i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 4 ( 2 0 1 9 ) 2 9 7 7 6 e2 9 7 8 4

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A review and prospects of gas mixture containing

hydrogen as vehicle fuel in China

Junbo Zhou, Yujing Guo, Zhiwei Huang, Chao Wang*

Beijing University of Chemical Technology, College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, No.15, Beisanhuan East
Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100029, China

highlights

Vehicle standards of HCNG and COG have not been formulated and unified.

Refueling stations standards of HCNG and COG have not been formulated.

Optimal hydrogen ratio of HCNG requires further study.

Miniaturization and closed production of COG can make better use of COG.

article info abstract

Article history: Nowadays, the environmental problems caused by the burning of fossil fuels as vehicle
Received 19 November 2018 fuel have become more and more serious in the world. Many countries are carrying out the
Received in revised form research on the alternative energy sources and the clean energy. Meanwhile, China has
19 April 2019 begun to focus on the development of the gas mixture containing hydrogen as the vehicle
Accepted 31 May 2019 fuel, mainly hydrogen enriched compressed natural gas (HCNG) and coke oven gas (COG).
Available online 28 June 2019 Application status of HCNG and COG as the vehicle fuel in China were reviewed and their
existing problems were analyzed. The analysis results shows that the relevant regulations
Keywords: standards of HCNG vehicle, COG vehicle and their refueling stations have not been
Gas mixture formulated and unified yet and the optimal hydrogen ratio of the HCNG requires further
Vehicle fuel experimental investigation and theoretical analysis. In addition, as a country with sub-
HCNG stantial COG wasted, China can make better use of the wasted hydrogen contained in COG
COG to realize the miniaturization and closed production of the COG without pollution. HCNG
Hydrogen and COG as vehicle fuel are beneficial for the development of the hydrogen energy, which
can alleviate the crisis of global energy shortage and effectively reduce the production and
emission of sulfur oxides. Therefore, the prospects of HCNG and COG as the vehicle fuel are
good in China.
© 2019 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC.

the global energy shortage is becoming more and more serious

Introduction [1e3]. There were 28.19 million automobiles with a total
automobile ownership of 217 million in China in 2017 and the
With the increase of the CO2 emission, the trend of the global total automobile ownership is estimated to be 380e420 million
warming is becoming increasingly apparent and the crisis of in 2030 [4,5]. As listed in Table 1 [5,6], compressed natural gas
* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: zhogab@163.com (J. Zhou), guoyujing2016@163.com (Y. Guo), 15010366286@163.com (Z. Huang), wangchaobuct@
163.com (C. Wang).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2019.05.244
0360-3199/© 2019 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC.
 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 4 ( 2 0 1 9 ) 2 9 7 7 6 e2 9 7 8 4
(CNG) vehicle and liquefied natural gas (LNG) vehicle have
reached 5.73 million and 0.35 million, respectively. With the
development of the economy and society in China, the con-
sumption demand of the vehicle in China is increasing, which
intensifies the crisis of the energy shortage [7] and makes the
environmental pollution problem in China become more and
more serious [8]. It has been a trend that gas mixture con-
taining hydrogen is used as vehicle fuels in China in recent
years, mainly hydrogen enriched compressed natural gas
(HCNG) and coke oven gas (COG).
HCNG is produced by adding hydrogen to natural gas. J
Deng et al. [9] obtained HCNG of the desired hydrogen fraction
in a pressure stabilizing tank by mixturing hydrogen gas and
compressed natural gas, which was the usual production
process of HCNG. HCNG is a fuel with low required ignition
energy and high thermal value. Because the volumetric energy
density of hydrogen is very low, the gas mixture containing
hydrogen has a larger volumetric energy density than that of
the pure hydrogen [10]. First, HCNG increases the isentropic
index of the mixed natural gas, which increases the thermal
efficiency of the cycle although the isentropic index of
hydrogen is slightly lower [11]. Second, the carbon-to-
hydrocarbon ratio of the gas mixture fuel is reduced and the
combustion can be more sufficient because of the addition of
hydrogen, and therefore the emissions of NOx, CO, CH4 and
non-methane hydrocarbons in the exhaust can comply with
China's emission standards [12]. Third, due to the lower en-
ergy content of HCNG fuel, it is safer than pure hydrogen.
