Fuel 275 (2020) 117824

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Fuel
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/fuel

Experimental investigation and numerical assessment the effects of EGR and T

hydrogen addition strategies on performance, energy and exergy
characteristics of a heavy-duty lean-burn NGSI engine
Junhao Qiaoa,b, Yangyang Lia,b, , Shuqian Wanga,b, Peng Wanga,b, Jingping Liub
⁎

a
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Design and Manufacturing for Vehicle Body, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China
b
Research Center for Advanced Powertrain Technologies, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Keywords: In order to investigate the influences of hydrogen addition and exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) strategies on
Natural gas-hydrogen performance, combustion, emissions, energy and exergy balance of a lean-burn and high compression ratio (CR)
99% methane content (13.6) natural gas spark ignition (NGSI) engine fueled with 99% methane content is tested on the engine bench
Hydrogen addition under different hydrogen contents. A corresponding 1D GT-Power simulation model is built and validated ac-
EGR strategy
cording to experimental data. In the first stage, both peak cylinder pressure (PCP) and peak heat release rate
Energy and exergy analysis
(HRR) increase with the hydrogen addition but decrease with increased EGR ratio. Besides, EGR addition will
retard the effect of various hydrogen contents on performance and combustion of the engine. In the second stage,
the NOx emissions increase with hydrogen enrichment but decrease with the increase of EGR rate due to the
variation of in-cylinder temperature, which emphasizes effective method of EGR addition strategies to reduce the
NOx emissions on the lean-burn NGSI engine fueled with natural gas-hydrogen (HNG). Finally, the change trends
of exergy terms are similar to their corresponding energy, but the percentages of heat transfer exergy and
exhaust exergy are about 7.05 and 2.61 times lower than their corresponding energy. Furthermore, the simu-
lation model and data in the paper can be applied to evaluate and optimize the energy distribution and per-
formance by changing different technologies, strategies and fuels in the future. What is more, the analysis of the
energy and exergy balance can provide a new thought for the future research to improve engine’s performance.

1. Introduction environmental protection, such as biofuels [5], compressed natural gas

(CNG) [6,7], hydrogen [8,9] and mixtures of hydrogen and methane
Nowadays, with the development of the automobile industry and [10–12]. Among the alternative fuels, the natural gas (NG) is utilized
the large growth of the population, both energy crisis and environ- widely in higher compression ratio (CR) engine, because of its high-
mental pollution are hot issues in traditional internal combustion en- octane number and better knock resistance, which can also improve the
gines (ICEs) research field. Due to the existence of environmental pol- energy conversion and brake thermal efficiency (BTE). What's more, the
lution and energy crisis, researchers and engineers are determined to NG is a clean and renewable energy source that produce lower in-cy-
develop alternative fuels to reduce exhaust emissions and save non- linder combustion temperature and NOx emissions, comparing to ga-
renewable resources [1–4]. In recent years, the alternative fuels are not soline and diesel fuels [13,14]. Moreover, the higher methane content
only used in public transportation filed, but will be also utilized in the has better performance than the lower one in NGSI engine, Chen et al.
automobile industry because of its energy conservation and [10] reported that NG engine with 99% methane content improves BTE

Abbreviations: ICEs, internal combustion engines; CNG, compressed natural gas; NG, natural gas; CR, compression ratio; BTE, brake thermal efficiency; NOx, nitric
oxide metabolite; NO, nitric oxide; CO, carbon monoxide; CO2, carbon dioxide; HC, hydrocarbon; SI, spark ignition; HCN, compression natural gas-hydrogen; HNG,
natural gas-hydrogen; HNNG, natural gas-hydrogen mixtures; NGSI, natural gas spark ignition; LNG, liquefied natural gas; Fig, figure; ECU, electronic control unit;
HRR, heat release rate; TDC, top dead center; CI, compression ignition; LMG, liquefied methane gas; IMEP, indicated mean effective pressure; BMEP, brake mean
effective pressure; PMEP, pumping mean effective pressure; FMEP, friction mean effective pressure; Eq, equation; ITE, indicated thermal efficiency; SITurb, Spark-
Ignition Turbulent; PCP, peak cylinder pressure; MPRR, maximum pressure rising rate; EER, effective expansion ratio; EEE, effective expansion efficiency; SOC, start
of combustion; EOC, end of combustion; EBSFC, equivalent BSFC; ETE, equivalent thermal value; EBTE, equivalent brake thermal efficiency
⁎
Corresponding author at: State Key Laboratory of Advanced Design and Manufacturing for Vehicle Body, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, China.
E-mail addresses: 982807258@qq.com, lyy025930@163.com (Y. Li).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2020.117824
Received 14 January 2020; Received in revised form 2 March 2020; Accepted 7 April 2020
0016-2361/ © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
J. Qiao, et al. Fuel 275 (2020) 117824

and generates lower pressure rise rate than that of the NG engine with increase of EGR rate but the cycle-by-cycle variations of IMEP shows a
93% methane content, and the similar work is listed in our related work slight increasing trend.
[3]. Apart from that, Duan et al. [15] showed that higher methane However, there is still a drawback in these studies that the focus of
content has higher laminar flame speed due to its higher methane those paper is the performance and emissions of NGSI engine with
concentration. hydrogen and EGR addition strategies, but the energy balance and ex-
Nevertheless, there are some defects of NG need to be considered ergy of engine is rarely considered, which is the key to study the main
that the lower flame propagation speed of NG results in longer com- reasons for the heat-work conversion efficiency and energy conversion
bustion duration which will influence laminar flame speed and retard process. From this point of view, Yuksel et al. [37] studied the effect of
combustion process. Besides, the temperature of auto-ignition is high, hydrogen addition strategy on performance and energy balance char-
which affects in-cylinder combustion process [16]. Therefore, adding acteristics of SI engine (CR 10), the results indicated that the use of
another fuel in NG is a good way to improve the performance. Among hydrogen addition is profitable to reduce the heat transfer loss and fuel
alternative fuels, the hydrogen is considered as the most appropriate consumption except the exhaust energy loss. Ozcan et al. [38] studied
fuel due to its zero emissions and higher combustion speed. Facing this the effects of hydrogen addition and air-fuel ratio strategies on exergy
problems, much research on the effect of mixed fuels on performance of balance of liquefied natural gas (LNG) engine (CR 10.5), the results
engine has been carried out. In terms of flame speed of hydrogen ad- showed that the exergy efficiency increases with the increase hydrogen
dition on mixed fuels, Duan et al. [17] depicted that among all fuel addition but combustion efficiency decreases with increase of hydrogen
additives, hydrogen is considered one of the best choices because of its contents under the lean-burn combustion. Gharehghani et al. [39]
higher laminar burning velocity, wider lean-burn limit, larger diffu- studied the thermal balance and performance of a turbocharged gas SI
sivity in air, smaller quenching gap and lower ignition energy, and the engine (CR 9.8) for different speeds and loads, and on this basis, the
similar conclusion is showed in [18]. Huang et al. [19] studied the effects of gasoline or NG on the energy and exergy balance as well as
effects of hydrogen addition on in-cylinder flame speed in a constant the performance of spark ignition engine are experimentally in-
volume bomb, the results showed that laminar burning speed increased vestigated under full load condition [40]. The experimental study on
obviously with the increase of hydrogen content share, and Hu et al. thermal balance of high compression ratio engine (CR 12.6) fueled with
[20] also carried out an experimental and numerical study on laminar liquefied methane gas by Zhou et al. [41] reported that the proportions
burning characteristics of premixed methane-hydrogen-air mixture. The of indicated work in high-pressure cycle, exhaust energy and heat
similar work is still done in recent years [21]. As for the performance of transfer are mainly affected by engine speed. Moreover, they found that
multi-fuel engine, Karim et al. [22] presented that hydrogenation en- there is a certain improvement room for the thermodynamic process
richment could reduce emissions and improve BTE. Besides, the in- under low-speed conditions as well as the friction and pumping loss
crease of the hydrogenation ratio led to the advancement of the optimal under high-speed conditions.
spark timing. Huang et al. [23,24] investigated the hydrogen addition The above studies have demonstrated the utilization of hydrogen
strategies on the performance and emissions characteristics of a spark addition in NGSI engines is conducive to improving laminar flame
ignition (SI) engine fueled with compression natural gas-hydrogen speed and accelerating combustion process as well as the use of EGR
(HCN). The results showed that 10% of the hydrogen content share is addition can decrease maximum cylinder temperature, reduce the toxic
the optimal value to get lower NOx emissions, attain the highest value exhaust emissions, and suppress the knocking combustion in engine
of the peak cylinder pressure and peak heat release rate under lean with HNGG. In addition, the authors referred to lots of literatures and
excessive air ratio. Meanwhile, Zhang et al. [25] presented the influ- datum, but still failed to find a similar study about the analysis of the
ences of different hydrogen content share on combustion characteristics effects of EGR and hydrogen addition strategies on combustion, per-
of ICE with HCN mixtures under different excess air ratio, and the si- formance and emissions of a higher CR NGSI engine let alone on the
milar work was conducted in literature [26]. Karim et al. [22] reported energy or exergy balance of hydrogen-enriched NGSI engine coupled
that both NOx emissions and BTE increased but HC, CO and CO2 with different EGR ratio. Thus, in this paper, the effects of the hydrogen
emissions decreased with the increase of hydrogen content share. And and EGR addition strategies on the combustion, performance, emissions
the similar conclusions are conducted in Ref. [27]. and energy or exergy balance are thoroughly investigated on NGSI
In summary, hydrogen addition can offset the poor combustion engine fueled with HNG. In the first stage, a heavy-duty higher CR
process of natural gas, which improve the flame propagation speed, (13.6) lean-burn NGSI engine is tested on the engine bench, and then
reduce the ignition delay, and improve the PCP and the peak HRR. But the corresponding 1D GT-Power simulation model is built and validated
it also results in knocking combustion, pinging sound [28] and higher according to the experimental data. In the second stage, the detailed
NOx emissions because of higher maximum combustion temperature. analysis is conducted on combustion, performance, emissions and en-
Therefore, how to reduce NOx emissions in engine fueled with HCN ergy or exergy balance of the lean-burn NGSI engine with HNGG under
becomes one of the difficult problems needed to solve. different EGR rates. From this viewpoint, this study is quite different
For solving above problems, the EGR techniques is employed that from the previous studies in the research object (a heavy-duty higher
effectively influence the combustion temperature and emissions of the CR NGSI engine under different EGR rates and hydrogen additions),
engine because of its thermal, diluent, and chemical effects [29–31]. fuel (99% methane content), research approach (combustion, perfor-
Correlative researches show that the EGR strategies can significantly mance, emissions, energy and exergy balance analysis). Furthermore,
reduce emissions and increase BTE on the engines of natural gas-hy- the simulation model and data in the paper can be applied to evaluate
drogen mixtures (HNGG) [32]. Su et al. [33] reported that the use of and optimize the energy distribution and performance by changing
EGR not only decreases the NOx emissions formation, reduces pump different technologies, strategies and fuels in the future. What is more,
loss and improves BTE but also suppresses knocking during combustion the analysis of the energy and exergy balance can provide a new
process. Li et al. [34] conducted experiments to investigate the thermal thought for the future research to improve engine’s performance.
and diluent effects of various contents of EGR on a heavy-duty natural
gas SI (NGSI) engine. The results showed that each content of EGR 2. Test engine and method
displays different influences on natural gas combustion and NOx
emissions formation rates. Ibrahim’s research [35] showed that EGR 2.1. Test platform and experimental apparatus
strategy could reduce NOx emissions and its extent of decrease is about
50% when using appropriate EGR rate. Besides, in terms of cycle-to- To study the effects of hydrogen addition and EGR strategies on
cycle variations, in related work [36], the results showed that the mean performance, emissions, energy and exergy balance of a lean-burn NGSI
value of indicated mean effective pressure (IMEP) decreases with the engine, a high CR (13.6) NGSI engine fueled with 99% methane content

