Applied Energy 205 (2017) 911–925

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Applied Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apenergy

Performance and emissions characteristics in the combustion of co-fuel MARK

diesel-hydrogen in a heavy duty engine
⁎
S. Mohammad Hosseini, Rouhollah Ahmadi
School of New Technologies, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran

H I G H L I G H T S

• The combustion of diesel-hydrogen in a heavy duty engine at full load is simulated.

• Replacement and adding hydrogen to diesel from 0% to 70% are examined.
• InWhen
the best condition, emissions of NO , UHC, soot, CO and CO are reduced.
X 2

• 54% and 70% hydrogen is added to diesel, knocking phenomenon takes place.

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Owing to the adverse environmental impacts of fossil fuel consumption, a lot of research has been conducted to
Diesel engine combustion select alternative sustainable fuel sources with lower emissions. Hydrogen is one of the promising alternative
Hydrogen fuels; it is because of its similarity of combustion characteristics to fossil fuels and the fact that it is clean and
Emissions located in the renewable fuels category. In this paper, the combustion of co-fuel diesel-hydrogen in a heavy duty
Simulation
engine at full load and at speeds of 1600 rpm is simulated. All parameters such as engine speed, spray angle,
Engine performance
injection time and input energy have been presumed constant, and variable parameters are the ratio of hydrogen
Alternative fuel
Knocking to diesel per mass or energy. In the case of replacement and addition of hydrogen, hydrogen energy is changed
from 0% (pure diesel) to 70% in comparison to the input energy of diesel. In the case of replacement of hydrogen
instead of input diesel energy fraction, the simulation results indicate that in its best case, emissions of NOX,
unburned hydrocarbons, soot, CO and CO2 are reduced by 8%, 54%, 14%, 70%, 2.8% and 14%, respectively.
Meanwhile, concerning addition of hydrogen as a fuel excess, the emission of unburned hydrocarbons, soot, CO
and CO2 in the best case diminish at a rate of 69%, 9.5%, 17% and 8%, respectively; while NOX emissions and
indicator power increase as 2% and 8%, respectively. It is revealed that replacement and addition of hydrogen to
the combustion chamber results in a delay in the ignition, growth in the rate of pressure rise and an increase of
heat releasing. It should be noted that this pressure rise will not cause knocking in the hydrogen replacement
case; however, when 54% and 70% hydrogen is added to diesel, knocking phenomenon takes place in the engine.

1. Introduction gasoline/n-butanol [22] were used by many researchers to improve

Nowadays, control and reduction of air pollution are one of the
biggest problems in industrialized and developing countries. In the
metropolises around the world, the polluting vehicles are one of the
main sources of environmental crisis and human diseases. To overcome
these adverse effects, in addition to efforts in combustion optimization,
the sources of pollutant emissions must decrease from their origin.
Blending some of clean or commercial fuels such as natural gas-diesel
[1–6], biodiesel-diesel [7], kerosene-diesel [8], reformer gas-diesel [2],
hydrogen-natural gas [2,9], hydrogen-diesel [4,10–21], and diesel/
combustion and emission characteristics. In this regards, employment
of clean fuel such as hydrogen can be one of the promising solutions in
reducing adverse effects of vehicle pollution. Hydrogen combustion will
produce only NOX pollutant, and there is no footprint of unburned
hydrocarbons, soot, CO and CO2 emissions. Since the characteristics of
the hydrogen combustion resembles fossil fuels, hydrogen can be a
suitable alternative to fossil fuels if it is obtained from clean upstream
resources [23]. More importantly, since 70% of the surface earth is
covered by water, hydrogen is classified under the clean renewable
fuels category. Today, although 95% of hydrogen is produced from

⁎
Corresponding author at: Narmak, Tehran 1684613114, Islamic Republic of Iran.
E-mail address: ahmadi@iust.ac.ir (R. Ahmadi).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2017.08.044
Received 15 May 2017; Received in revised form 8 August 2017; Accepted 9 August 2017
Available online 20 August 2017
0306-2619/ © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
S.M. Hosseini, R. Ahmadi Applied Energy 205 (2017) 911–925

Nomenclature Greek symbol

A0 fluid flow constant δml Dirac delta function

Cn maximum nucleation rate (1/m3s ) ε dissipation rate of turbulence (J/kg·s)
D diffusion coefficient (m2/s ) η efficiency
f mixture fraction (of fuel) ρ density (kg/m3)
fn mixture fraction for maximum nucleation rate ρ̇s density change rate owing to Spray (kg/m3·s)
F rate of momentum gain per unit volume ρ̇mc density change rate due to chemistry (kg/m3·s)
g specific body force, assumed constant (m/s2 ) σn predefined fn variance
I specific internal energy (J/kg ) φ fuel-air equivalence ratio
k k turbulent kinetic energy (J) ω̇m molar production rate (kmol/m3·s)
K Kelvin Δhf0 the standard heat of formation of species m (kJ/kmol)
m mass
P pressure (Pa) Abbreviations
PO2 partial pressure of oxygen
Q̇
c
source term due to chemistry (W/m3 ) ATDC After Top Dead Center
̇ s BTDC Before Top Dead Center
Q source term owing to spray (W/m3 )
R Universal Gas Constant C.A. Crank Angle
S∅s source term of the conservation equation CDC Conventional Diesel Combustion
Sn nucleation source CO Carbon Monoxide
SO2 oxidation source CO2 Carbon Dioxide
T temperature EGR Exhaust Gas Recirculation
u velocity (m/s ) EVO Exhaust Valve Opening
V volume GIE Gross Indicated Efficiency
W work HHV High Heat Value
Y mass fraction HICE Hydrogen Internal Combustion Engine
HRR Heat Release Rate
Subscripts IVC Intake Valve Closing
LHV Low Heat Value
f fuel LTHR/HTHR Low/High Temperature Heat Release
m number of species in chemical kinetics mechanism NOx Nitrogen Oxide
PRR Pressure Raise Rate
Superscripts RI Ring Intensity
RPM Revolution Per Minute
c chemistry source SCOTE Single Cylinder Oil Test Engine
s number of species in chemical kinetics mechanism SFC Specific Fuel consumption
SUB Substitution
TDC Top Dead Center

natural gas reforming and only 5% of hydrogen is obtained by elec-
trolysis of water, due to the increased installation and use of renewable
energy sources, it can be expected that hydrogen can be obtained from
clean energy [24,25]. Hydrogen can also be produced by converting
power to gas from the surplus of power plant electricity during low load
period [26].
injection on engine performance is studied. It is reported that because
of the better mixture of hydrogen and air, adding hydrogen into the
intake manifold increased engine efficiency to 19% in comparison to
Table 1
Comparison of diesel fuel and hydrogen characteristics.

