i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 3 5 ( 2 0 1 0 ) 5 7 1 4 e5 7 2 2

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Combustion and emissions characteristics of a hybrid

hydrogenegasoline engine under various loads and
lean conditions
Changwei Ji*, Shuofeng Wang, Bo Zhang
College of Environmental and Energy Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China

article info

abstract

Article history:

The addition of hydrogen is an effective way for improving the gasoline engine perfor-

Received 6 January 2010

mance at lean conditions. In this paper, an experiment aiming at studying the effect of

Received in revised form

hydrogen addition on combustion and emissions characteristics of a spark-ignited (SI)

8 March 2010

gasoline engine under various loads and lean conditions was carried out. An electronically

Accepted 8 March 2010

controlled hydrogen port-injection system was added to the original engine while keeping

Available online 3 April 2010

the gasoline injection system unchanged. A hybrid electronic control unit was developed
and applied to govern the spark timings, injection timings and durations of hydrogen and

Keywords:

gasoline. The test was performed at a constant engine speed of 1400 rpm, which could

Hydrogen

represent the engine speed in the typical city-driving conditions with a heavy traffic. Two

Gasoline

hydrogen volume fractions in the total intake of 0% and 3% were achieved through

Combustion

adjusting the hydrogen injection duration according to the air flow rate. At a specified

Emissions

hydrogen addition level, gasoline flow rate was decreased to ensure that the excess air

Manifolds absolute pressure

ratios were kept at 1.2 and 1.4, respectively. For a given hydrogen blending fraction and

Hybrid hydrogenegasoline engine

excess air ratio, the engine load, which was represented by the intake manifolds absolute
pressure (MAP), was increased by increasing the opening of the throttle valve. The spark
timing for maximum brake torque (MBT) was adopted for all tests. The experimental
results demonstrated that the engine brake mean effective pressure (Bmep) was increased
after hydrogen addition only at low load conditions. However, at high engine loads, the
hybrid hydrogenegasoline engine (HHGE) produced smaller Bmep than the original engine.
The engine brake thermal efficiency was distinctly raised with the increase of MAP for both
the original engine and the HHGE. The coefficient of variation in indicated mean effective
pressure (COVimep) for the HHGE was reduced with the increase of engine load. The
addition of hydrogen was effective on improving gasoline engine operating instability at
low load and lean conditions. HC and CO emissions were decreased and NOx emissions
were increased with the increase of engine load. The influence of engine load on CO2
emission was insignificant. All in all, the effect of hydrogen addition on improving engine
combustion and emissions performance was more pronounced at low loads than at high
loads.
2010 Professor T. Nejat Veziroglu. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

* Corresponding author. Tel./fax: 86 1067392126.

E-mail address: chwji@bjut.edu.cn (C. Ji).
0360-3199/$ e see front matter 2010 Professor T. Nejat Veziroglu. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ijhydene.2010.03.033

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1.

