A review on Emission characteristics and Performance of hydrogen

fuelled engines, comparative analysis and safety techniques to

handle hydrogen.
Piyush.Agrawal
1
Department of Mechanical, Uttaranchal University ,India

Abstract: Realizing decreased CO2 emissions from the transport sector will be possible in the near future
when substituting (part of) the currently used hydrocarbon-fuelled internal combustion engines (ICEs) with
hydrogen-fuelled ICEs.
Hydrogen-fuelled ICEs have advanced to such a stage that, from the engine point of view, there are no
major obstacles to doing this. The present paper indicates the advantages of hydrogen as a fuel for spark
ignition (SI) internal combustion engines. It also shows how the hydrogen engine has matured.
An extensive overview is given of the literature on experimental studies of abnormal combustion
phenomena, mixture formation techniques, and load control strategies for hydrogenfuelled engines. The
Transport Technology research group of the Department of Flow, Heat and Combustion Mechanics at
Ghent University has been working on the development and optimization of hydrogen engines for 15 years.
An overview of the most important experimental results is presented with special focus on the most recent
findings.
The article concludes with a list of engine design features of dedicated hydrogen SI engines.

Keywords: hydrogen, internal combustion engines, emissions, backfire

1 INTRODUCTION Furthermore, hydrogen-fuelled ICEs have the

The incentives for a hydrogen economy are the
absence of harmful emissions, the sustainability
(potentially CO2 free), and the energy security. The
present paper focuses on hydrogen-fuelled internal
combustion engines (ICEs) for the following reasons.
ICEs are proven technology, simple, and well
known, and converting an engine for hydrogen
operation can be achieved with a relatively low
cost. Using ICEs allows bi-fuel operation (e.g. the
engine can run on gasoline as well as on hydrogen),
alleviating fuel station density and autonomy require-
ments. This could facilitate the start-up of a hydrogen
economy. For larger engines (buses and trucks),
mixtures of natural gas and hydrogen (typically about
20 vol% of hydrogen) are easy to exploit. Again,
experience can be gained with the production,
storage, and infrastructure for hydrogen.
* Corresponding author: Department of Flow, Heat and Com-
bustion Mechanics, Ghent University, Ghent, BE-9000, Belgium.
email: sebastian.verhelst@ugent.be
potential for an increased engine efciency; the wide
flammability limits and the high flame propagation
speed of hydrogenair mixtures allow diverse load
control strategies (e.g. power regulation by varying
the equivalence ratio, avoiding throttling losses)
and the high auto-ignition temperature allows an
increased compression ratio. For mixtures near to
stoichiometric, the combustion is an almost constant-
volume combustion owing to the high burning
velocity of these mixtures. Lean hydrogen flames
also burn rapidly so that essentially no turbulence
enhancing methods need to be used (swirl ports, etc.).
An indicated efciency of 52 per cent has been
demonstrated for a hydrogen-fuelled spark ignition
(SI) engine [1] and a power generation efciency of
49 per cent for a hydrogen-fuelled compression
ignition engine [2].
However, when using hydrogen as an engine fuel,
special measures have to be taken to avoid abnormal
combustion and to attain a power output comparable
with that of traditionally fuelled engines. These
measures are discussed further in this paper.
910 S Verhelst, S Verstraeten, and R Sierens
Although the addition of hydrogen to other fuels
(such as natural gas) is also interesting as this can
lower the emissions [3] or extend the lean operation
limit [4], this paper addresses pure hydrogen
exclusively. Reviews of the work performed on
mixtures of hydrogen and natural gas can be found
elsewhere [3].
2 EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH: LITERATURE
REVIEW
Here, an overview is given of the design features
in which a dedicated hydrogen engine difers
from traditionally fuelled engines. More detailed
information can be found in reference [5].
