Ignition Of Hydrogen Research Articles

Minimum ignition energy of hydrogen-air mixtures at ambient and cryogenic temperatures

The ignition and combustion of hydrogen in air is considered more hazardous compared to other fuels due to the lower minimum ignition energy (MIE) and the wider flammability range. Spark discharge is the most common type of electrostatic ignition hazard. There is a need in validated safety engineering tools to accurately calculate MIE in a wide range of temperatures from atmospheric to cryogenic which are characteristic for hydrogen systems and infrastructure. Current MIE assessment methodologies rely on the availability of experimental data on quenching distance and/or laminar burning velocity and thus are mostly empirical correlations. This prevents their application beyond the limited number of experimental data, i.e. to arbitrary composition of the hydrogen-air mixture at arbitrary temperatures including cryogenic. This work aims at the development of a model able to accurately predict MIE for hydrogen-air mixtures with arbitrary initial composition and temperature. Cantera and Chemkin software are used to calculate the properties and unstretched laminar burning velocity of hydrogen-air mixtures. The flame thickness is found to well represent the critical flame kernel in the suggested model. The model is validated against experimental data on MIE for mixtures at ambient and cryogenic (down to 123 K) temperatures. Results show that the effect of flame stretch and preferential diffusion shall be considered to accurately predict MIE for lean hydrogen-air mixtures, which was not possible for previous models.

Environmental indicators of dual-fuel hydrogen engine

Hydrogen is considered as a promising gas engine fuel for diesel engines. The problems that occur when converting engines to work on hydrogen are presented. Reliable ignition of hydrogen in the engine is achieved by implementing a two-fuel cycle. In this case, hydrogen ignites from the diesel fuel combustion. Calculations of diesel fuel and hydrogen supply effect on the workflow of a dual-fuel engine of the D-245 type were realized. The main indicators of the engine are calculated when the hydrogen supply changes from 0 to 80%. A criterion characterizing the total toxicity of engine exhaust gases is proposed. The optimal supply of hydrogen was 40%. With such a supply of hydrogen, there was a decrease in the smokiness of exhaust gases by 53%, carbon dioxide emissions by 44%, but the emission of nitrogen oxides increased by 27%. With an increase in the supply of hydrogen from 0 to 40%, the maximum calculated effective performance of engine increased by 7.1%.

Optimization of fuel injection timing and ignition timing of hydrogen fueled SI engine based on DOE-MPGA

For the port injection hydrogen-fueled spark ignition (SI) engine modified from the Jialing JH600 gasoline engine, the hydrogen injection timing and ignition timing of the hydrogen SI engine are comprehensively optimized on the AVL-FIRE software based on the combination of design of experiment (DOE) and multiple population genetic algorithm (MPGA). Firstly, the effects of hydrogen injection timing and ignition timing on the performance of the hydrogen engine are investigated through the full factors design of experiment scheme, and then the optimum intervals of them are determined respectively. Secondly, the uniform design of experiments scheme is arranged, and the regression functions of indicated power, indicated thermal efficiency and emissions of the hydrogen engine under different working conditions are fitted. Then, the comprehensive optimization model is constructed. Finally, the optimum hydrogen injection timing and ignition timing of the hydrogen engine under different working conditions are solved based on MPGA. The results show that, compared with the standard genetic algorithm (SGA), the MPGA has faster convergence speed and higher convergence accuracy. In addition, as the load increases from low to high, the optimum hydrogen injection timing is advanced and the rate of variation increases from 0.6% to 1.1%, the optimum ignition timing is delayed and the rate of variation decreases from 29.1% to 17.8%.

