UNIT 5

BIOFUELS AND THERMAL BARRIER

Thermal barrier coating is one of the techniques used to improve the biofuels operated engine
performance and combustion characteristics by reducing the heat loss from the combustion
chamber. In this study, engine tests results on performance, combustion and exhaust emission
characteristics of the biofuels operated thermal barrier coated engines were collated and
reviewed. The results found in the literature were reviewed in three scenarios: (i) uncoated
versus coated engine for fossil diesel fuel application, (ii) uncoated versus coated engine for
biofuels (and blends) application, and (iii) fossil diesel use on uncoated engine versus biofuel
(and blends) use on coated engine. Effects of injection timing, injection pressure and fuel
properties on thermal barrier coatings were also discussed. The material type, thickness and
properties of the coating materials used by the research community were presented. The
effectiveness and durability of the coating layer depends on two key properties: low thermal
conductivity and high thermal expansion coefficient. Combined effects of thermal barrier
coatings and optimisation of fuel properties and injection parameters produced further
performance and emissions advantages compared to only thermal barrier coated engines.
Overall, current review study showed that application of thermal barrier coatings in
compression ignition engines could be beneficial when biofuels or biofuel blends are used
instead of standard fossil diesel. However, more research is needed combining coatings, types
of biofuels and other engine modifications to establish a concrete conclusion on the
effectiveness of the thermal barrier when biofuels are used in the compression ignition engine.
Reduction of NOx emissions is another important R & D area.
LHR engine preparation

Suitable bond coating and TBC materials for IC engines

The TBC system consists of a TBC, a bond-coat, and a substrate. The bond-coat relaxes
the thermal stresses due to the mismatch of the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) between
the TBC and the substrate. The bond-coat has been also employed for the protective coating
from oxidation and corrosion of the substrate. There is a wide range of metallic alloys used as
bond coat, normally consisting of a MCrAlY alloy, where M stands for Ni, Fe, Co or
combination of them. Some alloys also include other materials such as Ta or Re. Some types
of bond coats are made of electroplated Ni and Pt aluminides followed by diffusion
aluminizing.
What are the required key properties to be a good TBC?
Definitely, there is no single material which fulfils all requirements. Therefore, we need
to find out suitable TBC and Bond coating materials which are able to withstand severe
conditions like IC engine combustion chamber.

The basic requirements of a good TBC are:

a. Low thermal conductivity.
b. No phase transformation in the range of room temperature to in-cylinder temperature.
c. High melting point.
d. Chemical inertness.
e. Same thermal expansion coefficient with metallic substrate.
f. Good adherence capability with metallic substrate.
g. Low sintering rate of porous microstructure.

Investigation shows that inelastic behavior of thick TBC ceramic material and its
unique micro-structure determines the failure mechanism. During the heating of a thick TBC,
a compressive stress develops which becomes tensile after cooling and initiates cracks.
Mismatch in thermo-mechanical properties between bond coating and top coating initiates
cracks in the interface. Although several ceramic materials have been used as TBC in engines,
only a few of them like 7–8% YSZ have received good attraction due to their physical
properties like thermal conductivity, strength, chemical stability, thermal expansion coefficient
etc. Physical properties, advantages, and disadvantages of some suitable TBC and bond coating
materials for IC engine are provided. From this table, one can predict which coating material
is more suitable for IC engine application.

How to convert standard engine into LHR engine?

After the selection of a suitable TBC material, the next job is, it needs to be deposited
on combustion chamber walls. TBC can be deposited by using various techniques. These
techniques are known as thermal spraying processes. Thermal spraying is a group of coating
processes wherein a feedstock material is heated and propelled as individual particles or
droplets onto a surface. The thermal spray gun generates the necessary heat by using
combustible gases or an electric arc. As the materials are heated, they are changed to a plastic
or molten state which are confined and accelerated by a compressed gas stream to the substrate.
 The particles strike the substrate, flatten, and form thin platelets (splats) that conform
and adhere to the irregularities of the prepared substrate and to each other. As the sprayed
particles impinge upon the surface, they cool and build up splat by splat into a laminar structure
forming the thermal spray coating. Coating quality is usually assessed by measuring its
porosity, oxide content, macro and micro-hardness, bond strength and surface roughness. This
process is usually applied to protect metal parts from corrosion, erosion, wire and high
temperature by improving its properties and also for repairing damaged and worn parts.
Coating materials available for thermal spraying include metals, alloys, ceramics, plastics and
composites. There is a wide range of
spraying processes and coating materials that can be deposited so that the thermal spraying
technique has found its application in almost all industrial fields.
The thermal spraying techniques can be divided into several processes that differ
according to the thermal energy source and the respective kinetic energy of the sprayed
particles. Plasma spraying method is the most popular technique to deposit TBC in engine due
to its higher porosity. This method is suitable to apply in a surface which melts at a very high
temperature. A plasma spray system consists of a power supply, gas source, gun, and powder
feeding mechanism. An arc is formed between an electrode and spray nozzle, which acts as a
secondary electrode. A pressurized inert gas is passed between the electrodes where it is heated
to a very high temperature (>16,000°C) to form plasma jet. The material to be deposited
(feedstock) can be a powder, liquid, suspension or wire and is introduced into the plasma jet
by emanating from a plasma torch. For a deposition rate of 1–5 kg/h, particle velocity reaches
200–300 m/s, porosity is reduced to 5–10% and oxide content to 1–3%. In the jet, the material
is melted and propelled toward a substrate. Therefore, the molten droplets flatten, rapidly
solidify and form a deposit. This process has been extensively used to apply thermal barrier
materials, such as zirconia and alumina, and wear resistant coatings such as chromium oxide
and bond coatings such as NiCrAl for LHR
engines.
Heat release characteristics
The peak heat release rate for LHR engine with diesel fuel was higher than LHR engine
with JME, diesel engine with diesel and JME by 3%, 9% and 14%, respectively. This is due to
the combination of higher calorific value of diesel fuel and higher operating temperature
associated with LHR engine. Though, the LHR-JME operation exhibits lower heat release than
LHR-diesel
operation due to lower calorific value of biodiesel nevertheless, it is much higher compared to
standard engine operation.
The higher values of cumulative heat release in LHR engines are attributed to its
capability of thermal insulation by the ceramiccoated combustion chamber. Higher surface
tension and viscosity of biodiesels result in poor atomization during injection process which
deteriorates; sufficient combustible mixture formation leads to reduction in heat release hence
the torque and power. The premixed combustion phase was increased and diffusion combustion
phase was decreased in LHR engine for biodiesels due to shorter ignition delay.
Performance characteristics
Engine power
Engine operation using diesel, biodiesels and vegetable oils is improved by using
thermal barrier coating. This happened due to the reduction in heat transfer from combustion
chamber wall and higher combustion temperature means higher in-cylinder pressure which
ensures higher mean effective pressure, hence higher torque and power. Higher in-cylinder
temperature also improves power and torque by making better vaporization of fuel drops which
results in shorter ignition delay, hence better combustion. A slight decrease in engine power is
also reported for LHR engines. Engine power increases with the increase of engine speed for
all test fuels in both engines.

Specific fuel consumption (SFC)

 In general, the fuel consumption rate is increased in the range 0–10% in a naturally
aspirated LHR engine, decreased in the range 0–15% in a turbocharged LHR engine, and
decreased in the range 0–15% in a turbo-compounded LHR engine compared to a standard
diesel engine. The variations in SFC reflect the diversities in some of the fuel physical
properties, specially calorific value and density. The SFC varies depending on the engine speed
and load. SFC increases in both engines at low engine speeds but decreases at medium speeds
due to higher combustion efficiency, sufficient time and suitable mixture formation in the
combustion chamber. SFC in LHR engine was less than that of the standard engine for diesel
fuel as well as for biodiesels due to higher gas and wall temperature. The complete combustion
characteristics of biodiesels are weaker than diesel fuel due to its lower calorific value and
higher viscosity. Therefore, the SFC values are higher for biodiesels compared to conventional
diesel in both engines because more fuel is required for same output power. In the Ignition
delay (ID) period, the fuel atomizes and mixes with air. This is a physical delay.
Simultaneously the chemical delay occurs due to slow chemical reaction. If the total ID period
is longer, the more fuel will be injected into the combustion chamber. However, shorter ID
period in LHR engine affects both the physical and chemical delay positively. This helps to
decrease SFC for all fuels in LHR engine compared to standard engine. BSFC decreases with
the increase of injection pressure (IP) for vegetable fuel blends in both LHR and standard
engine due to improved spray characteristics. Efficient combustion of vegetable oils in LHR
engine leads to decrease in BSFC compared to standard engine. Thring stated that there is no
measurable improvement in fuel consumption based on the thermodynamics involved.

Volumetric efficiency
Volumetric efficiency is an indication of breathing ability of the engine which depends
on engine ambient conditions. The density of the induced air is very much lower in LHR engine
due to increase in temperature of the residual gas and cylinder walls results in drop in
volumetric efficiency. All researchers have reported that there is a reduction in volumetric
efficiency in LHR engine. The volumetric efficiency was reduced for biodiesels in a LHR
engine at full load compared to standard-diesel operation. High cylinder temperature in LHR
engine is attributed for the reduction in volumetric efficiency. The amount of air induced in
LHR engine is low as air gets heated with insulated components of the engine. Therefore, the
mass flow rate decreases in LHR engine. Moreover, deposits associated with vegetable oils and
higher combustion temperature in LHR engine reduces volumetric efficiency. Turbocharging
can improve volumetric efficiency of the LHR engine.

Thermal efficiency
The principal objective of LHR engine exploration is the improvement of thermal
efficiency by reducing coolant heat losses. Almost all researchers have reported an
improvement in thermal efficiency. The increase in thermal efficiency was attributed to coolant
heat loss reduction and lower heat flux. The decrease in thermal efficiency was attributed to
deteriorated combustion, increased convection heat transfer and increased in-cylinder heat
transfer.
The brake thermal efficiency (BTE) of the coated diesel engine was higher compared
to uncoated engine for diesel, biodiesels, and their blends. Though the thermal efficiency of an
engine depends on many factors but mostly it depends on calorific value and specific gravity
of fuel. Due to the presence of substantial amount of oxygen, biodiesels have 10% lower
heating value than diesel. However, they have higher specific gravity than diesel fuel. The
resultant impact is approximately 5% lower energy content per unit volume. The BTE
increased in LHR engine for all fuels due to reduction in SFC.

Heat loss characteristics

The heat loss characteristics of LHR engines have been investigated by many
researchers. The results provided, indicate a clear reduction in heat losses to the cooling
medium and an increase in exhaust heat losses compared to standard engine, though the thermal
efficiency is not increased to the same extent. The heat losses to the cooling medium were
decreased in the range of 2–3%, 2–7%, and 4–7% at low (20%), medium (50%), and high
(80%) loads respectively for LHR engine. The heat losses with the exhaust gas of LHR engine
at low, medium, and high loads were increased in the range of 3–5%, 4–5%, and 8–9%
respectively than standard engine. The simple fact acting behind the findings is the lower
thermal conductivity of TBC material. The ceramic insulation increases the engine combustion
temperature, hence the expansion work. As a result, the brake power rises by a significant
amount in LHR engine.

Emission characteristics
Exhaust gas temperature (EGT)
EGT increases with the increase of engine speed for all fuels in both engines. This was due to
the fact that fuel burning rate increases at higher speeds as a result heat release rate increases.
The increase is more pronounced in LHR engine as cooling heat losses decrease significantly
in LHR engine due to thermal barrier coating. The magnitude of EGT at peak load decreased
with the increase of injection pressure in both versions of the engine with vegetable oil. This
was attributed to the improved atomization characteristics of the fuel and improved air–fuel
ratio.

Nitrogen oxides (NOx) emission

NOx forms by chain reactions involving O2 and N2 with the presence of sufficient
temperature. The oxygen concentration and surrounding temperature are the key influence
factors for NOx emission. The kinetics of NOx formation is governed by Zeldovich kinetics
and the availability of oxygen. The NOx emission from LHR engine is much higher due to high
combustion temperature and long combustion duration. However, engine load, speed,
combustion chamber content, homogeneity, and mixture density also have significant effects
on NOx emissions. The NO species in exhaust can be reduced by advancing injection timing,
water injection and slower burning rate.

Biodiesels showed more NOx emission in both LHR and standard engine compared to
diesel fuel due to higher oxygen contents. At high speeds, NOx emission was lower in both
engines despite higher temperature for all fuels which was explained by inadequate time for
NOx formation. The higher in-cylinder combustion temperature in LHR engine and higher
oxygen content in vegetable oils increase NOx emission. With the increase of engine speeds,
engine gets more homogenous fuel–air mixture. Therefore, NOx emission increases at higher
engine speeds.

