Int. J. Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 15, No. 11, pp. 833-842, 1990. 0360-3199/90$3.00+ 0.

00
Printed in Great Britain. PergamonPress p|c.
© 1990InternationalAssociationfor HydrogenEnergy.

FUEL INDUCTION TECHNIQUES FOR A HYDROGEN

OPERATED ENGINE
L. M. DAs
Indian Institute of Technology, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110016, India

(Received for publication 9 May 1990)

Abstract--It is practically impossible to replace the internal combustion engines which have already become an
indispensable and integral part of our present day life style, particularly in the transportation and agricultural sectors.
Unfortunately, the survival of these engines has, of late, been threatened by the dual problems of the fuel crisis and
environmental pollution. Therefore, to sustain the present growth rate of civilization, a non-depletable, clean fuel
must be expeditiously sought. Hydrogen exactly caters to these specified needs. Hydrogen, even though "renewable"
and "clean-burning" it does give rise to some undesirable combustion problems in an engine operation, such as
backfire, pre-ignition, knocking and rapid rate of pressure rise. It has been experimentally evaluated that the fuel
induction technique (FIT) does play a very dominant role in obtaining smooth engine operation. This paper discusses
such various possible modes. Research work carried out by different investigators has been highlighted.

INTRODUCTION combustion characteristics of hydrogen fuel set it com-

A fuel has an infinite supply potential. It can be gener-
ated from water using any non-fossil energy source and
upon combustion it produces water which goes back to
the earth's water supply system from where it came.
From an environmental standpoint, it is exceptionally
clean.
The above-mentioned characteristics define a very
desirable fuel and hydrogen does possess these charac-
teristics. So situations arising out of the present-day
energy crisis do not affect the hydrogen-fuel-system. As
far as engine operation is concerned, a total hydrogen-
fuelled engine will not emit unburnt hydrocarbons, CO,
particulate matter, sulphur dioxide, smoke etc. From
several practical considerations hydrogen is safer com-
pared to conventional petroleum fuels. Being very light,
leaking hydrogen rises up very rapidly through the air,
thus creating an explosion possibility only to the space
immediately above the leak. On the other hand, spilled
gasoline creates safety-related problems which do persist
for a long time. Because of low emissivity characteristics,
radiation hazards from a hydrogen flame are of lesser
consequence as compared to a gasoline flame.
While judging the suitability of hydrogen as an engine
fuel, it will be desirable to compare its various physical
and chemical properties with other conventional engine
fuels as given in Tables 1-3. It is evident that petroleum
fuels are liquid at room temperature whereas hydrogen
remains a gas even at a much lower temperature (i.e.
-253°C). The flammability limits, ranges of equivalence
ratios over which the engine system is operable, auto-
ignition temperature and minimum ignition energy are
some of the properties which determine the suitability of
the fuel for engine application. However, since some
pletely apart from other conventional fuels, unless these
properties are appropriately exploited to an advantage
for improved engine characteristics, they might give rise
to various unwanted combustion problems.
UNDESIRABLE COMBUSTION PROBLEMS
Figure 1 [1, 2] shows the ranges of equivalence ratios
suitable for hydrogen engine operation. A close look at
the properties of the fuel brings in some very important
points with respect to engine operation. Interestingly,
most properties of hydrogen fuel if appropriately ex-
ploited to a point of advantage, could prove extremely
desirable. On the other hand, the same property, if
wrongly used, could be fatal.
The ignition energy required to ignite an air-fuel
mixture depends very much on the air-fuel or equival-
ence ratio--hydrogen has an extremely low ignition
energy compared to gasoline. This is a very crucial
property. On one hand, the low minimum ignition
energy enables the conventional ignition system to be
effective with a very low energy spark whereas at the
same time it makes the system susceptible to surface
ignition. Surface ignition is a highly undesirable combus-
tion phenomenon because it precipitates flashback, pre-
ignition and rapid rates of pressure rise. Based on the
lower flammability limit, hydrogen seems to be superior
to gasoline, but a small leakage from a hydrogen oper-
ated system brings in the problem of safety. As far as the
quenching distance is concerned, hydrogen combustion
which can be initiated with a low energy spark, becomes
difficult to quench. Because of the smaller quenching
distance of hydrogen, a flame in a hydrogen-air mixture

