Influence of injection strategies on ignition patterns of RCCI combustion engine fuelled with hydrogen enriched natural gas

The depletion of fossil fuel and the concerns for harmful emissions and global warming has instigated researchers to use alternative fuels. Hydrogen (H₂) and natural gas (NG) are attractive fuels for internal combustion engines. The dual-fuel combustion strategy is promising to reduce emissions with efficient engine operation. The concern for using NG in this strategy is the lower efficiency at low load conditions and the emission of exhaust gases like carbon monoxide and unburnt hydrocarbon. Mixing fuel with a wide flammability limit and a faster burning rate with NG is an effective method to compensate for the limitations of using NG alone. Hydrogen (H₂) is the best fuel added with NG to cover NG limitations. This study investigates the in-cylinder combustion phenomenon of reactivity-controlled compression ignition (RCCI) engines using hydrogen-added NG as a low-reactive fuel (H₂ addition to NG on a 5% energy basis) and diesel as a highly reactive fuel. The numerical study was done on a 2.44 L heavy-duty engine using CONVERGE CFD code. Three low, mid, and high load conditions were analyzed in six stages by varying the diesel injection timing from -11 to -21 ^O after top dead centre (ATDC). The H₂ addition to NG had shown deficient harmful emissions generation like carbon monoxide (CO) and unburnt hydrocarbon with marginal NOx generation. At low load conditions, the maximum imep was achieved at the advanced injection timing of -21^OATDC, but with the increase in load, the optimum timing was retarded. The diesel injection timing varied the optimum performance of the engine for these three load conditions.