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International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 28 (2003) 1285 – 1292

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NOx emission reduction in a hydrogen fueled internal

combustion engine at 3000 rpm using exhaust gas
recirculation
James W. He+el∗
University of California, Riverside College of Engineering, Center for Environmental Research and Technology, Riverside,
CA 92521, USA

Abstract
This paper describes -ve experiments conducted on a 2-l, 4-cylinder Ford ZETEC internal combustion engine (ICE)
developed to operate on hydrogen fuel. The experiments were conducted to ascertain the e+ect exhaust gas recirculation (EGR)
and a standard 3-way catalytic converter had on NOx emissions and engine performance. All the experiments were conducted
at a constant engine speed of 3000 rpm and each experiment used a di+erent fuel 7ow rate, ranging from 1.63 to 2:72 kg=h.
These fuel 7ow rates correspond to a fuel equivalence ratio, , ranging from 0.35 to 0.75 when the engine is operated without
using EGR (i.e. using excess air for dilution). The experiments initially started with the engine operating using excess air.
As the experiments proceed, the excess air was replaced with exhaust gas until the engine was operating at a stoichiometric
air/fuel ratio. The results of these experiments demonstrated that using EGR is an e+ective means to lowering NOx emissions
to less than 1 ppm while also increasing engine output torque.
? 2003 International Association for Hydrogen Energy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Hydrogen; Internal combustion engine (ICE); Lean-burn; Exhaust gas recirculation (EGR); Criteria pollutants

1. Introduction This phenomenon is due to the undesirable combustion of

Hydrogen is widely regarded as a promising transporta-
tion fuel because it is clean and renewable. While electro-
chemically reacting hydrogen in fuel cells is considered to
be the cleanest and most e?cient means of using hydrogen,
it is believed by many to be a technology of the distant fu-
ture. Currently, fuel cell technology is expensive and bulky.
In the near term, the use of hydrogen in a spark ignited inter-
nal combustion engine (ICE) may be feasible as a low-cost
technology to reduce emissions of criteria pollutants and
global warming via carbon dioxide.
Research in the development of hydrogen-fueled engines
has been ongoing for the better part of the 20th century [1].
One of the main obstacles that plagued the successful utiliza-
tion of hydrogen as a fuel in an ICE has been pre-ignition.
∗ Tel.: +1-909-781-5783; fax: +1-909-781-5790.
E-mail address: he+el@cert.ucr.edu (J.W. He+el).
the air/fuel charge in the intake manifold. Numerous stud-
ies and experiments to understand and solve this problem
have been conducted over the past 70 years [2–9]. Recently,
research at the University of California, Riverside, and the
Ford Motor Company has demonstrated operation of a pro-
duction ready, multiple cylinder hydrogen fueled engine ca-
pable of high e?ciency, low nitric oxidizes (NOx ) and no
pre-ignition using an electronic fuel injection system and a
“lean-burn” (using excess air to dilute the air/fuel charge)
fuel metering strategy [10,11]. This lean-burn hydrogen fu-
eled engine was modi-ed so that the exhaust gas could be
re-introduced, or recirculated, to the combustion chamber
and used to dilute the air/fuel charge. The engine was then
subjected to numerous experiments to ascertain the e+ects
exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) had on NOx emissions and
engine performance at 1500 rpms. The results of these tests
concluded that using EGR was an e+ective way of reducing
NOx to concentrations level below 1 ppm [12].

0360-3199/03/$ 30.00 ? 2003 International Association for Hydrogen Energy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/S0360-3199(02)00289-6
1286 J.W. He&el / International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 28 (2003) 1285 – 1292

Fig. 1. Test engine on dynamometer.

2. Experiment

2.1. Test engine

The test engine was a 4-cylinder, 2-l Ford ZETEC en-

gine speci-cally designed to run on pure hydrogen using a
“lean-burn” fuel metering strategy (Fig. 1). It has a compres-
sion ratio of 12:1 and uses a sequential port fuel injection
system. The injectors (provided by IMPCO Technologies)
are electronically controlled using a programmable engine
control module (ECM) made by Motec. The Motec ECM
also controls spark timing. A cross-section of an injector is
shown in Fig. 2.

