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2018-01-1144 Published 03 Apr 2018
Effect of Hydrogen Enrichment on Flame
Morphology and Combustion Evolution
in a SI Engine Under Lean Burn Conditions
Santiago Martinez and Pedro Lacava Instituto Tecnologico de Aeronautica
Pedro Luis Curto Facultad De Ingenieria
Adrian Irimescu and Simona Silvia Merola Istituto Motori CNR
Citation: Martinez, S., Lacava, P., Curto, P.L., Irimescu, A. et al., “Effect of Hydrogen Enrichment on Flame Morphology and Combustion
Evolution in a SI Engine Under Lean Burn Conditions,” SAE Technical Paper 2018-01-1144, 2018, doi:10.4271/2018-01-1144.
Abstract
U
ncertainty of fuel supply in the energy sector and
environmental protection concerns have motivated
studies on clean and renewable alternative fuels for
vehicles as well as stationary applications. Among all fuel
candidates, hydrogen is generally believed to be a promising
alternative, with significant potential for a wide range of
operating conditions. In this study, a comparison was carried
out between CH4, two CH4/H2 blends and two mixtures of
CO and H2 , the last one taken as a reference composition
representative of syngas. It is imperative to fully understand
and characterize how these fuels behave in various condi-
tions. In particular, a deep knowledge of how hydrogen
concentrations affect the combustion process is necessary,
given that it represents a fundamental issue for the optimiza-
tion of internal combustion engines. To this aim, flame
morphology and combustion stability were studied in a SI
Introduction
I
n recent years, many efforts have been focused on devel-
oping alternative fuels for internal combustion engines.
Different from fossil fuels, hydrogen can be produced
through several procedures, such as water electrolysis, fuel
reforming and biological hydrogen production [1]. It can be
viewed as an excellent additive, given its laminar burning
velocity is seven times higher than methane [2]. Moreover,
hydrogen is characterized by a more stable combustion due
to a wider flammability range and low ignition energy, thus
allowing the extension of the lean operation limit [3, 4].
Currently, methane is the most used gaseous fuel in spark
ignition (SI), widely applied in public transport vehicles in the
US, Asian countries, and Europe among others [5]. It is used
alone or in dual fuel configurations and represents an imme-
diate advantage over other hydrocarbon fuels because of the
lower C/H ratio resulting in reduced CO2 emissions [6].
Furthermore, it has an increased Research Octane Number
(RON) that permits higher compression ratios, augmented
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engine under lean burn conditions. The engine was fuelled
with CH4, CH4 /H 2 (75-25%vol and 50-50%vol) and H 2/CO
(50-50%vol and 75-25%vol). The engine was operated at fixed
rotational speed and wide open throttle. Lean operation was
studied in detail through combined methodologies based
on thermodynamic analysis and optical diagnostics.
Specifically, cycle resolved UV-visible digital imaging was
applied to follow flame front propagation. Image processing
was applied to evaluate flame speed and other morphology
parameters, including flame displacement and centroid
motion. Moreover, a detailed study of local curvature was
presented. The excess air ratio was raised from 1.4, to values
close to the flammability limit for each fuel. In order to
maintain roughly the same fluid dynamic conditions (swirl,
tumble, turbulence intensity, among others) spark timing
was set according to the maximum brake torque of the
baseline case (CH4) in the condition of lambda (λ) 1.4.
boost in turbocharged engines and reduced knock sensitivity,
which in turn increases the engine efficiency [7]. The major
drawbacks of methane use in SI engines are its slow flame
propagation speed and its poor lean-burn capability, as these
will decrease engine power output and increase fuel consump-
tion [8]. Addition of H2 to CH4 can improve the already good
qualities of this fuel, and compensate its weak points, such as
low laminar flame speed [9].
An alternative fuel that can be considered for SI engine
is syngas, essentially a mixture of hydrogen, carbon monoxide
and other hydrocarbons, mainly methane [10]. It is defined
as a mixture that contains synthesis gas or syngas as main
combustible components. Raw syngas mostly inevitably
contains also considerable amounts of CO2 and H2O [10,11].
It is chemically different from gases that normally are
produced by low-temperature gasification processes such as
fluidised bed reactors.
Syngas can be generated through biomass gasification,
via reactions that involve natural gas and coal, as well as the
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2 EFFECT OF HYDROGEN ENRICHMENT ON FLAME MORPHOLOGY AND COMBUSTION EVOLUTION

