i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 1 ( 2 0 1 6 ) 4 2 7 8 e4 2 9 5

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Investigation of the effect of reformer gas on PRFs

HCCI combustion based on exergy analysis

Elaheh Neshat a, Rahim Khoshbakhti Saray a,*, Vahid Hosseini b

a
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Sahand University of Technology, Sahand New Town, Tabriz, Iran
b
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran

article info abstract

Article history: Lack of a direct method to control combustion timing is one of the main disadvantages of
Received 22 June 2015 homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engines. Fuel blending, in which two
Received in revised form fuels with different auto-ignition characteristics are blended, can be used to control
8 January 2016 combustion timing. Utilizing different additives is another method for HCCI combustion
Accepted 10 January 2016 control. The aim of this research is investigation on the effect of reformer gas addition on
Available online 1 February 2016 the availability terms in HCCI engines fueled with primary reference fuels (PRFs). A multi
zone model (MZM) coupled with a semi detailed chemical kinetics mechanism is used for
Keywords: calculation of different terms of exergy analysis. Heat and mass transfer between zones
HCCI engine and convective heat transfer between inecylinder charge and combustion chamber walls
Availability analysis are considered in MZM. The chemical kinetics mechanism contains 101 reactions and 594
Primary reference fuels species. Blended fuels of iso-octane and n-heptane, PRF, with different octane numbers are
Reformer gas used as engine main fuel. Reformer gas is used as additive to the main fuel and the study is
Multi zone model carried out with different percentages of reformer gas ranging from 0 to 30 percent. Results
show that irreversibility and exergy loss due to convective heat transfer are reduced by RG
addition for all compositions of the main fuel. Peak value of work availability occurs when
low values of reformer gas are added to PRFs with different octane numbers. For PRFs 100,
80 and 40, it occurs when 5% of RG is added to the main fuel. For PRF 60, it occurs when 10%
RG is added and for PRFs 0 and 20, it occurs when no amount of RG is added. Exergy loss
due to conduction and mass transfer is negligible for different percentages of RG.
Copyright © 2016, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights
reserved.

studies have been done to overcome limitations of HCCI engines

Introduction
In HCCI engines, fuel conversion efficiency is high and both NOx
and PM emissions are reduced to near zero. These engines have
some disadvantages such as lack of a direct method to control
HCCI combustion timing and limited engine operational range
due to engine knock and misfire. In recent years many detailed
[1e3]. Reformer gas (RG) is one of the additives that have been
used in recent years for controlling of combustion timing in HCCI
engines. RG is a mixture of light gases, including hydrogen (H2)
and carbon monoxide (CO) and some other inert gases such as
nitrogen (N2) and water (H2O). These gases can change start of
combustion, rate of combustion, combustion duration and the
mechanism of combustion process. Combustion process can be

* Corresponding author. Tel./fax: þ98 41 33459476.

