Idle performance of a hydrogen/gasoline rotary engine at lean condition

Because of the limit of properties of gasoline and irregular design of chamber, the pure gasoline rotary engine generally encounters partial burning, increased noxious emissions or even misfire at lean conditions. This situation could be deteriorated at idle because of the high variation in the intake charge and low combustion temperature. Hydrogen addition is proved to remit the deterioration of performance of sparked-ignited (SI) engines at idle and lean conditions. This paper conducted an experiment on a modified rotary engine equipped with gasoline and hydrogen port-injection systems to explore the performance of a hydrogen–gasoline rotary engine (HGRE) at idle and lean conditions. An electronic management unit (EMU) was invented to manage spark and fuel injection. Excess air ratio (λ) and hydrogen volumetric fraction in the total intake (${\alpha }_{{\text{H}}_2}$) were also governed through the EMU. For this study, the HGRE was operating at idle and ${\alpha }_{{\text{H}}_2}$ was kept at 0% and 3%, respectively. For a specific ${\alpha }_{{\text{H}}_2}$, gasoline flow rate was reduced to make the HGRE run at desired λ. Results indicated that engine fluctuation and fuel energy flow rate were both decreased after hydrogen addition. Combustion duration was cut down and central heat release point was advanced after hydrogen addition. Peak chamber temperature (T_max), pressure and heat release were enhanced after hydrogen blending. HC, CO and CO₂ emissions were simultaneously reduced because of hydrogen enrichment. Specifically, at λ = 1.00, HC, CO and CO₂ emissions were respectively reduced from 42,411 to 26,316 ppm, 1.86 to 0.78% and 9.96 to 8.58% when 3% hydrogen was added.     

Improving the combustion performance of a gasoline rotary engine by hydrogen enrichment at various conditions

The combustion process within the cylinder directly influences the thermal efficiency and performance of the engines. As for the rotary engine, the long-narrow combustion chamber prevents the mixture from fully burning, which worsens the performance of the rotary engine. As a fuel with excellent properties, hydrogen can improve the combustion of the original engine. In this paper, improvements in combustion of a gasoline rotary engine by hydrogen supplement under different operating conditions were experimentally investigated. The experiment was conducted on a modified hydrogen-gasoline dual-fuel rotary engine equipped with an electronically-controlled fuel injection system. An electronic control module was specially made to command the fuel injection, excess air ratio and hydrogen volumetric fraction. Integral heat release fraction (IHRF) was employed to evaluate the combustion of the tested engine. The tested engine was first run at the idle speed of 2400 rpm and then operated at 4500 rpm to investigate the combustion of the hydrogen-blended gasoline rotary engine under different hydrogen volume fractions, excess air ratios and spark timings. The testing results demonstrated that the combustion of the gasoline rotary engine were all improved when the hydrogen was blended into the chamber under all tested conditions.     

Reducing the idle speed of a gasoline rotary engine with hydrogen addition

This paper presented an experimental study about the idle performance of a rotary engine fueled with hydrogen and gasoline blends. The idle speed was reduced from original 2400 to 2300 and 2200 rpm, and hydrogen energy percentage (β_H2) was varied from 0% to 35.0%. Test results showed that cyclic variation was raised with the decrease of idle speed whereas reduced with the increase of β_H2. Both decreasing idle speed and increasing β_H2 were effective on reducing engine fuel consumption. Total fuel energy flow rate was effectively dropped from 22.4 MJ/h under “2400 rpm and β_H2 = 0%” to 20.01 MJ/h under “2200 rpm and β_H2 = 35.0%”. Combustion duration was reduced through increasing β_H2. HC and CO emissions were dropped with the increase of β_H2, but increased after reducing idle speed. CO₂ emission was decreased after reducing idle speed and adding hydrogen.     

Reducing cyclic variation of a gasoline rotary engine by hydrogen addition under various operating conditions

In the present paper, the cyclic variations of a hydrogen-blended gasoline rotary engine operated under various conditions were experimentally investigated. The experiments were carried out on a modified hydrogen-gasoline dual-fuel rotary engine equipped with an electronically-controlled fuel injection system. An electronic control module was specially made to command the fuel injection, excess air ratio and hydrogen volumetric fraction. The tested engine was first run at idle condition with a speed of 2400 rpm and then operated at 4500 rpm to investigate the cyclic variations of a hydrogen-enriched gasoline rotary engine under different hydrogen volumetric percentages in the total intake, excess air ratios and spark timings. The experimental results demonstrated that the coefficient of variations (in peak pressure, engine speed, flame development period and flame propagation period) of the gasoline rotary engine were distinctly decreased with the increase of hydrogen volume fraction under all the tested conditions. In particular, at idle and stoichiometric conditions, the coefficient of variation in CA0-10 and CA10-90 were reduced from 9.25% to 5.01%, 15.40% to 8.70%, respectively.     

