An Experimental Study on Combustion and Cycle-by-Cycle Variations of an N-Butanol Engine with Hydrogen Direct Injection under Lean Burn Conditions

Abstract

This study experimentally investigated the effects of hydrogen direct injection on combustion and the cycle-by-cycle variations in a spark ignition n-butanol engine under lean burn conditions. For this purpose, a spark ignition engine installed with a hydrogen and n-butanol dual fuel injection system was specially developed. Experiments were conducted at four excess air ratios, four hydrogen fractions(φ(𝐻2)) and pure n-butanol. Engine speed and intake manifold absolute pressure (MAP) were kept at 1500 r/min and 43 kPa, respectively. The results indicate that the θ0–10 and θ10–90 decreased gradually with the increase in hydrogen fraction. Additionally, the indicated mean effective pressure (IMEP), the peak cylinder pressure (Pmax) and the maximum rate of pressure rise ((dP/dφ)max) increased gradually, while their cycle-by-cycle variations decreased with the increase in hydrogen fraction. In addition, the correlation between the (dP/dφ)max and its corresponding crank angle became weak with the increase in the excess air coefficient (λ), which tends to be strongly correlated with the increase in hydrogen fraction. The coefficient of variation of the Pmax and the IMEP increased with the increase in λ, while they decreased obviously after blending in the hydrogen under lean burn conditions. Furthermore, when λ was 1.0, a 5% hydrogen fraction improved the cycle-by-cycle variations most significantly. While a larger hydrogen fraction is needed to achieve the excellent combustion characteristics under lean burn conditions, hydrogen direct injection can promote combustion process and is beneficial for enhancing stable combustion and reducing the cycle-by-cycle variations.

Optimizing Hydrogen and Ammonia Injection Timing for Enhanced Mixture Formation in Internal Combustion Engines

“…In recent years, the problem of global warming caused by carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels has attracted considerable attention from all sectors of society, and global carbon dioxide emissions have been increasing year on year, with the burning and use of fossil fuels still accounting for a large proportion of total carbon emissions. Increasingly stringent emission regulations and the national policy direction of green and clean energy consumption have advanced the new trend of green and renewable new energy development, making the development of clean energy occupy an important position in the automotive field [1]. And hydrogen/ammonia has outstanding advantages among many alternative fuels due to its unique physical and chemical properties [2,3].…”