Fuel 87 (2008) 3591–3599

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Fuel
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Combustion analysis on a DI diesel engine with hydrogen in dual fuel mode

N. Saravanan *, G. Nagarajan, G. Sanjay, C. Dhanasekaran, K.M. Kalaiselvan
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Internal Combustion Engineering Division, College of Engineering, Guindy, Anna University, Chennai 600 025, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Hydrogen is expected to be one of the most important fuels in the near future to meet the stringent emis-
Received 25 January 2008 sion norms. In this experimental investigation, the combustion analysis was done on a direct injection
Received in revised form 4 July 2008 (DI) diesel engine using hydrogen with diesel and hydrogen with diethyl ether (DEE) as ignition source.
Accepted 8 July 2008
The hydrogen was injected through intake port and diethyl ether was injected through intake manifold
Available online 3 August 2008
and diesel was injected directly inside the combustion chamber. Injection timings for hydrogen and DEE
were optimized based on the performance, combustion and emission characteristics of the engine. The
Keywords:
optimized timing for the injection of hydrogen was 5° CA before gas exchange top dead center (BGTDC)
Hydrogen
Port injection
and 40° CA after gas exchange top dead center (AGTDC) for DEE. From the study it was observed that
Diethyl ether hydrogen with diesel results in increased brake thermal efficiency by 20% and oxides of nitrogen (NOx)
Dual fuel showed an increase of 13% compared to diesel. Hydrogen-DEE operation showed a higher brake thermal
Emission efficiency of 30%, with a significant reduction in NOx compared to diesel.
Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The internal combustion engines have already become an indis-
pensable and integral part of our present day life. In recent days
the importance of environment and energy are emphasized in var-
ious energy schemes [1]. Increase in stringent environment regula-
tions on exhaust emissions and anticipation of the future depletion
of world wide petroleum reserves provide strong encouragement
for research on alternate fuels [2]. Hydrogen is one of the most
promising alternate fuels. It’s clean burning characteristics and
better performance drives more interest in hydrogen fuel [3]. Many
researchers have used hydrogen as a fuel in spark ignition (SI) en-
gine [4]. A significant reduction in power output was observed
while using hydrogen in SI engine In addition pre ignition, backfire
and knocking problems were observed at high load. These prob-
lems have resulted in using hydrogen in SI engine within a limited
operation range [5,6]. However hydrogen cannot be used as a sole
fuel in a compression ignition (CI) engine, since the compression
temperature is not enough to initiate the combustion due to its
higher self-ignition temperature [7]. Hence an ignition source is re-
quired while using it in a CI engine. The simplest method of using
hydrogen in a CI engine is to run in the dual fuel mode with diesel
as the main fuel or Diethyl Ether can be used that can act as an
ignition source for hydrogen. In a dual fuel engine the main fuel
is either inducted/carburated or injected into the intake air stream
with combustion initiated by diesel. The major energy is obtained
from diesel while the rest of the energy is supplied by hydrogen.
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 9881128166.
E-mail address: sarav_2003@yahoo.co.in (N. Saravanan).
The hydrogen operated dual fuel engine has the property to
operate with lean mixtures at part load and no load, which results
in NOx reduction, with an increase in thermal efficiency thereby
reducing the fuel consumption. It was also observed that hydrogen
could be substituted for diesel up to 38% on volume basis without
loss in thermal efficiency, however with a nominal power loss.
Hydrogen used in the dual fuel mode with diesel by Masood et
al. [8] showed the highest brake thermal efficiency of 30% at a com-
pression ratio of 24.5. Lee et al. [9] studied the performance of dual
injection hydrogen fueled engine by using solenoid in-cylinder
injection and external fuel injection technique. An increase in ther-
mal efficiency by about 22% was noted for dual injection at low
loads and 5% at high loads compared to direct injection. Lee et al.
[10] suggested that in dual injection, the stability and maximum
power could be obtained by direct injection of hydrogen. However
the maximum efficiency could be obtained by the external mixture
formation in hydrogen engine. Das et al. [11] have carried out
experiments on continuous carburation, continuous manifold
injection, timed manifold injection and low pressure direct cylin-
der injection. The maximum brake thermal efficiency of 31.32%
was obtained at 2200 rpm with 13 Nm torque. Hashimoto et al.
[12] have done extensive experimental investigation with DEE
and diesel used as ignition source for igniting hydrogen fuel. Table
1 shows the properties of hydrogen in comparison with diesel and
DEE. Fig. 1 shows the photograph of hydrogen and DEE flow
arrangements.
Electronic injectors for hydrogen can have a greater control over
the injection timing and injection duration with quicker response
to operate under high-speed conditions [13]. The advantage
of hydrogen injection over carburated system is problems like

