Hydrogen Engine Testing with SuperTurbo Compared to Simulation

Abstract

<div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">Hydrogen has recently become a primary focus as a future carbon-free fuel for transportation, especially for heavy duty commercial vehicles. The hydrogen internal combustion engine (H₂ ICE) shows promise, as current manufacturing facilities and vehicle architectures can be largely maintained while keeping the initial purchase price of the vehicle relatively low. However, hydrogen combustion engines have challenges to overcome. One of the main challenges is to provide transient response on par with current diesel engines while maintaining low NO_x emissions from the engine.</div><div class="htmlview paragraph">Previously, simulations were performed by AVL List GmbH and SuperTurbo Technologies of a mechanically driven turbocharger, the SuperTurbo, on a 13L H₂ ICE. This paper covers follow on work of actual engine testing of the H₂ ICE with the SuperTurbo in an effort to reproduce the simulation results with engine test data. The primary focus of the engine testing was to demonstrate low engine out NO_x emissions through transient operation comparable to current diesel engines, as well as demonstrating engine out NO_x emissions below 0.4 g/kWh on the WHTC transient cycle. These goals were achieved in testing, and additionally similar low NO_x emissions were demonstrated on the NRTC and FTP transient cycles. Following the engine testing, modifications to the model were made to better match the engine data, matching the IMEP and fuel efficiency through the cycles more accurately. Additional simulations were performed to estimate future improvements that could be made to the H₂ ICE engine system utilizing the SuperTurbo boosting system.</div></div>