E-mail address: khoshbakhti@sut.ac.ir (R.K. Saray).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2016.01.047
0360-3199/Copyright © 2016, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 1 ( 2 0 1 6 ) 4 2 7 8 e4 2 9 5
controlled by changing the amount of reformer gas addition and
consequently engine operating range can be widened by using
suitable values of RG [4e6].
Effect of RG addition on SI engines performance has been
studied by several researchers [7,8]. Shudo et al. [9,10] examined
firstly the effect of RG addition on HCCI combustion of DME. They
found that RG retarded the second stage of DME combustion. The
results showed that H2 affects combustion process more than
CO. They reported that H2 component of RG consumes hydroxyl
radicals (OH) more than CO before main combustion occurs and
it causes to more retarded combustion. Eng et al. [11] examined
the effect of H2 on HCCI combustion of n-Heptane and iso-octane
both experimentally and numerically by applying two EGR stra-
tegies of internal EGR and external EGR. The results showed that
H2 has a strong effect on n-heptane HCCI combustion when
external EGR was used. They found that combustion timing of
iso-octane is advanced by applying H2. It implies that H2 has a
lower octane number than iso-octane at their operating condi-
tions. Shudo et al. [12] examined the effect of various composi-
tions of RG on DME HCCI combustion. Results showed that
composition of RG has any significant effect on combustion
timing of DME. Yap et al. [13] used H2 as an additive to natural gas
and studied on HCCI combustion of blended fuel. Results showed
that addition of H2 causes to reduction in intake heating re-
quirements. It means that combustion has been advanced by H2
addition. Shudo et al. [14] added carbon dioxide (CO2) to RG and
studied the effect of CO2 on HCCI combustion. They reported that
CO2 thermal effects are more than its chemical effects and its
large heat capacity retards the first and second stages of ignition.
Hosseini et al. [15] used RG to control combustion in a CNG fueled
HCCI engine. Results of experiments showed that RG addition
expanded operating range of lean mixtures. They found that RG
addition enhances the combustion efficiency and reduces NOx
emission and knock severity. CO emission was slightly increased
when RG is added to the mixture because of CO content in RG
and any unburnt fuel. The idea of using reformer gas as a sec-
ondary fuel for ignition control utilizing high octane PFRs (with
100 and 80 octane number) was the basis for the experimental
work conducted in Ref. [16]. In this work, Hosseini et al. found
that the addition of RG in general allowed for a wider operating
range and decreased combustion efficiency slightly. A continu-
ation of the investigation performed in Ref. [16] was conducted in
Ref. [17] with the PRFs having a low octane number (with 20 and
0 octane number). In the mentioned study, Hosseini et al. [17]
found similar results using high octane fuels supplemented
with RG. It can be seen that combustion timing was retarded
when RG concentrations were increased. A slight increase in
IMEP was recorded by RG addition, which coincided with an in-
crease in thermal efficiency. Voshtani et al. [4] studied the effects
of RG addition on natural gas fueled HCCI combustion. They
found that the H2 concentration in RG has more effect on SOC at
lower RG percentages.
There are significant numbers of published studies that
have presented the effect of RG addition on HCCI combustion
using the first law of thermodynamics [4,18]. Although energy
analysis can predict engine performance and emission char-
acteristics but quality of energy content is not considered in
the first law. This may cause to inaccurate results about the
engine performance prediction, therefore availability analysis
should be done coupled to energy analysis.
4279
Availability analysis have been performed on spark igni-
tion and compression ignition engines in several reported
researches in the literature [19,20]. Rakopoulos et al. investi-
gated the effect of H2 addition to natural gas combustion and
reported that H2 addition increases second law efficiency.
They have focused on diesel engines and have used a single
zone simulation model [21]. Chintana et al showed that H2
addition to diesel fuel decreases irreversibility in diesel en-
gines [22]. In recent years, second law analysis has been done
on HCCI engines by some researchers. For first time, Amjad
et al. [23] used a non-dimensional single zone model and
detailed chemical kinetics mechanism to perform exergy
analysis on HCCI combustion of n-heptane and natural gas
blended fuel. Different terms of exergy such as exergy loss,
heat loss, irreversibility, chemical and thermomechanical
exergy were studied separately in this study. Khalig et al.
[24,25] simplified the inecylinder processes and approximate
them as ideal processes to estimate exergy variations in wet
ethanol fueled HCCI engines. The simplification ignores the
time dependent chemical reactions and couldn't provide ac-
curate estimation of chemical exergy and irreversibility. Sax-
ena et al. [26] studied on importance of each exergy loss
mechanism for an ethanol fueled HCCI engine. A multi zone
model with a detailed chemical kinetics mechanism was used
and effect of different parameters such as engine speed,
equivalence ratio and intake pressure on exergy terms was
studied. Feng et al. [27] used a non-dimensional single zone
model and detailed chemical kinetics mechanism for avail-
ability analysis of PRFs low temperature combustion. Effect of
fuel composition and some different species on availability
terms were studied in this paper. Saxena et al. [28] used a
multi zone model and detailed chemical kinetics mechanism
to quantify exergy loss mechanisms for a gasoline fueled HCCI
engine. Effects of different engine performance parameters on
exergy terms were investigated in this study. Khaliq et al. [29]
used the previously published simplified model and investi-
gated on exergy balance in a hydrogen fueled HCCI engine.
Mamalis et al. [30] used a two zone simulation model and
studied on exergy variation in HCCI engines. The results show
that HCCI combustion irreversibility is 25% more than tradi-
tional spark and diesel engines.
From the previous brief survey, it can be concluded that
there are a limited number of studies that focused on avail-
ability analysis in HCCI engines. Notwithstanding the
numerous amount of works in applying exergy analysis for
HCCI engines, there is a lack of information on the use of
reformer gas in PRF fueled HCCI engines. Therefore, the main
contribution of present study is investigation on the effect of
reformer gas addition on availability terms in a PRF fueled
HCCI engine.
Methodology
Engine simulation model
Engine closed cycle is simulated by a multi zone model. Multi
zone model is coupled with a single zone model for gas exchange
process simulation. Temperature and composition are assumed
to be uniform in each zone and pressure is assumed to be
4280 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 1 ( 2 0 1 6 ) 4 2 7 8 e4 2 9 5

