College Of Engineering, Pune

(An Autonomous Institute of the Government of

Maharashtra)

Department Of Mechanical Engineering,

2015
Seminar Report On

HYDROGEN IS AN ALTERNATIVE FUEL

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements
of
The Degree of Bachelor of Technology
By

Vikram M.Gosavi
Roll No.110810012

GUIDE
Mrs. P.H.SELMOKAR

Seminar Approval Sheet

This report entitled HYDROGEN FUEL CELL VEHICLES by Vikram M. Gosavi is
approved for the degree of B.Tech.(Mechanical).

Examiner
________________________
________________________

Date : 19 May 2015

Place : Pune

Supervisor

Declaration
I declare that this written submission represents my ideas in my own words
and where others' ideas or words have been included, I have adequately cited and
referenced the original sources. I also declare that I have adhered to all principles
of academic honesty and integrity and have not misrepresented or fabricated or
falsified any idea/data/fact/source in my submission. I understand that any
violation of the above will be cause for disciplinary action by the Institute and can
also evoke penal action from the sources which have thus not been properly cited
or from whom proper permission has not been taken when needed.

Vikram M.Gosavi
(MIS No. 110810012)

Date:19 May 2015

Acknowledgement
I have taken sincere efforts in completing my seminar.
However, it would not have been possible without the kind
support and help of many individuals. I would like to extend my
sincere thanks to all of them.
I am highly indebted to my seminar guide, Prof. Mrs. P.H.
Selmokar

(Muley),

Associate

Professor

in

Mechanical

Engineering Department, College of Engineering, Pune, for her

guidance and constant supervision as well as for providing
necessary information regarding the seminar and also for her
support in completing the seminar. I am thankful for her aspiring
guidance, invaluably constructive criticism and friendly advice
during the seminar work.
I am very grateful to Dr. S. N. Sapali, Head of Mechanical
Engineering Department, College of Engineering, Pune, for
providing me this golden opportunity.
I would also like to express my gratitude towards the support
staff

of

Mechanical

Engineering

Department,

College

of

Engineering, Pune, for providing me with a good working

environment and facilities to complete and present my seminar.
I would like to express my gratitude towards my parents and
my colleagues for their kind co-operation and encouragement
which helped me in completing this seminar.
Finally, my thanks go to all the people who have supported
me to complete my seminar work directly or indirectly.

Vi
kram M. Gosavi
(MIS NO.110810012)
Final Year, B.
Tech.
Mechanical
College of
Engineering,
Pu
ne.

Seminar Topic :- Hydrogen as alternative fuel

Ignition and combustion properties of a fuel :Cetane number :-Cetane number is defned as the volume of n-cetane in a
mixture of n-cetane and -methyl naphthalene,which gives the same ignition
delay as the fuel under consideration,when tested in a Cooperative Fuel
Research(CFR) engine. Ignition delay is the delay between the start of
injection and start of combustion of the fuel. It represents the ignition quality
of diesel fuel. Fuels with a higher cetane number will have a lower ignition
delay period than the fuels with a lower cetane number. The cetane number
is generally specifc to a particular engine being used .
Calorifc value :- The heat of combustion is a direct measure of the energy
content of a fuel. It is determined in terms of the quantity of heat liberated
by the combustion of a unit quantity of fuel with oxygen in a standard bomb
calorimeter. There are two heats of combustion, or calorifc values, for every
petroleum fuel ,gross and net. When hydrocarbons are burnt, one of the
products of combustion is water vapor. The gross calorifc value includes the
heat given off by the water vapor in condensing where as the net value does
not include this heat.
Octane number :-Combustion in the spark ignition engine depends chiefy
on engine design and gasoline equality. Under ideal conditions, the fame
initiated at the sparking plug spreads evenly across the combustion space
until all the gasoline has been burnt. The increase in temperature caused by
the spreading of the fame results in an increase in pressure in the end gas
zone, which is that part of the gasolineair mixture where the fame has not
yet reached. The increase in temperature and pressure in the end gas zone

causes the gasoline to undergo pre-fame reactions. Among the main prefame reaction products are the highly temperature- sensitive peroxides. If
these exceed a certain critical threshold concentration, the end gas will
spontaneously ignite even before the arrival of the fame front emanating
from the sparking plug, thus causing detonation or knocking. On the other
hand, if the fame front reaches the end gas zone before the build up of the
critical threshold peroxides' concentration, the combustion of the gasoline
air mixture will be without knock. The various types of hydrocarbons in
gasoline behave differently in their pre-fame reactions, and hence the
differences in their tendency to knock. The octane number of a fuel is a
measure of the knock rating of a gasoline, and is expressed as the
percentage by volume of iso- octane (octanenumber100,bydefnition) in a
mixture of iso- octane and normal heptane(octanenumber0,bydefnition),
that has the same knock characteristics as the gasoline being assessed.
Normal heptane and normal pentane, both paraffns , have anti- knock
ratings(octane numbers) of 0and 61.9,respectively.
Flashpoint :- This is defned as the minimum temperature at which the
vapors from an oil sample will give a momentary fash on application of a
standard fame under specifc test conditions. Abel fash point apparatus, Pen
skyMartens closed cup apparatus and C level and open cup apparatus are
the test apparatuses frequently used for the measurement of the fash point.
Flash point is a parameter that can predict the possible fre hazards during
transportation, handling, and storage of a fuel.
Volatility :- The volatility of a liquid is its tendency to change from the liquid
to the vapor or gaseous state. It is a primary and necessary characteristic of
most liquid gasoline fuels. The distillation profle is also a measure of the
relative amounts of the gasoline constituents in petroleum. The volatility of
gasoline affects the performance of the engine in a number of ways, the
chief ones of which are ease of starting, rate of warm-up, vapor lock,
carburetor icing, and crank case dilution(the dilution of the engine lubricating
oil with the higher-boiling constituents of the gasoline)
The gasoline must be suffciently volatile to give easy starting, rapid
warmup, and adequate vaporization for proper distribution between the
cylinders. At the same time,it must not be so volatile that vapor losses from
the gasoline tank are excessive or that vapor is formed in the gasoline line,
causing vapor lock that may impede the fow of gasoline to the carburetor.
Auto ignition temperature :-

The auto ignition temperature is a property of the fuels in gaseous and vapor
forms. It is defned as the temperature at which the vapor ignite
spontaneously in a confned space.There are standard test methods, such as
the one described in the Interna- tional Electrotechnical Committee
Standards(IECStandard60079- 4, 1975), which usually use a small conical
glass fask as the test apparatus together with some other accessories. As
the ignition is driven by the exothermic heat of oxidation, there action
progresses to ignition only if the heat losses are less than the heat produced.
Within a large space, the cooling is much lower than in a small fask, so the
auto ignition temperature becomes lower. Thus, safety concerns can become
serious at larger scales of storage of infammable fuels.

