This document summarizes the development of a hydrogen fuelled small internal combustion engine test rig and evaluation of its performance and emissions. Key aspects include: - Modifications made to a small SI engine to enable hydrogen fuel injection via an electronic fuel injection system using a solenoid injector and engine control unit. - Design and construction of the test rig, including safety systems like a flame trap and controls. - Methodology to evaluate and compare the engine's performance and emissions on hydrogen versus its original kerosene/gasoline fuel. - Measurement methods used including exhaust emission analysis, fuel flow measurement, and engine rpm.

1. DEVELOPMENT OF HYDROGEN FUELLED S.I.
ENGINE TEST RIG AND EVALUATION OF
PERFORMANCE AND EMSSION
CHARACTERISTICS
By
Ankit Dhingra (2k6/ME/217)
Ankit Kukreja(2k6/ME/220)
Anshul Singla (2k6/ME/224)
Under the guidance of
Dr. Naveen Kumar
Professor, Mechanical Engineering
29 MAY 2010

2. GLOBAL ENERGY SCENARIO
• The world energy scenario depicts a picture of concern. The
adverse effects on environment caused by the production and
consumption of energy have resulted in severe environmental
impacts across the globe.
• The major sources of energy in the world are oil, coal, natural
gas, hydro energy, nuclear energy, and other energy sources
• The prices of crude oil and its derivative are driven by demand
and supply, and are very volatile.
• The countries are moving towards much efficient and cleaner
burning fuels.
29 MAY 2010

3. FOSSIL FUELS
• Easy Availability and Storage
• Developed infrastructure
• Relatively low fuel efficiency
• High level of exhaust emissions leading to
environmental degradation
• On the verge of depletion
• Examples: Gasoline, Diesel, Kerosene, Coal,
Natural gas
29 MAY 2010

4. ALTERNATIVE FUELS
• Reduced emissions
• High mileage
• Low cost
• Environmental friendly
• Examples: Bio diesel, Bio –alcohol, Hydrogen,
methane
29 MAY 2010

5. HYDROGEN AS A FUEL
 Renewable energy based, practically carbon free, and light gaseous
alternative fuel.
 Easy availability, high specific energy content, cleaner burning fuel.
 No combustion problems such as vapor lock, cold wall quenching,
inadequate vaporization or poor mixing, does not produce toxic
products.
 Heating value is high on mass basis whereas low on volume basis.
 Unique and desirable heat transfer characteristics along with good
thermo-physical properties
 Can be produced by using fossil fuels such as oil, coal and natural gas
or renewable energy resource such as water.
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6. 29 MAY 2010

7. Property Hydrogen Gasoline
Density at 1 atm and 300 K (Kg/m2
) 0.082 5.11
Stoich. Composition in air (%by volume) 29.53 1.65
Stoich. Fuel/Air mass ratio 0.029 1.65
HHV (MJ/Kg) 141.7 48.29
LHV (MJ/Kg) 119.7 44.79
HHV (MJ/m3
) 12.10 233.29
LHV (MJ/m3
) 10.22 216.38
Combustion energy per kg of stoich.mixt (MJ) 3.37 2.79
Kinematic viscosity at 300 K (mm2
/s) 110 1.18
Thermal conductivity at 300 K (mW/m K) 182.0 11.2
Diffusion Coefficient into air at NTP (cm2
/s) 0.61 0.05
Flammability limits (% by volume) 4-75 1.2-6.0
Minimum ignition energy (mJ) 0.02 0.25
Laminar Flame speed at NTP (m/s) 1.90 0.37-0.43
Adiabatic Flame temp (K) 2318 2470
Autoignition temperature (K) 858 500-750
Quenching gap at NTP (mm) 0.64 2.0
Octane Number 130+ 8729 MAY 2010

8. HISTORY OF HYDROGEN ENGINES
• 1820: Hydrogen engine invented by Reverend W.
Cecil James.
• 1924: Hydrogen fuelled IC engine developed by
Ricardo
• 1955: RO King conducted test on CFR engine with
pre-mixed hydrogen air charge
• 1972: RA Erren and Campbell did investigation of
hydrogen as a commercial fuel for transportation and
other purposes
29 MAY 2010

9. CURRENT WORK
 LM Das and Mac Carley investigated different
induction techniques for hydrogen operated engine
 Heffel and Mathur did research on the Noxemissions
and other combustion parameters
 Lee and Kim studied the cause of backfire and
hydrogen fuelled engine
 Huang, Hu, Gu and Liu blended natural gas with
hydrogen to improve its performance
29 MAY 2010

