| Hydrogen-fueled engines offer the possibility of reduced exhaust emissions and improved fuel efficiency. A production constant-speed industrial gasoline engine was successfully converted to operate on hydrogen, utilizing post-intake-valve-closure gaseous hydrogen injection into the prechamber of a modified cylinder head. The prechamber design was intended to reduce the likelihood of the hydrogen-air mixture preigniting from contact with hot combustion chamber deposits. The charge stratification offered by injecting fuel into the prechamber should also limit the formation of nitrogen oxides. Gaseous hydrogen injectors and an electronic control system were designed and built, and were demonstrated to work as intended in initial tests. Premature failure of an essential component limited the scope of the hydrogen testing, however.;An estimate of the fuel efficiency and exhaust emissions performance capability of a constant-speed industrial hydrogen-fueled engine was developed based on recently published results. It was confirmed that such an engine, operating at comparable load to the engine used for this research, would achieve significant fuel-efficiency gains while generating several orders of magnitude less carbon-based exhaust emissions, and slightly reduced emission of nitrogen oxides. |