2
J. Qiao, et al. Fuel 275 (2020) 117824

was tested on the engine bench under different hydrogen contents. And Table 2
the schematic diagram of the engine bench is listed in figure (Fig). 1. Property of NGSI engine.
The tested engine system consists of fuel supply system (including Item Content
higher content NG tank, hydrogen tank, mass flow meter, control
valve), electronic control system (such as electronic control unit (ECU) Engine type In-line six-cylinder, four stroke
Work mode Spark timing, port injection
1 that controls the amount of NG and hydrogen and the ECU 2 that
Displacement (L) 9.726
controls spark timing, throttle value, and other controlling parameters), Bore (mm) 126
signal processing system (including the charge amplifier, crank angle Stroke (mm) 130
calculator and combustion analyzer), test equipment (such as the Connecting rod length (mm) 219
electric dynamometer, coolant system, fuel system and emissions Compression ratio (–) 13.6
Maximum torque (N.m)/Speed (r/min) 1350/1400
meter) and so on. Among these equipment, the combustion analyzer is
Rated power (kW)/Speed (r/min) 250/2200
necessary to obtain the in-cylinder pressure, HRR and temperature and Aspiration mode Turbocharged, intercooled
then the combustion parameters (such as 50% combustion position and Fuel type Natural gas and hydrogen
10–90% burning duration) are calculated through the cumulative heat
release rate which is sum of HRR. Besides, the NOx, HC and CO emis-
sions are measured in the emissions meter. In order to ensure the va- Table 3
lidity of the data, the sensor’s precision was recalibrated regularly Properties of fuel type. Data given at 300 K and 1 atm.
based on the calibration manual and then the accuracy of the facilities Items NG with 99% methane Hydrogen [42]
and sensors were in good conditions and precision during the experi- content [3]
ments. The specifications of main instruments and equipment used in
Molecular weight (g/mol) 16.04 2.016
this experiment are listed in Table 1. Density (kg/m3) 0.65 0.08
The property of NGSI engine is listed in Table 2, whose injection Methane (%) 99.68 0
mode is port injection and the engine has one intake valve and one Ethane (%) 0.0297 0
exhaust valve. And the main features of the fuel types (NG with 99% Propane (%) 0.003 0
Octane number (–) 139 130
methane content and hydrogen) are shown in Table 3. The NG is spe-
Auto ignition temperature (°C) 540 585
cially made by physical purification method and then stored in a high Mass diffusivity in air (cm2/s) 0.16 0.61
pressure (20 MPa) steel cylinder because of safety, and the content of Minimum quenching distance 2.03 0.64
methane is up to 99.68% (simplified as 99%). In addition, the hydrogen (mm)
has the higher combustion speed and higher heating value than NG as Laminar burning velocity in air 0.4 2.9–3.5
(m/s)
well as lower quenching distance. Lower heating value (MJ/kg) 50 120
Stoichiometric air-to-fuel ratio (–) 17.12 34.3

2.2. Experimental procedure

Table 4
The tested conditions are shown in Table 4 which is used for vali- Description of test conditions of NGSI engine with 99% methane content.
dating the simulation model. As shown in Table 4, the lean-burn higher Boundary conditions Operating conditions
CR NGSI engine (13.6) operates under a medium load (brake mean
effective pressure (BEMP) 6.05 bar) at 1400 r/min. The fuel is NG with Case 1 Case 2
99% methane content and HNG with 5% mass content hydrogen, re-
Speed (r/min) 1400 1400
spectively. The engine coolant temperature is kept at 88 ± 2 °C by the BMEP (bar) 6.05 6.05
coolant control system, and the lambda is controlled at 1.18 by ECU 2 Fuels NG with 99% NG with 99% methane
under the lean combustion conditions. Furthermore, the intake air methane content content and Hydrogen
temperature is controlled at 30 °C through the central air conditioning Fuel temperature (K) 300 ± 5 300 ± 5
Compression ratio (-) 13.6 13.6
Spark timing (°CA bTDC) 26 25.5
Table 1 Lambda (–) 1.18 1.18
The main specifications of instruments and equipment [3]. Hydrogen content share 0 5%
Instruments Type Precision
/Resolution
system (as shown in Fig. 1). During the test, the mass flow of HNG with
Dynamometer Xiangyi 380KW electronic Torque: ± 0.2%F.S 5% mass content hydrogen is controlled by ECU 1 according to the
dynamometer Speed: ± 2 rpm
hydrogen injection MAP (as shown in Fig. 2). Most importantly, the
Combustion analyzer AVL-INDISET ADVANCED –
PLUS NGSI engine is kept at steady state for a while before sampling the
Exhaust gas analyzer HORIBA MEXA-584L NOX:1 ppm emissions and collecting the data to decrease the test error.
HC:1 ppm
CO:0.01% vol
Cylinder pressure sensor Kistler 6056A ± 0.6%F.S
2.3. Data processing
Amplifier Kistler 5018 0.01 V
Natural gas flow meter TOCEIL CMF025 ± 0.35% 2.3.1. Energy balance
Lambda meter ETAS Lambda Meter ± 0.001 It is treated that NGSI engine is a control volume in order to better
Crank angle calculator 4CA1.01 ± 0.1 °CA
calculate the energy terms of energy balance. As it can be seen from
Exhaust gas temperature K-type thermocouple ± 1.5 °C
sensor Fig. 3, the total fuel energy is divided into combustion loss, indicated
Intake temperature sensor Pt100 ± 0.15 °C work, exhaust energy, heat transfer energy and unaccounted losses.
Coolant Temperature Pt100 ± 0.15 °C Besides, the indicated work is consisted of pumping loss, friction loss
Temperature calibration Fluke 9173 ± 0.005 °C and brake work.
instrument
Pressure calibration Fluke 718 300G ± 0.001 bar
The energy balance for NGSI engine can be listed as follows:
instrument
Qf uel = W indicated + (Qexhaust - Qair ) + Qcooling + Qcombustion + Qr (1)

3
J. Qiao, et al. Fuel 275 (2020) 117824

Fig. 1. The schematic diagram of engine bench.