recycling of refinery byproducts. The properties of synthesis
gas mixtures can vary significantly depending on the feed-
stock, production technique, and gas mixture proportions
[12]. The main drawback of syngas is its lower calorific value
compared with natural gas, caused by the high fraction of
inert gases in its composition, which causes that part of the
energy released during combustion to be absorbed by these
components instead of generating power [13]. In addition, the
presence of inert gases displaces part of the intake air flow,
when port fuel injection (PFI) mode is used, thus resulting in
decreased volumetric efficiency of the engine, as well as lower
power output [14]. Flame stability is another problem encoun-
tered in the combustion of syngas fuels, given their low calo-
rific values [15]. In order to avoid these negative effects, syngas
can be upgraded by removing some fraction of inert gases
[16]. Together with these upgrading methods, the recent devel-
opment of new catalysts has opened a wide field oriented
toward the production of improved gaseous fuels with great
performance for engines [17]. For this reason, syngas is consid-
ered as a strong candidate to replace many fuels currently
in use.
Gaseous fuels are generally studied by employing
methods mainly based on in-cylinder pressure measurements
and exhaust analysis; nonetheless, complementary techniques
such as optical investigations can provide valuable informa-
tion on combustion evolution. Catapano et al. [8], tested in
an optical accessible engine pure methane and methane/
hydrogen blends (20%vol and at 40%vol of hydrogen) at stoi-
chiometric air fuel ratios. Their results highlighted combus-
tion velocity promotion due to the hydrogen addition. In
another work, Aleiferis et al. [18] performed an optical study
of the combustion process of pure hydrogen in a SI engine
for lambda 1.2 to 2.0. The results showed a fairly symmetrical
flame growth over the air fuel ratio range. The measurements
showed peak expansion speeds in the range of 10-20 m/s, with
a decrease in flame speed when lambda increased. Both
results, f lame shape and propagation speed, show the
improvement in combustion process development, with
respect to other hydrocarbon and alternative fuels already
analyzed [7, 19].
In the case of CO/H2 mixtures (syngas), to the best of the
authors’ knowledge, no major quantitative studies in the
literature have compared comprehensively the in-cylinder
pressure evolution with optical analyses. Therefore, the main
objective of the current work was to characterize in detail the
combustion process of hydrogen when was added to methane
and syngas in a state-of-the-art SI engine geometry that was
designed originally to operate on hydrocarbons.
In this paper, methane (baseline), methane/hydrogen
(CH4/H2) and syngas (CO/H2) blends were characterized as
fuels for internal combustion engines, through the analysis
of the combustion process. The measurements were performed
on an optically accessible single cylinder PFI-SI engine. Two
levels of hydrogen concentrations were selected, given the
relatively reduced information in the literature with respect
to high blending percentages. Two equivalent syngas mixtures
investigated for each fuel, one with a relative air-fuel ratio
(lambda) value set at 1.4 (flammability limit of baseline case)
and other set at the lean burn limit of each fuel.
The purpose of the current work was to characterize in
detail the combustion process in extreme lean conditions,
with hydrogen as additive fuel for CO and CH4. To this aim,
a combination of thermodynamic analysis and optical tech-
niques was applied. In particular, digital cycle resolved
imaging in the UV-visible wavelength range was performed
with high spatial resolution in the combustion chamber. This
permitted to characterize the flame propagation in terms of
area, velocity, center displacement and circularity, following
an approach already applied in other works for pure gases
[7,18,21] or mixtures [8]. Moreover, image processing allowed
the analysis of local curvature and flame wrinkling that repre-
sents and original contribution to literature.
It is believed that these measurements contribute towards
a database of combustion rates which are essential for devel-
oping the knowledge of the underlying fundamental mecha-
nisms under realistic engine conditions. The data can also assist
modelers in simulation of combustion processes inside the
cylinder of a spark-ignition (SI) engine. Progress in the combus-
tion analysis were realized by computational fluid dynamics
code developed for spark-ignition engine fueled with methane-
hydrogen blends [22,23]. Simulation of a wide range of opera-
tive conditions and mixtures is a challenging and continuously
developing field; within this context, experimental data avail-
able for model calibration and validation is essential.
Experimental Setup
All tests were performed on an optically accessible single
cylinder PFI-SI engine AVL 5406 (Fig. 1). Optical accessibility
was provided via an elongated piston with a wide flat sapphire
window in the crown, and a quartz ring replacing the upper
part of the cylinder liner. To reduce window contamination by
FIGURE 1 Experimental setup of the single cylinder
research engine, and optical arrangement on the right.
© SAE International

were tested as well, with varying hydrogen/carbon monoxide

proportions, taken as representative for usual syngas mixtures
[20]. This study was performed at 900 RPM and WOT (wide
open throttle). Two engine operative conditions were
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EFFECT OF HYDROGEN ENRICHMENT ON FLAME MORPHOLOGY AND COMBUSTION EVOLUTION 3

lubricating oil, self-lubricating Teflon-bronze piston rings were
used. During combustion, the light emission passed through
the sapphire window and was reflected toward the optical
detection assembly by a 45° inclined UV-visible mirror located
in the elongated piston, and then recorded by the acquisition
system aimed at studying flame front propagation. The optical
set-up allowed a bottom field of view that corresponded to 78%
of the piston diameter and 61% of cylinder cross-section. The
cylinder head had four valves and a spark plug located 5 mm
from the center of the combustion chamber (Fig. 2).
Compression ratio can be modified by placing spacers
under the piston crown; for this study, a value of 9.7 was set.
An AVL427 engine-timing unit was employed for ignition
and injection control, as well as for synchronized triggering
for image acquisition and in-cylinder pressure acquisition.
Further details of engine specifications are shown in Table 1.
The experiments were performed at 900 rpm and wide
open throttle; the relatively low engine speed and full load
FIGURE 2 Cylinder head bottom view from the inclined
mirror located below the piston.
© SAE International
were selected as operative conditions. These are a good
compromise between the working points typical of funda-
mental research activities [24] and energy generation applica-
tions [25, 26].
The end of injection was fixed during the exhaust stroke,
at 330 crank angle degrees (CAD) after top dead center (ATDC).
Duration of injection was set to reach the lambda value
imposed for each test. The relative air fuel ratio was measured
using a wide band exhaust gas oxygen sensor, with an accuracy
of ±1%. Injection pressure was maintained at 7 bar for all
conditions, the nominal pressure for the Bosch ML082G
injector designed to operate with gaseous fuels. Coolant and
lubricant temperature were maintained at 330-335 K using a
thermal conditioning unit; intake air temperature was in range
of 300 K and ambient pressure was 0.95 bar. Spark advance
(SA) was fixed at 13 CAD BTDC, which corresponded to the
maximum brake torque (MBT) setting for methane for the
lambda 1.4 case. The same SA allowed to analyze flame propa-
gation and combustion behavior with roughly same fluid
dynamics conditions at ignition [19]. Also, this approach is the
most likely scenario of ‘feed-in and run’, for which engines
designed for natural gas fueling are simply ran on syngas,
without re-calibration. Moreover, Table 2 shows the results of
a preliminary test, during which the optimal spark timing (i.e.
for MBT) for each fuel was found. Two operational conditions
were set, the first was lambda 1.4 that corresponded to the lean
burn limit for pure methane, and the second one was attained
by increasing air-fuel ratio up to the flammability limit of each
fuel. In this work, the definition of lean limit was set up to the
point that the combustion process became unstable. This effect
was measured with the coefficient of variation (COV) for the
Indicated Mean Effective Pressure (IMEP) in MBT conditions.
It is important to note that only for the evaluation of the flam-
mability limit, spark timing was modified. The lean limit was
set as the lambda value for which the COVimep parameter
exceeded 3%. Methane presented a limit value of lambda 1.4;