2.1 Abnormal combustion
The suppression of abnormal combustion in hydrogen
engines has proven to be quite a challenge and measures
taken to avoid abnormal combustion have important
implications for engine design, mixture formation, and
load control. For SI engines, three regimes of abnormal
combustion exist: knock (auto-ignition of the end gas
region), pre-ignition (uncontrolled ignition induced by a
hot spot, pre-
mature to the SI), and backfire (also referred to as
backflash, flashback, and induction ignition; this is
a premature ignition during the intake stroke, which
could be seen as an early form of pre-ignition).
Backfire has been a particularly tenacious obstacle
to the development of hydrogen engines. The causes cited for
backfire are as follows.
1. Hot spots in the combustion chamber. These hot
spots consist of deposits and particulates [6, 7], the spark
plug [8, 9], residual gas [911], exhaust
valves [1014], etc., and are reported to cause a
backfire easily because of the low ignition energy
of hydrogen, which is an order of magnitude
smaller than for typical hydrocarbons, and the
wide flammability limits. Deposits and parti-
culates originate from the (partial) combustion of
lubricating oil and/or rust formation during an
extended standstill (older engines).
2. Residual energy in the ignition circuit. Because
of the lower ion concentration of a hydrogen
air flame compared with that of hydrocarbonair
flame, it is possible that the ignition energy is not
completely deposited in the flame and remains in
the ignition circuit until the cylinder conditions
are such that a second unwanted ignition can
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3. Induction in the ignition cable. With multi-
cylinder engines, the (controlled) ignition in
one cylinder can cause an induced ignition in
another cylinder when the individual ignition
cables are placed close to each other [7].
4. Combustion in the piston top land persisting up to
inlet valve opening time and igniting the fresh charge
[9, 1618]. This is caused by the smaller quenching
gap for hydrogen mixtures compared
with that for typical hydrocarbons, which enables
a hydrogen flame to propagate into the top land. 5.
Pre-ignition. Pre-ignition is often encountered in
hydrogen engines because of the low ignition
energy and wide flammability limits of hydrogen.
As a premature ignition causes the mixture to burn
mostly during the compression stroke, the
temperature in the combustion chamber rises, which
causes the hot spot that led to the pre-ignition
to increase in temperature, resulting in another earlier
pre-ignition in the next cycle. This advancement of
the pre-ignition continues until it occurs during the
intake stroke and causes backfire [1, 7, 13, 18]. The
mechanism is termed a runaway pre-ignition and can
also result from a knocking cycle, increasing the
chamber temperature and creating a hot spot [7].
All causes itemized above can result in backfire
and the design of a hydrogen engine should try to
avoid them, as engine conditions diferent from
normal operation are always a possibility.
2.2 Mixture formation
A range of mixture formation methods has been
tested for hydrogen engines, mostly in the pursuit of
backfire-free operation:
(a) external mixture formation with a gas carburettor
[9, 19];
(b) external mixture formation with parallel
induction, i.e. some means of delaying the
introduction of hydrogen, e.g. a fuel line closed
by a separate valve on top of the intake valve that
only opens when the intake valve has lifted
enough [20];
(c) external mixture formation with a gas carburettor
and water injection [14, 21], sometimes with
additional exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) [22];
(d) external mixture formation with timed manifold
or port fuel injection (PFI) [1, 7, 11, 16, 2325],
sometimes also with some means of parallel
induction [26];
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 Comprehensive overview of hydrogen engine design features
occur, namely during the expansion or the intake
stroke, when the pressure is low [9, 15].
During the last decade, only timed PFI and DI
(during the compression stroke or later) have been
