Dilution of fresh charge for reducing combustion knock in the internal combustion engine fueled with hydrogen rich gases

Hydrogen as potential engine fuel can appear either as a single gas or as a component in processing gases e.g. syngas, hythane and coke gas. The research in this paper investigates impact of combustible mixture dilution on abnormal combustion called knock in the reciprocating internal combustion engine. Dilution can be realized by either exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) or making the combustible mixture lean. Novelty of this work is a new metrics defined as dilution ratio, which makes it possible to compare knock reduction caused by either EGR or leaning the air-gas mixture to the engine. Two gaseous fuels were investigated: hydrogen and coke gas with 65% hydrogen. Conclusion based on the proposed dilution ratio states that, for hydrogen as the fuel, applying EGR is more effective in knock reduction than making the mixture lean. It was found that EGR strategy in the hydrogen fueled engine can reduce knock intensity from initial 40 kPa–20 kPa, whereas by leaning the mixture to the same dilution ratio, the knock is reduced to approximately 28 kPa. With respect to coke gas, it is proved that both EGR and lean mixtures influence on knock reduction at the same strength.     

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

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

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

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

稀燃及废气再循环提高增压汽油机热效率的对比研究

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

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

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

直喷汽油机采用不同缸内稀释技术的性能研究

针对一款4缸1.5L废气涡轮增压缸内直喷汽油(GDI)发动机,进行了废气再循环(EGR)缸内稀释燃烧技术、空气缸内稀释燃烧技术与原机燃烧的经济性、排放特性对比试验研究。研究了不同缸内稀释技术对发动机性能和排放影响的变动规律,并对比分析了相同稀释率下、采用不同稀释技术时发动机的性能变化。结果表明:空气稀释率在49.5%时比油耗相比原机下降6.2%,而EGR稀释率在20.5%时经济性改善4.2%,在相同稀释率时,EGR稀释可采用更为提前的点火角实现更优的燃烧相位,但空气稀释所带来的多变指数提升使其经济性优于EGR稀释,且发动机燃烧系统对空气稀释程度具有更强的容忍性;NOx排放在空气稀释率为11.0%时达到峰值水平,随后随着稀释率的提高不断下降,而EGR稀释的NOx排放随着稀释率的提高持续大幅下降;空气稀释的CO排放水平远低于原机,EGR稀释的CO排放随着稀释率的增加而略有下降;对于HC排放,空气稀释的排放量低于EGR稀释,而当空气稀释率由49.5%增加为68.0%时,HC排放出现较大幅度上升。     

Experimental study on combustion and emissions performance of a hybrid hydrogen–gasoline engine at lean burn limits

Lean combustion is an effective way for improving the spark-ignited (SI) engine performance. Unfortunately, due to the narrow flammability of gasoline, the pure gasoline-fueled engines sometimes suffer partial burning or misfire at very lean conditions. Hydrogen has many excellent combustion properties that can be used to extend the gasoline engine lean burn limit and improve the gasoline engine performance at lean conditions. In this paper, a 1.6 L port fuel injection gasoline engine was modified to be a hybrid hydrogen–gasoline engine (HHGE) fueled with the hydrogen–gasoline mixture by mounting an electronically controlled hydrogen injection system on the intake manifolds while keeping the original gasoline injection system unchanged. A self-developed hybrid electronic control unit (HECU) was used to flexibly adjust injection timings and durations of gasoline and hydrogen. Engine tests were conducted at 1400 rpm and a manifolds absolute pressure (MAP) of 61.5 kPa to investigate the performance of an HHGE at lean burn limits. Three hydrogen volume fractions in the total intake gas of 1%, 3% and 4.5% were adopted. For a specified hydrogen volume fraction, the gasoline flow rate was gradually reduced until the engine reached the lean burn limit at which the coefficient of variation in indicated mean effective pressure (COVimep) was 10%. The test results showed that COVimep at the same excess air ratio was obviously reduced with the increase of hydrogen enrichment level. The excess air ratio at the lean burn limit was extended from 1.45 of the original engine to 2.55 of the 4.5% HHGE. The engine brake thermal efficiency, CO, HC and NO_x emissions at lean burn limits were also improved for the HHGE.     