Fourth, the addition of hydrogen also allows the engine to
work at higher compression ratios of the gas mixture [13].
As shown in Table 2 [14], ratio of CNG vehicle in Xinjiang
province is the biggest and the ratio of CNG vehicle in Gansu
Province, Ningxia Province, Neimenggu Province and Henan
Province are all 5.25% with a total ratio of 21.0%. As vehicle
fuel, natural gas including CNG and LNG can reduce the
emission of pollutants such as CO2, SO2, Pb and PM2.5.
However, it is easy to produce NOx gas when natural gas is
burned at high temperature and high pressure because of the
high calorific value of methane that reaches 36,000 kJ/m3.
Compared with gasoline and diesel vehicles, natural gas ve-
hicles do not reduce NOx emissions in actual vehicle appli-
cation. Mehra R K et al. [15] found that the thermal efficiency
of the HCNG engine without a large amount of harmful
emissions was much better than that of the compressed
natural gas (CNG) engine but the added hydrogen also
Table 1 e Number of the vehicle with different fuel type in
China in 2017.
Fuel type CNG LNG Diesel
Number/million 5.73 0.35 19.57
Table 2 e Ratio distribution of CNG vehicle in China in 2017.
Province Xinjiang Shandong
Ratio (%) 18.7 15.7
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increased emissions of nitrogen oxides because of the large
amount of heat generated in the combustion chamber, which
also had the advantage of being able to overcome the lean-
burn or the three-way catalyst (TWC) applications to a
certain extent.
If the natural gas vehicle (CNG and LNG) is refitted, only
minor modifications are needed on the original natural gas
engine to became the HCNG vehicle, and the original natural
gas filling facilities can continue to be used with low cost. In
addition, since the construction of HCNG filling station is
similar to that of natural gas filling station, it is economically
feasible to use HCNG as vehicle fuel with the government's
preferential policy on new energy [16].
China is a big producer of the coke with a large amount of
COG produced every year [17]. COG production in Shanxi
Province is the highest in China and the COG production in
Liaoning Province, Shandong Province, Hubei Province and
Guizhou Province is also high in China. In conventional coke
making process (slot-type coke ovens), approximately 70 mass
fraction of coal is converted into solid (coke) and 30 mass
fraction into gas (COG) and liquid (tar), where tar accounts for
a few mass fraction [18]. As listed in Table 3 [19], COG is a
complex gas mixture of H2, CH4, CO, N2, CO2, and unsaturated
hydrocarbons with more than two carbons. Apart from those
listed in Table 2, COG also contains other minor constituents,
such as hydrogen cyanide, ammonium chloride, NH3, tar
components (tar acid gases such as phenolic acid, and tar base
gases such as pyridine), and carbon disulfide.
Large companies can make use of COG to produce
hydrogen or methanol and other products [20,21]. However,
small companies often directly discharge or ignite COG
because of their low economic efficiency. China annually
produces 70 billion m3 COG, however, only 20% of the gas
produced is utilized as fuel. Disposing COG without an effec-
tive recovery and efficient utilization is a serious waste of an
energy resource and results in environmental pollution
[22,23]. Therefore utilization of COG as vehicle fuel can alle-
viate the energy crisis and is friendly to the environment
because the combustion of COG does not produce harmful
gases [24,25]. Therefore, it can certainly bring great economic
benefits to study the rational use of COG in the engine.
According to the ‘2035 World Energy Outlook’ report
released in 2014 by BP [26] (one of the world's largest oil and
petrochemical group companies, reorganized by former
British Petroleum, Amoco, Arco, and Castrol, etc.), the global
energy consumption will increase by 41% in 2035, 95% of
which comes from the rapidly developing emerging econo-
mies. However, with the development of global technology,
the implementation of policies, the investment in energy
conservation and emission reduction by enterprises in China,
Gasoline the gas mixture containing hydrogen such as HCNG and COG
will be widely used in the field of environmental protection as
185.26
the vehicle fuel.
Sichuan Hebei Gansu, Ningxia, other
Neimenggu, Henan
10.1 7.0 21.0 27.5
29778 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 4 ( 2 0 1 9 ) 2 9 7 7 6 e2 9 7 8 4
Table 3 e Composition (volume fraction %) of COG.