Hydrocarbon (HC) emission

Hydrocarbon emission from LHR engines is more likely to be decreased due to shorter
quenching distance and leaner flammability limit associated with LHR engine combustion.
Most of the investigators have reported lower HC emission. High in-cylinder gas temperature
and wall temperature in LHR engine assist the oxidation reactions to proceed close to
completion. However, some investigators have found opposite result too. According to them,
deterioration in diffusion combustion is liable for higher HC emission. Another reason can be
the burnout of lubrication oil due to higher wall temperature. HC emission in LHR engine is
very much low for pure diesel and biodiesels compared to uncoated engine. This happened due
to the increase of after-combustion temperature as a consequence of cooling heat loss reduction
in LHR engine. Neat biodiesel significantly reduces HC emission compared to blends and pure
diesel fuel in both LHR and standard engine. The reasons are: biodiesels contain about 10%
higher oxygen molecule than diesel; quenching distance decreases and lean flammability limit
increases in LHR engine compared to uncoated engine. HC emission was considerably
decreased when vegetable blends used in LHR engine. The high oxygen content of vegetable
oil makes more complete and cleaner combustion of fuel hence the in-complete combustion
product (HC and CO) decreases. The average HC emission was slightly lower for LHR engine
compared to standard engine when vegetable oil used. HC emission was significantly lower for
vegetable fuels in both LHR and standard engine. At higher speeds, it was reported that there
was almost no HC emission for LHR engine while using vegetable fuel blends.

Carbon monoxide (CO) emission

CO emission occurs due to the incomplete combustion of fuel and depends on many engine
parameters, mostly in-cylinder temperature and equivalence ratio. It might be expected that
LHR engines would produce less CO, for reasons similar to those for HC emission. The
reduced level of pre-mixed combustion in LHR engine decreases initial production of CO and
later (i.e. during diffusion combustion) high temperature accelerates CO oxidation. At lower
engine speeds, due to poor combustion, CO emission is high in both LHR engine and standard
engine for all fuels. Generally combustion is better at medium speeds in diesel engine. CO
emission decreases at medium speeds in both engines for all fuels. CO emission increases at
higher speeds in both engines due to insufficient combustion time. Due to ceramic coatings the
post compression temperature increases which decreases CO emission in LHR engine. In other
words, CO emission decreases in LHR engine as a result of higher combustion efficiency. As
higher oxygen content makes better combustion, the higher biodiesel blended fuel decreases
CO emission. In addition, high temperature in LHR engine helps fuel to continue to burn during
expansion stroke which causes CO emission reduction for all fuels compared to standard
engine.

CO emission was slightly lower for LHR engine than the standard engine while using vegetable
oil. This was attributed to the higher oxygen content of vegetable oil. Since both the CO and
HC emissions decrease, the CO2 emission increases to a great extent in LHR engine. Almost
zero CO emission was observed for some vegetable oil blends at higher speeds. Higher engine
speed leads to more homogeneous mixture in the cylinder, which results in better combustion
and lower CO emission.

Smoke emission
Smoke produces in automotive engine as result of incomplete combustion of fuels. Almost all
researchers reported higher smoke and particulate emissions in LHR engine. This was
attributed to the increased oil consumption resulting from the loss of oil control at the higher
temperatures. Factors such as short ignition delay, poor air–fuel mixing are also responsible
for the formation of smoke and particulates. There are also some contradictory results observed
which were attributed to the enhanced soot oxidation, which was made possible by both the
high combustion temperature
and the intense turbulence created by the reversed squish. The smoke opacity increases with
the increase of engine loads because the input fuel requirement increases with loads. Biodiesels
and
their blends have favorable effect on smoke emissions due to more complete combustion and
presence of extra oxygen molecule. As the cylinder wall and gas temperature increase due to
coating, the smoke density decreases by a large amount in LHR engine. The trend is more
pronounced in case of biodiesel fuels and their blends. Smoke emission was lower at low
speeds in both LHR engine and standard engine for all test fuels due to low temperature and
low air circulation rate associated with low speeds. It was reported that lower combustion
efficiency, rich mixture formation, and insufficient time associated with high speeds resulted
in increased smoke emissions. Because fuel injection increases on each cycle and the required
air cannot be supplied. Smoke emissions decreased as more carbon particles entered into
reaction due to higher temperature associated with LHR engine. The better atomization and
vaporization of biodiesel and higher combustion temperature associated with LHR engine
reduce smoke emissions. The inherent oxygen content of vegetable oil reduces local oxygen
deficiencies which help to reduce smoke emissions. While comparing among vegetable oils the
higher viscous one will make poor atomization, hence the smoke emissions will increase.
Smoke emissions were always lower while using vegetable oil blends in both LHR and
standard engine. Smoke emissions decreased for all fuels with insulation and increasing engine
speeds. Smoke emissions are proportional to the density of the fuel. Due to higher molecular
weight and unsaturation, crude vegetable oils are inherently more reactive than diesel fuel.
Therefore, they are more susceptible to oxidation and thermal polymerization reactions which
lead to higher smoke emissions.

Changes of brake thermal efficiency according to engine speed

Changes of volumetric efficiency according to engine speed

Changes of exhaust gas temperatures according to engine speed

Variation of Nox at different injection timings

Variation of NOx emissions with brake mean effective pressure for original engine with 20◦
BTDC and LHR engine with 20˚BTDC,18˚BTDC, 16˚BTDC at 1500 rpm
What is HCCI?
An HCCI engine is a mix of both conventional spark-ignition and diesel compression
ignition technology. The blending of these two designs offers diesel-like high efficiency
without the difficult and expensive to deal with NOx and particulate matter emissions. In its
most basic form, it simply means that fuel (gasoline or E85) is homogeneously (thoroughly and
completely) mixed with air in the combustion chamber (very similar to a regular spark-ignited
gasoline engine), but with a very high proportion of air to fuel (lean mixture). As the engine's
piston reaches its highest point (top dead center) on the compression stroke, the air/fuel mixture
auto-ignites (spontaneously and completely combusts with no spark plug assist) from
compression heat, much like a diesel engine. The result is the best of both worlds: low fuel
usage and low emissions.

Working of HCCI engine

In an HCCI engine (which is based on the four-stroke Otto cycle), fuel delivery control
is of paramount importance in controlling the combustion process. On the intake stroke, fuel is
injected into each cylinder's combustion chamber via fuel injectors mounted directly in the
cylinder head. This is achieved independently from air induction which takes place through the
intake plenum. By the end of the intake stroke, fuel and air have been fully introduced and
mixed in the cylinder's combustion chamber.

As the piston begins to move back up during the compression stroke, heat begins to build in
the combustion chamber. When the piston reaches the end of this stroke, sufficient heat has
accumulated to cause the fuel/air mixture to spontaneously combust (no spark is necessary)
and force the piston down for the power stroke. Unlike conventional spark engines (and even
diesels), the combustion process is a lean, low temperature and flameless release of energy
across the entire combustion chamber. The entire fuel mixture is burned simultaneously
producing equivalent power, but using much less fuel and releasing far fewer emissions in the
process.

At the end of the power stroke, the piston reverses direction again and initiates the exhaust
stroke, but before all of the exhaust gases can be evacuated, the exhaust valves close early,
trapping some of the latent combustion heat. This heat is preserved, and a small quantity of
fuel is injected into the combustion chamber for a pre-charge (to help control combustion
temperatures and emissions) before the next intake stroke begins.

In this mode, the combustion process is arranged in such a way that the combustion takes place
under very lean and dilute mixture conditions, which results in comparatively lower bulk
temperature and localized combustion temperature, which therefore, considerably reduces the
NOx emissions. Furthermore, unlike conventional CI combustion, in HCCI mode the fuel and
air is well mixed (homogeneous). So, the absence of fuel rich regions in the combustion
chamber results in considerable reduction in PM generation. Therefore, due to absence of
locally high temperatures and a rich fuel-air mixture during combustion process, the
simultaneous reduction of NOx and PM emissions is made possible.

HCCI combustion uses a higher compression ratio, lacks a threshold value and has a
shorter combustion period and faster combustion rate. Thus, it nearly achieves constant volume
combustion and a higher thermal efficiency because of lower combustion temperature and
lower radiation loss. There is no flame front or flame spread or local regions of excessively
high temperature and rich mixture, thereby reducing soot and NOx generation to a very low
level. Variety of fuel types can be used in this mode of combustion.

Schematic diagram of HCCI combustion

The above figure represents the comparison among SI, CI and HCCI operations. In
HCCI engines, a lean homogeneous flammable mixture is formed, before the start of ignition
and is auto ignited as a result of increase in temperature in the compression stroke.
The HCCI operation is similar to SI engine as both use the homogeneous charge for
combustion and similar to CI engine as both depend on the auto ignition of the mixture. Thus,
HCCI combustion can be regarded as the hybrid of SI and CI combustion processes. In SI
engines, three zones of combustion namely
a) burnt zone
b) unburned zone and
c) a thin flame reaction zone in-between is generated for turbulent flame propagation
through the cylinder.
 In CI engines, fuel is diffused into the cylinder and a definite diffusion flame traverses
within the cylinder. Whereas, in HCCI engine spontaneous auto-ignition of whole cylinder
mixture at multiple sites occurs without any diffusion flame or flame front propagation.

Diesel fueled HCCI combustion has the potential to reduce PM and NOx emissions to
near-zero level by employing two basic processes: firstly, by forming a homogeneous mixture
and secondly, by auto-igniting this mixture due to compression heat. However, these same
features also lead to the main challenges. As diesel fuel possesses high viscosity, a wide range
of boiling points, and a high cetane number. It means that the required mixing time scale for
forming a homogenous mixture is very long but the chemical ignition time scale is very short.
Furthermore, fuel-wetting of diesel-fueled HCCI combustion is also an issue under
consideration.

At present achieving fuel economy and reducing emissions are the two main targets set by the
automotive industries. Homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) technology is
believed to be a promising one to be applied in both spark ignition (SI) and compression
ignition (CI) engines in the near future. Challenges such as compromise combustion phase
control, controlled auto- ignition, operating range, homogeneous charge preparation, cold start
and emissions of unburned hydro carbon (UHC), and carbon monoxide (CO) need to be over
come for successful operation of HCCI engine.

Introduction on HCCI engine

Engines develop power by consuming a huge amount of fuel by combustion, and emit
harmful exhaust emissions such as unburned hydrocarbon (UHC), carbon monoxide (CO),
carbon-dioxide (CO2), oxides of nitrogen (NOx), and particulate matter (PM). The automobile
population is increasing exponentially due to the rapid growth in the population. The emission
legislations also become stringent. In this regard, the researchers and engineers paid more
attention towards the advanced modes of combustion like homogeneous charge compression
ignition (HCCI), stratified charge compression ignition (SCCI), and low temperature
combustion (LTC) due to superior thermal efficiencies and ultra-low emissions of NOx and
soot. Among these, the HCCI engines have a potential to meet the considered to be one of the
best combustion technologies to be adopted wider in the market near future, as it offers wide
range of fuel flexibility with a higher thermal efficiency, and low emissions. Fuel flexibility is
also cited as a potential benefit. The preparation of lean homogeneous mixture and low
temperature combustion are adopted in HCCI technology to suppress the NOx and soot
emissions from the engine. The HCCI operation is a like to SI engine which utilizes the
homogeneous charge for combustion and alike to CI engine that has the autoignition of the
mixture.
HCCI combustion: simultaneous reduction of NOx and soot

Schematic diagram of HCCI

Thus, HCCI is the hybrid nature of SI and CI combustion processes. In SI engines, three zones
of combustion namely burnt zone, unburned zone and a thin flame reaction zone in-between
for turbulent flame propagation through the cylinder. In CI engines, fuel is diffused into the
cylinder and a definite diffusion flame travels with in the cylinder. In HCCI engine combustion
spontaneous ignition of whole cylinder charge takes place without any diffusion flame or flame
front propagation.

Engines are operated in the region of lower equivalence ratios to improve efficiency and reduce
emissions. Due to enormous increase in the vehicle population, the lean combustion technology
is employed mainly in IC engines. The NOx emission can be reduced only by reducing the
flame temperature of combustion. Lean burn engines produce lower temperatures, which is the
key factor to reduce the formation of thermal oxides of nitrogen. The excess air employed in
lean burning results in a more complete combustion of the fuel which reduces both the hydro
carbon and carbon monoxide emissions. Moreover, the heat transfer losses in the IC engine can
be decreased only minimizing the combustion temperature. The HCCI combustion is one in
which the low temperature combustion (LTC) is used to reduce the heat transfer losses, and the
heat of fuel is completely released in a few crank angles near top dead centre (TDC). The auto-
ignition of the fuel by compression ignition (CI) engines can handle wide range of the fuels for
combustion. The HCCI engines are operated to auto-ignite the fuel by the compression as the
piston proceeds to the top dead center. The engine has to be operated on a variable compression
ratio (VCR)to adjust the auto-ignition of the cylinder charge near the TDC. A wider angel of
fuels can be burnt easily by adopting the VCR method. Some of the other methods for fuel
flexibility for the given engine are charge heating, boost pressure, exhaust gas recirculation
(EGR), variable valve actuation (VVA).