2.2. Test set-up Fig. 2. Injector cross-section.

A standard 3-way catalytic converter was installed at the

exhaust manifold collector (Fig. 3) and an EGR line was
connected from the exhaust pipe to the inlet of the air intake
manifold using two 32 mm (1 14 in) diameter tubes.
Approximately 0:6 m (24 in) of the EGR tubing passed
through a water tank to cool the exhaust gas prior to entering
the intake manifold (Fig. 4).
A manual EGR valve was installed at the inlet of the air
intake manifold to control the 7ow EGR gas (Fig. 5).

2.3. Instrumentation

The power output of the test engine was measured using

a water brake dynamometer (Model SF-901 made by Su-
per7ow).
Pre- and post-catalytic converter NOx measurements were Fig. 3. Three-way catalytic converter.
made using a chemiluminescent analyzer made by a Horiba.
Kistler high-speed piezo-electric pressure transducers
were installed in the combustion chamber of each cylinder by DSP was used to measure and record combustion pres-
to measure combustion pressure. An encoder manufactured sure relative to crankshaft position. Engine oil temperature
by BEI was installed on the crankshaft and used to measure was controlled using a 21 l (22-quart) oil conditioning sys-
crankshaft position. A combustion analysis system made tem, and engine water temperature was maintained using
 J.W. He&el / International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 28 (2003) 1285 – 1292
Fig. 4. EGR cooling system.
Fig. 5. EGR valve.
a pressurized water cooling tower. Air 7ow was measured
using a calibrated mass air 7ow (MAF) meter from a 2.3-l
Ford engine. Mass fuel 7ow (MFF) was measured using
a coriolis mass 7ow meter manufactured by MicroMotion.
Exhaust oxygen content was measured as a volume per-
centage using an EGK wide-band oxygen sensor located in
the collector of the exhaust manifold and also by the Horiba
gas sampler. Temperature measurements were taken using
type-K thermocouples. The manifold air pressure (MAP) is
measured using a GM automotive MAP sensor.
2.4. Test procedure
Prior to each experiment, a quality assurance (QA) run
was performed. The purpose of the QA run was to bring the
engine to its operating speci-cations (oil and water temper-
ature) and to verify that both the engine and instrumenta-
tion were operating steady and correctly. Following the QA
run, the engine parameters (fuel and ignition timing) were
adjusted to meet the desired test conditions.
Each test started by operating the engine with the EGR
valve closed and running the engine at a lean-burn condition
(wide open throttle). The engine parameters at this initial
1287
condition were then measured and recorded. Following this
test, the EGR valve was opened fully. It should be noted that
this action had little e+ect on the engine operation since little
or no exhaust gas will actually 7ow into the intake manifold
when the air throttle is at the wide open position (the exhaust
gas exits the tail pipe in preference to re-entering the intake
manifold).
The air intake throttle was then slowly closed to restrict
the incoming air. As the incoming air 7ow is reduced, the
EGR gas 7ow rate would start to increase, displacing some of
the incoming air 7ow. The MAP was observed to remain at
atmospheric pressure throughout this entire procedure even
though the air intake was being throttled. The reason for this
is that the loss in manifold pressure that normally occurs
as the result of restricted air 7ow, was made up by the in-
crease pressure from the exhaust gas 7ow. Since the MAP
remains at atmospheric pressure, pumping losses normally
associated with throttling the intake air do not occur. This
is important because it also means the reduction in brake
thermodynamic e?ciency normally associated with pump-
ing losses does not occur. This procedure of slowly closing
the air throttle valve was continued until the oxygen content
in the exhaust gas stream was reduced to zero (the stoichio-
metric condition). Throughout this entire process the fuel
input remained constant. The only parameter changing was
the amount of air introduced into the engine, and thus the
amount of EGR (the EGR 7ow being directly dependent on
the air 7ow).
2.5. Theoretical combustion of hydrogen
The theoretical combustion of hydrogen and air is given
by the chemical equation:
2H2 + O2 + 3:76N2 = 2H2 O + 3:76N2 :
This implies a stoichiometric air/fuel mass ratio of 34:1.
For this air/fuel ratio, the volume fraction of hydrogen that
occupies the combustion chamber is approximately 30%.
This compares to about 1% for gasoline.
2.6. Air/fuel charge dilution
Hydrogen engines o+er more 7exibility in operating con-
ditions than gasoline engines, because the fuel can burn reli-
ably over a wider range of conditions. For a gasoline engine,
the output parameters at stoichiometric operation are nearly
constant at wide open throttle (WOT) and a -xed engine
speed. This is also the case for an undiluted stoichiometric
hydrogen engine. For a stoichiometric hydrogen engine that
uses EGR for charge dilution, this is not the case. Engine
outputs (torque, NOx emissions) can be varied at stoichio-
metric conditions and a -xed engine speed. This is done by
adding or subtracting fuel and air in the same portions (i.e.
keeping a stoichiometric air/fuel ratio) and adding or sub-
tracting the amount of EGR dilution. A better way to think
of a hydrogen engine that uses EGR may be to compare it
1288 J.W. He&el / International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 28 (2003) 1285 – 1292