Enhancing idle performance of an n-butanol rotary engine by hydrogen enrichment

Rotary engine generally sustains poor fuel economy and emissions performance at idle condition. Hydrogen has excellent physicochemical properties that can serve as an enhancer to improve the performance of the original engine. In this paper, a modified rotary engine equipped with dual fuel (hydrogen and n-butanol) port injection system and electronic ignition module was developed to explore the influence of hydrogen supplement on enhancing the idle performance of n-butanol rotary engine. In this study, the engine was run at the idle and stoichiometric with the original spark timing. Hydrogen volume percentage in the total intake was gradually increased from 0% to 7.9% by adjusting the fuel flow rate of n-butanol. The experimental results indicated that the engine instability and fuel energy flow rate were both reduced by enlarging the hydrogen supplying level. Combustion periods were shortened thanks to the enrichment of hydrogen. The peak chamber temperature was heightened as hydrogen fraction increased due to the improved combustion. HC and CO emissions were severally reduced by 50.4% and 85.8% when the hydrogen volume percentage was raised from 0% to 7.9%. However, NOx emissions were mildly increased because of the raised chamber temperature by increasing hydrogen fraction.     

Efficiency comparison between hydrogen and gasoline,on a bi-fuel hydrogen/gasoline engine

The combustion characteristics of hydrogen compared to gasoline offer the potential of an increased engine efficiency, especially at part load. Here, results are presented of the brake thermal efficiency of a bi-fuel hydrogen/gasoline engine, at several engine speeds and loads. Results on hydrogen are compared to results on gasoline. Hydrogen offers the possibility of a more flexible load control strategy. Where possible, results are compared between the wide open throttle, lean burn strategy and the throttled stoichiometric strategy.     

Investigation on combustion and emissions characteristics of a hydrogen-blended n-butanol rotary engine

In this paper, a rotary engine equipped with an n-butanol and hydrogen port-injection system was developed to investigate the combustion and emissions characteristics of a hydrogen-blended n-butanol rotary engine at part load and stoichiometric conditions. A self-developed hybrid electronic control unit was adopted to adjust the injection durations of n-butanol and hydrogen. The rotary engine was run under the conditions of 4000 rpm, a manifold absolute pressure of 35 kPa and a fixed spark timing of 45 °CA before the top dead center during the whole testing operation. The hydrogen volumetric fraction in the total intake was varied from 0% to 6.30%. The test results manifested that the brake thermal efficiency and chamber temperature were simultaneously increased with hydrogen addition. The hydrogen supplement obviously shortened flame development and propagation periods. Both chamber pressure integral heat release fraction versus crank angle were increased when the hydrogen fraction was enhanced. HC emissions were reduced by 54.5% when hydrogen volume fraction was raised from 0% to 6.30%, CO and CO₂ emissions were also reduced after increasing hydrogen blending fraction. NOx emissions were mildly elevated due to the improved chamber temperature.     

An experimental study on ignition timing of hydrogen Wankel rotary engine

The hydrogen-fueled Wanke rotary engine is a promising power system that has both high power and eco-friendly properties. This work investigated the effect of ignition timing on a dual-spark plugs synchronous-ignition hydrogen-fueled Wankel rotary engine under low speed, part load and lean combustion. The results show that with delaying the ignition timing, CA0-10 is shortened first and then lengthened and CA10-90 is consistently shortened. When the CA50 is located between 35 and 40°CA ATDC, the maximum brake torque can be realized. Besides, the selection of ignition timing needs to consider the “trade-off” relationship between the combustion phase and corresponding in-cylinder pressure. The maximum brake torque ignition timing is between 5 and 10°CA ATDC. And there is also a “trade-off” relationship between stability and thermal load when ignition timing is selected. In addition, HC and NO emissions will not become the problem limiting the power performance of hydrogen-fueled Wankel rotary engine under this operating condition.     

