Exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) and ignition timing have strong effects on engine performance and exhaust emissions. In the present study, detailed chemical reactions with 29 steps of hydrogen oxidation with additional nitrogen oxidation reactions were coupled with an advanced CFD code to investigate the engine performance and emission characteristics of a SI engine fueled with hydrogen. The NOx formation within the engine was computed using the extended Zeldovich mechanism with parameters adjusted for a carbon-free fuel such as hydrogen. The computational results were validated against experimental results with equivalence ratio of 0.84 and fixed ignition timing at crank angle of 5° BTDC (before top dead center). The simulations were then employed to examine the effects of EGR and ignition timing on the engine performance and NOx formation and emission. The EGR ratio was varied between 5% and 15% while the ignition timings considered were 5°, 10°, 15°, and 20° BTDC. It was found that NOx emission increased with advancing the ignition timing away from TDC while the indicated engine power showed an increasing trend with further advancing the ignition timing. Higher indicated mean effective pressure (IMEP) and indicated thermal efficiency were obtained with an advanced ignition timing of 20° BTDC. The model was also run with three different EGR ratios of 5%, 10% and 15% with fixed ignition timing at 5° BTDC. The simulation results quantified the reduction in NOx and the indicated engine power with the increase in the EGR ratio. The computations were consistent with the hypothesis that the combustion duration increases with the EGR ratio. Finally, the maximization of engine power and minimization of NOx emissions were considered as conflicting objectives. The different data points were plotted in the objective space.
Using the concept of “knee”, (5° BTDC, 0% EGR) was selected as the optimal operating point representing the best trade-off between maximum engine power and minimum NOx emissions.
NOx Emission Reduction Using Hydrous Ethanol-Gasoline Blend with Syngas in SI Engine