833
834 L. M. DAS

Table I. Physical and chemical properties of various fuels (values generally accepted from
literature)
Properties Gasoline Hydrogen Ammonia Methanol Ethanol
Molecular weight 91.4 2.02 17.03 32.04 46.07
Heat of combustion 43.4 120.1 18.6 20.1 26.9
(net) MJ kg -1
Stoichiometric mixture
Mass air/Mass fuel 14.5 34.3 6.1 65 9.0
Maximum laminar
flame speed ms -l 0.37 2.91 0.010 0.52 --
Adiabatic flame temp., °C 2637 2756 2484 2576 2594
Octane number
Research 91- 100 130+ 130 110 106
Motor 82-94 87 89

escapes more readily past an even nearly closed intake
valve than a hydrocarbon-air mixture.
The minimum ignition energy required for ignition
(0.02 m J) of a hydrogen-air mixture has often been
responsible for the fresh charge being ignited and
thereby causing a flame that propagates through the
induction system giving rise to backfire. The simplest
method to avoid backfire is to ensure the absence of
combustible mixture in the intake manifold. A reduction
of temperature level could also prove very effective. On
the other hand, conditions leading to pre-ignition could
be disposed of by preparing a late hydrogen-air mixture.
These can be achieved by various methods such as (i) use
of leaner mixtures, (ii) exhaust gas recirculation, (iii)
intake air cooling (by liquid hydrogen or by water) and
(iv) reduction of valve overlap.
Several investigators have adopted various means to
combat the effect of these phenomena in a hydrogen
operated engine. The mode of mixture preparation has
been found to be quite important in determining the
overall operational characteristics of a hydrogen engine.
FUEL I N D U C T I O N TECHNIQUES (FIT)
The fuel induction techniques have been found to be
playing a very dominant and sensitive role in determin-
ing the performance characteristics of an I.C. Engine.
The 'FIT' for an S.I. engine can be classified into four
categories such as Carburetion, Inlet Manifold Injection,
Inlet Port Injection and Direct Cylinder Injection. These
conventional methods of 'FIT' could also be applied to
engine operation with a non-conventional alternative
fuel, such as hydrogen, Of these methods; carburetion by
the use of a gas carburettor has been the simplest and the
oldest technique. In a gasoline-fuelled engine, the vol-
ume occupied by the fuel is about 1.7% of the mixture
whereas a carburetted hydrogen engine, using gaseous
hydrogen, results in a power output loss of 15%. Thus,
apart from eliminating unwanted combustion symp-
toms, fuel induction techniques have also been quite
effective in compensating for the power loss. Injection of
hydrogen into the inlet manifold offers an alternative to
the conventional load control method by throttling. This
method uses the typical properties of hydrogen fuel
(such as wide flammability limits) to a point of advan-
tage. It also possesses the ability to initiate fuel delivery
at a timing position sometime after the beginning of
intake stroke. The system could be so designed that the
intake manifold does not contain any combustible mix-
ture thereby avoiding extreme situation leading to unde-
sirable combustion phenomena. The arrangement for air
being inducted prior to fuel delivery, has two very
important roles to play. It provides a pre-cooling effect
and thus renders inoperative the pre-ignition sources
that could be present on the surface. Secondly, this also
helps to quench or at least to dilute any hot residual

Table 2. Combustion properties of hydrogen, methane and gasoline (values generally

accepted from literature)
Property Hydrogen Methane Gasoline
Limits of flammability in air, vol% 4.0-75.0 5.3-15.0 1.0-7.6
Stoichiometric composition in air, vol% 29.53 9.48 1.76
Minimum energy for ignition in air, mJ 0.02 0.29 0.24
Autoignition temperature, K 858 813 501-744
Flame temperature in air, K 2318 2148 2470
Burning velocity in NTP air, cm s -~ 265-325 37~15 37-43
Quenching gap in NTP air, cm 0.064 0.203 0.2
Percentage of thermal energy radiated from
flame to surrounding, % 17-25 23--33 30-42
Diffusivity in air, cm2s-~ 0.63 0.2 0.08
Normalised flame Emmisivity 2000 K, 1 atm 1.00 1.7 1.7
Limits of flammability (equivalence ratio) 0.1-7.1 0.53-1.7 0.7-3.8
 FUEL INDUCTION TECHNIQUES 835

