Research on the behavior of CO2 on hydrogen-fueled Wankel rotary engine performance

To prevent global warming, vigorously developing hydrogen energy has become one of research focuses of various countries and regions in recent years. Hydrogen-fueled engines have been proven to be a potential alternative to current fossil-fueled engines. Among various engines, Wankel rotary engine (WRE) is praised for its simple structure and excellent dynamic characteristics, which can greatly compensate for the low specific -volume heat value of hydrogen. However, hydrogen-fueled WRE suffers from low efficiency, high NOx emis-sion and severe knock. For methanol-reforming hydrogen-fueled ICEs, CO2 as the by-product can be used as variant-cooled-EGR to improve ICEs performance and prevent abnormal combustion. Therefore, this work re-searches the behavior of CO2 on the hydrogen-fueled WRE. The work is conducted at 1500 r/min and wide-open throttle. The results show that CO2 has a significant influence on the heat release process of hydrogen-fueled WRE. Due to this influence, when the volume fraction of CO2 in intake (CO2%) is increased from 0 to 19.28%, the brake thermal efficiency can be improved by 8% with a 7% decline in power output. The NO emission has two orders of magnitude of reduction with increasing CO2% from 0 to 19.28%.. In addition, compared with cooled-EGR, CO2 has a better effect on knock suppression. If methanol-reforming to produce hydrogen becomes the mainstream of on-board hydrogen production in the future, the application of CO2 is of great significance.

Automated summary

In order to prevent global warming, the development of hydrogen energy has become a research focus for countries and regions worldwide. Hydrogen-fueled engines, particularly the Wankel rotary engine (WRE), have shown potential as an alternative to fossil-fueled engines due to their simple structure and excellent dynamics. However, hydrogen-fueled WREs suffer from low efficiency, high NOx emissions, and knocking issues.