Features of Hydrogen Ignition over Platinum-Group Metals at Low Pressure

Features of Hydrogen Ignition over Platinum-Group Metals at Low Pressure

Highlighting the Role of Lubricant Oil in the Development of Hydrogen Internal Combustion Engines by means of a Kinetic Reaction Model

The urgent need to reduce the dependence on fossil fuels has re-ignited the interest toward Hydrogen Internal Combustion Engines (HICEs). Nevertheless, there are still criticalities that need to be assessed for accelerating the development of this technology. The undesired but unavoidable participation of lubricant oil to the combustion process can be the cause of many of these. Due to an extremely low autoignition resistance at low temperatures, lubricant oil is considered the main responsible for the onset of abnormal combustion modes, which need to be understood for delivering reliable and ready to market HICEs. By employing a kinetic reaction mode, this work analyses the autoignition tendency of hydrogen contaminated with n-C16H34 (n-hexadecane), the latter being selected as a surrogate species representative of lubricant oil chemical characteristics. Starting from the detailed CRECK model (Version 2003), a reduced mechanism with very small size (169 species and 2796 reactions) was developed, which makes it suitable for the use in practical CFD engine simulations. Zero-dimensional numerical simulations were performed employing the reduced mechanism to quantify the variation of hydrogen ignition delay time due to the presence of different amounts of lubricant oil. Operating conditions typical of engine chambers were considered in the analysis. The results show that lubricant oil can have a significant impact on the charge reactivity, especially in the low-temperature range, with consequences that can potentially hamper the development of HICEs.

On the critical pressure pulse width for ignition of hydrogen–air and dimethyl ether–air mixtures

Under certain situations, such as a water hammer event, a volume of gas can undergo a rapid compression immediately followed by a rapid expansion, which could lead to auto-ignition under certain conditions. The goal of the present study was to investigate under which critical conditions such a pressure pulse could lead to an ignition event. To simulate the pressure pulse, a simplified Gaussian pressure pulse model was implemented in Cantera. Hydrogen–air and dimethyl ether–air mixtures were employed to study the ignition dynamics of chemical systems with a single and a double step of heat release. The numerical simulations were performed for three peak pressures of 101.3, 1013.2, and 5066 kPa, for a range of compression ratios between 5 and 45, and various pulse widths, which determine the characteristics of the pressure pulse. Depending on the width of the Gaussian pulse, either ignition or chemical quenching were observed. Critical ignition, just at the limit between ignition and quenching, is the result of the competition between chemical reaction and volumetric expansion due to the imposed specific volume changes. This competition can be summarized by the concept of critical pressure pulse width, which is an extension of the critical decay rate concept. To further investigate the mechanisms responsible for critical ignition and quenching, quantitative thermo-chemical analyses were performed for sub-critical, critical and super-critical conditions. A Damköhler number was defined as the ratio of characteristic time of expansion to ignition delay time to characterize the competition between ignition and quenching. A simplified non-dimensional pressure pulse model for which the derivative of the naperian logarithm of density was assumed to follow a linear law was established. It can be employed to derive the critical conditions for which ignition fails. The evolution of non-dimensional temperature was obtained numerically and showed the existence of a critical pulse width for successful ignition and that the location of ignition delay time moves from the expansion phase to the compression phase as the non-dimensional pulse width is increased.

Experimental and modelling study of hydrogen ignition in CO2 bath gas

Direct-fired supercritical CO2 power cycles, operating on natural gas or syngas, have been proposed as future energy technologies with 100 % carbon capture at a price competitive with existing fossil fuel technologies. Likewise, blue or green hydrogen may be used for power generation to counter the intermittency of renewable power technologies. In this work, ignition delay times (IDTs) of hydrogen were measured in a high concentration of CO2 bath gas over 1050 – 1300 K and pressures between 20 and 40 bar. Measured datasets were compared with chemical kinetic simulations using AramcoMech 2.0 and the University of Sheffield supercritical CO2 (UoS sCO2 2.0) chemical kinetic mechanisms. The UoS sCO2 2.0 mechanism was recently developed to model IDTs of methane, hydrogen, and syngas in CO2 bath gas. Sensitivity analyses were used to identify important reactions and to illustrate the trends observed among various datasets. The performance of both mechanisms was evaluated quantitatively by comparing the average absolute error between the predicted and experimental IDTs, which showed UoS sCO2 2.0 as the superior mechanism for modelling hydrogen IDTs in CO2 bath gas. The importance of OH time-histories is identified as the most appropriate next step in further validation of the kinetic mechanism.