Table 1 demonstrates the details of the hydrogen fuel specifications Properties Diesel Hydrogen
in comparison to diesel fuel. Because of hydrogen storage difficulties,
the high cost of extraction and low required ignition energy (the high Formula n-C7H16 H2
tendency of knocking phenomenon) this fuel is not considered as a Autoignition temperature (K) 530 858
Minimum ignition energy (MJ) – 0.02
commercially common fuel except in fuel cells right now. However, Flammability limits (volume % in Air) 0.7–5 4–75
small amounts of hydrogen are used as a secondary or additive fuel in Stoichiometric air–fuel ratio on mass basis 14.5 34.3
some investigations, recently. In Table 2 a comprehensive overview of Molecular weight (
g
) 100 2
mole
the studies performed on diesel-hydrogen combustion is demonstrated. Limits of flammability – 0.1–7.1
Some of them are considered in more detail in the following. Density at 160 C and 1.01 bar
kg 833–881 0.0838
m3
In a work performed by Osama [27], the effect of air–fuel ratio,
Net heating value (Lower) (
MJ
) 42.5 119.93
engine speed and the concentration of hydrogen on the power output kg

are addressed. His simulation using Lotus code shows that for the 30 265–325
Flame velocity ( )
cm
s
air–fuel ratio (AFR) < 15 adding 5–10% hydrogen improves engine Quenching gap in NTP Air (cm) – 0.064
performance, and for AFR > 15 adding 30% hydrogen leads to en- cm 2 – 0.63
Diffusivity in Air ⎛ ⎞
hanced engine performance. This power enhancement is about 14% ⎝ s ⎠
higher than pure diesel mode. He has also shown that the highest Octane number 30 130
Cetane number 40–55 –
thermal efficiency at full load without the occurrence of a knock takes
Boiling point (K) 436–672 20–27
place when (5−10) percent hydrogen is added and AFR is increased up Viscosity at 15.5 °C, centipoise 2.6–4.1 –
to 20. In Massoud et al’s study [13], the effect of types of hydrogen Specific gravity 0.83 0.091

912
S.M. Hosseini, R. Ahmadi Applied Energy 205 (2017) 911–925

Table 2
Review of studies on Diesel-Hydrogen Combustion.

Authors Experimental equipment or Research objectives Main results

numerical methods

Osama et al. [27] Simulation with LOTUS Investigating performance and emissions of CI engine Hydrogen effect on engine performance depends on the
Code fueled with hydrogen enriched diesel amount of air, for A/F < 15, 5–10% amount of hydrogen
and A/F > 15, 30–40% amount of hydrogen results in
maximum power in the engine.
Madhujit et al. [35] Engine: Kirloskar Analysis of performance, emission of dual fuel H2-disel Increase of thermal efficiency (15% with the addition of 42%
Speed: 1500 RPM with different amount of H2 from 0 to 42% of input entrance energy by hydrogen instead of diesel) and
CR: 17.5 energy improved combustion because of a wide range of hydrogen
flammability. Reduction of 18.6% energy consumption with
42% H2 addition and also reduction of CO2, CO, UHC and
soot by 40%, 33%, 89% and 33% respectively. NOx increases
to 500% with 42% H2 addition. Adding more than 42% H2
leads to knocking phenomena in the engine.
Morsy et al. [12] Engine: GKW Evaluating performance and emission of hydrogen – Reduction of SFC in the minimum load reduces NOx and in
Speed: 1000,1400 RPM diesel fueled engine. high loads increases NOx because of temperature increase
CR: 17.1 compared with pure diesel.
Maghbouli et al. [14] Software: KIVA Numerical analysis of hydrogen addition to diesel fuel At low loads, thermal efficiency, cylinder pressure and
Speed: 1600, 2400, effect released heat increase but at high loads, there is no
3200 RPM significant change in engine performance.
Esmaeili et al. [36] Engine: HINO Experimental analysis of hydrogen and oxygen addition Using 4.86, 6 and 6.12% H2/O2 out of total diesel causes
Speed: 1500 RPM to diesel fuel effect 15% of SFC reduction and also reduction of emissions such
CR: 17.9 as CO, UHC and CO2
Saravanan et al. [37] Engine: Kirloskar Study the best time of hydrogen injection and the effect The best time for hydrogen injection is 5 BTDC and for DEE
Speed: 1500 RPM of hydrogen and Diethyl ether (DEE) addition to diesel is 40 ATDC. The addition of hydrogen to diesel causes 20%
CR: 16.5 fuel increase in thermal efficiency and 13% increase in NOx
emission but H2 & DEE addition leads to 30% increase in
thermal efficiency and reduction of NOx.
Nguyen et al. [17] Speed: 1500 RPM Analysis of hydrogen addition effect on diesel engine The addition of 10% H2 (on volumetric basis) to intake air
CR: 16.7 noise causes the reduction of noise compared to pure diesel. Cycle
to cycle variations is more in 10% H2 addition compared to
pure diesel.
Madhujit et al. [38] Engine: Kirloskar Study of performance and emissions of H2-diesel dual The best angle for H2 addition is 10 ATDC because it leads to
Speed: 1500 RPM fuel engine at different injection times increasing thermal efficiency and reduction of SFC. The best
CR: 17.5 strategy of injection is the third strategy, in which thermal
efficiency is 30.22% vs 26.79% in pure diesel and NOx
emission increases from 3 to 10 kg/kW·h .
Lata et al. [39] Engine: ALU Experimental analysis of the effect of H2 and LPG If 30% H2 and 40% LPG is added alone, thermal efficiency
Speed: 1500 RPM (secondary fuel) addition on dual fuel diesel engine increases to 17% and 6%. Knocking appears in addition of
CR: 17.5 efficiency and pollution 50% H2 and 70% LPG respectively. At low loads (below
35%) H2 and LPG addition (40% of mixture) in the case of
70:30 (i.e. 70% LPG and 30% Hydrogen) will have the best
performance.
Wang et al. [40] Speed: 40
km Air pollutants reduction with H2/O2 addition to diesel The best amount of H2/O2 for reduction of SFC is 60
L
, in
h L min
CR: 17.9 at eight different cases (pure diesel to 70 amount of this case, SFC will decrease to12.6%. Adding H2/O2, exhaust
min
H2/O2) and introducing the best case emissions except NOx will decrease.
Tangoza et al. [41] Speed: 1500 Effect of compression ratio on performance and In CR: 12.5 the maximum brake power and minimum SFC
CR: 9.6, 12.5, 15 emissions of the modified H2-CNG engine. occurs. CNG fuel in excess air loses its benefits due to the
flame low speed. With the addition of H2 NOx increases but
THC is below the Euro 5 emission standards.
Cho et al. [42] Speed: 1500 Evaluating the effect of hydrogen on compression A portion of fuel fraction in premixed combustion increases
CR: 16.1 ignition engine with low pressure EGR by hydrogen addition. H2 leads to the reduction of oxygen in
the intake manifold and the increase of OH radical
absorption in low temperature. Adding 7.4% H2 with 7%
EGR leads to the reduction of 36% NOx. Hydrogen leads to
PM reduction due to the oxidation increase.
Premkartikkumar et al. Engine: Kirloskar Evaluating the effect of oxygen enriched hydrogen gas Delaying the combustion (oxygen enriched hydrogen) has
[43] Speed: 1800 RPM (As a combustion catalyst) in hydrogen-diesel dual more effect on engine emissions (compared to pure diesel).
CR: 17.5 combustion with variable diesel injection timings. This delay leads to 12% increase in brake thermal efficiency,
and reduction of NOx, CO, soot, and UHC to 12.21%, 7.97%,
19%, and 17.12%.
Hamdan et al. [21] Engine: Ricardo Evaluating the effect of H2 as the supplementary fuel on Effects of H2 addition at low loads is more than high loads.
Speed: 1080, 1260, 1800 diesel fuel combustion H2 causes smooth run of the engine but NOx emissions
RPM increase because of the growing temperature in the
CR: 22 combustion chamber.
Morasia et al. [44] Engine: Diesel generator Evaluating the effect of H2 on performance and CO2 The addition of H2 to 20% doesn’t need any modifications in
Speed: 1800 RPM emission in generator diesel the engine. At 75% load, maximum SFC reduction occurs
CR: 17 and if H2 is obtained from clean upstream sources, CO2
emission will reduce to 12%.
Yadav et al. [19] Engine: Kirloskar Analysis of performance and emissions of direct The addition of H2 without EGR is 470ny ppm that is more
Speed: 1500 RPM injection compression ignition engine at H2-diesel than 440 ppm for pure diesel. The addition of H2 with 20%
CR: 16.5 mode with EGR EGR reduces NOx emissions to 447 ppm at 80% load but
other emissions increase because of the presence of EGR
compared to pure diesel. Thermal efficiency will increase
(continued on next page)

