Effect of hydrogen addition using on-board alkaline electrolyser on SI engine emissions and combustion

In this study, an electrolyser was used to supply hydrogen to the SI engine. Firstly, the appropriate operation point for the electrolyser was determined by adjusting the amount of KOH in the electrolyte to 5%, 10%, 20% and 30% by mass, and applying 12 V, 16 V, 20 V, 24 V and 28 V voltages. Tests were first carried out with the gasoline without the use of an electrolyser, followed by operating the electrolyser at the appropriate point and sending obtained H₂ and O₂ to the engine in addition to the gasoline. The SI engine was operated between 2500 rpm and 3500 rpm engine speeds with and without hydrogen addition. Cylinder pressure, the amount of gasoline, H₂ and O₂ consumed by the engine and the emission data were collected from the test system at the aforementioned engine speeds. Furthermore, indicated engine torque, indicated specific energy consumption, specific emissions and HRR values were calculated. According to the results obtained, improvement in ISEC values was observed, and CO and THC values were improved by up to 21.3% and 86.1% respectively. Even though the dramatic increase in NO_x emissions cannot be averted, they can be controlled by equipment such as EGR three-way catalytic converter.     

Comparison of the performance of a spark-ignited gasoline engine blended with hydrogen and hydrogen–oxygen mixtures

This paper compared the effects of hydrogen and hydrogen–oxygen blends (hydroxygen) additions on the performance of a gasoline engine at 1400 rpm and a manifolds absolute pressure of 61.5 kPa. The tests were carried out on a 1.6 L gasoline engine equipped with a hydrogen and oxygen injection system. A hybrid electronic control unit was applied to adjust the hydrogen and hydroxygen volume fractions in the intake increasing from 0% to about 3% and keep the hydrogen-to-oxygen mole ratio at 2:1 in hydroxygen tests. For each testing condition, the gasoline flow rate was adjusted to maintain the mixture global excess air ratio at 1.00. The test results confirmed that engine fuel energy flow rate was decreased after hydrogen addition but increased with hydroxygen blending. When hydrogen or hydroxygen volume fraction in the intake was lower than 2%, the hydroxygen-blended gasoline engine produced a higher thermal efficiency than the hydrogen-blended gasoline engine. Both the additions of hydrogen and hydroxygen help reduce flame development and propagation periods of the gasoline engine. HC emissions were reduced whereas NOx emissions were raised with the increase of hydrogen and hydroxygen addition levels. CO was slightly increased after hydrogen blending, but reduced with hydroxygen addition.     

Effect of hydrogen addition on the idle performance of a spark ignited gasoline engine at stoichiometric condition

With regard to the improvement of efficiency, combustion stability, and emissions in a gasoline engine at idle condition, an experimental study aimed at improving engine idle performance through hydrogen addition was carried out on a 4-cylinder gasoline-fueled spark ignited (SI) engine. The engine was modified to be fueled with the mixture of gasoline and hydrogen injected into the intake ports simultaneously. A self-developed electronic control unit (DECU) was dedicatedly used to control the injection timings and injection durations of gasoline and hydrogen. Other parameters, such as spark timing and idle valve opening, were controlled by the original engine electronic control unit (OECU). Various hydrogen enrichment levels were selected to investigate the effect of hydrogen addition on engine speed fluctuation, thermal efficiency, combustion characteristics, cyclic variation and emissions under idle and stoichiometric conditions. The experimental results showed that thermal efficiency, combustion performance, NO_x emissions are improved with the increase of hydrogen addition level. The HC and CO emissions first decrease with the increasing hydrogen enrichment level, but when hydrogen energy fraction exceeds 14.44%, it begins to increase again at idle and stoichiometric conditions.     

Improving the performance of a gasoline engine with the addition of hydrogen-oxygen mixtures