Introduction

Regarding the energy crises and environmental pollution,

improving IC engine efficiency and emissions has become an
important issue nowadays. In recent years, many researchers
have focused on the study of alternative fuels which benefit
enhancing the engine economic and emissions characteristics.
Among all fuels, hydrogen has been demonstrated to be the
most promising green alternative fuel that can be used on SI
engines [1e5]. Because the flame speed of hydrogen is five
times as high as that of gasoline, hydrogen engines could get
a reduced cyclic variation compared with gasoline engines
[6e8]. At the same time, the high burning velocity of hydrogen
makes a hydrogen engine be much closer to the ideal constantvolume combustion which avails improving the engine
thermal efficiency [9]. Due to the low ignition energy and wide
flammable range of hydrogeneair mixture, hydrogen engines
are quite suitable to run at lean conditions which are helpful for
the enhanced engine economic and emissions performance
[10,11]. Besides, compared with traditional fossil fuels,
hydrogen is a carbonless fuel whose combustion does not
generate emissions such as HC, CO and CO2. Thus, the application of hydrogen engines would alleviate concerns about
toxic and green-house emissions from IC engines. However,
due to the low energy density of hydrogen by vol., hydrogen
engines are prone to produce a lower power output than
gasoline engines at the same excess air ratio [12]. The high
adiabatic flame temperature of hydrogen resulting in the
increased NOx emissions can be thought as another barrier for
the wide application of pure hydrogen engines [13]. At present,
the high costs of hydrogen production and the lack of hydrogen
fueling infrastructure also block the commercialization of
hydrogen engines in the near future.
Compared with the pure hydrogen engine, a hybrid
hydrogen engine (HHE) fueled with the mixture of hydrogen
and other fuels such as natural gas and gasoline is also regarded
as a feasible way for improving the SI engine performance
[14e19]. Dimopoulos et al [20] carried out a well-to-wheel
analysis for the hybrid hydrogen-natural gas engine. He
found that the overall fuel economy was improved and greenhouse gas emissions were reduced for the CNG engine after
hydrogen addition. Since a HHE only consumes a small amount
of hydrogen, the application of HHE would ease concerns about
the onboard mass storage of hydrogen [21,22]. Thus, HHEs are
much easier to be popularized than pure hydrogen engines.
Because of the wide flammable range and high flame speed of
hydrogen, a HHE is much more suitable for operating at lean
conditions than at stoichiometric conditions under which the
HHE tends to expel more NOx emissions due to the increased
peak cylinder temperature after hydrogen addition. Moreover,
lean combustion has been proved to be an effective way for
improving engine thermal efficiency and emissions due to the
high efficiency combustion of in-cylinder mixture and reduced
cylinder temperature at lean conditions [23].
There have been many investigations on HHEs under stoichiometric and lean conditions. Varde et al. [24] investigated the
performance of a single-cylinder engine fueled with the
hydrogenegasoline mixture. The test results showed that the
engine lean burn limit was extended and flame propagation

5715

duration was effectively shortened after hydrogen enrichment.

Andrea et al. [10] experimentally investigated the performance
of a two-cylinder carburetor gasoline engine enriched by
hydrogen under various operating conditions. According to the
test, he found the effect of hydrogen addition on improving
engine performance was pronounced only when the global
equivalence ratio of the hydrogenegasoline mixture was lower
than 0.85. Huang et al. [25,26] conducted an experiment to study
the performance of a hydrogen-enriched natural gas engine
combined with EGR. The test results demonstrated that the
engine operating stability was enhanced and the engine power
output was increased after hydrogen addition. At low EGR rates,
the engine thermal efficiency dropped with the increase of
hydrogen addition level, whereas, at high EGR rates, the increase
of hydrogen blending fraction availed improving the engine
thermal efficiency. Ma et al. [27] investigated the performance of
a hybrid hydrogen-CNG engine. His experiment showed that the
addition of hydrogen was effective on reducing HC and CO
emissions. At the same time, the engine cyclic variation was
obviously decreased after hydrogen enrichment. Ji et al. [28, 29]
investigated the HHGE combustion and emissions performance
at various excess air ratios and hydrogen addition fractions with
a fixed spark timing. The experimental results demonstrated
that the engine brake thermal efficiency was improved for the
HHGE at all excess air ratios. HC and CO2 emissions were
decreased whereas NOx emissions were increased with the
increase of hydrogen addition level. CO emission was raised at
stoichiometric conditions for the HHGE, however, the addition
of hydrogen was beneficial for reducing CO at lean conditions.
There are many publications focusing on the performance
of HCNG engines. However, due to the widely available petrol
stations and fueling infrastructure, the popularization of
HHGEs seems much easier than that of HCNG engines.
Unluckily, there are only limited published papers aiming at
investigating the performance of the HHGE. Nevertheless,
many studies were performed at a fixed engine speed and load
[30,31]. Since the in-cylinder flow and temperature fields vary
markedly from low to high loads, the effect of hydrogen addition on improving engine performance might be different
when the engine load is changed. So it is necessary to quantitatively explore the combustion and emissions characteristics
of a HHGE under various loads. In this paper, a hydrogen portinjection system was mounted on the original engine intake
manifolds to permit hydrogen and gasoline to be injected into
the intake ports simultaneously. Meanwhile, a hybrid electronic control unit was developed to accurately govern the
injection timings and durations of hydrogen and gasoline.
Using this experimental system, the combustion and emissions performance of a HHGE under various loads, at 1400 rpm
and MBT spark timing and two excess air ratios of 1.2 and 1.4
were investigated.