0016-2361/$ - see front matter Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.fuel.2008.07.011
3592 N. Saravanan et al. / Fuel 87 (2008) 3591–3599

Nomenclature

J/° Joules per degree CI compression ignition

kg/h kilograms per hour SI spark ignition
kW kilowatts ECU electronic control unit
mm millimeter DFC digital mass flow controller
cm3 cubic centimeter IR infra red
NRV non-return valve
Abbreviations DSO digital storage oscilloscope
PPM parts per million LPM liters per minute
DEE diethyl ether UBHC unburned hydro carbons
BSN Bosch smoke number NOx nitrogen oxides
TDC top dead center CO carbon monoxide
BGTDC before gas exchange top dead center BTDC before top dead center
CAD crank angle duration CA crank angle
DI direct injection HHR heat release rate

Table 1 of NOx formation [16,17]. NOx emissions increase with increase

Properties of hydrogen in comparison with diesel and DEE in equivalence ratio and peaks at an equivalence ratio of 0.9.
Sl. No. Properties Diesel Hydrogen DEE The objective of the present work is to use hydrogen (by injec-
Formula CnH1.8nC8–C20 H2 C2H5OC2H5
tion in the intake port) in the following ways and study the perfor-
1 Auto ignition temperature (K) 530 858 433 mance, combustion and emission characteristics and compare with
2 Minimum ignition energy (mJ) – 0.02 – baseline diesel:
3 Flammability limits (volume % 0.7–5 4–75 1.9–36.0
in air)
1. Hydrogen in the dual fuel mode with diesel.
4 Stoichiometric air fuel ratio 14.5 34.3 11.1
on mass basis 2. Hydrogen with diethyl ether as an ignition source.
5 Molecular weight (g mol) 170 2.016 74
6 Limits of flammability – 0.1–7.1 – 2. Experimental setup and procedure
(equivalence ratio)
7 Density at 160 C and 1.01 bar 833–881 0.0838 713
(kg/m3) The test engine used was a single cylinder water-cooled DI die-
8 Net heating valve MJ/kg 42.5 119.93 33.9 sel engine, having a rated power of 3.7 kW that runs at a constant
9 Flame velocity (cm/s) 30 265–325 – speed of 1500 rpm which was modified to work with hydrogen in
10 Quenching gap in NTP air (cm) – 0.064 – the dual fuel mode. The specifications of the test engine are given
11 Diffusivity in air (cm2/s – 0.63 –
in Table 2. Fig. 5 shows the schematic view of the experimental set-
12 Octane number
Research 30 130 – up. The flow diagram for hydrogen and DEE is shown in Fig. 6. The
Motor – – – fuel injector was controlled by means of an electronic control unit
13 Cetane number 40–55 – >125 (ECU). An Infrared detector was used to give signals to the ECU for
14 Boiling point (K) 436–672 20.27 307.4
injector opening based on the preset timing and also to control the
15 Viscosity at 15.5 °C, centipoise 2.6–4.1 – 0.023
16 Vapour pressure at 38 °C kPa Negligible – 110.3
duration of injection. The injection timing and injection duration
17 Specific gravity 0.83 0.091 – can be varied with the help of ECU. Hydrogen flow was taking place
based on the preset value. A pressure regulator as well as a digital
mass flow controller controlled the flow. Table 3 shows the techni-
cal specifications of the hydrogen injector.
backfire and pre ignition can be eliminated with proper injection In the experimental investigation first the injection timing and
timing [14]. The photographic view of the hydrogen injector posi- injection duration for hydrogen were optimized. For this injection
tion on the cylinder head is shown in Fig. 2 and the photographic timing from 5° CA before ignition top dead center (BITDC) to 25°
view of the hydrogen and DEE injector position on the intake man- CA after ignition top dead center (AITDC) in steps of 5° CA was ta-
ifold is shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 4 shows the cross sectional view of the ken with hydrogen injection duration of 30° CA. 60° CA and 90° CA
hydrogen injector. at a constant hydrogen flow rate of 5.5 liters per minute. The next
The distinguished feature of hydrogen-operated engine is that it step in the investigation was optimizing the hydrogen flow. For
does not produce major pollutants such as hydrocarbon (HC), car- this hydrogen was varied from 1.5 liters per minute to 9 liters
bonmonoxide (CO), sulphur dioxide (SO2), lead, smoke, particulate per minute insteps of 1.5 liters per minute for the entire load con-
matter, ozone and other carcinogenic compounds. This is due to ditions. The optimized conditions for hydrogen based on the per-
the absence of carbon and sulphur in hydrogen. However hydro- formance, emission and combustion characteristics are as follows.
gen-operated engines suffer from the drawback of higher NOx
emissions that has an adverse effect on the environment. The for-  Hydrogen injection timing 5° BGTDC.
mation of NOx could be due to the presence of nitrogen in the fuel  Hydrogen injection duration 30° CA.
and air and also the availability of oxygen in the air. In the case of  Hydrogen flow rate 7.5 liters per minute.
hydrogen it is obvious that NOx is due to the nitrogen present in air
[15]. When the combustion temperature is high some portion of 3. Instrumentation
nitrogen present in the air reacts with oxygen to form NOx. One
of the ways of reducing NOx is to operate the hydrogen engine with An electrical dynamometer with 10 kW capacity with a current
lean mixtures. Lean mixture results in lower temperature that rating of 43.5 A was used as a loading device. A non-dispersive in-
would slower the chemical reaction, which weakens the kinetics fra red (NDIR) type exhaust gas analyzer (Qrotech make) was used
 N. Saravanan et al. / Fuel 87 (2008) 3591–3599 3593