Performance Analysis of a Hydrogen-Doped High-Efficiency Hybrid Cycle Rotary Engine in High-Altitude Environments Based on a Single-Zone Model

The power attenuation of internal combustion engines in high-altitude environments restricts the performance of unmanned aerial vehicles. Herein, a single-zone model of a hydrogen-doped high-efficiency hybrid cycle rotary engine that considers high-altitude environments was proposed. The indicated values for power, thermal efficiency, and specific fuel cost were used to evaluate the power performance, energy conversion efficiency, and economic performance of the engine, respectively. Then, the effects of adjusting the hydrogen fraction, ignition angle, and rotational speed on high-altitude performance were analyzed. The results showed that high-altitude environments prolonged combustion duration and reduced in-cylinder pressure, thereby causing power attenuation; however, increasing the hydrogen fraction can increase the indicated power. At an altitude of 6 km, the indicated power with a hydrogen fraction of 0.3 was approximately 20.7% higher than that obtained with pure gasoline. The ignition angle and hydrogen fraction corresponding to the optimal indicated thermal efficiency increased with increasing altitude. At an altitude of 6 km, the indicated thermal efficiency reached its maximum (36.4%) at an ignition angle of 340 [CA°] and a hydrogen fraction of 0.15. At high altitudes, rotational speeds below 6000 rpm and ignition angles of 340–345 [CA°] were beneficial in reducing indicated specific fuel costs.

Effect of asymmetric fuel injection on combustion characteristics and NOx emissions of a hydrogen opposed rotary piston engine

Opposed rotary piston engines have the characteristics of high-power density and simple mechanisms. The applications of hydrogen fuel to internal combustion engines significantly are without carbon dioxide emission, alleviating the global warming. In this paper, hydrogen fuel was asymmetrically injected into combustion chambers to increase hydrogen penetration distance via; in the meantime, the engine performance and nitrogen monoxide (NO) emission with different ignition timing are explored by numerical simulation method. The symmetrical fuel injection scenario was provided as a baseline. In the scenarios of asymmetrical fuel injection, the engine had the best hydrogen injector position and ignition timing. Peak in-cylinder pressure Pmax reached 56.0 bar under ignition timing ti of −14.2° CA before top dead centre (bTDC) and hydrogen injector position (θ2) of 60.5°; in the meantime, heat loss rate HL and heat release rate Qr reached maximum values. Compared with the symmetric fuel injection engine, the peak NO emission of the asymmetric fuel injection engine was reduced by 15%. The proportions of energy loss by cylinder walls of asymmetric fuel injection engine were low and showed low dependency on ignition timing and hydrogen injector layout. Additionally, the asymmetric hydrogen injection structure makes hydrogen distribute evenly in the combustion chamber.

Effect of flow directions in the T-shaped tubes on the shock wave and spontaneous ignition of pressurized hydrogen

T-shaped tubes are widely used in the industry for the bifurcation of fluids. However, safety issues concerning the shock wave and spontaneous ignition resulting from the release of high-pressure hydrogen into T-shaped tubes are still challenging. That is because the flow direction of pressurized hydrogen can be different when we change the inlet of the T-shaped tube. In this paper, the effect of the flow directions in T-shaped tubes on the overpressure, shockwave, and spontaneous ignition is studied. Results show that differences in evolution of upstream pressure are not obvious even if the flow direction is different. But the flow features both in the trunk and branch pipeline downstream of the bifurcation point are significantly different, manifested in the shock wave’s velocity and the overpressure (shock-induced overpressure and maximum overpressure). The critical release pressure required for self-ignition is affected by the flow direction. When flow direction of the pressurized hydrogen can directly hit the wall in the T-shaped region, the critical release pressure is the lowest, even lower than that in the straight tube. However, the flame with another flow direction is unstable under the critical release pressure, which can sometimes induce the extinguishment. In addition, regardless of the different flow directions, the flame undergoes a reduction in intensity after the bifurcation and outside flames have similar evolutionary and morphological characteristics.