3. Test results
14% H2 14% H2
30 % H2
The -rst experiment was conducted with the fuel input
34% air 34% air set to 1:63 kg=h. At WOT, this corresponded to
= 0:35, as
shown by the left most data point in Fig. 7. The intake throt-
70% air tle valve was then slowly closed to decrease the incoming
air and increase the exhaust gas 7ow into the intake mani-
52% air 52% EGR fold. As this was done, the
of the air/fuel mixture started
(dilution) (dilution)
to increase. As mentioned in the test procedure section, this
is continued until the oxygen in the exhaust is decreased to
zero (stoichiometric condition). A few data points were also
(a) (b) (c)
Undiluted Lean-burn EGR collected after the exhaust gas oxygen concentrations went
Stoichiometric Example Stoichiometric beyond zero (the point where the EGR gas was not only
Example Example replacing the “excess” oxygen, it was also replacing the
oxygen needed for combustion). Data collected during this
Fig. 6. Examples of fuel metering strategies. The values indicated procedure are shown in Fig. 7. It can be seen from this plot
the volumetric frictions of fuel, air, and EGR. that as the EGR percent increases (represented as an increase
in
), manifold air temperature (MAT) also increases. This
to a lean-burn hydrogen engine that uses EGR instead of intuitively makes sense, since the exhaust gas temperature
excess air for charge dilution. is much higher than the air temperature; as more EGR is
An illustrative comparison of an undiluted stoichiomet- added the temperature should increase. It is interesting to
ric engine, a lean-burn engine, and an EGR stoichiometric note that for this test condition, MAT stays below 100◦ C up
engine is shown in Fig. 6. Fig. 6(a) shows the portion of to a
of 0.7. This means the exhaust gas (which is mainly
hydrogen and air that occupy the combustion chamber for a water vapor) is condensing in the intake manifold and act-
stoichiometric mixture (34:1 A/F by mass). Fig. 6(b) shows ing somewhat like a water injection system. It can also be
for the portion of air and fuel that occupy the combustion seen that both brake thermodynamic e?ciency (Be+) and
chamber for equivalence ratio (
) = 0:4. Note that about torque (Torq) decreases as the EGR percent increases. This
half the amount of fuel is used in this example than is used is thought to be due to the reduction in volumetric e?ciency
in example (a). This is why about half the torque of the en- brought on by the increase in MAT and the additional work
gine is lost using this equivalence ratio. Also note that about required by the engine to pump the water through the com-
half of the combustion chamber is occupied by unused air. bustion chamber. The di+erence in NOx from the lean-burn
Fig. 6(c) is an EGR equivalent of the lean-burn example. fuel metering strategy to the EGR strategy is only 6 ppm
Note that while the air/fuel ratio for this example is stoi- for this fuel input. This demonstrates the e+ectiveness of
chiometric, the portions of air and fuel in the combustion both the lean-burn strategy and the EGR strategy at reducing
chamber are not the same as in example (a) and therefore NOx for this fuel input (low
’s). This di+erence increases
will not yield the same results when combusted. In other signi-cantly as the fuel input is increased (higher
’s).
words, a stoichiometric hydrogen engine that uses EGR will The next experiment was conduct with the fuel input set
produce less torque than an undiluted stoichiometric hydro- to 01:97 kg=h. At WOT, this corresponded to a
of 0.45.
gen engine—how much less depends on the amount of EGR The result of this experiment is shown in Fig. 8. As with
used. the previous experiment, MAT increased as EGR percent
increased, while e?ciency and torque tended to decrease.
2.7. Test conditions Three other experiments were conducted using fuel 7ow
rates of 2.25, 2.53, and 2:72 kg=h, which correspond to a
Testing was conducted at 3000 rpm. Data were collected
of 0.55, 0.65, and 0.75, respectively. The results of these
after the engine had stabilized to operate within the follow- experiments are shown in Figs. 9–11.
ing conditions:

• Oil temperature: 80 –85◦ C. 4. Discussion

• Coolant temperature: 90 –95◦ C.
• Air temperature and pressure: ambient.
Test constraints:
• Maximum pressure rise per crank angle degree =
3 bar=CAD.
• Maximum cylinder pressure = 70 bar.
Fig. 12 shows in graphical form a comparison of the
lean-burn and EGR data at 3000 rpm. This plot is a compi-
lation of the data from Figs. 7–11 and represents the engine
parameters at the point in which the post NOx measurement
were at or less than 1 ppm. The data for the EGR experi-
ments are represented with an “EGR” pre-x. The lean-burn
data has no pre-x. The EGR A/F is not shown since it
 J.W. He&el / International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 28 (2003) 1285 – 1292 1289

180 90
NOx
160 80
MAT
Torq (Nm), MAT (C), Beff
140 70
MAF
(%), MAF (kg/hr) 120 60

NOx (ppm)
100 50

80 40
Torq
60 30

40 20
Beff 10
20
0 0
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4
Equivalence Ratio

Fig. 7. MFF = 1:63 kg=h.

160 300
NOx
140
250
Torq (Nm), MAT (C), Beff

MAT
120
(%), MAF (kg/hr)

MAF 200
100

NOx (ppm)
80 150

60
100
Torq
40
Beff 50
20

0 0
0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4

Equivalence Ratio

Fig. 8. MFF = 1:97 kg=h.

160 1400

140 1200
Torq (Nm), MAT (C), Beff

120
MAF 1000
(%), MAF (kg/hr)

MAT
100
NOx (ppm)

800
80
Torq 600
60
400
40
Beff
20 200
NOx
0 0
0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.2
Equivalence Ratio

Fig. 9. MFF = 2:25 kg=h.

1290 J.W. He&el / International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 28 (2003) 1285 – 1292

160 3000

140
2500

Torq (Nm), MAT (C), Beff

120
MAF MAT
(%), MAF (kg/hr)
2000
100

NOx (ppm)
80 1500
Torq
60
1000
40
Beff 500
20
NOx
0 0
0.600 0.700 0.800 0.900 1.000 1.100 1.200 1.300 1.400
Equivalence Ratio

Fig. 10. MFF = 2:53 kg=h.

140 35

120 30
Torq (Nm), MAT (C), Beff

MAT
100 25
(%), MAF (kg/hr)

NOx (ppm)
80 20
Torq MAF
60 15

40 10
Beff
20 5
NOx
0 0
0.9 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5
Equivalence Ratio

Fig. 11. MFF = 2:72 kg=h.

remains at a constant stoichiometric ratio for all the data
points.
For the lean-burn data, the A/F starts about 100:1 (or a

of 0.35) and ends with an A/F about 50:1(or a
of 0.65).
Higher
’s were not possible for the lean-burn condition
due to the on set of engine knock. As it can be seen both the
lean-burn and EGR torque increase in value as the fuel input
is increased, with the lean-burn torque always being slightly
higher. The maximum torque for the lean-burn strategy was
94 N-m. This is higher than the maximum torque produced
by the EGR strategy (88 N-m). The EGR NOx data are
shown to be at or below 1 ppm whereas the lean-burn NOx
is quite low to the left of a fuel input of 1:8 kg=h (or a
of
0.4). From this point on the NOx increases rapidly to a max-
imum of 2900 ppm before the on set of engine knock (note:
the lean-burn NOx in Fig. 12 has been divided by 100 so it
would -t on the plot). The maximum brake thermodynamic
e?ciency for the lean-burn strategy was 36% and whereas
the maximum brake thermodynamic e?ciency for the EGR
strategy was 32%. The lower EGR e?ciency is thought to
be due to the reduction in volumetric e?ciency brought on
by the increase in MAT and the additional work required by
the engine to pump the water through the combustion cham-
ber. It is evident from this graph that the maximum
for
the lean-burn strategy is limited by the NOx emissions (if
low emissions are a concern). This tends to be around a

of 0.4. This is also the location where the brake thermody-
namic e?ciency for the lean-burn strategy was the highest
(36%). This is not to say more torque is not possible—it is.
However in doing so, the amount of NOx produced is in-
creased signi-cantly. This means that the maximum torque
for the lean-burn engine is really only 55 Nm, not 94 Nm).
While using low NOx output as a constraint will sig-
ni-cantly reduce the torque output of the engine for the
 J.W. He&el / International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 28 (2003) 1285 – 1292 1291