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S.M. Hosseini, R. Ahmadi Applied Energy 205 (2017) 911–925

Table 2 (continued)

Authors Experimental equipment or Research objectives Main results

numerical methods

mg
1.83% with the addition of 40 H2. Combustion control
h
mg
will be harder by more than 40 H2 addition.
h
Gang et al. [45] Engine: BIT Study of H2 fuel characteristics by addition of H2 to H2 laminar flame speed near φ = 1 is more than gasoline
Speed: 4000 RPM intake manifold and sparking by spark plug and for this reason, combustion duration of H2 is shorter
CR: 10 than gasoline but when φ < 0.4, the laminar flame speed of
H2 is shorter than gasoline and this feature causes different
combustion timings for HICE. At φ ≥ 0.6 combustion timing
is independent of engine speed but if φ < 0.6 it depends on
engine speed. According to the position of CA50 at full load,
combustion timing must be advanced and at part, loads must
be delayed.
Vudumu et al. [46] Software: GT POWER Simulation of H2 combustion for prediction of engine With 16% EGR at φ = 0.84, NOx emission will reduce from
Speed: 2500 RPM performance with EGR 7000 ppm to 800 ppm in pure hydrogen case.
CR: 9
Dhole et al. [47] Mathematical model Mathematical model for obtaining the precise model At high load, thermal efficiency increases. The best amount
Engine: ALU for calculating emission and the effect of some of H2 at energy basis is 20% at high load. At part loads, the
Speed: 1500 RPM parameter such as amount of H2 on emission amount of NOx emission reduces but UHC and CO increase.
CR: 17.5 Results show that there is no need for any modifications on
the engine while hydrogen addition is low.
Madhujit et al. [48] Optimization with genetic Simulation of engine performance at different loads Preparing some graphs from genetic algorithm method that
algorithm under the influence of different amounts of H2 show the effect of hydrogen on engine energy consumption,
Engine: Kirloskar SFC and engine efficiency. H2 energy fraction varied from 5
Speed: 1500 RPM to 70% and engine load varied from 20% to 120%.
CR: 17.5
Fayaza et al. [49] Review article Review and collection of research done on H2 fuel. Due to brittle state of some materials, while using H2,
materials made of brass, copper alloy, aluminum and their
alloys and cu-be must be used. Because of low energy
demand for ignition of H2, crank case must have good
ventilation. A good design for H2 engine is also needed for
preventing back fire.
Liu et al. [50] Software: KIVA Numerical study of effect of H2 addition on CNG-DME By adding H2, combustion time is advanced and cylinder
Speed: 1000 RPM (RCCI) combustion pressure increases. The effect of H2 on the start of
CR: 13 combustion is more than final stage of combustion. CO
emissions decrease and most of CO is produced by CNG. NOx
emissions increase too and this growth is due to the increase
of cylinder temperature. Injection strategy and amount of
pilot fuel Dimethyl ether (DME) affect NOx emission at the
exhaust.