uniform throughout the cylinder at each time step. Model is

  
explained with more details in published works in the literature dV 1 dq 1 2 
1 dq
¼ Vc ðRc  1Þ sin q  Cr2  sin q 2 ðsin 2 qÞ
[31,32]. Zone configuration is shown in Fig. 1. Model contains four dt 2 dt 2 dt
types of zones including core, boundary layer, crevice and some (14)
zones that are located between core and boundary layer. Heat
Mass flow rates through valves are calculated based on the
and mass transfer are considered between zones and there is
approach explained in Ref. [33]. These formulas are shown in
heat transfer between boundary layer zone and combustion
Equations (15) and (16). In these equations, CD is discharge
chamber walls. For each zone, first law of thermodynamics
coefficient, which is defined as the ratio of effective flow area
equation and chemical kinetics equations are solved, simulta-
to reference flow area. CD is a function of valve lift and it is
neously. Equations (1)e(8) are the governing equations.
calculated for CFR engine based on the approach explained in
dUi dWi dQi Ref. [34].
¼ þ (1)
dt dt dt vffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
 1 u "  g1 #    1g
g
dm CD AR Pu Pd g u t 2g Pd g Pd 2
dUi dTi Xns
dYj X ns
dmi ¼ 1 if >
¼ civ mi þ mi uj þ uj Yj (2) dt 1
ðRu Tu Þ2 Pu g1 Pu Pu gþ1
dt dt j¼1
dt j¼1
dt
(15)

dWi dVi  2ðg1Þ

gþ1    1g
g
¼P (3) dm CD AR Pu 2 Pd 2
dt dt ¼ if  (16)
ðRu Tu Þ2 g þ 1 gþ1
1
dt Pu
dQi dQi;cond dQi;conv dQi;mtran
¼ þ þ (4) Gas exchange process model is used to calculate
dt dt dt dt
inecylinder temperature, pressure and composition at trap-
ped condition to initiate multi zone combustion model
dQi;cond vT
¼ k  ðareaÞ  (5) calculations.
dt vz
First law efficiency can be calculated using the following
 2  equation:
dQBL;conv pD 4Vtot
¼ h ðTwall  TBL Þ þ (6)
dt 2 D W
hf ¼ (17)
mRG LHVRG þ mfuel LHVfuel
dQi;mtran dmin;i dmout;i
¼ Hin  Hout (7) where w is total work in a closed loop cycle and mass of RG
dt dt dt
and fuel are calculated at IVC.
dYk;i u_ k;i Mwk For problem solving, it is considered that there is no dif-
¼ (8)
dt ri ference between temperature and composition of various
zones and consequently there are no mass and heat transfer
Inecylinder pressure is calculated using Equation (9) at
between zones at first time step. Therefore, values of
each time step.
conductive heat transfer energy and mass transfer energy in
P z mi
Ru ni¼1 Mw
first law equation are equal to zero. Then, first law and
P¼ Pnz Vi i (9) chemical kinetics equations are solved and temperature and
i¼1 Ti
composition of all zones are calculated. Then mass and heat
Details of mass and heat transfer can be found in Ref. [31]. transfer subroutines are called and new composition of each
To estimate initial values for inecylinder charge pressure, zone and energy transfer due to mass and heat transfer are
temperature and composition, a single zone thermodynamic calculated. Then first law and chemical kinetics equations are
model is coupled to the multi zone model to simulate gas solved again using new heat and mass transfer energies and
exchange process. Equations (10)e(14) are used in gas ex- this path continues until temperature, composition, trans-
change process modeling and are solved simultaneously. ferred heat energy and transferred mass energy are
converged. After convergence exergy equations are called and
dT Xns
dYj X ns
dm
cv m þm uj þ uj Yj different terms of availability are calculated. Computed mass
dt dt dt
j¼1 j¼1 transfer and energy transfer are used in next time step cal-
dV dmin dmout dQconv culations as initial assumptions. For all time steps, this
¼ P þ Hin  Hout þ (10)
dt dt dt dt problem solving method is used until EVO. When exhaust
valve opens, calculations are followed by gas exchange pro-
dYj u_ j Mwj cess model. In this model, inlet and outlet mass is calculated
¼ (11)
dt r for each time step. The composition of outlet mass is the same
 2  as inecylinder charge composition and the composition of
dQconv pD 4Vtot inlet mass consists of fuel, air, and EGR, introduced into the
¼ hðTw  TÞ þ (12)
dt 2 D engine. DVODE solver is used for solving coupled equations.
The convergence error of temperature and mass fraction of
m
P¼ Ru T (13) species are considered to be 10e25. Its value for transferred
Mw
heat and mass energies is equal to 10e12.
 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 1 ( 2 0 1 6 ) 4 2 7 8 e4 2 9 5 4281

