Effect of regulated harmful matters from a heavy-duty diesel engine by H

2
/O
2
addition to the combustion chamber
Hsin-Kai Wang
a
, Chia-Yu Cheng
a
, Kang-Shin Chen
a,
, Yuan-Chung Lin
a
, Chung-Bang Chen
b
a
Institute of Environmental Engineering, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
b
Heavy Duty Diesel Engine Emission Group, Rening and Manufacturing Research Center, CPC Corporation, Chia-Yi 60036, Taiwan
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:
Received 3 December 2010
Received in revised form 8 November 2011
Accepted 14 November 2011
Available online 3 December 2011
Keywords:
Diesel engines
Hydrogen
Performance
Traditional pollutant
Emission
a b s t r a c t
This work investigated the effects of induction of hydrogen and oxygen mixture (H
2
/O
2
) to a heavy-duty
diesel engine (HDDE) on the thermal performance, fuel consumption and emission characteristics. The
HDDE was tested at one low load steady-state condition, 24.5% of the max load (40 km/h), using neat die-
sel and seven H
2
/O
2
mixtures: 1070 L/min, interval 10 L/min. The results show that brake thermal ef-
ciency is increased from 31.1% for neat diesel to 39.9% for 70 L/min of H
2
/O
2
mixture. For 1040 L/min of
H
2
/O
2
mixture addition, the brake specic fuel consumption (BSFC) was higher than that of neat diesel.
However, for 50, 60 and 70 L/min of H
2
/O
2
mixture addition, the BSFC was lower than that of neat diesel
by about 3.2%, 9.9% and 10.5%, respectively. Due to improved combustion efciency, the emission concen-
trations of hydrocarbon, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide were all lowered, while those of the nitro-
gen oxides were increased.
2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
Diesel engines have been widely used in heavy-duty buses,
trucks, construction machines, and generators, because diesel
engines have high fuel efciency, power output, fuel economy
and lower emissions of traditional pollutants such as hydrocarbons
(HCs), nitrogen oxides (NO
x
) and carbon monoxide (CO) than gaso-
line engines [1,2]. Although current diesel engines have higher NO
x
emissions than gasoline engines because of catalytic converters in
gasoline engines, the problemof high NO
x
emissions fromdiesel en-
gines can be mitigated by the use of low-temperature combustion
[3] and selective catalytic reduction [48]. However, emissions of
smoke, particulate matter, sulfur oxides, polycyclic aromatic hydro-
carbons, and carbonyl compounds from the exhausts of a HDDE
have always been a concern for the public and environmental
researchers. [924].
Alternative fuels such as biodiesels, alcohols, dimethyl ether
(DME), compressed natural gas (CNG), liqueed petroleum gas
(LPG), liqueed natural gas (LNG) and hydrogen are being widely
discussed in many countries due to increasing environmental
awareness and the rising price of diesel. Among these fuels, hydro-
gen is a generally acknowledged renewable, recyclable and non-
polluting fuel. Compared to hydrocarbon fuel, hydrogen the most
signicant being the absence of carbon [25]. Additionally,
hydrogen has wider ammability limits, higher ame speed and
faster burning velocity than diesel fuel [26].
It is known that pollutant emissions from an HDDE under the
US-HDD transient cycle test are representative because the engine
is tested over a full range of load and speed conditions, including
expressway, congested-urban, and uncongested-urban. However,
heavy-duty diesel engines are always operating at low load in ur-
ban areas around humans indicating that pollutants are close to
humans. The report from Taiwan MOTC indicates the mean speed
of vehicles in Taiwan urban areas ranges from 28.7 to 45.4 km/h
with average of 38.0 km/h [27]. Therefore, a widely used diesel
engine was tested at one low load steady-state condition, 24.5%
of the max load (40 km/h), because that is how the engine is oper-
ating in urban areas around humans. The main goal of the present
study is to nd H
2
/O
2
fuel for reducing emissions of regulated
harmful matters (traditional pollutants) from HDDEs. Emissions
of regulated harmful matters from the HDDE fueled with various
H
2
/O
2
ow rate at 24.5% of the max load condition (40 km/h) were
investigated.
2. Experimental procedures
2.1. Test engine and hydrogen/oxygen fuels
The heavy-duty diesel engine (non-catalyst) was used a
Cummins B5.9-160 with the following characteristics: six-cylin-
ders; four strokes; direct injection; fuel injection sequence 1-5-3-
6-2-4; bore and stroke of 102 mm (Dia.) 120 mm; total
0016-2361/$ - see front matter 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.fuel.2011.11.034