10. NEED FOR THE PRESENT WORK
 Energy is universally reorganized as one of the most significant
inputs for economic growth and human development.
 Access to electricity in developing countries is an important
driver of rural development.
 As electricity in all the rural areas has not been provided
through electric grid, therefore, the main source of electricity
in rural areas is genset.
 The genset used in rural areas/ small towns are totally
operated on kerosene which causes increased emission and
reduced fuel efficiency.
 In order to cut down the emissions and improve the fuel
efficiency, a better source of alternative fuel such as hydrogen,
should be used in SI engines or gensets.
29 MAY 2010

11. EXPERIMENTAL TEST RIG
DEVELOPMENT
• Hydrogen fuelled SI engine require a
completely different method of fuel injection
system, as compared to carburetted gasoline
fuelled SI engine.
• A major change, which is essentially required,
is to inject the pre-calculated amount of
hydrogen in a perfect time gap into the intake
manifold to form a homogenous mixture with
air.
29 MAY 2010

12. FUEL INDUCTION
SYSTEMS(CARBURETORS)
For most of the SI engines, the carburettor has been
the device that produces alternative mixture to the
engine. On many small engine, such as lawnmowers
and chain saws, it is still used.
However the carburettor design became more
complex with the development of variety of
automobiles and in this process it became very
complicated in order to handle a large range of
operating conditions.
29 MAY 2010

13. FUEL INDUCTION SYSTEMS
(TIMED MANIFOLD INJECTION)
• The undesirable combustion phenomenon like
backfire is eliminated
• In timed injection, there is a time for the fuel to
properly mix and form a homogeneous mixture
• The fuel induction can be delayed to reduce the
temperature of hot spots responsible for back fire and
other undesirable combustion phenomena
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14. ENGINE SPECIFICATION
• Make: Birla Power Solutions Model - EG2800
• Displacement: 256cc
• Bore* Stroke: 73*61mm
• Number of Cylinder: One
• Compression Ratio: 5.1:1
• Rated Output: 4 HP at 3000rpm
• Ignition System: TCI
• Ignition timing: BTDC 15
• Spark plug: MICO super WBBC
• Starting system: Recoil starter
• Air cleaner :Wet type
• Lubrication: System Forced splash
• Fuel: Kerosene (petrol start)
• Fuel tank capacity: 8.8 ltrs kerosene1.0ltrs
29 MAY 2010

15. METHODOLOGY ADOPTED TO CONVERT DUAL
FUEL (KEROSENE/GASOLINE) OPERATED TO
HYDROGEN OPERATED SI ENGINE
• The base line data pertaining to performance and
emissions characteristics, was recorded with gasoline/
kerosene as a fuel.
• The brake thermal efficiency was calculated at
different load conditions and accordingly
approximate hydrogen flow rate was calculated with
respect to rpm of the engine
• On the basis of flow rate of hydrogen, injector was
timed to get required quantity of hydrogen per
injection.
29 MAY 2010

16. DEVELOPMENT OF AN
EXPERIMENTAL TEST RIG
29 MAY 2010

17. SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM OF THE
TEST RIG
29 MAY 2010

18. MODIFICATIONS IN THE ENGINE
• A Birla Power Solutions make, single
cylinder, carburetor, petrol start
kerosene run S.I engine (genset) was
selected
• The stock exhaust muffler was replaced
by a steel pipe, to incorporate the
temperature sensor and the probe of
the emission meter.
• An aluminum rod was welded to the
armature to facilitate the
measurement of the revolutions per
minute of the engine and to place the
magnet.
• An aluminium adapter was designed
between intake manifold and
carburetor to install the gas injector
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19. AUXILLARY APPARATUS
• A 150 bar hydrogen cylinder
• Double stage pressure regulator
• Pressure gauges
• Rotameter
• CNG Injector
• Fuel tanks
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20. SAFETY PRECAUTIONS
Since hydrogen is a readily
combustible gas, necessary
safety precaution were
taken. These included
Flame Trap
Non-return Valve
Safety valve
29 MAY 2010

21. FLAME TRAP
• The primary function of
the flame trap is to avoid
propagation of backfire
during engine operation
into the gaseous fuel
cylinder.
• The flame trap was
connected to supply line
between the hydrogen fuel
injector and the hydrogen
gas cylinder.
29 MAY 2010

22. • Safety valve: Used to
avoid any case of excess
pressure inside the
flame trap.
• Non-return valve: it
avoids back flow of
water contained in the
flame trap with reverse
relative pressure.
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23. INSTRUMENT CONTROL PANEL
• Stand: 20mm×850mm bakelite sheet of 3-mm thickness
• Instruments used: voltmeter, ammeter, speed counter, six channels digital
temperature display
• Electrical Load banks: 12 bulbs each of 200 watts
• Fuel Measurement: Burette and two way valve.
29 MAY 2010