Table 3. Lean flammability limits of various fuels (values closure of the intake valve and thus, intrinsically pre-
generally accepted from literature) cludes the possibility of backfire. However, as described
Lean flammability limits later, the injection system will have to cater to some
Chemical Volume Equivalence stringent requirements in respect of the severe thermal
Fuel formula per cent ratio environment which the injector is bound to encounter.
Methane CH 4 5.3 0.53 Besides, all the mechanical parts which form part of the
Propane C3H8 2.2 0.54 injection system must be able to withstand such a high
Pentane C5HI2 1.5 0.58 pressure, say to the tune of about 100atm. When
Octane C8H~8 1.0 0.60 considering a practical automobile, maintaining a high
Benzene C 6H 6 1.4 0.51 pressure such as about 100 bars, in a vehicle for onboard
Methanol CH3OH 7.3 0.56 storage methods raises serious problems. However a
Hydrogen H2 4.0 0.10 detailed discussion on vehicular storage methods is
beyond the scope of the paper.
combustion products that could be present in the com-
pression space near TDC. In a carburetted engine sys- ACHIEVEMENTS AND GAPS
tem, the valve overlap between the exhaust and the
intake stroke can bring the fuel-air charge into contact Researchers throughout the world have been working
with the residual hot gases. However, if by any chance persistently for decades and hence most of the benefits
pre-ignition does take place during intake stroke, it will and problems of hydrogen engines have already been
have much lesser consequence as compared to that identified.
occurring in a carburetted engine. Some investigators A definite conclusion which can be drawn from these
have also carried out research on intake port injection. research results is that the undesirable combustion
In such a system both air and fuel enter the combustion phenomena have greatly impeded the practical achieve-
chamber during the intake stroke, but are not pre-mixed ment of a common hydrogen-fuelled autovehicle: and
in the intake manifold. the mode of fuel induction from one method to other has
Direct cylinder injection of hydrogen into the combus- very seriously influenced the situation.
tion chamber does have all the benefits of the late In the earliest phase of hydrogen engine research
injection as characterized by manifold injection. In Ricardo [3], King et al. [4-6] had all adopted the
addition, the system permits for fuel delivery after the carburetted technique, primarily with a view to achieve

2.5 I RAN6E OF ~ FOR ENGINE OPERATION ]

I
I
2

2, 1.5

o
kl.