direct injection of hydrogen. Saravanan et al. [16] used a solenoid valve
to inject hydrogen into the intake manifold and concluded that engine
performance rises to 9%. They also in other experimental work con-
cluded that adding hydrogen to diesel leads to reduced emission in the
entire load spectra [23]. In the work performed by Szwaja [28], it is
reported that adding 5% hydrogen reduces the combustion time and
adding more than 15% hydrogen causes the knocking phenomenon. In
an experimental study conducted by Madhujit [11], the effect of adding
hydrogen instead of a fraction of the diesel energy has been examined
at three different loads and three different durations of hydrogen in-
jection. It concludes that the addition of hydrogen instead of diesel
leads to a delay in the ignition and will reduce the pressure inside the
cylinder. Cho [29] investigated the effect of adding hydrogen on the
pollutants CO and unburned hydrocarbons. The attenuation of pollu-
tants is referred to the gaseous state of hydrogen which would reduce
the phenomenon of wetting walls. However, Saravanan [16] stated that
reduction of CO and unburned hydrocarbons are owing to the non-ex-
istence of carbon in the hydrogen structure. Gatts [3] has emphasized
the decrease of CO and unburned hydrocarbons in the presence of hy-
drogen, too. Choi [30] in his work stated that the poor fuel–air
equivalence ratio φ < 1 can reduce the total hydrocarbons; however,
he noted that if the mixture is very lean (φ ≪ 1) these pollutants will
increase. Alkid and Sjoberg [31,32] in their study concluded that a
decrease in temperature reduces the efficiency and reduces the re-
activity of the mixture in the cylinders, and consequently, it reduces the
converting of CO to CO2. Kong [33] in his paper has shown that the gap
between the cylinder and piston should be modeled carefully since this
region can influence CO and unburned hydrocarbon emissions because
of its low temperature. It is important to note that the low temperature
of this region will not allow the complete combustion. Saravanan and
Hairuddin [4] believed that the reason for soot emissions reduction
when hydrogen is added to the fuel is the water produced due to the
hydrogen reaction. Masood [13] also pointed out that if hydrogen is
injected into the injection port, it can reduce more emissions because a
more homogeneous mixture will be formed. Hoekstra [9] expressed
that the increase of (φ > 0.33) is the main factor of NOX emissions.
Generally, the high φ leads to the increase of combustion chamber
temperature to over 1800K. Choi showed that the increase in air–fuel
ratio to more than 1.2 leads to lower NOX emissions, but in the interval
of (0.9 < φ < 1.15) the addition of hydrogen leads to a NOX emissions
increase so that the replacement of 20% hydrogen instead of LPG will
lead to NOX emissions increase by 20%. Miyamoto [15] pointed out
that if more than 10 volumetric percent of hydrogen is injected, diesel
combustion will be delayed and consequently it will lead to lower
combustion temperature and NOX emissions reduction. Other ways to
reduce NOX emissions are multiple spraying, using exhaust gas

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S.M. Hosseini, R. Ahmadi Applied Energy 205 (2017) 911–925

recirculation technology, water injection, using post refining or three- knowing soot mass fraction ∅s , partial pressure of oxygen PO2 , and local
way catalysts. Although the injection of water is an appropriate solution temperature T as expressed in the following relations.
and has little effect on reducing engine efficiency, only it is applicable
S∅s = Sn + SO2 (2)
when it is supplied by steam exhausted from the engine [34].
Karagoz [20] investigated the effect of engine load on engine per- ⎛ (f−fn)2 ⎞
⎜ ⎟
formance and emission by replacing 30% of the total energy input by S n = C n e⎝ σ 2n ⎠ (3)
hydrogen in 40%, 60%, 75% and 100% engine loads. He concluded that
at full load NOX emissions increase by 50%, but in the partial load SO2 = −F (∅s ,PO2,T ) (4)
mode, these emissions reduce. On the other hand, Madhujit et al. [35]
The formation rate parameter and oxidation rate parameter in the
have reported that by replacing 30% hydrogen, NOX emissions will
Hiroyasu-Nagel model [53] is set to 0.35 and 0.15 respectively. To
increase by 400% when the engine is working at full load. In experi-
calculate the pollutants such as CO, unburned hydrocarbons, NOX and
mental investigations conducted by Saravanan et al. [16], by enriching
greenhouse gas of CO2, the species in the mechanism are applied. These
the air with hydrogen and injecting it into the diesel engine at different
pollutants are calculated since the moment of exhaust valve opening
loads from 0 to 100% it was indicated that adding 90% hydrogen (in
(EVO). The characteristics of the simulated engine are demonstrated in
terms of input energy) at 70% engine load will make the NOX emission
Table 3 and the parameters and models used in the simulation are listed
reach to the lowest amount of 579 ppm, and at full load and replace-
in Table 4. The finite volume method is employed to solve the con-
ment of 30% hydrogen the thermal efficiency will attain 27.9% without
tinuity, momentum and energy equation. These equations are as fol-
knocking. In this case, the amount of NOX reduces by 20% compared to
lows:
pure diesel.
The aforementioned results are scattered and often they are con- ∂ρm ρ
troversial. The contradictions among results mentioned above are + ∇ ·(ρm u) = ∇ ·⎡ρD∇ ⎜⎛ m ⎟⎞ ⎤ + ρṁc + ρ ṡ δml
∂t ⎢ ⎥
⎣ ⎝ ρ ⎠⎦ (5)
mostly due to the test facilities, characteristics of examined engines, or
simulation method and accuracy. Hence, more precise investigations ∂ρu 1 2
+ ∇ ·(ρuu) = − 2 ∇P−A0 ∇ ⎛ ρk ⎞ + ∇ ·σ + F s + ρg
should be performed in various conditions to find out more reliable ∂t a ⎝3 ⎠ (6)
results. Moreover, a comparison between two types of hydrogen in-
jection (replacement or adding to diesel) was not considered yet. ∂ c s
(ρI ) + ∇ ·(ρuI ) = −P∇ ·u−(1−A0 )σ: ∇u−∇ · J+ A0 ρε + Q̇ + Q̇
Therefore, in this paper, a numerical investigation using AVL Fire ∂t (7)
software is conducted on a heavy diesel engine Caterpillar 3401 under ∂
different amounts of hydrogen replacement or addition to diesel fuel. (ρYm) + ∇ ·(ρuYkm) = ∇ ·(D ym ∇Ym) + ρṁc
∂t (8)
Here, the effect of replacement and addition of hydrogen to diesel is
c
analyzed and compared with the pure diesel mode, using numerical Here, and Q̇ are the source terms that need to be calculated by
ρ̇mc
results and contours extracted from the software. the combustion model. Mathematical descriptions of these terms are as
follows:

2. Modeling and validation ρṁc = Wm ω̇m (9)

M
2.1. Numerical model c
Q̇ = − ∑ ω̇m (Δhf0)m
m=1 (10)
Simulation of the co-fuel diesel–hydrogen combustion is performed
using AVL-FIRE software. In order to reduce the computational cost, The aim of any chemical combustion model is obtaining the che-
meshing is performed just for 1/6 of the piston volume owing to geo- mical species net production rates (ω̇m ). To calculate the molar pro-
metrical symmetry by DIESEL-ESE module and it is depicted in Fig. 1. duction rate of chemical species that participate in chemical kinetic
Furthermore, to speed up the calculations, the Multi-zone has been mechanisms, chemistry solver coupled with the AVL-Fire Code and
activated. The mechanism employed in this paper has 50 species and termdat and mechdat files are used. The relevant files are taken from
200 reactions used in Nieman mechanism [5] and the important reac- Dr. Adam [5].
tions of hydrogen from San Diego [51] are also added to the me-
chanism. N-heptane instead of diesel with LHV of 45.1 MJ/kg and 2.2. Validation of model
hydrogen by LHV of 119.93 MJ/kg is considered. Simulation of NOX
emissions is performed by 4 species and 12 reactions, which is the re- Since the diesel is the pilot fuel in the selected engine, validation
duced form of GRI-NOX mechanism [52]. Hydrogen is added at the is performed for the diesel combustion. In forthcoming sections,
intake port and it is assumed that at the moment of IVC, hydrogen is
mixed homogeneously with the air within the chamber. To model the
soot emissions, the Hiroyasu-Nagel model, which is embedded in the
software, is used [53]. The model geometry was discretized con-
siderably fine. Nevertheless, to examine mesh independency of the
numerical simulation method prepared in this study, the trend of the
chamber pressure in terms of the number of mesh is depicted in Fig. 2.
As can be seen pressure profiles are not susceptible to mesh size or mesh
number examined in this study. Hence, the geometry with 29875 cells
is selected here to speed up calculations.
Mass conservation of soot is as follows:
∼
∂ ∼ ∂ ∂ ⎛ μeff ∂∅s ⎞
(ρ ∅s ) + (ρ uj ∅s ) = ⎜ ⎟ + S∅s
∂t ∂x j ∂x j ⎝ σs ∂x j ⎠ (1)