24. Solenoid Actuated Fuel Injector
In solenoid actuated injector,
when electric current is
supplied to the injector coil, a
magnetic field is created which
causes the armature to move
upward. This action pulls spring
loaded valve or pintle valve off
its seat. The fuel under
pressure can flow out of the
injector nozzle. The shape of
pintle causes the fuel to be
sprayed in a cone shaped
pattern. When the injector is
de-energised, the spring
pushes the ball onto its seat
stopping the flow of fuel.
29 MAY 2010

25. DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF ELECTRONIC
CIRCUIT FOR ELECTRONIC FUEL INJECTION
SYSTEM (EFIS)
The Electronic fuel injection system (EFIS)
enabled timed induction of gaseous fuel in the
intake manifold. EFIS mainly consist of
following sub-systems:
• A solenoid actuated fuel injector
• Engine control unit
• Hall effect sensor
29 MAY 2010

26. Basic Model of Computer Interface
29 MAY 2010

27. HALL EFFECT SENSOR
• A device used to detect the presence of nearby objects
without having any physical contact.
• Senses magnetic pulses to actuate the input sensor
circuitry.
• Hall Effect sensor thus senses one pulse every two
rotation of the shaft by a magnet mounted on the
protruded shaft on crankshaft.
Input sensor circuitry: Operation of Hall Effect sensor is
implemented by LM 324 circuitry which
 Indicates whether the voltage (1 or 0) is sent by the
sensor during operation.
 Acts as a voltage regulator.
29 MAY 2010

28. 29 MAY 2010

29. PROGRAM IN KEIL C AND
ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE
29 MAY 2010

30. 29 MAY 2010

31. MEASUREMENT METHODS
• Exhaust Emission Analysis: The various
gases from the exhaust were analyzed by
AVL Digas analyzer
• Fuel Flow Measuring System: volumetric
fuel consumption was measured using a
glass burette. The time taken by the engine
to consume a fixed volume was measured
using a stopwatch. The volume divided by
the time taken for fuel consumption gives
the volumetric flow rate
• Hydrogen was metered by a hydrogen
rotameter
• Rpm of the Engine: A tachometer with
photo reflective sensor was used for
measurement of RPM.
• Temperature Measurement: Chromel-
Alumel K-type thermocouples were
connected to a 6 channel digital panel
meter to measure temperatures of exhaust
gas
29 MAY 2010

32. SALIENT POINTS OF THE EXPERIMENTAL
PROCEDURE
29 MAY 2010

33. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
29 MAY 2010

34. Brake Thermal Efficiency as a function of Brake Mean Effective Pressure for
neat gasoline and 100% Hydrogen
29 MAY 2010

35. Carbon Monoxide as a function of Brake Mean Effective Pressure for neat gasoline and 100%
Hydrogen
29 MAY 2010

36. Unburned Hydrocarbon as a function of Brake Mean Effective Pressure for neat gasoline, Kerosene
and 100% Hydrogen
29 MAY 2010

37. Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx) as a function of Brake Mean Effective Pressure for neat gasoline, Kerosene
and 100% Hydrogen
29 MAY 2010

38. Temperature Exhaust as a function of Brake Mean Effective Pressure for neat gasoline, Kerosene
and 100% Hydrogen
29 MAY 2010

39. SCOPE FOR FUTURE WORK
• High compression ratio of 10:1, to improve the thermal
efficiency
• Manifold absolute pressure sensor, crank speed sensor
and throttle positioning sensor can be used to control
the engine parameters in an efficient manner.
• Hydrogen injectors is to be incorporated for efficient fuel
induction
• Exhaust gas recirculation technique to reduce NOX level.
29 MAY 2010

40. CONCLUSION
• The Brake Thermal Efficiency (BTE) on hydrogen was found to be higher as
compared to gasoline. The increase in BTE is due to wide flammability range and
fast burning velocity of hydrogen which results in the more complete and faster
combustion of hydrogen-air mixture.
• Comparing with gasoline, exhaust temperature of hydrogen fuelled SI engine was
higher by around 50°C at all loads which may be due to very high combustion
temperature with Hydrogen.
• CO emissions were much lower with hydrogen as compared to gasoline.
• Hydrocarbon formation was apparently negligible in hydrogen fuelled engine.
However, upon combustion of lubricating oil in the combustion chamber, a very
small quantity of HC emissions were observed.
• The NOx were found 3 to 4 times higher for hydrogen as compared to gasoline.
29 MAY 2010

41. THANK YOU
29 MAY 2010