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Abstract
Environmental concerns and depletion in petroleum resources have forced researchers to concentrate on finding renewable
alternatives to conventional petroleum fuels. Hydrogen is thought to be a major energy resource of the future due to its clean
burning nature and eventual availability from renewable sources. Hydrogen is widely regarded as a promising transportation
fuel because it is clean and renewable.
The authors manufactured a high accuracy heavy-duty variable compression ratio single cylinder engine to investigate its
performance and emissions characteristics. The test engine was run at 1400 rpm with a compression ratio of 8. Spark timing
was set to MBT (minimum spark advance for best torque). This paper investigates the effects of hydrogen enriched LPG
fueled engine on exhaust emission, thermal efficiency and performance.
䉷 2004 International Association for Hydrogen Energy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Liquefied petroleum gas; Compression ratio; Minimum spark advance for best torque (MBT); Relative air–fuel ratio; Thermal
efficiency
0360-3199/$30.00 䉷 2004 International Association for Hydrogen Energy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ijhydene.2004.06.009
78 G. Ho Choi et al. / International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 30 (2005) 77 – 82
Table 1
Specification of test engine
Exhaust valve
Open BBDC 50
Close ATDC 18
Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of experimental apparatus.
Valve clearance 0.4 mm at Intake
0.6 mm at Exhaust
formation due to its composition and CO2 emission levels Number of balance shaft 2
[3]. Length of connecting rod 260 mm
Hydrogen, as an energy medium, has some distinct
benefits for its high efficiency and convenience in storage,
transportation and conversion [4]. Hydrogen has much
wider limits of flammability in air than methane, propane Signal from the crankshaft position sensor (CPS) installed
or gasoline and the minimum ignition energy is about an on the crankshaft pulley and the hall sensor installed on the
order of magnitude lower than for other combustibles [5,6]. cam-shaft pulley is sent to the ignition control device, which
Thomas et al. [7] described that hydrogen is the primary then determines the amount of electric energy to be sent to
fuel options under consideration for fuel cell vehicles. The the combustion chamber and controls the ignition timing.
ideal fuel would eliminate local air pollution, reduce green- In order to determine the ideal compression ratio, the
house gas emissions and oil imports [8,9]. experimental engine was developed. The VCSCE used in
Liquid Propane Injection (LPI) is a more improved system this experiment was a 6 cylinder 12 L diesel engine that had
in engine-out emissions and fuel consumption. LPI system been modified into a single cylinder spark ignition engine.
can increase engine power by the decrease of combustion Major steps in the engine’s fabrication are outlined below,
temperature according to vaporization heat and the inertia and the specifications are listed in Table 1.
effect [10].
The objective of this paper is to clarify the effects of hy- (i) The cylinder head was altered so that a spark plug could
drogen enriched LPG fueled engine on exhaust emission, be inserted in the place of the injection nozzle, and the
thermal efficiency and performance. The concept of hydro- piston was modified into a bath tub type. In order to take
gen enriched LPG fueled engine can be essentially char- advantage of the squish effect that occurs at the end of
acterized as low emissions and reduction of backfire for the compression process and subsequently optimize the
hydrogen engine [11]. The authors manufactured a high ac- mixture formation, a bath tub type piston was made.
curacy heavy-duty variable compression ratio single cylinder (ii) A new crankshaft and crankcase were developed. A new
engine (VCSCE) to investigate its performance and emis- flywheel was made so that the desired RPM could be
sions characteristics. obtained.
(iii) A balance shaft and a flywheel were made to minimize
vibration and acceleration, and the cooling and lubri-
2. Experimental apparatus and procedure cation system were placed externally in order to more
precisely determine engine performance.