CHALLENGES OF HCCI IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF HCCI ENGINES:

The challenges of the HCCI combustion include:
 (i) combustion phase control
(ii) controlled autoignition
(iii) operation range
(iv) cold start
(v) emissions of UHC and CO
(vi) homogeneous charge preparation.

Among these challenges, the homogeneous mixture preparation and combustion phase
control play vital role in determining the efficiency and emissions.

Combustion phase control

The main challenge of the HCCI engine is to control ignition timing, which influences
the power and efficiency. The conventional engines have a direct mechanism to control the
start of combustion. Unlike, spark timing in SI engines and fuel injection timing in CI engines,
the HCCI engine lacks start of combustion controlled by autoignition. The fuel–air mixture is
premixed homogeneously, before the start of combustion initiated by the autoignition of time–
temperature history.
This phenomenon of auto-ignition leads to the main combustion control which is
affected by the few factors:
fuel auto-ignition chemistry and thermodynamic properties,
combustion duration,
Wall temperatures,
Concentration of reacting species,
Residual rate,
Degree of mixture homogeneity,
Intake temperature,
Compression ratio,
Amount of EGR,
Engine speed,
Engine temperature,
Convective heat transfer to the engine.
 Hence, the HCCI combustion control over a wide range of speeds and loads is the most
difficult task. Controlling combustion is the most important parameter, because it affects the
power output and the engine efficiency. If combustion occurs too early, power drop in terms
of efficiency and serious damage to the engine occurs, and if combustion occurs too late, the
chance of misfire increases.

Abnormal pressure rise with noise

The instantaneous heat release which is caused by autoignition of the whole
homogeneous charge simultaneously during compression stroke. The instantaneous heat
release results in abrupt rise in temperature followed by abrupt pressure rise, and then high
levels of noise. Controlling this sudden heat release is extremely important, because it is the
main source of pressure rise, which may cause a severe damage to the engine. The acceptable
pressure rise limit is E8 bar/CA for noise.

Domain of operation
The operating range is influenced mainly by the autoignition properties of fuel and
engine geometry. Extending the HCCI operation to full/ higher load also limits the part/ light
load operation, due to lack of ignition energy to auto-ignite the lean mixture at the end of
compression stroke. The flammability limits the fuel–air mixture during very lean HCCI
operation.

High levels of UHC and CO

The UHC and CO emissions in an IC engine are due to combustion of either rich or
very lean to stoichiometric mixtures. The temperature of the lean mixture limits of
inflammability, while the rich mixture suffers from lack of oxidant in the combustion chamber.
The efficiency of combustion is improved only, if the exhaust contains low levels of UHC
emissions. The lean operation of the HCCI combustion produces high levels of UHC and CO
emissions. The unburned hydrocarbon emission in HCCI engines is mainly due to the
incomplete oxidation of fuel through an excess oxidant, which is available for combustion.
Some other reasons of UHC are crevice volumes present in the combustion chamber, valve
over lapping, wall deposit absorption. The exhaust gas temperature is too low to oxidise UHC
and CO to CO2 and H2O completely, even during exhaust stroke. Due to low temperature
combustion process, catalytic converters are also in efficient to oxidise these pollutants. The
efficiency of combustion in HCCI is greatly improved by the complete oxidation of the fuel
lastly by power stroke.

Cold start
 The cold start problem in the HCCI engines is another hurdle in most of the
geographically cold regions. The compressed charge loses more heat to the cold combustion
chamber wall sat the cold start operation. This problem can be overcome by starting the engine
by the conventional mode for a short warm up period, and then switch to the HCCI mode.

Homogeneous charge preparation

The mixture preparation is the key to achieve high fuel economy and low exhaust
emissions from the engine. The thermo- dynamic cycle time of internal combustion engines
takes a very short span and within that, the homogeneous mixture preparation time for
combustion is much lower. The degree of homogeneity of the fuel–air mixture is greatly
improved only by increasing the time for mixture preparation. Some other benefits of effective
mixture preparation are control of wall wetting and oil dilution.

Homogeneous charge preparation strategies

The preparation of the homogeneous mixture is the main factor in reducing the
particulate matter(soot) emissions, and local fuel rich regions to minimize oxides of nitrogen.
The local fuel-rich regions can be decreased by an effective mixture preparation.

Classification of flow – temperature combustion strategies

 Strategies for mixture preparation

External mixture preparation

The homogeneous mixture which is prepared external to the engine cylinder is the most
effective due to more mixing time availability, before the start of combustion. This method of
preparation is more suitable for high volatile fuels like gasoline and alcohols. The mixture
preparation strategies are port fuel injection (PFI), manifold induction, fumigation, wide open
throttle (WOT)carburetion etc. However, the low volatile fuel like diesel can also be used by
using fuel vaporizer. The gaseous fuels are ready to mix with the air and preparation of
homogeneous mixture externally is pretty simple, but the engine may suffer with the volumetric
efficiency, if the calorific value of the gas is low. The gaseous fuels are mixed mostly in the
intake manifold and some early implementations are acetylene, biogas, hydrogen etc.

In-cylinder mixture preparation

The demerits associated with diesel- fueled by the port fuel injection with an internal
mixture formation has been investigated. Two strategies: (i) early direct injection and (ii)late
direct injection for in – cylinder mixture formation have been adopted in the study. The
injection timing for early direct injection was set during compression stroke, for late direct
injection it was set after TDC. High injection pressures with a large number of small nozzle
holes adopted to increase the spray disintegration which forms homogeneous mixture.

Early direct injection

The fuel injection process in the HCCI combustion is charge homogeneity, which is
influenced by injection timing. Early injection method is mostly used method of achieving
HCCI diesel combustion. The early injection allows a longer ignition delay along with the low
temperatures to homogenise the diesel–air mixture. Unlike conventional diesel, direct injection
in diesel engines, pulsed injection strategy is used.

Late direct injection

(i) late fuel injection timing starts from 71 BTDC to31 ATDC,
(ii) high levels of EGR and
(iii) high swirl ratio.

Narrow angle direct injection

In order to prevent fuel deposition on the cold cylinder liner, the angle between the
spray must be reduced. The results indicated that the liquid fuel impingement on the bowl wall
leads to fuel film combustion which is called “pool fire”. Because of the rich air–fuel mixture
and low temperature on the wall surface, the pool fire results in incomplete combustion and
high soot formation for all early injection cases.
Reducing the injection angle from 156º to 60º produces positive effect on emission. The
results showed that the NOx emissions were greatly reduced as the injection timing was
advanced beyond 30º BTDC and the IMEP indicated a modest decrease although the injection
timing advanced to 50–60º BTDC in the case of the narrow spray angle configuration. Fig.
below shows the narrow spray adoption in early in-cylinder direct injection. In early in-cylinder
fuel injection, the spray direction adaption is important, because the volume between the
injector nozzle and piston is larger.

Schematic diagrams of the(a) conventional diesel engine. (b) NADITM for an early injection

HCCI combustion control strategies

The combustion phase in HCCI engines is controlled either by altering time–
temperature history or by altering the mixture reactivity.
 Methods for controlling HCCI combustion phasing

The first group indicates the purpose of which is to alter the time–temperature history
of the mixture. It includes fuel injection timing, variation of intake air temperature, variation
of compression ratio (VCR) and variable valve timing (VVT). The second group attempts to
control the reactivity of the charge by varying the properties of the fuel, the fuel – air ratio or
the amount of oxygen by EGR. However, the homogeneous mixture preparation, before the
start of ignition is the main objective of HCCI.
Control strategies for HCCI combustion

Control Key features Advantages

strategy
High swirl Specially designed BUMP Improves the mixing rate of fuel and air, and
ratio combustion chamber used high swirl is essential for the quick
swirlratios3–5 with bump rings. homogeneous mixture preparation
Ultra high Ultra-high injection Mixture homogeneity increases. A larger
injection pressure(300MPa) and micro- hole flame structure and week soot formation.
pressure nozzle (d¼0.08 mm) were used. There is no liquid wall wetting.
with small
nozzle holes
High boost Increase the indicated mean Low UHC and NOx were observed with
pressure effective pressure boost pressure and engine load
High boost Extended the high load operation. High loads up to 16 bar brake mean
pressure effective pressure, and ultra-low emissions.
Variable Active valve train was used to trap Low NOx emissions
compression the exhaust gases.
ratio (VCR)
 Variable HCCI fuel flexibility was By changing the compression ratio any fuel
compression demonstrated by using primary can be burnt in HCCI engines
ratio reference fuels
Intake Increased the combustion Emissions of hydrocarbons and carbon
charge efficiency by charge heating. monoxide tend to decrease with increasing
temperature intake temperature
Charge Start of combustion was varied High inlet temperature decreases ignition
temperature with mixture reactivity delay and accelerates the overall kinetics
and
equivalence
ratio
Heat The intake air was heated by waste Reduced the requirements of intake heating.
exchanger thermal energy in the exhaust gases
Heat The intake air was heated by waste Reduced the requirements of intake heating
exchanger thermal energy in the exhaust gases
Exhaust gas Increases ignition delay and to Longer ignition delay improved mixture
recirculation reduce NOx emissions homogeneity
(EGR)
Exhaust gas Variable EGR and ignition timings Lower EGR rate and delayed ignition
recirculation were used timing should be applied at higher load and
(EGR) vice versa to avoid knocking
Exhaust gas The combustion efficiency at low Cold EGR improved combustion efficiency
recirculation load conditions was improved of turbocharged HCCI engine at all
(EGR) conditions
Fuel Di-methyl ether (DME), form H2O2 addition was effective in advancing
additive aldehyde (CH2O) and hydrogen the ignition timing.
peroxide (H2O2) were used as
additives
Engine Extending the engine operating As the speed increases, ignition delay
speed regime. becomes longer, which requires high intake
temperatures. Hence, lower speeds are
suitable for high load HCCI combustion.
Pulsed To enhance ignition reliability and Direct ignition timing control of HCCI
flame jet burning rate combustion is possible with pulsed flame
jet.
Split The combustion process was Split injection strategy can optimize the
injection optimized via fuel injection timing combustion process and control emissions
Water Controlling the auto-ignition Low NOx emissions and delays auto-
injection timing ignition timing

Combustion which can be controlled

(a) by increasing the degree of homogeneity and
 (b) delaying auto-ignition.

Control strategies to increase the mixture homogeneity

Ultra high injection pressure with small nozzle holes
The atomization of the fuel inside the combustion chamber can be improved greatly by
using high injection pressures (high velocity of the jet) and by decreasing the nozzle hole
diameter. The effects of ultra-high injection pressure (300MPa) and micro-hole nozzle (d¼0.08
mm) on flame structure and soot formation of impinging diesel spray. A larger flame structure
and week soot formation is detected with a micro hole nozzle at injection pressures of 200 and
300 MPa. There is no liquid wetting for micro-hole nozzle. The fuel–air mixture homogeneity
can be increased by increasing the injection pressures and by decreasing the diameter of nozzle
hole.

High swirl ratio

The swirl of air in the combustion chamber also improves the mixing rate. The mixing
rate of fuel and air and high swirl is essential for the quick homogeneous mixture preparation
for combustion.

Pulsed fuel injection

The early in – cylinder fuel injection requires multiple pulsed injections of the total fuel. The
lower air density during early CAD injection during compression stroke causes over
penetration of the fuel. The two-stage fuel injection in which first injection is used for premixed
lean combustion, while the second injection is meant for diffusion combustion.

High boost pressure

Super charging or turbo charging is used in HCCI engines to extend the domain of
operation. Super charging in HCCI combustion increases the Indicated Mean Effective
Pressure. Supercharging has the capacity to deliver increased charge density and pressure at all
engine speeds while turbocharging depends upon the speed of the engine. The in- cylinder
density and volumetric efficiency can be improved with a high boost pressure. The evaporation
of the fuel is increased with a high intake pressure due to high in-cylinder temperatures. The
mixing time can be decreased with the boost pressure is advantageous with all early injection
systems. The combustion efficiency can be improved slightly at high boost levels, and cooled
EGR rates was introduced and ultra-low NOx emissions.
 Cylinder pressure and heat release for (a) PRF (n-heptane) (b) PRF (iso-octane)

Control strategies to delay the auto-ignition

Variable compression ratio (VCR)
The start of ignition (SOI) can be delayed by decreasing the compression ratio of the
diesel engine, but it should not be decreased to much as it suffers from the thermal efficiency.
To achieve HCCI combustion decreasing inlet temperatures and lambdas, higher compression
ratios were need to maintain correct maximum brake torque and concluded that VCR can be
used. A low octane (n-heptane) fuel or a high octane (iso-octane) fuel or a medium octane fuel
which is the most suitable for the HCCI operation, regarding fuel efficiency and emissions.
The compression ratio was changed from 10:1to 28:1, shows fuel flexibility of HCCI engine
using VCR.

