Experimental study of a single-cylinder engine fueled with natural gas–hydrogen mixtures

The objective of this study is to evaluate the power, efficiency and emissions of an electronic-controlled single-cylinder engine fueled with pure natural gas and natural gas–hydrogen blends, respectively. Replacing the nature gas with hydrogen/methane blend fuels was found to have a significant influence on engine performance. The effects of excess air ratio and spark timing were discussed. The results show that under certain engine conditions the maximum cylinder gas pressure, maximum heat release rate increased with the increase of hydrogen fraction. The increase of hydrogen fraction in the blends contributed to the increase of NOx and the decrease of HC and CO. The brake specific fuel consumption decreased with the increase of hydrogen fraction. Using HCNG at relatively leaner fuel–air mixtures and retarded spark timing totally improved the engine emissions without incurring the performance penalty.