Corresponding author. Tel./fax: +886 7 5254406.

E-mail address: shin@mail.nsysu.edu.tw (K.-S. Chen).
Fuel 93 (2012) 524527
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Fuel
j our nal homepage: www. el sevi er . com/ l ocat e/ f uel
displacement of 5883 mL; compression ratio of 17.9:1, maximum
horsepower of 118 kW at 2500 rpm; and maximum torque of
534 Nm at 1600 rpm. The experimental setup was shown in Fig. 1.
In this study, an oxy-hydrogen generator machine (Epoch EP-
560A) was used to electrolyze water and then get the mixture of
hydrogen and oxygen (H
2
/O
2
). Then H
2
/O
2
will be transported to
the combustion chamber of the test diesel engine. The H
2
/O
2
is then
passed through a gas ow meter (the meters the ow of H
2
/O
2
in
terms of L/min) and two ame arrestors before it is transported to
the engine via the air inlet manifold. A gas ow meter was used to
measure the ow rate of H
2
/O
2
, and two ame arrestors were in-
stalled into the H
2
/O
2
line for suppressing explosions in the experi-
mental procedures. The properties of diesel and hydrogen were
shown in Table 1.
2.2. Sample collection and analysis
The engine exhaust samples were collected in 10 L Tedlar bags
through a full ow critical ow Venturi (CFV) type dilution tunnel,
350 mm in diameter. After passing through this tunnel, the ex-
haust was diluted with air simultaneously drawn into the tunnel,
and mixed completely by a Spencer blower. The volume of sam-
pling air varied with different ventri sizes of the CFV system. All
the engine exhaust was introduced into the dilution system
through a solid insulated pipe, 10 cm in diameter and 7.5 m in
length. The engine was operated at a one load steady-state condi-
tion of 1600 rpm with torque and power outputs of 145 Nm (27.2%
of max load) and 24.5 kW, respectively. In this condition, the mea-
surement of the mixing ratio of the fuel (H
2
/O
2
/diesel) was rst re-
corded without any induction of H
2
/O
2
addition (neat diesel) into
the engine. Then, seven ow rates of H
2
/O
2
mixture were used by
1070 L/min, interval 10 L/min. The sampling time was 20 min
per test run.
For total hydrocarbon analysis, each sample was analyzed using
a ame ionization detector (FID) (model 404, Rosemount, UK). For
carbon monoxide/carbon dioxide analysis, each sample was ana-
lyzed using a non-dispersive infrared detector (NDIR) (model
880A, Rosemount, UK). For nitrogen oxides analysis, each sample
was analyzed using a chemiluminescent detection (CLD) (model
955, Rosemount, UK).
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Brake thermal efciency
Engine thermal efciency is important on evaluating the engine
economic and overall performance, and it also can be improved by
optimizing the combustion system or fuel properties [28]. Fig. 2
displays the variation of brake thermal efciency of the HDDE
mixed with various H
2
/O
2
ow rates. It sees from Fig. 2 that brake
thermal efciency is 31.1% for neat diesel, and increased with
increasing addition of H
2
/O
2
ow rate, from 31.4% for 10 L/min to
39.9% for 70 L/min. Higher brake thermal efciency can be attrib-
uted to better mixing of hydrogen with air which results in better
combustion. Similar results for the brake thermal efciency of the
Hydrogen addition were also found. Saravanan et al. [29] found
that compared to diesel, the brake thermal efciency was in-
creased by 23.629.4% when running a diesel engine at 1500 rpm
with 10 L/min hydrogen for intake port injection timing of 5 after
top dead centre (ATDC) with injection duration of 90 Crank angle
(CA). Saravanan et al. [30] also found that the brake thermal ef-
ciency was increased from 21.8% to 23.2% while running a diesel
engine with 20 L/min hydrogen. Bari and Mohammad [26] found
that the brake thermal efciency was increased from 32.9% to
