Development of combustion process and operating strategy for a low emission hydrogen engine

Authors

A. Kufferath, D. Naber, G. Cornetti, M. Gaballo, R. Grzeszik, M. Krüger - Robert Bosch GmbH, G. M. Rosaria - Robert Bosch Italy

Summary

In order to rapidly lower greenhouse-gas emissions in the transport sector, especially CO2 emissions, electromobility will take its place in many areas. As a complement to battery-electric driven commercial vehicles, the fuel cell using hydrogen as an energy carrier will gain market shares as a second carbon-neutral powertrain. This applies in particular to commercial vehicles with increased range or performance requirements. Even with these two alternative options to the diesel engine, it is foreseeable that not all applications that are currently based on diesel engines can be adequately replaced with the above options. Another complementary way to contribute to carbon neutrality in on-road and off-road commercial applications is the hydrogen engine.

Robert Bosch GmbH has launched an extensive program to derive the requirements for the hydrogen-based engine system from the mixing and combustion properties of hydrogen, which differ significantly from those of diesel fuel. These requirements apply to the hydrogen-specific components, the exhaust-gas aftertreatment system and corresponding operating strategies for the hydrogen engine. Established methods such as the use of a transparent engine or CFD methods were adapted to hydrogen for this development process. The engine results obtained show that the hydrogen engine has all the makings, both in terms of performance and emissions, of establishing itself as an additional carbon-neutral pillar in commercial on-road and off-road applications. There is no doubt that is has potential to meet the given air-quality targets.