COG constituents H2 CH4
Volume fraction/% 54e59 24e28
Status of HCNG and COG in vehicle fuel in China
Status of HCNG in vehicle fuel in China
The experiments to study the performance of HCNG engines
at different hydrogen ratios have been conducted in China
[27e30]. Major organization working on HCNG and their
achievements to date are listed as Table 4 [15,16,31,32]. The
main directions of research on HCNG in China involve the
optimal hydrogen ratio of HCNG, the effect of burning HCNG
on internal parts of vehicle engines and the impact of burning
HCNG on vehicle emissions, especially the reduction of ni-
trogen oxides emissions [33,34].
Li Y et al. [35] added the mixed natural gas of different
hydrogen ratios to compare the lean burn limit and the
emission characteristics of the HCNG engine and the HCNG
combustion experiments were conducted by changing the
ignition advance angle and air-fuel ratio in the electronic
control unit (ECU) based on the Dongfeng EQD210-20 natural
gas engine. The experimental results showed that NOx
emissions were minimized with the hydrogen ratio of 20% in
HCNG at medium and small loads. And NOx emissions were
minimized with the hydrogen ratio of 10% in HCNG at high
speeds and high loads where the hydrogen ratio of 20% would
result in a slight increase in NOx emissions. Li S et al. [36]
established a numerical model in KIVA-3V program platform
to study the temperature distribution in the HCNG engine
cylinder during the combustion with different hydrogen ratios
(0, 30% and 55%). Comparing their experimental cylinder
pressure value and combustion heat release ratio with the
simulation results, the model was proved to be reliable. The
results showed that the hydrogen blended could reduce the
ignition delay period, increase the combustion rate and sta-
bility. The hydrogen blended could increase the maximum
temperature in cylinder, which increased the nitric oxide
Table 4 e Major organization working on HCNG and their achievements to date.
Organization
Tsinghua University
Xi'an Jiaotong University
Beijing Qingneng Huatong Science and Technology
Development Co., Ltd.
Shanxi Guoxin Energy Development Group Co., Ltd.
Dongfeng Motor Group Co., Ltd.
CO N2 CO2 CnHm O2
5.5e7 3e5 1e3 2e3 0.3e0.7
emissions. But the increase of the air-fuel ratio could reduce
the combustion temperature and the nitric oxide emissions.
A research group of Tsinghua University launched a project
on the detection and the research of emission performance
index for HCNG heavy trucks by the engine's emission testing
system, HCNG engine's working process quasi-dimensional
and the numerical simulations of one-dimensional and
three-dimensional. The emission index of HCNG heavy trucks
during the one-year experimentation complied with the Eu-
ropean Standard IV and V and also met the emission stan-
dards for the environmentally-friendly EEV that were
equivalent to Euro VI vehicle emission levels [32]. The devel-
oped HCNG engine has been installed in the trucks and has
successfully operated tens of thousands of kilometers. The
emission data of ETC cycle (transient cycle, including tran-
sient conditions that changed every second) measured was
shown in Table 1.
From Table 5, it could be seen that the measured emissions
value of the HCNG engine were much lower than the limiting
value of European Standard IV, V, and EEV, which could
improve the current environmental pollution caused by the
automobile exhaust.
Most of the domestic CNG refueling stations use gas stor-
age wells that cover a small area and are easy to construct [37].
Shanxi Guoxin Energy Development Group Co., Ltd., built a
HCNG refueling station that used a flow-driven gas mixer to
mix hydrogen with natural gas. And its storage equipment
was a strip steel coiled gas storage tank manufactured by
Zhejiang Juhua Co., Ltd., which was proved by practices to
have good safety and stable operation with the potential of
widespread application [38]. The passenger car fueled by
hydrogen jointly developed by Dongfang Electric Corporation
and Chengdu Passenger Car Co., Ltd. has been successfully
come into service in Sichuan Province on February 28, 2018.
Compared with ordinary passenger cars, this kind of passen-
ger cars are significantly lighter and more environmentally
Achievements to date
It has undertaken many HCNG projects of China. In cooperation with many
companies, it has successfully developed HCNG engines, HCNG city buses and
HCNG heavy trucks, and achieved a lot of valuable experimental results and
application results.