with the addition of 25% of hydrogen, this value increased to

λ = 1.45 and with 50% of H2, it was λ = 1.5. In the case of syngas,
the lean limit for H2/CO 50-50% was λ = 1.7 and for 75-25% it

TABLE 2 Study of lean burn limit, with spark timing set

for MBT.
TABLE 1 Specifications of the PFI SI single cylinder
research engine. SA @ MBT
(CAD
Displaced volume 530 cc Fuel AFRrel (-) ATDC) IMEP (bar) COVimep (%)
Stroke 82 mm Methane 1.40 −13 3.1 3.3
Bore 90 mm 25MH2 1.40 −11 3.2 2.4
Connecting Rod 144 mm 1.45 −15 2.6 4.9
Compression Ratio 9.7:1 50MH2 1.40 −7 3.2 2.5
Number of Valves 4 1.50 −11 2.5 2.9
Intake Valves Diameter 34 mm S50-50 1.40 8 3.6 0.7
Exhaust Valves Diameter 26 mm 1.60 −4 2.8 1.0
Intake Valves Lift 10.49 mm 1.70 −13 2.1 2.5
Exhaust Valves Lift 9.25 mm 1.75 −13 1.0 13.1
© SAE International

© SAE International

Intake Valves Open 358 CAD ATDC S75-25 1.40 9 3.6 0.7
Intake Valves Close 156 CAD BTDC 1.60 4 2.9 1.0
Exhaust Valves Open 120 CAD ATDC 1.75 −13 1.6 2.3
Exhaust Valves Close 356 CAD ATDC 1.80 −13 1.0 7.2
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4 EFFECT OF HYDROGEN ENRICHMENT ON FLAME MORPHOLOGY AND COMBUSTION EVOLUTION

