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Experimental study of the performance and emission characteristics of an adapted commercial four-cylinder spark ignition engine running on hydrogen–methane mixtures

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  • Diéguez, P.M.
  • Urroz, J.C.
  • Marcelino-Sádaba, S.
  • Pérez-Ezcurdia, A.
  • Benito-Amurrio, M.
  • Sáinz, D.
  • Gandía, L.M.

Abstract

The use of hydrogen/methane mixtures with low methane contents as fuels for internal combustion engines (ICEs) may help to speed up the development of the hydrogen energy market and contribute to the decarbonization of the transportation sector. In this work, a commercial 1.4L four-cylinder Volkswagen spark-ignition engine previously adapted to operate on pure hydrogen has been fueled with hydrogen/methane mixtures with 5–20 vol.% methane (29.6–66.7wt.%). An experimental program has been executed by varying the fuel composition, air-to-fuel ratio (λ), spark advance and engine speed. A discussion of the results regarding the engine performance (brake torque, brake mean effective pressure, thermal efficiency) and emissions (nitrogen oxides, CO and unburned hydrocarbons) is presented. The results reveal that λ is the most influential variable on the engine behavior due to its marked effect on the combustion temperature. As far as relatively high values of λ have to be used to prevent knock, the effect on the engine performance is negative. In contrast, the specific emissions of nitrogen oxides decrease due to a reduced formation of thermal NOx. A clear positive effect of reducing the spark advance on the specific NOx emissions has been observed as well. As concerns CO and unburned hydrocarbons (HCs), their specific emissions increase with the methane content of the fuel mixture, as expected. However, they also increase as λ increases in spite of the lower fuel concentration due to a proportionally higher reduction of the power. Finally, the effect of the increase of the engine speed is positive on the CO and HCs emissions but negative on that of NOx due to improved mixing and higher temperature associated to intensified turbulence in the cylinders.

Suggested Citation

  • Diéguez, P.M. & Urroz, J.C. & Marcelino-Sádaba, S. & Pérez-Ezcurdia, A. & Benito-Amurrio, M. & Sáinz, D. & Gandía, L.M., 2014. "Experimental study of the performance and emission characteristics of an adapted commercial four-cylinder spark ignition engine running on hydrogen–methane mixtures," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 1068-1076.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:113:y:2014:i:c:p:1068-1076
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2013.08.063
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Navarro, Emilio & Leo, Teresa J. & Corral, Roberto, 2013. "CO2 emissions from a spark ignition engine operating on natural gas–hydrogen blends (HCNG)," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 112-120.
    2. Sen, Asok K. & Wang, Jinhua & Huang, Zuohua, 2011. "Investigating the effect of hydrogen addition on cyclic variability in a natural gas spark ignition engine: Wavelet multiresolution analysis," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(12), pages 4860-4866.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Liu, Changpeng & Wang, Zhi & Song, Heping & Qi, Yunliang & Li, Yanfei & Li, Fubai & Zhang, Wang & He, Xin, 2018. "Experimental and numerical investigation on H2/CO formation and their effects on combustion characteristics in a natural gas SI engine," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 597-605.
    3. Li, Xingxing & Zhu, Gangli & Qi, Suitao & Huang, Jun & Yang, Bolun, 2014. "Simultaneous production of hythane and carbon nanotubes via catalytic decomposition of methane with catalysts dispersed on porous supports," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 846-852.
    4. Gong, Changming & Li, Zhaohui & Li, Dong & Liu, Jiajun & Si, Xiankai & Yu, Jiawei & Huang, Wei & Liu, Fenghua & Han, Yongqiang, 2018. "Numerical investigation of hydrogen addition effects on methanol-air mixtures combustion in premixed laminar flames under lean burn conditions," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 56-63.
    5. Yang, Jinxin & Ji, Changwei & Wang, Shuofeng & Wang, Du & Ma, Zedong & Zhang, Boya, 2018. "Numerical investigation on the mixture formation and combustion processes of a gasoline rotary engine with direct injected hydrogen enrichment," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 224(C), pages 34-41.
    6. Iren A. Makaryan & Igor V. Sedov & Eugene A. Salgansky & Artem V. Arutyunov & Vladimir S. Arutyunov, 2022. "A Comprehensive Review on the Prospects of Using Hydrogen–Methane Blends: Challenges and Opportunities," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-27, March.
    7. Benbellil, Messaoud Abdelalli & Lounici, Mohand Said & Loubar, Khaled & Tazerout, Mohand, 2022. "Investigation of natural gas enrichment with high hydrogen participation in dual fuel diesel engine," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 243(C).
    8. Xu, Han & Weng, Chunsheng & Gao, Jian & Yao, Chunde, 2020. "The effect of energy intensification on the formation of severe knock in internal combustion engines," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 266(C).
    9. Paykani, Amin & Frouzakis, Christos E. & Boulouchos, Konstantinos, 2019. "Numerical optimization of methane-based fuel blends under engine-relevant conditions using a multi-objective genetic algorithm," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 242(C), pages 1712-1724.
    10. Xu, Han & Gao, Jian & Yao, Anren & Yao, Chunde, 2018. "The effect of the energy convergence and energy dissipation on the formation of severe knock," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 228(C), pages 1243-1254.
    11. Ji, Changwei & Yang, Jinxin & Liu, Xiaolong & Wang, Shuofeng & Zhang, Bo & Wang, Du, 2016. "Enhancing the fuel economy and emissions performance of a gasoline engine-powered vehicle with idle elimination and hydrogen start," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 182(C), pages 135-144.
    12. Kamil, Mohammed & Rahman, M.M., 2015. "Performance prediction of spark-ignition engine running on gasoline-hydrogen and methane-hydrogen blends," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 556-567.
    13. Wang, Shuofeng & Ji, Changwei & Zhang, Bo & Liu, Xiaolong, 2014. "Lean burn performance of a hydrogen-blended gasoline engine at the wide open throttle condition," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 43-50.
    14. Rafaa Saaidia & Mohamed Ali Jemni & Mohamed Salah Abid, 2017. "Simulation and Empirical Studies of the Commercial SI Engine Performance and Its Emission Levels When Running on a CNG and Hydrogen Blend," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-22, December.

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