稀燃和EGR对汽油发动机性能影响研究

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

Comparative study on air dilution and hydrogen-enriched air dilution employed in a SI engine fueled with iso-butanol-gasoline

Hydrogen and iso-butanol are notable potential alternative fuels. Hydrogen addition under air dilution conditions was investigated in this study in an attempt to enhance the thermal efficiency of spark ignition (SI) engines fueled with iso-butanol-gasoline (B33) at partial load. Hydrogen appears to have positive effect on combustion progress that is prolonged during air dilution. Under lean hydrogen-enriched mixture conditions, the brake thermal efficiency was increased by about 4% and combustion instability was reduced; the lean burn limit migrated from 1.4 to 1.8 for B33 engine after hydrogen addition. Under lean burn conditions, the durations of initial flame development and rapid burning were shortened markedly by hydrogen; both were extended by air dilution. After hydrogen addition, the unburnt HC emissions of iso-butanol-gasoline decreased markedly and carbon monoxide (CO) emissions decreased slightly. NO_x emissions from hydrogen-enriched iso-butanol-gasoline increased as lambda grew near to 1.0, at a significant reduction with increasing excess air rate regardless of fuel type. The combination of hydrogen addition and air dilution exhibited a positive inhibition on particle matter (PM) emissions regardless particle in nucleation or the accumulation mode, and the particle surface concentration was reduced significantly. Finally, an improved combustion progress was observed after hydrogen addition during air dilution, as well as a higher brake thermal efficiency and wider lean burn limit with acceptable combustion stability.     

EGR与进气富氧对直喷柴油机NO和碳烟排放的影响

使用增压中冷直喷柴油机,采用进气富氧与高比率EGR相结合的技术,实现富氧燃烧条件下的低NO-碳烟排放.单独使用富氧燃烧,NO的排放将随氧体积分数的上升而增加.单独使用高EGR,碳烟(Smoke)的排放会随EGR率的增加而增加.将富氧进气与高比率EGR的结合,可以通过富氧的强氧化性降低Smoke排放,通过大比率EGR来控制燃烧温度,抑制NO的过度增长.试验结果表明:1,600,r/min(经济转速)下,EGR率为35%～45%,进气氧体积分数为21%～23%;2,200,r/min(最高转矩)下,EGR率为20%～50%,进气氧体积分数为22%～24%;在上述范围内的EGR与O2搭配,可以实现低于原机的NO-Smoke排放.综合考察发动机在各种掺比下的功率、油耗,探索出适合发动机各个工况的富氧及EGR组合区域,在该区域内发动机的功率、油耗和排放水平都能得到兼顾.     

Development of a large-sized direct injection hydrogen engine for a stationary power generator

A number of studies on hydrogen engines have targeted small-sized engines for passenger vehicles. By contrast, the present study focuses on a large-sized engine for a stationary power generator. The objective of this study is to simultaneously achieve low NOx emission without aftertreatment, and high thermal efficiency and torque. Experimental analysis has been conducted on a single-cylinder test engine equipped with a gas injector for direct hydrogen injection. The injection strategy adopted in this study aims generating inhomogeneity of hydrogen mixtures within the engine cylinder by setting the injection pressure at a relatively low level while injecting hydrogen through small orifices. High levels of EGR and increased intake boost pressures are also adopted to reduce NOx emission and enhance torque. The results showed that extreme levels of EGR and air-fuel inhomogeneity can suppress NOx emission and the occurrence of abnormal combustion with little negative impact on the efficiency of hydrogen combustion. The maximum IMEP achieved under these conditions is 1.46 MPa (135 Nm@1000 rpm) with engine-out NOx emission of less than 150 ppm (ISNOx < 0.55 g/kW) for an intake boost pressure of 175 kPa and EGR rate of around 50%. To achieve further improvement of the IMEP and thermal efficiency, the Atkinson/Miller cycle was attempted by increasing the expansion ratio and retarding the intake valve closing time of the engine. The test engine used in this study finally achieved an IMEP of 1.64 MPa (150 Nm@1000 rpm) with less than 100 ppm of NOx emission (ISNOx < 0.36 g/kWh) and more than 50% of ITE.     

