H2-Engine Operation with EGR Achieving High Power and High Efficiency Emission-Free Combustion

Daniel Thomas Koch; Alvaro Sousa; Dominik Bertram

doi:10.4271/2019-01-2178

Using hydrogen as a fuel to power internal combustion engines is a practical and effective solution to achieve zero impact mobility. The product of hydrogen combustion is water vapour. It does not emit climate-damaging greenhouse gas CO2 and health-damaging pollutants such as CO, HC or NOx. The impact into the environment is negligible. This allows therefore zero impact mobility, as long as hydrogen fuel being produced from renewable energies and water. Hydrogen combustion strategies take the avoidance of NOx formation is a priority parameter to control.

The idea of using hydrogen in combustion engines to power vehicles is not new and has been successfully demonstrated in the recent past by companies such as BMW, MAN and Ford.

The Start-up company KEYOU is bringing hydrogen engines technology to a new level now by presenting a new combustion concept that is applied ‘add-on’ to existing Diesel engines. The result is an attractive clean engine solution to power clean vehicles, especially in the heavy-duty vehicle sector, where current clean solutions (such as battery electric or fuel cell electric) penalize customers with too high cost and low durability.

KEYOU has developed an approach to convert conventional Diesel engines into hydrogen engines that meets today's customer requirements with minor necessary adaptations. The technology contains four basic components: 1. Lean-burn combustion with exhaust gas recirculation; 2. Efficient injection strategy; 3. Optimized turbocharging; and 4. H2-SCR catalyst. The result is a highly powerful and efficient engine with ultra-low NOx emissions.

The use of EGR in modern Diesel engines is state-of-the-art to reduce NOx emissions while simultaneously improve efficiency. However, the impact of these benefits is considerably augmented in hydrogen combustion. The positive effects of optimizing a cooled high pressure EGR system operation for hydrogen engines are presented in this paper.

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H2-Engine Operation with EGR Achieving High Power and High Efficiency Emission-Free Combustion 2019-01-2178

SAE MOBILUS