Fig. 3. Photographic view of the hydrogen and DEE injector position on the intake
manifold.

Fig. 1. Photographic view of the hydrogen and DEE flow arrangement.

Fig. 4. Cross sectional view of the hydrogen injector.

using a digital mass flow controller, which controlled and mea-

Fig. 2. Photographic view of the hydrogen injector position on the cylinder head. sured the flow in liters per minute. The engine was operated at a
constant speed of 1500 rpm at all loads with torques correspond-
ing to full load percentages.
for the measurement of HC, CO, NO and CO2 emissions. Technovi-
sion analyzer was used for the measurement of NO2 emission. NOx 4. Error analysis and estimation of uncertainity
emission was determined by adding NO and NO2 emissions. Bosch
type smoke meter was used to measure smoke intensity. The ex- All measurements of physical quantities are subject to uncer-
haust gases were filtered and dehumidified by the exhaust gas ana- tainties. Uncertainty analysis is needed to prove the accuracy of
lyzer before measurement. The gas analyzer was calibrated by the experiments. In order to have reasonable limits of uncertainty
passing a known amount of span gases and readings were taken for a computed value an expression was derived as follows:
with variation in span gas concentration. If the deviations are out- " 2  2  2 #1=2
side the accuracy limits the analyzer was calibrated by adjusting oR oR oR
DR ¼ Dx1 þ Dx2 þ  þ Dxn ð1Þ
the knob for the specific gases. The cylinder pressure was mea- ox1 ox2 oxn
sured using a piezoelectric pressure transducer which has a pres-
sure range of 250 bar and a charge amplifier and the pressure Using Eq. (1) the uncertainty in the computed values such as
data were given as input to the oscilloscope for further analysis. brake power, brake thermal efficiency and fuel flow measurements
A Kistler make crank angle encoder with an accuracy of 1° was were estimated. The measured values such as speed, fuel time,
used for crank angle measurement. After 30 min of engine running voltage and current were estimated from their respective uncer-
on stabilized condition the pressure data were collected. The pres- tainties based on the Gaussian distribution. The uncertainties in
sure data’s were collected for 1000 cycles by using Yokogawa data the measured parameters, voltage (DV) and current (DI), method,
acquisition system. The mass flow of hydrogen was measured were ±10 V and ±0.16 A, respectively. For fuel time (Dtr) and fuel
3594 N. Saravanan et al. / Fuel 87 (2008) 3591–3599