Charge temperature and equivalence ratio

The auto-ignition of fuel–air mixture is a very sensitive to intake air temperature
changes, as small as 5º–10º. Hence, the combustion control is very difficult task in order to
achieve high efficiency without any knock. Diesel fuel doesn't require any charge heating, as
it can be burnt easily with a compression ratio of 16. For low cetane fuels, modulate intake air
temperature is necessary to reach its auto-ignition temperature near the TDC for combustion.
A higher intake temperature advances combustion but the engine volumetric and thermal
efficiency can be largely reduced, due to the fact that, if ignition is advanced into the
compression stroke, it will cause significant negative work on the piston.

Ignition delays as a function of the inlet temperature for n-heptane

Ignition delays as a function of the equivalence ratio for iso-octane

Exhaust gas recirculation (EGR)

 Consequences of intake charge temperature and EGR in HCCI engine

The technology of EGR is widely used in HCCI combustion due to its high potential of
controlling the auto-ignition of time– temperature history and enhancement of NOx emission
reduction. The EGR can be categorized into internal and external EGR. Internal EGR is
acquired by the exhaust gas trap (EGT) using the negative valve overlap (NVO) and variable
valve timing (VVT) methods. The most practical means to delay the auto-ignition in an HCCI
engine is through the addition of high levels of EGR into the intake. The inert gases present in
the EGR can be used to control the heater lease rate due to its impact on chemical reaction rate,
which can delay the auto-ignition timing. Hence, EGR reduces the heat release rate, and thus
lowers the peak cylinder temperature due to the constituents of EGR (mainlyCO2 and H2O)
having higher specific heat capacities.
Effect of EGR on ignition delay and emissions are
(i) reducing oxygen concentration at the intake,
(ii) lowers the adiabatic flame temperature,
(iii) Increases the ignition delay with as lower peak pressure.
(iv) Decreases NOx emission
(v) High EGR rate decreased volumetric efficiency and increased smoke emissions.
(vi) The intake of some un-burnt HC with exhausted gas into the next cycle leads to a decrease
in HC emissions,
(vii) The decrease of combustion temperature in the cylinder leads to an increase in HC
emissions.
Fuel modification
The auto-ignition characteristics of the fuel–air mixture can be controlled with fuel
blending or / and additives. For HCCI combustion volatility and auto-ignition characteristics
of the fuel are important. On constant volume combustion bomb experiments shows the
primary properties of fuel relate to the distillation characteristics and the ignition
characteristics.

Combustion and emission characteristics of bioethanol in the HCCI combustion mode

The HCCI engine can operate over a wide range of fuels from conventional diesel and
gasoline to alternative fuels such as ethanol, methanol, butanol, isopentanol, dimethyl ether,
natural gas and hydrogen, biodiesel and their blends. Ethanol can be a good alternative as a
gasoline fuel replacement. They concluded that an ethanol-fueled HCCI engine is required to
develop the control method to maintain proper ignition timing.
However, based on the literature survey, this study broadly classifies the mixture preparation
strategies in the HCCI combustion with ethanol into three categories: external mixture
preparation,
internal mixture preparation and combined mixture preparation as shown in Fig. 2. The
different methods included in the three groups are illustrated in Fig. 2.

External mixture preparation

The external mixture preparation strategies in the ethanol-fueled HCCI combustion can be
subdivided into port fuel injection and a vaporizer.

Port fuel injection (PFI)

Ethanol has a much higher heat of vaporization, auto-ignition temperature, and octane
number than gasoline and diesel fuel. This means that the evaporation of a certain amount of
ethanol must absorb much more heat from the surrounding environment than evaporation of
the same amount of gasoline or diesel fuel. Therefore, an ethanol application in a HCCI engine
requires a significant elevation in the intake charge temperature before the end of the
compression stroke. This can be achieved using various approaches including intake charge
preheating, high compression ratio, and recirculation of exhaust gas.
 Mixture preparation technologies in ethanol fueled HCCI mode.

An experimental study on the performance, combustion and emission characteristics of

an HCCI engine fueled with ethanol and methanol at different engine operating conditions with
varying intake air temperatures and equivalence ratios at different engine speeds (1200 rpm
and 2400 rpm). In this study, the effect of the intake air temperature and equivalence High
compression ratio: The effect of the fuel and operating conditions on the combustion and
exhaust emission characteristics of the HCCI engines was experimentally investigated in a
modified DI CI engine with a relatively high compression ratio of 17.5.
They studied the impact of the water content in ethanol with blends up to 60% and
found stable HCCI operation for fuels containing up to 40% water. HC and CO emissions tend
to increase with an increase in the water content of fuel, but NOx levels remain low. The
combustion and emission characteristics of an ethanol-fueled port injected HCCI combustion
engine.
They also found that HC and CO emissions exhibit a tradeoff according to the increase
in the relative equivalence ratio. Variations in the combustion and performance parameters
with a port fuel injection of ethanol in the HCCI mode were investigated on a same engine as
in the previous study. The inlet air was supplied at temperatures of 120, 140 and 160 °C and
the engine was operated at a constant engine speed of 1500 rpm.

BIOGAS IN HCCI ENGINE

Experimental procedure
In order to achieve HCCI, the engine was initially motored with the intake charge temperature
being increased steadily using a heater. Then the engine was started when diesel was injected
into
the inlet manifold. An intake charge temperature of 85ºC was required for starting the engine.
Subsequently, the engine was loaded to a Brake Mean Effective Pressure (BMEP) of 2.5 bar,
i.e. 50% of the maximum for this engine. Then the biogas was slowly allowed along with the
intake charge and the amount of diesel that was injected was reduced simultaneously and the
engine speed was maintained at 1500 rpm throughout. The coolant outlet temperature was
maintained at 50 _C always. Three intake charge (air + biogas + diesel) temperatures namely
80, 100 and 135 _C were tried at different diesel–biogas proportions at the BMEP of 2.5 bar.
The limits of operation in the HCCI mode were misfire (at high biogas flow rates i.e. low diesel
flow rate) and knock (at low biogas flow rates i.e. high diesel flow rate). Subsequently, the
BMEP was raised from 2.5 bar in steps to 4 bar at different constant charge temperatures of 80,
100 and 135 _C. The engine could not run at BMEPs below 2.5 bar in the HCCI mode as the
intake charge temperature could not be raised beyond 135 _C due to system limitations. Beyond
a BMEP of 4 bar, combustion rate became very high and very careful control over the charge
temperature and biogas flow rate was needed. Results have been reported at different biogas–
diesel energy ratios. Here energy ratio is defined as the ratio of energy supplied by the biogas
alone to the sum of the energy supplied from biogas and diesel expressed in percentage. Engine
performance, emission and combustion characteristics were evaluated in all the tests.

Results and discussion

The engine could operate in the biogas–diesel HCCI (BD-HCCI) mode satisfactorily in the
BMEP range of 2.5–4 bar with charge temperatures in the range of 100–135 _C. Measurements
were not done at BMEPs below 2.5 bar as the charge temperature needed was very high. In the
case of BMEPs above 4 bar control was difficult as the charge temperature had to be lowered
and biogas
quantity had to be carefully elevated.

Brake thermal efficiency

The brake thermal efficiency in the biogas–diesel HCCI (BDHCCI) mode of operation at a
BMEP of 2.5 bar is seen in Fig. 2. Biogas was supplied till the efficiency dropped down
significantly. It
may be noted that in the diesel-HCCI mode even a charge temperature of 100 _C cannot be
used as it will lead to severe knocking due to high heat release rates. With biogas, higher charge
temperatures could be tolerated due to the presence of CO2 and the high self ignition
temperature of methane present in it. For example, at the charge temperature of 100 _C the
thermal efficiency increased as the biogas quantity was elevated due to the fact that the
combustion was progressively delayed towards TDC for good thermodynamic efficiency. At
the charge temperature of 100 _C, a maximum of 40% substitution by biogas was possible.
Here the energy ratio is defined as the amount of energy from biogas to the total energy (diesel
+ biogas) supplied to the engine. High levels of biogas lowered the heat release rate and thus
the thermal efficiency.
When the charge temperature was elevated a similar trend was seen. Higher biogas rates could
be tolerated with better thermal efficiencies. At the charge temperature of 135 _C, it was
possible to use a biogas energy ratio of 40–57%. Still higher thermal efficiencies and biogas
rates could have been achieved if the charge temperature was elevated. This was however not
tried in this work

Variations of brake thermal efficiency of biogas–diesel HCCI operation at 2.5 bar BMEP.

as the air had to be heated to as high as 200ºC to achieve a charge temperature of 135 _C. At
these conditions the exhaust gas temperature is above 250 _C. Hence, a heat exchanger could
be used to
preheat the charge by the exhaust. Subsequently the engine was run at different BMEPs with
three
charge temperatures namely 80, 100 and 135 _C. It may be noted that here the biogas energy
ratio was fixed at the condition where knock was just avoided. The highest thermal efficiency
obtained
with this constraint (lowest biogas energy ratio without knock) at each BMEP in the BD-HCCI
mode is seen in Fig. 3 for each charge temperature. The optimum charge temperatures are 135
_C at 2.5 and 3 bar, 100 _C at 3.5 bar and 80 _C at a BMEP of 4 bar. The thermal efficiencies
with the BD-HCCI mode are lower than the case CI mode with diesel by a maximum of 3%
absolute (i.e. from 30% (CI mode) to 27% in the BD-HCCI mode at a BMEP of 4 bar). It may
be noted that even in the case of biogas diesel operation in the dual fuel mode the thermal
efficiencies are lower than the neat diesel mode of operation [10]. In the case of dual fuel
operation with biogas and diesel higher drops in thermal efficiency have been reported [11].
Emissions
As the amount of energy from biogas increases the HC level goes up probably because of the
unburned portion of the charge which is thought to be composed of biogas, which becomes
richer. Beyond a particular substitution there is sudden rise in the HC level due to an increase
in the partial
burn and misfiring cycles. Fig. 6 also shows that the HC levels go up with rise in BMEP or rise
in charge temperature. As the charge temperature rises, at any BMEP more biogas has to be
used to suppress knock. As the BMEP increases, we find from Fig. 4 that the biogas energy
ratio increases if we need operation at the knock border. Thus it is evident that the HC level
goes up whenever the biogas energy ratio increases. These levels are far higher than the base
diesel values. Biogas diesel dual fuel engines also show significantly increased HC levels as
compared to normal diesel operation indicates that at a BMEP of 2.5 bar the CO level drops to
a minimum and then rises as the biogas energy level is increased. Near the operating condition
of highest thermal efficiency the CO level is a minimum. When misfire occurs the CO level
shoots up as in the case of HC. However, the HC level always goes up with an increase in the
biogas energy ratio.

Variations of brake thermal efficiency of biogas–diesel HCCI operation for the operation
window.
 Variations of HC emissions of biogas–diesel HCCI operation at 2.5 bar BMEP.

Variations of CO emissions of biogas–diesel HCCI operation at 2.5 bar BMEP.

Variations of CO emissions for different charge temperatures for the operation window.

the CO level falls with increase in BMEP when the biogas ratio is maintained to avoid knock.
Here the biogas energy ratio increases (i.e. the diesel share decreases) with rise in BMEP. In
general it is seen that CO falls when the diesel share reduces. The NO level was found to reduce
as the biogas energy ratio was raised because the combustion rate came down with a decrease
in the amount of diesel injected. Even when the engine was knocking the NO levels in the BD-
HCCI mode was below 60 ppm is seen in Fig. 9 due to the effect of CO2. Fig. 10 indicates that
at different BMEPs the NO level when the engine was at the knock border is less than 20 ppm
as compared to values between 250 and 470 ppm with neat diesel operation.

This work has shown that biogas can be effectively used in the HCCI mode with manifold
injected diesel and charge temperature being employed for controlling combustion. The
presence of CO2 in biogas suppresses the high heat release that normally occurs in HCCI
engines fuelled with diesel. The high self ignition temperature of methane helps delay the
combustion process to favorable
crank angles. Efficiencies close to diesel operation along with extremely low levels of NO and
smoke were attained in a BMEP range of 2.5–4 bar. This can be extended to still higher BMEPs
with proper control over the charge temperature and biogas energy ratio.
This mode of operation seems to be better than the biogas diesel dual fuel mode in the range
of BMEPs tried as regards thermal efficiency and emissions of NO and smoke.
The thermal efficiency at a BMEP of 4 bar is 27.2% in the biogas– diesel HCCI mode as against
30% with diesel operation. The NO level is less than 20 ppm and the smoke level is less than
0.1 BSU at all conditions in the biogas–diesel HCCI mode. The best energy ratio of biogas is
about 50%. HC emissions are significantly higher with the biogas–diesel HCCI mode as
compared to the normal diesel mode. The HC level increases with a raise in the biogas energy
ratio. A charge temperature of about 80–135 _C is needed. This can be attained through heating
by exhaust gases. On the whole the biogas–diesel HCCI mode can be employed in the medium
to high output ranges when biogas is to be utilized in a diesel engine.