Fig. 3. The transfer pathway of vehicle energy flow.

Qf uel = mF lowH2 . LHVH2 + mF lowNG . LHVNG (3)

where mF lowH2 , mF lowNG refers to the mass flow of hydrogen and NG with
99% methane content, respectively; LHVH2 , LHVNG refers to the lower
Fig. 2. The calibration MAP formation of hydrogen injection mass [3]. heat value of the hydrogen and NG with 99% methane content, re-
spectively.
The indicated power of NGSI engine can be calculated based on the
W indicated = W shaft + Qpumping + Q friction (2)
Eqs. (4) and (5); and the indicated thermal efficiency (ITE) and BTE of
where Qf uel is the total fuel energy; W indicated is indicated power of NGSI engine is calculated on Eqs. (6) and (7), respectively.
NGSI engine; W shaft is the brake output power after flywheel; Qexhaust is 180°CA
pdV
exhaust gas energy; Qcooling is heat transfer energy; Qcombustion is the in- IMEP = 180°CA

complete combustion loss of fuel; Qpumping is the pumping loss; Qfriction is Vs (4)
the friction loss; and Qr is the unaccounted losses. IMEP ·VS· N · i
The total fuel energy can be calculated based on the Eq. (3). Windicated =
30· (5)

4
J. Qiao, et al. Fuel 275 (2020) 117824

W indicated Qf uel Qcombustion

ITE = =
(6)
combustion_efficiency
Qf uel Qf uel (22)

Wshaft where refers to lambda; 0 refers to the stoichiometric air-fuel fuel

BTE = ratio; CO and HC refer to the volume fraction of CO, and HC, re-
Qf uel (7)
spectively; MCO and MHC refer to the molar mass of CO and HC, re-
wherepis the instantaneous in-cylinder pressure; Vs is the cylinder dis- spectively; Hu , CO andHu , HC refer to the low heating value of CO and
placement; N is the engine speed; i is the cylinder number; is the HC, respectively; combustion is the ratio of combustion loss to the total
stroke number. fuel energy; combustion_efficiency is combustion efficiency.
The pumping loss and its proportion are calculated based on the Unaccounted losses consist of the radiation and convection loss of
Eqs. (8), (9) and (10). engine surface, heat transfer to outside ambient and system storage heat
in NGSI engine [43]. As shown in this paper, Qr is calculated by the
180°CA 360°CA
360°CA
pdV + 180°CA
pdV difference between total energy and the sum of the other energy. The
PMEP = unaccounted losses and its proportion in total fuel energy are calculated
Vs (8)
based on the Eqs. (23) and (24) [41].
PMEP ·VS·N ·i
Qpumping = Qr = Qf uel - W indicated - (Qexhaust - Qair ) - Qcooling - Qcombustion (23)
30· (9)

Qpumping Qr
r =
pumping = Qf uel (24)
Qf uel (10)

The friction loss and its proportion are calculated based on the Eqs.
2.3.2. Exergy balance
(11), (12) and (13).
It is important to analyze the main reasons and contents of the
FMEP = IMEP - PMEP - BMEP (11) wasted fuel energy in engine by investigating the exergy balance. As it
can be seen from Fig. 4, the total exergy is consisted of heat transfer
FMEP ·VS·N ·i
Qfriction = exergy, exhaust exergy, brake work and destructed exergy and the ex-
30· (12)
ergy balance is listed as follows.
Q friction T0
friction = EXfuel + EXin Wshaft EXe x + 1 ·Qcooing EXr = 0
Qf uel (13) Tj (25)
The heat transfer energy and its proportion are calculated based on where EXfuel refers to total fuel exergy; Wshaft refers to the brake output
the Eqs. (14), and (15). power, and EX ex is exhaust gas exergy; EXin is the intake air exergy;
Qc ooling = mc ooling ·CP _cooling · Tcooling (14) (1 ) · Q T0
Tj cooing is heat transfer exergy; Tj refers to the absolute tem-
perature; EXr is the destructed exergy.
Qc ooling The total fuel exergy and intake air exergy are calculated based on
c ooling =
Qf uel (15) Eqs. (26) and (27), respectively [44].

where mcooling refers to the mass flow rate of coolant liquid; CP _cooling EXfuel = (1.0401 + 0.1728 × 1/3) × Qfuel (26)
refers to heat capacity of the coolant liquid; Tcooling is the temperature
difference between the inlet and output of NGSI engine; cooling is the EXin = mair CP1 T1 T0 T0·ln
T1
+ R· T0·ln
P1
ratio of heat transfer loss to the total fuel energy. T0 P0 (27)
The exhaust energy and its proportion are calculated based on the
Eqs. (16), (17), (18) and (19). The exhaust exergy and its proportion are calculated based on Eqs.
(28) and (29).
mexhaust = mair + mF lowNG + mF lowH2 (16)
EX ex = mex haust [(hexhaust h0) T0 (Sexhaust S0)] (28)
Qexhaust = mexhaust ·CP _exhaust ·Texhaust (17)
EXex
exhaust_exergy =
Qair = mair ( hair + wair · h H2 o ) (18) EXfuel + EXin (29)
where h is specific enthalpy; S refers to the specific entropy; CP1 is the
Qexhaust - Qair
exhaust = constant pressure specific heat; T1 and p1 refers to the temperature and
Qf uel (19) pressure and subscript 0 is the dead state where the temperature and
where mexhaust refers to the mass flow rate of the exhaust gas; CP_exhaust pressure are given as 304 K and 101.315 kPa respectively [44,45];
refers to heat capacity of the exhaust gas; Texhaust is the exhaust gas
temperature; mair refers to the mass flow rate of intake air; hair refers
to the difference of air enthalpy in standard conditions, wair is the re-
lative humidity and h H2 o is the increment of water enthalpy [24,25];
exhaust is the ratio of exhaust gas energy to the total fuel energy.
The combustion loss and its efficiency are calculated based on the
Eqs. (20), (21) and (22). [27].
Qcombustion = ( CO·MCO·Hu, CO + HC ·MHC ·Hu, HC )·m fuel ·(1 + 0)/28.9
(20)

Qcombustion
combustion =
Qf uel (21) Fig. 4. The transfer pathway of vehicle exergy flow.