Table 2 Therefore, the uncertainty in the brake power from Eq. (2) is
Engine specifications ±0.1929 kW and the uncertainty limits in the calculation of B.P
Make and model Kirloskar, AV1 make are 4.4 ± 0.1929 kW. The percentage of uncertainty for the mea-
General details Four stroke, compression ignition, constant speed, surement of speed, mass flow rate, NOx, hydrocarbon, smoke and
vertical, water-cooled, direct injection. pressure is given below:
Number of cylinders One
Bore 80 mm
Stroke 110 mm (i) Speed: 1.5.
Rated speed 1500 rpm (ii) Mass flow rate of air: 1.9.
Swept volume 553 cc (iii) Mass flow rate of diesel: 2.1.
Clearance volume 36.87 cc
(iv) Mass flow of hydrogen: 1.8.
Compression ratio 16.5:1
Rated output 3.7 kW at 1500 rpm (v) NOx: 2.7.
Injection pressure 205 bar (vi) Hydrocarbon: 3.2.
Fuel injection timing 23° BTDC (vii) Smoke: 2.0.
Type of combustion Hemispherical open combustion chamber (viii) Pressure: 3.2.
Lubricating oil SAE 20 W40
Connecting rod length 235 mm
5. Results and discussion

Experiments were carriedout with hydrogen and diesel in dual

fuel operation and with DEE. The engine was not able run beyond
75% load in hydrogen DEE mode due to severe knocking. This is
attributed to the instantaneous combustion of both hydrogen
and DEE. The numerical values of the results are given in Appendix.

6. Performance characteristics

Fig. 7 shows the variation of brake thermal efficiency with re-

spect to load. It is observed that the brake thermal efficiency of
hydrogen with DEE at 75% load is 29.3% compared to diesel of
21.6%. Whereas in the case of dual fuel mode it is 26.23%. The in-
crease in brake thermal efficiency in the case of hydrogen-DEE
1. Hydrogen cylinder 10. IR sensor for hydrogen
2. Pressure regulator 11. Electronic control unit for H2
operation is due to higher inlet charge cooling that reduced the
3. Hydrogen tank 12. Engine temperature by about 12–15 °C due to the presence of DEE as a re-
4. Filter 13. Dynamometer sult of its higher latent heat of vapourisation. As the inlet charge
5. Digital mass flow controller 14. Diesel tank cools, the inlet charge (both hydrogen and air) density increases,
6. PC to control DFC 15. DEE fuel pump which in turn results in better combustion, hence an improvement
7. Flame trap 16. DEE Electronic control unit
8. Flame arrester 17. DEE Injector in brake thermal efficiency is noticed. The increase in brake ther-
9. Hydrogen injector 18. IR sensor for DEE mal efficiency for hydrogen operation is due to uniformity in mix-
ing hydrogen with air [18].
Fig. 8 shows the variation of specific energy consumption with
Fig. 5. Schematic view of the experimental setup. load. The specific energy consumption of hydrogen-diesel dual fuel
is reduced by 24% for hydrogen diesel dual fuel operation at 25%
volume (Dt), the uncertainties were taken as ±0.2 s and ±0.1 s, load compared to diesel. The lower specific energy consumption
respectively. for hydrogen-diesel dual fuel is due to better mixing of hydrogen
A sample calculation is given below with air resulting in complete combustion of fuel. With DEE as
ignition source for hydrogen the specific energy consumption is
 Speed, N = 1500 rpm. 60% lower compared to that of base diesel. The reduction in SEC
 Voltage, V = 230 V. for hydrogen-DEE dual fuel operation compared to that of hydro-
 Current, I = 12 A. gen-diesel dual fuel is due to increased charge density because of
 Fuel volume, fx = 10 cc. the presence of DEE, which reduces the intake temperature by
 Brake power, BP = 4.4 kW. about 15 °C.