The limited fossil fuel reserves and severe environmental pollution have pushed studies on improving the engine performance. This paper investigated the effect of hydrogen-oxygen blends (hydroxygen) addition on the performance of a spark-ignited (SI) gasoline engine. The test was performed on a modified SI engine equipped with a hydrogen and oxygen injection system. A hybrid electronic control unit was adopted to govern the opening and closing of hydrogen, oxygen and gasoline injectors. The standard hydroxygen with a fixed hydrogen-to-oxygen mole fraction of 2:1 was applied in the experiments. Three standard hydroxygen volume fractions in the total intake gas of 0%, 2% and 4% were adopted. For a given hydroxygen blending level, the gasoline injection duration was adjusted to enable the excess air ratio of the fuel-air mixtures to increase from 1.00 to the engine lean burn limit. Besides, to compare the effects of hydroxygen and hydrogen additions on the performance of a gasoline engine, a hydrogen-enriched gasoline engine was also run at the same testing conditions. The test results showed that the hydroxygen-blended gasoline engine produced higher thermal efficiency and brake mean effective pressure than both of the original and hydrogen-blended gasoline engines at lean conditions. The engine cyclic variation was eased and the engine lean burn limit was extended after the standard hydroxygen addition. The standard hydroxygen enrichment contributed to the decreased HC and CO emissions. CO from the standard hydroxygen-enriched gasoline engine is also lower than that from the hydrogen-enriched gasoline engine. But NOx emissions were increased after the hydroxygen addition.     

火花点火式发动机未燃碳氢形成机理及影响因素的研究

详细阐述了火花点火苣了缸内未燃碳氢排放的主要生成源和形成机理，并测量了不同运转参数火花点火式发动机的碳氢排放。     

Effects of hydrogen addition and cylinder cutoff on combustion and emissions performance of a spark-ignited gasoline engine under a low operating condition

Because of the low combustion temperature and high throttling loss, SI (spark-ignited) engines always encounter dropped performance at low load conditions. This paper experimentally investigated the co-effect of cylinder cutoff and hydrogen addition on improving the performance of a gasoline-fueled SI engine. The experiment was conducted on a modified four-cylinder SI engine equipped with an electronically controlled hydrogen injection system and a hybrid electronic control unit. The engine was run at 1400 rpm, 34.5 Nm and two cylinder cutoff modes in which one cylinder and two cylinders were closed, respectively. For each cylinder closing strategy, the hydrogen energy fraction in the total fuel (βH₂)$\left({\beta }_{{\text{H}}_2}\right)$ was increased from 0% to approximately 20%. The test results demonstrated that engine indicated thermal efficiency was effectively improved after cylinder cutoff and hydrogen addition, which rose from 34.6% of the original engine to 40.34% of the engine operating at two-cylinder cutoff mode and βH₂=20.41%${\beta }_{{\text{H}}_2}=20.41\%$. Flame development and propagation periods were shortened with the increase of the number of closed cylinders and hydrogen blending ratio. The total cooling loss for all working cylinders, and tailpipe HC (hydrocarbons), CO (carbon monoxide) and CO₂ (carbon dioxide) emissions were reduced whereas tailpipe NO_x (nitrogen oxide) emissions were increased after hydrogen addition and cylinder closing.     

Effect of hydrogen addition on combustion and emissions performance of a spark ignition gasoline engine at lean conditions

Hydrogen has many excellent combustion properties that can be used for improving combustion and emissions performance of gasoline-fueled spark ignition (SI) engines. In this paper, an experimental study was carried out on a four-cylinder 1.6 L engine to explore the effect of hydrogen addition on enhancing the engine lean operating performance. The engine was modified to realize hydrogen port injection by installing four hydrogen injectors in the intake manifolds. The injection timings and durations of hydrogen and gasoline were governed by a self-developed electronic control unit (DECU) according to the commands from a calibration computer. The engine was run at 1400 rpm, a manifold absolute pressure (MAP) of 61.5 kPa and various excess air ratios. Two hydrogen volume fractions in the total intake of 3% and 6% were applied to check the effect of hydrogen addition fraction on engine combustion. The test results showed that brake thermal efficiency was improved and kept roughly constant in a wide range of excess air ratio after hydrogen addition, the maximum brake thermal efficiency was increased from 26.37% of the original engine to 31.56% of the engine with a 6% hydrogen blending level. However, brake mean effective pressure (Bmep) was decreased by hydrogen addition at stoichiometric conditions, but when the engine was further leaned out Bmep increased with the increase of hydrogen addition fraction. The flame development and propagation durations, cyclic variation, HC and CO₂ emissions were reduced with hydrogen addition. When excess air ratio was approaching stoichiometric conditions, CO emission tended to increase with the addition of hydrogen. However, when the engine was gradually leaned out, CO emission from the hydrogen-enriched engine was lower than the original one. NO_x emissions increased with the increase of hydrogen addition due to the raised cylinder temperature.     

