exhaust emission characteristics of the biofuels operated thermal barrier coated engines were collated and reviewed. The results found in the literature were reviewed in three scenarios: (i) uncoated versus coated engine for fossil diesel fuel application, (ii) uncoated versus coated engine for biofuels (and blends) application, and (iii) fossil diesel use on uncoated engine versus biofuel (and blends) use on coated engine. Effects of injection timing, injection pressure and fuel properties on thermal barrier coatings were also discussed. The material type, thickness and properties of the coating materials used by the research community were presented. The effectiveness and durability of the coating layer depends on two key properties: low thermal conductivity and high thermal expansion coefficient. The current study showed that thermal barrier coatings could potentially offset the performance drop due to use of biofuels in the compression ignition engines. Improvements of up to 4.6% in torque, 7.8% in power output, 13.4% in brake specific fuel consumption, 15.4% in brake specific energy consumption and 10.7% in brake thermal efficiency were reported when biofuels or biofuel blends were used in the thermal barrier coated engines as compared to the uncoated engines. In coated engines, peak cylinder pressure and exhaust gas temperature were increased by up to 16.3 bar and 14% respectively as compared to uncoated condition. However, changes in the heat release rates were reported to be between ?27% and +13.8% as compared to uncoated standard engine. Reductions of CO, CO₂, HC and smoke emissions were reported by up to 3.8%, 11.1%, 90.9% and 63% respectively as compared to uncoated engines. Significant decreases in the PM emissions were also reported due to use of thermal barrier coatings in the combustion chamber. In contrast, at high speed and at high load operation, increase in the CO and CO₂ emissions were also reported in coated engines. Coated engines gave higher NO_x emissions by about 4–62.9% as compared to uncoated engines. Combined effects of thermal barrier coatings and optimisation of fuel properties and injection parameters produced further performance and emissions advantages compared to only thermal barrier coated engines. Overall, current review study showed that application of thermal barrier coatings in compression ignition engines could be beneficial when biofuels or biofuel blends are used instead of standard fossil diesel. However, more research is needed combining coatings, types of biofuels and other engine modifications to establish a concrete conclusion on the effectiveness of the thermal barrier when biofuels are used in the compression ignition engine. Reduction of NO_x emissions is another important R & D area.     

Biodiesel fuel in diesel micro-turbine engines: Modelling and experimental evaluation

Many performance and emission tests have been carried out in reciprocating diesel engines that use biodiesel fuel over the past years and very few in gas turbine engines. This work aims at assessing the thermal performance and emissions at full and partial loads of a 30 kW diesel micro-turbine engine fed with diesel, biodiesel and their blends as fuel. A cycle simulation was performed using the Gate Cycle GE Enter software to evaluate the thermal performance of the 30 kW micro-turbine engine. Performance and emission tests were carried out on a 30 kW diesel micro-turbine engine installed in the NEST laboratories of the Federal University of Itajubá, and the performance results were compared with those of the simulation. There was a good agreement between the simulations and the experimental results from the full load down to about 50% of the load for diesel, biodiesel and their blends. The biodiesel and its blends used as fuel in micro-turbines led to no significant changes in the engine performance and behaviour compared to diesel fuel. The exhaust emissions were evaluated for pure biodiesel and its blends and conventional diesel. The results revealed that the use of biodiesel resulted in a slightly higher CO, lower NO_x and no SO₂ emissions.     

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.     