VI
BP ¼ kW 7. Combustion characteristics
gg  1000
BP ¼ f ðV; IÞ The cylinder pressure variation is given in Fig. 9. The maximum
oBP I 16 firing pressure obtained in hydrogen diesel dual fuel mode is 2%
¼ ¼ ¼ 0:0188
oV ð0:85  1000Þ ð0:85  1000Þ higher than that obtained with diesel. The peak pressure rise cor-
oBP V 230 responds to the large amount of fuel burnt in pre mixed combus-
¼ ¼ ¼ 0:2705 tion stage and also earlier start of combustion compared to diesel
oI ð0:85  1000Þ ð0:85  1000Þ
2sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi3 fuel. The peak pressure in the case of hydrogen with DEE reduced
 2  2
oBP oBP by 15% than that of the base diesel. The reduction in peak pressure
DBP ¼ 4  DV þ  DI 5 ð2Þ
oV oI is due to the use of DEE, which ignites earlier creating a hotter
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi environment inside the combustion chamber thereby reducing
¼ ð0:0188  10Þ2 þ ð0:2705  0:16Þ2 the delay period.
Fig. 10 shows the pressure crank angle diagram for hydrogen-
¼ 0:1929 kW diesel, hydrogen-DEE dual fuel operation and base diesel at 75%
 N. Saravanan et al. / Fuel 87 (2008) 3591–3599 3595

Hydrogen tank
(150 bar)

Pressure regulator

Hydrogen (4-5 bar)

Filter

Mass flow controller

(l/min or kg/h)

Flame trap (Visible indicator

for hydrogen flow)

Flame arrestor (Suppress fire

hazard)

IR detector 1 Two way valve Atmosphere

ECU (Controlling
Hydrogen injector
injection timings)
for hydrogen

Battery Intake manifold Engine

ECU (Controlling DEE injector

injection timings)
for DEE

DEE pressure regulator

IR detector 2

DEE fuel pump DEE tank

Fig. 6. Work flow diagram for hydrogen and DEE.

Table 3 load. It is observed that hydrogen diesel dual fuel mode gives a
Hydrogen injector specifications higher peak pressure compared to base diesel fuel. The peak pres-
Make Quantum technologies
sure occurs 5° CA earlier than that of diesel. This might be due to
Supply voltage 8–16 V the fact that hydrogen combustion is instantaneous compared to
Peak current 4A diesel combustion. Hydrogen with DEE as ignition source results
Holding current 1A in a lower cylinder pressure than the base diesel fueling with peak
Flow capacity 0.8 g/s @ 483–552 kPa
pressure advance of 7° CA than diesel. This may be attributed to
Working pressure 103–552 kPa
charge cooling due to DEE.
3596 N. Saravanan et al. / Fuel 87 (2008) 3591–3599

35 90
Diesel
Brake thermal efficiency,%

80
30
70 H2 (7.5 lpm)

Pressure, bar
25 + Diesel
60 H2 + DEE
20 50

15 Diesel 40

H2 (7.5 lpm) 30
10
+ Diesel 20
H2 + DEE
5
10
0 0
0 25 50 75 100
250 280 310 340 370 400 430
Load,% Crank angle, deg.
Fig. 7. Variation of brake thermal efficiency with load.
Fig. 10. Variation of cylinder pressure with crank angle at 75% load condition.

Fig. 12 shows the rate of pressure rise at 75% load. The rate of
35
pressure rise is higher by about 80% in the case of hydrogen with
specific energy consumption,

30 diesel compared to diesel fuel. The hydrogen with DEE mode re-
sults in 11% decrease in the rate of pressure rise than the base die-
25 sel fuel. The reduction in the rate of pressure is due to DEE that
cools the intake charge, which results in a reduction in combustion
MJ/kWh

20
chamber pressure.
15 Fig. 13 shows the cumulative heat release at 75% load condition
Diesel for hydrogen with diesel and DEE mode. The hydrogen diesel dual
10 fuel mode gives similar cumulative heat release pattern as that of
H2 (7.5 lpm)
+ Diesel diesel. This might be in dual fuel mode while using hydrogen and
5 H2 + DEE DEE which undergo instantaneous combustion resulting in rapid
0 combustion of primary fuel followed by lower diffusion period
0 25 50 75 100 compared to progressive combustion of diesel [20]. Hydrogen with
Load,% DEE as ignition source results in a lower cumulative heat release
than the base diesel fuel. This might be due to DEE that cools the
Fig. 8. Variation of specific energy consumption with load. intake charge lowering the temperature inside the engine cylinder.

