Design and test of an inexpensive hydrogen fueled single-cylinder four-stroke gasoline engine
Hans H. Hansen a, Volker Schardt b
a) Aarhus Universitet - Institute of Business and Technology,
7400 Herning, Denmark
b) Fachhochschule Wiesbaden - University of Applied Science,
65428 Rüsselsheim, Germany
Abstract
Hydrogen has an interesting potential to become a future fuel.
While hydrogen fuel cells are still expensive, cheap alternatives
are needed. One alternative is a hydrogen powered internal
combustion engine (H2 - ICE) which powers a
generator. This work focus on modifying an existing single-cylinder
four-stroke gasoline engine. Main focus is on building an inexpensive
engine-generator power supply while reaching an acceptable
efficiency. Through a literature review different methods of
hydrogen injection are discussed and a new carburetor is designed
and tested. The engine is supplied with pressure and flow sensors
at the air and hydrogen intake and a flow sensor at the exhaust.
Current and voltage are measured at the generator load. Efficiency
is calculated. Measurement on the engine shows a hydrogen leakage
through the intake air pipe during the compression, combustion and
exhaust stroke while the intake valve is closed. Furthermore exact
measurement of hydrogen flow is difficult, due to the response
time of sensors. Based on the experiments we suggest three
modifications of the existing engine design.
Read the entire article here.