Effect of Spark Plug Alteration on Performance Using Hydrogen Enriched Gasoline in Si Engine Under Various Loads and Compression Ratios

Oğuz Baş,Mustafa Atakan Akar,Hasan Serin,Şafak Yıldızhan,Mustafa Özcanlı

doi:10.26701/ems.441997

Abstract

In this study, change in brake power (BP) of a variable compression spark ignited engine was investigated with different spark plugs and hydrogen enrichment. The tests were carried out with a four stroke, single cylinder, naturally aspirated, variable compression ratio (VCR) engine. Two different compression ratios (CR) of 8.5:1 and 10:1 under %50 part throttle condition were implemented throughout the experiments. Moreover, engine loads of 8 Nm, 13 Nm and 17 Nm were applied to evaluate effects of different spark plugs and hydrogen usage at different engine loads. Copper, iridium and platinum spark plugs were tested for each experiment condition. In addition, hydrogen was added through the intake manifold with flow rates of 0, 2 and 4 lit/min to enhance combustion of VCR engine. According to test results, iridium and platinum spark plug usage, hydrogen addition and higher compression ratio improved BP significantly. This variance occurred more obvious with platinum spark plug usage comparing to iridium spark plug. In addition, effects of spark plug alteration, hydrogen addition and higher CR on enhancement of BP were comparatively lower at higher engine loads.

Highlights

The main energy demand in the world is supplied from the fossil based substances such as petroleum, coal and natural gas
Iridium spark plug usage for hydrogen enriched mixture was resulted with an increment of brake power (BP) by between 2,27-11,43% while it was by between 4,76-16,67% for platinum spark plug
During the experiments the engine compression ratio was set as 8.5:1 and 10:1 and copper, platinum and iridium spark plugs performed one by one

Summary

Introduction

The main energy demand in the world is supplied from the fossil based substances such as petroleum, coal and natural gas. Gasoline engine is known for their high power to weight ratio, stable and silent performance, low prices, less maintenance needs and costs and feasibilities for CNG and LPG fuels comparing with similar volume of diesel engine. Their thermal efficiencies and torque outputs are lower comparing with modern diesel engine (Stone and Ball, 2004). These main problems limit the widespread usage of gasoline engines such as heavy duty machineries

Methods

Results

Conclusion