2.

Experimental setup and procedure

2.1.

Experimental setup

The prototype engine used in this study is an in-line, 1.6 L, fourcylinder, SI engine manufactured by Beijing Hyundai Motors,

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whose specification is shown in Ref. [32]. The engine is modified

to be a HHGE by adding a hydrogen port-injection system on the
intake manifolds with the original gasoline injection system
kept unchanged. The hydrogen injector used in this engine is
a CNG injector which can be safely used as a hydrogen injector
insured by the manufacturer. A hybrid electronic control unit
(HECU) is developed to realize the electronically controlled
hydrogen and gasoline port-injection. The HECU communicates
with the engine original ECU (OECU) and a calibration computer
to govern the spark timings, injection timings and durations of
hydrogen and gasoline. Using this system, the spark timing,
hydrogen enrichment level and excess air ratio for the HHGE
can be adjusted online. With these modifications, the hybrid
hydrogenegasoline engine could run in three different fueling
modes in which the pure hydrogen, hydrogenegasoline
mixture and pure gasoline are burnt, respectively. At cold start
and warm-up conditions or idle, the HHGE can be fueled with
the pure hydrogen to accomplish zero CO and HC emissions and
almost null NOx emissions due to the quite low cylinder
temperature. At low load conditions, the HHGE is fueled with
hydrogenegasoline blends for improving its economic and
emissions performance, since the low ignition energy, fast
flame speed and wide flammability of hydrogen would benefit
the combustion of the airefuel mixture. At high load conditions,
the HHGE can be fueled with the pure gasoline to keep the
engine high power output. Thus, just like a hybrid electric
vehicle, the HHGE could operate at three different fueling
modes depending on the engine operating conditions [32]. In
this paper, the engine operated at part-load conditions using
the hydrogenegasoline mixture as the fuel.
The hydrogen used in this test is produced from water
electrolysis, which is stored at 16 MPa in the stainless steel
cylinders outside the engine lab. When the experiment begins,
hydrogen is supplied to the hydrogen rail through the stainless
steel pipes at 0.3 MPa after two steps of pressure reduction.
A flame arrestor was placed in the hydrogen supply pipe to
prevent the backfire of hydrogen in the hydrogen supply
system. Besides, a solenoid valve was also installed in the
stainless steel pipe to quickly shut off the hydrogen supply in
case of emergency.
A GW 160 eddy current dynamometer is connected with the
engine to control the engine speed by automatically adjusting
the load applied on the engine. The engine speed and torque
output are measured through a FC 2000 engine measurement
and control system (measurement deviations: <1 rpm in
speed, <0.48 Nm in torque). The gasoline flow rate is determined by a FC2210 gasoline mass flow meter (measurement
uncertainty: 0.4 g/min). The air and hydrogen mass flow rates
are monitored by a EPI-800 and a D07-19BM thermal mass
flowmeters,
respectively
(measurement
uncertainties:
<0.1 L/min for air, <0.02 L/min for hydrogen). The incylinder pressure data acquisition and combustion analysis
system consists of a Kistler 2613B optical encoder (crank angle
resolution: 0.2  CA, measurement deviation <0.01  CA),
a Kistler 6117BCD17 cylinder pressure transducer with a spark
plug (measurement uncertainty: 0.3 bar) and a Dewetron
combustion analyzer. The cylinder pressure transducer is
screwed into the cylinder head to acquire the combustion
cylinder pressure and enforce the ignition of the fourth
cylinder. The cylinder pressure transducer and optical encoder