reached λ = 1.75. Therefore, the increase of hydrogen content
allowed higher dilution rates, as expected; also, the effect was
more evident when mixed with CO compared to CH4.
For each test, the following procedure was followed: after
1 minute of warm-up in motored conditions, the engine
worked in fired conditions up to the point when lambda values
were stabilized and then 200 consecutive cycles were recorded.
The in-cylinder pressure, rate of chemical energy release and
related parameters were evaluated. Optical data were detected
during the last 30 cycles of each set of 200. A quartz pressure
transducer was flush-installed in the region between the
intake and exhaust valves (as shown in Fig. 2). In-cylinder
pressure was acquired with an accuracy of ±1%. Considering
the crank angle resolution of 0.1 CAD, this propagates an error
level less than ±2% for IMEP calculated values. Mass fraction
burned (MFB) traces were determined with a first-law analysis
approach, that included the calculation of blow-by losses [27].
A summary of the test conditions that featured optical data
acquisition, can be found in Table 3.
Fuels
Increasing efforts are paid to research more eco-friendly fuels.
The use of gaseous fuels was prompted over the last decade
because of the development of lightweight high-pressure storage
cylinders and its availability in several areas at low price.
Moreover, the combustion of gaseous fuels is cleaner with
respect to liquid fuels. Methane properties make it suitable for
use in SI engines. The typical slow burning velocity, poor lean-
burn capability, and low volumetric efficiency hinder its use
compared to other energy sources. The slow burning velocity
can be improved by mixing methane with hydrogen [8], whose
burning rate is seven times higher than methane in stoichio-
metric conditions [28]. Its wide flammability limits and its low
quenching gap contribute to the extension of lean operation
limit, enhancing thermal efficiency. For this purpose, the
engine was fueled with CH4, CH4/H2 (75-25%vol and 50-50%vol).
Although many compounds contain hydrogen; this
element is not found in an un-combined form in any signifi-
cant quantity on earth, like fossil fuels [29]. Various processes
exist to obtain it from the compounds containing hydrogen,
but a common form is using it as syngas [15]. These gases are
usually a blend of several components (H2, CO, CO2, N2, H2O)
of varying proportions, which have traditionally been used
in heating applications and as industrial feedstocks; H2 and
CO are the two major components of a synthesis gas [16].
Therefore, mixtures of hydrogen and carbon monoxide were
used to simulate fuel compositions. In this work, two ratios
(by volume) of H 2/CO were investigated; 50%-50% and
75%-25%. These two syngas mixtures were taken to be repre-
sentative of the family of various H2/CO ratios [13]. The gas
TABLE 3 Engine operating conditions.
Engine Speed 900 rpm
© SAE International
filling system consists of individual cylinders of pure gases,
i.e. H2 (99.999 %), CO (99.99 %), CH4 (99.5 %). The mixtures,
stored in 20 L volume auxiliary cylinders at 20 bar, was
obtained with the partial pressures method, and then sent to
the PFI injector, with an intermediate valve that set the
pressure of injection. After mixture preparation, a gas chro-
matograph was used to verify the blend composition. Table 4
shows the main properties of the fuels used in this study.
The value of laminar burning velocity, referring to stoi-
chiometric conditions, has been determined using the Flame-
speed calculator CHEMKIN-PRO software module using the
complete GRI-Mech 3 [30] reaction mechanism in conjunc-
tion with its thermodynamic data and transport properties.
Optical Measurements
Flame front propagation was investigated by UV-visible cycle
resolved digital imaging. A high speed 12 bit CMOS (PCO
Dimax S1) camera was coupled with a double intensifier (Video
Scope VS4-1845HS). The assembly allowed a high sensitivity in
the spectral range from 290 nm to 700 nm, with 50% quantum
efficiency at 450 nm. The camera could work in full chip configu-
ration (1008×1008 pixel) with a maximum frame rate of 4467
fps. In order to improve the acquisition speed, a region of interest
of 864×896 pixel was selected; this permitted to reach a frame
rate of 5400 fps, corresponding to 1 image/CAD at 900 RPM (1
CAD = 185 μs). The detection system was equipped with
UV-Nikkor 105 mm f/4.5 lens. The intensifier gain and the objec-
tive f/stop can be tuned to obtain a uniform output brightness
and linear amplification of the input light. For this work the level
of intensification was set at 70% and the objective aperture at
f/8.0 for all the operative conditions. The exposure time was
fixed at 1 CAD for methane content fuels and 0.5 CAD for syngas
mixtures. The optical setup allowed to detect image sequences
with a spatial resolution of 88 μm/pixel. The synchronization
between the camera and the engine was achieved through a
crank angle encoder signal and an electronic delay unit.
A custom procedure of image processing was applied for
a detailed analysis of flame morphology [31]. As a starting point,
CMOS 8-bit images were treated to retrieve geometrical param-
eters of the flame front. Following the procedure sketched in
Fig. 3, after the extraction of the intensity level Fig. 3a, a circular
mask was fixed in order to cut light from reflections at the
TABLE 4 Main fuel properties.
Fuel Methane 25MH2 50MH2 S50-50 S72-25
LHV (MJ/kg) 50.2 53.0 58.0 17.5 29.7
AFRst (-) 17.2 17.9 19.1 4.6 8.1
Molecular 16.0 12.5 9.0 15.0 8.5
weight
(kg/kmol)
C/H ratio (-) 25.0 21.4 16.7 50.0 16.7
Peak flame 2223 2239 2260 2371 2373
temperature
(K)

