DEVELOPMENT OF HYDROGEN FUELLED S.I. ENGINE TEST RIG AND EVALUATION OF

PERFORMANCE AND EMSSION CHARACTERISTICS

By

Ankit Dhingra (2k6/ME/217)

Ankit Kukreja(2k6/ME/220)

Anshul Singla (2k6/ME/224)

Under the guidance ofDr. Naveen Kumar

Professor, Mechanical Engineering

29 MAY 2010

GLOBAL ENERGY SCENARIO

• The world energy scenario depicts a picture of concern. The adverse effects on environment caused by the production and consumption of energy have resulted in severe environmental impacts across the globe.

• The major sources of energy in the world are oil, coal, natural gas, hydro energy, nuclear energy, and other energy sources

• The prices of crude oil and its derivative are driven by demand and supply, and are very volatile.

• The countries are moving towards much efficient and cleaner burning fuels.

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FOSSIL FUELS

• Easy Availability and Storage• Developed infrastructure • Relatively low fuel efficiency• High level of exhaust emissions leading to

environmental degradation• On the verge of depletion• Examples: Gasoline, Diesel, Kerosene, Coal,

Natural gas

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ALTERNATIVE FUELS

• Reduced emissions• High mileage• Low cost• Environmental friendly• Examples: Bio diesel, Bio –alcohol, Hydrogen, methane

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HYDROGEN AS A FUEL Renewable energy based, practically carbon free, and light gaseous

alternative fuel. Easy availability, high specific energy content, cleaner burning fuel. No combustion problems such as vapor lock, cold wall quenching,

inadequate vaporization or poor mixing, does not produce toxic products.

Heating value is high on mass basis whereas low on volume basis. Unique and desirable heat transfer characteristics along with good

thermo-physical properties Can be produced by using fossil fuels such as oil, coal and natural gas

or renewable energy resource such as water.

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Property Hydrogen Gasoline

Density at 1 atm and 300 K (Kg/m2) 0.082 5.11

Stoich. Composition in air (%by volume) 29.53 1.65

Stoich. Fuel/Air mass ratio 0.029 1.65

HHV (MJ/Kg) 141.7 48.29

LHV (MJ/Kg) 119.7 44.79

HHV (MJ/m3) 12.10 233.29

LHV (MJ/m3) 10.22 216.38

Combustion energy per kg of stoich.mixt (MJ) 3.37 2.79

Kinematic viscosity at 300 K (mm2/s) 110 1.18

Thermal conductivity at 300 K (mW/m K) 182.0 11.2

Diffusion Coefficient into air at NTP (cm2/s) 0.61 0.05

Flammability limits (% by volume) 4-75 1.2-6.0

Minimum ignition energy (mJ) 0.02 0.25

Laminar Flame speed at NTP (m/s) 1.90 0.37-0.43

Adiabatic Flame temp (K) 2318 2470

Autoignition temperature (K) 858 500-750

Quenching gap at NTP (mm) 0.64 2.0

Octane Number 130+ 8729 MAY 2010

HISTORY OF HYDROGEN ENGINES

• 1820: Hydrogen engine invented by Reverend W. Cecil James.

• 1924: Hydrogen fuelled IC engine developed by Ricardo

• 1955: RO King conducted test on CFR engine with pre-mixed hydrogen air charge

• 1972: RA Erren and Campbell did investigation of hydrogen as a commercial fuel for transportation and other purposes

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CURRENT WORK LM Das and Mac Carley investigated different

induction techniques for hydrogen operated engine Heffel and Mathur did research on the Nox emissions

and other combustion parameters Lee and Kim studied the cause of backfire and

hydrogen fuelled engine Huang, Hu, Gu and Liu blended natural gas with

hydrogen to improve its performance

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NEED FOR THE PRESENT WORK Energy is universally reorganized as one of the most significant

inputs for economic growth and human development. Access to electricity in developing countries is an important

driver of rural development. As electricity in all the rural areas has not been provided

through electric grid, therefore, the main source of electricity in rural areas is genset.