Advantages and disadvantages of HCCI engine

• As compared to conventional gasoline engines, HCCI engines are far more efficient because
they have least throttling losses, shorter combustion duration, and high compression ratios
that make engine work faster and better.
• The obvious advantage of fuel flexibility, which means diesel and gasoline, can be used
equally. Less dependency on a single fuel.
• HCCI provides higher BTE than S.I engine.
• It is compatible with ethanol fuel as well, can be used with the E85 gasoline too.
• Clean burning and reduced emissions are its major advantages. As compared to
conventional engines, the HCCI engines do not affect the environment greatly. Less quantity
of soot is released by HCCI engines.
• HCCI engines cost less since they use lower-pressure-fuel-injection equipment.
• Since HCCI engines are fuel-lean, they can operate at diesel-like compression ratios (>15),
thus achieving 30% higher efficiencies than conventional SI gasoline engines.
• Homogeneous mixing of fuel and air leads to cleaner combustion and lower emissions.
Because peak temperatures are significantly lower than in typical SI engines, NOx levels
are almost negligible. Additionally, the technique does not produce soot.
• HCCI engines can operate on gasoline, diesel fuel, and most alternative fuels.
• HCCI avoids throttle losses, which further improves efficiency.
• Major disadvantages of using a HCCI engine are mentioned.
• Controlling of ignition timing has always remained a major concern. For different ranges of
speed and load, the engine might behave poorly.
• Hydrocarbon and monoxide emissions are more in HCCI engines as compared to
conventional spark plug engines.
• However using oxidation catalysts can solve this problem and reduce emissions.
• Engine wear and tear could happen because of high pressure and heat release
• Achieving cold start capability.
• High heat release and pressure rise rates contribute to engine wear.
• Autoignition is difficult to control, unlike the ignition event in SI and diesel engines, which
are controlled by spark plugs and in-cylinder fuel injectors, respectively.

• HCCI engines have a small power range, constrained at low loads by lean flammability
limits and high loads by in-cylinder pressure restrictions.
• Carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrocarbon (HC) pre-catalyst emissions are higher than a
typical spark ignition engine, caused by incomplete oxidation (due to the rapid combustion
event and low in-cylinder temperatures) and trapped crevice gases, respectively.
 DUAL FUEL

The dual fuel engine works on compression ignition principle. At first the air-fuel is drawn into
the engine cylinder which is highly compressed in the cylinder. Next step is the ignition
process. But this fuel (also called gaseous fuel) is not a good compression ignition fuel. Hence
a small amount of diesel (called as pilot fuel) is injected, which acts as a catalyzer to the ignition
process. As the fuel is ignited due to the temperature rise, the whole air-fuel mixture ignites
and rapid combustion takes place. Due to this rapid combustion the pressure inside the cylinder
is increased causing the piston to move and produce engine power.
The sudden increase in the dual fuel engine causes knocking problem, which can be controlled
by injecting a definite quantity of diesel fuel. One interesting fact about the dual fuel engine is
that the combustion takes place as a CI engine fashion, but the propagation of the flame front
is just like the SI engine. The air standard efficiency for any engine is given by, the ratio of
Heat added minus heat rejected to total heat added.

Features of DF Engine
System of DF Engine
The principle of operation in the diesel mode is diffuse combustion by fuel oil injection,
which is the same as conventional diesel engines. In the gas mode, the main fuel is fuel gas. A
small amount of pilot fuel oil is also injected using the diesel fuel oil injection mechanism, and
premix combustion is realized with the pilot fuel oil as the ignition source.
Gas Fuel Conversion of DF Engines
In DF gas fuel conversion, existing diesel generation equipment is modified to a DF engine.
The main work is modification of the engine itself and addition of the gas fuel equipment. As
a precondition of conversion, it is assumed that the generator, auxiliary equipment, etc. are
mostly reused without modification. This means that the initial investment can be reduced to
approximately 1/3 of that required for new construction. Moreover, because the construction
period is short, the customer can enjoy the higher profit margin resulting from conversion to
fuel gas more quickly.

Dual Fuel System diagram

Gas mode cycle

 Dual Fuel Conversion

Fuel oil injection system

In many cases, DF engines must provide approximately the same output in both the
diesel mode and the gas mode. To achieve this, the most suitable parts for realizing stable
injection of a small amount of oil in the gas mode, while maintaining a high injection rate in
the diesel mode, are applied to fuel oil injection system.

Fuel gas system

As in gas engines, gas piping, a fuel gas shut off valve, a fuel gas pressure regulator, a
gas filter, and related devices are installed as additional equipment. In the engine itself, the
modification items are installation of a fuel gas manifold and installation of gas valves for each
cylinder.

Air and exhaust system

Turbocharger matching is changed in order to secure the optimum air excess ratio. The
existing equipment is used without changing the type. Air fuel ratio control system is installed
to air supply line to control the air excess ratio.
Combustion chamber

As the compression ratio of conventional diesel engines is 12–13, the knocking limit is lower
side in the gas mode, and high output can not be secured. Therefore, the engine is modified by
changing the pistons and connecting rods so as to reduce the compression ratio to the same
level as in gas engines.
Control system

A gas valve control function is added to the gas system, and an operating sequence that enables
governor control of the fuel injection system in both the diesel mode and the gas fuel mode is
made. A system that controls both modes using the same controller is developed.
CHARACTERISTICS OF DUAL FUEL ENGINE
Dual fuel engine has high efficiency and it remains unchanged using secondary fuel, such as
NG, Hydrogen and LPG. DF engine uses secondary fuel or gas at low pressure and reduces the
emission due to high efficiency, clean fuel and lean burn combustion. The fuels used in DF
engine are chemically stable and it may be gas or liquid and DF fuel engine also use bio-fuels.
DF engine has double wall gas piping that means the engine room is a gas safe area. DF engine
may use EGR system to reduce the exhaust emission.

DUAL FUEL (DIESEL/NATURAL GAS) ENGINE

Nowadays, the most critical issues concerning internal combustion engines are the reduction
of the pollutant emissions, in particular of CO2, and the replacement of fossil fuels with
renewable sources. An interesting proposition for Diesel engines is the use of natural gas in
combination with the conventional liquid fuel. This technology, known as Dual Fuel (DF)
combustion, consists in the ignition of a premixed charge of gaseous fuel by means of a pilot
injection of Diesel Fuel. With a proper control of the premixed charge composition and of the
injection advance, it is possible to achieve a smoke-less combustion, reduce CO and CO2, and
get acceptable levels of nitrogen oxides. The dual fuel operation is characterized by a diesel
pilot injection to start combustion in a port premixed NG/air blend. In the best conditions up to
90% diesel oil can be replaced by NG. Critical aspects are at idle and low load, where poor
combustion quality and high HC emissions usually occur, and at full output as well, where
heavy knocking can damage engine. An important target that is reachable applying this
technology is to approach the same efficiency of a diesel engine, but with globally lower
pollutant emissions. Moreover, lower CO2 emissions are expected, since methane presents the
lowest C/H ratio among all the fossil fuels.
In the last years, the dual-fuel combustion system has been studied by many researchers but it
has not yet reached a great diffusion, essentially due to the HC and CO emissions that are
higher than those of a conventional diesel engine, especially at part load. In the authors propose
a binary fuel blend in which two fuels with different auto ignition characteristics allow a better
combustion timing control in a HCCI engine. They optimize the chemical kinetic mechanisms
available for n-heptane and natural gas. In dual fuel engine using diesel and natural gas there
are mechanical failure occurs due to auto ignition or knocking, high temperature and pressure
of combustion.

Heat Releases by varying the NG ratio

NG rates up to 50% the engine behavior is almost similar to that in full diesel operation, both
in terms of lean combustion development and as regards the nitric oxide formation. On the
other hand, increasing the NG rate at 70 – 90 % level induces an engine behavior that is
comparable with the one of spark ignition engines close to knocking conditions with a sudden
consumption of the natural gas in the reacting mixture and, consequently with a steep pressure
rise. In DF combustion construction of pre-mixed natural gas and pilot fuel are varying at
different speeds. Diesel/NG DF engine reduce smoke and also allows the reduction of emission,
but the only drawback appears the increase of oxides of nitrogen (NOx), which can be reduced
or eliminate, using EGR system or by setting of premixed NG concentration and SOI.

Comparison between normal Diesel and Dual Fuel operation in terms of (a) CO2 emissions,
(b) CO emissions, (c) NO emissions
Dual fuel (Diesel/Hydrogen) Engine:-
In diesel/hydrogen dual fuel engine hydrogen is pre-mixed with the engine intake air after the
injection of diesel in small percentage to improve the engine combustion and to reduce
pollutant emissions during combustion. The advantages of using hydrogen as fuel for internal
combustion engine is among other a long-term renewable and less polluting fuel, non-toxic,
odorless, and has wide range flammability. Other hydrogen properties that would be a
challenge to solve when using it for internal combustion engine fuel, i.e.: low ignition energy,
small quenching distance, and low density. Hydrogen cannot be used directly in a diesel engine
due to its auto ignition temperature higher than that of diesel fuel. One alternative method is to
use hydrogen in enrichment or induction. The engine was run at a constant speed of 2000 rpm
and 10 Nm load. Hydrogen was introduced at the flow rate of 21.4, 36.2, and 49.6 liter/minute.
Specific energy consumption, indicated efficiency, and cylinder pressure were investigated. At
this low load, the hydrogen enrichment reduced the cylinder peak pressure and the engine
efficiency. Diesel-hydrogen dual fuel engine can be operated with less fuel than neat diesel
operations, resulting in lower smoke level and higher brake thermal efficiency. NOx emissions
were also reduced except at full load operation. Hydrogen induction, particularly when its
energy share increased above 15% resulted in a sharp decrease in ignition delay, very high peak
pressure rates, increase in smoke and loss in fuel efficiency. The brake thermal efficiency of
dual fuel with exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) is higher than that of neat diesel operation. Dual
fuel operation without EGR resulted in the lowest smoke and unburned HC. EGR reduced NOx
emission effectively. It was found that CO, FSN, and THC increase with EGR but NOx
emission decrease drastically. Inversely, CO, FSN, and THC emission decrease with hydrogen,
but NOx increases. This inverse relationship will allow the combination of EGR and hydrogen
induction to be optimized to minimize both FSN and NOx. Using Port-injected hydrogen, there
was an increase in brake thermal efficiency of the engine with a greater reduction in emissions.
Any decrease of emission, especially NOx is likely due to enhancement of turbulent mixing in
the cylinder caused by the injection of pressurized hydrogen through the intake valve. Timed
manifold injection (TMI) of hydrogen gave higher thermal efficiency and avoided undesirable
combustion. Hydrogen induction with TMI coupled with EGR results in lowered emission level
and improved performance level compared to the case of neat diesel operation. Although
research on hydrogen combustion in the internal combustion engine has intensified, the number
of published papers in the field of hydrogen-diesel co-combustion is not as rich as for hydrogen
used in spark ignited engines.
During the hydrogen addition, the load and speed were kept constant. This mode can be realized
by setting the dynamometer at fixed load. The engine speed was kept constant by controlling
the diesel fuel governor. The percentage of diesel fuel on the energy basis of this load condition
is depicted in Fig. 5a. It is noted that the diesel replacement for hydrogen flow rates at 21.4,
36.2, and 49.6 l/minute were around 50, 90, and 97% respectively. More energy was added
when hydrogen was introduced. To keep the load and speed constant, the fuel governor was
adjusted accordingly to reduce the diesel supply. As a result, part of diesel fuel was replaced
by hydrogen enrichment. Figure 5b depicts the variation in specific energy consumption (SEC)
at 10 Nm load for different level of hydrogen enrichment. SEC indicates the amount of total
fuel energy (diesel and hydrogen) needed to produce 1 kW power for an hour engine operation.
The total fuel energy is calculated from the individual fuels (diesel and hydrogen) multiplied
by their respective calorific value. An increasing hydrogen flow rate at the low load operation
results in a higher SEC. The specific energy is found to be 20.73 MJ/kWh with hydrogen flow
rate of 21.4 l/min. A further increase in SEC to 21.70 MJ/kWh is obtained when hydrogen flow
rate increase to 36.2 l/min. A slightly increase in SEC to 21.8 MJ/kWh is noticed at hydrogen
flow at 49.6 l/min [4].

At this low load, the efficiency decreases with hydrogen enrichment. The indicated
efficiency of 57.9% is achieved at the hydrogen flow rate of 21.4 l/min. Further increase in
hydrogen flow rate of 36.2 and 49.6 l/min reduce the efficiency to 54.3 and 49% respectively.
The percentage of diesel fuel is reduced significantly with hydrogen enrichment at this low
load condition. This low portion of the diesel fuel may not be sufficient to ignite the premixing
mixture of hydrogen-air. The efficient combustion cannot be achieved and resulted in
increasing SEC.