used, as the other methods are less flexible and less
controllable. External mixture formation by means of
PFI has been demonstrated to result in higher engine
efciencies, extended lean operation, lower cyclic
variation, and lower NOx production compared with
DI [31, 32]. An important advantage of DI over PFI
is the impossibility of backfire. This too increases the
maximum power output of DI compared with PFI as
richer mixtures can be used without fear of backfire.
Pre-ignition can still occur, however, unless very late
injection is used.
2.3 Load control strategies
Hydrogen is a very versatile fuel when considering
load control. The high flame speeds of hydrogen
mixtures and its wide flammability limits permit very
lean operation and substantial dilution. The engine
efciency and the emission of NOx are the two main
parameters used to decide the load control strategy.
Constant equivalence ratio throttled operation has
been used but mainly for demonstration purposes
[20, 22], as it is fairly easy to run a lean-burn throttled
hydrogen engine (accepting a severe power output
penalty of the order of 50 per cent). Where
possible, wide-open throttle (WOT) operation is
used to take advantage of the associated increase in
engine efciency [26, 31], so regulating load with
mixture richness (qualitative control) instead of
volumetric efciency (quantitative control) and thus
avoiding pumping losses.
Across the load range of the engine, diferent
strategies, which try to take as much advantage
as possible of the properties of the hydrogenair
mixture, can be used. It is important to know that
NOx production is very dependent on the mixture
richness, the air-to-fuel equivalence ratio l, as this
is the major parameter controlling the maximum
combustion temperature. At lean mixtures, NOx
production is very low (under 100 ppm) until a certain
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911
(e) internal mixture formation through direct
injection (DI) [2730].
throttle control, in order to enrich the mixture, is
used at these loads. High efciencies of more than
40 per cent have been reported in this operating
range [11]. Depending on the mixture formation,
diferent methods can be used to control the engine
at high loads. Beyond the NOx formation limit,
throttled stoichiometric operation with a reduction
catalyst can be used, as demonstrated by Rottengruber
et al. [33] at BMW. This catalyst for NOx reduction
can be used with great efciency (more than 99.5 per
cent), because H2, which is present in the exhaust
feed gas at l=1, is a highly efcient reducing agent.
For higher efciency, EGR (050 per cent) instead of
throttling can be used in this load range to control the
amount of fresh air in the engine, as shown by
Natkin et al. [24] at Ford. Efciencies of 35 and 40 per
cent have been reported for throttle and EGR
control respectively in this load range. If the engine
is charged, for loads above the naturally aspirated
full load limit, control is possible by regulating the
charge pressure while keeping a stoichiometric
mixture. Another strategy proposed by Rottengruber
et al. [33] at BMW is to use the common port
injection for low and part loads, and DI for high
loads. External mixture formation is advantageous
because of the better mixture preparation (mixing)
and fewer throttling requirements due to the lower
volumetric efciency. NOx emissions of less than
1 ppm are reported with the use of a normal three-
way catalyst (TWC) in stoichiometric operation [24].
If a hydrogen engine is designed for single-speed
or single-power operation, e.g. for stationary power
generation or for a series hybrid vehicle, very clean
and highly efcient operation is possible without any
after-treatment (for which the efectiveness could
deteriorate with time). NOx emissions below 10 ppm
or even 1 ppm, with indicated efciencies of perhaps
50 per cent are possible [31, 34, 35]. Hydrogen is the
only fuel with which this is possible (with hydro-
carbons, decreasing NOx emissions with lean burn
implies increased unburned hydrocarbon emissions).
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912 S Verhelst, S Verstraeten, and R Sierens