Research on the hydrogen injection strategy of a turbulent jet ignition (TJI) rotary engine fueled with natural gas/hydrogen blends

Natural gas/hydrogen blends (NGHB) fuel is considered as one of the ideal alternative fuels for the rotary engine (RE), which can effectively reduce the carbon emissions of RE. Additionally, applying turbulent jet ignition (TJI) mode to RE can significantly increase the combustion rate. The purpose of this study is to numerically investigate the influence of hydrogen injection position (HIP) and hydrogen injection timing (HIT) on the in-cylinder mixture formation, flame propagation and NOx emission of a TJI hydrogen direct injection plus natural gas port injection RE. Therefore, in this paper, a test bench and a 3D dynamic simulation model of the turbulent jet ignition rotary engine (TJI-RE) fueled with NGHB were respectively established. Moreover, the reliability of the 3D simulation model was verified by experimental data. Furthermore, based on the established 3D model, the fuel distribution and flame propagation in the cylinder under different HIPs and HITs were calculated. The results indicated that the HIP and HIT could change the hydrogen distribution by altering the impact position, impact angle, and the strength of vortexes in the cylinder. To improve the flame propagation speed, more hydrogen should be distributed in the pre-chamber. Additionally, a higher concentration of hydrogen in the cylinder should be maintained above the jet orifice. This was not only conducive to the rapid formation of the initial fire core in the pre-chamber, but also significantly improved the combustion rate of the in-cylinder mixture. Compared with other hydrogen injection strategies, the hydrogen injection strategy by using the HIP at the middle of the cylinder block and the HIT of 190^oCA(BTDC) could obtained the highest peak value of in-cylinder pressure and the highest NOx emission.     

Idle performance of a hydrogen rotary engine at different excess air ratios

Rotary engine has flat chamber and longs for fuel with high flame speed and small quenching distance. Hydrogen has many excellent characteristics that are suitable for the rotary engine. In this paper, the performance of a rotary engine fueled with pure hydrogen at different excess air ratios was experimentally investigated. The investigation was carried out on a single-rotor hydrogen-fueled rotary engine equipped with port fuel injection system. An online electronic control module was used to govern the hydrogen injection duration and excess air ratio. In this study, the engine was operating at the idle speed of 3000 rpm and different excess air ratios varied from 0.993 to 1.283. The test results demonstrated that the fuel energy flow rate of the hydrogen rotary engine and engine stability were reduced with the increase of excess air ratio. When the excess air ratio increased from 0.993 to 1.283, the hydrogen energy flow rate was decreased from 14.91 to 11.55 MJ/h. Both the flame development and propagation periods were increased with excess air ratio. CO emission was negligible, but HC, CO₂ and NOx emissions were still detected due to the evaporation and possible burning of the lubrication-used gasoline, and oxidation reaction of nitrogen of the intake air.     

Recent studies on hydrogen usage in Wankel SI engine

In this study, investigations on the hydrogen usage in spark ignition (SI) rotary engines are reviewed to assess trend researches. Many scientists conducted various studies to investigate performance, emission and combustion characteristics of hydrogen technology. The studies generally focused on their usage as an additive fuel. It can be seen that hydrogen usage in SI engine are very promising for their lower emissions, more efficient combustion, and higher power output. Nevertheless, hydrogen utilization may cause combustion problems such as back fire, auto and pre-ignition. Moreover, because of their small molecular structure hydrogen storage is another issue. Especially, hydrogen blending is a particular solution and this makes hydrogen gas tolerable for storage and transporting problem. In the recent studies, hydrogen usage in rotary engine is found well suited and feasible by scientists. Combustion difficulties caused by long and narrow shaped combustion chamber and long quenching distance of this type of engine can be solved by hydrogen addition. However, absence of a light, safe and low cost storage technology are still bottlenecks for their usage and waiting for solution.     

An experimental investigation of hydrogen-enriched gasoline in a Wankel rotary engine

The Wankel rotary engine is a potential alternative to the reciprocating engine in hybrid applications because of its favorable energy to weight ratio. In this study, a Wankel rotary engine was modified to run on a hydrogen–gasoline blend. Hydrogen enrichment improved the performance of a lean-burn spark-ignition rotary engine operating at high speed and wide open throttle conditions with the original ignition timing, using 0%, %2, 4%, 5%, 7%, and 10% hydrogen energy fractions at the intake. The experimental results showed that adding hydrogen to gasoline in the engine improved the thermal efficiency and the power output. Hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emissions were reduced while nitrogen oxide emissions increased with the increase of hydrogen fraction.     