35.8% when running a diesel engine at 22 kW with 6.0% induction
of H
2
/O
2
mixture [26].
3.2. Brake specic fuel consumption
Fig. 3 depicts the variation of brake specic fuel consumption
(BSFC) of the HDDE mixed with various H
2
/O
2
ow rates. This
study used neat diesel with H
2
/O
2
as an additive, and so fuel
Pump
Computer
Dilution
Tunnel
Mixing Orifice
Heat
Exchanger
Exhaust Sampling Particulate
Mass Chemical Analysis
Data Bank
Discharge
Ambient
Air Inlet
Hydrogen-
Oxygen Machine
Exhaust Sample Bag
CO CO2 NOX HC
Exhaust Gas Analysis
Critical Flow Venturi
Blower
Sampling Venturi
Diesel engine
Fig. 1. Schematic of experimental setup.
Table 1
Properties of diesel and hydrogen (Senthil Kumar et al., 2003).
Properties Diesel Hydrogen
Density (kg L
1
) 0.840 0.082
Caloric value (kJ kg
1
) 42,490 119,810
Flame velocity (m s
1
) 0.30 2.70
Auto ignition temperature (C) 280 585
Carbon residue (%) 0.3 0
H.-K. Wang et al. / Fuel 93 (2012) 524527 525
consumption is the sum of the diesel and diesel equivalent energy
needed to produce the H
2
/O
2
mixture. The BSFC of neat diesel was
254.74 g/kW h, and was 262.06 g/kW h, 262.75 g/kW h, 260.42 g/
kW h, 263.80 g/kW h, 246.51 g/kW h, 229.56 g/kW h, and
228.01 g/kW h for 1070 L/min of H
2
/O
2
mixture addition, respec-
tively. For 1040 L/min of H
2
/O
2
mixture addition, the BSFC was
higher than that of neat diesel. However, for 50, 60 and 70 L/min
of H
2
/O
2
mixture addition, the BSFC was lower than that of neat
diesel by about 3.2%, 9.9% and 10.5%, respectively. This is due to
better mixing of hydrogen with air resulting in complete combus-
tion of fuel and hydrogen with higher ame speed than diesel. The
results were similar to the ndings of Saravanan et al. [30] in
which the BSFC was reduced from 395.8 g/kW h to 372.6 g/kW h
when running a diesel engine with 20 L/min hydrogen. The results
were also quite similar to those of Bari and Mohammad Esmaeil
[26] in which the value of BSFC was reduced from 256.1 g/kW h
to 235.3 g/kW h when running a diesel engine at 22 kW with
6.0% induction of H
2
/O
2
mixture.
3.3. Emissions of regulated harmful matters
Fig. 4 shows the concentrations of regulated harmful matters
(traditional pollutants), including THC, CO, CO
2
and NO
x
in the ex-
hausts of the HDDE mixed with various H
2
/O
2
ow rates, as de-
scribed in order below.
3.3.1. Total hydrocarbon emissions
Fig. 4a shows the variation of total hydrocarbon (THC) emission
of the HDDE mixed with various H
2
/O
2
ow rates. The THC
concentration for neat diesel was 3.60 ppm, and THC decreased
from 3.51 ppm for 10 L/min of H
2
/O
2
mixture to 3.25 ppm for
70 L/min of H
2
/O
2
addition. The reduction of THC is due to the
higher ame velocity of hydrogen. Also, the absence of carbon in
hydrogen fuel also tends to reduce the THC emissions.
3.3.2. Carbon monoxide emissions
Fig. 4b displays the variation of carbon monoxide (CO) concen-
tration of the HDDE mixed with various H
2
/O
2
ow rates. The CO
concentration was 26.00 ppm for neat diesel, and was decreased
to 24.00 ppm for 70 L/min of H
2
/O
2
addition. This is because that
the H
2
/O
2
mixture does not contain carbon element and also be-
cause that the engine was operated at leaner equivalence ratio
[31,32].
3.3.3. Carbon dioxide emissions
Figs. 4c shows the variation of carbon dioxide (CO
2
) concentra-
tion of the HDDE mixed with various H
2
/O
2
ow rates. The CO
2
concentration for neat diesel was 7906 ppm, and was decreased
to 7893 ppm for 10 L/min of H
2
/O
2
addition, and to 7523 ppm for
70 L/min of H
2
/O
2
addition. The reduction of CO
2
emission is due
to less carbon element in the formed mixture of fuels than that
in the neat diesel [26]. Also, the CO
2
emission is reduced because
H
2
/O
2
(L/min)
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
B
r
a
k
e