The genset used in rural areas/ small towns are totally operated on kerosene which causes increased emission and reduced fuel efficiency.

In order to cut down the emissions and improve the fuel efficiency, a better source of alternative fuel such as hydrogen, should be used in SI engines or gensets.

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EXPERIMENTAL TEST RIG DEVELOPMENT

• Hydrogen fuelled SI engine require a completely different method of fuel injection system, as compared to carburetted gasoline fuelled SI engine.

• A major change, which is essentially required, is to inject the pre-calculated amount of hydrogen in a perfect time gap into the intake manifold to form a homogenous mixture with air.

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FUEL INDUCTION SYSTEMS(CARBURETORS)

For most of the SI engines, the carburettor has been the device that produces alternative mixture to the engine. On many small engine, such as lawnmowers and chain saws, it is still used.

However the carburettor design became more complex with the development of variety of automobiles and in this process it became very complicated in order to handle a large range of operating conditions.

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FUEL INDUCTION SYSTEMS(TIMED MANIFOLD INJECTION)

• The undesirable combustion phenomenon like backfire is eliminated

• In timed injection, there is a time for the fuel to properly mix and form a homogeneous mixture

• The fuel induction can be delayed to reduce the temperature of hot spots responsible for back fire and other undesirable combustion phenomena

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ENGINE SPECIFICATION• Make: Birla Power Solutions Model - EG2800• Displacement: 256cc• Bore* Stroke: 73*61mm• Number of Cylinder: One • Compression Ratio: 5.1:1• Rated Output: 4 HP at 3000rpm • Ignition System: TCI • Ignition timing: BTDC 15• Spark plug: MICO super WBBC • Starting system: Recoil starter• Air cleaner :Wet type• Lubrication: System Forced splash• Fuel: Kerosene (petrol start)• Fuel tank capacity: 8.8 ltrs kerosene1.0ltrs

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METHODOLOGY ADOPTED TO CONVERT DUAL FUEL (KEROSENE/GASOLINE) OPERATED TO

HYDROGEN OPERATED SI ENGINE• The base line data pertaining to performance and

emissions characteristics, was recorded with gasoline/ kerosene as a fuel.

• The brake thermal efficiency was calculated at different load conditions and accordingly approximate hydrogen flow rate was calculated with respect to rpm of the engine

• On the basis of flow rate of hydrogen, injector was timed to get required quantity of hydrogen per injection.

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DEVELOPMENT OF AN EXPERIMENTAL TEST RIG

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SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM OF THE TEST RIG

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MODIFICATIONS IN THE ENGINE• A Birla Power Solutions make, single

cylinder, carburetor, petrol start kerosene run S.I engine (genset) was selected

• The stock exhaust muffler was replaced by a steel pipe, to incorporate the temperature sensor and the probe of the emission meter.

• An aluminum rod was welded to the armature to facilitate the measurement of the revolutions per minute of the engine and to place the magnet.

• An aluminium adapter was designed between intake manifold and carburetor to install the gas injector

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AUXILLARY APPARATUS

• A 150 bar hydrogen cylinder• Double stage pressure regulator• Pressure gauges• Rotameter• CNG Injector• Fuel tanks

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SAFETY PRECAUTIONS

Since hydrogen is a readily combustible gas, necessary safety precaution were taken. These includedFlame TrapNon-return ValveSafety valve

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FLAME TRAP• The primary function of

the flame trap is to avoid propagation of backfire during engine operation into the gaseous fuel cylinder.

• The flame trap was connected to supply line between the hydrogen fuel injector and the hydrogen gas cylinder.

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• Safety valve: Used to avoid any case of excess pressure inside the flame trap.

• Non-return valve: it avoids back flow of water contained in the flame trap with reverse relative pressure.

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INSTRUMENT CONTROL PANEL• Stand: 20mm×850mm bakelite sheet of 3-mm thickness • Instruments used: voltmeter, ammeter, speed counter, six channels digital

temperature display • Electrical Load banks: 12 bulbs each of 200 watts • Fuel Measurement: Burette and two way valve.