l is reached, the so-called NOx formation limit. A

3 RESEARCH AT THE TRANSPORT
mixture richer than this limit, which occurs normally at
TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH GROUP, GHENT
around l=2, will produce high levels of NO x and a UNIVERSITY
maximum will be reached at about l=1.21.3.
Therefore, for loads below this NO x formation limit, a 3.1 Engine generations
quality-based mixture control will be used. For
idling and very low loads the mixture has to be very The Transport Technology research group at Ghent
lean with WOT (l>4). At these lean mixtures the University has been working on the development and
coefcient of variation indicated mean efective optimization of hydrogen engines for 15 years. The
pressure (IMER) is high owing to the lower com- present authors consider four generations in the
bustion velocity and combustion stability. Therefore development of hydrogen-fuelled engines.
outputs with a (absolute) boost pressure of 1.85 bar.
Finally, for the upcoming fourth generation, Fig. 1 Power output of the Valmet engine fuelled with
research is going on into advanced DI of hydrogen in SI natural gas or hydrogen
engines [33, 36]. These diferent engine
was reported. At stoichiometric operation, a port injected hydrogen
engine produces about 20 per cent less power than a gasoline engine
owing to the air displacement by the low-density hydrogen.
In the first generation a gas venturi was used. With ments [38]. The study of the cylinder pressure prior
a gas carburettor a large volume of combustible to and during the occurrence of backfire showed a
mixture is always present in the inlet manifold. To runaway pre-ignition, leading to backfire [39]. The
avoid backfire, the engine has to run lean (l2) pre-ignition was mostly accompanied by engine
which results in a low power output (between 30 and knock and a knock detection algorithm based on
50 per cent lower compared than for gasoline cylinder pressure data was proposed to avoid knock
operation). and backfire [40]. The gas carburettor was eventually
For the second generation the same technologies replaced by a sequential injection system, involving
were used as for gasoline SI engines: multi-point the testing of gas injectors for hydrogen (at the time
sequential (port) injection and electronic engine not commercially available and unreliable) [41].
control. A possible strategy is then to use a late These tests have proved that it is not difcult to
injection so that the admitted air will cool the inlet run an engine on hydrogen (under lean conditions),
manifold and the combustion chamber before the but they have also shown that special attention is
injection of hydrogen. These injectors are now com-
necessary for the power output, the NOx emissions,
mercially available (after a delay of introduction due and the backfire problem. The original Valmet diesel
to the need to inject a high volume of a low-density engine has a power output of 64 kW, which can also
gas in a short time). Even with a late injection a
be reached with methane (CH4) (major component
stoichiometric mixture (l=1) is not always possible of natural gas) but not at all with hydrogen (owing
and the power output is lower than a corresponding to the lean conditions necessary to avoid backfire)
gasoline engine; see for example the findings of Tang et (Fig. 1) [37, 42]. Figure 2 shows the (raw engine-out)
al. [1] at Ford, where a decrease of 35 per cent
On third-generation engines, currently under investigation, the mixture is kept stoichiometric
(l=1) at high loads. To avoid backfire, EGR is used. At this stoichiometric mixture a TWC can be
used to decrease the NOx emissions. With turbocharging or supercharging and intercooling, the
same or a higher power output can be obtained as for a gasoline engine, as demonstrated by
Berckmuller et al. [11] at BMW, obtaining an IMEP of 18 bar, and by Natkin et al. [24] at Ford,
reaching gasoline engine torque
generations are illustrated in the following sections with a brief discussion of the experimental
findings at Ghent University.

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 Comprehensive overview of hydrogen engine design features 913

3.2 Valmet engine

The very first work carried out was basically a proof of concept.
Simply put, a DI diesel engine was taken (Valmet inline four, 4.4 l
engine); the diesel fuel injectors were replaced by spark plugs, the
compression ratio was lowered (from 16:1 to 8.7:1) by installing
diferent pistons and a gas carburettor was mounted [37]. The
influence of engine parameters on the combustion of hydrogen was
studied using heat
release analysis of the cylinder pressure measure- Fig. 2
NOx emissions of the Valmet engine