Fig. 1 e Geometry of zones.

Second law analysis thermal, mechanical and chemical equilibrium with its envi-
ronment while exchanging heat with only environment [23].
The availability of a system is the maximum possible work For a closed system, the availability balance can be
during a reversible process that brings the system into the expressed as equation (18). Different terms of equation (18) are

Fig. 2 e Experimental set-up.

4282 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 1 ( 2 0 1 6 ) 4 2 7 8 e4 2 9 5

Table 1 e CFR engine specifications.

A ¼ ðU  U0 Þ þ P0 ðV  V0 Þ  T0 ðS  S0 Þ (22)
Engine type Waukesha
Total availability of a system consists of two main parts:
Displacement volume (cm3) 612
Bore (cm) 8.25 chemical availability as well as thermomechanical availabil-
Stroke (cm) 11.4 ity. The difference existing between the temperature as well
Connect Rod. (cm) 24 as pressure of the system against surrounding environment
IVO (deg aTDC) 10 leads to thermomechanical availability. Chemical exergy re-
IVC (deg aTDC) 214 fers to the difference between chemical composition of sys-
EVO (deg aTDC) 500
tem and environment. Thermomechanical and chemical
EVC (deg aTDC) 15
Compression ratio Variable
terms of availability are defined in equations (23) and (24). In
the equations “0” refers to the restricted dead state and “0”
refers to the environment state.
     
Table 2 e Experimental uncertainty. Atm ¼ U  U0 þ P0 V  V0  T0 S  S0 (23)
Parameter Uncertainty
     
