International Journal of Innovative and Emerging Research in Engineering

Volume 4, Issue 1, 2017

Available online at www.ijiere.com
International Journal of Innovative and Emerging
Research in Engineering
e-ISSN: 2394 - 3343 p-ISSN: 2394 - 5494

Performance Evaluation of Internal Combustion Engine With

Hydrogen addition in Fuel
S. S. Kalea, Dr. B. K. Sonageb, A. P. Bhaleraoc
a
Asst. Prof. Mechanical Dept. N. K. Orchid college of Engg. & Tech., Solapur, Maharashtra, India.
b2
Professor Mechanical Dept. N. K. Orchid college of Engg. & Tech., Solapur, Maharashtra, India.
c3
PG Student, Mechanical Dept. N. K. Orchid college of Engg. & Tech., Solapur, Maharashtra, India.
kalesss@gmail.com

ABSTRACT-
We know that, now a days there is large scarcity of traditional fuels like diesel, petrol etc. A lot of effort is applied to find
alternatives for this. Hydrogen is one of the good alternative fuel which can be used on the engine without modification of
the engine. Major drawback of hydrogen fuel is storage problem. As hydrogen is highly flammable it cannot be stored safely.
In our project we have avoided storage of hydrogen, we used electrolysis process for production of the hydrogen and it is
used immediately on the engine without storage. We have added the Hydrogen as 0 lpm(liter per minuite), 0.5 lpm and 1
lpm in the suction air. We observed that addition of hydrogen gas in diesel engine increases brake thermal efficiency by
5.22%. By the use of hydrogen the fuel utility is reduced from 10% to 15%. It improves the life span of engine by decreasing
carbon deposition in cylinder.
Keywords: - Hydrogen gas, C.I engine, Performance Parameters, Emissions, Engine life.

I. INTRODUCTION
The source of diesel, petrol, LPG is limited and availability is decreasing day by day in bulk and production rate of fuel will
decrease in future and environmental pollution will increase by emission from engine exhaust gases. Therefore, there is strong
motivation in looking for alternative fuel for different application. The history of alternative transportation fuels such as
methanol, compressed natural gas and ethanol, biodiesel has not been very successful. Lack of any private benefits, need of
major infrastructural changes for their mass acceptance has contributed to this failure. However, depending on the fuel supply
and storage infrastructure and the application in present day vehicles, natural gas and bio-fuels are seen to be the short-term
option for meeting the above mentioned goals, whereas hydrogen and the fuel cell technology are expected to contribute in the
long run. Hydrogen is a colorless, odorless, nontoxic flammable gas, with less local pollutant effects. It can be used as a
transport fuel, in internal combustion engine (ICE). It contains more energy per unit mass than other fuel. The future prospects
of renewable hydrogen that is hydrogen produced from renewable sources, its availability, its penetration and acceptance in the
future transport sector.
II. LITERATURE SURVEY
C. W. leung et al. [11]: An experimental investigation was conducted on the combustion, performance, regulated and
unregulated emissions of a diesel engine with naturally aspirated hydrogen at the engine speed of 1800 rev min -1 under five
engine loads. Hydrogen was added to provide 10%, 20%, 30% and 40% of the total fuel energy. Improvement of engine
performance can be achieved at medium to high loads. At 90% load, abnormal combustion occurs with more than 30%
hydrogen addition as indicated by the drastic increase of peak heat release rate, shortened ignition delay and combustion
duration. CO/CO2 and seven kinds of unregulated emissions can be efficiently reduced.
B. Zhang et al. [4]: This paper proposed a new combustion strategy for the spark-ignited (SI) engines. A gasoline engine was
converted into a hybrid hydrogen–gasoline engine (HHGE) by adding a hydrogen injection system and a hybrid electronic
control unit. Different from the conventional gasoline and hydrogen–enriched gasoline engines, the HHGE is fueled with the
pure hydrogen at cold start to produce almost zero emissions, with the hydrogen–gasoline blends at idle and part loads to further
improve thermal efficiency and reduce emissions, and with the pure gasoline to ensure the engine power output at high loads.
Y Zhan et al. [12]: - Considering hydrogen as a clean alternative fuel for engines, this paper is to develop a procedure to add
hydrogen in an intake manifold and to design an exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) system for a direct injection diesel engine.
The cylinder gas pressure, air mass flow, fuel mass flow, and emissions (such as CO, CO 2, HC, NOX, and smoke) were