are connected to a Dewetron combustion analyzer via screened

cables. Cylinder pressure and its relevant crank angle signals
are sampled and treated via the Dewe-CA combustion analysis
software. The exhaust emissions of NOx, HC, CO and CO2 from
the test engine are measured by a Horiba MEXA-7100D emissions analyzer and the measurement sensitivities for all
emissions are 1 ppm. NOx are measured by the chemiluminescent method. HC emissions are determined by the hydrogen
flame ionization detection method, and CO and CO2 are
detected by the nondispersive infrared method. The measurement uncertainties are less than 1% of the measured values
for all emissions. The detailed descriptions of the HHGE and
experimental system are introduced in Ref. [32].

2.2.

Experimental procedure

The experiment was started when the engine was fully warmed
up. During the test, the coolant and lubricant oil temperatures
were kept around 90 and 95  1  C, respectively to minimize
their negative effects on the test results. The engine speed was
fixed at 1400 rpm which represents the engine speed under the
typically congested city-driving conditions. Since the purpose
of this paper is to investigate the effect of manifolds absolute
pressure on the performance of the HHGE at part-load conditions, the HHGE is fueled with hydrogenegasoline blends in this
experiment. The HECU was used to govern the injection
timings and durations of hydrogen and gasoline based on the
sensor signals acquired from the OECU and commands from
a calibration computer. The hydrogen flow rate determined by
hydrogen injection duration was adjusted according to the air
flow rate to ensure that hydrogen volume fractions in the total
intake gas (hydrogen air) were kept at 0% and 3%, respectively. For a specified hydrogen volume fraction in the intake,
the gasoline flow rate was gradually reduced to keep the global
excess air ratio of the hydrogenegasolineeair mixture at 1.2
and 1.4, respectively. The hydrogen volume fraction in the
intake aH2 and the global excess air ratio of the hydrogenegasolineeair mixture (l) are defined as:


aH2 VH2 = VH2 Vair  100%

(1)

Vair rair
VH2 rH2 AFH2 mgas AFgas

(2)

In Eqs. (1) and (2), VH2 and Vair are the measured volumetric flow
rates of hydrogen and air at normal conditions (L/min),
respectively; mgas represents the measured gasoline mass flow
rate (g/min); rair and rH2 symbolize air and hydrogen densities at
normal conditions (g/L); AFgas and AFH2 are the stoichiometric
air-to-fuel ratios of gasoline and hydrogen (AFgas 14.6 and
AFH2 34:3). The hydrogen and gasoline were injected into the
intake ports simultaneously at the gasoline injection timings of
the original engine at the specified engine speed and manifolds
absolute pressure. According to the measured results, hydrogen
energy fraction in the total fuel is about 10% and 12% at excess
air ratios of 1.2 and 1.4, respectively for all testing points.
During the test, the excess air ratio was also monitored by
a Horiba MEXA-110 A/F analyzer (measurement deviation:
0.1 A/F at A/F 14.7) with an O2 sensor inserted into the

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exhaust pipe. The H/C molar ratio setting on the instrument

was adjusted based on the measured gasoline and hydrogen
mass flow rates, so that it can well measure the excess air
ratio of the HHGE. The deviation between the measured and
calculated values was within 5%.
For a given excess air ratio and hydrogen volume fraction
in the intake, the throttle position was varied to permit the
HHGE to operate under various engine loads represented by
the manifolds absolute pressure (MAP). During the test, the
MAP was generally increased from 30 kPa to 85 kPa for
different excess air ratios to investigate the effect of MAP on
combustion and emissions characteristics of a HHGE. The
spark timing for maximum brake torque (MBT) was applied for
all testing points. Under each experimental condition, incylinder pressures for over 200 consecutive cycles were
collected and analyzed through the Dewe-CA combustion
analysis software to obtain the profiles of in-cylinder pressure
versus crank angle and deduce the curves of Imep, COVimep,
CA0e10 and CA10e90, etc. against MAP.