120 30
NOx/100
100 25

Torq (Nm), A/F, Beff (%)

A/F Torq
80 20

NOx (ppm)
60 15
EGR Torq
40 10
Beff
EGR Beff
20 5
EGR NOx
0 0
1.6 1.8 2 2.2 2.4 2.6 2.8
Mass Fuel Flow (MFF), kg/hr

Fig. 12. Summary of engine operating parameters at 3000 rpm. The data for the EGR experiments are represented with an “EGR” pre-x.
The lean-burn data has no pre-x. The EGR A/F is not shown since it remains at a constant stoichiometric ratio for all the data points. Note
that the lean-burn NOx has been divided by 100 so it would -t on the plot.

100
90
Beff (%), Torq (Nm)

80
70
1500 torq
60
3000 Torq
50
40 Relatively constant efficiency 1500 Eff
30 3000 Eff
20
10
0
0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1
Equivalence ratio

Fig. 13. Data for 1500 and 3000 rpm.

lean-burn strategy, this is not the case for the EGR strat- From this graph it can be seen that the e?ciency curve for
egy. Since NOx output is low for all the EGR conditions, both engine speeds is relatively 7at (30 –32%) over a wide
higher torque can be produced. Therefore, using near zero range of
’s whereas as torque is continually increasing
NOx emissions as a constraint, the EGR strategy was able as
is increasing. This means that the e?ciency is rel-
to produce more torque than the lean-burn strategy (55 N-m atively independent of engine torque. Unlike like typical
compared with 88 N-m). Since the NOx emissions for the spark ignition (SI) engines that su+er from a decrease in
EGR strategy is typically zero, the primary constraint for this thermodynamic e?ciency as the torque is reduced due to
strategy is e?ciency. The lean-burn strategy o+ers low emis- air throttling (pumping losses), a hydrogen SI engine does
sions and high e?ciencies at the expense of lower power. not.
The EGR strategy o+ers higher power and low emissions at While we believe that the actual NOx emissions from a
the expense of lower e?ciencies. hydrogen engine using EGR can be a fraction of a ppm, it
A quasi—EGR/lean-burn strategy may be the best com- was not possible to verify this using our current analyzer.
promise to meet performance, emissions and e?ciency The minimum range of the NOx analyzer used for the exper-
requirements. This combined strategy would utilize the iments was 0 –100 ppm. Since a reading of zero ppm would
lean-burn strategy for idle and low loads (high e?ciency) be at the lowest detectable limit of this instrument, it is not
and the EGR strategy for high load (zero NOx emissions). possible say for certain that a reading of zero ppm was ac-
Fig. 13 shows the change in torque and e?ciency at di+er- tually zero ppm. It can be said, however, that a reading of
ent
’s for engine speeds of 1500 rpm [12] and 3000 rpm. zero ppm is less than 1 ppm of NOx .
1292 J.W. He&el / International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 28 (2003) 1285 – 1292
5. Conclusion
The experiments conducted using exhaust gas recircula-
tion and a 3-way catalytic converter clearly demonstrate an
e+ective means for lowering NOx emissions from a hydro-
gen fueled engine to less than 1 ppm. These results are con-
sistent with the results obtained in the experiments using
1500 rpms [12]. If NOx emissions are not a concern, the
lean-burn strategy can produce more torque than the EGR
strategy. However, if low NOx emissions (¡ 10 ppm) are
a requirement, the EGR strategy can produce almost 30%
more torque than the lean-burn strategy. Future experiments
will investigate the use of EGR cooling as a means to im-
prove the thermodynamic e?ciency of the engine and will
also involve using instrumentation capable of measuring a
fraction of a ppm.
Acknowledgements
The author thank the Ford Motor Company for allowing
the University of California, Riverside, to use the lean-burn
hydrogen engine for these experiments and Dr. Jay Keller
of Sandia National Laboratory and Dr. Sig Gronich of the
Department of Energy for sponsoring this project.
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