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measured under various engine loads and 0%-40% EGR ratios adjusting the hydrogen-energy-share ratio at 0%-20%, meaning
that the energy of hydrogen replaced 0%-20% that of diesel fuel. The combustion characteristics such as cyclic variations, heat
release rate, brake thermal efficiency, and specific fuel consumption (SFC) were determined. The results show that the variation
coefficient values of indicated mean effective pressure (IMEP) are from 0.9% to 2.8%. The rate of decrease in the smoke
emission is 37.6%, and that in the NOX emission is 59.5% for a 60% load, 40% EGR ratio, and 20% added hydrogen The
efficiency is close at the same load with/without hydrogen for the same EGR ratio.
A. Rashad [13]: - Evaluating the performance enhancement of a diesel engine through the addition of Oxy-hydrogen (HHO)
gas generated through water electrolysis has been investigated by several researchers. The outcomes were claimed to be very
promising. It is thought however that the results need more investigation. This study is carried out to evaluate the influence of
adding HHO gas into the inlet air on the performance of a direct injection diesel engine. The experimental work is carried out
under constant speed with varying load and amount of introduced HHO generated through water electrolysis. In this work the
results contrary to many publications showed that, the thermal efficiency increases only at low loads and the brake specific fuel
consumption consequently decreases at low loads too (up to 23% of maximum load). Using oxyhydrogen; the maximum engine
power decreases with increasing electrolyte concentration. The maximum reduction in maximum power was (3.8 % to 7.6). An
explanation for the results was attempted. The maximum power of the engine decreased with using HHO. This may be due to
the lower amounts of excess air available in the cylinder, and the loss in volumetric efficiency due to the displacement of intake
air by the large volume of oxyhydrogen in the intake mixture. The specific fuel consumption decreased at low load (up to 20%)
but at higher loads the decrease in the specific fuel consumption was not noticed.

III. HYDROGEN AS ADD ITION AS FUEL

Hydrogen on burning produces only water. It is non-toxic, odorless and also results in complete combustion. Hydrogen is a
long-term fuel and also it is a renewable and less polluting fuel. The hydrogen gas improves the quality of the fuel burn inside
the engine cylinders, this can increase the engine power, reduces the unwanted exhaust emissions.
Some of the advantages of using hydrogen as fuel are readily available, no harmful emissions, environment friendly, renewable,
and fuel efficient. When hydrogen is burned, the only emission it makes is water vapor, so a key advantage of hydrogen is that
when burned, carbon dioxide (CO2) is not produced. Clearly, hydrogen is less of a pollutant in the air because it omits little tail
pipe pollution. Hydrogen fuel has some of the disadvantages like highly flammable, storage difficulty etc.

IV. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE

Figure 1 shows the experimental setup for the diesel engine supplemented with hydroxy gas through dry cell hydroxy (HHO)
gas generator. The experimentation was carried on VCR diesel engine at 0lpm,0.5lpm,1lpmflow rate of hydroxy gas for
compression ratio 17.5. The engine specifications are as shown in Table 1. The engine is coupled with eddy current
dynamometer for loading and data is generated on computer. For emission measurement by using emission gas analyzer. First
engine is set to compression ratio 17.5 and engine is started. The readings are taken for compression ratio 17.5 at 0lpm. The
readings are taken for different load.

Figure 1. Experimental test set up

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Table.1 Specification of Diesel Engine used
Particulars Specifications
Product VCR Engine test setup 1 cylinder, 4 stroke, Diesel
(Computerized)

Engine Make Kirloskar, Type 1 cylinder, 4 stroke Diesel, water

cooled, power 3.5 kW at 1500 rpm, stroke 110 mm, bore
87.5 mm.661 cc

Dynamometer Type eddy current, water cooled, with loading unit

Propeller Shafts With universal joints

Fuel Tank Capacity 15 lit with glass fuel metering column
Calorimeter & Pump Pipe in pipe, Mono-block Pump

Temperature sensor Type RTD, PT100 and Thermocouple, Type K

Load indicator Digital, Range 0-50 Kg, Supply 230VAC
Load sensor Load cell, type strain gauge, range 0-50 Kg
Rota meter Engine cooling 40-400 LPH; Calorimeter 25-250 LPH

Overall dimensions W 2000 x D 2500 x H 1500 mm

Figure 2. Fuel Efficiency Meter

V. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

We have analyzed various performance parameters of Diesel Engine like Brake power, Brake thermal efficiency, Mechanical
efficiency, Indicated thermal efficiency. Also we have analyzed the exhaust emission as carbon monoxide, oxides of Nitrogen.