where the rate of soot formation S∅s depends on the nucleation source Sn
Fig. 1. Piston bowl geometry of the CATERPILAR engine.
and oxidation source SO2 . Oxidation source can be determined by

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S.M. Hosseini, R. Ahmadi Applied Energy 205 (2017) 911–925

12 are represented only for the present study in Table 5. It should be

29875 cell
45600 cell noted that the variation trend of these pollutants are compared with
10 76750 cell the experimental and numerical work in forthcoming section of this
Diesel-Inj-Profile
paper to confirm the reliability of the results.
Pressure (MPa)

6 3. Results and discussion

4 In this paper, hydrogen is injected into the described engine instead

of a fraction of diesel fuel energy or surplus of diesel fuel. In Tables
2
6 & 7, the mass fraction of air, hydrogen and diesel in different modes of
0 hydrogen replacement or hydrogen addition to diesel fuel are demon-
577 602 627 652 677 702 727 752 777 802 827 852 strated. Because just 1/6 of the cylinder volume is modeled, the amount
CA of diesel fuel injection is also 1/6 of total fuel. To calculate the ringing
intensity and indicator efficiency Eqs. (11) and (12) are used. Deck [60]
Fig. 2. Mesh independency based on the in-cylinder pressure history.
showed that if the values of these parameters are lower than 5 MW/m2,
the engine would work without knocking.
2
Table 3
Caterpillar engine specifications and conditions. RI =
1 (0.05 ( ) ) dP
dt max
γRTmax
2 Pmax (11)
Type of Engine Caterpillar 3401 180
∫
−180
PdV
Stroke (m) × Cylinder bore 0.1375 × 0.2616 GIE =
m fuel LHVfuel (12)
Connecting rod length (cm) 0.1651
Displacement (lit) 2.44
Injector holes diameter (μm ) 259
Number of holes 6 3.1. Pressure
Swirl ratio (nominal), S0 1
Number of valves 4 Replacement of hydrogen instead of diesel energy fraction causes
Number of cylinders 1
combustion retarding and pressure reduction in the chamber
Intake valve closing (CA°ATDC) −147
Exhaust valve opening (CA°ATDC) 136 [61,62]. This is because of reduction in pilot fuel and dilution of the
Compression ratio 15.1 chamber due to the presence of hydrogen and chemical effects of
Included spray angle 125° hydrogen. The chemical effects refer to the use of free radical hy-
Engine speed (rpm) 1600 droxyl by hydrogen replaced or added to chamber which does not
162.2
Fuel Injected ( )
mg
cycle
produce considerable heat. In fact, when hydrogen present in diesel
Injected duration (CA) 21.5 molecules separates from diesel so that the hydroxyl radical is es-
Diesel injection pressure (bar) 900 tablished, some of these radicals are consumed by the added or re-
Intake pressure (bar) 1.84 placed hydrogen. Since hydroxyls participate in many diesel fuel
Intake temperature (°C) 37
oxidation reactions during the low temperature stage, their con-
Equivalence ratio 0.48
Diesel SOI (CA°ATDC) −9 sumption will slow down the low temperature chemical kinetics
Spray cone angle 10° processes. The chemical effects of hydrogen and fuel dilution reduce
Temperature at IVC (K) 330.35 the rate of heat release at low temperature reactions, which will
Pressure at IVC (bar) 1.95 retard the combustion phase [18,63]. On the other hand, by reducing
the diesel fuel, the formation of formaldehyde (CH2O) and conse-
quently the hydroxyl (OH) will be delayed. The presence of for-
maldehyde and hydroxyl represents the start LTHR and HTHR [64].
Table 4
Models used in simulation.

Name of model 12 600

Simulation
RNG k−ε [54] Turbulence Experiment
Dukowicz [55] Evaporation 10 500
Walljet1 [56] Wall interaction HRR-Simulation-Full load
Fire-Chemkin Combustion HRR-Experiment- 0.75 Load
Heat Release (J/deg)

Han-Reitz [57] Heat transfer of wall 8 400

Pressure (Mpa)

KH-RT [58] Breakup

6 300

hydrogen addition/substitution to pilot fuel will be simulated and

4 200
compared with other investigation. The closed cycle combustion
model (from IVC to EVO) is simulated and compared with the ex-
perimental results reported by Uludogan [59]. Fig. 3 depicts the 2 100
pressure trend inside the cylinder for both the present CFD study and
experimental study. Table 5 also shows the pollutions for present and
0 0
experimental study. As it can be seen, the simulation results for the 577 599 621 643 665 687 709 731 753 775 797 819 841
present study are fairly consistent with the experimental study. Since CA
emission values of CO and unburned hydrocarbon were not reported
Fig. 3. The validation of pressure traces and HRR.
in the experimental study, the emission values for these pollutants

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S.M. Hosseini, R. Ahmadi Applied Energy 205 (2017) 911–925

Table 5
Comparison of performance and emission results between simulation and experimental study of Uludogan [59].