85 8. Emission characteristics

80 Fig. 14 shows the variation of NOx emission. With hydrogen-

Peak pressure, bar

diesel dual fuel operation NOx is 21.9 g/kW h compared to

75
20.65 g/kW h for diesel at 75% load. The higher concentration of
70 NOx is due to the peak combustion temperature [21]. With hydro-
gen-DEE the NOx emission is 0.55 g/kW h. The reduction in NOx
65 emission in the case of DEE operation is due to the lower peak
Diesel
combustion temperature, which is due to inlet charge cooling by
60 H2 (7.5 lpm) around 15 °C [22].
+ Diesel
55 H2 + DEE

50
0 25 50 75 100 120
Load,%
Heat release rate, J/deg.CA

Diesel
100
Fig. 9. Variation of peak pressure with load.
H2 (7.5 lpm)
+ Diesel
80 H2 + DEE
Fig. 11 shows the variation of heat release rate (HRR) at 75%
load. The HRR was measured with one-degree crank angle accu- 60
racy. It is noted that the heat release rate (HRR) is 21% higher for
40
hydrogen operation than the diesel fuel mode. This may be due
to the higher flame velocity of hydrogen and also due to instanta-
20
neous combustion. The heat released in the premixed combustion
zone is higher; this indicates the increased pressure rise in com-
0
bustion chamber [19]. The hydrogen with DEE mode results in 330 350 370 390 410 430 450
50% lesser peak heat release rate than the base diesel fuel. This Crank angle, deg.
might be due to instantaneous combustion of DEE well before by
20° CA than that of normal combustion of diesel. Fig. 11. Variation of heat release rate with crank angle at 75% load condition.
 N. Saravanan et al. / Fuel 87 (2008) 3591–3599 3597
Rate of Pressure Rise, bar/deg. CA
30

Oxides of Nitrogen, gm/kWh

7 Diesel
25
H2 (7.5 lpm) +
5 Diesel
20
H2 + DEE
15
3 Diesel

10 H2 (7.5 lpm)
1 + Diesel
Hydrogen +
5
DEE
300 330 360 390 420 450
-1 0
0 25 50 75 100
Load,%
-3
Crank angle, deg. Fig. 14. Variation of oxides of nitrogen with load.

Fig. 12. Variation of rate of pressure rise with crank angle at 75% load condition.

4
3.5 Diesel
300 H2 (7.5 lpm)
3

Smoke, BSN
+ Diesel
Cumulative heat release rate, J

H2 + DEE
250 2.5
2
200 1.5
1
150 0.5

Diesel 0
100 0 25 50 75 100
H2 (7.5 lpm) + Load,%
Diesel
50 H2 + DEE Fig. 15. Variation of smoke with load.

0
300 330 360 390 420 450
Crank angle, deg. 2.5
Hydrocarbon, gm/kWh

Diesel
Fig. 13. Variation of cumulative heat release rate with crank angle at 75% load 2
condition. H2 (7.5 lpm)
+ Diesel
1.5 Hdrogen a
DEE
The variation of smoke with load is shown in Fig. 15. The smoke
of 0.7 BSN is observed in hydrogen-DEE operation compared to 1
base diesel fuel of 2.2 BSN and 0.8 BSN for hydrogen-diesel dual
fuel at 75% load. The hydrogen on combustion produces mainly 0.5
water vapor and does not form any particulate matter due to the
absence of carbon atom, hence lower smoke level [22]. 0
Fig. 16 shows the variation of hydrocarbon with load. The 0 25 50 75 100
hydrocarbon increases for hydrogen-DEE operation compared to Load, %
that of hydrogen-diesel dual fuel operation and base diesel fuel
mode. At 25% load hydrocarbon emissions are maximum, it is Fig. 16. Variation of hydrocarbon with load.
2.01 g/kW h in hydrogen-DEE operation compared to both diesel
hydrogen-diesel dual fuel of 0.3 g/kW h. While using DEE the cyl-
inder charge temperature is less, which leads to a lower combus- fuel mode it is 0.43 g/kW h compared to diesel of 0.64 g/kW h. The
tion temperature, hence an increase in HC emission. At 75% load higher CO emission during hydrogen-DEE operation is due to the
the HC emission is found to be 0.322 g/kW h in hydrogen DEE lower combustion temperature. At 75% load the carbon monoxide
mode compared to diesel of 0.12 g/kW h, whereas in hydrogen-die- emission is 0.15 g/kW h in hydrogen-DEE operation and hydrogen
sel mode it is 0.14 g/kW h. The increase in HC emission is due to diesel dual fuel mode while that of diesel is 0.316 g/kW h.
the non-availability of oxygen during diffusion combustion period, The variation of carbon dioxide emissions with load is shown in
since hydrogen and DEE undergoes instantaneous combustion as Fig. 18. At 25% load the CO2 emissions are 0.47 g/kW h in hydrogen
soon as the ignition starts [23]. DEE operation. The hydrogen diesel dual fuel mode gives 0.84 g/
The variation of carbon monoxide emissions with load is shown kW h compared to diesel of 1.29 g/kW h. At 75% load the carbon
in Fig. 17. At 25% load condition CO emission is 1.07 g/kW h in dioxide emission is 0.33 g/kW h with hydrogen DEE, whereas in
hydrogen with DEE operation, whereas in the hydrogen diesel dual the hydrogen diesel dual fuel mode it is 0.64 g/kW h compared
3598 N. Saravanan et al. / Fuel 87 (2008) 3591–3599