湍流射流点火对天然气发动机燃烧特性影响的试验研究

湍流射流点火（Turbulent Jet Ignition,TJI）是一种有效的燃烧增强技术,可提供更高的点火能量,使发动机稳定着火,且可以提高燃烧压力和燃烧速率,缩短燃烧持续期,是实现发动机稀薄燃烧的有效手段。基于一台带有预燃室的点燃式单缸试验机,开展了TJI模式下天然气发动机性能的试验研究。首先,研究了不同过量空气系数下TJI对天然气发动机动力性能、排放性能及燃烧特性的影响,并与火花塞点火（Spark Ignition,SI）模式进行对比;其次,在稀燃条件下分别探究了进气增压和预燃室喷氢对天然气发动机动力性、经济性及燃烧过程的优化作用。结果表明：TJI的使用可有效拓展天然气发动机的稀燃极限,且燃烧滞燃期和燃烧持续期均更短,放热率更高;过量空气系数1.5为甲烷TJI最佳稀燃工况,此时燃油消耗率最低,且可实现氮氧化物近零排放;此外,采用进气增压的方式可以提高TJI发动机在高负荷下的经济性;TJI模式下,相较于预燃室喷甲烷,预燃室喷氢气可进一步缩短滞燃期和燃烧持续期,提高放热率,达到提升TJI性能的效果。     

电控喷油五气门汽油机排气再循环性能的实验研究

以稀薄燃烧的汽油机电控喷油系统及排气再循环系统为实验平台，对可变进气五气门汽油机采用化学计量比时的排气再循环燃油经济性和排放性能进行了实验研究，结果表明，燃油消耗率明显改善(2．8％-5．5％)，NO，显著降低(90％-95％)，HC改善不明显．为了进一步挖掘稀燃发动机的低油耗和低排放性能，用稀燃运行时加入适量排气的方法，结果显示，NO，显著降低．     

进气加湿结合废气再循环技术对高压直喷双燃料低速机燃烧及排放的影响

基于CONVERGE软件建立了高压直喷双燃料船用发动机三维仿真模型,研究了空气加湿技术和废气再循环(exhaust gas recirculation,EGR)对发动机燃烧过程及排放的影响,并通过耦合进气加湿、EGR和天然气喷射策略等技术,最终得到满足TierⅢ排放法规的可行性技术路线.结果表明,进气加湿降低NOx排放...     

Effect of induction on exhaust gas recirculation and hydrogen gas in compression ignition engine with simarouba oil in dual fuel mode

Biofuels extracted from non-edible oil is sustainable and can be used as an alternative fuel for internal combustion engines. This study presents the performance, emission and combustion characteristic analysis by using simarouba oil (obtained from Simarouba seed) as an alternative fuel along with hydrogen and exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) in a compression ignition (CI) engine operating on dual fuel mode. Simarouba biofuel blend (B20) was prepared on volumetric basis by mixing simarouba oil and diesel in the proportion of 20% and 80% (v/v), respectively. Hydrogen gas was introduced at the flow rate of 2.67 kg/min, and EGR concentration was maintained at 30% of total air introduction. Performance, combustion and emission characteristics analysis were examined with biodiesel (B20), biodiesel with hydrogen substitution and biodiesel, hydrogen with EGR and were compared with neat diesel operation. Results indicate that BTE of the engine operating with biodiesel B20 was decreased when compared to neat diesel operation. However, introducing hydrogen along with B20 blend into the combustion chamber shows a slight increase in the BTE by 1%. NO_x emission was increased to 18.13% with the introduction of hydrogen than that of base fuel (diesel) operation. With the introduction of EGR, there is a significant reduction in NO_x emission due to decrease in in-cylinder temperature by 19.07%. A significant reduction in CO, CO_2, and smoke emissions were also noted with the introduction of both hydrogen and EGR. The ignition delay and combustion duration were increased with the introduction of hydrogen, EGR with biodiesel than neat diesel operation. Hence, the proposed biodiesel B20 with H₂ and EGR combination can be applied as an alternative fuel in CI engines.     