Numerical study on the shock evolution and the spontaneous ignition of high-pressure hydrogen during its sudden release into the tubes with different angles

High-pressure hydrogen storage is one of the best choices of hydrogen storage at present and in the future. However, the spontaneous ignition of high-pressure hydrogen release blocks its wide application. This paper further studies the shock evolution, temperature accumulation and spontaneous ignition inside the tubes with different angles by employing LES, RNG and EDC models, 10-step like opening process of burst disk and detailed hydrogen/air combustion mechanism. Four tubes with different angles (60, 90, 120 and 150°) are employed based on the previous experimental result. It is found that the smaller the angle of the tube, the greater the maximum pressure and temperature of the first shock reflection zone. And the maximum pressure and temperature of the second shock reflection zone is the highest inside the 90° angle tube. This is due to two shock reflection mechanisms inside the tubes: in acute angle tube, only the reflected hemispherical shock hits the inner wall of the tube corner, however, for non-acute tubes, both the reflected hemispherical shock and reflected normal shock hit the inner wall of the tube corner. In addition, it requires a longer time and a further distance to initiate the spontaneous ignition inside the tubes with larger angle. And the flame induced by the spontaneous ignition could move upstream steadily inside the 60° angle tube and the flame length increases with the release time to a maximum value of 21.44 mm.

Self-ignition of hydrogen jet due to interaction with obstacle in the obstructed space

The paper numerically studies the process of pressurized hydrogen release through a hole or a slit into a confined space filled with air. Based on the obtained results, three basic consequences of hydrogen release are demonstrated depending on the initial pressure of hydrogen and the distance to the obstacle: (i) hydrogen ignition before the interaction of the flow with the obstacle, (ii) hydrogen ignition after the flow interaction with the obstacle, (iii) jet flow without ignition. It is shown that ignition limits are wider when hydrogen is released through the slit compared to the case of hydrogen release through a small hole. A similar effect could be achieved by changing the geometry and volume of the vessel from which hydrogen is released. Results of this study can be applicable to the elaboration of hydrogen power engineering systems dedicated either to the combustion initiation or to the suppression of ignition of non-premixed hydrogen-air mixtures.

Spontaneous Ignition of Cryo-Compressed Hydrogen in a T-Shaped Channel System

Sudden releases of pressurised hydrogen may spontaneously ignite by the so-called “diffusion ignition” mechanism. Several experimental and numerical studies have been performed on spontaneous ignition for compressed hydrogen at ambient temperature. However, there is no knowledge of the phenomenon for compressed hydrogen at cryogenic temperatures. The study aims to close this knowledge gap by performing numerical experiments using a computational fluid dynamics model, validated previously against experiments at atmospheric temperatures, to assess the effect of temperature decrease from ambient 300 K to cryogenic 80 K. The ignition dynamics is analysed for a T-shaped channel system. The cryo-compressed hydrogen is initially separated from the air in the T-shaped channel system by a burst disk (diaphragm). The inertia of the burst disk is accounted for in the simulations. The numerical experiments were carried out to determine the hydrogen storage pressure limit leading to spontaneous ignition in the configuration under investigation. It is found that the pressure limit for spontaneous ignition of the cryo-compressed hydrogen at temperature 80 K is 9.4 MPa. This is more than 3 times larger than pressure limit for spontaneous ignition of 2.9 MPa in the same setup at ambient temperature of 300 K.