5717

Brake mean effective pressure (Bmep) directly reflects the

engine torque output. Fig. 1 displays the variations of Bmep
with MAP at 1400 rpm and two excess air ratios. It can be
found from Fig. 1 that Bmep increases with MAP for all excess
air ratios and hydrogen volume fractions, due to the increased
fuel energy flow rate at high loads. At l 1.2, Bmeps of the 3%
HHGE are slightly higher than those of the original one when
MAP is smaller than 45 kPa. Comparatively, at l 1.4, the 3%
HHGE produces higher Bmep than the original one until the
MAP reaches about 65 kPa. This is because the weakened incylinder charge flow and increased residual gas fraction are
formed at low loads, which block the fuel to be fast and
completely burnt at low MAPs. Since hydrogen has a low

ignition energy and fast flame speed, the hydrogenegasoline

mixture can be more easily ignited and quickly combusted
than the pure gasoline. Thus, the HHGE can get an improved
Bmep at low loads. The leaner the hydrogenegasoline mixture
is, the better the improvement of Bmep is at low loads
compared with the pure gasoline. However, it can also be seen
from Fig. 1 that at l 1.2, Bmeps of the 3% HHGE are lower
than those of the original when MAP is larger than 45 kPa, and
at l 1.4, the 3% HHGE produces slightly lower Bmep than the
original when MAP is larger than 65 kPa. Because at high
loads, the increased MAP intensifies the in-cylinder flow
which is beneficial for the fuel to be more completely burnt.
Moreover, since the energy density of hydrogen on volume
basis is much lower than that of gasoline, the reduced fuel
energy flow rate is attained for the HHGE and finally results in
the dropped Bmep of the HHGE at high loads. Thus, at lean
conditions, hydrogen addition can improve the engine Bmep
only at low loads.
Brake thermal efficiency is usually used to symbolize the
engine economic performance. The profiles of brake thermal
efficiency versus MAP at 1400 rpm and two excess air ratios are
shown in Fig. 2. It is pleasing to find from Figs. 1 and 2 that
although Bmeps of the HHGE are reduced when MAP is larger
than a certain value, brake thermal efficiencies of the HHGE are
obviously higher than those of the original engine for all MAPs,
reflecting the capability of hydrogen addition on enhancing
the economic performance of gasoline engines. At the same
time, the improvement in engine brake thermal efficiency for
the HHGE is more evidently seen at low MAP conditions. This
can be attributed to that, at low loads, the gasoline is hard to be
completely burnt at lean conditions due to the increased
residual gas fraction and poor mixing. Since hydrogen gains
a high flame speed and wide flammability, the addition of
hydrogen would help the gasoline be burned faster and more
complete at low load conditions. However, at high loads, the
increased in-cylinder flow and cylinder temperature benefit
the complete combustion of gasoline and contribute to the
increased Bmep of the original engine at high load conditions.
Therefore, the effect of hydrogen addition on improving
engine brake thermal efficiency is more pronounced at low

Fig. 1 e Variations of Bmep with MAP at 1400 rpm and two

excess air ratios.

Fig. 2 e Variations of brake thermal efficiency with MAP at

1400 rpm and two excess air ratios.

3.

Results and discussions

3.1.
Brake mean effective pressure and brake thermal
efficiency

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loads rather than at high loads. Fig. 2 also demonstrates that

brake thermal efficiencies of both the original engine and the
HHGE are improved with the increase of MAP. The reason can
be ascribed to that the pumping losses are reduced with the
increase of engine load due to the increased opening of throttle
valve. As it is seen from Fig. 2, when MAP is lower than
50.5 kPa, the 3% HHGE at l 1.2 tends to produce higher brake
thermal efficiency than the 3% HHGE at l 1.4. However, when
MAP is further increased from 50.5 kPa, the 3% HHGE at l 1.2
tends to gain smaller brake thermal efficiency than the 3%
HHGE at l 1.4. This trend demonstrates that a larger excess
air ratio at high MAPs and a smaller excess air ratio at low loads
could be adopted for the HHGE to gain better brake thermal
efficiency.

3.2.