Diesel energy replacement by hydrogen; (b) Specific energy consumption

 Indicated efficiency

Increase in hydrogen enrichment to 49.6 l/min reduced the percentage of diesel fuel to
3.1%. These portions of diesel may not be adequate to produce an efficient combustion. The
amount of diesel fuel to ignite the premixing of hydrogen with air was reduced and resulted in
a late start of combustion.
 Effect of hydrogen addition at 2000 rpm, 10 Nm on: Rate of heat release

Diesel/LPG Dual fuel engine:-

In this technique, dual fuel engine uses diesel as primary fuel and LPG as secondary fuel. After
the injection of diesel in small quantity, LPG is pre-mixed with the engine intake air, to improve
the combustion process on engine and to reduce the emission pollutants during combustion.
Diesel/LPG dual fuel engine improves the efficiency by 8% at 60% to 80% load condition [3].
By the increase in mixture temperature, the flame velocity is increases, thus resulting lower
emission.

Compression ignition (CI) engines emit high levels of particulate matter (PM) and oxide of
nitrogen (NOx) emissions due to combustion with heterogeneous air fuel mixture. The PM
emission could be reduced significantly along with thermal efficiency improvement using
hydrogen in the engines under dual fuel mode (diesel-hydrogen). In hydrogen dual fuel engines,
other emissions including hydrocarbon (HC), carbon monoxide (CO) and smoke decrease to
near zero level whereas greenhouse gas emissions (carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4))
from CI engines decrease substantially. However, the literature review indicates the maximum
hydrogen energy share in the dual fuel engines at rated load is limited from 6% to 25%. This
is mainly due to higher in-cylinder peak pressure and rate of pressure rise, knocking and
autoignition of hydrogen-air charge. In addition to this, NOx emission in the engine under dual
fuel mode is higher (about 29–58%) than conventional diesel mode due to high localized in-
cylinder temperature. The suitable strategies for improvement of maximum hydrogen energy
share (up to 79%) and NOx emission reduction (up to a level of conventional mode) in CI
engines under dual fuel mode are discussed in detail.

Hydrogen utilization in internal combustion engines

Hydrogen as a fuel is best suitable for spark ignition (SI) engines due to its high octane number
of about 120. Hydrogen utilization in SI engines would give zero carbon based emissions due
to high localized in-cylinder temperature. However, hydrogen utilization in the SI engines is
limited due to power de-rating (throttling losses), low thermal efficiency, low volumetric
efficiency and high level of NOx emission. In order to overcome these negative aspects, a
major engine hardware modification or new technology need to be developed. On the other
hand, if the hydrogen is used in CI engines under dualfuel mode, thermal efficiency would
improve significantly due to high compression ratio, no power de-rating due to no throttling
losses, fuel economy would improve due to constant volume combustion, and HC CO, smoke
and greenhouse gas emissions (CO2, CH4, N2O) would decrease significantly. However,
hydrogen could not be utilized in conventional CI engines as the hydrogen is having the
properties of low cetane number and high autoignition temperature. But hydrogen can be used
in CI engines under dual-fuel (diesel-hydrogen) mode. A small amount of diesel (pilot fuel)
could be used as an ignition source and hydrogen (main fuel) as the major energy contributing
fuel in a CI engine under dual-fuel mode.

Dual fuel technology

Energy sources and production methodologies for hydrogen.

Typically in a dual-fuel engine, gaseous hydrogen fuel (main fuel) is supplied to the engine
during suction stroke and diesel fuel (pilot fuel) is directly injected in to the combustion
chamber at the end of compression stroke. Dual-fuel engines can operate either on dual-fuel
mode if gaseous hydrogen fuel is available or on single diesel fuel mode in the absence of the
gaseous fuel (fuel flexibility). Valve timing and process diagram of hydrogen and diesel are
shown in Fig. 3.
Hydrogen was injected into the intake manifold after the outlet valve closed (43° CA after
TDC) in order to avoid scavenging losses. Start of hydrogen injection (SHI) was maintained
constant as 43° CA after TDC throughout the experimentation whereas the end of hydrogen
injection (EHI) was varied with respect to the engine loading. These injection timings were
optimized based on better performance and lower emissions for diesel-hydrogen dual-fuel
operation. The hydrogen fuel could be added into a CI engine using three techniques; (i)
manifold injection, (ii) port injection, and (iii) direct incylinder injection. It was experimentally
evaluated that the fuel induction technique would play a dominant role for better performance
of the engine. Among all these techniques, manifold injection system would offer significant
benefits such as controlling of gaseous fuel injection timing and duration, better mixing
characteristics of fuel with air, low temperature exposure to hydrogen injector (as the gas
injector generally mount at a larger distance from the combustion chamber), and minor engine
hardware modification (retrofitting of hydrogen gas injector). The manifold injection system
could be so designed that the intake manifold does not contain any combustible mixture other
than in suction stroke, so avoiding back firing problem. However, in case of port and direct
injection systems, back firing of hydrogen is one of the major setbacks for effective utilization
of hydrogen in CI engines. In addition to this, hydrogen gas injector would expose to high
temperatures which arises durability and reliability issues for long run engine operations. Gas
injector used for port/direct injection system, should be made up of high temperature
compatible material. The literature review on hydrogen based dual-fuel engines is broadly
classified into four major aspects; (i) performance characteristics, (ii) combustion
characteristics, (iii) emission characteristics of dual-fuel engines, and (ii) research challenges
for hydrogen utilization under dual-fuel mode. The detailed discussion on these issues is given
below.

Effect of hydrogen usage on performance characteristics of dual-fuel engines

Effect of hydrogen on thermal efficiency
Many studies reported the fact of increasing trend in thermal efficiency at high and moderate
loads, and decreasing trend at low loads with increasing hydrogen quantity in hydrogen based
dual-fuel
engines. Thermal efficiency of a hydrogen based dual-fuel engine could be determined using
Eq. (1). It is observed from Fig. 4 that at 20% load, thermal efficiency of a CI engine decreased
from 13.4% with 0% hydrogen mass share (base biodiesel mode) to 8% with 29% hydrogen
mass share (dual-fuel mode). At low load (20% engine loading), thermal efficiency of hydrogen
dual-fuel engine (3.7 kW rated power at 1500 rpm) reduced as the energy derived from
hydrogen increased. Similarly at 9% load, the efficiency decreased from 19.57% with base
diesel mode to 17.37% with diesel-hydrogen dual-fuel mode (62.5 kW rated power at 1500
rpm). The findings of Santoso et al. confirmed that at lower load of 10 Nm (BMEP: 1.9 bar),
indicated efficiency of a hydrogen dual-fuel engine decreased from 57.9% with 50% hydrogen
energy share to 54.3% and 49% with 90% and 97% hydrogen energy shares respectively.
Hydrogen energy share in a hydrogen based dual-fuel engine could be determined using Eq.
(2). At the low load conditions, injected diesel (ignition source) is low in quantity and
introduction of hydrogen further reduces the quantity of diesel supply resulting in misfiring.
Lata et al. stated the reasons for the efficiency reduction are due to lower charge temperature
at the end of compression process, low flame velocity of the lean gaseous fuels-air mixture and
enough time available in transferring heat to the adjacent cylinder walls.
It is evident from Fig. 4 that at high load (BMEP: 5.3 bar), brake thermal efficiency of a CI
engine increased from 29.9% with diesel mode to 31.6% with 10.1% hydrogen energy share.
In another study, the efficiency increased from 27.3% with base diesel mode to 28.7% with
13.4% hydrogen energy share in a CI engine at 75% load (BMEP: 3.99 bar) (Fig. 4). At high
load, the inducted hydrogen-air mixture is reasonably rich which would lead to improvement
in combustion rate due to high flame velocity of hydrogen. The trend of increase in thermal
efficiency at high load was confirmed by many other researchers. At 5.8 bar BMEP, about 10%
improvement in the efficiency was observed in a CI engine under dual-fuel mode. The work of
Wu H-W and Wu Z-Y represents a significant improvement in thermal efficiency of a CI
engine under hydrogen dual-fuel mode with 30% hydrogen energy share. The investigations of
Yadav et al. indicates improvement in the thermal efficiency of a CI engine (4.4 kW rated
power at 1500 rpm) from 23.35% with base diesel mode to 26.07% with hydrogen dual-fuel
mode (16.4% H2 energy share) at 75% load (BMEP: 4 bar). The significant improvement in
thermal efficiency of a CI engine under diesel-hydrogen dual-fuel mode could be due to
improvement in mixing of fuel with air, improvement in degree of constant volume
combustion, reduction in combustion irreversibility and reduction of unburned fuel quantity.
Degree of homogeneity in air-fuel mixture distribution in combustion chamber of the engine
increases significantly with addition of hydrogen fuel. As the diffusivity of hydrogen (0.63
cm2/s) is higher than base diesel (0.038 cm2/s), there could be a significant improvement in
mixing rate of air with hydrogen gaseous fuel. In addition to this, as the gaseous fuel is typically
inducted into the engine during suction stroke, more time is available for air-fuel mixture
formation process. Thus, combined effects of the higher diffusivity and the availability of more
mixing time would increase the amount of air-hydrogen premixed charge, resulting in better
combustion and enhanced thermal efficiency.

Effect of hydrogen on volumetric efficiency

Edwin et al. utilized hydrogen in a CI engine and found a significant reduction in volumetric
efficiency from 91% with diesel mode to 85% with dual-fuel mode (13.4% hydrogen energy
share) due to displacement of air with hydrogen that would otherwise be inducted.
Experimental investigations carried out by other researchers are also confirmed the reduction
in volumetric efficiency with increasing amounts of hydrogen in a CI engine under dual-fuel
mode. Intake air flow rate may decrease significantly with injection of gaseous hydrogen fuel
into the intake manifold of the engine due to replacement of the air with the gaseous fuel. The
volumetric efficiency decreased significantly with increasing engine load and hydrogen
amount. The maximum reduction in the efficiency was about 6%, with 20% hydrogen
substitution in the engine (49 kW rated power at 1800 rpm). It may be noted that increase in
the engine load leads to increase in heat release rate and subsequently increase in the intake
system temperature. As a consequence, the intake air density may decrease and thus decreases
the volumetric efficiency of the engine. However, the percentage reduction in the efficiency
would depend on engine configuration and its operating conditions.

Effect of hydrogen on exhaust gas temperature

As hydrogen has higher heat content (120 MJ/kg) than base diesel (42.5 MJ/kg), the in-cylinder
temperature in a CI engine is higher with combustion of hydrogen than diesel. In case of diesel-
hydrogen dual fuel engines, as hydrogen gas is a major energy source, the combustion
temperature (in-cylinder temperature) is significantly high as compared to base diesel engine.
Exhaust gas temperature increased from 364 °C to 427 °C with increase in hydrogen energy
share to 10.1% as
High heating value of hydrogen (120 MJ/kg) could be the main reason for increase in the
exhaust gas temperature. Edwin Geo also reported that the main reason for the increase in the
temperature might be due to high amount of heat energy release at the end of expansion stroke.
The studies of Chintala and Subramanian revealed that the exhaust gas energy increased from
24% with base diesel to 25.7% with 33.6% hydrogen energy share at 75% load. Varde and
Frame also stated the reasons for increase in the exhaust temperature with increasing hydrogen
energy share are due to rapid combustion and high flame temperature of hydrogen for a given
equivalence ratio. Late occurrence of in-cylinder peak pressure at low hydrogen energy shares
could be possible due to delayed burning of hydrogen in the combustion chamber. The
equivalence ratios of hydrogen-air charge used in the experiments conducted by Varde and
Frame were leaner than the lean flammability limit for hydrogen at ambient conditions. At low
hydrogen energy shares, all the hydrogen inducted in to the combustion chamber may burn late
during expansion stoke which causes slight decrease in the exhaust gas temperature as shown
in Fig. 7(b). However, increasing the amount of hydrogen increased the exhaust gas
temperature due to rapid combustion and high flame temperature for a given equivalence ratio.

Effect of hydrogen usage on combustion characteristics of dual-fuel engines

Combustion process in a dual-fuel engine is combined processes of CI and SI engines. As the
hydrogen is supplied during suction stroke, it mixes with air during suction and compression
processes and form high degree of homogeneous hydrogen-air charge. At the end of the
compression stroke, the diesel fuel is injected which spontaneously ignites due to its high
cetane number. The ignited diesel fuel actually acts as an ignition source for igniting the
premixed hydrogen-air charge which surrounds the diesel spray. A review on the important
combustion characteristics such as in-cylinder pressure, in-cylinder temperature, heat release
rate etc. in hydrogen based dual-fuel engines is given below.