20%e30% volume fraction of hydrogen blended can make the engine obtain good
power performance, economic performance and emission performance while
excessive or low volume fraction of hydrogen blended ratio will affect the
efficiency of the engine.
In conjunction with Tsinghua University, it has developed four HCNG city buses
with a total running mileage of more than 15,000 km.
It has successfully built a HCNG refueling demonstration station, filled its own 10
heavy-duty trucks with HCNG fuel, and filled nearby taxis with HCNG fuel.
In conjunction with Tsinghua University, it has successfully developed HCNG
engine.
 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 4 ( 2 0 1 9 ) 2 9 7 7 6 e2 9 7 8 4
Table 5 e Emission data of ETC cycle.
Gas Limiting value (Euro IV) Limiting value (Euro V)
CO 4.0 4.0
NMHC 0.55 0.55
CH4 1.1 1.1
NOx 3.5 2.0
friendly with good user experience. The passenger car has a
length of 9 m, a rated power of 45 kW, a hydrogen consump-
tion of 3.8 kg per 100 km, a maximum speed of 69 km per hour
and a cruising range of up to 500 km. Meanwhile, a skid-
mounted hydrogen refueling station in Sichuan Province
was put into service with the maximum hydrogen refueling
capacity of 400 kg hydrogen per day and the ability to
continuously refuel hydrogen for 5e10 hydrogen fuel pas-
senger cars, which took only two months to put the hydrogen
refueling station into use from the design of the hydrogen
refueling station [39].
Regarding the hydrogen ratio of HCNG, Wang H J et al. [40]
conducted a comparative experiment of HCNG of 10%,15% and
20% hydrogen ratios with CNG and the experimental results
were shown in Fig. 1.
It can be seen from Fig. 1 that as for 10% HCNG, 15% HCNG,
20% HCNG and CNG, their torque increased first, then fluctu-
ated a little and declined much with rotating speed increasing.
In addition, Fig. 1 showed that the dynamic performance of
10% HCNG, 15% HCNG, 20% HCNG and CNG were similar. It
can be concluded that HCNG with higher hydrogen ratios can
maintain good dynamic performance. In addition, the exper-
iment results showed that the overall performance of the
mixture gases became poorer and poorer from 20% HCNG, 15%
HCNG, 10% HCNG to CNG in terms of HC emissions, CO
emissions, CO2 emissions and NO emission performance.
From this experiment, it can be seen that the gas mixture
Fig. 1 e Comparison of the torque at different rotating
speed.
29779
Limiting value (EEV) Measured value/(g$kWh1)
3.0 0.26e0.80
0.40 0.09e0.20
0.65 0.40e0.50
2.0 1.18e1.60
containing hydrogen is superior to CNG in terms of dynamic
characteristics and emission performance. Among the HCNG
with hydrogen ratio of 10%, 15%, and 20%, HCNG of 20%
hydrogen ratio has better overall performance. Wang J H et al.
[41] investigated the combustion characteristics and the heat
release process in a direct injection spark-ignited engine
fueled with natural gas blending hydrogen. The experiment
results showed that the combustion performance and the
heat release process could be improved for a fixed fuel injec-
tion duration when the hydrogen ratio reached a certain level.
The hydrogen ratio of 18% could reduce the flame develop-
ment duration, the rapid combustion duration and the total
combustion duration effectively. And the influences of
hydrogen ratio on the combustion performance of the natural
gas containing hydrogen were more obvious than those at a
low engine speed.
Through many years of research and development, the
alternative fuel project team in Tsinghua University has
developed a hybrid system of HCNG and built a research and
development platform for HCNG engines, carried out re-
searches on hydrogen ratio of 20% for HCNG engines and
simulated HCNG engine's performance with hydrogen ratio of
55% and many other relevant projects. In addition, State Key
Laboratory of Automobile Safety and Energy Conservation in
Tsinghua University has been supported by the Ministry of
Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China and
undertakes the research and development of HCNG engines,
one ‘863 Special Project’ of ‘Eleventh Five-Year Plan’ and has
successfully installed internationally advanced HCNG en-
gines. Four HCNG city buses have been successfully built and a
total of more than 100,000 km have been successfully oper-
ated during the Beijing Olympic Games and in Guizhou Prov-
ince [42].
