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Experimental Investigation of a Port Fuel Injected Spark Ignition Engine Fuelled with Variable Mixtures of Hydrogen and Methane
The paper describes an experimental research which addressed the study of a 4-cylinder, spark-ignited, port-fuel-injected, production engine modified for hydrogen-methane blend fueling. The original engine was a 2.8-liter, naturally aspirated, methane-fuelled engine. The engine modifications include...
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| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Report |
| Language: | English |
| Online Access: | Request full text |
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| Summary: | The paper describes an experimental research which addressed the
study of a 4-cylinder, spark-ignited, port-fuel-injected,
production engine modified for hydrogen-methane blend fueling. The
original engine was a 2.8-liter, naturally aspirated,
methane-fuelled engine. The engine modifications included two fuel
injectors per port and ECU replacement for controlling lean burn
combustion and enabling real-time variation of the fuel blend,
based on an alpha-N mapping approach.
Since hydrogen infrastructures are an issue and its production
costs are still today very high, pure hydrogen usage is not a
viable solution for near future vehicles. In view of this, in the
present paper, the maximum volumetric concentration of hydrogen in
methane has been set to 35% (which on a mass basis corresponds to
6.3%).
The variability of the fuel mixture has been achieved by
installing two separate fuel lines connected to two fuel rails: a
total of 8 injectors are installed. Four injectors deliver pure
methane and the other set delivers a mix of 35% H₂ - rest methane
(by vol.). By controlling the injection duration of each injectors
group any content of H₂ in methane from 0% up to 35% can be
achieved. In this context the aim of the work is the assessment of
the potential of this variable fuel feeding depending on the
demand, at various speeds and loads.
The study points out that a good improvement in engine thermal
efficiency can be achieved using the H₂-35 strategy compared to the
baseline methane engine. Also benefits on NOx production
are achieved at low load engine points. Modifications required to
mechanical components and to the ECU calibration are of minor
impact on the powertrain, thus could be practicable for vehicle
applications.
The study presents the optimization of the combustion through
adjustment of spark timing and injected fuel quantity at selected
engine points. Afterwards, the application of the combustion
strategy for the engine calibration is shown. |
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| ISSN: | 0148-7191 2688-3627 |
| DOI: | 10.4271/2013-01-0226 |