© SAE International

AFRrel 1.4 to lean burn limit

Laminar flame 0.36 0.43 0.55 1.23 1.77
Injection Pressure 7 bar
speed (m/s) @
End of Injection 330 CAD ATDC AFRst, pamb &
Spark Timing 13 CAD BTDC Tamb
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EFFECT OF HYDROGEN ENRICHMENT ON FLAME MORPHOLOGY AND COMBUSTION EVOLUTION
FIGURE 3 Sketch of the image processing steps for the analysis of spark ignited flames morphology.
© SAE International
boundaries of the optical access (Fig. 3b). Successively, the
image processing adjusted the contrast and brightness of the
images with respect to the maximum intensity value in order
to optimize the signal to noise ratio. Then, a threshold was
applied to obtain binary images, with 1 (white) associated to a
pixel belonging to the object (foreground) and 0 (black) was
referred to the background (Fig. 3c). In this work, an automatic
threshold operation (metric method) based on locally adaptive
algorithm was used [32, 33]. After this step, morphological
transformations were applied to fill holes and remove small
objects that were not part of the flame and could bias the evalu-
ation of morphological parameters (Fig 3d). Starting from the
classification of a particle in a binary image as a group of pixels
equal to 1, the hole filling function assigns 1 to the pixels within
the particle that is represented by the flame [32]. The function
works on 3 × 3 regions and finds the holes by considering the
8 adjacent pixels (neighbors). The function did not increase the
flame area, but on the contrary, it limited the risk of underes-
timation, even if this was evaluated lower than 1% .
The small objects removal is a function that assigns 0 to
the pixels out of the particle that are identified as small objects.
The size of the object is defined by the number of iterations
needed to remove the object. Each iteration eliminates pixels
isolated in the background 3 × 3 region. In this work only 1
iteration was applied in order to ‘erode’ the flame. Finally,
after applying the advanced morphological functions, the
outline border of the flame was extracted (Fig. 3e).
The image processing estimated the flame area, the flame
centroid coordinates, both in x and y directions. Moreover,
the Heywood circularity factor and flame propagation speed
were evaluated. In detail, the flame area corresponded to the
number of pixels included in the foreground of binary images;
the equivalent flame diameter was calculated as the diameter
of a disk with the same area of the binary flame. The flame
propagation speed was obtained as the incremental ratio for
two consecutive frames of the equivalent flame diameter with
respect to the dwell time. The flame centroid was the arith-
metical center of luminosity evaluated for a binary image. It
was identified by the x and y coordinates with respect to the
Cartesian system fixed in the center of the combustion
chamber as shown in Fig. 3a. Heywood circularity factor was
used to follow the evolution of flame front distortion. This
shape factor corresponded to the ratio between the flame front
perimeter and the circumference length of a circle with the
same area of the flame.
© 2018 SAE International. All Rights Reserved.
5
As an optional tool, the image processing procedure
calculated the integral emission intensity of the flame, as an
average value on 30 consecutive acquisitions, at fixed delay
from the spark timing or at fixed value of flame area. In this
work, the flame intensity was evaluated at fixed average flame
area, corresponding to 30% of the piston cross section.
Moreover, the intensity profiles along fixed directions could
be stored in order to evaluate the luminous thickness of the
flame identified as the flame front region with an intensity
gradient with respect to highest luminosity equal to 2. In this
work, the emission intensity parameters were estimated along
the x and y directions, crossing the center of the combustion
chamber for all selected images with a flame area of 30%
compared to the piston cross-section. The standard deviation
of the value related to the integral emission intensity and thick-
ness of the flame determined an error of 8% and 1 mm, respectively.
The mode or value corresponding to the maximum of the
Gaussian fit was associated to the most probable flame curva-
ture. For an ideal circular flame, the curvature distribution
has zero skew and the mode, median and mean value are
equivalent to the inverse of the flame radius. In a real flame
front, the distributions are positively or negatively skewed and
the mode is different to the median. Due to the symmetry of
the Gaussian distribution, the difference between the inverse
of the fit mode and the selected equivalent flame radius can
be considered as a further marker of flame distortion. Finally,
the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the Gaussian was
associated to the flame wrinkling. A wider curve corresponded
to a more corrugated flame front. The accuracy of the proce-
dure for evaluating the FWHM and mode value of the Gaussian
is related to the spatial resolution of the image (88 μm/pixel).
Together with the macroscopic flame parameters, the
image processing permitted to evaluate the local curvature of
the flame front. By enabling the routine, the inverse radius of
the circle inscribed in a selected region of interest (kernel)
centered in each pixel of the flame contour was calculated. In
this work, a 5×5 pixel kernel size was set.
A positive value for curvature signified concavity of the
flame, as shown in Fig 4. For each operative condition,
the curvature frequency distributions were obtained by the
cumulative of selected images from 30 consecutive cycles in
correspondence to a flame area of 30% compared to the piston
cross-section. Results were represented as histograms and the
related probability density functions (PDFs) were obtained by
Gaussian curve fitting (e.g. Fig. 5).
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6 EFFECT OF HYDROGEN ENRICHMENT ON FLAME MORPHOLOGY AND COMBUSTION EVOLUTION

FIGURE 4 Flame curvature definition.

Results
An initial study of the combustion process was performed
through the thermodynamic approach. In-cylinder pressure

© SAE International
FIGURE 5 Typical histogram representative of the
curvature frequency distribution and related Gaussian
fitting curve evaluated for methane and 50% CH4/H2 at
1.4 air-fuel ratio.
was analyzed as average traces of 200 consecutive acquisi-
tions for each case. Results are reported in Fig. 6 and 7;
motored pressure signals (dashed line) are also shown as
reference. The thermodynamic analysis gives a global
perspective of the combustion process evolution; the main
parameters were IMEP as an indicator of performance, peak
in-cylinder pressure and its position in terms of crank angle,
as well as stability measured by COVimep. Fig. 6 shows the
average pressure for each fuel when lambda was set at 1.4;
syngas mixtures showed higher peak pressure values in the
initial phase and then a rapid decrease for both hydrogen
concentrations. Instead, methane and its blends with
hydrogen showed lower peaks, but higher pressure values
during late combustion. The addition of hydrogen to methane
increased peak pressure, as well as advancing its position
with respect to the TDC; the effect was stronger in the case
of 50% of addition. Table 5 shows the main thermodynamic
parameters; it can be noted that methane and methane-
hydrogen mixtures showed similar IMEP for equal air fuel
ratio, and the effect of increased pressure values during the
expansion stroke resulted in slightly higher engine output
compared to syngas mixtures. If we compare the results of
Table 2 with Table 5, the effect of non-optimized spark
timing is quite evident. Table 2 shows that the IMEP is higher
for syngas mixtures in MBT conditions with respect to
methane fueling. Moreover, the effect of non-optimized

FIGURE 6 In-cylinder pressure traces averaged over 200

consecutive cycles for lambda 1.4.