Experimental investigations on combustion, performance and emissions characteristics of neat karanji biodiesel and its methanol blend in a diesel engine

The increased focus on alternative fuels research in the recent years are mainly driven by escalating crude oil prices, stringent emission norms and the concern on clean environment. The processed form of vegetable oil (biodiesel) has emerged as a potential substitute for diesel fuel on account of its renewable source and lesser emissions. The experimental work reported here has been carried out on a turbocharged, direct injection, multi-cylinder truck diesel engine fitted with mechanical distributor type fuel injection pump using biodiesel-methanol blend and neat karanji oil derived biodiesel under constant speed and varying load conditions without altering injection timings. The results of the experimental investigation indicate that the ignition delay for biodiesel-methanol blend is slightly higher as compared to neat biodiesel and the maximum increase is limited to 1 deg. CA. The maximum rate of pressure rise follow a trend of the ignition delay variations at these operating conditions. However, the peak cylinder pressure and peak energy release rate decreases for biodiesel-methanol blend. In general, a delayed start of combustion and lower combustion duration are observed for biodiesel-methanol blend compared to neat biodiesel fuel. A maximum thermal efficiency increase of 4.2% due to 10% methanol addition in the biodiesel is seen at 80% load and 16.67 s⁻¹ engine speed. The unburnt hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emissions are slightly higher for the methanol blend compared to neat biodiesel at low load conditions whereas at higher load conditions unburnt hydrocarbon emissions are comparable for the two fuels and carbon monoxide emissions decrease significantly for the methanol blend. A significant reduction in nitric oxide and smoke emissions are observed with the biodiesel-methanol blend investigated.     

Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) combustion: Implementation and effects on pollutants in direct injection diesel engines

Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) combustion is a combustion concept which offers simultaneous reductions in both NO_x and soot emissions from internal combustion engines. In light of increasingly stringent diesel emissions limits, research efforts have been invested into HCCI combustion as an alternative to conventional diesel combustion. This paper reviews the implementation of HCCI combustion in direct injection diesel engines using early, multiple and late injection strategies. Governing factors in HCCI operations such as injector characteristics, injection pressure, piston bowl geometry, compression ratio, intake charge temperature, exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) and supercharging or turbocharging are discussed in this review. The effects of design and operating parameters on HCCI diesel emissions, particularly NO_x and soot, are also investigated. For each of these parameters, the theories are discussed in conjunction with comparative evaluation of studies reported in the specialised literature.     

Determination of ecological efficiency in internal combustion engines: The use of biodiesel

This paper evaluates and quantifies the environmental impact from the use of some renewable fuels and fossils fuels in internal combustion engines. The following fuels are evaluated: gasoline blended with anhydrous ethyl alcohol (anhydrous ethanol), conventional diesel fuel, biodiesel in pure form and blended with diesel fuel, and natural gas. For the case of biodiesel, its complete life cycle and the closed carbon cycle (photosynthesis) were considered. The ecological efficiency concept depends on the environmental impact caused by CO₂, SO₂, NO_x and particulate material (PM) emissions. The exhaust gases from internal combustion engines, in the case of the gasoline (blended with alcohol), biodiesel and biodiesel blended with conventional diesel, are the less polluting; on the other hand, the most polluting are those related to conventional diesel. They can cause serious problems to the environment because of their dangerous components for the human, animal and vegetable life. The resultant pollution of each one of the mentioned fuels are analyzed, considering separately CO₂, SO₂, NO_x and particulate material (PM) emissions. As conclusion, it is possible to calculate an environmental factor that represents, qualitatively and quantitative, the emissions in internal combustion engines that are mostly used in urban transport. Biodiesel in pure form (B100) and blended with conventional diesel as fuel for engines pollute less than conventional diesel fuel. The ecological efficiency for pure biodiesel (B100) is 86.75%; for biodiesel blended with conventional diesel fuel (B20, 20% biodiesel and 80% diesel), it is 78.79%. Finally, the ecological efficiency for conventional diesel, when used in engines, is 77.34%; for gasoline, it is 82.52%, and for natural gas, it is 91.95%. All these figures considered a thermal efficiency of 30% for the internal combustion engine.     