A. Break power
0 lpm 0.5 lpm 1lpm
4
3.5
BP (kw)

3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
0 3 6 9 12
Load (kg)
Figure 3. Variation of brake power with load

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Figure 3 shows the brake power for 0lpm, 0.5 lpm, 1lpm enrichment of hydroxy gas with different load. The brake power of
diesel engine when enriched with hydroxy gas is higher than pure diesel i.e 0 lpm. It has observed that the nature of curve more
or less remains same for all the Hydrogen mixture.

B. Brake thermal efficiency

35 0 lpm 0.5 lpm 1lpm
30
25

BTH (%)
20
15
10
5
0
0 3 6 9 12
Load (kg)

Figure 4. Variation of brake thermal efficiency with load

Figure 4 shows the brake thermal efficiency for 0lpm, 0.5lpm, 1lpm enrichment of hydrogen gas with different load. The thermal
efficiency of diesel engine when enriched with hydrogen gas is higher pure diesel. Brake thermal efficiency is gradually
increases with load. The brake thermal efficiency is maximum at compression ratio 17.5 at 12 load when enriched with
hydrogen gas of 1 lpm. It has also observed that the brake thermal efficiency increases with hydrogen gas addition
continuously.

C. Indicated thermal efficiency

Figure 5 shows the Indicated thermal efficiency for 0lpm, 0.5lpm and 1lpm enrichment of hydrogen gas with different load. It
has observed that the indicated thermal efficiency varies in the range of 40% to 60%. The Indicated efficiency of diesel engine
when enriched with hydrogen gas is higher than pure Diesel. The Indicated thermal efficiency is maximum i. e. 60% at
compression ratio 17.5 at 12 load when enriched with hydrogen gas.

0 lpm 0.5 lpm 1lpm

70
60
50
ITE(%)

40
30
20
10
0
0 3 6 9 12
Load (kg)
Figure 5. Variation of Indicated thermal efficiency with load

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D. Mechanical efficiency
Figure 6 shows the Mechanical thermal efficiency for 0lpm, 0.5lpm ,1lpm enrichment of hydrogen gas with different load. It
has observed that the Mechanical efficiency is gradually increasing with load. The Mechanical thermal efficiency is maximum
at compression ratio 17.5 at 12 load when enriched without hydrogen gas.

0 lpm 0.5 lpm 1lpm

80
70

Mechanical efficiency (%)

60
50
40
30
20
10
0
6 09 123
Load (kg)
Figure 6. Variation of Mechanical efficiency with load

EMISSION PARAMETERS-
In emission analysis we have analyzed Carbon Monoxide and Oxides of Nitrogen, We have used Fuel Efficiency Meter for
exhaust gas measurement. Figure 2 shows Fuel Efficiency Meter.

A. Carbon Monoxide
Figure 7 shows the CO for 0 lpm, 0.5lpm and 1lpm enrichment of hydrogen gas with different load. It has observed
that the CO percentage reduces gradually with load. The CO of diesel engine when enriched with hydroxy gas is less
than pure diesel. The CO is minimum at compression ratio 17.5 at 12 load when enriched with 1 lpm hydrogen gas.
The carbon monoxide decreases with hydrogen gas addition.

0lpm 0.5lpm 1lpm

0.08
0.07
0.06
CO (%)

0.05
0.04
0.03
0.02
0.01
0
0 3 6 9 12
Load (kg)
Fig. 7 Variation of co with load

B. Oxides of Nitrogen
Figure 7 shows the NO for 0 lpm, 0.5 lpm and 1 lpm enrichment of hydrogen gas with different load. The exhaust gas NO of
diesel engine observed to be increasing when enriched with hydrogen. The HHO calorific value is higher than the Diesel hence
it increases average temperature of the engine and NO emission. The NO is maximum at compression ratio 17.5 at 12 load
when enriched with 1 lpm hydrogen gas.

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0lpm 0.5lpm 1lpm
300
250
200

NO (ppm)
150
100
50
0
0 3 6 9 12
Loag(kg)
Fig 8 Variation of NO with load

VI. CONCLUSIONS
By enriching the air with hydrogen gas we got satisfactory results. As compared to pure diesel, we found that, BP is increased
up to 8.18%, BTE is increased by 5.22%, ITE is increased by 29.93%, and Mechanical efficiency is increased by 6.9%.
Emission parameters like CO are reduced when diesel is used with hydrogen as additive whereas NO is increased. It has
observed that HHO gas is one of the good alternatives for reducing use of diesel and reduces majority of pollution except NO
pollution.

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