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© SAE International

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EFFECT OF HYDROGEN ENRICHMENT ON FLAME MORPHOLOGY AND COMBUSTION EVOLUTION 7

FIGURE 7 In-cylinder pressure traces averaged over 200 low peak pressure, with syngas 50-50 showing the highest value;
consecutive cycles for the lean flammability limit. this is due to lower air dilution of the mixture with to respect
to syngas 75-25. One interesting point is that methane blends
presented higher pressure values in the last combustion phase,
similar to the cases of lambda 1.4.
A more detailed analysis of the averaged pressure traces
was performed using the heat release approach, based on
the first law of thermodynamics [27], with sub-models for
calculating heat transfer rates and blow-by losses [34, 35].
The MFB traces at the same relative air-fuel ratio (λ = 1.4)
shown in Fig. 8 emphasize the fact that syngas mixtures
present a faster initial combustion phase than methane and
methane-H 2 blends. As was expected, with the increase of
hydrogen addition this effect was more prominent. Also, for

FIGURE 8 Mass fraction burned traces averaged over 200

consecutive cycles for (top) lambda 1.4 and (bottom) lean
flammability limit.
© SAE International

TABLE 5 Main thermodynamic parameters extracted from

pressure traces.
DOI IMEP COVimep Pmax Pmax angle
Fuel λ (-) (CAD) (bar) (%) (bar) (CAD ATDC)
Methane 1.40 41 3.1 3.3 16.4 16.3
25MH2 1.40 42 3.1 2.9 18.9 16.5
1.45 38 2.5 7.4 15.3 7.0
50MH2 1.40 45 3.0 3.7 22.6 13.5
1.50 38 2.5 2.6 16.6 13.8
© SAE International

S50-50 1.40 155 2.7 4.0 29.3 5.0

1.70 90 2.1 2.5 17.1 11.9
S72-25 1.40 115 2.7 4.3 30.8 1.9
1.75 55 1.6 2.3 15.9 8.5

spark timing is also significant when analyzing cycle-by-

cycle variation for syngas blends, as well as methane with
high quantities of hydrogen. Even in small quantities,
hydrogen addition can be used to improve combustion
stability, such as 25% (i.e. equivalent to a mass participation
of only around 4%); nonetheless, most cases with high
concentration of hydrogen ensured a COVimep close to the
imposed threshold of 3%. This is an important aspect when
considering a ‘feed-in and run’ scenario, for which the engine
is optimized for methane fueling, and no change is performed
for re-calibrating control settings.
Fig. 7 shows the pressure curves for lean flammability limit
conditions; it is noticeable that syngas presents an extended
range of operation with respect to methane. Also, the addition
© SAE International

of hydrogen extended the operative range when blended with

CO. This can be directly related to the actual mass participation
of hydrogen, that is roughly double for syngas compared to the
methane blends. All fuels near the flammability limit presented
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8 EFFECT OF HYDROGEN ENRICHMENT ON FLAME MORPHOLOGY AND COMBUSTION EVOLUTION

the same H 2 concentration, CO presented shorter duration TABLE 6 Crank angle durations from spark to fixed mass
of the initial kernel phase and main combustion phase with fraction burned thresholds.
respect to CH4 . All cases featured quite close evolutions Fuel AFRrel (-) 5% 10% 50%
during the final stages of combustion, as this part of the
Methane 1.40 18 23 47
process was controlled by the mass transfer from the
25MH2 1.40 16 21 39
top-land region to the cylinder. The various trends recorded
in the final stages of combustion reflect the complex nature 1.45 18 24 50
of fuel oxidation once flame propagation was completed. 50MH2 1.40 13 17 32
In the case of air fuel ratio near lean flammability limit 1.50 17 21 47

© SAE International
the propagation speed was closer for all fuel types. The S50-50 1.40 8 9 23
observed trends are also reflected in the crank angle durations 1.70 14 19 43
(Table 6), calculated at given mass fraction burned levels, i.e. S72-25 1.40 6 8 22
5%, 10% and 50%, as representative for the kernel stage and 1.75 14 20 46
flame propagation phase.
These results emphasize the much stronger effect of
hydrogen addition to carbon monoxide compared to the case effect is directly linked to this basic fuel property. The MFB
of methane; e.g. it resulted in a shorter 0-5% MFB interval, position also give an idea into re-calibration procedures that
with a difference of 5 CAD at the same concentration of 50% can be considered for adapting ignition settings for the alter-
hydrogen. When looking at these findings, it should be noted native fuels [37] and feed-back strategies for real-time
that, as previously mentioned, mass concentration in the engine control.
air-fuel mixture is roughly double in the case of syngas; given In order to obtain detailed results on the time evolution
that a close-to-linear correlation was found between the mass and spatial distribution of the burned mass and flame front,
concentration of hydrogen and laminar flame speed of its in-cylinder cycle resolved visualizations were carried out.
blends with methane [36], it can be stated that the noted Figs. 9 and 10 show selections of images detected in lean

FIGURE 9 Flame image sequence for all fuels with lambda 1.4 at 5%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% and 60% area of the piston
cross-section.

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EFFECT OF HYDROGEN ENRICHMENT ON FLAME MORPHOLOGY AND COMBUSTION EVOLUTION 9

FIGURE 10 Flame image sequence for all fuels in lean flammability limit conditions, at 5%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% and 60% area
of the piston cross-section.
© SAE International

burn conditions (λ = 1.4) and at the flammability limit
respectively, for all fuels. Each flame evolution sequence is
referred to a single engine cycle that featured a pressure
trace closest to the average one. The images were selected
at equal flame area with respect to the piston cross-section;
due to the different burning speeds, the delay from ignition
(ASOS stands for after start of spark) resulted different. In
agreement with the literature [19, 38, 39], in all conditions
the flame kernel was well resolvable only around 3 CAD
after ignition, due to the very high luminosity of spark-
induced plasma.
A preliminary analysis of results shown in Fig. 9 permits
to observe that the overall luminous intensity of syngas flames
was stronger than those with methane, in spite of the lower
exposure time. As shown in Fig. 11, the integrated emission
intensity linearly increased with the H2 content in the fuel
mixture (at fixed air-fuel ratio) with higher values for syngas.
Moreover, different shape and structures of the flame front
were observed between methane and the CO containing
blends. In particular, the luminous thickness of the flame front
increased linearly with the hydrogen percentage in the mixture.
It should be noted that in correspondence of 50% H2 the