Indicated efficiency (%)

CO2 ⎛
g
⎞
⎝ kgfuel ⎠
UHC ⎛
g
⎞
⎝ kgfuel ⎠
CO ⎛
g
⎞
⎝ kgfuel ⎠
soot ⎛
g
⎞
⎝ kgfuel ⎠
NOx ⎛
g
⎞
⎝ kgfuel ⎠
PRR ( )
bar
deg
RI ( )
MW
m2

Experiment * * * 0.6 39 4.9 * *

Simulation 3066 0.192 5.57 0.607 43.57 4.59 1.38 45

Table 6 pressure curve in the hydrogen replacement mode is less than pure
Mass fraction of hydrogen and air at IVC and the amount of diesel injected into the
chamber in different amounts of hydrogen substitution.
diesel mode. The variation of pressure in terms of crank angle in
different amounts of hydrogen replacement is depicted in Fig. 5. The
Hydrogen (share of energy %) Oxygen Nitrogen Hydrogen Diesel (mg) addition of hydrogen as an energy surplus into the combustion
chamber slightly delays the ignition due to the use of hydroxyl.
0 0.23292 0.76708 0 27.03333
5 0.23278 0.76662 0.00060 25.68167
However, because of the large amount of diesel fuel compared to the
11 0.23261 0.76607 0.00132 24.05967 hydrogen replacement mode, ignition delay is negligible. Further-
16.5 0.23244 0.76552 0.00204 22.43767 more, due to the presence of excess of fuel (hydrogen + diesel) and
28.5 0.23208 0.76432 0.00360 18.92333 the high speed of hydrogen flame, combustion will be faster and the
39 0.23175 0.76322 0.00503 15.67933
pressure peak will be higher than pure diesel. The trend of the
54 0.23125 0.76158 0.00717 10.81333
70 0.23070 0.75977 0.00954 5.406670 pressure behavior in the presence of hydrogen as an energy surplus is
demonstrated in Fig. 6.

3.2. Heat release

Table 7 Replacement or addition of hydrogen will reduce the volumetric

Mass fraction of hydrogen and air at IVC and the amount of diesel injected into the efficiency. Separately, hydrogen instead of diesel leads to a reduc-
chamber in different amounts of hydrogen addition.
tion in the amount of the pilot fuel. As it was mentioned in the
Hydrogen (Share of energy %) Oxygen Nitrogen Hydrogen Diesel (mg) previous section, the ignition starts with a delay which is re-
presented in Fig. 7. After ignition, due to the presence of hydrogen
0 0.23292 0.76708 0 27.03333 and its high speed of flame, a similar combustion is carried out at
5 0.23278 0.76662 0.0006 27.03333
the constant volume process and heat release and reaction rate will
11 0.23261 0.76607 0.00132 27.03333
16.5 0.23244 0.76552 0.00204 27.03333 increase. These variations are more visible in hydrogen addition
28.5 0.23208 0.76432 0.00360 27.03333 mode [20].
39 0.23175 0.76322 0.00503 27.03333
54 0.23125 0.76158 0.00717 27.03333 3.3. Ringing intensity
70 0.2307 0.75977 0.00954 27.03333

When pilot fuel is replaced by hydrogen or hydrogen is added, the

For an example, in Fig. 4 the formation time of formaldehyde and
hydroxyl are shown in two states of no hydrogen and 70% added
hydrogen instead of diesel. The late start of combustion (after top
dead center) in the case of hydrogen replacement reduces the rate of
increase in pressure and temperature of the chamber. The peak of the
0.00035
0.0003
0.00025
mass fraction
speed of flame, the rate of pressure and heat release increase.
Consequently, these variation lead to an increase in engine noise
which increases the risk of knocking phenomenon [65,66]. It is im-
portant to note that replacement of hydrogen by 50% or 70% of input
energy requires a careful design of the engine since in diesel engines
there are usually hot spots, so adding hydrogen in large amounts is
not possible because the phenomenon of knocking or the back fire
will be expected. It is reported in a work conducted by Madhujit [35]
that the maximum permitted amount of hydrogen addition is 42% as
a fraction of the energy input. Also, if the pilot fuel is injected sooner,
OH-H0
there is a possibility of the knocking process at high levels of hy-
CH2O-H0 drogen replacement. However, in this paper, the injection time and
OH-H70-SUB duration of no case is changed. According to simulations carried out

CH2O-H70-SUB in this paper, in the case of hydrogen substitution there is no

0.0002
knocking phenomenon in theory, but the addition of hydrogen more
0.00015 than 50% of excess energy input would lead to knocking. Red signs in
the Figures represent the knocking phenomenon. In Fig. 8, the
0.0001 ringing intensity variations are demonstrated in terms of replaced
and added hydrogen.
0.00005

0 3.4. Greenhouse CO2 emission

713 718 723 728 733 738 743 748 753 758 763 768 773 778 783 788 793 798
CA One of the worthwhile achievements of using hydrogen as an
Fig. 4. Comparison of calculated CH2O, OH history for the H0 and H70. additive fuel for internal combustion engines is a significant

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S.M. Hosseini, R. Ahmadi Applied Energy 205 (2017) 911–925

1600-Sub 11
12
H0
10 H11 10
H16.5
Pressure (MPa)

8 H28.5
9
H39
6
H54
8
H70
4

2
7

0 6
577 597 617 637 657 677 697 717 737 757 777 797 817 837 857 715 720 725 730 735 740 745 750
CA
Fig. 5. Hydrogen substitution impacts on cylinder pressure.

1600-Add 15
16
H0 14
14 H11 13
12 H16.5
12
Pressure (MPa)

10 H28.5
11
H39
8 10
H54
6 9
H70
4 8
2 7
0 6
577 597 617 637 657 677 697 717 737 757 777 797 817 837 857 715 720 725 730 735 740 745 750
CA
Fig. 6. Hydrogen surplus impacts on cylinder pressure.

1600-sub 1600-Add
500 900
450 H0 800 H0
H11 H11
400 700
H16.5 H16.5
350 600
HRR (J/deg)

H28.5
HRR (J/deg)

H28.5
300 H39 500 H39
250 H54 H54
400
200 H70 H70
300
150
200
100
100
50
0 0
710 720 730 740 750 760 770 710 720 730 740 750 760 770
CA CA

Fig. 7. Hydrogen substitution and addition impact on cylinder HRR.

reduction in the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. The reason of this

reduction in the case of hydrogen-replacement-mode is the incre-
ment of hydrogen to carbon ratio and diesel fuel reduction; and in
the hydrogen-addition- mode these emissions decrease due to the
increase of engine power (the mass of pollutants in this case is tri-
vial). It should be noted that if hydrogen is obtained from the clean
renewable resources, it can be concluded that adding hydrogen will
lead to CO2 reduction. In Figs. 9 and 10 the amount and percentage
of the greenhouse gas CO2 reduction is shown with respect to the
amount of hydrogen replaced or added to the combustion chamber.