Saving energy and reducing pollution by use of emulsified palm-biodiesel blends with bio-solution additive

Advances in biodiesel, emulsified diesel and artificial chemical additives are driven by consumer demand to save energy and reduce emissions from diesel engines. However, the effect of emulsified bio-solution/palm-biodiesel/diesel blends in diesel engines has not been assessed. Experimental results in this work demonstrate that the emulsified bio-solution/palm-biodiesel/diesel blends have the advantage in saving energy and reducing emissions of both polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and particulate matter (PM) from diesel engines. When comparing with P0 (premium diesel fuel as base fuel), E16P20 fuel (16 vol% bio-solution + 20 vol% palm-biodiesel + 64 vol% P0, an additional 1 vol% surfactant) saved 12.4% fuel consumption and reduced emissions of PM by 90.1%, total PAHs by 69.3%, and total BaP_eq (benzo[a]pyrene equivalent concentration) by 69.6%. Emulsified palm-biodiesel with bio-solution can be considered as a clean and alternative fuel.     

The effect of fuel injection on NOx emissions and undesirable combustion for hydrogen-fuelled piston engines

In order to determine the potential of direct cylinder injection for hydrogen-fuelled engines, an experimental study was performed with an ASTM-CFR engine. Both the standard Otto head and the standard diesel head were used. Measurements were made of power output, thermal efficiency, and oxides of nitrogen emissions. The feasibility was investigated of a scheme in which injection of gaseous hydrogen starts late in the compression stroke, ignition occurs as soon as possible thereafter, and combustion rate is determined by injection rate. This scheme prevents undesirable combustion phenomena such as pre-ignition, high rates of cylinder pressure rise, and high amplitude pressure waves in the cylinder. Furthermore, it obviates flashback into the carburetor. The potential of hydrogen as a low pollution fuel was investigated by operating the Otto head engine on both hydrogen and indolene, and by comparing the resulting NO_x, emissions. Hydrogen yielded very low NO_x emissions provided the fuel-air equivalence ratio was less than 0.5, and provided the hydrogen and air were well mixed. For equivalence ratios greater than 0.5, hydrogen yielded NO_x emissions that were higher than those obtained with indolene. The timing of hydrogen injection was found to have a significant effect on NO_x emissions. With an unthrottled air intake and hydrogen injection at equivalence ratios between 0.3 and 0.8, indicated mean effective pressures ranged from 0.3 to 0.78 MPa. Corresponding indicated thermal efficiencies ranged from 43 to 31%. By decreasing the equivalence ratio to 0.1, the IMEP could be reduced to 0.07 MPa, thus providing an indicated load range of more than a factor of 10.     

Fundamental phenomena affecting low temperature combustion and HCCI engines,high load limits and strategies for extending these limits

Low temperature combustion (LTC) engines are an emerging engine technology that offers an alternative to spark-ignited and diesel engines. One type of LTC engine, the homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engine, uses a well-mixed fuel–air charge like spark-ignited engines and relies on compression ignition like diesel engines. Similar to diesel engines, the use of high compression ratios and removal of the throttling valve in HCCI allow for high efficiency operation, thereby allowing lower CO₂ emissions per unit of work delivered by the engine. The use of a highly diluted well-mixed fuel–air charge allows for low emissions of nitrogen oxides, soot and particulate matters, and the use of oxidation catalysts can allow low emissions of unburned hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide. As a result, HCCI offers the ability to achieve high efficiencies comparable with diesel while also allowing clean emissions while using relatively inexpensive aftertreatment technologies.     