t
h
e
r
m
a
l

e
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
c
y

(
%
)
30
32
34
36
38
40
42
Fig. 2. Variation of brake thermal efciency of the HDDE mixed with various H
2
/O
2
ow rates.
H
2
/O
2
(L/min)
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70



B
r
a
k
e

s
p
e
c
i
f
i
c

f
u
e
l

c
o
n
s
u
m
p
t
i
o
n

(
g
/
k
W
h
)
220
230
240
250
260
270
280
Fig. 3. Variation of brake specic fuel consumption of the HDDE mixed with various
H
2
/O
2
ow rates.
(a) THC
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
T
H
C

(
p
p
m
)
2.5
3.0
3.5
4.0
(d) NO
x
H
2
/O
2
(L/min)
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
N
O
x

(
p
p
m
)
55
60
65
70
(c) CO
2
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
C
O
2

(
p
p
m
)
7000
7200
7400
7600
7800
8000
8200
(b) CO
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
C
O

(
p
p
m
)
20
22
24
26
28
30
Fig. 4. Variation of (a) THC, (b) CO, (c) CO
2
, and (d) NO
x
of the HDDE mixed with
various H
2
/O
2
ow rates.
526 H.-K. Wang et al. / Fuel 93 (2012) 524527
of the better combustion of hydrogen fuel and also due to the ab-
sence of carbon in hydrogen ame [25,33].
3.3.4. Nitrogen oxides emissions
Fig. 4d shows the variation of nitrogen oxides (NO
x
) concentra-
tion of the HDDE mixed with various H
2
/O
2
ow rates. The NO
x
concentration was 60.05 ppm for neat diesel, and was increased
from 60.49 ppm for 10 L/min of H
2
/O
2
mixture to 67.22 ppm for
70 L/min of H
2
/O
2
addition. The higher concentration of NO
x
is
due to both higher temperature and more available oxygen in
the formed mixture [30,34].
4. Conclusions
Experiments were conducted to study the performance and
emission characteristics by introducing various amounts of H
2
/O
2
mixture into a heavy-duty diesel engine. The results indicated that
brake thermal efciency is increased from 31.1% for neat diesel to
39.9% for 70 L/min of H
2
/O
2
addition. For 1040 L/min of H
2
/O
2
mixture addition, the brake specic fuel consumption (BSFC) was
higher than that of neat diesel. However, for 50, 60 and 70 L/min
of H
2
/O
2
mixture addition, the BSFC was lower than that of neat
diesel by about 3.2%, 9.9% and 10.5%, respectively. The emission
concentrations of THC, CO, and CO
2
were reduced due to improved
combustion and the absence of carbon in hydrogen fuel. The emis-
sion concentration of NO
x
was increased due to higher temperature
and more available oxygen in the formed mixture.
Acknowledgment
The authors gratefully acknowledged the contributions of
Mr. S.H. Gua, Rening and Manufacturing Research Center, Chinese
Petroleum Corporation, for heavy-duty diesel engine operation.
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