基于循环控制的LPG点燃式发动机冷起动首循环NO瞬态排放特性研究

从循环控制的角度，详细研究了LPG点燃式发动机冷起动首循环NO瞬态排放特性。实验在一台电控LPG进气道喷射单缸风冷四冲程125cm^3发动机上进行。通过高速采集系统记录发动机首循环瞬态NO排放、瞬时缸压和转速，从实验结果中分析发动机NO瞬态排放与其他参数之间的关系。研究表明：在稀燃工况下NO排放能更准确地反映着火的发生，可以作为首循环着火的判断依据；NO排放和循环缸压都随过量空气系数先增大后减小，最大缸内爆发压力发生在略浓的混合气浓度，而最大NO排放发生在较稀的混合气浓度；NO瞬态排放随循环缸压在稀燃、过渡和浓燃区呈现出不同的变化规律，首循环最佳过量空气系数应控制在过渡区域。     

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.     

Exploring the potentials of lean-burn hydrogen SI engine compared to methane operation

The global rush for decarbonization and the more restrictive emission regulations are pushing the research for cleaner powertrains to the transport sector. In this sense, this work contributes with an experimental investigation of the performance and emissions of a single-cylinder SI engine operating under lean-burn hydrogen combustion. Its performance, combustion parameters, exhaust emissions, and indicated efficiency for a wide range of mixture dilutions are then compared to methane under similar engine load conditions. Hydrogen achieved stable combustion up to lambda 3.4, presenting zero CO emission and very low HC emission for all tested operating conditions. Hydrogen operation also presented zero NOx emissions for conditions leaner than lambda 2.2 and 3.0 at 2000 and 3000 rpm, respectively, however, the NOx emissions increase as the mixture is enriched. The high in-cylinder pressure rise rate limited the operation at mixtures richer than lambda 1.3 at 2000 rpm. When compared to methane, the hydrogen allows de-throttle the engine to burn lean mixtures maintaining a proper flame speed, resulting in lower pumping losses, lower pollutants emissions for most of the conditions tested, and higher indicated efficiency, making hydrogen a promising fuel to replace conventional fuels on cleaner SI engines.     

Control of backfire and NOx emission reduction in a hydrogen fueled multi-cylinder spark ignition engine using cooled EGR and water injection strategies

The experimental study was carried out on a constant speed multi-cylinder spark ignition engine fueled with hydrogen. Exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) and water injection techniques were adopted to control combustion anomalies (backfire and knocking) and reduce NOx emission at source level. The experimental tests were conducted on the engine with varied EGR rate (0%–28% by volume) and water to hydrogen ratio (WHR) (0–9.25) at 15 kW load. It was observed from the experiments that both the strategies can control backfire effectively, but water injection can effectively control backfire compared to EGR. The water injection and EGR reduce the probability of backfire occurrence and its propagation due to the increase in the requirement of minimum ignition energy (MIE) of the charge, caused mainly due to charge dilution effect, and reduction in flame speed respectively. The NOx emission was continuously reduced with increase in EGR rate and WHR, but at higher rates (of EGR and WHR), there was an issue of stability of engine operation. It was found from the experimental results that at 25% EGR, there was 57% reduction in NOx emission without drop in brake thermal efficiency whereas, with WHR of 7.5, the NOx emission was reduced by 97% without affecting the efficiency. The salient point emerging from the study is that water injection technique can control backfire with ultra-low (near zero) NOx emission without compromising the performance of the hydrogen fueled spark ignition engine.     

Simulation of combustion in spark-ignition engine fuelled with natural gas-hydrogen blends combined with EGR

A numerical simulation of the influence of different hydrogen fractions, excess air ratios and EGR mass fractions in a spark-ignition engine was conducted. Good agreement between the calculated and measured incylinder pressure traces as well as pollutant formation trends was obtained. The simulation results show that NO concentration has an exponential relationship with temperature and increases sharply as hydrogen is added. EGR introduction strongly influences the gas temperature and NO concentration in the cylinder. The difference in temperature will lead to even greater difference in NO concentration. Thus, EGR can effectively decrease NO concentration. NO concentration reaches its peak value at the excess air ratio of 1.1 regardless of EGR mass fraction. The study shows that natural gas-hydrogen blend combined with EGR can realize a stable combustion and low NO emission in a spark-ignition engine.