The transition to decarbonized transportation necessitates significant modifications to internal combustion engines for alternative carbon-neutral fuels, particularly hydrogen. The integration of alternative systems is crucial for improving engine control, facilitating real-time engine health monitoring and facilitate early problem detection.
This study investigates the potentialities of an ignition system specifically designed for H2 applications, with the integration of a smart coil diagnostic system with the aim to enhance engine performance and control capabilities.
Experiments were conducted on a single-cylinder research engine across varying spark advanced, throttle positions, and engine speeds, comparing the novel ignition system with integrated diagnostics against traditional spark plug.
Results demonstrate improvements in combustion stability and control when innovative spark plug was employed. Compared to a conventional spark plug, the Hy2Fire® system consistently delivered superior performance, achieving a peak indicated mean effective pressure (IMEP) of 4.85 bar (vs 4.68 bar) and maintaining a coefficient of variance of IMEP (CoVIMEP) below 2% across a broad range of conditions. The system demonstrated earlier combustion phasing (AI50 reduced by over 1 CAD) and improved combustion stability, especially under lean-burn (λ = 2.0) scenarios. Analyzing diagnostic signals from the smart coil's secondary spark current offers a promising avenue for evaluating combustion quality and its relationship to in-cylinder pressure, thus representing significant advancements. A dual-method approach, employing artificial intelligence algorithms for signal processing, enabled precise identification of maximum in-cylinder pressure with an error below 10%, and detection of anomalies such as misfire events. This analysis facilitated the precise identification of in-cylinder maximum pressure, a crucial parameter for engine performance evaluation, and the detection of critical anomalies such as misfire, which can severely impact engine longevity and efficiency. The system's behavior under the varying operating conditions tested has been thoroughly analyzed, highlighting its robustness and adaptability.