Fig. 1 shows the schematic diagram of the experimental
apparatus. The engine was coupled to a dynamometer to All experiments were conducted at 1400 rpm, minimum
control the engine speed and load. Oil temperature, coolant spark advance for best torque (MBT), wide open throttle
temperature, exhaust temperature, inlet pressure and exhaust (WOT), and a compression ratio of 8. Because the compo-
pressure were measured with various sensors. The exhaust sition of the combustion products is significantly different
gas constituents (CO, CO2 , THC, O2 , NOx ) were measured for air–fuel mixture, and because the stoichiometric air–fuel
in this research project by a gas analyzer (Mexa 9100DEGR, ratios depends on fuel composition. The relative air–fuel
Horiba). ratio is the reverse of fuel–air equivalence ratio . The
G. Ho Choi et al. / International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 30 (2005) 77 – 82 79
Table 2
Characteristics of LPG and hydrogen Solenoid Flashback Pressure
Flow Meter
valve Arrestor Regulator
C4 H10 H2
Solenoid Pressure Pressure
Theoretical air–fuel ratio 15.5 34.3 Injector
valve Regulator gauge
Lower heat value (MJ/kg) 45.84 120
Flammability limits 0.4–1.7 0.12–10.12
Density (kg/m3 ) 2.64 0.0899 Manual
Throttle
Adiabatic flame temperature ◦ C 1990 2384 Body
valve
Turbulent burning velocity (m/s) 0.4 1.7
Autoignition temperature ◦ C 585 450
Hydrogen
To Engine
Bomb
Bomb
LPG
Fig. 3. The fuel supply system.
Fig. 6. Variation of brake specific fuel consumption with relative Fig. 8. Variation CO emissions with relative air–fuel ratio.
air–fuel ratio.
Fig. 10. Variation of total hydrocarbon emissions with relative Fig. 12. Variation of heat release with crank angle.
air–fuel ratio.
supply of air prevents all carbon of the fuel from becoming iment, NOx emissions is the maximum at around (relative
the perfect combustion gas CO2 . Therefore, CO emissions air–fuel ratio) = 1.2, and the addition of 20% hydrogen re-
can be represented as a function of the relative air–fuel ratio sults in about 20% increase in the amount of NOx emissions
and might be considerably affected by it. It was expected compared to that of pure LPG combustion. NOx emissions
that CO emissions might decrease with the addition of hy- ought to depend on the fast combustion of hydrogen fuel
drogen, but the oxygen amount decreases around the rich and the higher maximum temperature and pressure in the
and stoichiometric conditions as the hydrogen supplement cylinder compared to LPG combustion. Increase of NOx
rate is getting higher. emissions on the addition of hydrogen compared to that of
Fig. 10 shows THC emissions as a function of relative pure LPG combustion depend on the flame temperature of
air–fuel ratio with the addition of 0%, 10% and 20% H2 at hydrogen fuel that is higher than LPG fuel, and the higher
1400 rpm, MBT, and a compression ratio of 8. THC emis- maximum temperature in the cylinder as compared to LPG
sions decrease if the relative air–fuel ratio is increased from combustion. But the amount of NOx emissions are high in
0.75 to 1.3, and the THC emissions also decreases as hy- the addition of 10% hydrogen at around = 0.9–1.15 as
drogen is added. Also, THC emissions tend to be similar to compared to the pure LPG fuel.
CO emissions as the ratio is increased from 0.76 to 1.3. In
general, THC emissions from within quench regions in en- 3.3. Combustion parameters
gines are expelled during the exhaust process. With slightly
lean mixtures, although the quench zone is large, the excess Figs. 12–14 show the results of all experiments. Fig. 12
oxygen destroys much of the THC emissions when they are is the heat release as a function of crank angle. Heat release
mixed later in the exhaust system. With very lean mixtures, rate was calculated by making a first law analysis of the
combustion generally becomes erratic and the amount of average pressure versus crank angle variation for 250 cycles.
THC emissions increases. Fig. 13 shows the measured cylinder pressure versus crank
Fig. 11 shows NOx emissions as a function of relative angle. For the calculation the contents of the cylinder were
air–fuel ratio with the addition of 0%, 10% and 20% H2 at assumed to behave as an ideal gas with the specific heat
1400 rpm, MBT, and a compression ratio of 8. In this exper- being dependent on temperature.
82 G. Ho Choi et al. / International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 30 (2005) 77 – 82
Acknowledgements
References
The cumulative heat release was then calculated (see
Fig. 14). The start of combustion was determined from the
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