Temperature <1% Ach ¼ U0  U0 þ P0 V0  V0  T0 S0  S0 (24)
Crank angle position <1%
For the closed part of the cycle in the HCCI engine, the
Engine speed <2%
second-law efficiency is defined as:
Fuel flow rate <1%
Air flow rate <1%
W
EGR <1% hs ¼ (25)
ðAch þ Atm ÞIVC
IMEP <2%
SOC <2%
Pmax <2% Fuels
MHR <2%
CA50 <2% PRFs are selected as fuel in the current study. PRF is composed
of different percentage of n-heptane and iso-octane. Octane
defined using equations (19)e(22). In this equation, Aw is the number of fuel changes by changing the iso-octane percent-
availability of the work which is equal to the total useful work age. Pure n-heptane and pure iso-octane are defined as PRF0,
done by the system in ith zone, AQ is the availability of heat and PRF100, respectively and any PRFxx is a mixture of the two
transfer from the boundaries of the zone and I is the irre- alkanes with (100-xx) volume percent n-heptane and (xx)
versibility of all processes that the gas mixture experiences at volume percent iso-octane. Using PRF as engine fuel, different
each zone and A is the total availability of zone mixture. Amass composition with different octane numbers can be used as
is availability transfer through mass transfer. Neglecting the fuel and HCCI combustion can be controlled.
kinetics and potential energies, the total availability of zone Simulated RG is a composition of 50 volume percent of
mixture can be calculated using the Equation (22). CO and 50 volume percent of H2. In practice RG can be
produced from hydrocarbons reforming, and contains inert
dAi dAmass dAw;i dAq;i dIi gases such as N2, CO2 and H2O or a low percentage of EGR
¼  þ  (18)
dt dt dt dt dt [35]. In current study in both of experimental and numerical
simulations RG is just a composition of H2 and CO2. In
dAw;i ðP  P0 ÞdVi addition to PRF and RG, EGR is used in some cases as
¼ (19)
dt dt another additive to cylinder charge. Different percentages
  of RG are added to the main fuel. PRF mass flow rate is
dAq;i T0 dQi
¼ 1 (20) decreased by increasing RG mass flow rate, while the total
dt T dt
energy content of inecylinder charge is constant at inlet
valve closing. The percentage of RG in the inecylinder
dAmass charge mixture can be calculated using Equation (26).
¼ m_ in ððhin  h0 Þ  T0 ðs  s0 ÞÞ  m_ out ððhout  h0 Þ
dt
 T0 ðs  s0 ÞÞ (21) m_ RG LHVRG
RG ¼  100 (26)
m_ RG LHVRG þ m_ PRF LHVPRF

Table 3 e CFR engine operating conditions for six considered cases.

Case number Fuel Rc Lambda EGR (%) RG rpm PIVC (bar) TIVC (K)
1 PRF0 11.5 2.16 0 0 700 1.01 419.39
2 PRF20 12.3 1.69 17.63 20 700 0.96 418.91
3 PRF40 14.7 1.89 30.55 10 700 0.96 418.55
4 PRF60 15 2.38 10.21 5 700 0.99 418.79
5 PRF80 15.4 2.49 0 30 700 0.98 441.92
6 PRF100 19 1.50 31.63 0 800 0.95 462.06
i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 1 ( 2 0 1 6 ) 4 2 7 8 e4 2 9 5 4283

Fig. 3 e Experimental and numerical pressure traces.

4284 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 1 ( 2 0 1 6 ) 4 2 7 8 e4 2 9 5

A semi detailed chemical kinetics mechanism including
101 species and 594 reactions is used for simulation of PRFs
combustion chemistry [36].
Experimental set up
Experimental data was obtained from University of Alberta
engine research facility. All experiments were performed
using a Waukesha CFR (Cooperative Fuel Research) single
cylinder research engine coupled to a DC motoring dyna-
mometer. The experimental set up is shown in Fig. 2. The
basic engine specifications for the current study are shown in
Table 1. The engine was maintained at two constant speeds of
700 and 800 rpm and ran with an open throttle. The intake
system included a 2.4 kW heater with a PID temperature
controller to preheat intake air when required. Two types of

Fig. 4 e Variations of cumulative availability terms for the cylinder charge at different considered cases.
 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 1 ( 2 0 1 6 ) 4 2 7 8 e4 2 9 5 4285

fuel injectors, one for RG and the other for PRF, were located
upstream of the intake valve to facilitate proper mixing. Air
and fuel flow are crucial measurements for a precise deter-
mination of air/fuel ratio. RG was provided from a high pres-
sure tank. The injection pressure was held constant at
689 kPa. A TSI model 4235-01-01 air mass flow meter was
installed upstream of the engine before the pulsation damp-
ing barrel. Omega FMA21 series flow meters were used to
measure the gaseous fuel mass flow rate. Two Max Machinery
positive displacement flow meters, model 213e311, were used
in the liquid fuel supply line. The control module of an AFS
Sparrow-II engine was utilized to regulate the injection rate of
each fuel separately or as a blend. External EGR line was
connected to the intake after the heater and before the fuel
injectors and was controlled by a manual butterfly valve.
Intake gas was analyzed for the EGR fraction determination. A
Vetronix PXA-1100 portable gas analyzer, which is capable of
measuring different gases, was used in the intake system and
EGR connection to the intake plenum to determine the CO2
concentration in the intake mixture. EGR was calculated using
volume concentration measurement of CO2 upstream and
downstream of the engine. EGR was calculated as:

Fig. 5 e Zonal distribution of different terms of availability for PRF40.