5
J. Qiao, et al. Fuel 275 (2020) 117824

exhaust_exergy is the ratio of exhaust exergy to the total fuel energy and air based on the PID controlling module, meanwhile, the throttle value of
energy [44]. 1D NGSI engine is calibrated according to the measured flow coefficient
The proportion of heat transfer and brake output work are calcu- data that obtained in the bench test. The injector module is used to
lated based on the Eqs. (30) and (31), respectively. simulate the target hydrogen content share in the hydrogen and NG
T0 with 99% methane content blends by entering some important in-
(1 )· Qcooing
Tj formation, such as the properties of fuel type and mass content. The
=
cooling_exergy
EXfuel + EXin (30) EGR system (including EGR valve, pipe and corresponding control
module) is employed to model different EGR ratios in this 1D model. As
=
Wshaft shown in Eq. (34), the EGR ratio is defined as the percentage of the
efficiency
EXfuel + EXin (31) recirculated exhaust gas in total mixture gas which includes the fresh
air and fuel in GT-Power software. Finally, some detailed boundary
The destructed exergy is calculated by the difference between total
conditions are the important factors to ensure the operation of 1D GT-
exergy and the sum of the effective work of NGSI engine, exhaust gas
Power model and accurate simulation results, which contains geometry
exergy and the exergy of coolant fluid. The destructed loss and its
parameters, controlling parameters, temperature, pressure and mass
proportion are calculated on Eqs. (32) and (33).
flow boundary conditions as well as performance parameters. The de-
T0 tailed boundary conditions are shown in Table 5.
EXr = EXfuel + EXin Wshaft EX e x (1 )·Qcooing
Tj (32)
mF low_EGR
EGR (%) = × 100
EXr mF low_EGR + mF low_air + mF low_fuel (34)
destructed_exergy =
EXfuel + EXin (33)
where mFlow_EGR , mFlow_air , mFlow_fuel refers to the mass flow rate of EGR,
intake air and fuel.
3. 1D simulation model setup and validation
3.2. GT-power 1D simulation validation
3.1. 1D GT-Power simulation model setup
After developing the 1D GT-Power engine model, it is necessary to
In this paper, the commercial vehicle simulation software (GT-Suite validate the simulation results by two cases (as shown in Table 4). Since
of Gamma Technologies® (v2016, Gamma Technologies, LLC., the in-cylinder temperature, heat transfer energy, IMEP and its con-
Westmont, IL, USA, 2016)) is applied to simulate a higher CR lean-burn version output power and pumping mean effective pressure (PMEP) are
NGSI engine fueled with/without hydrogen addition and coupled with heavily relied on the in-cylinder pressure and HRR, therefore, the in-
the high pressure (HP) EGR configuration whose schematic diagram is cylinder pressure and HRR are the crucial parameters to validate the
listed in Fig. 5. The detailed one-dimensional (1D) GT-Power simulation simulation results. Fig. 7 and Fig. 8 shows the in-cylinder pressure and
model is depicted in Fig. 6 based on the schematic diagram of tested HRR between the simulated and measured data with/without hydrogen
NGSI engine without EGR system (as shown in Fig. 1) and schematic addition. It can be seen form Fig. 7 and Fig. 8 that, the simulated in-
diagram of the HP EGR configuration (as shown in Fig. 5). In order to cylinder pressure and HRR are generally consistent with the experi-
clearly simulate the in-cylinder flow process, the Spark-Ignition Tur- mental data. The maximum relative error between the simulated and
bulent Flame Combustion Model (SITurb) is implemented in the cy- measured data of in-cylinder pressure is 4.5% and 4%, respectively, in
linder of this 1D model, which is used to predict the in-cylinder burn SI engine fueled with HNG with 0 and 5% mass content. Besides, the
rate, and knocking occurrence for spark-ignited engines. Furthermore, maximum relative error between the simulated and measured data of
the model is capable of handling both homogeneous and stratified fuel HRR is 3.9% and 2.3%, respectively, in SI engine fueled with HNG with
versus air mixtures and the flame-wall interactions which are calculated 0 and 5% mass content. In addition, Table 6 clearly shows the com-
based on detailed cylinder geometry. The simulation results presented a parison between the GT-Power 1D key simulation results and the ex-
good evaluation of the spark kernel development and the late turbu- perimental data. Thus, the 1D GT-Power model can be considered as a
lence flame after tuning some key controlling multipliers, such as the very useful tool to accurately predict the performance, combustion, and
flame kernel growth multiplier, turbulent flame speed multiplier, emissions characteristics of NGSI engine that can be utilized to explore
Taylor length scale multiplier and dilution effect multiplier [43]. Be- the effects of EGR, hydrogen addition strategies on performance, energy
sides, the extended Zeldovich mechanism is adopted in the cylinder to and exergy characteristics of a heavy-duty lean-burn NGSI engine
calculate the NOx emissions by adjusting the controlling multipliers in fueled with 99% methane content.
GT-Power software. Meanwhile, the CO emissions is also determined by
the controlling multipliers in GT-Power software.
3.3. GT-power 1D simulation cases setup
There are control modules developed in GT-Power software to si-
mulate the real engine in reality. First, the throttle value is used to
Based on the well-calibrated case 1 and case 2 without EGR, then
control the load of the 1D NGSI engine to maintain at a certain BMEP
the EGR system is activated by setting the corresponding value, where
the EGR ratios ranges from 0% to 20% under different hydrogen ad-
dition. The hydrogen mass content is changing from 0 to 10% in five
steps. Besides, the other boundaries are the same in other cases, the
simulation cases are listed in the Table 7.

4. Results and discussions

4.1. Effects of hydrogen contents and various EGR ratio on combustion

characteristic

As one can see in Fig. 9 and Fig. 10 that the variations of in-cylinder
pressure, HRR, mean in-cylinder temperature and cumulative heat re-
Fig. 5. The schematic diagram of HP EGR configuration. lease against crank angle on the NGSI engine with different hydrogen

6
J. Qiao, et al. Fuel 275 (2020) 117824

Fig. 6. The schematic diagram of detailed 1D GT-Power simulation model in tested engine.

Table 5
The detailed boundary conditions of 1D GT-Power model.
Item Component/Module Value

Geometry parameters Pipe Length/Diameter/Spatial position/Bend/Installation location

Cylinder Bore/Stroke/Compression ratio
Intake and exhaust valve Diameter/Profiles
Controlling parameters Cylinder Spark ignition order/Injection timing/Combustion duration/Spark timing/Lambda
Valve system Valve timing
Performance parameters – Speed/Torque/Brake power/The BSFC/Brake specific fuel consumption
Boundary conditions Valve system Temperature/Pressure/Mass flow

addition without EGR addition and at 20% EGR rate, respectively. As slightly while the PCP and cumulative heat release has little variation
shown in Fig. 9, the results show that both in-cylinder pressure and the with the increase of hydrogen content at the condition of 20% EGR rate,
maximum HRR increases obviously as well as the angle of maximum comparing to those of Fig. 9. These are owing to the following two
HRR moves towards the top dead center (TDC) with the increase of reasons. On one hand, for a given EGR rate less than 20%, the laminar
hydrogen contents without the use of EGR. Besides, maximum in-cy- burning speed of hydrogen is faster than this of NG with 99% methane
linder temperature and cumulative heat release rise rate increases lin- content (as shown in Table 2), which can strengthen flame propagation
early with the increase of hydrogen addition. However, it can be seen speed and optimize combustion progress that will improve the PCP and
from the Fig. 10 that the HRR and in-cylinder temperature increases the HRR as well as improve the in-cylinder temperature and cumulative

Fig. 7. Comparison of in-cylinder pressure and HRR between the simulated and measured data (without hydrogen).

7
J. Qiao, et al. Fuel 275 (2020) 117824

Fig. 8. Comparison of in-cylinder pressure and HRR between the simulated and measured data (HNG with 5% mass content).