Properties of hydrogen :Hydrogen is the lightest of all elements and is considered to be a primitive
substance from which all matter and other elements have evolved. It is found
in three isotopic forms: protium(or hydrogen)with an atomic mass
1.0079,deuterium with a mass of 2.0142, and tritium with a mass of
3.0144.In natural hydrogen, 99.985% is protium and 0.015% deuterium.
Tritium is an unstable radioactive element with a half-life of 12.26 years.
Hydrogen comprises of more than 75% of matter in the universe. In nature, it
occurs in combination with other elements. The most abundant source of
hydrogen
is
water(containing
11.2%
by
weightof
hydrogen),biomass(containing varying amounts of hydrogen, depending
upon the nature of biomass),natural gas and coal. For hydrogen to be used
as a fuel, it must be obtained as free hydrogen from these resources. It has
the lowest molecular weight which gives it extreme properties such as high
thermal velocity and conductivity and lowest viscosity and density. It has
very low ignition energy and a wide fammability range. These properties,
especially the high heat of combustion and low molecular weight of the
product gases have made hydrogen a fuel of choice for rocket propulsion.
Hydrogen can be converted to the liquid form for convenience in storage, use
and transport. Liquid hydrogen is colorless in nature with a liquefaction
temperature of 20.3K. It can be stored in containers, pumped through
pipelines, metered, and restricted by valve of usual design. Among known
fuels, hydrogen has the highest energy content per unit of weight. When
burnt in an engine, it produces effectively zero emission and in case of
powering of a fuel cell, water is its only waste . All these properties of
hydrogen, combined with the fact that combustion of hydrogen does not
produce the greenhouse gas, namely carbon dioxide will make hydrogen a

popular alternative fuel of the future. However, there is one more aspect
related to the use of hydrogen as an alternative to conventional fuels that
should be given a very serious thought. Hydrogen is one of the two natural
elements that combine to make water. It is one of the most plentiful
elements on earth, and has an immense potential of becoming the energy
carrier that will fuel our culture far in to the future, if it could be produced in
a cost-effective manner in the short run and if it is not lost from our planet in
the long-term scenario. The last part of the last statement be taken in the
spirit of a very important historical statutory warning, with no less
implication than the possibility of extinction of the entire life on our lonely
planet. Water has probably existed on many heavenly bodies, with the most
recent proof coming from the investigations of Curiosity on Mars. And, we
have very little evidence for its present-day existence on other planets or
their satellites. If in the known universe, there is a tendency for water to
leave its host in the long run it becomes even more critical that our human
interventions ought not result in acceleration of that process especially
because no chemical process or operations of storage, handling and
transportation are hundred percent effcient either from the conversion or
leakage points of view, respectively. Life on earth in all likelihood would be a
very sensitive function of the amount of water present on it, and even small
percentage depletion might result in an irreparable and irreversible damage
to this unique, or at least very rare, existence of consciousness. This
seemingly over-cautious philosophy must be the corner-stone of all
hydrogen-economy initiatives of all governments in the present or in the
future. We owe it to the posterity that present human greed does not lead to
the vanishing of the human future. Time scales involved might become a
subject of scientifc debate, but errors of calculation in this delicate play with
nature might be potentially too risky even to attempt their practice. Looking
back, it could be incomparably worse than the creation of the global warming
effects of our historical choice of petroleum economy. We are at the crossroads of an immense signifcance, and a mistake here and now could well be
tantamount to unplugging of all life on earth! Should these concerns be
wrong, hydrogen does have a number of advantages to make it an attractive
alternative fuel.

Flammability limit :Flammability limit gives the proportion of combustible gases in a mixture;
between these limits ,this mixture is fammable. From it is seen that the
fammability of hydrogen in air (mixture) is at 475% which gives hydrogen

wide range of fammability as compared to other fuels . It is clear that 4% of

hydrogen in air is still fammable but non-coherently and burns incompletely.
The 4% value relates to confguration of one particular experiment.
Therefore, the limit may vary being below 4% or above, (depending on
condition),in real-world situations. For safety considerations this limit is
important where it is less important for engine combustion . Wide ranges of
mixture of hydrogen permit extremely lean or rich mixture that combust with
air. This makes the hydrogen engine operate at lean mixture resulting in
greater fuel economy and more complete combustion reaction . Final
combustion temperature will also generally lower due to lower laminar
burning velocity as can be seen .The burning velocity for hydrogen engine
that operates at lean mixture is rapidly lowered as compared to hydrogen
engine that runs on stoichiometric mixture which is 12cm/s(at j0.25) and
290cm/s(at j1). This absolutely will reduce amount of pollutants such as
NOx.

Minimum ignition energy :Minimum ignition energy is the minimum amount of energy required to ignite
a combustible vapour or gas mixture. At atmospheric conditions, the
minimum ignition energy of a hydrogenair mixture is an order of magnitude
lower than for the mixtures of iso-octaneair and methaneair. For hydrogen
concentrations of 2226% only 0.017 MJ is obtained. Normally, capacitive
spark discharge is used to measure minimum ignition energy, and thus is
dependent on the spark gap .The values quoted in Table 1 are for a 0.5 mm
gap. The minimum ignition energy can increase about 0.05 MJ and more or
less constant for hydrogen concentrations between 10% and 50% when
using a gap of 2 mm. The benefts for having minimum ignition energy to
enable hydrogen engine to ignite lean mixture and ensure prompt ignition
[18]. But having minimum ignition energy will increase possibility for
hydrogen air mixture in the combustion chamber to be ignited by any other
source (hot spot) rather than spark plug .

Small quenching distance :As compared to gasoline and other fuels, hydrogen has small quenching
distance. the quenching distance for hydro- gen is about 0.64 mm compare
to methane which is 2.03 mm and Iso-octane 3.5 mm. This parameter
measures how close hydrogen fames can travel closer to the cylinder wall
before they extin- guish. The smaller the distance, more difficult to quench
the fame and this will increase the tendency for backfre. Experimentally,

from the relation between minimum ignitions energy and the spark gap size
quenching distance can be derived or can be measured directly .

High autoIgnition temperature :Referring to Table 1, taken from hydrogen has relatively high auto-ignition
temperature as compared to methane and iso- octane which is 858K. This
high auto-ignition is important parameter to determin eengine compression
ratio, since during compression, the temperature is is pertained
tothecompres- sion ratiowhenconsideringOttocycle as showninthe Eq.
(1)below.
c
T2 = t1( r )^(k-1)

From this equation it can be seen that compression ratio is dependent on T2

which is temperature during compression. This T2 is limited by auto-ignition
temperature to prevent fuel air mixture to autoignite before thes park, given
from spark plug. Higher auto-ignition temperature will increase T2 and
simultaneously increase compression ratio .As relating to thermal efficiency
of the system, higher compression ratio is important .

