Simulation and Empirical Studies of the Commercial SI Engine Performance and Its Emission Levels When Running on a CNG and Hydrogen Blend

Rafaa Saaidia, Mohamed Ali Jemni and Mohamed Salah Abid
Additional contact information
Rafaa Saaidia: Laboratory of the Electromechanical System, Department of Mechanical Engineering, National School of Engineers of Sfax (ENIS), BP. 1173, 3038 Sfax, Tunisia
Mohamed Ali Jemni: Laboratory of the Electromechanical System, Department of Mechanical Engineering, National School of Engineers of Sfax (ENIS), BP. 1173, 3038 Sfax, Tunisia
Mohamed Salah Abid: Laboratory of the Electromechanical System, Department of Mechanical Engineering, National School of Engineers of Sfax (ENIS), BP. 1173, 3038 Sfax, Tunisia

Energies, 2017, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-22

Abstract: This article is a report on a simulation based on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and an empirical investigation of in-cylinder flow characteristics, In addition, it assesses the performance and emission levels of a commercial-spark ignited engine running on a CNG and Hydrogen blend in different ratios. The main objective was to determine the optimum hydrogen ratio that would yield the best brake torque and release the least polluting gases. The in-cylinder flow velocity and turbulence aspects were investigated during the intake stroke in order to analyze the intake flow behavior. To reach this goal, a 3D CFD code was adopted. For various engine speeds were investigated for gasoline, CNG and hydrogen and CNG blend (HCNG) fueled engines via external mixtures. The variation of brake torque (BT), NO X and CO emissions. A series of tests were conducted on the engine within the speed range of 1000 to 5000 rpm. For this purpose, a commercial Hyundai Sonata S.I engine was modified to operate with a blend of CNG and Hydrogen in different ratios. The experiments attempted to determine the optimum allowable hydrogen ratio with CNG for normal engine operation. The engine performance and the emission levels were also analyzed. At the engine speed of 4200 rpm, the results revealed that beyond a ratio of 50% of the volume of hydrogen added to CNG a backfire phenomenon appeared. Below this ratio (0~40%) of the hydrogen volume, the CNG and Hydrogen blend seemed to be beneficial for the engine performance and for curtailing the emission level. However, at low engine speeds, the NO X concentration increased simultaneously with hydrogen content. In contrast, at high engine speeds, the NO X concentration decreased to its lowest level compared to that reached with gasoline as a running fuel. The concentration levels of HC, CO 2 , and CO decreased with the increase of hydrogen percentage.

Keywords: Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD); engine; conversion; CNG; Hydrogen; intake; turbulence (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/11/1/29/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/11/1/29/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:11:y:2017:i:1:p:29-:d:124180

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().