Status of COG in vehicle fuel as China
Liu X C [43] simplified coke oven gas to a mixture of oxygen,
methane and carbon monoxide and obtained the physico-
chemical properties of COG as shown in Table 6, where the
volumetric ratios of H2, CH4 and CO are 60%, 30% and 10%,
respectively.
It can be seen from Table 6 that the physicochemical
properties of coke oven gas are between natural gas and
hydrogen. The hydrogen component can increase combustion
temperature, widen the flammability limit, reduce ignition
energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The composi-
tion of CH4 can play a role in stabilizing combustion and
reducing emissions.
Major organization working on COG and their achieve-
ments to date are listed as Table 7 [23,44,45]. The average
annual coke production is approximately 12 million tons with
29780 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 4 ( 2 0 1 9 ) 2 9 7 7 6 e2 9 7 8 4
Table 6 e Main physicochemical properties of some
gaseous fuels.
Fuel type COG Natural gas Hydrogen
H/C atom ratio/% 6 4
Density/(kg/m3) 0.39 0.715
Theoretical air-fuel ratio 14.86 17.25
(mass ratio, %)
Theoretical air-fuel ratio 4.49 9.56
(volume ratio, %)
Low heating value (MJ/kg) 46.84 50.05
Low heating value (MJ/m3) 18.3 35.8
Combustion velocity (cm/s) 68 37
more than 5 billion cubic meters of COG in Liupanshui City in
Guizhou Province in China, but the COG utilization is less than
10% [46]. With the price of oil rising in recent years, it has very
promising prospects to use the unutilized COG. Since 2000,
Liupanshui New Blue Sky Technology Co., Ltd. has established
two COG refueling demonstration stations. Although many
buses with COG as fuel can not run in Liupanshui city now, the
application of the COG as the bus fuel has accumulated
experience in using COG as a bus fuel.
But now there is no clear national technical fire protection
engineering standard for the COG refueling stations [47].
China has already begun the design work for COG refueling
stations and the address selection of COG refueling stations
should meet the requirements of environmental protection,
the town planning and the national standards [48]. In addi-
tion, several regulations should be met: the construction of
COG refueling stations should avoid densely populated areas
as far as possible such as schools, hospitals, cinemas,
important places concerning important material ware-
houses and transport hubs at the national or provincial level;
COG refueling stations should be close to the secondary
roads of the city because the transportation there is conve-
nient, but they should not be built next to the crossroads of
the city roads. The researchers [46,49] not only design the
address selection, but also specify the safety distances be-
tween the various systems and the safety distances between
the various devices within the station that should meet the
requirements of GB 50156 and GB 50516e2010, ‘Technical
code for hydrogen fuelling station’. In addition, the fire
safety problems must be considered. For example, an
emergency shut-off valve should be installed on the COG
pipeline near the gas station to prevent further pipeline
damage due to accidents. A safety valve must be installed
Table 7 e Major organization working on COG and their achievements to date.
Organization
Tsinghua University
Zhejiang University
Guizhou University
Liupanshui New Blue Sky Technology Co., Ltd.
Shengli Oilfield Shengli Power Machinery Co., Ltd.
between the compressor outlet and the first shut-off valve.
The high pressure alarm, the low pressure alarm and the
shut-down device must be set at both the compressor inlet
and the compressor outlet. The cooling system should set at
/ a reasonable temperature alarm device with the necessary
0.0899 shut-down facilities. The air intake pipe of the refueling
34.41
station should also be equipped with pressure gauges,
2.4
overpressure alarms and emergency discharge pipes. A stop
valve must also be provided at the outlet of each gas cylinder.
119.7 Main cut-off valves, gas cylinder group shut-off valves,
10.8 aerated cut-off valves and emergency total cut-off valves
270 must be installed between the gas cylinder group and the air-
entraining gun. In addition, the dispenser should also have
the metering function and the refueling function and its
intake valve should be equipped with an automatic shut-off
valve in the event of a collision. COG storage facilities and
pipelines in the refueling stations must be equipped with
pressure relief protection devices. These devices must also
be protected against freezing and plugging. In addition, there
must be fire safety design of electrical installations and the
installation of fire protection facilities. It can be seen that the
research on COG refueling stations has already been very
detailed in China and the COG refueling stations are believed
to be going to be put into pilot operation.