High fame speed, high diffusivity and low density :At stoichiometric ratios,hydrogen acquires high fame speed as shown which
is about 1.85ms_1 compared to methane andiso-octane which is 0.38ms_1
and 0.370.43ms_1, respectively. Having high fame speed, hydrogen
engines can more be similar to the thermodynamically ideal engine cycle.
However, the fame velocity goes to decreases signifcantly at leaner
mixture, Hydrogen also possesses remarkably high diffusivity, which is its
capability to disperse in air more than methane and iso-octane. This shows
that hydrogen can form uniform mixture of fuel and air, and if hydrogen
leaks, it will disperse rapidly and leaking hydrogen is not a pollutant to the
environment. Low density of hydrogen will result in two problems of IC
engine. Large volume needs to store more hydrogen to provide sufficient
driving range and reduce power output due to low energy density.

Abnormal combustion :The main problem to use hydrogen as a fuel in internal combustion engine, is
to control the undesired combustion phenomena due to low ignition energy,
wide fammability range and rapid combustion speed of hydrogen that
causes mixture of hydrogen and air to combust easily . In this section the

main abnormal combustion in hydrogen engine which are pre-ignition,

backfre, and knock in terms of cause and method to avoid will be discussed.

Pre ignition :Pre-ignition is one of the undesired combustion that needs to be avoided in
hydrogen engine. During the engine compression stroke, these abnormal
combustion events occur inside the combustion chamber, with actual start of
combustion prior to spark timing . Pre-ignition event will advance the start of
combustion and produce an increased chemical heat-release rate. In turn,
the increased heat-release rate results in a rapid pressure rise, higher peak
cylinder pressure, acoustic oscillations and higher heat rejection that leads to
rise in cylinder surface temperature. The start of combustion can further be
advanced by latter effect, which in turn can be led to run away effect, and
will cause the engine failure if unchecked . It is observed from, that as the
stoichiometric condition (j1) is approached from the lean side(jo1), the
minimum ignition energy for hydrogen is a strongly decreasing function of
the equivalence ratio with the minimum at jE1 This trend shows that It is
extremely difficult to operate an H2ICE at or near the stoichiometric
condition in the absence of frequent preignition events. Therefore, the
maximum j and, consequently, peak power output can be limited by the preignition limit for practical application. Stock hausenetal report a pre-ignition
limit of jE0.6 for a 4-cylinder 2.0-l engine at an engine speed of 5000 rpm.
Although the pre-ignition limit is engine specifc, the consistent trends with
variations in engine properties and operational conditions have been found
the pre-ignition limited j decrease monotonically with increased compression
ratio(CR) and increase mixture temperature . An effect on engine speed has
also been shown but due to the coupled effect of residual mass fraction the
trend is more complicated. From above description, it is clearly seen that preignition limit will border on the peak power output of hydrogen engine and
this will decrease the performance of H2ICE powered vehicle in comparison
to its gasoline equivalent . Therefore, deter- mining the mechanism of preignition, practical operational limits, and control strategies has been a
primary focus of many research studies. Unfortunately, there are still no
guaranteed preventive steps, but identifcation of pre-ignition source has
provided the necessary minimizing steps. Source of pre-ignition; _ Hot spark
plugs or spark plug electrodes. Hot exhaust valves or other hots pots in the
combustion chamber. Residual gas or remaining hot oil particles from
previous combustion events. _ Combustion in crevice volumes .

Backfre :-

Backfre is one of the main problems to run a hydrogen fuelled engine.

Backfre or fashback is the uncontrolled combustion of fresh hydrogenair
mixture during the intake stroke in the combustion chamber and/or the
intake manifold. The fresh hydrogenair mixture is aspirated into the
combustion chamber with the opening of the intake valves. Backfring is
caused when combustion chamber hot spots, hot residue gas or remaining
charge in the ignition system ignite the fresh charge as hydrogen has low
ignition temperature [28]. This abnormal combustion occurs due to the same
concept of pre-ignition. The difference is the timing at which the anomaly
occurs. In pre-ignition, the uncontrolled combustion happens during
compression stroke when the intake and exhaust valves close before spark
plug fres in cylinder [22,27], while backfre occurs during intake stroke when
the intake valve is opened. The backfre initiates from the pre-ignition during
the compression stroke, and then proceeds to the ignition of the intake
mixture [29]. Effect of backfre resulting in combustion and pressure rise in
the intake manifold, is clearly audible as well as can also damage or destroy
the intake system. When mixture approaches stoichiometry, the occurrence
of back fre is more likely due to the low ignition energy,and when using PFIH2ICE, as the hydrogen is injected before the intake valve opens, to mix with
air in the intake manifold before entering combustion chamber. WhileinDIH2ICE, the occurrence of backfre can be neglected as hydrogen injection
starts after the intake valve closes difference with external mixture formation
concept . Recently, many works have been carried out on optimizing the
intake design and injection strategies to avoid backfring. Consequently, the
measures those help in avoiding pre-ignition also reduce the risk of
backfring. Some of the strategies that are used to avoid backfring:

Injection strategies that allow pure air to fow into the combustion
chamber to cool potential hotspots before aspirating the fuel-air
mixture. _
The possibility of backfring mainly depends on the concentrations of
H2 residual at intake ports in a manifold injection H2ICE, and the
leaner the concentration of the residual, the lower the possibility of the
backfre.
Optimization of the fuel-injection strategy in combination with variable
valve timing for both intake and exhaust valves allow operation of a
port injected hydrogen engine at stoichiometric mixtures over the
entire speed range.

Hydrogen storage :-

Despite all advantages of hydrogen, storage of hydrogen is regarded as one

of the most critical issues, which must be resolved before a technically and
economically viable hydrogen-fuel system can be established. Considerable
progress concerning hydrogen- propelled vehicles has been achieved over
the past few years, wherein most of the developmental efforts have
concentrated on the propulsion system and its vehicle integration. However,
there is a general agreement in the automotive industry that the on-board
hydrogen storage is one of the most critical aspect that needs to be
addressed before hydrogen is used commercially in the future car feets. Till
now, no approach exists which is capable of fulflling the technical
requirements for arrange greater than 500km while meeting all the
performance parameters regardless of costs. The physical limits for the
storage density of compressed and liquid hydrogen have nearly been
reached. But there is still a potential in the development of solid materials for
hydrogen storage such as systems involving metal hydrides and Metal
Organic Frameworks(MOFs)

Hazards :Compressed hydrogen(CH2). Compressed hydrogen presents exactly the

same hazards as any other compressed gas, and therefore will have all the
potential hazards same as of Compressed Natural Gas(CNG). However , there
are two other hazards with hydrogen, namely its small molecular size, and its
minimum ignition energy(MIE).The small molecular size means that hydrogen
will easily diffuse out of a system which is completely leak-tight to other
gases. It can also induce sweltering and cracking of steels at elevated
temperatures. Hydrogen also has amuch lower MIE than any traditional
hydrocarbon fuel, at 0.017mJ, as opposed to a value nearer to 0.2 mJ for a
hydrocarbon. This make shydrogen far more sensitive to ignition than any
other gaseous fuel. There are some references to hydrogen having a positive
Joule Thompson coeffcient. A large reduction in pressure(which occurs
during a leak from a high-pressure system), therefore, results in a rise in
temperature, rather than a fall, due to the expansion. Hydrogen also has a
much higher fame speed than any other gas; it has wider limits of
fammability, and also detonates readily. An ignition of hydrogen may result
in a higher over pressure than the leakage of the same mass of any other
fuel in a confned place . Thus, hydrogen presents different and additional
hazards when compared with the traditional fuels. Although hydrogen readily
disperses due to its very low molecular weight and low density, it may

detonate even if not confned. This will produce overpressure effects much
greater than those of any traditional fuel.