Effect of hydrogen on in-cylinder pressure

 Exhaust gas temperature variation with respect to hydrogen energy share

In-cylinder pressure variation with respect to degree CA at low load

With hydrogen addition in a CI engine, in-cylinder pressure increases at high and medium loads
whereas the pressure decreases at lower loads. Typically in a conventional CI engine, the
amount of diesel fuel supplied for low load operation is lower than high load operation. In case
of a dual-fuel engine, diesel fuel supply quantity decreases in correspondence to increasing
amount of hydrogen for the same power output. Reduction in the amount of diesel fuel (an
ignition source) could have more negative impact at lower load than at high and medium loads.
The findings of Santoso et al. confirmed that the engine operation with decreased amount of
diesel fuel leads to late start of combustion and lower in-cylinder pressure. It may be noted that
under dual-fuel mode, the reduced amount of diesel pilot fuel may form less number of ignition
centers due to poor spray characteristics and diesel fuel-air mixing characteristics. Szwaja et
al. stated that the formation of less number of ignition centers leads to significant reduction in
combustion reaction rate at lower load. For example, at lower load of 1.9 bar BMEP, the
combustion reaction rate decreased from 17.8 s−1 with 50% hydrogen energy share to 7.6 s−1
with 90% hydrogen energy share. Experimental results of Santoso et al. revealed that the in-
cylinder pressure decreased significantly with increasing hydrogen energy share from 50% to
97% at lower load. At a lower load of 1.9 bar BMEP, the in-cylinder peak pressure decreased
from 73 bar with 50% hydrogen energy share to 64 bar with 90% hydrogen energy share (Fig.
9). However, at high and medium loads, these trends are in contrast to lower load results. High
burning velocity of the hydrogen leads to rapid and complete oxidation of the air-fuel charge
which enhances the in-cylinder pressure significantly. For example, the in cylinder peak
pressure increased from 76.4 bar with base diesel mode (0% hydrogen energy share) to 88.4
bar with dual-fuel mode (18.8% hydrogen energy share) at 100% load. Similarly, the incylinder
peak pressure increased from 79 bar with 5% hydrogen energy share to 88 bar with 25%
hydrogen share. Liew et al. clearly distinguished the in-cylinder pressure variations at high load
(70%) and low load (15%). The in-cylinder peak pressure decreased from about 59 bar with
0% hydrogen energy share to about 48 bar with 6% hydrogen energy share at 15% load,
whereas the pressure increased from about 108 bar with 0% hydrogen volume share to about
122 bar with 6% hydrogen volume share at 70% load. A clear conclusion emerged from the
above literature discussion that in a hydrogen dual-fuel engine, in-cylinder pressure increases
at high and moderate loads whereas it decreases at lower loads.

Effect of hydrogen on heat release rate

Heat release rate in a dual-fuel engine could be divided into three phases as depicted. In first
phase, heat energy released due to premixed combustion of a major part of diesel fuel and a
minor part of the hydrogen fuel entrained in the diesel spray. The second phase represents the
premixed combustion of the major part of the hydrogen fuel and small amount of the diesel.
Finally, the third phase of the combustion represents the diffusion combustion of the leftover
parts (end charge) of both fuels. Lata et al. also stated the similar analogy of three phase
combustion for dual-fuel operation; first by premixed burning of diesel fuel and a part of
hydrogen-air mixture that is entrained during the ignition delay period. In second phase, the
combustion is due to auto ignition of hydrogen-air charge in the close vicinity of diesel spray
zone and diffusive burning of remaining diesel fuel. In the third phase, heat energy is released
by flame propagation from spray zone to hydrogen-air charge which is spread over the entire
part of the combustion chamber. On the contrary, Masood et al. described the combustion
concept of dual-fuel mode in two phases, just like as diesel mode. The first stage is mainly due
to the combustion of diesel and the hydrogen entrained in the diesel spray, while the second
stage is mainly due to the combustion of remaining hydrogen by flame propagation from the
ignition centers formed by the diesel spray to entire combustion chamber.
Karim interpreted the heat release rate in a dual-fuel engine with three overlapping
components. The first (I) component is due to the combustion of the pilot diesel fuel. The
second (II) component is due to the combustion of the gaseous fuel which is in the immediate
vicinity of the ignition and combustion centers of the pilot fuel. The third (III) component is
due to any pre-ignition reaction activity and subsequent turbulent flame propagation (and
sometimes autoignition) within the overall lean mixture. Under light load condition, with very
lean gaseous fuel-air mixtures, the major percentage of heat energy comes from the ignition
and successive rapid combustion of the small pilot diesel zone (I). Some amount of heat energy
also releases due to combustion of part of the gaseous fuel-air mixture entrained into the pilot
diesel fuel. Combustion of gaseous fuel-air charge which is away from the pilot diesel zone
releases very less amount of heat energy (component III). Hence, a dual-fuel engine at low load
condition, gives poor performance with increasing gaseous fuel share or decreasing the pilot
diesel amount. The extent of this deterioration in performance of the engine depends largely
on the pilot fuel quantity supplied, the type of gaseous fuel used, operating conditions and the
type of engine. At low load engine operation, not only the ignition delay increases with addition
of gaseous fuel but also a significant proportion of the fuel will not burn completely. However,
at high load condition, as the heat energy releases mainly from the combustion of gaseous fuel-
air charge away from pilot diesel zones (Component III), no such problem arises due increasing
gaseous fuel energy shares. In case of hydrogen based dual-fuel operation, with increasing
hydrogen energy share, the increasing trend in heat release rate at high load (70%) and
decreasing trend at low load (15%).

Effect of hydrogen on in-cylinder temperature

In-cylinder pressure variation with respect to degree CA at high load (a) from reference
[31] (b) from reference

In hydrogen based dual-fuel engines in-cylinder temperature during combustion increases with
increase in hydrogen energy share at high and medium loads. The work of Subramanian and
Chintala indicates that the in-cylinder peak temperature increased from about 1774 K with base
biodiesel blend (B20: 80% diesel+20% biodiesel) operation (0% hydrogen energy share) to
1845 K with 20.4% hydrogen energy share under dual-fuel mode. This increment could be
attributed due to increase in the in-cylinder pressure with increase in hydrogen energy share.

Effect of hydrogen on ignition delay

In a hydrogen dual-fuel engine, ignition delay decreases with increasing hydrogen energy share
at high and moderate loads whereas it increases at low load. Increasing amount of hydrogen
gaseous fuel could produce high amount of free radicals concentration which leads to
improvement of pre-ignition reactions and thus reduction in the ignition delay. However, Lata
et al. reported a fluctuating trend in the ignition delay variation with respect to increasing
amount of hydrogen fuel. Initial increase in the ignition delay could be due to reduction in
partial pressure of oxygen with the increasing amount of hydrogen gaseous fuel. The other
reason could be due to reduction in the in-cylinder temperature of hydrogen-air charge because
of high overall specific heat of the charge. Szwaja et al. also found similar results of decrease
in the ignition delay in a CI engine under dual-fuel mode with 5% hydrogen addition. The
introduction of a gaseous fuel with the intake air could have a significant effect on the air-fuel
charge during compression affecting the processes of pre-ignition and subsequent combustion
of the pilot and the gaseous fuel-air charge.

Effect of hydrogen on combustion duration

Difference between in-cylinder pressure curves at high and low loads

 Heat release rate diagram for conventional dual-fuel combustion

Different components of energy release rate in a dual-fuel engine under (a) heavy load (b)
light load conditions

In a hydrogen dual-fuel engine, combustion duration decreases due to high flame velocity of
hydrogen gaseous fuel. In addition, increasing hydrogen energy share leads to enhanced
reaction rate due to production of high concentration of free radicals such as O, H, and OH at
high temperatures. Many studies reported the decreasing trend in combustion duration with
increasing hydrogen energy share in dual-fuel engines. For example, Liew et al. observed that
at low load (15%), no significant effect with addition of small amount of hydrogen i.e., up to
4% volume and then increased with 5% hydrogen volume onwards. However, at medium and
high loads (30% and 70% loads) the combustion duration decreased gradually with increasing
hydrogen volume share. A drastic change in combustion duration was also observed with the
addition of 2% hydrogen at 70% load (high load). However, at low load the combustion
duration increased drastically with high amount of hydrogen share. Similar decreasing trend
for the combustion duration at high and moderate loads in hydrogen dual-fuel engines were
reported by other researchers. On the contrary, Lata et al. reported a fluctuating trend at lower
load (10%) with increasing hydrogen volume share under dual-fuel mode.

Effect of hydrogen on combustion efficiency

Reaction rate of any fuel can be determined using Arrhenius Eq. It is evident from the equation
that fuel oxidation rate is directly proportional to combustion temperature. This reaction rate
increases exponentially with increasing in-cylinder temperature during combustion. As
combustion temperature increases with increasing hydrogen energy share, reaction rate
increases exponentially resulting to significant improvement in combustion efficiency. For
example, the combustion efficiency increased from 93.4% with 1% hydrogen volume share to
about 98% with 6% hydrogen volume share at 100% load. The similar trend of significant
increase in the efficiency in a CI engine (7.4 kW rated power at 1500 rpm) under dual fuel
mode was reported by the authors.

Effect of hydrogen on in-cylinder peak pressure

Heat release rate with respect to degree CA different loads

 Variation of in-cylinder temperature with respect to degree crank angle under
dual-fuel mode

In a hydrogen dual-fuel engine, in-cylinder peak pressure increases with increasing amount of
hydrogen substitution at high and medium loads where as it follows a reverse trend at low load.
For example, Edwin et al. reported that the peak pressure increased from 76 bar with 0%
hydrogen energy share to about 80 bar with 12.5% hydrogen energy share. Liew et al. observed
an insignificant influence with low amount of hydrogen substitution but beyond 3.5% hydrogen
volume share, the peak pressure increased substantially. The peak pressure increased from
about 110 bar with 3.5% hydrogen volume share to about 121 bar with 6% hydrogen volume
share at 100% load. However, the in-cylinder peak pressure decreased with increase in
hydrogen substitution level at 20% and 40% loads as shown. At 20% load, the pressure
decreased from 53.5 bar with 0% hydrogen mass share (base biodiesel operation) to 49.5 bar
with 29% hydrogen mass share under dual-fuel mode.

Effect of hydrogen on rate of pressure rise

With increasing amount of hydrogen fuel substitution, rate of pressure rise increases at higher
loads whereas it decreases at lower loads in a CI engine under dual-fuel mode. For example,
Edwin et al. found an increase in the maximum rate of pressure rise from about 5.2 bar/°CA
with base diesel mode to about 6.1 bar/°CA with 12.5% hydrogen energy share at 100% load
(higher load). However, the maximum rate of pressure rise decreased from about 2.9 bar/°CA
with base diesel mode to about 2.3 bar/°CA with 28% hydrogen energy share at 25% load
(lower load).
 Ignition delay variation with respect to hydrogen fuel substitution at different loads

Effect of hydrogen usage on emission characteristics of dual-fuel engines

Utilization of hydrogen in a CI engine under dual-fuel mode could provide solutions to all
carbon based emissions reduction including CO, HC, CO2 and smoke/PM.

Effect of hydrogen on CO emission

Heywood stated that CO emission from internal combustion engines are primarily controlled
by the air/fuel ratio of the mixture in combustion chamber and in-cylinder temperature. The
CO
emission formation is promoted by fuel-rich mixture, and tends to increase constantly with
increase in the equivalence ratio. However, as CI engines operate at lean mixtures, CO emission
level will be low even with base diesel operation. The CO emission further decreases in case
of hydrogen dual-fuel engines as the equivalence ratio decreases significantly with hydrogen
addition. The CO emission decreases substantially at all loads with increasing amount of
hydrogen substitution level. For example at 100% load, CO emission decreased from 3.14
g/kWh with base diesel mode (0% hydrogen energy share) to 2.31 g/kWhwith 10.1% hydrogen
energy share under dual-fuel .
Combustion duration variation with respect to hydrogen fuel substitution
 Combustion efficiency variation with respect to hydrogen substitution

In-cylinder peak pressure variation with respect to hydrogen substitution

 Maximum rate of pressure rise with respect to hydrogen energy share at different loads

The CO formed during the combustion via this route is then oxidized to carbon dioxide
(CO2) as given in Eq. (5). This reaction rate is dependent on the temperature exponentially as
shown in Eq. (6). In case of hydrogen dual-fuel engines, this reaction rate increases
significantly due to increase in the combustion temperature, which reduces CO emission level
drastically.

Effect of hydrogen on HC emission

Formation of HC emission in CI engines is generally due to incomplete combustion of the
hydrocarbon fuel. Various research studies confirmed the significant reduction in HC emission
in hydrogen based dual-fuel engines at all loads. For example, at 100% load, HC mass emission
level decreased from 0.55 g/kWh to with base diesel mode (0% hydrogen energy share) to 0.44
g/kWh with 10.1% hydrogen energy share under dual-fuel mode. Senthil Kumar et al. reported
decrease in HC emission from 130 ppm and 40 ppm with 0% hydrogen mass share to 70 ppm
and 20 ppm with 18% hydrogen mass share in a CI engine under dual-fuel mode at 100% and
20% loads respectively. The emission reduction could be postulated that the increase in in-
cylinder temperature due to rapid and better combustion. Miyamoto et al. also reported the
similar findings of significant decrease in HC emission to about 1 g/kWh.