4286 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 1 ( 2 0 1 6 ) 4 2 7 8 e4 2 9 5

Results and discussion

CO2:up
EGR ¼ 100  (27)
CO2:down
Six experimental cases with different PRF numbers and RG
The O2 concentration was measured using a paramagnetic percentages are considered. Table 3 shows the characteristics
detector and calibrated using a tank of pressurized dry air. CO of the selected cases. In addition to PRF number and RG value,
and CO2 were measured using non-dispersive infrared (NDIR) cases are in a wide range of compression ratio, EGR percentage
detectors and calibrated using high pressure tanks of the and Lambda.
known CO and CO2 concentrations. The detectors were
capable of measuring CO2 in the range of 0e20%, low CO
Baseline results
concentration of 0e200 ppm and high CO concentration of
0e2.5%. Hydrocarbons were measured using a flame ioniza-
At first, multi zone model should be validated in the
tion detector (FID). FID detector was capable of measuring CH4
mentioned operating conditions of the HCCI engine. Fig. 3
or total hydrocarbons, THC. NO concentration was measured
shows the pressure history of the examined cases both
using a chemiluminescence detector (CLD). The CLD analyzer
experimentally and numerically. The model results and
is capable of measuring NO and NOx separately.
experimental data are in good agreement as indicated in this
The lubricating oil was maintained at a constant temper-
figure. Fig. 4 shows variations of different total availability
ature using a heater. A BEI rotary incremental encoder with a
terms for inecylinder mixture of considered cases. In this
resolution of 0.1 crank angle degree (CAD) was used to
figure conduction and mass transfer availabilities are not
monitor engine rotational speed and coordinate the pressure
shown because their total values for inecylinder mixture are
trace with respect to crank position. Cylinder pressure was
too low and near to zero. Temperature of different zones and
measured with a Kistler 6043A, water-cooled pressure trans-
composition of them are so similar to each other, therefore
ducer in combination with a Kistler 507 charge amplifier. The
exergy change due to heat and mass transfer between them
pressure transducer was mounted in the cylinder wall close to
are negligible. HCCI combustion is a homogenous combustion
the cylinder head. Experimental data were acquired using a
that occurs simultaneously throughout the combustion
personal computer running custom Labview software and
chamber, meanwhile it causes lower temperature difference
using three high sampling rate NI PCI-MIO-16E1 data acqui-
between different zones of combustion chambers.
sition cards.
It is indicated in Fig. 4 that chemical availability is constant
The intake pressure at the inlet valve closing (IVC) time
during compression stroke (before ignition timing) because
was taken as the reference point for the pressure trace signal.
the composition of inecylinder charge does not change.
The high frequency noise was filtered digitally from the
Composition of inecylinder charge changes when combustion
pressure trace signal. The pressure traces measured over 100
happens and it causes chemical availability to be reduced.
successive cycles were averaged to avoid cyclic variations
During compression, work is done on gas mixture and total
before they were used in calculations. Cyclic variation in the
work produced by the system is negative. Irreversibility and
HCCI combustion is less than that of the conventional com-
heat transfer availability are increasing by time because the
bustion, but as far as the absolute estimated error from in-
plots show variations of the cumulative values. Irreversibility
ternal and external errors is concerned the deviatsion is
has a jump during combustion and it is because of chemical
significant. Averaging over 100 repeated cycles, the cyclic
reactions those happen in combustion chamber.
error related to each parameter was predicted. The uncer-
Total exergy of inecylinder charge decreases by convective
tainty for engine parameters and combustion parameters are
heat transfer between inecylinder mixture and combustion
displayed in Table 2 [37,38].
chamber walls. For all of cases with different PRF numbers, all
of availability terms have similar traces. Thermomechanical

Fig. 6 e Zonal mass distribution for PRF40.