Starting a spark-ignited engine with the gasoline-hydrogen mixture

Because of the increased fuel-film effect and dropped combustion temperature, spark-ignited (SI) gasoline engines always expel large amounts of HC and CO emissions during the cold start period. This paper experimentally investigated the effect of hydrogen addition on improving the cold start performance of a gasoline engine. The test was carried out on a 1.6-L, four-cylinder, SI engine equipped with an electronically controlled hydrogen injection system. A hybrid electronic control unit (HECU) was applied to control the opening and closing of hydrogen and gasoline injectors. Under the same environmental condition, the engine was started with the pure gasoline and gasoline-hydrogen mixture, respectively. After the addition of hydrogen, gasoline injection duration was adjusted to ensure the engine to be started successfully. All cold start experiments were performed at the same ambient, coolant and oil temperatures of 17 °C. The test results showed that cylinder and indicated mean effective pressures in the first cycle were effectively improved with the increase of hydrogen addition fraction. Engine speed in the first 20 start cycles increased with hydrogen blending ratio. However, in later cycles, engine speed varied only a little with and without hydrogen addition due to the adoption of close loop control on engine speed. Because of the low ignition energy and high flame speed of hydrogen, both flame development and propagation durations were shortened after hydrogen addition. HC and CO emissions were dropped markedly after hydrogen addition due to the enhanced combustion process. When the hydrogen flow rate increased from 0 to 2.5 and 4.3 L/min, the instantaneous peak HC emissions were sharply reduced from 57083 to 17850 and 15738 ppm, respectively. NOx emissions were increased in the first 5 s and then reduced later after hydrogen addition.     

Examination of the effect of combustion chamber geometry and mixing ratio on engine performance and emissions in a hydrogen-diesel dual-fuel compression-ignition engine

The fact that fossil fuels, which supply a large amount of the energy need, are limited in the world and can be only found in certain regions, have led humankind to seek alternatives. In addition, the use of fossil fuels generates wastes detrimental to humans and nature, which has led this search to alternative, clean and renewable energy sources. The use of hydrogen, which is a clean energy source, in internal combustion engines is very important in terms of reducing emission values as well as providing an alternative to petroleum-derived fuels. This study presents a literature review on the effect of the hydrogen ratio and combustion chamber geometry on the engine performance and emissions in a compression-ignition engine operating in the hydrogen diesel bi-fuel mode. As a result of the study, it was concluded that the hydrogen energy ratio should be between 5 and 20% and the combustion chamber should be designed by considering the combustion characteristics. The main purpose of the study is to highlight the functionality of the use of hydrogen in dual fuel mode in compression ignition engines and to be a resource for researchers who will work on this subject.     

丁醇作为车用替代燃料的研究进展

首先简述了丁醇的制取方法,作为车用替代燃料的优势以及丁醇对车用密封橡胶的相容性影响;重点阐述了丁醇作为点燃式和压燃式发动机燃料的国内外研究现状,指出了丁醇作为替代或添加燃料对传统和先进燃烧模式的燃烧过程和排放水平的影响;最后,指出了丁醇作为车用替代燃料的未来发展方向。     

发动机燃烧室狭缝间隙处未燃碳氢生成的研究

在利用激光干涉法测量定容燃烧弹燃烧室狭缝间隙内未燃混合气热力状态参数的基础上，分析了不同狭缝间隙宽度下狭缝内未燃混合气双壁激冷厚度的变化规律，定量地计算了狭缝容积内未燃碳氢的生成量，这表明，狭缝间隙处未燃混合气的双壁激冷厚度不仅与狭缝宽度有关，也与未燃混合气在狭缝内所处未燃混合气的双壁激冷厚度不仅与狭缝宽度有关，也与未燃混合气在狭缝内所处的位置有关。     

An investigation on effect of in-cylinder swirl flow on performance,combustion and cyclic variations in hydrogen fuelled spark ignition engine

This study investigates how engine performance, cyclic variations and combustion parameters are affected by swirling flow in hydrogen spark ignition (SI) engine. Swirling flow was produced in the cylinder during the induction stroke by intake port having entry angles of 0°, 10°, 20° and 30°. In addition, tumble angle of 8° was positioned for given entry angles. The engine was operated under lean mixture (ϕ = 0.6) conditions and engine speeds of 1400, 1600 and 1800 rpm. As a result, it was found that swirling flow enhances performance of hydrogen SI engine around 3% when operating engine with entry angle of 20°. The combustion duration and the cyclic variation in hydrogen SI engine can be reduced with optimum swirling flow. The stability of combustion in hydrogen SI engine is mainly dependent on cyclic variations in the flame initiation period and the cyclic variations in this period can be reduced with controlled swirling flow.     

