Effect of Exhaust Gas Recirculation on Performance of an SI Engine Fueled with Methanol-Gasoline and Ethanol-Gasoline Blend with Hydrogen Boosting

Dependency and increase in use of fossil fuels is leading to its depletion and raises serious environmental concerns. There are international obligations to reduce emissions and requirements to strengthen security of fuel supply which is pressuring the automobile industry to use cleaner and more sustainable fuels. Hydrogen fits these criteria as it is not just an abundant alternative but also a clean propellant and Hydrogen engines represent an economic alternative to fuel cells. In the present investigation, EGR has been used on hydrogen boosted SI engine running on gasoline-methanol and ethanol-gasoline blends to determine the additional advantages of the same compared to pure gasoline operation and gasoline-methanol and ethanol-gasoline blends without EGR. The engine selected for experimental analysis is a single cylinder, air cooled spark ignition engine that has been modified for hydrogen injection in the intake manifold prior to the port with the injection timing being held constant throughout the experiment. The fuels were selected according to the individual advantages that these alcohols offer on blending and the effect of hydrogen addition on the parameters is reported. Parameters such as brake power, Brake Thermal Efficiency and emissions were compared for both methanol and ethanol with hydrogen boosting and EGR.