3.5. CO emission

Fig. 8. Hydrogen substitution and addition impact on the change in ringing intensity.
In the case of hydrogen replacement, due to the late start of
combustion, the chamber temperature reduces and incomplete

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S.M. Hosseini, R. Ahmadi Applied Energy 205 (2017) 911–925

600 0.16
CO2 1600-Sub soot
0.14
500
0.12 1600-Add
400 0.10

g/kW-h
0.08
g/kW-h

300
0.06
200 0.04
0.02
100 1600-Sub
0.00
1600-Add 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
0 H2 share
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
H2 share Fig. 12. Hydrogen substitution and addition impact on soot pollutant.
Fig. 9. Hydrogen substitution and addition impact on carbon dioxide pollutant.

5.0
4.5 1600-Sub UHC
4.0 1600-Add
80 3.5
1600-Sub CO2 3.0
70

g/kW-h
1600-Add 2.5
60
2.0
50 1.5
Change (%)

40 1.0
0.5
30
0.0
20 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
H2 share
10
Fig. 13. Hydrogen substitution and addition impact on unburned hydrocarbons pollutant.
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
H2 share

Fig. 10. Hydrogen substitution and addition impact on percentage reduction of carbon
dioxide. 9
8 NOx
7
6
40
g/kW-h

5
35
1600-Sub CO
4
1600-Add
30
3
25
2 1600-Sub
g/kW-h

20 1 1600-Add
15 0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
10
H2 share
5
0 Fig. 14. Hydrogen substitution and addition impact on nitric oxide pollutant.
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
H2 share
Fig. 11. Hydrogen substitution and addition impact on carbon monoxide pollutant.
reduced by entering more excess air. Adding hydrogen if the air is
sufficient in the chamber leads to CO emission reduction. In this
case, because the produced hydroxyl is generally increased in the
combustion will occur which is due to the decrease of hydroxyl chamber, CO oxidization is improved. Replacement of hydrogen
generated by the reaction (CO + OH → CO2 + H) which leads to a more than the optimal value leads to the lack of oxygen (because of
reduction in carbon oxidation and the production of CO port injection and a decrease of engine volumetric efficiency). In
Furthermore, if the chamber is enriched with fuel and lacks oxygen, addition, due to the replacement of hydrogen instead of diesel, the
this emission would increase too. In diesel engines, CO emission is diesel fuel and its diffusion dropped and thereby ignition will
happen near the fuel injector. Therefore, because of the time

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S.M. Hosseini, R. Ahmadi
Fig. 15. Contours of oxygen, temperature, carbon monoxide and soot changes in various states of hydrogen substitution at EVO.
shortage for better mixing of fuels with air in the chamber, the
amount of CO emission and other pollutants increase. The experi-
mental value for this kind of emission was not reported [59] to
evaluate the accuracy of numerical results; however, what is im-
portant is the trend of this emission with respect to replaced or
added hydrogen amount which is depicted in Fig. 11 [3,39,47]. As it
can be seen, adding hydrogen by 11% of diesel energy would de-
crease the CO emission, but adding hydrogen more than this value
leads to a CO emission rise owing to oxygen shortage in the chamber
filled with more fuel [47,67].
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Applied Energy 205 (2017) 911–925
3.6. Soot emission
Soot emissions are obtained by the difference between soot forma-
tion and soot oxidation. The soot formation is indeed fuel pyrolysis of
hydrocarbons, which means cracking of the hydrocarbon chain in the
absence of oxygen. Meanwhile, soot oxidation means burning of soot in
the presence of oxygen at high temperatures. The heterogeneous mix-
ture and flame propagation cause more soot formation. Moreover, the
soot emission will also increase with the increase of load. The presence
of hydrogen in the air increases the premixed combustion [61,62], and
most of the injected pilot fuel burns in the homogeneous zone and thus
the flame propagation phase will be lower. Since hydrogen has no
S.M. Hosseini, R. Ahmadi Applied Energy 205 (2017) 911–925

H0 H11 H17 H28.5 H39 H54 H70

1600-H2-SUB
1600-H2-ADD
Fig. 16. Contours of Hydrogen changes in two states of hydrogen substitution & addition at EVO.

Table 8
Engine performance and emissions in different states of substitution of diesel by hydrogen.

Hydrogen Indicated Work Temperature RI PRR Maximum NOx UHC Soot CO CO2
(Energy %) efficiency (J ) (K ) pressure g g g g g
(%) ( )
MW
m2 ( )
bar
deg (bar)
( kWh ) ( kWh ) ( kWh ) ( kWh ) ( kWh )
0 45 3291 1686 1.38 4.59 106.6 7.55 0.033 0.105 0.966 532
11 44.31 3241 1667 1.56 4.8 102 7.3 0.02 0.1 0.39 481
16.5 43.7 3196 1650 1.73 5 100 6.9 0.015 0.09 0.29 457
28.5 41.17 3011 1581 1.66 4.8 95 5.9 0.012 0.1 1.27 413
39 36.07 2638 1454 2.14 5.4 90 4.8 0.064 0.15 17.8 372
54 35 2560 1487 2.4 5.7 89 4 4.57 0.14 34.3 244
70 40.24 2966 1647 2.34 5.6 95 2.6 2.2 0.06 12.4 151

carbon, replacement of hydrogen instead of diesel reduces the carbon
content within the chamber and this has an impact on reducing the
number of pollutants [39]. In the case of the replacement of 39% and
54% hydrogen instead of diesel, due to the chamber temperature drop
and incomplete combustion, there will be degradation of soot oxidation
and the amount of soot emissions increases consequently. In the case of
adding hydrogen to fuel, the reduction of soot emission is small.
However, engine work reduction in hydrogen replacing mode and en-
gine work increase in hydrogen addition mode have an effect on the
amount of this emission since it is calculated in g/kW-h. In Fig. 12 the
variation of soot emission in as a function of differing amounts of ad-
ditive hydrogen is demonstrated.
3.7. Unburned hydrocarbons emission
Unburned hydrocarbon (UHC) emissions are due to incomplete
combustion, the low temperature of the chamber, loose sealing in the
cylinder and piston and even because of a thin lubricating oil layer in
the combustion stage [6]. The presence of hydrogen in the combus-
tion chamber due to its gaseous state leads to a reduction of the
phenomenon of wetting wall and the diminishing of UHC emission
[29]. The main reasons mentioned for CO emissions can be attributed
to UHC emissions. In the case of hydrogen replacement of 39%, 54%
and 70% instead of the pilot fuel, the ignition close to the injector
nozzle, deficiency of proper mixing of fuel and air and the absence of
sufficient oxygen result in incomplete combustion and increase of
UHC emissions. This subject is expressed further in a forthcoming
section of contour analysis. It should be noted that the gap between
the cylinder and the piston is very impressive in the amount of these
pollutants; however, since there is no detailed report on the amount
of these contaminants in specified experimental condition, de-
termining the accuracy of the results for the present study is im-
possible. Here, what is important is the trend of UHC emission in
different mixtures of diesel and hydrogen fuel, which are consistent
with the aforementioned description [3,16,39,47]. Fig. 13 depicts
the UHC emission for the replaced and added hydrogen to diesel fuel.
It is seen that in the case of added hydrogen to diesel UHC emissions
will slightly increase.
3.8. NOX emission
Generally, nitrogen oxides are composed of 90–95% of NO and
5–10% of NO2. NOX formation depends on the combustion local tem-
perature, oxygen concentration and residence time of nitrogen at the
high temperature of the chamber [6]. NOX production is usually de-
termined by the highest chamber temperature which depends on the