1.2 Appendix
Carbon Monoxide, gm/kWh

Diesel
1
H2 (7.5 lpm) S. No. Load Diesel Hydrogen-diesel Hydrogen-DEE
+ Diesel
0.8 Hydrogen + Brake thermal efficiency
DEE 1 28.600 11.90 15.29 17.90
0.6 2 50.000 16.85 21.48 24.30
3 78.600 21.59 25.66 29.30
0.4 4 100.000 23.38 25.45 –

0.2 Specific energy consumption

1 28.600 28.8 23.540 17.13
0 2 50.000 20.89 16.760 11.19
0 25 50 75 100 3 78.600 16.25 14.020 8.03
Load,% 4 100.000 16.42 14.140 –

Oxides of nitrogen
Fig. 17. Variation of carbon monoxide with load.
1 28.600 25.34956 20.36357 0.024683
2 50.000 20.65469 21.90777 0.549102
3 78.600 17.9191 20.28236 1.267648
1.4 4 100.000 15.95163 15.8727 –
Diesel
Smoke
Carbon di oxide, gm/kWh

1.2
H2 (7.5 lpm) + 1 No load 0.3 0 0
Diesel 2 28.600 1.1 0 0.2
1 Hydrogen + DEE
3 50.000 2 0.2 0.3
0.8 4 78.600 2.2 0.8 0.7
5 100.000 3.6 2 –
0.6
Hydrocarbon
1 28.600 0.309616 0.290265 2.012502
0.4
2 50.000 0.203984 0.192958 0.755291
3 78.600 0.124092 0.156001 0.322639
0.2
4 100.000 0.135343 0.135343 –
0 Carbon monoxide
0 25 50 75 100 1 28.600 0.647513 0.431676 1.079189
Load, % 2 50.000 0.368952 0.245968 0.491936
3 78.600 0.316366 0.316366 0.158183
Fig. 18. Variation of carbon dioxide with load.
4 100.000 0.8806 0.5661 –

Carbon dioxide
1 28.600 1.293633 0.840862 0.474332
to diesel of 0.775 g/kW h. The CO2 emissions are lower compared
2 50.000 0.934678 0.68871 0.38125
with the base diesel fuel, because of the absence of carbon in
3 78.600 0.775098 0.640642 0.332185
hydrogen [24].
4 100.000 0.752154 0.683207 –

9. Conclusions Peak pressure

1 No load 57 52.7 51
Experiments were done on a diesel engine using hydrogen in 2 28.600 65 65.5 57.75
the dual fuel mode and hydrogen with DEE as ignition source. 3 50.000 71 71.3 64.8
The optimized conditions were found to be 5° CA before gas 4 78.600 78.5 78.5 68
exchange top dead center (BGTDC) for injection of hydrogen, 5 100.000 82.2 82.7 –
30° CA for hydrogen injection duration in the dual fuel mode
and 40° CA after gas exchange top dead center (AGTDC) for
DEE. The following conclusions are drawn from the present
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