Table 6 influenced by the highly directed swirl motion. On the other hand, with
1D key simulation results vs. experiment data. the increase of EGR rate, the utilization of EGR will absorb combustion
Items Case 1 Case 2
heat and decrease laminar burning speed that hinders the flame pro-
pagation speed and retards combustion process, resulting in the de-
Operating parameters Experiment Simulation Experiment Simulation crease of in-cylinder temperature, compared with the Fig. 9 (b) and
Fig. 10 (b). The similar conclusions are presented in Ref. [48]. Conse-
Hydrogen content share 0 0 5 5
(%)
quently, dual effects of above factors result in little variation between
Speed (r/min) 1400 1400 1400 1400 the in-cylinder pressure and HRR with the increased hydrogen fraction
BMEP (bar) 6.05 6.08 6.05 6.05 under the higher EGR ratio.
Brake power (KW) 70.9 71.2 70.9 70.9 Fig. 11 presents the effect of EGR strategy on ignition delay period
Air mass flow (kg/h) 291.9 292.18 285.12 286.17
under different hydrogen contents. It can be concluded that the ignition
Fuel mass flow (kg/h) 14.46 14.46 14.11 14.12
BSFC (g/kwh) 204.21 209.11 200.00 202.15 delay period prolongs with the increase of the EGR ratio under the
Spark timing (°CA bTDC) 26 26 25.5 25.5 constant hydrogen addition, while the higher hydrogen content will
50% combustion location 14.7 14.2 13.0 12.5 shorten ignition delay period but it has little effect at the higher EGR
(°CA) rate. The reason is that both the PCP and maximum HRR increase
Peak combustion pressure 4.732 4.807 5.015 4.945
(PCP) (MPa)
meanwhile their location are closer to TDC (as shown in Fig. 9 and
Location of PCP (°CA) 14.8 14.3 11.7 11.2 Fig. 10) because of faster laminar burning speed with hydrogen addi-
NOX emissions (ppm) 830 1009 1815 1745 tion and poor flame propagation speed with EGR strategy during
CO emissions (ppm) 700 543 690 759 combustion process.
HC emissions (ppm) 91 484 80 413
Fig. 12 states the variation of the PCP, maximum pressure rising rate
(MPRR) and the angle of the PCP and the MPRR with various hydrogen
contents at different EGR rates. As one can see in Fig. 12 (a) and (b) that
Table 7
as stated earlier, the PCP is decreased with the increase of the EGR rate
GT-Power 1D simulation case setup.
but increased with the increase of hydrogen contents, while the angle of
Items Case 1 Case 2 Case 3 Case 4 Case 5 PCP is closer to TDC with the decrease of hydrogen contents for a given
Hydrogen content share 0 2 5 8 10
EGR rate, and the difference between the minimum and maximum
(%) value of hydrogen contents first ascends and then descends with the rise
Speed (r/min) 1400 1400 1400 1400 1400 of EGR ratio. In addition, the difference is appeared at 10% EGR rate
BMEP (bar) 6.05 6.05 6.05 6.05 6.05 and its value is 1.02 °CA. Fig. 12 (c) shows that the MPRR decreases
Compression ratio (–) 13.6 13.6 13.6 13.6 13.6
firstly with hydrogen addition at the range of the 0–15% EGR ratio but
Ambient pressure (bar) 1 1 1 1 1
Ambient temperature (k) 302 302 302 302 302 increases slightly with the rise of the EGR ratio, therefore, both the
EGR ratio 0/5/10/ 0/5/10/ 0/5/10/ 0/5/10/ 0/5/10/ noise and knock trend are reduced. As depicted in Fig. 12 (d), the hy-
15/20 15/20 15/20 15/20 15/20 drogen enrichment has little effect on the angle of MPRR with the
improvement of the EGR. Besides, the angle of the MPRR first ascends
and then descends with the augment of EGR ratio and the maximum
position appears at 10% EGR rate under the same hydrogen contents.
heat release rise rate during the combustion process. In addition, si-
In summary, the results suggest that hydrogen addition can improve
milar phenomenon has been verified by Ref. [3,12], Liu et al. [12] also
in-cylinder pressure, HRR, in-cylinder temperature and cumulative heat
reported that the larger hydrogen contents would lead to the higher in-
release, and shorten ignition delay period, which is mainly because
cylinder pressure and mean in-cylinder temperature. Chen et al. [46]
hydrogen enrichment accelerates flame propagation speed and pro-
reported that the velocity fields of early flame propagation were sig-
motes combustion process because of its higher laminar burning speed.
nificantly affected by in-cylinder air flow, the flame speed showed good
On the contrary, the use of EGR will reduce the effect of various hy-
correlations with the pressure-derived results such as 5% of total heat
drogen contents which retards the flame propagation speed and dete-
release and peak pressure, and D.L.S et al. [47] also presented the si-
riorates combustion process effectively. Last but not the least, the effect
milar conclusion by an experimental study on early flame development,
of hydrogen addition is reduced with the introduction of the exhaust
the results showed that the early flame development was strongly

8
J. Qiao, et al. Fuel 275 (2020) 117824

Fig. 9. In-cylinder pressure, HRR, in-cylinder temperature, cumulative heat release vs. crank angle under different hydrogen contents (without EGR).

gas and will be reduced to zero/negative at the EGR rate more than
20%.

4.2. Effects of hydrogen contents and various EGR ratio on performance

characteristic

To quantitatively analyze the effects of EGR and hydrogen addition

on thermodynamic progress and performance of NGSI engine with
HNGG, the concept of effective expansion ratio (EER) [49] and effective
expansion efficiency (EEE) [3] is used in this paper. The EER is obtained
through analyzing the measured instantaneous HRR and the corre-
sponding instantaneous expansion ratio from the start of combustion
(SOC) to the end of combustion (EOC) according to Eqs. (35) and (36).
And then the EEE is calculated as follows.
EOC
HRR ( )·ER ( )· d
SOC
EER = EOC
HRR ( )·d
SOC (35)

ER ( ) = VBDC / V (36) Fig. 11. Ignition delay under different hydrogen contents and EGR rate.

EOC
1 position φ; γ refers to gas constant.
EEE = HRR ( )· 1 - ·d
SOC
ER ( ) -1
(37) Fig. 13 shows the variation of 50% combustion position, 10–90%
combustion duration, EER and EEE of the higher CR lean burn NGSI
where ER (φ) is instantaneous expansion ratio; HRR (φ) is in- engine fueled with HNG under different EGR ratios. As shown in Fig. 13
stantaneous HRR; VBDC is instantaneous cylinder volume with piston at (a) that the 50% combustion position is closer to the TDC with the
bottom dead center; Vφ is instantaneous cylinder volume at crank angle

Fig. 10. In-cylinder pressure, HRR, in-cylinder temperature, cumulative heat release vs. crank angle under different hydrogen contents (20% EGR rate).

9
J. Qiao, et al. Fuel 275 (2020) 117824

Fig. 12. PCP, MPRR and the angle of the PCP and the MPRR under different hydrogen contents and EGR rate.

increase of hydrogen contents at the same EGR rate but postpones with the change trend of EER and EEE (as shown in Fig. 13 (c) and Fig. 13
the increase of EGR rate. Besides, the effect of hydrogen addition on (d)) is contrary to the combustion parameters (including the 50%
50% combustion position will decrease with the increase of EGR ratio. combustion position and 10–90% combustion duration), moreover, the
For example, the 50% combustion position increases from 11.7 °CA to change trend is the same between the EER and EEE. For example, at 0%
25.1 °CA without the hydrogen addition when the EGR rate is increased EGR rate, the maximum EER is 9.9 at 10% hydrogen content and is 0.8
from the 0% to 20%. Furthermore, without the use of EGR, 50% com- higher than the minimum EER without hydrogen content. Besides,
bustion position is 8.6 °CA at 10% hydrogen contents, which is 26.4% without the hydrogen enrichment, the maximum EER is 9.1 without the
lower than that without hydrogen enrichment. However, when the EGR EGR and is 40% higher than the minimum EER at 20% EGR ratio,
ratio is increased from 0% to 20%, the 50% combustion position is correspondingly, the EEE has dropped from 0.57 to 0.45 and its de-
23.4 °CA at 10% hydrogen contents which is about 6% lower than that crease extent is up to 21.05%. In addition, similar phenomenon has
without hydrogen enrichment. In terms of 10–90% combustion dura- been verified by the Ref. [4].
tion, the change curve of 10–90% combustion duration under different Since the fuel consists of hydrogen and NG with 99% methane
EGR rates and hydrogen compositions is depicted in Fig. 13 (b). The content, thus, the equivalent brake specific fuel consumption (EBSFC) is
results show that 10–90% combustion duration decreases with the in- used to assess the fuel economical characteristic and calculated as fol-
crease of hydrogen addition but postpones with the increase of EGR lows.
rate, and the change trend is the same as the 50% combustion position.
mF lowH2 . LHVH2 + mF lowNG . LHVNG 1
Among these different EGR rates and hydrogen enrichments, the max- EBSFC = .
imum 10–90% combustion duration is 83.2 °CA at the 20% EGR rate LHVNG W shaft (38)
without the hydrogen addition, while its minimum value is 28.6°CA at The equivalent thermal value (ETE) is calculated based on the Eq.
the 10% hydrogen contents without EGR addition, which is mainly (39).
because that the higher hydrogen enrichment and lower EGR rate lead
to higher combustion speed and lower ignition delay period (as shown mF lowH2 . LHVH2 + mF lowNG . LHVNG
ETE =
in Fig. 11), where corresponds to the higher PCP, maximum HRR and mF lowH2 + mF lowNG (39)
the advancement of crank angle of maximum HRR. According to the
Yuan’s research [49], the advancement of 50% combustion and lower Therefore, according to the definition of Heywood on brake thermal
10–90% combustion period lead to the higher EER and EEE, therefore, efficiency [43], the equivalent brake thermal efficiency (EBTE) is fol-
lowed by Eq. (40).

10
J. Qiao, et al. Fuel 275 (2020) 117824

Fig. 13. 50% combustion position, 10–90% burning duration, EER and EEE under different hydrogen contents and EGR rate.

EBTE =
A·ETE with the increase of hydrogen contents but increases with the increase
EBSFC (40) of EGR ratio. Besides, hydrogen addition can retard the influence of the
EGR strategy on the EBSFC. For example, between the conditions of 0%
where A is constant value [43]. and 10% hydrogen addition, the difference of the EBSFC is 20.9 g/kW∙h
Fig. 14 depicts the EBTE and EBSFC versus hydrogen content under without the use of EGR, while the difference is 26.7 g/kW∙h at 20% EGR
different EGR strategies. As shown in Fig. 14 (a), the EBSFC decreases

Fig. 14. EBTE and EBSFC under different hydrogen contents and EGR rate.