Analysis of the particulate emissions and combustion performance of a direct injection spark ignition engine using hydrogen and gasoline mixtures

Three different fractions (2%, 5%, and 10% of stoichiometric, or 2.38%, 5.92%, and 11.73% by energy fraction) of hydrogen were aspirated into a gasoline direct injection engine under two different load conditions. The base fuel was 65% iso-octane, and 35% toluene by volume fraction. Ignition sweeps were conducted for each operation point. The pressure traces were recorded for further analysis, and the particulate emission size distributions were measured using a Cambustion DMS500. The results indicated a more stable and faster combustion as more hydrogen was blended. Meanwhile, a substantial reduction in particulate emissions was found at the low load condition (more than 95% reduction either in terms of number concentration or mass concentration when blending 10% hydrogen). Some variation in the results occurred at the high load condition, but the particulate emissions were reduced in most cases, especially for nucleation mode particulate matter. Retarding the ignition timing generally reduced the particulate emissions. An engine model was constructed using the Ricardo WAVE package to assist in understanding the data. The simulation reported a higher residual gas fraction at low load, which explained the higher level of cycle-by-cycle variation at the low load.     

Effect of hydrogen nanobubble addition on combustion characteristics of gasoline engine

Hydrogen is an attractive energy source for improving gasoline engine performance. In this paper, a new hydrogen nanobubble gasoline blend is introduced, and the influence of hydrogen nanobubble on the combustion characteristics of a gasoline engine is experimentally investigated. The test was performed at a constant engine speed of 2000 rpm, and engine load of 40, 60, and 80%. The air-to-fuel equivalence ratio (λ) was adjusted to the stoichiometric (λ = 1), for both gasoline, and the hydrogen nanobubble gasoline blend. The results show that the mean diameter and concentration of hydrogen nanobubble in the gasoline blend are 149 nm and about 11.35 × 10⁸ particles/ml, respectively. The engine test results show that the power of a gasoline engine with hydrogen nanobubble gasoline blend was improved to 4.0% (27.00 kW), in comparison with conventional gasoline (25.96 kW), at the engine load of 40%. Also, the brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) was improved, from 291.10 g/kWh for the conventional gasoline, to 269.48 g/kWh for the hydrogen nanobubble gasoline blend, at the engine load of 40%.     

Effect of aspect ratio on the performance characteristics of free piston linear generator engine fueled by hydrogen

Free-piston linear generator (FPLG) engines currently gained great attention due to their capability to operate with variable fuel and compression ratio. This paper presents an experimental study on the effect of aspect ratio on the performance characteristics of the FPLG engine fueled by hydrogen. Three aspect ratios (i.e. 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0) are used to identify the engine combustion and performance parameters. The injection position is fixed in the middle of the stroke, while the equivalence ratio is kept at 1.0. The results indicate that the aspect ratio 2.0 produces the highest pressure, heat release, and shortest combustion duration. Whereas the aspect ratio 1.0 produces higher combustion efficiency and operating frequency. The piston speed decreases with the decrease in aspect ratio, which gives a negative effect on the indicated mean effective pressure and power output of the PFLG. Overall, the aspect ratio has a significant influence on engine performance characteristics.     

Effect of addition of hydrogen and exhaust gas recirculation on characteristics of hydrogen gasoline engine

The effects of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) on combustion and emissions under different hydrogen ratios were studied based on an engine with a gasoline intake port injection and hydrogen direct injection. The peak cylinder pressure increases by 9.8% in the presence of a small amount of hydrogen. The heat release from combustion is more concentrated, and the engine torque can increase by 11% with a small amount of hydrogen addition. Nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions can be reduced by EGR dilution. Hydrogen addition offsets the blocking effect of EGR on combustion partially, therefore, hydrogen addition permits a higher original engine EGR rate, and yields a larger throttle opening, which improves the mechanical efficiency and decreases NOx emissions by 54.8% compared with the original engine. The effects of EGR on carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrocarbon (HC) emissions are not obvious and CO and HC emissions can be reduced sharply with hydrogen addition. CO, HC, and NOx emissions can be controlled at a lower level, engine output torque can be increased, and fuel consumption can be reduced significantly with the co-control of hydrogen addition and EGR in a hydrogen gasoline engine.     

Influence of high compression ratio and hydrogen addition on the performance and emissions of a lean burn spark ignition engine fueled by ethanol-gasoline

This paper investigates the effect of ethanol-gasoline-hydrogen in a lean-burn SI engine with different proportions such as E5, E10, E20, E30, and E40 at compression ratio 10.5:1. The results infer that the E10 blend is the optimized one. Further, E10 mixture investigates for 5% and 10% hydrogen addition on energy basis. Overall, this study establishes that the addition of ethanol enhances brake power by 9% and brake thermal efficiency by about 7%. Hydrogen enrichment to E10 mixture shows a significant enhancement in brake power and brake thermal efficiency at a lower equivalence ratio. Further, it observes that the lean limit had extended to a 0.47 equivalence ratio compared to a 0.5 equivalence ratio with the E10, and 0.54 with pure gasoline. The addition of hydrogen to E10, improves the combustion process and heat release rate while it reduces cycle-by-cycle variations and hydrocarbon emissions.     