Liquefed hydrogen(LH2) :Liquefed hydrogen boils at about 20.3K,at atmospheric pressure, and is
stored at about that temperature, but under a nominal pressure to minimize
the boiling . It has a nominal density of about 0.0077 kgm_3 at its triple point
of 13K . Clearly, many of the fammability aspects of LH2 are the same as
those of compressed hydrogen, but the low storage temperature adds more
hazards. It is below that of the freezing point of both oxygen and nitrogen, so
there is the potential for solid oxygen or nitrogen to form in a LH2 system.
Also the maximum temperature excursions that a storage system would
undergo from an ambient temperature of about 40 1C to the storage
temperature of about 13 K amounts to a difference of about 300 1C. This
imparts high thermal and mechanical loads on the pipe- work, vessels, and
fanges, and the cool-down has to be controlled to minimize the potential for
leakage due to uneven contraction of the system. This will also apply to
gaskets and seals. Liquefed hydrogen has the potentiall problem of causing
hydrogen embrittlement of metallic components in the system. This can,
however, be countered by using appropriate materials of construction. LH2
spillages are of a different nature as the gaseous hydrogen readily disperses
in the open air due to its extremely low density. The liquid spilled being
extremely cold, any spillage rapidly evaporates and cools the ground on to
which it falls. This produces ara pid puff of expanding vapor which rises
rapidly and disperses. The high turbulence generated by the sudden
expansion of vapor from the liquid mixes hydrogen with air, and the gas
cloud typically expands by a factor of fve. Itis expected that as LH2 has
similar effects as Liquifed Natural Gas(LNG), an explosion may occur if LH2
is spilled onto water.
LH2 as a fuel
The above-mentioned disadvantages of LH2 compared to jet A fuel could
affect its safety. The most important include its ignition energy (about one
tenth as compared to other fuels), limit of fammability (4.0e75.0 vs 0.6e4.7
vol %), volatility, and burning velocity (265e325 vs 18 cm/s). In addition, the
presence of even very small quantities of air and/or moisture could freeze
and thus cut-up LH2 fows in any circuit (the freezing point of LH 2 is 14.4 K
compared to 233 K for jet A fuel). Furthermore, due to the very low
temperatures, the materials in contact with LH 2 (including thee insulation)
should be compatible. Nevertheless, advantages in this context could include

the thermal energy radiated from burning LH 2, which is lower than that of jet
A fuel (17e25% vs 30e42%). This implies that the safe area without any
other activities could be smaller (usually of the radius distance of about 100
m).

Reasons for promoting the use of biofuels and hydrogen :Biofuels and hydrogen have characteristics that are benefcial in principle.
Their use is advantageous compared to fossil fuels:
1) Biofuels and hydrogen may reduce the external energy dependence.
They could be produced domestically in the EU, reducing petroleum
imports, improving the balance of payments, improving domestic
energy security, and reducing the reliance on petroleum from unstable
areas of the world.
2) Biofuels and hydrogen may help to stabilize fossil fuel prices.
Petroleum prices are volatile and expected to increase over time.
However, biofuels are a backstop technology, potentially constraining
the growth in petroleum prices.
3) Biofuels and hydrogen may help to reduce the emission of greenhouse
gases (GHG) and other emissions. Biofuels recycle carbon from the
atmosphere and have cleaner emissions, thus reducing GHG emissions
and mitigating climate change.
4) Biofuels may be an additional source of income for the primary sector.
Biofuels are renewable and increase the demand for agricultural
commodities, thus potentially boosting agricultural producers income
and prices.
Each of these aspects is further discussed below.
a) Reduced reliance on foreign oil :Europe is highly dependent on external energy sources. In 2007, the most
dependent EU Members were Cyprus (100%), Portugal (99.4%), Luxembourg
(99%), Latvia (94%) and Ireland (90.2%). The less dependent were United
Kingdom (13%), Poland (18.4%), Estonia (33.9%), Czech Republic (37.6%)
and the Netherlands (38.9%). Denmark is an exception in Europe because it
produces more energy than it needs; it is a net energy exporter ,Let us
analyze the Spanish case. Spain is highly dependent on external energy
sources.
The only fully domestic primary energy is the renewable power plants
(6.95%). Biofuels represent 0.26% of the total energy consumed in Spain.
Nuclear power plants represent 9.75% of primary energy. Official data
consider this source as a domestic one. Since 2002 all the fuel used in the
nine nuclear power plants existing in Spain is imported Regarding coal, 56%
was imported in 2005 and this fgure grows every year.
Spain primary energy sources in 2007 (in thousands of ktoe).

Coal

20,236

Oil

70,848

48.11%

Methane

31,602

21.46%

Nuclear

14,360

9.75%

Renewable

10,229

6.95%

147,275

100.00%

Total

13.74%

Almost all fuel oil and natural gas are imported, so the Spanish self-energy
supply is only 22.49% considering nuclear fuel as domestic. Otherwise, the
self-energy supply is 12.74%. These data show that Spain is seriously
vulnerable from the energy point of view.
Fossil fuels for vehicles are produced from oil to an extent of almost 100%.
Spain imports almost all the oil it consumes and the tendency for self-supply
is to decrease (from 0.5% in 2001 to 0.2% in 2007). As a consequence of this
energy dependence, Spain suffers from signifcant trade defcits.
A biofuel industry could help the EU to import less petroleum, because
producers grow and manufacture the biofuels domestically. This issue has
already been studied for the U.S. market.
In Spain, biofuel consumption (ethanol and biodiesel) has increased from
228 ktoe in 2004 to 382 ktoe in 2007. The percentage of energy from
biofuels over the total energy is small (0.2% in 2004 and 0.3% in 2007) but
in the future, if the biofuel and/or hydrogen consumption increases more
than the energy consumption, the percentage of imported oil would decline.
Table 2 shows the origin of oil imported by Spain.
Importing large quantities of oil especially from certain countries creates
the problem that these regions are politically unstable.
On the other hand, it is necessary to analyze the origin of the raw material
used for obtaining biofuels from plants. Spain is one of the largest producers
of those cereals and vegetables that can be used as raw materials for
biofuels. Its primary sector is strong.
Table 2
Source of oil imported by Spain in 2007 (in thousands tons).