0.26 0.53 1.0 2.0 3.0 3-l,1

EQUIVALENCE RATIO
Fig. I. Ranges of equivalence ratio for engine operation.
836 L.M. DAS
hydrogen-fuelled engine operation. Ricardo is reported
to have encountered the problems of "popping back into
the carburettor" and was unable to get rid of this
problem even at the compression ratio as low as 3.8.
Thus he concluded hydrogen to be impractical for most
uses. King's work also centered around the carburetted
engine and he also experienced severe backfire and
pre-ignition problems. Special investigations were car-
ried out to identify the causes of these phenomena.
Efforts were made to ensure elimination of backfire and
pre-ignition phenomena caused by free floating carbon
particles, carbon deposits and cylinder hot spots. Con-
ditions suspected to be promoting backfire were deliber-
ately created inside the engine cylinder to arrive at
definite conclusions. King used "cold spark plugs" and
an aged sodium filled valve.
Hydrogen engine research did suffer a setback for a
long period because of the availability of sufficient
petroleum-based fuels. However, in the latter part of the
1970s when the dual problem of petroleum fuel depletion
and environmental pollution assumed significance, hy-
drogen was again tried as an alternative fuel by many
investigators for its infinite source potential and non-
polluting characteristics. Because of the simplicity of
engine configuration obtained only by the use of a gas
carburettor and the requirement of low pressure for
hydrogen induction, these investigators probably used
hydrogen carburetion as the FIT.
As emphasized earlier, these carburetted versions of
the engine systems, apart from developing low power
outputs (as compared to the gasoline-fuelled engines)
also exhibited severe operational combustion-related
problems such as backfire, pre-ignition, combustion
knock and rapid rate of pressure rise. It is the teething
problem of backfire (which persisted in the carburetted
hydrogen engines, and was extremely difficult to elimin-
ate in most operating engine conditions) which
prompted several other researchers to try out alternative
modes of fuel induction. Swain and Adt [7, 8] tried out
a method of "Hydrogen Induction Technique" (HIT) in
which hydrogen was supplied through the passage on the
intake valve. Their reports verify the effectiveness of HIT
over conventional carburetion technique in overcoming
backfire and pre-ignition problems.
Lynch [9] has suggested "Parallel Induction" which
has proved successful in getting over the problems
associated with backfire. Broadly speaking, this is a
method similar to intake port injection. He has also
reported another method of hydrogen induction tech-
nique through a copper tube placed inside the air intake
port. A sleeve-type valve-seat mechanism built on the
original intake valve is used to control the system. This
method of delayed hydrogen admission proved quite
effective in suppressing the undesirable combustion
phenomena.
Bindon et al. [10] successfully tried out a novel
technique of providing a quality-controlled mixture
through a lean burn carburettor specifically developed
for hydrogen operations. Timed port injection was also
tried successfully by these researchers to eliminate the
presence of the combustible mixture in the intake mani-
fold in the proportions that could cause backfire. Varde
and Frame [11, 12] developed a system of electronically
controlled fuel injection in which injection was designed
to take place close to the intake valve when the valve was
open. This method was adopted chiefly to ensure the
lack of hydrogen-air mixture entering the engine. Re-
search results of these investigations show that it was
thus possible to achieve a higher thermal engine
efficiency as compared to the carburetted operation of
either gasoline or even hydrogen. In some combustion
related studies he also compared the variation of rate of
pressure rise as well as the flame speed with respect to
equivalence ratio as shown in Figs 2 and 3.
McCarley and Van Vorst [13] carried out extensive
experiments on a hydrogen engine adopting both a port
injection and direct injection system. The engine system
configuration, designed to ensure quality control, did
prove quite effective in ensuring a backfire free oper-
ation. It was further established that the fuel delivery in
the injection system was not solely governed by the
intake air flow. Hence it is always possible to optimally
design a system based on various engine parameters and
thus avoid conditions leading to backfire. As far as
pollution aspects are concerned it has been found the
(NO)x formation could be minimized by a precise control
of equivalence ratio. Figure 4 shows the performance
parameters of an electronic hydrogen injection system
developed by McCarley and Van Vorst. In some exper-
iments; they had incorporated an additional water in-
duction system. Wooley et al. [14] had also taken
recourse to water induction as an approach to reduce the
frequency of backfire occurrence.
Some work has been reported in a practical hydrogen-
fuelled automobile [15] using port injection. Watson et
al. [16] have also been reported to have overcome the
problem of backfire in a hydrogen engine with delayed
port admission of hydrogen at relatively low pressures.
At higher load conditions they avoided backfire with the
use of water injection.
In I.I.T., Delhi [17] four different types of fuel induc-
tion techniques were tried as shown in Table 4. Depend-
ing upon the experimental condition it was found to be
virtually impossible to get rid of flashback either in
carburetion or in a continued manifold injection system.
The other two methods such as timed manifold injection
and low pressure direct cylinder injection were subjected
to elaborate experimental investigation. Both these
methods, by definition, should preclude the problems of
flashback and pre-ignition either by supplying hydrogen
gas directly into the cylinder after the closure of the
intake valve (in LPDI) or by introducing hydrogen at an
appropriate time in the manifold and at an appropriate
location so that hydrogen is introduced after the poten-
tial hot spots are cooled again. Two different designs of
injection systems were developed for carrying out the
experiments. It was observed that, compared to LPDI,
the TMI system required a less sophisticated design of
the injector, as the former needed the injector to be
capable of surviving in the severe thermal environment
 FUEL INDUCTION TECHNIQUES 837

40

IlL
h~ 20

u Speed : 35 Hz
0-0 H2 Inj.
H2 Carb.
~ I ~ ~ ~ J I , t __J
1.5 1.0 0.5
¢
Equivatenceratio
Fig. 2. Pressure variation vs equivalence ratio.