the presence of hydrogen (from blowby) in the crank-

NOx emissions, again for natural gas and hydrogen
[37, 42]. At a certain air-to-fuel ratio the NOx
emissions for hydrogen are higher than for natural
gas (and gasoline). Only at very lean mixtures (l2),
does the level become acceptably low.
The backfire phenomenon is shown in Fig. 3 [39].
Successive pressure cycles are shown, indicating the
runaway pre-ignition until finally the pre-ignition occurs
before the inlet valve closure (cycle 32),
resulting in the explosion of the mixture in the inlet
manifold.
This (extended) proof of concept on the Valmet
engine has indicated the focus of all further research on
hydrogen-fuelled internal combustion engines:
(a) backfire-safe operation;
(b) increase in the power output;
(c) decrease in the NOx emissions.
3.3 General Motors engine
Next a General Motors type 454 engine (better known
as the Chevrolet Big Block) was adapted for gaseous
fuels. The 7.4 l V8 engine was initially equipped
with a gas carburettor and experiments were carried
out with natural gas, mixtures of natural gas and
hydrogen, and pure hydrogen [4]. Then a multi-
point sequential injection system was installed with a
programmable engine management (second generation).
Attention was given to a qualitative control of the
load (variation in the richness of the hydrogenair
mixture), beneficial for the engine efciency compared
with a quantitative control using a throttle valve. Also
injection and ignition maps were optimized, a forced
crankcase ventilation system was mounted, and
supercharging was applied [43, 44]. The lubrication oil
was analysed, revealing a substantial decrease in its
lubricating quality, caused by
case. More specifically, the concentration of various
additives had decreased, esters appearing in the
unused oil had almost completely disappeared in the
used oil, and the viscosity index had decreased. This
is understandable when it is considered that hydrogen
is used in the industry to harden oils to fats (breaking
open the double carbon-to-carbon bonds).
3.4 CFR engine
A single-cylinder CFR engine (fixed speed of 600 r/min;
variable compression ratio) was initially equipped with a
gas carburettor (first generation) and then with a
sequential injector (second generation);
it is now working with a sequential injector
(and MoTeC control unit), EGR, and TWC (third
generation).
Detailed studies were carried out:
(a) pressure measurements in the combustion
chamber as a function of load (equivalence
ratio), compression ratio, ignition timing, etc.;
(b) influence of the position of the injector and
injection timing on the power output and
efciency [45, 46];
(c) NOx reduction strategies.
EGR is an efective means of NOx reduction and an
especially interesting option at stoichiometric operation
as the high NOx reduction efciency of a standard TWC
can then be exploited. Furthermore, the engine power
output could be varied by changing the amount of
recycled exhaust gas, instead of throttling, thus avoiding
engine efciency penalties.
A comparison was made between lean-burn operation
and stoichiometric operation with EGR, in terms of
efciency, power output, NOx emissions, and backfire
resistance [47]. As an example, Figs 4

