• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.56-62
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• 2008

A synthetic gas reformed from hydrocarbon-based fuels consists of $H_2$, CO and $N_2$. Hydrogen contained in the synthetic gas is a very useful species in chemical processes, due to its wide flammability range and fast burning speed. The ESGI (Exhaust Synthetic Gas Injection) technology is developed to shorten the light-off time of three way catalysts through combustion of the synthetic gas in the exhaust manifold during the cold start period of SI engines. Before the ESGI technology is applied to the test engine, the authors set a test rig that consists of gas temperature and composition controllers, an exhaust pulse generator and an exhaust manifold with a visualization window, in order to optimize the point and conditions of injection of the synthetic gas. Through measuring burned gas temperatures and taking photographs of synthetic gas combustion at the outlet of the exhaust manifold, the authors tried to find the optimal injection point and conditions. Analysis of burned gas composition has been performed for various $O_2$ concentrations. As a result, when the synthetic gas is injected at the port outlet of the cylinder No. 4 and $O_2$ concentration exceeds 4%, combustion of the synthetic gas is strong and effective in the exhaust manifold.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.94-101
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• 2008

Since regulations of exhaust emissions are continuously reinforced, studies to reduce harmful emissions during the cold start period of SI engines have been carried out very extensively worldwide. During the cold start period, raising the temperature of cold exhaust gas is a key strategy to minimize the light-off time of three way catalysts. In this study, a synthetic gas containing a large amount of hydrogen was injected into the exhaust manifold to raise the exhaust gas temperature and to reduce harmful emissions. The authors tried to evaluate changes in exhaust gas temperature and harmful emissions through controlling the engine operating parameters such as ignition timings and lambda values. Also the authors investigated both combustion stability and reduction of harmful emissions. Experimental results showed that combustion of the synthetic gas in the exhaust manifold is a very effective way for solving the problems of harmful emissions and light-off time. The results also showed that the strategy of retarded ignition timings and increased air/fuel ratios with ESGI is effective in raising exhaust gas temperature and reducing harmful emissions. Futhermore, the results showed that engine operating parameters ought to be controlled to lambda = 1.2 and ignition timing = $0{\sim}3^{\circ}$ conditions to reduce harmful emissions effectively under stable combustion conditions.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.14-21
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• 2008

Synthetic gas is defined as reformed gas from hydrocarbon-based fuel and the major chemical species of the synthetic gas are $H_2$, CO and $N_2$. Among them, hydrogen from synthetic gas is very useful species in chemical process such as combustion. It is a main reason that many studies have been performed to develop an effective reforming device. Furthermore, other technologies have been studied for synthetic gas application, such as the ESGI(Exhaust Synthetic Gas Injection) technology. ESGI injects and burns synthetic gas in the exhaust pipe so that heat from hydrogen combustion helps fast warmup of the close-coupled catalyst and reduction of harmful emissions. However, it is very hard to understand combustion characteristic of hydrogen under low oxygen environment and complicated variation in chemical species in exhaust gas. This study focuses on the characteristics of hydrogen combustion under ESGI operating conditions using a CVC(Constant Volume Chamber). Measurements of pressure variation and flame speed have been performed for various oxygen and hydrogen concentrations. Results have been analyzed to understand ignition and combustion characteristics of hydrogen under lower oxygen conditions. The CVC experiments showed that under lower oxygen concentration, amount of active chemicals in the combustion chamber was a crucial factor to influence hydrogen combustion as well as hydrogen/oxygen ratio. It is also found that increase in volume fraction of oxygen is effective for the fast and stable burning of hydrogen by virtue of increase in flame speed.