一种计算火焰与燃烧室之间几何关系的新模型

建立了一种用于计算火焰与各种几何形状的点燃式发动机燃烧室之间相互关系的计算模型，应用在发动机准维模型中能很好地满足火焰形状椭球化、火焰中心飘移等计算要求。能计算火焰前锋面积，已、未燃区体积和已、未燃区与燃烧室之间的传热面积等参数。通过有效性讨论，认为模型具有较好的精确性和适应性。     

A review on the technical adaptations for internal combustion engines to operate with gas/hydrogen mixtures

The use of the hydrogen as fuel in the internal combustion engine represents an alternative use to replace the hydrocarbons fuels, which produce during the combustion reaction a pollutes gases. The hydrogen is the most abundant material in the universe and during its combustion with air only produces nitrous oxides (NO_x) gas, which can collect and avoid their emission to the atmosphere. In this paper we can present the most significant advances and developments made on the technical adaptations in the internal combustion engines which operate with mixtures of gas/hydrogen, doing more emphasis in the fuel injection and cooling systems. To understand such technical adaptations, it is necessary to know the chemical and physical characteristics of the hydrogen, and the processes relate with the chemical reaction between air and hydrogen, from a point of view of the thermo-chemistry and the chemical kinetics, as well as the ratios of the mixtures in the combustion process. Also, it mentions the advantages and disadvantages of the integration of hydrogen as a fuel, such as the pre-ignition, spontaneous ignition, knocking and backfire, also the advances in the research to avoid these phenomena during the combustion. Finally, it describes the best conditions of the ratio-mixtures in the internal combustion engines when they are fed with hydrogen. Also, it describes the perspectives and the futures fields on the future investigation.     

压缩比对直喷天然气发动机燃烧与排放特性的影响

在缸内直喷火花点火天然气发动机上开展了压缩比为8、10、12和14的燃烧和排放特性研究。研究结果表明,压缩比对发动机性能、燃烧和排放有较大影响。压缩比增加,发动机充量系数增加,燃烧速率加快,热效率提高。缸内最高燃烧压力、最高燃气平均温度和最大压力升高率等燃烧参数随压缩比的增加而增加;HC和CO排放随压缩比的增加而降低,NOx随压缩比的增加而增加。压缩比过高会导致HC排放的增加,当压缩比大于12时,发动机在中高负荷出现轻微爆燃现象,NOx排放明显增加。综合考虑直喷式天然气发动机的动力性、经济性和排放性能,认为发动机的最佳压缩比设置在12比较合理。     

Experimental investigations on the use of preheated animal fat as fuel in a compression ignition engine

The effect of fuel inlet temperature on performance, emission and combustion characteristics of a diesel engine is evaluated. A single cylinder direct injection diesel engine developing a power output of 2.8 kW at 1500 rev/min is tested using preheated animal fat as fuel. Experiments are conducted at the fuel inlet temperatures of 30, 40, 50, 60 and 70 °C. Animal fat at low temperature results in higher ignition delay and combustion duration than diesel. Preheated animal fat shows reduced ignition delay and combustion duration. Peak pressure and rate of pressure rise are found as high with animal fat at high fuel inlet temperatures. Heat release pattern shows reduced premixed combustion phase with animal fat as compared to neat diesel at normal temperature. Preheating improves the premixed combustion rate. At low temperature, animal fat results in lower smoke emissions than diesel. The maximum smoke density is K=6.5 m⁻¹ with diesel and K=3.6 m⁻¹ with animal fat at 30 °C. Preheated animal fat further reduces smoke levels at all temperatures. The smoke level is reduced up to K=1.7 m⁻¹ with preheated animal fat at the temperature of 70 °C. Hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emissions are higher with animal fat at low temperature as compared to diesel. Fuel Preheating reduces these emissions. NO emission is found as low with animal fat at low temperature. Fuel preheating results in increased NO emission. However, the level is still lower than diesel even at high temperature (i.e. 70 °C). On the whole it is concluded that preheated animal fat can be used in diesel engines with reduced smoke, hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emissions with no major detoriation in engine performance.     

研究内燃机燃烧过程的快速压缩膨胀装置

本文在扼要介绍国外几种典型的快速压缩(膨胀)装置之后,着重阐述作者研制的国内首台气压驱动式快速压缩膨胀装置的设计及各重要组成部件的结构特点。最后报告了在此装置上完成的参数调整试验、汽油机新型分层充气试验以及燃烧水煤浆与柴油的对比试验。这些试验表明该装置的设计是成功的。