Influence of Hydrogen Enrichment Strategy on Performance Characteristics, Combustion and Emissions of a Rotary Engine for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. CFD Model Geometry
2.2. Boundary and Initial Conditions
2.3. Modelling Procedure
2.4. Mesh Independency and CFD Model Validation
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Combustion Analysis
3.2. Engine Performance
3.3. Emissions
3.4. Discussion
4. Conclusions
- The significant properties of hydrogen such as high homogeneity and diffusivity, fast flame propagation and large flammability enable hydrogen blended mixtures to have a more stable and complete combustion process. Moreover, increasing the concentration of O, H and OH radicals during the combustion process after the hydrogen addition increases combustion velocity and shortens combustion durations. Hence, heat losses during the combustion process can be reduced. In addition, pressure, temperature and HRR values in the working chamber are higher and the peak values of these parameters are obtained earlier and are closer to the TDC in hydrogen-blended cases compared to the neat gasoline-fueled case. Additionally, hydrogen-blended mixture flames can be propagated into the narrower gaps by the low quenching distance of hydrogen. Despite the geometric limitations of Wankel engines, it can be concluded that the hydrogen enrichment technique is quite advantageous for Wankel engines in terms of combustion performance.
- The quenching phenomenon of Wankel engines, which leads to higher squish flow due to the rotor housing interface, can be minimized with the hydrogen enrichment approach. Because increasing the burning speed with hydrogen addition contributes to obtaining a stronger squish flow. Thus, the performance characteristics of the Wankel engine increase with hydrogen enrichment. For a fixed ignition timing, IMEP, indicated torque and indicated power improved, despite the decrease in total fuel consumption of the hydrogen blended cases with the amount of hydrogen added. If the ignition timings are optimized based on the new ignition delay periods, it is feasible to enhance the engine performance of fuel mixtures.
- As the hydrogen content of the mixture increases, engine instability and soot, CO and CO2 emissions are reduced. The main reason for this is the increasing working chamber pressure and temperature with hydrogen addition. On the other hand, thermal NOx formation is also increased due to the higher operating temperature of the hydrogen-enriched cases.
5. Future Work
Author Contributions
Funding
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Nomenclature
Stoichiometric air-to-fuel ratio of iso-octane | |
Stoichiometric air-to-fuel ratio of hydrogen | |
CA | Eccentric shaft angle |
CA 10 | Eccentric shaft angle where the fuel mass burning rate reached 10% (°EA) |
CA 50 | Eccentric shaft angle where the fuel mass burning rate reached 50% (°EA) |
CA 10-90 | Eccentric shaft angle duration from 10% to 90% mass burning rate of the total fuel (°EA) |
HRR | Heat release rate (J/°EA) |
IMEP | Indicated mean effective pressure (bar) |
rpm | Rotation per minutes |
TDC | Top dead center |
Excess air ratio | |
and | Molar coefficients of and |
and | Mass fractions of and |
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Engine Type | A Single-Rotor, Four-Stroke Wankel Engine |
---|---|
Radius, (R) [mm] | 71.89 |
Amount of parallel transfer of trochoid, (a) [mm] | 1.05 |
Generating Radius, () | 72.94 |
Eccentricity, (e) [mm] | 11.5 |
Width [mm] | 7.44 |
k-factor (k) | 6.34 |
Inlet | In the trochoid |
Outlet | In the trochoid |
Power output | 35 [kW] @ 6000 rpm |
Spark plug position | 10 mm after the minor axis |
Spark plug shape/radius [mm] | Sphere/1 |
Bearing | Ball bearing |
Rotor cooling and lubrication | Air/oil mixture |
Housing cooling | Water |
Subject | Input |
---|---|
Compression ratio | 9.6 |
Spark plugs energy | 0.03 and 0.04 J |
Spark plugs surface temperature | 625 K |
Inlet air conditions | Sea level conditions |
Intake and exhaust port | Pressures boundary condition |
Intake/exhaust port surface temperature | 323/500 K |
Rotor/house wall temperature | 488/443 K |
Rotor wall | Wall boundary condition |
Wall boundary | No-slip |
Pressure–Velocity coupling | PISO algorithm |
Reaction mechanism | 48 species and 152 reactions |
Mesh method | Modified cut-cell Cartesian |
Mass Flow Rates of the Fuels in the Mixture | Mass Fractions of the Fuels in the Mixture | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Case A | 11.88 | 0.00 | 0.0623 | 0.0000 |
Case B | 10.42 | 0.55 | 0.0592 | 0.0031 |
Case C | 9.18 | 1.02 | 0.0560 | 0.0063 |
Subject | Input |
---|---|
Turbulent model | RNG k-ε |
Wall model | Wall heat transfer: O’Rourke and Amsden |
Near wall treatment: Standard Wall Function | |
Combustion model | SAGE (Adaptive Zoning) |
NOx model | Extended Zeldovich |
Soot model | Hiroyasu-NSC |
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Kucuk, M.; Surmen, A.; Sener, R. Influence of Hydrogen Enrichment Strategy on Performance Characteristics, Combustion and Emissions of a Rotary Engine for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). Energies 2022, 15, 9331. https://doi.org/10.3390/en15249331
Kucuk M, Surmen A, Sener R. Influence of Hydrogen Enrichment Strategy on Performance Characteristics, Combustion and Emissions of a Rotary Engine for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). Energies. 2022; 15(24):9331. https://doi.org/10.3390/en15249331
Chicago/Turabian StyleKucuk, Merve, Ali Surmen, and Ramazan Sener. 2022. "Influence of Hydrogen Enrichment Strategy on Performance Characteristics, Combustion and Emissions of a Rotary Engine for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)" Energies 15, no. 24: 9331. https://doi.org/10.3390/en15249331