Biodiesel production from inedible animal tallow and an experimental investigation of its use as alternative fuel in a direct injection diesel engine

In this study, a substitute fuel for diesel engines was produced from inedible animal tallow and its usability was investigated as pure biodiesel and its blends with petroleum diesel fuel in a diesel engine. Tallow methyl ester as biodiesel fuel was prepared by base-catalyzed transesterification of the fat with methanol in the presence of NaOH as catalyst. Fuel properties of methyl ester, diesel fuel and blends of them (5%, 20% and 50% by volume) were determined. Viscosity and density of fatty acid methyl ester have been found to meet ASTM D6751 and EN 14214 specifications. Viscosity and density of tallow methyl esters are found to be very close to that of diesel. The calorific value of biodiesel is found to be slightly lower than that of diesel. An experimental study was carried out in order to investigate of its usability as alternative fuel of tallow methyl ester in a direct injection diesel engine. It was observed that the addition of biodiesel to the diesel fuel decreases the effective efficiency of engine and increases the specific fuel consumption. This is due to the lower heating value of biodiesel compared to diesel fuel. However, the effective engine power was comparable by biodiesel compared with diesel fuel. Emissions of carbon monoxide (CO), oxides of nitrogen (NO_x), sulphur dioxide (SO₂) and smoke opacity were reduced around 15%, 38.5%, 72.7% and 56.8%, respectively, in case of tallow methyl esters (B100) compared to diesel fuel. Besides, the lowest CO, NO_x emissions and the highest exhaust temperature were obtained for B20 among all other fuels. The reductions in exhaust emissions made tallow methyl esters and its blends, especially B20 a suitable alternative fuel for diesel and thus could help in controlling air pollution. Based on this study, animal tallow methyl esters and its blends with petroleum diesel fuel can be used a substitute for diesel in direct injection diesel engines without any engine modification.     

Unregulated emissions and health risk potential from biodiesel (KB5, KB20) and methanol blend (M5) fuelled transportation diesel engines

Diesel engine emissions consist of several harmful gaseous species, some of which are regulated by stringent emission norms, while many others are not. These unregulated emission species are responsible for adverse environmental impact and serious health hazards upon prolonged exposure. In this study, a four-cylinder, 1.4 l, compression ignition (CI) engine was used for characterization of unregulated gaseous exhaust emissions measured at 2500 rpm at varying engine loads (0, 25, 50, 75 and 100%). The test fuels investigated were Karanja biodiesel blended with diesel (KB5, KB20), methanol blended with diesel (M5) and baseline mineral diesel. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) emission analyzer was used to measure unregulated emission species and raw exhaust gas emission analyzer was used to measure regulated emission species in exhaust. Results show an increasing trend for some of the unregulated species from blends of biodiesel such as formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, ethanol, n-butane however methane reduced upon using these oxygenated fuel blends except methanol, compared to baseline mineral diesel. Nevertheless, no significant changes were observed for sulfur dioxide, iso-butane, n-octane, n-pentane, formic acid, benzene, acetylene and ethylene upon using biodiesel and methanol blends.     

Emission and performance estimation in hydrogen injection strategies on diesel engines

Recently, the increasing demand for energy requires the use of alternative fuels, especially in fossil fueled power systems. As a promising alternative fuel for next-generation diesel engines that utilize fossil fuel, hydrogen fuel is one step ahead due to its positive properties. In this study, the effects of hydrogen on the performance of a diesel engine have been numerically investigated with respect to different injection ratios and timings. The numerical results of the study for 25% load conditions on a single-cylinder, four-stroke diesel engine have been validated against experimental data taken from literature and good agreement has been observed for pressure results. Emission parameters such as NO_x, CO and performance parameters such as cylinder temperature, pressure, power, thermal efficiency and IMEP are presented comparatively.The results of numerical analyses show that the maximum pressure, temperature and heat release rate are observed with injection ratio of H15 and early injection timing (20° CA BTDC). Besides that, engine power, thermal efficiency and IMEP are greatly improved with increasing injection ratio and early injection timing. Although combustion chamber performance parameters improve with rising the hydrogen injection ratio, higher NO_x emissions have also been detected as a negative side effect. Furthermore, while early injection timing increases diesel engine performance, it also causes an increase in NO_x emissions. Therefore, precise determination of injection timing together with the optimum amount of hydrogen has revealed that it brings crucial improvement in engine performance and emissions.     