Effect of hydrogen on NOx emission

In hydrogen based dual-fuel engines with increasing hydrogen energy share, the NOx emission
increases at high and medium loads while decreases at low loads. For example, Senthil Kumar
et al. found a drastic increment in the NO emission at 100% load. The NO emission increased
from about 740 ppm with base diesel operation to about 930 ppm with 18% hydrogen mass
share. However, at 20% and 40% loads, the effect of hydrogen addition on the NO emission
was insignificant. Miyamoto et al. reported a slight decrease in the NO emission with small
amounts of hydrogen addition and then a significant increase in the emission . On the contrary,
Dhole et al. reported decrease in NOx emission from 1.8g/kW h without hydrogen to 0.67g/
kW h with 50% hydrogen volume substitution at 13% load in a direct injection multi-cylinder
CI engine. This is due to increase in fraction of H2O which decreases the cylinder peak
temperature with hydrogen addition. However, at high load when more than 1% of hydrogen
was substituted, NOx emission increases as a result of faster hydrogen combustion due to high
diffusivity and the high flame speed. As the combustion of hydrogen is possible at a wide range
of air fuel ratios, the combustion of rich air-hydrogen mixture at high temperatures creates an
ideal environment for NOx emission formation. In case of variable speed engines, for a
particular load and hydrogen energy share, the NOx emission is higher with low speed than
high speed. Although combustion temperature is increased with hydrogen addition, the
emission is lower at higher speeds due less residence time.

Effect of hydrogen on smoke/PM emission

Smoke emission in CI engines is mainly caused due to the heterogeneous air-fuel
mixture and it decreases significantly with increase in degree of homogeneity in the air-fuel
mixture. It generally occurs at regions wherever the insufficient air/oxygen presents (for
oxidation) in the combustion chamber. If the air fuel ratio decreases, the smoke emission may
increase significantly. At high loads, the smoke emission is high due to the fact that, rich
mixture is supplied in order to meet the high load demand. The smoke emission decreased
drastically to almost zero level with the addition of hydrogen in a CI engine along with diesel
fuel at all loads. This could be postulated that with addition of hydrogen gas, degree of
homogeneity in the air fuel mixture increases that leads to better combustion and low smoke
emission. The smoke emission decreased from 15.4% opacity with base diesel mode to
3.8%opacity with dual-fuel mode (18.8% hydrogen energy shares) at 100% load. Similarly,
Miyamoto et al. also reported the similar findings of zero smoke emission with hydrogen
substitution in a CI engine. The smoke/PM emission formation is mainly due to rich mixture
at local points (i.e., localized rich mixture even though global lean mixture is available in CI
engines), heterogeneous combustion, lubricating oil, unburnt hydrocarbons, and dominant
diffusion combustion phase. With hydrogen addition, the emission level decreased drastically
due to improvement in degree of homogeneity, reduction in hydrocarbons, and reduction in
diffusion combustion phase.
The smoke/soot emission of a dual-fuel engine is significantly lower as compared to
conventional base diesel mode particularly at high loads. The emission increases drastically
with increasing load in case of base diesel mode whereas increasing load has no significant
influence on the emission in case of dual-fuel mode. At equilibrium condition, the smoke
formation occurs when carbon to hydrogen ratio (C/O) exceeds unity. The critical C/O ratio
for the emission formation decreases significantly with decreasing in-cylinder temperature. As
the hydrogen fuel has no carbon element, the corresponding C/O ratio becomes zero and thus
the fuel doesn't form smoke emission in case of dedicated hydrogen fuelled internal combustion
engines. However, in a hydrogen dual-fuel engine, the emission forms due to the oxidation of
pilot diesel fuel. In the hydrogen dual-fuel engine, C/O ratio may decrease significantly with
decreasing diesel fuel, which results in drastic reduction of the smoke emission. Earlier
experimental studies carried out on a CI engine by Heywood revealed a fact that the most of
the smoke/PM emission forms mainly due to incomplete combustion of hydrocarbon fuels.

Christodoulou and Megaritis reported mainly three reasons for smoke/soot emission decrease;
(i) reduction in carbon content in diesel-hydrogen mixture (carbon is the main soot component),
(ii)
enhancement in soot oxidation rate due to high in-cylinder temperature rise with hydrogen
combustion, and (iii) enhancement in soot oxidation due to increase in OH radicals with
hydrogen-oxygen reactions. Tsolakis reported that total particle number and total particle mass
decreased from 0.55 cm−3 and 98.66 mg/cm3 with base diesel mode to 0.37 cm−3 and 77.64
mg/cm3 with 20% hydrogen added EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) in a 8.6 kW direct injection
CI engine under dual-fuel mode [53]. Research findings of Liew et al. also confirms a
significant reduction in PM emission with increasing hydrogen volume share. A drastic
reduction in the emission from about 0.26 g/kWh with base diesel mode (0% hydrogen volume
share) to 0.06 g/kWh with 7% hydrogen volume share under dual-fuel mode was observed at
low load (10% load). The addition of up to 2% hydrogen at 10% load reduced the PM emission
significantly but beyond 2% hydrogen the reduction rate was relatively low.
Effect of hydrogen on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions

Utilization of hydrogen in a CI engine under dual-fuel mode is one of the promising solutions
to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and
nitrous oxide (N2O)) at source level. Subramanian et al. addressed the control strategies for
GHG emissions mitigation through fuel economy improvement, utilization of alternative fuels,
improvement in traffic management system, and system weight reduction [35]. CO2 emission
in a 11 kW rated power CI engine decreased from 190 g/ kWh with base biodiesel mode to 104
g/kWh with hydrogen-biodiesel dual-fuel mode (hydrogen consumption: 0.0005 kg/s).
Similarly, Miyamoto et al. found a significant reduction in CO2 emission from 688 g/kWh with
base diesel mode to 425 g/kWh with hydrogen dual fuel mode (10% hydrogen energy share).
Methane emission is one of the GHG emissions that have higher global warming potential of
25 than CO2 emission. Few studies were available on formation of CH4 emission in CI engines.
The research findings of Subramanian and Chintala indicate the CH4 emission reduction about
22% with use of
hydrogen (20% energy share) in a biodiesel fuelled CI engine. The future emission regulation
for CI (compression ignition) engines targets CO2 (Carbon dioxide) emission reduction along
with other regulated emissions (CO, HC, NOx and PM).

High levels of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emission

In hydrogen dual fuel engines, combustion with hydrogen produces high in-cylinder
temperature which is favourable for NOx emission formation. At high combustion temperature,
nitrogen present in the air-fuel mixture inside engine cylinder could easily react with oxygen
and leads to drastic increase in the emission. Ultra-lean combustion (i.e., pi≤0.5), which is
identical with low temperature combustion, is an effective means for minimizing NOx
emissions in CI engines.
Various NOx emission reduction technologies such as exhaust gas recirculation (EGR), water
injection, homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) and injection time retarding etc.
are reported in literature. An engine with EGR could reduce NOx emission because it dilutes
the intake air and lowers the combustion temperature with the penalty of lower volumetric
efficiency and power output. It also increases smoke/PM emission; hence, it may not be viable
option for NOx reduction in hydrogen dual-fuel engines. Therefore, other alternatives such as
water injection and HCCI mode operations are focused in this study and brief literature review
of these topics are given in next sections.

Knocking at high amount of hydrogen substitution

Maximum hydrogen energy share in a dual-fuel engine is typically restricted by onset of
knocking. Knocking could be defined as abnormal combustion phenomenon which constraints
the improvement in engine performance. Knocking combustion could be detected in several
ways such as in-cylinder pressure based detection, cylinder block vibration measurement,
acoustic wave measurement analysis, heat transfer based analysis, etc. Both rate of pressure
rise (RPR) and heat release rate together can be used for an analysis of the knock tendency in
a CI engine.
Autoignition of hydrogen-air mixture at higher hydrogen energy share
 Maximum limit of hydrogen energy shares in dual-fuel engines

Torregrosa supported the fact that the knocking combustion in a CI engine is directly
proportional to its maximum rate of pressure rise. If a CI engine operates with knocking, the
engine gets severe damage including breakage of piston rings, piston melting, and erosion of
cylinder head. So, CI engines typically operate with less hydrogen energy share for knock
prevention in the engine. A suitable technology needs to be identified and assessed for
substitution of high hydrogen energy share in a CI engine under dual-fuel mode for knock free
operation. It may be noted that the primary requirement of any gaseous fuel for dual-fuel
engines is that the gaseous fuel-air mixture would not autoignite spontaneously. Failing to do
so can lead to the onset of knock, high rate of pressure rise, high peak pressure and overheating
of the cylinder walls. The knock limited power output of a dual-fuel engine with any gaseous
fuel and pilot liquid fuel setting has been shown to deteriorate logarithmically with the inverse
of the intake absolute temperature. Hydrogen addition in a CI engine leads to production of
knocking or detonation because of its lower ignition energy, wider flammability range, and
shorter quenching distance. With hydrogen fuel, knocking problem could occur not only at the
end stage of combustion as is typical for gasoline engines but also at earlier stages. Heavier
knocking occurs when hydrogen is self-ignited, unlike hydrogen burning under controlled
ignition.

Chintala and Subramanian reported the knocking tendency in a hydrogen based dual-fuel
engine (7.4 kW rated power at 1500 rpm with compression ratio of 19.5:1) in terms of ringing
intensity The ringing intensity was increased radically with increasing hydrogen energy share.
With base compression ratio and at 100% load, the ringing intensity reached to 4.9 MW/m2
(Upper limit: 5 MW/m2) with about 19% hydrogen energy share. So they concluded in their
investigation that about 19% hydrogen share was the maximum amount that could be
substituted in the engine for knock free operation at 100% load (with base compression ratio
of 19.5:1). However, the knock limited hydrogen energy share was enhanced with reduction of
compression ratio as seen in the figure. Many other research studies also confirm that the
knocking problem in a dual-fuel engine gets rapidly intensified with increase in compression
ratio of the engine. Varde and Frame in their experimental study on a CI engine (single cylinder
direct injection engine with compression ratio of 17.4:1), measured acoustic noise levels in the
test cell at two different locations, about two meters from the engine. The noise level increased
drastically from about 99 dB with 6% hydrogen energy share to about 107 dB with 14%
hydrogen energy share (Fig. 26). It could be observed that the acoustic noise level increased
sharply when the fuel mixture contained more than 11% of hydrogen energy.

A limited hydrogen energy share

Hydrogen based dual-fuel engines suffer a major obstacle of limited hydrogen energy
substitution. The details of literature review on the maximum amount of hydrogen utilized in
CI engines under dual-fuel mode are given in Table 4. It could be observed from the table that
the maximum hydrogen energy share achieved at high loads is in the range of 6–25%. However,
this energy share could further increased to 30% at low loads. It may be noted that the engine
loading is a predominant factor that affects the hydrogen substitution levels. At low and
medium loads higher amounts of hydrogen could be substituted than at high loads. For
example, the hydrogen energy share increased from 18.8% at 100% load to 48.4% at 50% load
in a direct injection CI engine. High amounts of hydrogen supply to CI engines under dual-fuel
mode create several problems including abnormal rate of pressure rise, high in-cylinder peak
pressure, too advanced combustion, high incylinder peak temperature, autoignition of
premixed hydrogen-air charge, and loss of available work due to advanced combustion.
Miyamoto reported autoignition of hydrogen-air charge for a higher hydrogen fraction than 8%
volume in a diesel-hydrogen dual-fuel engine. Similarly spontaneous autoignition of
airgaseous fuel (propane) was found in a diesel-propane dual-fuel engine due to its high
reactivity nature like hydrogen fuel. Wong and Karim stated reasons for autoignition of
hydrogen-air charge are due to high polytropic index of hydrogen, higher in-cylinder
temperature, and increasing preignition chemical reactions. Selim, in his experimental
investigation, found that the increasing mass of gaseous fuel (Liquefied Petroleum
Gas/Methane/ Natural gas) leads to significant increase in the maximum rate of pressure rise
in a single cylinder variable compression indirect injection CI engine (Ricardo E6: 9 kW rated
power). He also concluded that the gaseous fuel existing in the combustion chamber could be
more susceptible to autoignite with increasing in-cylinder temperature. The autoignition of
premixed hydrogen-air (in the intake manifold) problem is more susceptible with manifold
injection method; however, this problem could be avoided/reduced with the use of port
injection method. With port injection of hydrogen, the start of combustion timing may control
as per desirable degrees CA which allows slight improvement in hydrogen substitution as
compared to manifold injection strategy. However, the detailed comparative analysis between
intake manifold and intake port injection strategies under dual-fuel mode needs to be
investigated in future.

From the literature review it is observed that the aforementioned triple problems (research
challenges) could be addressed using low temperature combustion strategies. A number of
specific strategies including HCCI/PHCCI (partial homogeneous charge compression
ignition), water injection, compression ratio reduction, retarded injection timing of liquid fuel
(pilot fuel), lowering the intake air and water jacket temperatures, use of high cetane number
pilot fuel, and EGR could be used to enhance the hydrogen energy share and reduce the NOx
emission in a dual-fuel engine. The literature review on the strategies used for hydrogen energy
share enhancement is described in Section.