of the combustion chamber. Therefore leaking of the
injector tip seemed to be a constant problem in most of
the preliminary experiments which, of course, could
ultimately be eliminated by proper choice of material
subjected to heat treatment processes. On the other hand
such a problem almost did not exist in a TMI system. In
addition to this, LPD! seemed to exhibit problems of
incomplete combustion, probably due to such a short
time allowed for the mixing of hydrogen and air to take
place. Such a situation did not arise in the case of TMI
where mixing was proper and complete. Figure 5 shows
the TMI configuration adopted for the experiment at
IIT, Delhi. Timed manifold injection was observed to
have possessed certain specific advantageous features
with regard to other modes of fuelling techniques. In the
entire range of experimental investigation hydrogen was
supplied to the engine system in a gaseous phase thus
leading to conditions of uniform and rapid mixing.
Furthermore, the system did offer the option of adopting
fuel injection being delayed to a point after the intake air
has begun. Such a method does help in adequately
cooling down the potential hot-spots which are quite

501..F Band for Ini.

r
~ n d Band for
• carb.

".'.'%._
Speed-30
H H2 Inj. ~' ~',, " ~
V---~' H2 Carb ~ I

I0 t a I I ~ i ~ I t J n i I
15 10 05
¢
Equivalenceratio
Fig. 3. Flame speed vs equivalence ratio,
838 L.M. DAS

45 - 40 f
~ ~ . ~ , MAN~FOLD INJ.
40 - 38

35 - 36

,o

25 -32
- 34
~ INJ.

i 3PREMIXEDAH2 " ~ ~ / /

20-30 t ~T,GASOLINE J
nT(*l") 15 - 2B -
/

10 - 26 L GASOLINE

5 - 24

0- 22 BHP, MANIFOLD INJ.

¢=.55 \ .
20 BHP, PREMIXED H2
¢:.55
18

16

14

12q BHP DIRECT INJ.

¢ = .58
BHP
lo

811~/

!T.
POWER OUTPUT AND THERMAL EFFICIENCY
COMPARATIVE REPRESENTATION:
GASOLINE PREMIXED H2,MANIFOLD INJECTION,
DIRECT INJECTION.