Measurement of Instantaneous Mass Flow Rate of Polypropylene Gasification Products in Airflow

A simple semi-empirical gas-dynamic approach for measuring the instantaneous mass flow rate of gasification products of low-melting solid material (polypropylene) in a flow-through gas generator with ambient-temperature air as gasifying agent is proposed. The approach is validated experimentally in the direct-connect facility allowing for the short-term (~0.5 s) heating of incoming air up to ~1700 K by hydrogen injection and ignition or by pyrotechnic charge activation. The application of the proposed method for processing experimental data for 9 (of over 100) selected typical test fires showed that the time-averaged total yield of polypropylene gasification products varied from 43 to 120 g/s, while the air-to-gasification product mass ratio was 2.3–2.9. The results of all conducted experiments confirm the applicability of the proposed approach for determining the mass flow rate of gasification products. The universality of the proposed approach is confirmed by applying two different schemes of gas generator: one with hydrogen ignition and another with pyro-charge ignition.

Combustion characteristics of hydrogen direct injection in a helium–oxygen compression ignition engine

The ignition of hydrogen in compression ignition (CI) engines by adding noble gas as a working gas can yield excellent thermal efficiency due to its high specific heat ratio. This paper emphasizes the potential of helium–oxygen atmosphere for hydrogen combustion in CI engines and provides data on the engine configuration. A simulation was conducted using Converge CFD software based on the Yanmar NF19SK engine parameters. Helium–oxygen atmosphere compression show promising hydrogen autoignition results with the in-cylinder temperature was significantly higher than that of air during the compression stroke. In a compression ignition engine with a low compression ratio (CR) and intake temperature, helium–oxygen atmosphere is recognized as the best working gas for hydrogen combustion. The ambient intake temperature was sufficient for hydrogen ignition in low CR with minimal heat flux effect. The best intake temperature for optimum engine efficiency in a low CR engine is 340 K and the engine compression ratio for optimum engine efficiency at ambient intake temperature is CR12 with an acceptable cylinder wall heat flux value. The helium–oxygen atmosphere as a working gas for hydrogen combustion in CI engines should be consider based on the parameter provided for clean energy transition with higher thermal efficiency.

Experimental and numerical investigation of a direct injection spark ignition hydrogen engine for heavy-duty applications

The H2 internal combustion engine is gaining increasing interest especially for commercial vehicles. Regarding the optimization of the combustion process, results of experimental investigations on a H2 heavy-duty single-cylinder engine in combination with numerical 3D-CFD investigations are presented. In addition to a Direct Injection (DI) Spark Ignited (SI) configuration, Port Fuel Injection (PFI) is explored to provide a reference with near homogeneous cylinder charge. The main objective is to assess a 3D-CFD-RANS framework based on ECFM and state-of-the art sub-models to describe the most important phenomena occurring in H2 spark ignition engines and to support the experimental analysis. Experimental results show that the PFI configuration provides efficiency and emissions benefits at the expense of volumetric efficiency. The proposed CFD model demonstrates the ability to successfully simulate different engine operating conditions for both PFI and DI systems. In particular, it is shown that the charge stratification typical for DI systems is not beneficial for the studied configuration as it increases wall heat losses and NOx formation.

Detailed chemical kinetics simulation of hydrogen hydrothermal combustion characteristics: Special effects of supercritical H2O/CO2 mixtures

Hydrothermal combustion of hydrogen is a key process in the H2O/CO2 mixed working medium thermal power generation polygeneration technology, a new coal utilization path. The flammability and stability of hydrogen hydrothermal combustion were evaluated using detailed chemical kinetics coupled with the chemical dynamics simulation method in this paper. The findings reveal that in supercritical water, pure hydrogen is difficult to burn; however, CO2 can dramatically reduce the ignition delay time and lower the critical ignition temperature of hydrogen. This is because free radicals produced by CO2 are actively involved in the chain-branching process of hydrogen oxidation, which promotes hydrogen ignition and combustion stability. Compared with gas combustion, hydrogen hydrothermal combustion has lower ignition temperature and can combust at lower parameters. Water is active in the reaction process, which produces the necessary free radicals for ignition, promotes combustion and influences the path of reaction, resulting in a relatively slow reaction rate.