Russia
Mexico
Saudi Arabia
Iran
Libya
Nigeria
Iraq
Venezuela
United Kingdom

13,433
7,180
5,468
4,512
4,511
4,402
3,254
2,124
722

24.47%
13.08%
9.96%
8.22%
8.22%
8.02%
5.93%
3.87%
1.32%

Algeria
Others
Total

395
8,886

0.72%
16.19%

54,887

100.00%

Table 3 shows data from the 20072008 crop campaign which can be used
to produce ethanol.
From Table 3, it is deduced:
Spain is a net importer of cereals.
Although 4.02% of cereal production (1,260,000 tons) is used to produce
ethanol, Spain imports large quantities of cereals:
11,874,000 tons of wheat, barley, maize and sorghum are imported.
8,774,000 tons are from countries that do not belong to the European Union.
595,000 tons of barley are exported and 200,000 tons are used to produce
ethanol.
Table 3
Production and consumption of cereals (thousand tons) 20072008 Campaign.

Production
Raw material to produce ethanol

Wheat
5036
60

Imports
EU countries
Non-EU countries

2324
1500
824
0

Exports
Source: [16].

Barley
11,161
200

Maize
3391
650

Sorghum
155
350

Other
2,440
0

Total
22,183
1,260

100
100
0

7000
1500
5500

2450
0
2450

228
178
50

12,102
3,278
8,824

595

230

825

Regarding the raw material for biodiesel production, it is noted that

percentages and origins of oils are variable and depend on the prices of
different oils and seeds. A typical distribution might be: imported soybean oil
(40%), domestic sunfower (10%), imported palm oil (25%) and rapeseed
(25%): (5% domestic and 95% imported).
It is noted that domestic raw materials for biofuel production in Spain
amounts to 22.5% (10% sunfower and 5% of the 25% of rapeseed). Spain
imports 77.5% of these raw materials.
Hence, it is noted that biofuels might reduce oil dependence, but Spain is
nowadays importing most of the raw materials to produce biofuels and most
of them are from countries that do not belong to the European Union.
Hydrogen could reduce this dependence because it could be obtained from
water via electrolysis. In this case it is necessary to analyze the origin of the
energy that is required to decompose the water molecule.
b) Price stabilization :-

Petroleum prices are expected to be volatile and to increase continuously

over time. The Middle East was the source of crude oil spikes in 1973, 1979,
and 1990. Furthermore, both the Chinese and Indian economies are growing
fast, increasing global energy demand and petroleum prices. For example,
China switched from being a net exporter of petroleum to a net importer in
1993, and today is building more complex refneries that can process sour
crude oil (high sulfur content) from the Middle East . Moreover, India
imported approximately 74% of its petroleum needs in 2002].
The current economic crisis has caused a sharp drop in oil prices (between
July 2008 and February 2009 oil decreased by 58%), but it is expected that
the oil quota will rise again at the end of this crisis.
Biofuels and/or hydrogen could constrain the growth of petroleum prices,
because biofuels are a backstop technology. If petroleum prices increase too
rapidly, then society will substitute petroleum by biofuels. If biofuel prices
increase too rapidly, then farmers expand their production of energy crops,
causing a drop in price on the biofuels market .

Reducing GHG and other pollution emissions :-

Biofuels may mitigate global warming by recycling carbon from the

atmosphere and reducing most tail-pipe pollution from compression engines.
However, tail-pipe emissions are variable and depend on the engine design,
manufacturer, engine age, and engine maintenance. Biofuels contain little
sulfur and no mercury. Therefore, sulfur dioxide and mercury emissions
decrease when biofuels are blended with diesel and gasoline
Biodiesel and ethanol are oxygenates while diesel fuel and gasoline contain
almost zero oxygen. Pure biodiesel contains 10 12% oxygen on a weight
basis and the ethanol contains 35% oxygen]. The presence of oxygen allows
more complete combustion, which reduces emissions from hydrocarbons
(HC), carbon monoxide (CO), and particulate matter (PM). Unfortu-nately, in
the case of both fuels, the higher oxygen content increases NOx emissions
Table 4 shows emissions of CO2 from fossil fuels and biofuels for Otto and
Diesel engines.
CO2 emissions per unit of energy are similar in all cases. To evaluate and
compare them properly, it is necessary to take into account the whole life
cycle of the fuels: from the origin of the raw materials to the combustion in
an engine. In the case of biofuels, there is some controversy on this point as
there are authors who maintain that the energy balance is negative while
others say that it is positive .
In the case of biofuels, the authors of this report suggest taking into

account the nature of the production of raw material. This is because it is not
the same to create new crops than to use crop surpluses or to use waste
when evaluating the mass balance and energy. In the frst case the
absorption of CO2 in the mass balance must be taken into account but not in
the second and third cases.
When hydrogen reacts with oxygen, there are no CO 2 emissions. The result
is water and the generation of heat (it is an exothermic reaction). The only
byproduct is produced by some airhydrogen proportions and is the emission
of NOx.
Producing hydrogen demands energy and in order to consider the whole
life cycle, it is necessary to take into account the CO 2 emissions when
generating this energy. These emissions depend on the way this energy is
produced.

C
in terms of
O2 volume
C in terms of
O2 energy

g/MJ

Gasoline 95

Gasoil

E85

Biodiesel

2356 g/L
73.15

2744 g/L

1644 g/L

2514 g/L
75.73

74.31 g/MJ

71.74 g/MJ

g/MJ

The low commodity prices and unpredictable events cause farmers

income and wealth accumulation to be low and variable . However, a large
energy industry provides an elastic demand for biofuels and if the biofuel
industry is large this in turn creates a large demand for agricultural
feedstocks, increasing agricultural prices and income. Furthermore, biofuels
could help farmers hedge against agricultural fuctuating prices, as a farmer
could grow a variety of crops, and still be able to supply renewable energy.
A large biofuel industry has other benefts, which include reductions in
government subsidies to farmers movement of dormant agricultural land into
production and increases in rural employment. For instance, farmers hire
more workers to grow more energy crops and biorefneries hire more workers
to convert energy crops into biofuel. The biorefneries are expected to be
located close to the agricultural producers, because hauling costs increase
exponentially the further the feedstocks are transported. Finally, the biofuel
industry is capital intensive, widening the tax base for rural governments .
This advantage does not appear in the case of hydrogen if it is obtained by
electrolysis of seawater.
. Actions to promote the use of alternative fuels
Actions for the development of biofuels
Directive 2003/30/EC of the European Union
In 2003 the European Union (EU) Directive 2003/30/EC

was developed

with the aim of promoting the use of biofuels as a substitute for diesel or
gasoline among European Union countries as well as to contribute to fulflling
the commitments on climate change, security of supply in environmentally
friendly conditions and the promotion of renewable energy sources.
In order to achieve these goals, the directive forces all EU members to
ensure that before December 31 of 2010, at least 5.75% of all gasoline and
diesel fuels sold for transport purposes are biofuels. European Union
countries have social and economic characteristics unique to themselves.
The energy dependence from foreign sources, the features of the agricultural
sector or the degree of industrialization varies greatly from one country to
another. In this context, it is questionable whether the obligation imposed by
this directive applies to achieve uniform and/or identical goals in each of the
countries involved and whether the actions of the various governments are
also aligned with these goals.
For instance, 72,483 thousand tons of oil were consumed in Spain in 2008.
44.32% (32,126 tons) were to produce automotive fuels (gasoline and diesel
fuel). Thus, the goal for Spain is to replace the equivalent to 1847 thousand
tons of oil (5.75%).
Being a compulsory directive for all EU members, individual EU
governments are encouraging actions to comply with it. It is however
important to note that the actions of governments are perhaps aimed at
fulflling the obligations fxed by the Directive but not at fulflling its own
unique objectives.
The European Union is made up of 27 countries that have specifc social
and economic characteristics. Energy dependence or degree of
industrialization varies greatly from one country to another. In this context, it
is necessary to consider:
-