Analysis of nitrogen oxide emissions from modern vehicles using hydrogen or other natural and synthetic fuels in combustion chamber

The paper presents a calculated analysis of the equilibrium emission of nitrogen oxides on the exhaust of carburetor and diesel internal combustion engines. The temperature of fuel oxidation is assumed to be 1,400 °C while the pressure for carburetor and diesel engines is assumed to be 60 atm and 80 atm respectively. The studies have been carried out for natural and synthetic fuels such as hydrogen, ethanol, methanol, petroleum, diesel fuel and methane at the excess air coefficient corresponding to the fuel oxidation temperature of 1,400 °C. In the paper, the method for calculating the equilibrium composition based on the equilibrium constant and mass conservation equations has been applied. It is shown that with an increase in pressure from 1 atm to 60 atm for carburetor engines and up to 80 atm for diesel engines, the reaction of nitrogen dioxide formation may shift towards an increase in NO₂. The formation of NO may be not affected by the increase in pressure by virtue of the fact that the reaction proceeds without changes in the amount. It has been determined that NO is the major atmospheric pollutant. However, it would be advisable to use more extensively the fuels characterized by the lowest output of nitrogen dioxide (methane and methanol), since nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) related to the 2nd hazard class is appeared to be the most dangerous to humans. It has been revealed that the reduction in oxidation temperature using hydrogen as a fuel for electrochemical current generators may allow reducing nitrogen oxide emissions by more than an order of magnitude as compared to the best results for ICE.     

Large-eddy simulation of tri-fuel combustion: Diesel spray assisted ignition of methanol-hydrogen blends

Development of marine engines could largely benefit from the broader usage of methanol and hydrogen which are both potential energy carriers. Here, numerical results are presented on tri-fuel (TF) ignition using large-eddy simulation (LES) and finite-rate chemistry. Zero-dimensional (0D) and three-dimensional (3D) simulations for n-dodecane spray ignition of methanol/hydrogen blends are performed. 0D results reveal the beneficial role of hydrogen addition in facilitating methanol ignition. Based on LES, the following findings are reported: 1) Hydrogen promotes TF ignition, significantly for molar blending ratios β_X = [H₂]/([H₂]+[CH₃OH]) ≥0.8. 2) For β_X = 0, unfavorable heat generation in ambient methanol is noted. We provide evidence that excessive hydrogen enrichment (β_X ≥ 0.94) potentially avoids this behavior, consistent with 0D results. 3) Ignition delay time is advanced by 23–26% with shorter spray vapor penetrations (10–15%) through hydrogen mass blending ratios 0.25/0.5/1.0. 4) Last, adding hydrogen increases shares of lower and higher temperature chemistry modes to total heat release.     

Numerical model to analyze Nox reduction by ammonia injection in diesel-hydrogen engines

Nowadays, the even increasing stringent environmental legislations have promoted interest in alternative fuels for internal combustion engines. Particularly, hydrogen is becoming a promising fuel due to its high specific energy and low emissions production. Environmentally, the main disadvantage of hydrogen is the high level of nitrogen oxides (NO_x) which produces. In this regard, this work proposes a NO_x reduction method which consists on direct injection of ammonia (NH₃) into the combustion chamber. A numerical model validated with experimental measurements was carried out to analyze emissions and brake specific consumption in a commercial engine operating with diesel-hydrogen blends. Comparing to diesel operation, a 10% hydrogen content increases a 5.3% the peak pressure and 5.7% the maximum temperature. The CO₂, CO and HC emissions are reduced but NO_x emissions increase up to 18.3%. Several injection instants and ammonia flow rates were analyzed, obtaining more than 70% NO_x reductions with a negligible effect on other emissions and brake specific consumption. It was found that the start of ammonia injection is too critical since the maximum NO_x reduction takes place when the temperature is around 1200 K. The NO_x reduction increases with the ammonia flow rate but an excessive quantity of ammonia can lead to un-reacted ammonia slip to the exhaust.