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914 S Verhelst, S Verstraeten, and R Sierens
Fig. Individual pressurecurve o th
3 s f e
pre-ignition
and 5 compare the lean burn with the EGR load
control strategy. Figure 4 shows the NOx emissions
before and after the TWC as a function of the air-
to-fuel equivalence ratio (here, the power output is
controlled by the equivalence ratio; the figure shows
a power range of about 9075 per cent of maximum
power output). Figure 5 plots the NOx emissions
before and after the TWC as a function of the
percentage of EGR (here, the power output is con-
trolled by the EGR percentage, while maintaining a
stoichiometric mixture, the figure shows a power
range of about 10070 per cent of maximum power
output). The EGR percentage is based on the
amount of externally recycled exhaust gases; the
internally recycled residual gases are not taken into
consideration.
These tests clearly indicate the advantage of the
l=1+EGR strategy over the lean-burn strategy in
terms of NOx reduction potential. Only at stoichio-
metric or at rich conditions, is there enough hydrogen
present in the exhaust to act as an active agent to
reduce the NOx. Figure 5 shows that the conversion
efciency of the TWC decreases with increasing
EGR percentage, which probably arises because
the exhaust temperature drops below the light-of
temperature of the TWC.
3.5 Audi engine
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runaway Fig. NOx emissions before and after TWC, as a
4
function of the equivalence ratio
(ignition timing, number of injectors, injection timing,
injector location, etc.) on the backfire phenomenon
by looking for the pre-ignition limited equivalence
ratio. Unfortunately, because of problems with
excessive vibration on the pressure transducer it
was not possible to obtain corresponding pressure
diagrams. However, runaway pre-ignition is thought
to be the most likely mechanism based on previous
experience (see Fig. 3) and the engine behaviour. In
the following, the air-to-fuel equivalence ratio below
which pre-ignition and consequently backfire occurs
is termed the pre-ignition limit.
The ignition timing proved to be a very important
parameter, owing to the high flame speeds of near-
stoichiometric hydrogenair mixtures. Setting the
ignition timing 1 of can increase the thermal load-
ing of the engine enough for pre-ignition to occur,
evolving in a runaway pre-ignition and backfire.
At near-stoichiometric mixtures, optimal ignition
timings are mostly after top dead centre.
Cooling of the combustion chamber by using a
late injection strategy was found to be ofset by the
time needed to ensure homogeneous mixing. This is
illustrated in Fig. 6 showing the pre-ignition limit as
a function of the end of injection [in degrees crank
angle (CA) before top dead centre (BTDC)]. It can
clearly be seen that the pre-ignition limit improves
at first with a later injection (going from 220 to 180
JAUTO141 IMechE 2007
 Comprehensive overview of hydrogen engine design features
A single-cylinder research engine of Audi origin (engine
speed, 10004500 r/min) was equipped with a high-
pressure transducer and two injectors in the inlet duct
(for one cylinder). The ignition timing and injection
timing are controlled by a MoTeC M4 Pro engine
control unit. Initial results using methane and hydrogen
have been given by Verstraeten et al. [48].
Recently, a study of backfire causes was started, examining
the influence of various parameters
Fig. NOx emissions before and after TWC: stoichio-
5 6
metric operation with variable EGR percentage
mixing and cooling times. Using the same timing for
the two injectors proved best. Using two injectors
is necessary at high engine speeds and loads for
delivering the required amount of fuel.
4 OVERVIEW OF DESIGN FEATURES
This can be synthesized in the following overview of
the design features in which a dedicated hydrogen
engine difers from traditionally fuelled engines.
1. Spark plugs. Use cold rated spark plugs so that spark
plug electrode temperatures avoid exceeding the
auto-ignition limit and causing backfire [8, 15].
Cold rated spark plugs can be used since there are
hardly any spark plug deposits to burn of. Do not
use spark plugs with platinum
electrodes as this can be a catalyst to hydrogen
oxidation [10, 12] (platinum has been used in the
exhaust to oxidize unburned hydrogen [20]).
2. Ignition system. Avoid uncontrolled ignition
due to residual ignition energy by properly
grounding the ignition system or changing the
ignition cables electrical resistance [14, 15]; avoid
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915
CA BTDC) as more time is available for cooling but
becomes worse for very late injections as mixing
deteriorates (intake valve closes at 114 CA BTDC).
As a consequence, using two injectors to enable later
injection timings and a longer cooling period did not
prove to be beneficial, with the pre-ignition limit being
the same when using one or two injectors (in this case,
around l=1.4), there exists an optimum injection timing
which is a compromise between
Fig. Influence of injection timing on pre-ignition
limit
has been reported where no relation between
injection timing and backfire or pre-ignition
limited equivalence ratio was found [1]. However,
timed injection is always beneficial as it also
decreases the amount of unburned fuel in the intake
manifold at any given time, limiting the severity of
a backfire should it occur.
4. Hot spots. Avoid hot spots in the combustion
chamber that could initiate pre-ignition or back-
fire, use cooled exhaust valves; use multi-valve
engine heads to lower the exhaust valve tem-
perature further [1214]; ensure proper oil con-
trol; provide additional engine coolant passages
around valves and other areas with high thermal
loads [16] (if possible); delay fuel introduction to
create a period of air cooling (using timed manifold
or direct injection); ensure adequate scavenging
(e.g. using variable valve timing
[1, 11]) to decrease residual gas temperatures.
5. Piston rings and crevice volumes. Decrease the
piston top land clearance to prevent hydrogen