If the obligation imposed by the directive is inadequate for achieving the

goals of the directive in each of the countries.
If government actions are aligned with the objectives set by the directive.
That is to say, if government actions are aligned with the objectives.
The authors of this report made a case study for the use of citrus waste in a
newly built plant in LAlcudia, Valencia (Spain), showing that this consistency
is not always achieved.
Tax incentives for biofuels :Taxes are an artifcial way to alter the natural market of supply and
demand This is because if the offer sets a price target that is capable of
matching the demand, tax makes the prices increase and the offer shrink.

Hence, the match point offer-demand is for a point that increases the price
and diminishes the quantity. The fossil fuels are highly taxed: for gasoline
and gasoil, almost half of the prices are taxes.
Some European countries are supporting biofuels by taxing them much
less than fossil fuels. For instance, in Spain, biofuels do not bear the
hydrocarbons special tax that is supported by fossil fuels. Law 53/2002 of 30
December on fscal, adminis-trative and social order adds a new Article 50a
in order to make a total exemption from taxation for biofuels (ethanol,
methanol and vegetable oil) until 2012. This exemption is made with the aim
of promoting the use of energy and environmental benefts of fuels from
agricultural sources, compensating their higher produc-tion costs.

Actions for the promotion of hydrogen as fuel

Hydrogen is only considered a biofuel if it is generated from biomass

feedstock. The ITC/2877/2008 order of October 9 provides a way for
promoting biofuels and other renewable fuels for transportation purposes.
3. Use of hydrogen as automotive fuel
Hydrogen can be used as an automotive fuel in two ways:
(1)As a fuel for internal combustion engines. In this case, hydrogen is similar
to gasoline and diesel fuel and the maximum efficiency on the lower
heating value (LHV) is 27%.
(2)As a fuel for fuel cells. In this case the efficiency is close to 60% on the
LHV for an alkaline fuel cell-type. There is also another advantage: if the
vehicle does not require energy, no fuel is consumed (i.e. in traffic jams or
stopped at a traffic light). A vehicle with an internal combustion engine
consumes fuel when idling and its performance is equal to zero.
4. Advantages and disadvantages of hydrogen as fuel
Hydrogen has features that may be considered advantageous over the use
of fossil fuels and biofuels:

It is a stable element. It is non-corrosive.

It has a high LHV per mass unit. This feature means low weight of fuel
in canisters. Hydrogen is three times lighter than gasoline or diesel
fuel per unit of mass for the same energy contained in the LHV.
It has a high availability: hydrogen may be produced from different raw
materials.

Combustion clean. The reaction of hydrogen with oxygen produces

only water and heat. But, due to the presence of
nitrogen in the air, certain hydrogen-air mixtures produce oxides of
nitrogen (NOx).
If hydrogen is produced by electrolysis, the environmental impact
caused by oil extraction is eliminated.
Hydrogen may be used in fuel cells and internal combustion engines.
In case it is used in fuel cells, the following features appeared:

High performance: to convert fuel into energy through an electrochemical

reaction is more efficient than burning it in an engine. The process can
achieve efficiencies ranging from 30% to 90%. If hydrogen is used in an
internal combustion engine, frst it is converted into heat and later into
mechanical energy so efficiency is limited by Carnots law. The last process
means friction and other losses causing a reduction in efficiency. Fuel cells
are not limited by Carnots law and only limitations in the use of energy
and materials limit the performance.
a) Silent: with no moving parts, it has been estimated that the noise
level of a fuel cell is 55 dB at 30 m. Thus, this technology is very
adequate for urban purposes.
b) Low temperatures and pressures of operation: fuel cells operate
between 80 and 1000 8C. The temperature inside the internal
combustion engine can go over 2300 8C.
c) Cogeneration capacity: it is possible to use the waste heat
generated by the electrochemical reaction on the fuel cell for other
purposes such as the heating system of the vehicle. When this
capacity is used, the efficiency can reach 90%.
d) Simplicity: fuel cells have no moving parts, allowing a simpler
design, greater reliability and functionality being less prone to
breakdowns.
e) Energy security: the way to increase the output of a fuel cell is to
introduce more fuel. In addition, a fuel cell never runs down as long
as there is fuel to produce electricity. When a battery runs out it has
to go through a long and inconvenient recharge time to replace the
spent energy.

On the other hand, some features may be considered disadvantages:

It has low LHV per unit of volume. This means using high volume and
heavy canisters.
Transportation and storage are expensive and complex.

Hydrogen is a secondary fuel because it requires energy to be

produced just like biofuels (biodiesel and ethanol) do. Hydrogen does
not exist in the environment as oil does.
Hydrogen cannot be used directly in vehicles. Most vehicles are
prepared to use biofuels, but in order to use hydrogen the vehicle
needs to be adapted and this means a higher cost.
The production of some components requires a high cost due to the
absence of a large scale market. It is estimated that a fuel cell car is
30% more expensive than a similar gasoline or diesel vehicle.

As an emerging technology, there are certain problems that have not yet
been resolved and that affect functioning, especially in the operating life.
Obviously this has an impact on the commercialization.
There is a low demand for fuel cells. Hence, the unit price cannot compete
with conventional technologies. It is expected that prices will be lower as
demand increases.
Fuel cells are sensitive to catalytic poisons. The electrodes incorporate
catalysts used to increase the performance of electrochemical reactions. The
contact of these substances with known catalytic poisons causes irreversible
deactivation of the fuel cell. Nowadays the replacement of these catalysts by
more durable materials is being considered.