China Shengli Oilfield Shengli Power Machinery Co., Ltd.
designed a 12V240 COG engine [44]. First, as for the intake
system, since the main component of COG is hydrogen, its
thermal value is relatively low and the air flow of the engine
can be reduced if it is supplied by air and gas premixed.
Therefore, in order to obtain a proper air intake density and
increase the average effective pressure, the air intake system
should use supercharging technology and reasonably increase
the pressure ratio of the supercharger to ensure the enough
air intake and the appropriate intake density at a large load. As
the pressure rises, the temperature of the gas mixture will be
very high and the knocking phenomenon will occur easily.
Therefore, the system adopts the water-air cooling measures
to reduce the intake air temperature. Second, the system also
uses multi-point electronic control technology to accurately
control the input of fuel gas in each cylinder improving the
stability of each cylinder and the engine's intake efficiency,
which solves some problems such as the backfiring in the
intake pipe and the shooting in the exhaust pipe well. Third,
China Shengli Oilfield Shengli Power Machinery Co., Ltd.
independently researches and develops an electronic ignition
system that can adjust parameters such as ignition advance
angle and ignition energy, which solves the adverse effect on
Achievements to date
It has carried out experimental and numerical study, and structural optimization
of COG engine
Experimental and, numerical simulation, and structural optimization of MR479Q
engine
Research on numerical simulation of gasoline engine using COG as fuel and
optimization of engine structure
It has built a COG filling station and refueled 30 COG buses and 100 COG taxis.
J12V240ZLDD-2 COG engine supported by 800 GF-RJ COG Generator Unit has been
tested and good performance has been obtained.
 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 4 ( 2 0 1 9 ) 2 9 7 7 6 e2 9 7 8 4
the unit performance due to different gas composition and
thereby improves the stability of engine operation. Fourth, the
oil jet hole of the engine is designed as a precombustion
chamber with a spark plug added and the main combustion
chamber is redesigned, which declines the compression ratio
from 12.5 to 10.5. Fifth, because the material of the precom-
bustion chamber should be resistant to high temperature and
thermal shock resistance, 0Cr19Ni9 is chosen as the material
of the precombustion chamber. Sixth, the shape of the com-
bustion chamber is designed as the shallow basin shape,
which can reduce the flow generated in the cylinder and is
beneficial to the ignition of the spark plug and the smooth
propagation of the flame in the gas mixture. Seventh, the
engine's control system can automatically cut off the gas
supply system when the engine's exhaust temperature, speed,
water temperature, oil temperature and pressure reach their
critical values, which ensures the stable operation of the en-
gine. Eighth, an auxiliary cooling system is designed to
improve the cooling capacity of the engine. The experiments
showed that the engine had good dynamic performance with
the stable and reliable unit performance. The unit was highly
adaptable to the changes of gas composition, gas thermal
value and gas source pressure.
The Liupanshui New Blue Sky Technology Co., Ltd [50].
conducted an automobile exhaust test for the COG automo-
biles with FASM-5000 auto exhaust analyzer and the emission
data of the three different types of automobiles they
measured were shown in Table 8.
As in Table 8, the pollutant emissions of the three type of
automobiles with the COG as fuel were low, which was cleaner
and more environmentally friendly than that of fossil energy.
The automobile powered by COG is a new type of fuel ve-
hicles independently researched and developed by China with
the independent intellectual property rights. And the emis-
sions of the automobile using COG as vehicle fuel are rela-
tively cleaner than those of fossil energy, which can not only
make effective use of the wasted COG, but can also contribute
to solving the energy crisis in the world.
Analysis of application problems of HCNG and
COG as vehicle fuel in China
As for HCNG, the cost of hydrogen production should be
reduced in order to reduce the cost of HCNG, which can make
the HCNG more cost-effective and acceptable to the public. And
the hydrogen produced by the electrolysis of water can effec-
tively reduce the cost of hydrogen production when the electric
energy is converted by the solar energy, the wind energy, the
water energy and other renewable energy sources [51].
Under heavy load conditions, the average effective pres-
sure pme of the engine will decrease with the hydrogen ratio of
Table 8 e The emissions data of three types of
automobiles.