flames from propagating into the top land; Swain
et al. [16] used a clearance of 0.152 mm to
quench the hydrogen flame. Change the crevice
volumes and/or piston rings with the aim of
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916 S Verhelst, S Verstraeten, and R Sierens
induction ignition in an adjacent ignition cable,
for instance by using a coil-on-plug system;
provide a high voltage output ignition system as
the ignition of hydrogen mixtures requires an
increased secondary ignition voltage [14, 15, 36]
(probably because of the lower ion concentration
of a hydrogen flame; see above); coil-on-plug
systems also satisfy this condition. Alternatively,
the spark plug gap can be decreased to lower
the ignition voltage; this is not a problem for
hydrogen engines as there will be almost no
deposit formation. Spark plug gaps as small as
0.25 mm have been used [9] (although the gap
was subsequently increased to 0.5 mm because of
cold start difculties due to water condensation
at the spark plug tip).
3. Injection system. Provide a timed injection, either
using PFI and programming the injection timing
such that an initial air cooling period is created in
the initial phase of the intake stroke and the end
of injection is such that all hydrogen is inducted,
leaving no hydrogen in the manifold when
the intake valve closes, or using DI during the
compression stroke. High-flowrate injectors are
needed in both cases; multiple injectors per
cylinder can alleviate this requirement. The
necessity of an initial air-cooling period is
probably dependent on the engine design, as work
8. Crankcase ventilation. Positive crankcase venti-
lation is generally recommended because of un-
throttled operation (high manifold air pressures)
and to decrease hydrogen concentrations (from
blowby) in the crankcase [12, 50].
9. Compression ratio. The choice of the optimal
compression ratio is similar to that for any fuel;
it should be chosen as high as possible to
increase engine efciency, with the limit given by
increased heat losses or appearance of abnormal
combustion (in the case of hydrogen, primarily
pre-ignition). The choice may depend on the
application, as the optimum compression ratio
for highest engine efciency might be diferent
from the optimum for highest power output [24].
In general, the compression ratio of a hydrogen
engine can be chosen higher than that for a
gasoline engine.
10. In-cylinder turbulence. Because of the high flame
speeds of hydrogen, low-turbulence combustion
chambers (pancake or disc chamber and axially
aligned symmetric intake port) can be used
which are beneficial for the engine efciency [13, 16,
34]. They might even be necessary to
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reducing the reflow of unburned mixture from
the second land to the top land [1618] (pre-
venting fuelling of a top land flame during
exhaust and intake).
6. Valve seats and injectors. The very low lubricity
of hydrogen has to be taken into account, suit-
able valve seat materials have to be chosen
[12, 14], and the design of the injectors should
take this into account. This is the case with any
dry gaseous fuel (such as natural gas) but can be
more critical for hydrogen (compressed natural
gas contains small amounts of oil originating
from the oil mist in the compressor whereas
hydrogen compressors normally have tighter
clearances to limit the leak rate).
7. Lubrication. An engine lubrication oil compatible
with increased water concentration in the crank-
case has to be chosen; the report on the hydrogen
drive test in Germany by TU V [14] cites two
options: a demulsifying oil and a synthetic oil
which forms a solution with water. DeLuchi [49]
claimed a longer oil lifetime than that of gasoline
as the oil is not diluted by hydrogen and there
is less formation of acids. An ashless oil is
recommended to avoid deposit formation (hot
spots) [8]. The efect of hydrogen on the oil
composition and chemical structure has been
reported by two of the present authors [44].
leading to abnormal combustion phenomena such
as backfire. More specifically, data are needed of the
knocking behaviour and the quenching distance as
a function of the equivalence ratio.
Hydrogen PFI engines can be considered to be
ready for large-scale demonstration purposes, be it
as dedicated hydrogen vehicles or bi-fuel vehicles
with gasoline engines retrofitted for hydrogen. Large-
scale demonstration would permit evaluation of
durability and possible material and lubricating oil
degradation.
Hybrid power trains using hydrogen ICEs, and DI
engines have much potential that needs to be
explored further. For DI engines, this necessitates
further development of hydrogen DI injectors. Also,
load control strategies that take full advantage of
todays gasoline engine state of the art such as
variable valve timing and/or lift should be developed
specifically for hydrogen engines.
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JAUTO141 IMechE 2007
 Comprehensive overview of hydrogen engine design features
avoid abnormal combustion at stoichiometric
operation [16].
11. Electronic throttle. As stated above, hydrogen
engines should be operated at WOT wherever possible,
but throttling is needed at very low
loads to maintain combustion stability and to
limit unburned hydrogen emissions. At medium
to high loads, throttling might be necessary to
limit NOx emissions. This can only be realized
with a drive-by-wire system.
5 CONCLUSIONS
This paper has indicated the advantages of hydrogen
as a fuel for SI internal combustion engines and has
shown that the hydrogen engine has progressed.
An overview is given of the development by car
manufacturers and research centres and also of the work
at the Transport Technology research group,
Ghent University.
An important conclusion from the work described
above is that the hydrogen ICE is rapidly gaining on
traditionally fuelled engines. Hydrogen ICEs have a
high efciency, are very clean, and are inexpensive.
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interesting to perform a systematic study of the
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