11
J. Qiao, et al. Fuel 275 (2020) 117824

Fig. 15. Equivalent air-fuel ratio and equivalent heating value under different hydrogen contents and EGR rates.

rate, which is because that as stated earlier, higher hydrogen enrich- in-cylinder (as shown in Fig. 9 (a) and Fig. 9 (b)) that will increase
ment and lower EGR rate lead to the higher in-cylinder pressure, mean throttling loss at the same EGR ratio, the similar conclusion is also
in-cylinder temperature and HRR resulting in higher heat-work con- presented in Ref. [48]. Secondly, the introduction of high-pressure ex-
version efficiency. However, as shown in Fig. 14 (b), the EBTE de- haust gas in the intake pipe (as shown in Fig. 10) increases intake
creases with the increase of hydrogen contents and EGR rate, while the pressure, and then the difference between the intake pressure and ex-
effect of hydrogen addition decreases with the increase of EGR rate. For haust pressure will turn small, resulting in less pump loss, the similar
example, the most significant difference of EBTE is shown in the con- conclusion is also presented in Ref. [50]. As presented in Fig. 16 (b), the
dition of 0% EGR addition where the minimum EBTE is 31.3% at 10% change trend of FMEP is the same as PMEP. Since the FMEP is mainly
hydrogen addition and the maximum value is 34% without hydrogen influenced by the PCP as well as higher hydrogen enrichment and lower
contents. Besides, the difference of EBTE decreases from 2.7% to 0.2% EGR rate leads to the higher PCP, and thus, the FMEP increases with the
with various hydrogen additions when the EGR ratio increased. As well hydrogen addition but decreases with EGR addition.
known to all, under the constant lower heat value, lower EBET will lead
to the higher EBSFC. But in this paper, both equivalent air-fuel ratio and
the ETE of mixture fuel increases substantially with hydrogen addition 4.3. Effects of hydrogen contents and various EGR ratio on emissions
(as shown in Fig. 15), which offsets the influence of the EBTE reduction. characteristic
Besides, the use of exhaust gas will not participate in combustion re-
action process, while it has little influence on ETE and the equivalent Fig. 17 gives the effects of different hydrogen contents and various
air-fuel ratio (as shown in Fig. 15 (a)). For those reasons, in this paper, EGR rates on the NOx and HC emissions for the lean burn NGSI engine
lower EBET will lead to the lower EBSFC because of higher ETE. fueled with HNG and EGR addition. As one can see in Fig. 17 (a), the
Fig. 16 depicts the PMEP and friction mean effective pressure NOx emissions increases with the increase of hydrogen addition but
(FMEP) versus hydrogen content under different EGR ratios. As shown decreases with the increase of EGR ratio. The NOx emissions depends
in Fig. 16 (a), the PMEP increases with the hydrogen addition but de- on mean in-cylinder temperature, the air-excess ratio and reaction time
creases with EGR addition. The reasons are followed: On one hand, according to the NO formation mechanism of Zeldovitch [43]. Since the
hydrogen addition will decrease the throttle opening because of higher engine speed (1400 r/min) is the same under different control strate-
gies, thus the reaction time is the same and not the reason to cause this

Fig. 16. PMEP and FMEP under different hydrogen contents and EGR rate.

12
J. Qiao, et al. Fuel 275 (2020) 117824

Fig. 17. NOx and HC emissions under different hydrogen contents and EGR rate.

phenomenon. And two factors are considered to bring this phenom- energy, unaccounted losses and indicated work becomes smaller when
enon. On one hand, as well known to all, higher in-cylinder tempera- EGR ratio is increased which has little impacts on unaccounted losses at
ture is the main factor to produce more NOx emissions, and as stated the 20% EGR. Besides, the ratio of exhaust energy and combustion loss
earlier, the in-cylinder temperature increases with hydrogen addition increases while the percentage of the heat transfer energy, indicated
(as shown in Fig. 9 (b) and Fig. 10 (b)), resulting in more NOx emis- work and unaccounted losses decreases with the EGR ratio increases.
sions, the similar conclusion is listed in Ref. [44]. On the other hand, as For example, under the condition of 10% hydrogen content share, (1)
shown in Fig. 15 (a), the equivalent air-fuel ratio increases with the the proportion of indicated work, heat transfer energy and unaccounted
increase of hydrogen, which is good for the reduction of NOx emissions, losses with 20% EGR ratio are 34.8%, 22.8% and 8.2%, respectively,
besides, the use of exhaust gas is benefit for the decrease of mean in- which are about 1.08, 1.33 and 1.14 times lower than the corre-
cylinder temperature (as shown in Fig. 9 (b) and Fig. 10 (b)), the similar sponding condition without EGR rate. (2) The percentage of exhaust
conclusion is listed in Ref. [36]. Consequently, dual effects of above energy and combustion loss with 20% EGR ratio are 28.3% and 5.9%,
factors result in this phenomenon, which gives an important conclusion respectively, which are about 1.3 and 5.9 times higher than the cor-
that it is necessary and important to implement the EGR strategy to responding condition without EGR addition. The reason for the varia-
decrease the NOx emissions under higher CR NGSI engine fueled with tions of energy distribution with hydrogen and EGR addition is that as
HNG. stated earlier, hydrogen addition increases the ETE and aggravates heat
As shown in Fig. 17 (b), the HC emissions decreases with the in- transfer loss but EGR addition retards combustion process.
crease of hydrogen content share but increases with the EGR ratio. The In addition, the exhaust energy can be recovered by Rankine cycle
reason is that hydrogen accelerates the laminar flame speed and im- in many field [51,52], and heat transfer energy will be recovered by the
proves combustion efficiency (discuss later) while the EGR addition will Kalina cycle [53]. As shown in Fig. 18 (b) that the indicated work is
deteriorate flame propagation speed and cause incomplete combustion. separated into brake work, pumping loss and friction loss. As one can
In addition, similar phenomenon has been verified by the Ref. [36] see that various hydrogen contents has little effect on pumping loss and
where the experiment effect of EGR addition on HC emissions is con- friction loss, while the brake work decreases with hydrogen addition.
ducted. Besides, the percentages of brake work, pumping loss and friction loss
become lower and the influence of hydrogen addition decreases with
the increase of EGR ratio. For example, under the condition of 10%
4.4. Effect of hydrogen contents and various EGR ratio on energy and hydrogen content, the percentage of brake work, pumping loss and
exergy balance friction loss without EGR addition are 33.1%, 1.2% and 3.4%, respec-
tively, which are about 1.05, 2.4 and 1.13 times higher than the con-
Fig. 18 shows the results of in-cylinder energy balance of NGSI dition with 20% EGR rate. In addition, without EGR addition, the dif-
engine fueled with 99% methane content under different hydrogen and ference of brake work is 0.9% between 10% hydrogen content and
EGR addition strategies. It can be seen from the Fig. 18 (a) that with the without hydrogen addition, but the difference is only 0.2% under 20%
increase of hydrogen contents, the percentages of heat transfer energy EGR rate.
increases but both the indicated work and unaccounted losses decrease Thus, through analyzing the energy balance, it is clearly and ef-
without EGR ratio. As for exhaust energy and combustion loss, the fectively to explore the optimal strategy and energy-saving potential of
addition of hydrogen has little effect. For example, under the condition NGSI engine fueled with 99% methane content under different hy-
without EGR addition, (1) the proportion of indicated work, combus- drogen and EGR addition strategies.
tion loss and unaccounted losses with 10% hydrogen content are As is well known to all, the exergy refers to the effective work which
37.7%, 1.0% and 9.4%, respectively, which are about 1.02, 1.1 and can be used compared with the energy through the exergy analysis in
1.15 times lower than the condition without hydrogen addition. (2) The the processes and components of a thermal system [54]. The system
percentage of heat transfer energy with 10% hydrogen content is 30.3% inefficiency is mainly caused by the exergy destruction which can be
and is about 1.09 times higher than the corresponding condition calculated based on the Eq. (32–33) due to the irreversible processes
without hydrogen addition. Besides, the percentage of exhaust energy such as combustion. The exergy losses which can be calculated based on
under 10% hydrogen content is 21.7% and is the same as this with the Eq. (25–31) due to the exhaust gas and heat flow from the control
hydrogen addition. volume are other contributors to inefficiency [55]. Besides, Sayin et al.
However, the influence of hydrogen addition on heat transfer

13
J. Qiao, et al. Fuel 275 (2020) 117824

Fig. 18. The energy balance under different hydrogen contents and EGR rate.