, I
2000 30OO
5000
Fig. 4. Performance parameters of manifold and direct injection hydrogen engine.
often responsible for causing thermally-induced backfire.
However, if by chance, inspite of all these preventive
measures, backfire takes place, it would definitely cause
much less damage than the one caused in a carburetted
version of the engine.
A series of exhaustive experiments were conducted
earlier on the same engine using carburetion as the
fueling mode. A comparative evaluation of both carbu-
retted and TMI configuration indicated that TMI ver-
sion of the engine was able to achieve an increase of
4.2% in indicated thermal efficiency and almost a 20%
rise in peak power output [17]. The experimental ar-
rangement shown in Fig. 5 exhibited a unique oper-
ational feature. It permited the flexibility of adopting
diesel-like quality governing and achieving the efficiency
of a diesel engine while developing a specific output
comparable to an S.I. engine.
I l I i I
4000
6000 7000 8000
RPM
The technique of direct cylinder injection has been
tried as an effective step against the undesirable combus-
tion phenomena since very early phase of hydrogen
engine research by Erren [18]. A little later Oehmichen
[19] carried out an extensive work in a hydrogen engine
and was successful in circumventing problems of
backfire and pre-ignition. The hydraulically operated
hydrogen injection system developed by Varde and
Frame [12] was also applied to a direct cylinder injection
configuration with the injection scheduled to occur
during the compression stroke. Besides exhibiting good
performance characteristics the system is reported to
have given lower levels of pollutants as compared to that
of gasoline fuelled spark ignition engine.
Homan [20] carried out experiments on a hydrogen-
fuelled engine using a LIRIAM (Late Injection, Rapid
Ignition and Mixing) technique. A large number of
 FUEL INDUCTION TECHNIQUES
Table 4. Mixture formation methodologies investigated
S. No. Mixture formation Classification
1. Continuous carburetion Pre-IVC
(CC)
2. Continuous manifold injection Pre-IVC
(CM1)
3. Timed manifold injection Pre-IVC
(TMI)
4. Low pressure direct cylinder Post-IVC
injection (LPDI)
operating parameters and their influence on perform-
ance, exhaust emission as well as combustion character-
istics of the engine were thoroughly investigated.
Operational characteristics with conditions of the least
pollution and minimum undesirable combustion symp-
toms were experimentally evaluated. Figure 6 shows the
injector developed by Homan. However, this work
clearly describes the inherent problems that arose in the
design and development of the injector.
Suzuki's work [21] was carried out with a low press-
ure, direct cylinder injection system. The system had
utilized the advantage of early mixture preparation.
However, it was conclusively realized through a series of
experiments that hydrogen induction into the combus-
tion chamber is a more effective step to avoid the
backfire tendency, particularly at low speeds. Furuhama
and his team of researchers have been carrying out
persistent hydrogen engine research, with various engine
configuration, for a very long time. They are reported to
have experienced [22, 23-27] problems of high pressure
rise rate and incomplete combustion. This is believed to
have occurred due to heterogeneous mixture formation
as the injection was scheduled to take place at the end
of compression stroke (in the almost stagnant condition
of engine cylinder). Due to the low density of hydrogen
and limited time available for mixing at the end of
Fig. 5. Cam-actuated timed manifold injection engine configur-
ation.
839
Hydrogen flow timing Supply pressure
Continuous flow A little above
atmospheric
Continuous flow Slightly greater
than atmospheric
Hydrogen flow commences after the 1.4 to 5.5 kgfcm
opening of the intake valve but
completed prior to IVC.
Hydrogen flow commences after the 2 to 8 kgfcm :
intake valve closure and is completed
before significant compression
pressure rise.
compression stroke, direct injection has a definite disad-
vantage. This has also been the experience with many
other researchers. As an alternative to try out the
elimination of these effects, Furuhama et al. developed
a system in which hydrogen was injected onto a hot
surface near TDC to achieve a diesel-like combustion. In
such a system combustion took place while hydrogen
was being injected in a turbo-charged engine which
showed good performance characteristics. They were
successful also in reducing the effect of noise and vi-
bration in these experiments. Furuhama and his team
also experimentally evaluated that the volumetric
efficiency of a hydrogen engine could be increased by
15% over that of a gasoline fuelled engine, with the
liquid hydrogen supplied to the intake manifold. This
figure indicates that power output and volumetric
efficiency can be still further increased by injecting
hydrogen directly into the cylinder.
Murray and Schoeppel [28-30] developed hydrogen
injection techniques in small single-cylinder industrial
engines. For higher power output a relatively high
pressure of 66 atm was required. Their work also showed
that knocking combustion was more prevalent when
significant amounts of hydrogen entered the cylinder
prior to ignition by spark. Theirs is the first reported
work on (NO L emissions from hydrogen engines.
Marotono and Dini [31] chose a two-stroke Piaggio
engine of 200c.c. to carry out hydrogen operation
mainly with a view to achieve better performance
characteristics. The three parameters such as quantity of
injected hydrogen, total injection timing and injection
timing before TDC were found to be critical in determin-
ing the performance characteristics of the engine. Their
investigation showed that a good mixing obtained with
suitable diffusers and injection advances were extremely
important to achieve excellent engine performance
characteristics.
COMPRESSION I G N I T I O N E N G I N E
Ikegami et al. [32] investigated hydrogen combustion
in a conventional swirl chamber type diesel engine. It has
been reported by these investigators that hydrogen-
fuelled diesel combustion could be achieved to a limited
extent because of the auto-ignition characteristics of the
840 L. M. DAS
O- Ring seals Spindlerefurn
spring

I L Hydraulic fluid from

fuel injection pump
Hydrogen
Fig. 6. The hydrogen injector.