FIGURE 11 Integral emission intensity (left) and luminous thickness (right) of evaluated for lambda 1.4, at fixed average flame
area (30% of the piston cross section).
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10 EFFECT OF HYDROGEN ENRICHMENT ON FLAME MORPHOLOGY AND COMBUSTION EVOLUTION

thickness resulted comparable, without a specific dependence
on the carbon content in the mixture. Fig. 10 shows flame
sequences for one selected cycle in the extreme lean cases for
the fuels with hydrogen addition. As it can be observed, the
luminous thickness decreased at increasing lambda values, as
a consequence of the reduction of the concentration of active
species within the reaction zone width. It should be noted that
the presence of CO compared to methane in the 50% hydrogen
mixture not only allowed reaching more diluted conditions
(λ = 1.7 instead of 1.5), as previously discussed, but determined
comparable luminosity, in spite of the reduced exposure time
fixed for syngas acquisitions. This was due to the stronger
radiative efficiency of exothermal reactions that featured
carbon monoxide oxidation, with respect to methane in the
UV-visible spectral range. The effect was already evident for
richer condition (λ = 1.4), as shown in Fig. 11.
By applying the image processing procedure previously
described, the trends of flame area and propagation speed
were obtained. Results reported in Fig. 12 and 13 are related
to the averaged values over 30 consecutive engine cycles.
To put these graphs in the context of earlier discussions,
for lambda 1.4, the time it took the f lame to reach the
optical limit decreased at higher hydrogen percentage. Due
to the higher mass content of H 2 in syngas, the related

FIGURE 12 Evolution of the flame front area and flame propagation speed for lambda 1.4 obtained by averaging over 30
consecutive engine cycles.

© SAE International

FIGURE 13 Evolution of the flame front area and flame propagation speed for lean flammability limit obtained by averaging
over 30 consecutive engine cycles.
© SAE International

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EFFECT OF HYDROGEN ENRICHMENT ON FLAME MORPHOLOGY AND COMBUSTION EVOLUTION 11

f lames resulted faster than those induced by methane FIGURE 15 Maximum flame displacement along the y axis
blends. The expected improvement in flame propagation from the intake to the exhaust valves direction; values are
speed when switching from S5050 to S7525, was in part calculated with respect to the geometrical center of the
reduced by the slight increase in the cyclic variability. For combustion chamber.
extreme lean conditions, the effect of hydrogen was quite
evident in improving f lame propagation; of course, no
direct comparison can be performed, given the different
air-fuel ratios. Nonetheless, the influence of H 2 addition
was important for both types of basis fuel (i.e. methane and
CO), the influence of hydrogen on combustion duration
was more significant for syngas fueling, especially during
the initial burning phase.
In order to obtain an estimation of the effect of selected
operative conditions on the macroscopic flame front devia-
tion from the ideal circular and spark plug centered propa-

© SAE International
gation, the trajectory of the luminous f lame centroid was
followed. Results referred to averaged data over 30 consec-
utive engine cycles, are shown in Fig. 14 and 15. In all

FIGURE 14 Flame centroid position for lambda 1.4 and

(top) and lean flammability limit (bottom), obtained by conditions, f lame displacement towards the intake valves
averaging over 30 consecutive engine cycles. region was observed. This reached comparable maximum
distance in the lean burn conditions for the methane
containing mixtures.
Flame displacement was partially due to fluid motion,
induced by tumble[40, 41, 42], and to the different thermal
regime between the intake and exhaust side of the combustion
chamber [43]. The reduced effect of tumble on the syngas flame
centroid was due to the faster flame propagation in the early
stage of combustion determined by the higher hydrogen
content. The effect along the x direction was negligible, as a
consequence of low swirl motion.
For better understanding flame displacement, Fig. 15
shows the longest distance from the combustion center in the
Y direction. It can be noted that syngas mixtures presented a
position closer to the combustion center and spark plug for
both conditions, compared to methane and its blends
with hydrogen.
However, the results demonstrated that the increase in
hydrogen content determined decreased f lame displace-
ment for both fuels (CH4 and CO). Moreover, an increase
in flame displacement at high air dilution was observed for
all fuels.
The effect of hydrogen addition and air dilution in terms
of flame deformation was evaluated for syngas and CH4
through the evolution Heywood circularity factor. At each
CAD the average value over 30 consecutive engine cycles was
considered. Results reported in Fig. 16 (top) with the same air
fuel ratio clearly demonstrate that syngas showed lower flame
deformation compared to the methane blends. The latter
© SAE International

resulted less ‘circular’; however, the increase in hydrogen

content decreased the overall deformation in the combustion
process. In extreme lean burn conditions (Fig. 16-bottom),
the simultaneous action of the flow field and fuel charge