A comparative study on effects of homogeneous or stratified hydrogen on combustion and emissions of a gasoline/hydrogen SI engine

A comparative study on effects of homogeneous or stratified hydrogen on combustion and emissions was presented for a gasoline/hydrogen SI engine. Three kinds of injection modes (gasoline, gasoline plus homogeneous hydrogen and gasoline plus stratified hydrogen) and five excess air ratios were applied at low speed and low load on a dual fuel SI engine with hydrogen direct injection (HDI) and gasoline port injection. The results showed that, with the increase of excess air ratio, the brake thermal efficiency increases firstly then decreases and reaches the highest when the excess air ratio is 1.1. In comparison with pure gasoline, hydrogen addition can make the ignition stable and speed up combustion rate to improve the brake thermal efficiency especially under lean burn condition. Furthermore, it can reduce the CO and HC emissions because of more complete combustion, but produce more NO_X emissions due to the higher combustion temperature. Since, in the gasoline plus stratified hydrogen mode, the hydrogen concentration near the sparking plug is denser than that of homogeneous hydrogen, the ignition is more stable and faster, which further speed up the combustion rate and improve the brake thermal efficiency. In the gasoline plus stratified hydrogen mode, the brake thermal efficiency increases by 0.55%, the flame development duration decreases by 1.0°CA, rapid combustion duration decreases by 1.3°CA and the coefficient of variation (COV) decreases by 9.8% on average than that of homogeneous hydrogen. However, in the gasoline plus stratified hydrogen mode, due to the denser hydrogen concentration near the sparking plug and leaner hydrogen concentration near the wall, the combustion temperature and the wall quenching distance increase, which make the NO_X and HC emissions increase by 14.3% and 12.8% on average than that of homogeneous hydrogen.     

Performance and combustion characteristic of CI engine fueled with hydrogen enriched diesel

The combustion of hydrogen–diesel blend fuel was investigated under simulated direct injection (DI) diesel engine conditions. The investigation presented in this paper concerns numerical analysis of neat diesel combustion mode and hydrogen enriched diesel combustion in a compression ignition (CI) engine. The parameters varied in this simulation included: H₂/diesel blend fuel ratio, engine speed, and air/fuel ratio. The study on the simultaneous combustion of hydrogen and diesel fuel was conducted with various hydrogen doses in the range from 0.05% to 50% (by volume) for different engine speed from 1000 – 4000 rpm and air/fuel ratios (A/F) varies from 10 – 80. The results show that, applying hydrogen as an extra fuel, which can be added to diesel fuel in the (CI) engine results in improved engine performance and reduce emissions compared to the case of neat diesel operation because this measure approaches the combustion process to constant volume. Moreover, small amounts of hydrogen when added to a diesel engine shorten the diesel ignition lag and, in this way, decrease the rate of pressure rise which provides better conditions for soft run of the engine. Comparative results are given for various hydrogen/diesel ratio, engine speeds and loads for conventional Diesel and dual fuel operation, revealing the effect of dual fuel combustion on engine performance and exhaust emissions.     

Combustion,performance and emissions of ULSD,PME and B50 fueled multi-cylinder diesel engine with naturally aspirated hydrogen

An experimental study was conducted on a diesel engine fueled with ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD), palm methyl ester (PME), a blended fuel containing 50% by volume each of the ULSD and PME, and naturally aspirated hydrogen, at an engine speed of 1800 rev min⁻¹ under five loads. Hydrogen was added to provide 10% and 20% of the total fuel energy. The following results are obtained with hydrogen addition. There is little change in peak in-cylinder pressure and peak heat release rate. The influence on fuel consumption and brake thermal efficiency is engine load and fuel dependent; being negative for the three liquid fuels at low engine loads but positive for ULSD and B50 and negligible for PME at medium-to-high loads. CO and CO₂ emissions decrease. HC decreases at medium-to-high loads, but increases at low loads. NO_x emission increases for PME only but NO₂ increases for the three liquid fuels. Smoke opacity, particle mass and number concentrations are all reduced for the three liquid fuels.