Type CO (%) HC (ppm) CO2 (%) NO (ppm) O2 (%)
Santana 0.01 31 5.69 6 8.60
Changhe 0.01 30 4.83 4 11.52
Foton 0.03 35 8.67 98 3.39
29781
the fuel increasing due to the fact that the overall excess air
ratio of the mixture is relatively low under heavy load and the
gas mixture becomes dilute after hydrogen is mixed, which
causes the decrease of thermal value of the gas mixture
[52,53]. Moreover, the flame chilling distance on the hydrogen
wall surface is much smaller than that of natural gas resulting
in the increase of the combustion heat, which also causes the
decrease of the average effective pressure pme with the in-
crease of hydrogen ratio under heavy load conditions [54]. Wu
C S et al. [55] found that the emission volume of nitrogen ox-
ides presented an increasing trend with the increase of the
hydrogen ratio and the emission volume content of nitrogen
oxides increased at a faster rate with the continuous increase
of the load. The combustion reaction speed increased after the
hydrogen was blended resulting in an increase in the com-
bustion temperature of the gas mixture, which satisfied the
conditions for the generation of nitrogen oxides. Therefore the
emission volume of nitrogen oxides increased with the in-
crease of the hydrogen ratio [56]. With the increase of the
hydrogen ratio, the emission of CO also presented an
increasing trend because the hydrogen of the gas mixture
reacted with CO2 generating more CO. Meanwhile, the in-
crease of the hydrogen ratio shortened the combustion time of
the gas mixture reducing post-combustion and lowered the
exhaust temperature, which limited the oxidation of CO and
increased the generation of CO [45]. Many variables and pa-
rameters can affect power and BSFC of combustion engines
such as air pressure, temperature of the incoming air and
engine speed [57]. Numerical method has been adopted to
analyze fluid flow so the research on HCNG could adopt nu-
merical method to analyze or predict the performance of the
combustion engines, such as flow features and convective
heat transfer [58,59]. In conclusion, the research and the
theoretical analysis of the optimal hydrogen ratio of HCNG
need to be further explored. The research on HCNG should
also be strengthened in China such as investigating the
impact of various parameters such as thermal parameters,
ignition parameters and turbulence parameters on the com-
bustion process under different hydrogen ratios.
The composition of COG is influenced by coking coal and
coking technology [60,61]. Therefore there is composition
difference of COG among different enterprises and production
batches, which can cause that the target air-fuel ratio can not
always be optimal and affect the performance of the whole
machine. Therefore, before using coke oven gas as an alter-
native fuel, it is helpful to carry out the simulation and
experimental study of coke oven gas used in engines [62]. He H
B [63] used numerical simulation platform for COG engines
and found that the COG with high content of CH4 can reduce
the emission of NOx and the trend of detonation of the engine.
The price of COG is 2e3 RMB per cubic meter and about 0.14
RMB per megacoke, while gasoline and diesel fuel per mega-
coke is about 0.25 RMB, so COG is very economical.
The influence of hydrogen on distribution pipeline is small.
The main influence of hydrogen on transportation pipeline is
the loss of material toughness and the increase of fatigue
crack growth rate [64]. The specific impact degree needs to be
studied according to the specific situation, which is an
important factor affecting the hydrogen enriched ratio [65].
The safety of HCNG and COG should be carried out drawing on
29782 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 4 ( 2 0 1 9 ) 2 9 7 7 6 e2 9 7 8 4
other countries' experience according to the actual situation
of China [66]. Research on compatibility between pipeline
materials and HCNG and COG in China should be developed to
obtain the mechanical properties of the materials at a specific
hydrogen enriched ratio. Then the database on mechanical
properties of pipeline materials can be established, which
contributes to assessing the risk of transporting HCNG and
COG using existing natural gas pipelines.