Fig. 7 e Zonal temperature distribution for PRF40.
 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 1 ( 2 0 1 6 ) 4 2 7 8 e4 2 9 5 4287

availability increases by increasing inecylinder mixture tem-
perature and pressure.
Zonal distributions of all terms of availability are illus-
trated in Fig. 5 for PRF40. This figure shows that work has
similar traces in all zones. Each zone with larger volume has
more volume gradient and has produced more work. Chemi-
cal availability is rather different for various zones, it is
because of mass transfer between zones during compression
stroke, mass has given up inner zones and has come in
boundary layer zone and crevice zone. Fig. 6 shows mass
distribution in all zones during compression, combustion and
expansion processes. As it is indicated in this figure mass
leaves inner zones during compression and combustion and
goes to boundary layer and then to crevice zone and leaves
crevice zone during expansion and goes to boundary layer.
Availability exchange during mass transfer shows this fact,
too. Mass transfer availability is negative for inner zones
(especially during combustion) and it is positive for crevice
zone. Availability of conductive heat transfer is negative for all
zones except for boundary layer zone (crevice zone has no
conductive heat transfer with any other zone). Temperatures
of all inner zones are higher than boundary layer temperature
and it causes heat to be transferred from other zones to
boundary layer zone. Zonal temperature distribution is

Fig. 8 e Effect of RG on inecylinder pressure.

4288 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 1 ( 2 0 1 6 ) 4 2 7 8 e4 2 9 5

illustrated in Fig. 7. As this figure shows boundary layer,
because of heat exchange with combustion chamber walls,
has lower temperature in comparison with other zones.
Thermomechanical availability has similar traces in different
zones. Availability loss due to convective heat transfer is not
shown in this figure because it occurs only between boundary
layer zone and combustion chamber walls and does not have
zonal distribution.
Effect of RG addition on combustion characteristics
Five different percentages of RG are added to the fuels for
each of considered cases including 0, 5, 10, 20 and 30. Ef-
fects of RG addition on different terms of availability are
studied. Energy content, EGR and compression ratio are
constant during RG addition. Because of constant energy
content, inecylinder mass is increased by increase of RG

Fig. 9 e Effect of RG on thermomechanical availability.

 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 1 ( 2 0 1 6 ) 4 2 7 8 e4 2 9 5 4289

because LHV of reformer gas is lower than LHV of n-hep-
tane and iso-octane. Fig. 8 shows inecylinder pressure
history for different examined cases. The Figure indicates
that RG addition retards the start of combustion and causes
lower peak pressure for all PRFs except for pure iso-octane.
N-heptane has a significant heat release at low tempera-
tures. Low temperature reactions are initiated by H atom
abstraction from n-heptane molecule and the reactions are
going on until OH radical and ketohydroperoxide formation
[39]. When some of fuel is replaced by RG, total value of low
temperature heat release is reduced. Because RG has higher
octane number in comparison to n-heptane and has no low
temperature reactions. In addition, H2 competes with other
radicals to consume the hydroxyl radicals. At the end of the

Fig. 10 e Effect of RG on chemical availability.

4290 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 1 ( 2 0 1 6 ) 4 2 7 8 e4 2 9 5

first stage of heat release H2 and CO reacts with free radicals
and retards the main step of heat release [35]. The branched
structure of iso-octane reduces its reactivity at low tempera-
tures [40] and all of fuel oxidation reactions occur at high
temperatures therefore RG addition has no significant chem-
ical effects on its combustion process.
RG addition retards the main step of heat release and
causes combustion to occur during expansion process and
consequently lowering inecylinder pressure and
temperature.
Fig. 9 shows variations of total thermomechanical exergy
of inecylinder charge mixture for different values of RG
addition. It can be seen from this figure that thermomechan-
ical exergy is decreased as RG percentage increases. It is
because of lower inecylinder temperature and pressure and
causes thermomechanical exergy to be reduced.

Fig. 11 e Effect of RG on work availability.

 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 1 ( 2 0 1 6 ) 4 2 7 8 e4 2 9 5 4291

Effect of RG on chemical exergy is shown in Fig. 10. Even
though total energy content at IVC is constant for various
values of RG, but total chemical exergy has been decreased as
RG increases. RG components (H2 and CO) have lower Gibbs
function in comparison to n-heptane and iso-octane and it
causes reduction in chemical exergy at IVC [21]. For some
cases (PRF40 and PRF60), RG addition has retarded start of
combustion to crank angle degrees after top dead center and
has caused incomplete combustion. Therefore, there is sig-
nificant chemical availability at exhaust valve opening.
Work availability for different RG percentages are indicated
in Fig. 11. Higher work availability for PRF0 and PRF20 cases

Fig. 12 e Effect of RG on heat transfer availability.