Fig. 19. The exergy balance under different hydrogen contents and EGR rate.

14
J. Qiao, et al. Fuel 275 (2020) 117824

[55] also reported that the higher the temperature of the engine surface Besides, the EGR addition will aggravate incomplete combustion so
from where the heat is rejected, the higher the exergy loss accom- as to produce more HC emissions.
panying it is. Therefore, exergy analysis would provide a better as- (5) The analysis of energy and exergy balance shows that, the change
sessment of engine performance for ICE than energy analysis. From this trends of exergy terms are similar to their corresponding energy,
point of view, analyzing the exergy balance is an efficient and apparent but the percentage of heat transfer exergy and exhaust exergy is
method to investigate the proportion of recoverable energy in energy about 7.05 and 2.61 times lower than their corresponding energy.
distribution which can be obtained in NGSI engine fueled with 99% What is more, the analysis of the energy and exergy balance can
methane content. Fig. 19 presents the results of in-cylinder exergy provide a new thought for the future research to improve engine’s
balance of NGSI engine fueled with 99% methane content under dif- performance.
ferent hydrogen and EGR addition strategies, which consists of brake
work, exhaust exergy, heat transfer exergy and destructed exergy. As CRediT authorship contribution statement
shown in Fig. 19 that both the proportions of brake work and exhaust
exergy decreases, but both the proportions of heat transfer exergy and Junhao Qiao: Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing - original
destructed exergy increase with the increase of hydrogen content share. draft. Yangyang Li: Data curation, Writing - review & editing,
Meanwhile, the ratios of brake work, exhaust exergy and heat transfer Investigation. Shuqian Wang: Data curation, Validation. Peng Wang:
exergy decrease while the ratio of destructed exergy increases with the Validation. Xiongbo Duan: Software, Validation. Jingping Liu:
EGR addition. For example, under the condition of 10% hydrogen Funding acquisition.
content, (1) the percentage of brake work and heat transfer exergy with
20% EGR ratio are 28.5% and 3.2%, respectively, which are about 1.05 Declaration of Competing Interest
and 1.34 times lower than the corresponding condition without EGR
rate. (2) The percentage of destructed exergy with 20% EGR ratio is The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
about 1.05 times higher than the corresponding condition without EGR interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influ-
addition. (3) The proportion of exhaust exergy is 8.8% which has no ence the work reported in this paper.
change between the condition of 20% EGR ratio and condition without
EGR addition. Finally, comparing to the energy balance of engine, the Acknowledgements
percentage of heat transfer exergy and exhaust exergy is about 7.05 and
2.61 times lower than their corresponding energy which shows the This research paper is jointly sponsored by the National Natural
potential of energy recovery, besides, the exergy efficiency is about 1.1 Science Foundation of China (NO. 51776061). The authors appreciate
times lower than their corresponding energy. Xiongbo Duan, the Hunan University for its supportand and appreciate
In a word, although there are lots of methods to use the energy from the editor and reviewers for their careful reading, many constructive
the coolant and exhaust energy, only few percentages of their energy comments and suggestions on improving the manuscript.
can be recovered by those approaches. Therefore, it is clearly to see
how much the effective work can be obtained in NGSI engine fueled References
with 99% methane content under different hydrogen and EGR addition
strategies by analyzing the exergy balance. [1] Lim S, Teong LK. Recent trends, opportunities and challenges of biodiesel in
Malaysia: an overview. Renewable Sustainable Energy Rev 2010;14(3):938–54.
5. Conclusions [2] Zhao D. Waste thermal energy harvesting from a convection-driven Rijke-Zhao
thermo-acoustic-piezo system. Energy Convers Manage 2013;66:87–97.
[3] Li YY, Wang P, Wang SQ, Liu JP, Xie YK, et al. Quantitative investigation of the
In this paper, an experimental investigation and numerical assess- effects of CR, EGR and spark timing strategies on performance, combustion and NOx
ment the effects of EGR and hydrogen addition strategies on perfor- emissions characteristics of a heavy-duty natural gas engine fueled with 99% me-
thane content. Fuel 2019;255:115803.
mance, energy and exergy characteristics of a heavy-duty NGSI engine [4] Duan X, Liu J, Tan Y, Luo B, Guo G, Wu Z, et al. Influence of single injection and
fueled with 99% methane content was implemented. The main con- two-stagnation injection strategy on thermodynamic process and performance of a
clusions can be drawn as follows: turbocharged direct-injection spark-ignition engine fuelled with ethanol and gaso-
line blend. Appl Energy 2018;228:942–53.
[5] Carbot-Rojas DA, Escobar-Jimenez RF, Gomez-Aguilar JF, Tellez-Anguiano AC. A
(1) Through analyzing the mechanism of GT-Suite software, 1D NGSI survey on modeling, biofuels, control and supervision systems applied in internal
engine simulation model is developed and calibrated based on the combustion engines. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 2017;73:1070–85.
[6] Khan MI, Yasmin T, Shakoor A. Technical overview of compressed natural gas
experimental data. Furthermore, the simulation model in the paper
(CNG) as a transportation fuel. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 2015;51:785–97.
can be applied to evaluate and optimize the energy distribution and [7] Wu CM, Deng KY, Wang Z. The effect of combustion chamber shape on cylinder
performance by changing different technologies, strategies and flow and lean combustion process in a large bore spark-ignition CNG engine. J
fuels in the future. Energy Inst 2016;89(2):240–7.
[8] Su T, Ji CW, Wang SF, Shi L, Yang JX, Cong XY. Effect of spark timing on perfor-
(2) According to the simulation results of the impacts on combustion mance of a hydrogen-gasoline rotary engine. Energy Convers Manage
characteristic, hydrogen addition improves the PCP and maximum 2017;148:120–7.
HRR apparently because of higher laminar flame speed under [9] Yang ZZ, Si AG, Wang F, Guo N. Research into the formation process of hydrogen air
mixture in hydrogen fueled engines based on CFD. Int J Hydrogen Energy
higher hydrogen enrichment under constant EGR rate. But the ef- 2010;35(7):3051–7.
fect of hydrogen addition is restrained obviously with 20% EGR [10] Chen Z, Zhang F, Xu B, Zhang QC, Liu JP. Influence of methane content on a LNG
ratio and may be zero under higher EGR ratio because higher in- heavy-duty engine with high compression ratio. Energy 2017;128:329–36.
[11] Chen Z, Xu BY, Zhang F, Liu JP. Quantitative research on thermodynamic process
cylinder residual exhaust gas. and efficiency of a LNG heavy-duty engine with high compression ratio and hy-
(3) With increased EGR and decreased hydrogen enrichment, the in- drogen enrichment. Appl Therm Eng 2017;125:1103–13.
cylinder combustion process slows down, with increased 10–90% [12] Liu JP, Duan XB, Yuan ZP, Liu Q, Tang QJ. Experimental study on the performance,
combustion and emission characteristics of a high compression ratio heavy-duty
burning duration, delayed 50% combustion position, lower EER spark-ignition engine fuelled with liquefied methane gas and hydrogen blend. Appl
and EEE. In addition, based on the quantitative analysis of the in- Therm Eng 2017;124:585–94.
cylinder heat work conversion process, the maximum EER and EEE [13] Hairuddin AA, Yusaf T, Wandel AP. A review of hydrogen and natural gas addition
in diesel HCCI engines. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 2014;32:739–61.
is 9.9 and 0.6, respectively at 10% hydrogen fractions without the
[14] MacLean HL, Lave LB. Evaluating automobile fuel/propulsion system technologies.
use of EGR. Prog Energy Combust 2003;29(1):1–69.
(4) It is an effective method to decrease the NOx emissions under higher [15] Duan XB, Liu YQ, Lai M-C-L, Guo GM, Liu JP, Chen Z, et al. Effects of natural gas
CR NGSI engine fueled with HNG by taking use of the EGR device. composition and compression ratio on the thermodynamic and combustion