In recent years, several internal combustion engine com-
panies in China have started to develop COG engines and
successfully put the needle-cylinder-powered externally-
injected gas supply, the COG and the air premixed outside the
cylinder and the COG and the air pressurized seperately at the
air inlet of the multi-cylinder engine cylinder heads into
application. However, there are some aspects of the COG en-
gine to be improved. On one hand, the cleanness degree of
COG is not high and there is no gasification during gas injec-
tion and some other reasons causing that the shaft-pin type
electronically-controlled injection valves are easily jammed
and therefore cannot be normally operated. On the other
hand, the backfiring occurs in the combustion chambers,
which causes the gas detonation of the intake pipe. Although
the electronic control methods used are the COG and the air
pressurized seperately at the air inlet of the multi-cylinder
engine cylinder heads and the COG intake with a single cyl-
inder separately, the mixed flammable gas can form in the air
intake chamber of the intake pipe or in the COG intake
chamber because the intermittent characteristics of each
cylinder working and the change of the pressure with an un-
balanced phenomenon in the air and the COG inlets in each
cylinder and so on. When the backfiring occurs in the com-
bustion chambers, the intake pipe can be detonated causing
the engine not to work normally [67].
There have been a few standards about the HCNG in China
so far. Chinese national standard GB/T 34537-2017 specifies the
technical specifications, experimental test method, trans-
portation, storage, usage and test requirements of hydrogen
and compressed natural gas blended as vehicle fuel. Regarding
the gas mixture containing hydrogen as the vehicle fuel, the
raw material hydrogen in HCNG should be industrial hydrogen
and its technical specifications should be in accordance with
GB/T 3634.1. The technical specifications of the raw natural gas
in HCNG should comply with GB 17820 and GB 18047.
However, there have not been corresponding national
standards for COG in China. At present, there are only a few
regions that have local standards for COG as the vehicle fuel
such as DB52 in Guizhou Province, which undoubtedly limits
the application of the gas mixture containing hydrogen in the
vehicle industry in China.
Future development of HCNG and COG as vehicle
fuel in China
At present, China's HCNG technology of the passenger cars is
relatively mature and the corresponding experimental appli-
cations have been implemented in some regions, which re-
alizes the commercial application of hydrogen in vehicle fuel
[42]. However, the regulations and the standards for the HCNG
vehicles and the HCNG refueling stations have not been
determined and issued yet. Therefore the regulations and the
standards are expected to be issued soon by China so that the
HCNG vehicle and the HCNG refueling stations can develop
rapidly to make the HCNG a new vehicle energy and replace
the fossil energy gradually. HCNG as vehicle fuel is beneficial
for the development of a hydrogen energy society in the near
future. The Chinese ‘13th Five-Year Plan’ has stated clearly
that it is necessary to actively develop new energy vehicles.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China
also expresses strong support for the promotion and appli-
cation of the HCNG vehicle and has invested initially 100e200
billion RMB to establish a special fund. Therefore, as the clean
energy sources, HCNG has great development prospects in the
future.
China is the largest producer of the coke with substantial
COG resource in the world, however, much of COG is wasted
causing the environmental pollution and the hydrogen con-
tained is wasted [60]. And the utilization of COG as the vehicle
fuel can make significant contributions to the effective use of
the wasted hydrogen contained in COG, the sustainable
development of the coke industry and the construction of the
resource-saving society [68]. However, the large-scale pro-
duction of COG will cause certain pollution to the environ-
ment. Therefore, the miniaturization and the closed non-
pollution production of COG should be realized and the sci-
entific and rational application of COG can exert the potential
value of COG better [69]. However, the relevant standards for
the COG vehicles and the COG refueling stations have not
been formulated and unified yet in China. Therefore, the
relevant standards are expected to be issued and improved
soon to realize that the COG energy can be widely popularized
and applied, which is undoubtedly good for the development
of the COG energy.
Prospects of HCNG and COG as vehicle fuel in
China
The development of HCNG and COG as the vehicle fuel can not
only alleviate the global energy shortage crisis, but can also
reduce the pollution caused by the vehicle exhaust. In addi-
tion, the HCNG and COG energy are also cheaper compared to
fossil energy so HCNG energy and COG energy have the po-
tential to replace the fossil energy as the vehicle fuel [70,71].
Beijing University of Chemical Technology has recently
developed a new product that uses the low heating value lignite
to produce the semi-coke and the gas mixture containing
hydrogen by a unit process combining the low-temperature
with the dry distillation. In addition, the pilot experiments
have been started and the process is expected to be put into
production soon. In summary, the development of HCNG and
COG has broad prospects as the vehicle fuel in China.
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