Combustion analysis

Flame development (CA0e10) and flame propagation

(CA10e90) periods are important parameters that indicate the
quality of engine combustion process. Fig. 3 and Fig. 4 display
the variations of CA0e10 and CA10e90 with MAP at 1400 rpm
and two excess air ratios, respectively. CA0e10 and CA10e90
are defined as the crank angle durations from spark discharge
to 10% and from 10% to 90% heat release of the total fuel,
respectively. From Fig. 3 and Fig. 4, both CA0e10 and CA10e90
are shortened with the increase of MAP for all excess air ratios
and hydrogen addition levels. This is because the increased
fuel energy flow rate and improved charge quality at high
loads help the fueleair mixture be more easily ignited and
quickly combusted than at low loads and thus shorten the
CA0e10 at high MAPs. At the same time, the intensified
cylinder flow at high loads would enhance the turbulent flame
speed to further promote the combustion. Thus, CA10e90 is
also gradually decreased with the increase of MAP. At a specified MAP and the same excess air ratios, both flame development and propagation periods of the 3% HHGE are shorter
than those of the original engine. The proper explanation
could be that the low ignition energy, wide flammability and
fast flame speed of hydrogen permit the hydrogenegasoline
mixture to be easily ignited and fast combusted at lean
conditions. Thus, both CA0e10 and CA10e90 are reduced for

Fig. 3 e Variations of CA0e10 with MAP at 1400 rpm and

two excess air ratios.

Fig. 4 e Variations of CA10e90 with MAP at 1400 rpm and

two excess air ratios.

the HHGE at the same MAPs and excess air ratios compared
with the original engine and such a trend is more markedly
observed at low load conditions, demonstrating hydrogen
addition is a quite effective way for improving the gasoline
engine combustion at low load and lean conditions.
The maximum cylinder temperature (Tmax) strongly influences NOx emissions and cylinder temperature at exhaust
valve opening (Tevo) directly reflects exhaust losses. Fig. 5 and
Fig. 6 plot the variations of Tmax and Tevo with MAP at 1400 rpm
and two hydrogen addition levels, respectively. Tmax and Tevo
in this paper are calculated through PV mRT [33]. As it is
seen from Fig. 5, Tmax distinctly rises with the increase of MAP
for all hydrogen blending levels and excess air ratios due to
the increased fuel energy flow rate which promotes the
combustion at high loads. Since hydrogen stimulates the
combustion and the flame development and propagation
periods of the HHGE are obviously shorter than those of the
original engine (see Figs. 3 and 4), Tmax is increased after the
addition of hydrogen at the same MAPs and excess air ratios

Fig. 5 e Variations of Tmax with MAP at 1400 rpm and two

excess air ratios.

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5719

temperature and advanced MBT. As hydrogen possesses a low

ignition energy, MBT is retarded for the HHGE compared with
the gasoline engine, which tends to result in a dropped
(dP/dCA)max after hydrogen addition. However, Fig. 7 shows
that, for the same MAPs and excess air ratios, the HHGE
produces higher (dP/dCA)max than the original one. This can
be attributed to that the high flame speed of hydrogen
generates the shortened combustion duration for the HHGE
which predominates the effect of the retarded MBT and finally
produces the higher (dP/dCA)max.

3.3.

Cyclic variation

compared with the pure gasoline engine. From Fig. 6, it can be

found that Tevo is slightly increased with MAP due to the
increased engine load. However, Tevo for the original engine at
l 1.4 decreases under most of the tested load range with the
increase of MAP. This can be attributed to the narrow flammable range of gasoline which causes an aggravated partial
burning or even misfire at an excess air ratio close to the
gasoline lean burn limit. Since hydrogen has a wide flammability and high burning velocity, Tevo is obviously reduced for
the HHGE at the same MAPs and excess air ratios in comparison with the original engine, demonstrating that hydrogen
addition is an effective way for decreasing engine exhaust
losses, especially at lean and low load conditions.
Fig. 7 shows the profiles of maximum pressure rise rate
(dP/dCA)max versus MAP at 1400 rpm and two hydrogen
addition levels. (dP/dCA)max is generally considered as a knock
index denoting the degree of violence of combustion in the
engine cylinder. The larger (dP/dCA)max is, the more violent
combustion is. It can be observed from Fig. 7 that (dP/dCA)max
rises with the increase of MAP due to the increased cylinder