15
J. Qiao, et al. Fuel 275 (2020) 117824

characteristics of a heavy-duty lean-burn SI engine fueled with liquefied natural supercharged natural gas SI engine. Fuel 2010;89(7):1721–30.
gas. Fuel 2019;254:115733. [36] Wang SQ, Li YY, Fu JP, Liu JP, Dong H, Tong J. Quantitative investigation of the
[16] Navarro E, Leo TJ, Corral R. CO2 emissions from a spark ignition engine operating effects of EGR strategies on performance, cycle-to-cycle variations and emissions
on natural gas-hydrogen blends (HCNG). Appl Energy 2013;101:112–20. characteristics of a higher compression ratio and heavy-duty NGSI engine fueled
[17] Duan XB, Li YY, Liu JP, Guo GM, Fu JQ, Zhang QQ, et al. Experimental study the with 99% methane content. Fuel 2020;263:116736.
effects of various compression ratios and spark timing on performance and emission [37] Yuksel F, Ceviz MA. Thermal balance of a four stroke SI engine operating on hy-
of a lean burn heavy-duty spark ignition engine fueled with methane gas and hy- drogen as a supplementary fuel. Energy 2003;28(11):1069–80.
drogen blends. Energy 2019;169:558–71. [38] Ozcan H. Hydrogen enrichment effects on the second law analysis of a lean burn
[18] Verhelst S, Joen CT, Vancoillie J, Demuynck J. A correlation for the laminar natural gas engine. Int J Hydrogen Energy 2010;35(3):1443–52.
burning velocity for use in hydrogen spark ignition engine simulation. Int J [39] Gharehghani A, Koochak M, Mirsalim M, Yusaf T. Experimental investigation of
Hydrogen Energy 2011;36:957–74. thermal balance of a turbocharged SI engine operating on natural gas. Appl Therm
[19] Huang ZH, Zhang Y, Zeng K, Liu B, Wang Q, Jiang DM. Measurements of laminar Eng 2013;60:200–7.
burning velocities for natural gas-hydrogen-air mixtures. Combust Flame [40] Gharehghani A, Hosseini R, Mirsalim M, Yusaf TF. A comparative study on the first
2006;146(1–2):302–11. and second law analysis andperformance characteristics of a spark ignition engine
[20] Hu EJ, Huang ZH, He JJ, Jin C, Zheng JJ. Experimental and numerical study on using either natural gas or gasoline. Fuel 2015;158:488–93.
laminar burning characteristics of premixed methane-hydrogen-air flames. Int J [41] Zhou F, Fu JQ, Li DH, Liu JP, Lee CF, Yin YS. Experimental study on combustion,
Hydrogen Energy 2009;34(11):4876–88. emissions and thermal balance of high compression ratio engine fueled with li-
[21] Xiang L, Jiang H, Ren F, Chu H, Wang P. Numerical study of the physical and quefied methane gas. Appl Therm Eng 2019;161:1359–4311.
chemical effects of hydrogen addition on laminar premixed combustion char- [42] Verhelst S, Thomas W. Hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engines. Prog. Energy
acteristics of methane and ethane. Int J Hydrogen Energy 2019. Combust. Sci. 2009;35:490–527.
[22] Karim GA, Wierzba I, Alousi Y. Methane-Hydrogen Mixtures as Fuels. Int J [43] Heywood John B. Internal combustion engine fundamentals. McGraw-Hill
Hydrogen Energy 1996;21(7):625–31. 1988:225–6.
[23] Huang ZH, Liu B, Zeng K, Huang YY, Jiang DM, Wang XB, et al. Experimental study [44] Wang P, Li Y, Duan X, Liu J, Wang S, Zou P, et al. Experimental investigation of the
on engine performance and emissions for an engine fueled with natural gas-hy- effects of CR, hydrogen addition strategies on performance, energy and exergy
drogen mixtures. Energy Fuel 2006;20(5):2131–6. characteristics of a heavy-duty NGSI engine fueled with 99% methane content. Fuel
[24] Huang ZH, Liu B, Zeng K, Huang YY, Jiang DM, Wang XB, et al. Combustion 2020;259:116212.
characteristics and heat release analysis of a spark-ignited engine fueled with nat- [45] Paul A, Panua R, Debroy D. An experimental study of combustion, performance,
ural gas-hydrogen blends. Energy Fuel 2007;21(5):2594–9. exergy and emission characteristics of a CI engine fueled by Diesel-ethanol-bio-
[25] Zhang YJ, Jiang X, Wei LJ, Zhang JX, Tang CL, Huang ZH. Experimental and diesel blends. Energy 2017;141:839–52.
modeling study on auto-ignition characteristics of methane/hydrogen blends under [46] Chen H, Xu M, Hung DLS, Zhuang H. Cycle-to-cycle variation analysis of early flame
engine relevant pressure. Int J Hydrogen Energy 2012;37(24):19168–76. propagation in engine cylinder using proper orthogonal decomposition. Exp Therm
[26] Jiang, X, Zhang, Y, Pan, L, Man, X. et al. Experimental and modeling study on Fluid Sci 2014;58:48–55.
autoignition characteristics of methane/hydrogen blends under engine relevant [47] Hung DLS, Chen H, Xu M, Yang J, Zhuang H. Experimental investigation of the
pressure. SAE Technical Paper 2014-01-1470, 2014. variations of early flame development in a spark-ignition direct-injection optical
[27] Akansu SO, Kahraman N, Ceper B. Experimental study on a spark ignition engine engine. J Eng Gas Turbines Power 2014;136:101503–8.
fuelled by methane-hydrogen mixtures. Int J Hydrogen Energy [48] Duan XB, Liu YQ, Liu JP, et al. Experimental and numerical investigation of the
2007;32(17):4279–84. effects of low-pressure, high-pressure and internal EGR configurations on the per-
[28] Sagar SMV, Agarwal AK. Knocking behavior and emission characteristics of a port formance, combustion and emission characteristics in a hydrogen-enriched heavy-
fuel injected hydrogen enriched compressed natural gas fueled spark ignition en- duty lean-burn natural gas SI engine. Energy Convers Manage 2019;195:1319–33.
gine. Appl Therm Eng 2018;141:42–50. [49] Yuan ZP, Liu JP, Fu JQ, Liu Q, Wang SQ, Xia Y. Quantitative analysis on the
[29] Agarwal D, Singh SK, Agarwal AK. Effect of Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) on thermodynamics processes of gasoline engine and correction of the control equa-
performance, emissions, deposits and durability of a constant speed compression tions for heat-work conversion efficiency. Energy Convers Manage
ignition engine. Appl Energy 2011;88:2900–7. 2017;132:388–99.
[30] Hosseinzadeh A, Khoshbakhti Saray R, Seyed Mahmoudi SM. Comparison of [50] Tang QJ, Liu JP, Yi P, Yuan ZP. Research on the decomposition of influencing
thermal, radical and chemical effects of EGR gases using availability analysis in parameters and general trends of pumping losses in GTDI engines. Chin Internal
dual-fuel engines at part loads. Energy Convers Manage 2010;51:2321–9. Combust Engine Eng 2016;37(4):126–34. (in Chinese).
[31] Xie F, Hong W, Su Y, Zhang M, Jiang B. Effect of external hot EGR dilution on [51] Zhao R, Zhang HG, Song SS, Yang FB, Hou XC, Yang YX. Global optimization of the
combustion, performance and particulate emissions of a GDI engine. Energy diesel engine-organic Rankine cycle (ORC) combined system based on particle
Convers Manage 2017;142:69–81. swarm optimizer (PSO). Energy Convers Manage 2018;174:248–59.
[32] Liu YF, Liu B, Zeng K, Huang Z, Zhou L, Sun L. Performance and emission char- [52] Acar MS, Arslan O. Energy and exergy analysis of solar energy-integrated, geo-
acteristics of a hydrogen-enriched compressed-natural-gas direct-injection spark thermal energy-powered Organic Rankine Cycle. J Therm Anal Calorim
ignition engine diluted with exhaust gas recirculation. P I Mech Eng D 2019;137(2):659–66.
2012;226(D1):123–32. [53] Bahrampoury R, Behbahaninia A. Thermodynamic optimization and thermo-
[33] Su T, Ji C, Wang S, Cong X, Shi L, Yang J. Improving the lean performance of an economic analysis of four double pressure Kalina cycles driven from Kalina cycle
nbutanol rotary engine by hydrogen enrichment. Energy Convers Manage system 11. Energy Convers Manage 2017;152:110–23.
2018;157:96–102. [54] Arslan O, Ozgur MA, Yildizay HD, Kose R. Fuel effects on optimum insulation
[34] Li W, Liu Z, Wang Z, Xu Y. Experimental investigation of the thermal and diluent thickness: an exergitic approach. Energ Source Part A 2010;32(2):128–47.
effects of EGR components on combustion and NOx emissions of a turbocharged [55] Sayin C, Hosoz M, Canakci M, Kilicaslan I. Energy and exergy analyses of a gasoline
natural gas SI engine. Energy Convers Manage 2014;88:1041–50. engine. Int J Energ Res 2007;31(3):259–73.
[35] Ibrahim A, Bari S. An experimental investigation on the use of EGR in a

16