H2CCI: Hydrogen Charge Compression Ignition Engine for Zero CO2/NOx Emissions

Completed

Hydrogen and Fuel Cells(Hydrogen, Hydrogen end uses (incl. combustion; excl. fuel cells))

Basic and strategic applied research

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (Mechanical, Aeronautical and Manufacturing Engineering)

Not Cross-cutting

Prof P Aleiferis
Mechanical Engineering
University College London

Standard

EPSRC

15 October 2005

14 April 2009

42 months

£124,457

Mechanical engineering

London

Engineering science: flow -- Materials, Mechanical and Medical Eng

Prof P Aleiferis, Mechanical Engineering, University College London

All engine manufacturers of today are seriously challenged, not only by legislative demands of low emissions, but also by the need to decrease the dependency on non-renewable fuels, such as oil. Hydrogen (H2) has been suggested as a possible replacement for the fuels used today and can be produced by sustainable methods. The main advantage of burning H2 in internal combustion engines is its lack of carbon content, leading to total absence of CO2, CO, particulate matter and unburned hydrocarbon exhaust emissions. Spark ignition (SI) gasoline and compression ignition (CI) Diesel internal combustion engines have recently been accompanied by homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engines. HCCI engines use premixed charge as SI engines do, but the charge is forced to autoignite by compression as in CI engines. The benefits of HCCI combustion are very low NOx emissions and improvement in fuel economy/efficiency. These benefits, combined with the advantages of burning H2, suggest that the concept of an HCCI engine running on H2 would result in a locally emission free engine. The scope of this proposal is to study the key processes involved with H2 HCCI combustion and examine whether the mechanisms of these processes can be easily incorporated into current engine designs. In order to quantify the main factors associated with the fundamentals of HCCI combustion, Laser-based instrumentation for in-cylinder optical diagnostics will be used and developed further to provide new insight into the mechanisms of H2 combustion in engines and unique benchmark comparisons with gasoline-fuelled combustion

22/03/12