fuel. An interesting observation made in this work was
that once the swirl chamber was vitiated either by one
small leakage or by a pilot injection, smooth combustion
could be attained. A pilot injection ensures ignition and
also reduces the ignition delay to some extent. A small
leakage from the injector most often exhibited similar
effects. Sometimes pronounced improved effects have
been observed on the ignition. It has found that a
definite amount of leakage, once established, permitted
the engine to run without any symptoms of knocking
over a fairly wide range of operation• However, an
excessive introduction of the preliminary fuel may cause
auto-ignition by itself thus giving rise to rough combus-
tion. In this work, the conditions required to ensure
smooth burning have been thoroughly studied by vary-
ing the amount and time of pre-injections and the
quantity of fuel leakage.
In another attempt [25] a closed cycle engine system
was simulated by supplying a 21% oxygen mixture to the
test engine. The engine operation was observed to be
extremely satisfactory without any ignition aid. The
engine system operating with an oxygen-argon charge
exhibited substantial gain in indicated thermal efficiency.
Figure 7 shows the hydrogen gas injector.
Tebelis and Krepec [33] developed a gas injection
system based on the principle of microprocessor control.
The opening time of such a system was controlled by
solenoid actuation• However, while designing a gas
injection system, it must be borne in mind that a basic
difference does exist in the injection characteristics of a
conventional liquid fuel with that of a gaseous fuel. The
bulk modulus of elasticity for liquids is relatively higher
in comparison to that of gases. Hence it is not possible
to utilize the conventional diesel injection system for a
gaseous fuel application• Therefore, many investigators
had used a hydraulically operated injection system. The
injection system developed at I.I.T. Delhi [17] could
either be hydraulically operated or cam-actuated. Tebelis
and Krepec proposed three different configurations of an
electronic injection system with different control flexibil-

Push screw
Poppet valve
• i Vent Push rod
i Rock nut 1| l~// / i

~ I /f i ~ ~ i/ ~ ~
• I I I' ' ~. .
M N,. ,1 T - - - - - - ~ " --

...........
,~" , ,;>
,,
'</F..///
Diesel nozzle
Mounting screw ~ )

Hydrogen gas inlet Hydraulic line

Fig. 7. Hydraulically actuated hydrogen gas injector.
 FUEL INDUCTION TECHNIQUES
Solen0id
fore e ~ ~
Inertia force
(ms*mi) d2 h - - - - ~ _ ~ I ~_.~ ~
dr2 ~ /
Damping forte
c dh ----J
I-~T- \\
"dr ,. J f Pressure forcej Fg
Pressure~ P2 ~
N
,',,\
/ ~ J ~ _ dp o
Pressur% P3
-~D H
Fig. 8. Schematic of a pintle nozzle injector with forces acting on the needle.
ity. The pintle nozzle type of injector was used in all
three cases. The three configurations of the injection
system were injector only system (IOS), metering valve-
injector system (MVIS) and control valve-injector
system (CVIS). The schematic diagrams of these
configurations are shown in Fig. 8. They have also
developed a mathematical model to simulate the dy-
namic response of the system. The calculated needle
movement very closely agreed with the values obtained
practically through experiments. However, these investi-
gators have prescribed further work in reducing the mass
of moving parts, decreasing the volume and minimizing
the fuel leakage.
CONCLUSIONS
The consistent research efforts and their outcome
clearly show that a mixture formation method plays a
decisive role in the practical emergence of a future
hydrogen specific engine.
Future developments of such engines depend a lot also
on the mode of storage and supply system. Using
cryogenic hydrogen supplied from a liquid hydrogen
tank has the prospects of increase in volumetric
efficiency and thus the power output. It also reduces the
specific fuel consumption as well as the level of (NO).~
emissions. The limits of backfire are further lowered.
Late fuel injection, on the other hand, is a very
promising fuel induction technique as it does preclude
the possibility of backfire, the century-old problem
which has been bothering the hydrogen researchers. This
technique could also be adopted to both two-stroke as
well as four stroke engines.
841
dt = Needle core diometer
Friction force
dpo= Pintle diometer
d s o : N e e d l e seot diometer
DH , Nozzle hole diometer
Pressure~P 4
An appropriate TMI system designed specifically on
the basis of hydrogen's combustion characteristics for a
particular engine configuration ensures smooth engine
operational characteristics without any undesirable com-
bustion phenomena. However, all those characteristics
have been evaluated in converted engines. So, an inte-
grated fuel induction and storage method must be
designed for a hydrogen-specific engine which can em-
brace the benefits of good performance, least exhaust
emission and controlled combustion characteristics of an
ideal engine system.
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