Analysis of hydrogen as automotive fuel :Variable chosen for the economic comparison
The best variable for the economic comparison is the energy price contained
in the LHV. Gasoline and gasoil fgures are shown in Table 5.
Table 6 shows the maximum and minimum oil quotation between July 2003
and March 2009. Oil is quoted in dollars. This means that is necessary to take
into account the rate of euro-dollar change at the time of the transaction. It
also means that the maximum and minimum quotations do not have to
match in time.
Gasoline
95
Gasoil
LHV (per
43.53
42.69
mass)
MJ/kg
MJ/kg
0.740
0.865
Density
kg/L
kg/L

LHV (per
volume)
Source: [27].
Maximum Oil
price (Brent)
Minimum Oil
price (Brent)

32.21 MJ/L

36.93
MJ/L

$133. (Jul/08
19 )
$40.4 (Dec/
4 08)

85.14 s
(Jun/08)
24.31 s
(Dec/03)

Gasoline Gasoi
95
l
Minimum cost
21.18
22.28
without taxes (Jul/08)
s/GJ
s/GJ
Maximum cost
without taxes
8.97
7.75
(Dec/03)
s/GJ
s/GJ
Source: [28].
Table 7 shows maximum and minimum costs for gasoline and gasoil
between July 2003 and March 2009. These values do not match in time with
the maximum and minimum oil quotation.
An alternative fuel or biofuel should have equivalent or lower costs than
gasoline and gasoil to be proftable. In this report, authors consider:
-

An alternative fuel (hydrogen or biofuel) will always be competitive if its

price per unit of energy is lower than the
minimum price than gasoline and gasoil reached between July 2003 and
March 2009. This value is 7.75 s/GJ and is marked as lower limit of
proftability.
An alternative fuel (hydrogen or biofuel) will not always be competitive if its
price per unit of energy is higher than the
maximum price than gasoline and gasoil reached between July 2003 and
March 2009. This value is 22.28 s/GJ and is marked as higher limit of
proftability.
There are uncertainties about the competitiveness of an alternative fuel if
its price per unit of energy is between the
lower and the higher limit of proftability. (from 7.75 to 22.28 s/GJ).
The use of hydrogen as a fuel has the advantage that hydrogen-driven
vehicles will produce hardly any emissions but vapor. The energy inputs and
major ecological impacts of hydrogen production, transport and distribution
are to be found in the fuel chain, which therefore needs to be submitted to
closer scrutiny.
Conventional hydrogen production through methane steam reforming

(MSR) causes specifc emissions of 103 g CO 2 eqv/MJ, i.e. some 18% higher
than the gasoline/diesel fuel chain. As the fuel cell propulsion system
promises to be some 3040% more efficient than the conventional ICE, an
overall (well-to-wheel) reduction of GHG emissions takes place. In the case of
stretched introduction in combination with improvements in fuel cell vehicle
efficiency consistent with the trend line, the MSR path will lead to a decrease
of GHG emissions by nearly 8% compared to the BAU case (72.6 million tons
vs. 78.7 million tons by 2050). In a scenario that ignores the issue of
resource availability in the phase of transition, the use of natural gas as a
feedstock for hydrogen production will induce slightly positive effects without
substantially con-tributing to the ambitious targets for climate change
mitigation.
In the long run, however, hydrogen production based on fossil energies is
not an option. For implementing a climate-friendly and sustainable hydrogen
system it will be essential at what time and to what degree RES can cover
transport-related energy demands. RES, however, cannot be examined from
the isolated perspective of the transport system. Interactions with other
areas need to be taken into account. A holistic energy system analysis
reveals that the near future is rather less bright where hydrogen is
concerned.

Renewable hydrogen production techniques

Though a common element in the universe, hydrogen can be found on earth

only mainly in combination with other elements such as oxygen in water and
carbon in hydrocarbons. Then, hydrogen must be produced. The production
methods rely on the nature of the feedstock, the process involved and the
energy used for the process. There are various processes, feedstocks and
energy sources. The number of production techniques is signifcantly
important.
Though some techniques, such as steam reforming and water electrolysis,
have reached commercial maturity, others are at the experimental level.
Right now, the most used technique for hydrogen production is natural gas
reforming. Resorting to CO2 sequestration deals with the problem of pollution
but does not solve the problem of sustainability. In this process, natural gas
is indeed of limited nature. Solar gas reforming is a cleaner alternative
hydrogen production technique that is attracting a lot of interest. This
technique relies on solar energy to supply the gas reforming process with the
needed energy. It is considered an intermediary step towards sustainable
hydrogen production techniques.

It is well known that hydrogen is sustainable only if produced from

renewable feedstocks and energy. Indeed, using renewable energy, such as
solar energy, as the process energy and biomass or water as feedstock is the
sure method of developing a sustainable alternative fuel and addressing the
concerns raised by the use of conventional energy sources, i.e., energy
source depletion and environment degradation.
The production of hydrogen using biomass is attracting a lot of attention.
The most important techniques for hydrogen production are here biological
and thermochemical processes. Though these techniques offer real potential,
they are still at the laboratory stage and they suffer from low efficiency and
the issue of separation and purifcation of gases.
Water can be used to produce hydrogen either by electrolysis or thermal
process techniques. Thermal process techniques include thermolysis,
thermochemical cycles and electrolysis at high temperature. Whereas
thermolysis requires very high temperatures, thermochemical cycles include
a series of reactions that can occur at much lower temperature. Electrolysis
at high temperature requires both electrical energy and thermal energy.
Concentrating photovoltaic systems (CPV) or concentrating solar power (CSP)
could be used to supply in a fexible and efficient way both the electrical and
thermal energy required by electrolysis at high temperature.
Water electrolysis is, with gas reforming, the most developed process for
hydrogen production. In this case, electrical energy is used to dissociate the
molecule of water. Renewable sources, such as wind, CSP, conventional PV
and CPV could be used to generate the electricity needed for the electrolysis
process. The electrolysis process is high. It is of the order of 65%.
Of all the techniques used for hydrogen production by electrolysis, the PVelectrolysis technique is by far the simplest and the most attractive. Indeed,
the technology has reached the economic maturity and the photovoltaic DC
generated power is well suited for the electrolysis system. . Moreover, as it
offers fexibility and modularity, most of the proposed solar hydrogen
production systems by electrolysis use PV as power generator.
One of the main purposes of improving the combustion process of
conventional internal combustion engine is to fnd out useful ways to reduce
exhaust emissions without doing major alteration on their mechanical
confguration. With the increasing need to conserve fossil fuels and minimize