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Solenoid Actuated Fuel Injector In solenoid actuated injector,

when electric current is supplied to the injector coil, a magnetic field is created which causes the armature to move upward. This action pulls spring loaded valve or pintle valve off its seat. The fuel under pressure can flow out of the injector nozzle. The shape of pintle causes the fuel to be sprayed in a cone shaped pattern. When the injector is de-energised, the spring pushes the ball onto its seat stopping the flow of fuel.

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DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF ELECTRONIC CIRCUIT FOR ELECTRONIC FUEL INJECTION

SYSTEM (EFIS)The Electronic fuel injection system (EFIS)enabled timed induction of gaseous fuel in the

intake manifold. EFIS mainly consist of following sub-systems:

• A solenoid actuated fuel injector• Engine control unit• Hall effect sensor

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Basic Model of Computer Interface

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HALL EFFECT SENSOR• A device used to detect the presence of nearby objects

without having any physical contact. • Senses magnetic pulses to actuate the input sensor

circuitry.• Hall Effect sensor thus senses one pulse every two

rotation of the shaft by a magnet mounted on the protruded shaft on crankshaft.

Input sensor circuitry: Operation of Hall Effect sensor is implemented by LM 324 circuitry which

Indicates whether the voltage (1 or 0) is sent by the sensor during operation.

Acts as a voltage regulator.

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PROGRAM IN KEIL C AND ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE

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MEASUREMENT METHODS• Exhaust Emission Analysis: The various

gases from the exhaust were analyzed by AVL Digas analyzer

• Fuel Flow Measuring System: volumetric fuel consumption was measured using a glass burette. The time taken by the engine to consume a fixed volume was measured using a stopwatch. The volume divided by the time taken for fuel consumption gives the volumetric flow rate

• Hydrogen was metered by a hydrogen rotameter

• Rpm of the Engine: A tachometer with photo reflective sensor was used for measurement of RPM.

• Temperature Measurement: Chromel-Alumel K-type thermocouples were connected to a 6 channel digital panel meter to measure temperatures of exhaust gas

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SALIENT POINTS OF THE EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE

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RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

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Brake Thermal Efficiency as a function of Brake Mean Effective Pressure for

neat gasoline and 100% Hydrogen 29 MAY 2010

Carbon Monoxide as a function of Brake Mean Effective Pressure for neat gasoline and 100% Hydrogen

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Unburned Hydrocarbon as a function of Brake Mean Effective Pressure for neat gasoline, Kerosene and 100% Hydrogen

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Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx) as a function of Brake Mean Effective Pressure for neat gasoline, Kerosene and 100% Hydrogen

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Temperature Exhaust as a function of Brake Mean Effective Pressure for neat gasoline, Kerosene and 100% Hydrogen

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SCOPE FOR FUTURE WORK• High compression ratio of 10:1, to improve the thermal

efficiency• Manifold absolute pressure sensor, crank speed sensor

and throttle positioning sensor can be used to control the engine parameters in an efficient manner.

• Hydrogen injectors is to be incorporated for efficient fuel induction

• Exhaust gas recirculation technique to reduce NOX level.

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CONCLUSION• The Brake Thermal Efficiency (BTE) on hydrogen was found to be higher as

compared to gasoline. The increase in BTE is due to wide flammability range and fast burning velocity of hydrogen which results in the more complete and faster combustion of hydrogen-air mixture.

• Comparing with gasoline, exhaust temperature of hydrogen fuelled SI engine was higher by around 50°C at all loads which may be due to very high combustion temperature with Hydrogen.

• CO emissions were much lower with hydrogen as compared to gasoline.• Hydrocarbon formation was apparently negligible in hydrogen fuelled engine. However, upon combustion of lubricating oil in the combustion chamber, a very

small quantity of HC emissions were observed.• The NOx were found 3 to 4 times higher for hydrogen as compared to gasoline.

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THANK YOU

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