4292 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 1 ( 2 0 1 6 ) 4 2 7 8 e4 2 9 5

occurs when no amount of RG is added to the main fuel. For
PRFs 40, 80 and 100 higher work availability is occurred when
5% of RG is added to the main fuel. PRF60 has its higher value
of work availability when 10% of RG is added to the fuel.
Availability loss due to convective heat transfer is
decreased when inecylinder RG value is increased. By
addition of RG, inecylinder pressure and temperature are
decreased and the difference between boundary layer
temperature and temperature of combustion chamber
walls is decreased and consequently availability loss due to
heat transfer is decreased, too. Heat transfer availability is
shown in Fig. 12 for all of examined cases.
Irreversibility is illustrated in Fig. 13. For all of PRFs
irreversibility is decreased by RG addition. It means that
entropy production has been decreased by RG addition. H2
and CO can be converted to H2O and CO2 (the main products

Fig. 13 e Effect of RG on irreversibility.

 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 1 ( 2 0 1 6 ) 4 2 7 8 e4 2 9 5 4293

of combustion) by some simple reactions, but more re- Fig. 14 indicates the first and second law efficiencies for
actions should take place for hydrocarbons to be converted the examined cases at different RG values. For PRF0 and
to CO2 and H2O and therefore entropy production during RG PRF20 the first law efficiency is reduced and the second law
combustion is lower than hydrocarbons combustion. efficiency is increased by RG addition regularly. Therefore,

Fig. 14 e Effect of RG addition on first and second law efficiency.

4294 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 1 ( 2 0 1 6 ) 4 2 7 8 e4 2 9 5

it seems that the best value of RG for PRFs 0 and 20 is the low Mw molecular weight
amounts of RG such as 5 or 10 percent. Addition of 10% of RG ns number of species
even though decreases the first law efficiency slightly but P pressure, Pa
causes the second law efficiency to be increased and it can Q heat, J
be used as suitable RG value. For PRF40 maximum of first Rc compression ratio
law efficiency occurs when 5% of RG is added to the fuel and rpm engine speed, revolution per minutes
maximum of second law efficiency occurs using 20% of RG. Ru universal ideal gas constant, J/mol K
For PRF60, maximum values of both efficiencies occur when S entropy, J/K
10% of RG is added to the fuel. For PRF80 maximum value of T temperature, K
first law efficiency occurs when 5% RG is used and t time, s
maximum value of second law efficiency occurs when 30% U internal energy, J
of RG is added. For PRF100, maximum values of both effi- u specific internal energy, J/kg
ciencies occur when 5% of RG is added to the fuel. V volume, m3
Finally, it can be concluded that RG addition can be useful W work, J
for energy and exergy conversion in HCCI engines. Adding 5 or Y mass fraction
10 percentages of RG seems to be suitable for all PRFs with
different octane numbers. Greek symbols
q crank angle position, Degree
r density, kg/m3
Conclusion u_ molar rate of production, mole/m3s

A validated multi zone model coupled to a semi detailed Subscripts

chemical kinetics mechanism is applied to study the second 0 dead state
law analysis of a HCCI engine. Effects of reformer gas (a Ch chemical
mixture of H2 and CO) addition on a PRF fueled HCCI engine Conv convection
are examined. Fuels with different octane numbers are used Cond conduction
and five different values of RG are considered. It is found that d downstream
RG addition can be used for controlling engine irreversibility. i i th zone
RG addition causes inecylinder mixture temperature and in inlet
pressure to be lowered. Engine irreversibility and exergy los- j j th species
ses due to heat transfer are reduced by RG addition. Exergy mass due to mass transfer
loss during heat and mass transfer between zones is negli- out outlet
gible. Engine useful work and the inlet chemical availability q due to heat transfer
decreases by RG addition slightly. Addition of low values of RG tm thermomechanical
(5% or 10%) causes to obtain optimum values of the first and u upstream
second law efficiencies for all PRFs with different octane
numbers. Superscripts
0 restricted dead state

Acknowledgment
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