toxic emission, much effort is being focused on the advancement of present

combustion technology. This has stimulated exploration and testing of
several alternative fuels. The main exhaust emissions from diesel engine are
smoke, NOx and particulate matter. The only option to reduce these
pollutants is to use alternative fuels which do not have sulfur dioxide,
aldehydes and ketones. Liquid fuels like alcohols, vegetable oils, bio-diesel,
emulsifed bio-diesel, dimethyl ether and gaseous fuels like biogas, liquefed
petroleum gas (LPG), compressed natural gas (CNG), hydrogen, producer gas
and liquefed natural gas (LNG) have been thoroughly explored as alternative
fuels [. However, gaseous fuels have a dominant position among these.
In addition to the single alternative fuel operation, dual fuel engines (working
on dual fuel principle) have been a subject of high interest due to their
potential to reduce smoke emission with improved performances. they
exhibit good thermal efficiency and low smoke level at high power output.
Most dual fuel engines use gaseous fuel as secondary fuel (mostly inducted
with the air during induction process). Use of fuels with wide fammability
limits and high fame velocity can reduce these effects. Therefore, hydrogen
(as secondary fuel) becomes a natural choice as it exhibits wide fammability
limits and high fame velocity, and reduced pollution.
Considerable research works have been done on hydrogen as an
alternative fuel in the I.C. engine as hydrogen is non-toxic, odorless and
undergoes complete combustion. It is considered to be perfect energy
storage medium and is produced from fossil or non-fossil sources. In addition,
due to availability and emission concern, LPG (as secondary fuel) has also
been a subject of high interest in diesel engines.
Hydrogen and LPG have auto-ignition temperatures of 858 K and 788 K,
respectively, and require an ignition source to be used in an I.C engine. The
diesel fuel which has an auto-ignition temperature of 525 K can be used as a
pilot fuel to ignite hydrogen and LPG.
Several researchers have carried out works on either hydrogen or LPG only
Saravanan et al. used hydrogen as an air-enrichment medium while diesel as
an ignition source in a stationary diesel engine system. The stationary diesel
engine could be operated with less fuel than the pure diesel operation and
found that it reduces smoke and emission of particulate matter and NO x. The
increase in brake thermal efficiency results in lower specifc energy

consumption. Liew et al. used enriched hydrogen as a secondary fuel and

observed that by large amounts of hydrogen at higher load conditions
increased the peak cylinder pressure and peak heat release rate. It was
further observed that as compared to two-stage combustion process of
diesel engine of H2ediesel dual fuel showed three phases of combustion
process.
The hydrogen was injected into the intake port of a single cylinder diesel
engine by Saravanan et al. The diesel fuel was injected directly within the
combustion chamber during compression process. The brake thermal
efficiency in hydrogen e diesel dual fuel operation was observed to be
increased by 15% as compared to pure diesel operation at 75% load
condition while NOx emission was increased by 1e2% in hydrogen e diesel
dual fuel operation at full load condition.
Boretti modifed diesel injector of a common rail diesel engine by
incorporating double injector one for hydrogen and other for diesel. It was
observed that the dual fuel hydro-genediesel engine had higher brake
thermal efficiency nearer to 40% as compared to original diesel engine and it
reduces loss in part load brake thermal efficiency also. It showed mean
effective pressure more than 35 bar as compared to 25 bar of diesel
operation.
Hydrogen assisted diesel combustion was investigated by Lilik et al.on a
DDC/VM Motori 2.5 L, 4-cylinder, turbo-charged, common rail, direct injection
light-duty diesel engine, with a focus on exhaust emissions. Hydrogen was
replaced for diesel fuel on an energy basis of 0%, 2.5%, 5%, 7.5%, 10% and
15% by aspiration of hydrogen into the engines intake air. Four speeds and
load conditions were investigated (1800 and 3600 rpm at 25% and 75% of
maximum output). A signifcant retardation of injection timing by the
engines electronic control unit (ECU) was observed during the increased
aspiration of hydrogen. The retardation of injection timing reduces NO x
emission considerably; however, the same emission reductions were attained
without aspirated hydrogen by manually retarding the injection timing.
Conse-quently, hydrogen assisted diesel combustion was studied with the
pilot fuel and main injection timings locked to examine the effects caused
directly by hydrogen addition. Hydrogen assisted diesel combustion resulted
in a modest increase of NO x emissions and a change in NO/NO 2 ratio in which
NO emissions decreased and NO2 emissions increased with NO2 becoming
the main NOx constituent in some combustion methods.

nitrogen dioxide (NO2) emissions of a heavy-duty diesel engine operated in

hydrogen H2ediesel dual fuel combustion mode with H 2 added into the intake
air. The detailed effects of H 2 addition and engine load condition on NO 2
emissions were studied at 1200 RPM. The addition of a small amount of H 2
signifcantly increased the emissions of O 2 and the NO2/NOx ratio, particularly
at lower load condition. Increasing the engine load was found to slow down
the enhancing effect of H2 on the conversion of NO to NO2 with the maximum
NO2/NOx ratio was observed at lower H 2 concentration. The maximum NO2
emission of the H2ediesel dual fuel operation was three to fve times more
than that of diesel operation at 70% and 10% load conditions, respectively.
Gomes Antunes et al. achieved higher fuel efficiency in hydrogen-fueled
engine by approximately 43% as compared to 28% in the conventional diesel
engine along with 20% reduction in nitrogen oxide formation than diesel
engine due to direct injection of hydrogen in a diesel engine. Saravanan et
al.experimentally investigated NOx reduction characteristics by exhaust gas
recirculation in a dual fueled engine using hydrogen and diesel. Hydrogen
was injected in intake port and diesel was injected directly inside the
cylinder. The injection timing and injection duration of hydrogen were
optimized based on the performance and emissions. The best result was
observed at the start of injection 5_ before gas exchange top dead center
(BGTDC) and injection duration of 30 _ crank angle. The fow rate of hydrogen
was optimized at 7.5 lpm and 25% EGR.
Szwaja et al. investigated both pure hydrogen combustion under HCCI
(homogeneous charge compression ignition) conditions and hydrogenediesel
combustion in a compression ignition (CI) engine from 0% to 17% with
respect to energy percentage. With 17% of hydrogen, the hydrogenedieseleair mixture was stoichiometric and provided favorable conditions
for generating combustion knock. When 5% of hydrogen was added to a
diesel engine it shortened the diesel ignition lag and decreased the rate of
pressure rise. Bir-tas et al.conducted investigation on a tractor diesel engine
running with small amounts of gas provided by a water elec-trolyzer which
was inducted in the cylinder. It was found that the addition of HRG gas has a
minor negative impact, up to 2%, on the engine brake thermal efficiency.
Smoke is signifcantly reduced, up to 30%, with HRG enrichment, while NO x
concentration varied up to 14%, in both ways, depending on the engine
operation mode. A relative small amount of HRG gas could be used with
favorable effects on emissions and with a small penalty in thermal efficiency.
There are various techniques for fuel induction in the cylinder such as
carburetion, timed manifold/port injection (TMI), direct hydrogen injection
(DHI) and continuous mani-fold induction (CMI). DHI requires injector to

withstand higher combustion temperature as well as to prevent injector from

corrosion due to exhaust gases. Further, lubrication between the injector
moving parts also makes the design of DHI and TMI more complicated. The
hydrogen injection system further requires electronically activated injectors
operated by elec-tronic control units (ECU) which must be strong in design
[14]. Moreover, incorporation of TMI and DHI requires considerable
modifcation in turbocharged multi-cylinder engine for using two gaseous
fuels (LPG and hydrogen). In view of these facts, CMI for turbocharged multicylinder diesel engine (62.5 kW) has been adopted in the present
investigations. Proper care has been taken to avoid backfre problem.