Influence of oxyhydrogen gas retrofit into two-stroke engine on emissions and exhaust gas temperature variations

R Kamarudin; Y Z Ang; N S Topare; M N Ismail; K F Mustafa; P Gunnasegaran; M Z Abdullah; N M Mazlan; I A Badruddin; A S A Zedan; R U Baig; S M Sultan

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e26597

Influence of oxyhydrogen gas retrofit into two-stroke engine on emissions and exhaust gas temperature variations

Heliyon. 2024 Feb 18;10(5):e26597. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e26597. eCollection 2024 Mar 15.

Authors

R Kamarudin¹, Y Z Ang¹, N S Topare², M N Ismail¹, K F Mustafa¹, P Gunnasegaran³, M Z Abdullah¹, N M Mazlan⁴, I A Badruddin⁵, A S A Zedan⁵, R U Baig⁶, S M Sultan⁷

Affiliations

¹ School of Mechanical Engineering, Engineering Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 14300, Nibong Tebal, Penang, Malaysia.
² Department of Chemical Engineering, Dr. Vishwanath Karad MIT World Peace University, Pune, 411038, India.
³ College of Engineering, Institute of Power Engineering, Putrajaya Campus, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Jalan IKRAM-UNITEN, Kajang, 43000, Malaysia.
⁴ School of Aerospace Engineering, Engineering Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 14300, Nibong Tebal, Penang, Malaysia.
⁵ Mechanical Engineering Department, College of Engineering, King Khalid University, Abha, 61421, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Industrial Engineering Department, College of Engineering, King Khalid University, Abha, 61421, Saudi Arabia.
⁷ Solar Energy Research Institute, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.

Abstract

The generation of power and fuel sustainability that contributes to a cleaner output of exhaust gases is one of the most important objectives the world seeks. In this paper, oxyhydrogen gas is used to retrofit into a two-stroke engine. The water was electrolysed and generated a mixture of oxygen (O₂) and hydrogen (H₂) or known as oxyhydrogen (HHO) gas via an electrolytic dry cell generator. The HHO was retrofitted experimentally to investigate the engine emissions and exhaust gas temperature from a 1.5 kW gasoline engine. The engine was tested with different power ratings (84-720 W) to investigate the performance and emissions of the engine using gasoline followed by the addition of HHO. The emissions of CO and NOx were measured with different amounts of HHO added. The exhaust temperature was calculated as one of the variables to be considered in relation to pollution. The air-fuel ratios are varied from 12 to 20% in the experiment. The most appropriate air-fuel ratio needed to start the generator with the most environmentally friendly gas emission was analysed. The results showed that the addition of HHO to the engine is successful in reducing fuel consumption up to 8.9%. A higher percentage of HHO added also has improved the emissions and reduced exhaust gas temperature. In this study, the highest quantity of HHO added at 0.15% of the volume fraction reduced CO gas emission by up to 9.41%, NOx gas up to 4.31%, and exhaust gas temperature by up to 2.02%. Generally, adding oxyhydrogen gas has significantly reduced the emissions, and exhaust temperature and provided an eco-friendly environment.