Effect of hydrogen direct injection on natural gas/hydrogen engine performance under high compression-ratio conditions

In traffic transportation, the use of low-carbon fuels is the key to being carbon-neutral. Hydrogen-enhanced natural gas gets more and more attention, but practical engines fueled with it often suffer from low engine power output. In this study, the inner mech-anism of hydrogen direct injection on methane combustion was optically studied based on a dual-fuel supply system. Simultaneous pressure acquisition and high-speed direct photography were used to analyze engine performance and flame characteristics. The results show that lean combustion can improve methane engine's thermal efficiency, but is limited by cyclic variations under high excess air coefficient conditions. Hydrogen addition mainly acts as an ignition promoter for methane lean combustion, as a result, the lean combustion limit and thermal efficiency can be improved. As for hydrogen injection timing, late injection can increase the in-cylinder turbulence intensity but also the in -homogeneity, so a suitable injection timing is needed for improving the engine's perfor-mance. Besides, late hydrogen injection is more effective under lean conditions because of the reduced mixture inhomogeneity. The current study shall give some insights into the controlling strategies for natural gas/hydrogen engines.(c) 2022 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

In this study, the inner mechanism of hydrogen direct injection on methane combustion was optically studied, and it was found that hydrogen addition can improve the lean combustion effect and thermal efficiency of methane engines. However, the choice of hydrogen injection timing has an important impact on engine performance.