A pressure-ratio equivalent method for ultra-high pressure hydrogen spontaneous ignition experiment

Increasing hydrogen storage pressure brings high economic benefits and high risks. Pressurized hydrogen leakage spontaneous ignition experiment is an important means to reveal the mechanism of hydrogen leakage spontaneous ignition and improve the safety of hydrogen storage equipment. However, due to the extremely high cost and danger of ultra-high pressure, there is a serious lack of experimental data. In this paper, a pressure-ratio equivalent (PRE) method of experiments is proposed based on the theory of the shock tube problem. By keeping the hydrogen-air pressure ratio constant while reducing the absolute pressure of air and hydrogen, the difficulty of the experiment is greatly reduced. The effectiveness of the PRE method is evaluated theoretically and experimentally. The results show the PRE method retains the ignition characteristics of hydrogen leakage spontaneous ignition largely when the air pressure is within 0.05–0.1 MPa. It is found the pressure ratio of hydrogen to air dominates the leakage spontaneous ignition process. In the experiments of different air pressures, the shock Mach numbers are close to theoretical values. In addition, leakage spontaneous ignition of hydrogen mixed with 30% (vol.) CO is found in experiments using the PRE method, with pressure ratios of up to 250. This indicates that when the storage pressure is high enough, there is also a risk of spontaneous ignition of syngas from high-pressure leakage. The PRE method can widely broaden the pressure scope of experimental research on leakage spontaneous ignition, and it provides a new idea for obtaining the experimental data of gas high-pressure leakage spontaneous ignition.

The features of ignition of hydrogen–methane and hydrogen–isobutene mixtures with oxygen over Rh and Pd at low pressures

The flammability limits of stoichiometric mixtures (20–80% H2 + 80–20% CH4) + O2 over Rh and Pd were determined in the pressure range 0–200 Torr and the temperature range 200–500 °C. It has been shown that the dark reaction in the mixture (80% H2 + 20% C4H8)stoich + O2 leads to the formation of carbon nanotubes with a mean diameter of 10–100 nm.

Multi-objective optimization of diesel engine performance, vibration and emission parameters employing blends of biodiesel, hydrogen and cerium oxide nanoparticles with the aid of response surface methodology approach

Recent surges in crude oil prices have motivated researchers to find an alternative sustainable fuel called biodiesel from various inedible oils with lower carbo impact on the environment. The research is performed in diesel engine fuelled with blends of biodiesel coupled with cerium oxide nanoparticles and hydrogen content so as to optimize various factors which are responsible for performance, vibration and emission characteristics. Multi-objective optimization is achieved by employing RSM which also examines prime input parameters (engine load, nanoparticle concentration, compression ratio, hydrogen blend percentage and ignition pressure) responsible in varying engine characteristics. Henceforth, blends of Water Hyacinth can be successfully applied in diesel engine with lower environmental impact and enhanced cost effectiveness. Experimentation is performed on the central composite rotating design (CCRD) matrix with 5-level factor. Engine load was applied between 0 and 100%, NPC varied between 0 and 80 ppm, CR ranges between 17 and 19, hydrogen blend percentage varies between 0 and 40% and at a maximum injection pressure of 240 bar. Pareto-optimal conditions achieved for input conditions of 28.68% biofuel blend, 87.88 engine load, 80 ppm NPC, compression ratio of 19 and 194.54 bar infusion pressure were BTE, BSEC, NOx, UBHC and vibration reduction are 33.57%, 0.2550, 461.3002 ppm vol., and 28.08 ppm vol. And 22.21%, respectively.