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12 EFFECT OF HYDROGEN ENRICHMENT ON FLAME MORPHOLOGY AND COMBUSTION EVOLUTION
FIGURE 16 Heywood circularity of the flame for lambda 1.4
(top) and lean flammability limit (bottom) obtained by
averaging over 30 consecutive engine cycles.
© SAE International
distribution determined a strong increase in the flame distor-
tion in the early combustion stages.
As previously described, the evaluation of macroscopic
flame parameters was coupled with the micro-scale analysis
of local curvature. At a flame area of 30% compared to the
piston cross-section, the distributions of flame front curvature
resulted always mono-modal, as is the case for unstretched
laminar flames. This confirmed the correctness of Gaussian
FIGURE 17 Full width at half maximum of the Gaussian
curvature distributions evaluated for flame images with an area
of the 30% piston cross-section.
© SAE International
fitting and demonstrated the absence of thermo-diffusive
instabilities [44].
The full width at half maximum of the Gaussian fit in
Fig.17 demonstrates an increase in the spread of curvatures
at increasing hydrogen concentration and air dilution. The
effect was more significant for syngas at fixed air-fuel ratio
(i.e. lambda value 1.4). This result further confirmed the
influence of fuel composition on the creation of micro-scale
chemical paths in the reaction region on the fresh gases side
[44]. Higher flame front curvature as air-fuel mixtures are
leaner, is in line with results pertaining to studies of turbu-
lent flames in different burner configurations and fuel types
[45, 46, 47].
Regarding the center of the curvature distributions, iden-
tified by the mode (Fig. 18), it resulted very close to zero for
all cases, even if slightly negative, which corresponded to a
bulk convexity of the flame front. The effect (i.e. deviation
from the point of zero curvature) increased only slightly with
hydrogen concentration and decreased more substantially
with air-dilution. The trend was in agreement with lower
distortion at lower lambda values and shorter displacement
for syngas shown in Figs. 15-16.
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EFFECT OF HYDROGEN ENRICHMENT ON FLAME MORPHOLOGY AND COMBUSTION EVOLUTION
FIGURE 18 Mode value of the Gaussian curvature
distributions evaluated for flame images with an area of 30%
piston cross-section.
© SAE International
Conclusions
An experimental study was undertaken in order to evaluate
the effects of hydrogen addition to methane, and in syngas
blends, on combustion in SI power units. To this aim, an opti-
cally accessible engine was ran at 900 rpm and WOT, with
methane as baseline fuel, 25%vol and 50%vol of hydrogen
addition to methane, and finally two syngas equivalent
mixtures, with 50%vol and 75%vol hydrogen content. The study
was focused on lean and extreme lean conditions, at fixed
spark timing, with thermodynamic and optical analyses of
the combustion process.
The overall thermodynamic analysis revealed that
hydrogen addition improved the flammability range of CH4,
with a maximum of 1.50 for 50%vol H2. For syngas mixtures
this range was larger still, with 1.70 for 50%vol H2 and 1.75 for
75%vol H2 blended with CO. For both air-fuel ratio settings
that were tested (i.e. lambda 1.4 and lean burn limit), the
methane blends presented higher pressure values in the last
combustion phase, while syngas featured higher peak pressure.
The five fuels that were tested ensured acceptable engine
performance, even if the spark timing setting was kept at the
MBT point for methane (with lambda 1.4). One major conclu-
sion of the analysis was that spark timing re-calibration is
required in order to fully take advantage of fuel properties
such as higher laminar flame speed and increased stability.
© 2018 SAE International. All Rights Reserved.
13
Cycle-resolved flame imaging allowed a more detailed
insight into the fuel oxidation processes with regard to its
evolution within the combustion chamber. In line with the
thermodynamic results, the mixture with the highest concen-
tration of hydrogen (S75-25) featured the ‘fastest’ flame propa-
gation. Propagation was found to be quite symmetric in all
directions, and similar for all fuels, suggesting that fluid
motion had the most important effect in this sense. These
results were also confirmed by the evolution of flame centroid
displacement, more extensive for extreme lean air-fuel ratios,
but comparable nonetheless.
The analysis of flame front curvature showed increased
wrinkling as hydrogen was added; this was true for methane,
as well as CO. The same effect was noted when comparing
lambda 1.4 conditions with those at the lean limit. Mean
curvature values were found to be closer to zero when
increasing the air-fuel ratio, while this effect was less evident
for hydrogen addition.
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Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering IMEP - indicated mean effective pressure
39(10):3931-3945, 2017, doi:10.1007/s40430-017-0878-6. MBT - maximum brake torque
41. Fonseca, L., Coelho, R., Braga, R., Pena, B., and Valle, R.M., MFB - mass fraction burned
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Ratios in a Single Cylinder Research Engine,” Advanced PDF - probability density function
Materials Research 1016:617-623, 2014, doi:10.4028/www. PFI - port-fuel injection
scientific.net/AMR.1016.617. SA - spark advance
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Flame Propagation in a Hydrogen-Fueled Internal
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2011, doi:10.4271/2011-24-0098. UV - ultra-violet
43. Aleiferis, P., Behringer, M., OudeNijeweme, D., and WOT - wide open throttle
Freeland, P., “Insights into Stoichiometric and Lean
Combustion Phenomena of Gasoline–Butanol, G ­ asoline- Definitions
Ethanol, Iso-Octane–Butanol, and Iso-Octane–Ethanol
25MH2 - fuel blend containing 75%vol methane and
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crme.2012.10.031. λ - relative air-fuel ratio

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