Lean burn operation provides a promising way to increase the efficiency of SI engines. An extremely downsized SI single cylinder research engine is used for investigations. The engine features a stroke-to-bore ratio of 1.5, leading to higher piston speeds and hence increased tumble motion. The resulting increase in turbulent flame speed supports sufficient combustion performance of diluted mixtures. Although the mentioned provisions increase combustion stability for lean burn operation the reachable relative air-fuel ratio is limited. In order to extend the lean burn capabilities of the engine and further exploit the efficiency advantages of this combustion process the engine is upgraded with a hydrogen port fuel injection. With its high laminar flame speeds and low demanded ignition energy, hydrogen acts as a good combustion enhancer in order to achieve the aforementioned targets. Relative air-fuel ratio variations without and with hydrogen admixture were performed for various load points and engine speeds. Hydrogen fractions up to 3.8 vol.-% of the intake volume flow were investigated. The conducted measurements show that small amounts of hydrogen are sufficient to reach high relative air-fuel ratios and high engine efficiency for all investigated operating points.
Erich Wenz
SI ICE Hydrogen Lean Burn Operation Verbrennungsmotor Magerbrennverfahren Otto Wasserstoff