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S.M. Hosseini, R. Ahmadi Applied Energy 205 (2017) 911–925

H0 H11 H17 H28.5 H39 H54 H70

1600-O2-ADD
1600-T-ADD
1600-CO-ADD
1600-Soot-ADD

Fig. 17. Contours of oxygen, temperature, carbon monoxide and soot changes in various states of hydrogen addition at EVO.

factors such as the fuel composition, equivalence ratio and initial
temperature of the air–fuel [68]. In the dual-fuel engines NOX value
mainly depends on the pilot fuel [47]. In the case of the hydrogen re-
placement where combustion starts too late, the chamber's temperature
decreases and these emissions will be inevitably reduced. According to
the thermal mechanism of NOx formation, the reaction rate of NOx at
temperatures below 1800 K is very low [69]. It is mainly produced
through the reaction: (N2O + O = 2NO). In the case of adding hy-
drogen, the chamber temperature rises and leads to an increase in NOX
emissions; however, since engine power increases, the amount of pol-
lutants based on (g/(kW h)) will reduce. In Fig. 14, the variations of
NOX emissions are demonstrated in terms of replaced and added
amount of hydrogen.
3.9. Contour analysis
Contours of the mass fraction of oxygen, temperature, CO
emission and soot emission in various states of hydrogen substitu-
tion at EVO are depicted in Fig. 15. Over replacement of hydrogen
instead of diesel leads to an incomplete combustion. As it can be
seen, because of diesel reduction and short time for well mixing of
fuel with air, combustion in these areas has taken place (oxygen in

922
S.M. Hosseini, R. Ahmadi
Table 9
Engine performance and emissions in different states of hydrogen addition to diesel.
this area is completely consumed) and emissions of CO and soot
have increased. On the other hand, due to the delay in the ignition
and low rate of rising chamber temperature, the oxidation of ni-
trogen is diminished since nitrogen oxidation, requiring higher
temperatures, is more time consuming than other reactions. It is
observed in Fig. 16 that in the large amount replacement of hy-
drogen instead of diesel, hydrogen is not totally burned. It indicates
the incomplete hydrogen combustion, and hydrogen replacement
portion is not appropriate. The most efficient hydrogen replacement
case is H16.5 (i.e. 16.5% of input energy is supplied by hydrogen
and the rest by diesel). In this case, the total emissions of UHC, soot,
NO X and CO are in the lowest level. Moreover, engine power var-
iations associated with minor cuts and ringing intensity are in the
acceptable range. In this case, the emissions of NOX , UHC, soot, CO,
CO 2 and indicator work obtained as 8%, 54%, 14%, 70%, 14% and
2.8%, respectively. The obtained simulation results of engine per-
formance and emissions are summarized in Table 8 for the hydrogen
replacement case. In the added hydrogen case, the contour of mass
fraction of oxygen, temperature, CO emission and soot emission are
demonstrated in Fig. 17. The addition of excess hydrogen will be
met by reducing the oxygen inside the chamber, leading to the in-
crease of emissions such as soot and CO, as well as rising of the
chamber temperature as it can be observed in the contours. This
will increase the emissions of NO X in grams, while due to the in-
creasing of engine power, this pollution will be reduced by (g/(kW
h)). In high levels of hydrogen addition, clouds of soot in the
combustion chamber are formed. The reason for this result may
depend on the injector spray angle as the fuel spray angle is set to be
dealing with the piston bowl [70]. Adding too much hydrogen be-
sides the pilot fuels that do not evaporate after hitting the wall help
the combustion process in these regions and produce this cloud. As
it can be seen, by increasing the amount of hydrogen the cloud
grows and soot and CO emissions increase too. The reason for CO
reduction in (g/(kW h)) is higher growth of the denominator than
the numerator since numerator variations are too small. According
to Fig. 16, hydrogen is not totally consumed in these areas. The
lowest pollutant emission mode of the adding hydrogen case is H11
(i.e. hydrogen energy, as much as 11% of diesel energy, is injected
into the combustion chamber, while diesel fuel remains constant).
In this case, emissions of UHC, soot, CO and greenhouse gas CO2
will decrease at a rate of 69%, 9.5%, 17% and 8%, respectively,
while NOX emissions and indicator work grow 2% and 8% respec-
tively. Table 9 summarizes the performance and emissions of the
heavy duty diesel engine simulation results in the case of added
hydrogen.
923
Applied Energy 205 (2017) 911–925
4. Conclusion
In this paper, the effect of replacing and adding different amounts of
hydrogen to diesel fuel on heavy duty diesel engine Caterpillar 3401
performance and emissions was numerically investigated and the fol-
lowing results were obtained:
– Replacement of hydrogen causes a delay in the start of combustion,
and hydrogen increase will lead to more shifting in the start of
combustion. It strongly affects the chamber temperature and emis-
sions production.
– Adding surplus hydrogen to diesel fuel has little effect on ignition
delay, but increasing the amount of hydrogen leads to combustion
chamber temperature increase which strongly affects emissions
production.
– Replacement of hydrogen increases the growing rate of pressure and
heat release, but the ringing intensity is still below the critical value
of 5 MW/m2. Therefore, the occurrence of knocking phenomenon is
rare for the well-designed engine.
– Adding surplus hydrogen to diesel fuel increases the growing rate of
pressure and heat release. Theoretically, increasing the hydrogen
amount over 50% of the input fuel energy results in knocking phe-
nomenon in the engine.
– The lowest level of pollutant emissions for the hydrogen replace-
ment case is the H16.5 condition and for adding hydrogen case is the
H11 condition. Replacement and adding hydrogen in these condi-
tions (H16.5, H11) are feasible in both practice and laboratory.
– One of the challenges in using hydrogen as an additive fuel to real
diesel engine is hydrogen storage tank size and its safety. Moreover,
direct or intake injection should be designed well.
Acknowledgments
The efforts of Dempsey, Ghofrani, Zehni and Mohebbi who helped
us in this project are highly appreciated.
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