The coefficient of variation in indicated mean effective pressure (COVimep) is widely used to characterize engine cyclic
variation. COVimep is calculated through equations given in
Ref. [34]. Fig. 8 shows the variations of COVimep with MAP at
1400 rpm and two excess air ratios. It can be found from Fig. 8
that COVimeps of the 3% HHGE and the original engine at
l 1.2 decrease steadily and COVimep of the original engine at
l 1.4 drops sharply with the increase of MAP. COVimep of
the original engine reaches 10.8% at the MAP of 35.8 kPa and
l 1.4 which is basically the lean burn limit of the original
engine at the specified test condition. When MAP is further
increased, COVimep of the original engine at l 1.4 drops
obviously due to the raised cylinder temperature and reduced
residual dilution which benefit the complete burning of
gasoline. Since the low ignition energy and wide flammability
of hydrogen ensures the flame stability of early stage
combustion and promotes the hydrogenegasoline mixture to
be combusted quickly, COVimep is improved for the HHGE at
low load and lean conditions compared with the gasoline
engine. At the same time any methods that help stimulate the
flame speed would result in an improved engine working
stability [35]. Thus, COVimep is continuously reduced with the
increase of MAP and hydrogen addition level at a specified
excess air ratio. However, as it is shown in Fig. 8, the effect of
hydrogen addition on reducing COVimep is less obvious at high
loads than at low loads due to the improved combustion of the
original engine at high loads.

Fig. 7 e Variations of (dP/dCA)max with MAP at 1400 rpm

and two excess air ratios.

Fig. 8 e Variations of COVimep with MAP at 1400 rpm and

two excess air ratios.

Fig. 6 e Variations of Tevo with MAP at 1400 rpm and two

excess air ratios.

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Fig. 9 e Variations of HC emissions with MAP at 1400 rpm

and two excess air ratios.

3.4.

Exhaust emissions

Fig. 11 e Variations of CO2 emission with MAP at 1400 rpm

and two excess air ratios.

The HC, CO, CO2 and NOx emissions of the 3% HHGE and
original engine at 1400 rpm and various MAPs and two excess
air ratios are displayed from Figs. 9e12. Fig. 9 shows the
variations of HC emissions with MAP at 1400 rpm and two
excess air ratios. HC emissions from the gasoline engine at
l 1.4 sharply increase to 6749 ppm when MAP drops to
35.8 kPa due to the incomplete burning of gasoline at very lean
and low load conditions. HC emissions from both the original
engine and the 3% HHGE are distinctly reduced with the
increase of MAP for two excess air ratios, since the increased
engine load provides better condition for the fuel to be
completely burned. Due to the short quenching distance and
wide flammability of hydrogen, the HHGE expels less HC
emissions than the original engine within the tested MAP
range, especially at low MAPs under which the combustion is
deteriorated due to the increased residual dilution and dropped cylinder temperature.

The formation of CO emission is mainly influenced by the

excess air ratio and in-cylinder temperature. Generally, the
larger excess air ratio is used, the lower CO emission is
exhausted. Thus, as it is shown in Fig. 10, for a specified MAP,
CO emission from the 3% HHGE is reduced when the excess air
ratio increases from 1.2 to 1.4. When MAP is smaller than 50
kPa, CO emission from the original engine at l 1.2 is smaller
than that from the original engine at l 1.4. The proper reason
can be ascribed to that although the increased excess air ratio
provides more oxygen, the reduced cylinder temperature is
achieved due to the incomplete burning of air-gasoline
mixture at low loads. However, when MAP is above 50 kPa,
CO emission from the original engine at l 1.2 is larger than
that from the original engine at l 1.4. The possible explanation could be that the relatively increased fuel energy flow
rate and better fueleair mixing at high loads and more oxygen
provided at l 1.4 promote the CO oxidation at a leaner
condition. Since the hydrogenegasoline mixture burns faster

Fig. 10 e Variations of CO emission with MAP at 1400 rpm

and two excess air ratios.

