Evaluation of performance characteristics of a novel hydrogen-fuelled free-piston engine generator

Ugochukwu Ngwaka; Andrew Smallbone; Boru Jia; Christopher Lawrence; Ben Towell; Sumit Roy; Shivaprasad KV; Anthony Paul Roskilly

doi:10.1016/j.ijhydene.2020.02.072

Evaluation of performance characteristics of a novel hydrogen-fuelled free-piston engine generator

Ugochukwu Ngwaka, Andrew Smallbone, Boru Jia, Christopher Lawrence, Ben Towell, Sumit Roy, Shivaprasad KV, Anthony Paul Roskilly

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

45 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In this work, we present the experimental results obtained from hydrogen fuelled spark-ignited dual piston free-piston engine generator (FPEG) prototype operated in two-stroke and four-stroke mode. The FPEG testing was successfully conducted at 3.7 compression ratio, engine speed between 5 Hz and 11 Hz and with different equivalence ratios. The FPEG technical details, experimental set-up and operational control are explained in detail. Performance indicators show that both equivalence ratio and engine speed affect the engine operation characteristics. For every set of specified FPEG parameters, appropriate range of equivalence ratio is recommended to prevent unwanted disturbance to electric generator operation. Both two-stroke and four-stroke cycle mode were tested, and the results showed different combustion characteristics with the two thermodynamic cycles. Four-stroke cycle mode could operate with indicated thermal efficiency gain up to 13.2% compared with the two-stroke cycle.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	33314-33324
Number of pages	11
Journal	International Journal of Hydrogen Energy
Volume	46
Issue number	66
Early online date	12 Mar 2020
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2020.02.072
Publication status	Published - 24 Sept 2021
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

© 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. This is an open access article under the CC BY license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Funder

This work was funded using the EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) (EP/R041970/1 and EP/S032134/1). Data supporting this publication are openly available under an Open Data Commons Open Database License at doi:10.15128/r144558d30v.

Funding

This work was funded using the EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) ( EP/R041970/1 and EP/S032134/1 ). Data supporting this publication are openly available under an Open Data Commons Open Database License at doi:10.15128/r144558d30v.

Funders	Funder number
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council	EP/R041970/1, EP/S032134/1

Keywords

Electric vehicle range-extender
Free piston engine
Hydrogen
Hydrogen combustion
NOx emissions
Thermodynamic description

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
Fuel Technology
Condensed Matter Physics
Energy Engineering and Power Technology

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1016/j.ijhydene.2020.02.072

Cite this

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title = "Evaluation of performance characteristics of a novel hydrogen-fuelled free-piston engine generator",

abstract = "In this work, we present the experimental results obtained from hydrogen fuelled spark-ignited dual piston free-piston engine generator (FPEG) prototype operated in two-stroke and four-stroke mode. The FPEG testing was successfully conducted at 3.7 compression ratio, engine speed between 5 Hz and 11 Hz and with different equivalence ratios. The FPEG technical details, experimental set-up and operational control are explained in detail. Performance indicators show that both equivalence ratio and engine speed affect the engine operation characteristics. For every set of specified FPEG parameters, appropriate range of equivalence ratio is recommended to prevent unwanted disturbance to electric generator operation. Both two-stroke and four-stroke cycle mode were tested, and the results showed different combustion characteristics with the two thermodynamic cycles. Four-stroke cycle mode could operate with indicated thermal efficiency gain up to 13.2\% compared with the two-stroke cycle.",

keywords = "Electric vehicle range-extender, Free piston engine, Hydrogen, Hydrogen combustion, NOx emissions, Thermodynamic description",

author = "Ugochukwu Ngwaka and Andrew Smallbone and Boru Jia and Christopher Lawrence and Ben Towell and Sumit Roy and Shivaprasad KV and Roskilly, \{Anthony Paul\}",

note = "{\textcopyright} 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).",

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doi = "10.1016/j.ijhydene.2020.02.072",

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AU - Ngwaka, Ugochukwu

AU - Smallbone, Andrew

AU - Jia, Boru

AU - Lawrence, Christopher

AU - Towell, Ben

AU - Roy, Sumit

AU - KV, Shivaprasad

AU - Roskilly, Anthony Paul

PY - 2021/9/24

Y1 - 2021/9/24

N2 - In this work, we present the experimental results obtained from hydrogen fuelled spark-ignited dual piston free-piston engine generator (FPEG) prototype operated in two-stroke and four-stroke mode. The FPEG testing was successfully conducted at 3.7 compression ratio, engine speed between 5 Hz and 11 Hz and with different equivalence ratios. The FPEG technical details, experimental set-up and operational control are explained in detail. Performance indicators show that both equivalence ratio and engine speed affect the engine operation characteristics. For every set of specified FPEG parameters, appropriate range of equivalence ratio is recommended to prevent unwanted disturbance to electric generator operation. Both two-stroke and four-stroke cycle mode were tested, and the results showed different combustion characteristics with the two thermodynamic cycles. Four-stroke cycle mode could operate with indicated thermal efficiency gain up to 13.2% compared with the two-stroke cycle.

AB - In this work, we present the experimental results obtained from hydrogen fuelled spark-ignited dual piston free-piston engine generator (FPEG) prototype operated in two-stroke and four-stroke mode. The FPEG testing was successfully conducted at 3.7 compression ratio, engine speed between 5 Hz and 11 Hz and with different equivalence ratios. The FPEG technical details, experimental set-up and operational control are explained in detail. Performance indicators show that both equivalence ratio and engine speed affect the engine operation characteristics. For every set of specified FPEG parameters, appropriate range of equivalence ratio is recommended to prevent unwanted disturbance to electric generator operation. Both two-stroke and four-stroke cycle mode were tested, and the results showed different combustion characteristics with the two thermodynamic cycles. Four-stroke cycle mode could operate with indicated thermal efficiency gain up to 13.2% compared with the two-stroke cycle.

KW - Electric vehicle range-extender

KW - Free piston engine

KW - Hydrogen

KW - Hydrogen combustion

KW - NOx emissions

KW - Thermodynamic description

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M3 - Article

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VL - 46

SP - 33314

EP - 33324

JO - International Journal of Hydrogen Energy

JF - International Journal of Hydrogen Energy

IS - 66

ER -

Evaluation of performance characteristics of a novel hydrogen-fuelled free-piston engine generator

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funder

Funding

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

Access to Document

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