Fig. 12 e Variations of NOx emissions with MAP at

1400 rpm and two excess air ratios.

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and more completely than the pure gasoline, CO emission at

low load and lean conditions is effectively reduced after
hydrogen addition. Fig. 10 also demonstrates that, for all
hydrogen addition levels and excess air ratios, CO emission is
continuously reduced with the increase of MAP due to the
improved combustion and increased cylinder temperature
which stimulate the CO conversion into CO2.
Fig. 11 depicts the variations of CO2 emission with MAP at
1400 rpm and two excess air ratios. As it is shown in Fig. 11, the
influence of MAP on CO2 emission is insignificant. For a specified MAP, CO2 emission can be reduced either by increasing
the excess air ratio or hydrogen enrichment level. This is
because when the engine is leaned out, the reduced gasoline
flow rate would result in the decreased carbon-related emissions. At the same time, as hydrogen is a carbonless fuel, for
a given excess air ratio, gasoline flow rate is reduced after the
addition of hydrogen. Thereby, the application of the HHGE at
lean conditions can effectively reduce CO2 emission.
The profiles of NOx emissions versus MAP at 1400 rpm and
two excess air ratios are plotted in Fig. 12. From Fig. 12, it is
seen that NOx emissions are distinctly raised with the increase
of MAP for both the original engine and the HHGE due to the
increased cylinder temperature resulting from the reduced
combustion duration and increased fuel energy flow rate.
Furthermore, for the given excess air ratios of l 1.2 and 1.4,
NOx emissions increase with hydrogen addition because of
the increased cylinder temperature caused by the faster
combustion of the hydrogenegasoline mixture than the pure
gasoline. It can also be found from Fig. 12 that, for a specified
MAP, the 3% HHGE at l 1.4 expels much fewer amounts of
NOx emissions than those of the original engine at l 1.2.
This trend means that the HHGE should be run under lean
conditions to gain better NOx emissions performance.

4.

Conclusions

In this paper, the combustion and emissions characteristics of

a hybrid hydrogenegasoline engine under various engine
loads and lean conditions were investigated. The experiment
was carried out on a modified four-cylinder gasoline engine
equipped with an electronically controlled hydrogen portinjection system and a hybrid electronic control unit. The
engine was run at 1400 rpm and MBT spark timings for all
testing points. The main conclusions are listed as follows:
1. At low load conditions, the HHGE gains higher Bmep than
the original engine. However, at high load conditions, Bmep
is reduced after hydrogen addition. The effect of hydrogen
addition on improving engine brake thermal efficiency is
more pronounced at low load conditions.
2. Both flame development and propagation periods are
shortened with the increase of engine load, mainly due to
the intensified cylinder flow and improved fueleair mixing
which stimulate the combustion. For a specified MAP and
excess air ratio, CA0e10 and CA10e90 are reduced for the
HHGE, due to the low ignition energy and fast flame speed
of hydrogen.
3. COVimep is reduced with the increase of engine load and
hydrogen addition. Tmax is raised whereas Tevo is decreased

5721

for the HHGE. After the addition of hydrogen, the maximum

pressure rise rate is enhanced at a specified MAP and excess
air ratio.
4. HC and CO emissions are reduced whereas NOx emissions
are raised with the increase of MAP for both the HHGE and
original engine. The variation of engine load doesnt have
significant influence on CO2 emission. For a specified excess
air ratio, HC, CO and CO2 emissions are obviously reduced
after hydrogen addition, especially at low load conditions.
5. The effect of hydrogen addition on improving engine
combustion and emissions performance is more remarkable at low load conditions than at high load conditions.

Acknowledgements
This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 50976005) and Beijing Municipal
Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. 3082004). The authors
also appreciate all students in the group for their help with the
experiment.

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