Applied Thermal Engineering 241 (2024) 122382

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Applied Thermal Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apthermeng

Research Paper

Experimental investigation of operating conditions on performance and

emissions of spark ignition ammonia direct injection engine
Cheolwoong Park a, *, Yonghun Jang b, Chanki Min c, Yongrae Kim a, Young Choi a, Minki Kim a
a
Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials, 156 Gajeongbuk-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34103, Republic of Korea
b
Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju 54896, Republic of Korea
c
Hyundai Motor Company, Hwaseong-si, Gyeongi-do 18280, Republic of Korea

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Hydrogen, attracting attention as a future eco-friendly fuel, is difficult to handle and store because of its material
Ammonia characteristics; thus, ammonia has been proposed as an alternative. However, when only ammonia is utilized as
In-cylinder direct injection the fuel, the operating range in which stable combustion is possible is limited because of the slow combustion
Hydrogen addition
speed and high minimum ignition energy. Here, to examine the applicability of ammonia as an engine fuel, an
Torque
experiment was conducted based on changes in hydrogen energy ratios and operating conditions in a direct-
Speed
Operation range injection ammonia combustion engine with hydrogen addition. The hydrogen energy ratio for stable opera­
tion is about 4.5 % at 1500 rpm under low-load operating conditions such as BMEP 0.2 MPa, and hydrogen must
be supplied at a high energy ratio of 27.8 % in the case of a rated-power condition of 3800 rpm. The unburned
NH3 and NOx emissions were high at 9285 ppm and 4870 ppm, respectively, under rated-power operating
conditions.

producing gasoline and diesel. However, if ammonia can be produced at

1. Introduction
Ammonia may replace emerging next-generation energy sources
along with hydrogen. This is because aircraft, automobiles, and marine
engines utilizing ammonia have recently been developed internation­
ally. The first requirement that future energy sources must meet is that
they should not emit greenhouse gases, which accelerate global warm­
ing. As ammonia does not emit carbon dioxide when burned like
hydrogen, it can be considered a future energy source. In addition,
compared with hydrogen, the processes required for manufacturing,
storage, and transportation are simple and inexpensive, making it
economical. Compared to gasoline, it has a lower explosive potential;
therefore, it is in the limelight as a relatively safe energy source.
If ammonia is developed as a future energy source, many people will
find it quite unfamiliar, but there are many advantages to utilizing
ammonia as fuel. Because it has three hydrogen atoms in its molecular
structure, it can be utilized as a hydrogen carrier when synthesizing
hydrogen, which is difficult to store and transport in ammonia.
Hydrogen is stored as a high-pressure gas, but ammonia, if it is 0.6 MPa
or more at room temperature, becomes liquid like liquefied petroleum
gas (LPG) if the pressure is at transport. In terms of price, it is known that
the cost of producing ammonia is more expensive than the cost of
a cheaper rate, it has sufficient potential as an alternative fuel. The waste
ownership law (Haber–Bosch law), developed by Fritz Haber and Karl
Bosch in 1913, is considered a discovery that became the basis for
agricultural innovation by greatly increasing agricultural productivity
with ammonia as a fertilizer. However, high-temperature conditions of
over 200 atmospheres and 400 ◦ C must be met to synthesize ammonia
with the Haber–Bosch method. In addition, because fossil fuels such as
natural gas are utilized to obtain hydrogen, energy consumption and
carbon dioxide emissions are high. Researchers at the University of Utah
developed a novel method for producing ammonia at room temperature
utilizing natural enzymes and a fuel cell system replicating the biolog­
ical process of nitrogen fixation with nitrase and hydrogenase [1].
Ammonia has long been considered an energy source for trans­
portation equipment. The scientist who first attempted to develop an
engine with ammonia was Rudolf Diesel, who invented the diesel en­
gine. In the late 19th century, Diesel studied an ammonia-fueled engine
for seven years before abandoning it owing to safety and cost concerns
[2]. Instead, Diesel developed and commercialized a diesel engine that
ignites fuel with the high heat from compressing air. The ammonia en­
gine, in which diesel had been given up in this way, began to be
reviewed again in the 1930s, approximately 50 years later. Although
commercialization has failed, ammonia trucks and buses have been

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: cwpark@kimm.re.kr (C. Park).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2024.122382
Received 31 October 2023; Received in revised form 14 December 2023; Accepted 3 January 2024
Available online 7 January 2024
1359-4311/© 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-
nc-nd/4.0/).
C. Park et al.
Nomenclature
ATDC After top dead center
BMEP brake mean effective pressure
BTDC Before top dead center
BTE brake thermal efficiency
CAD Crank angle degree
COVIMEP Coefficient of variation for indicated mean effective
pressure
EOI End of injection
LPG Liquid petroleum gas
MBT Minimum advance for the best torque
MFB10 10 % of mass fraction burned
MFB90 90 % of mass fraction burned
MIE Minimum ignition energy
developed in Norway and Belgium, respectively [3]. Movements to
develop ammonia engines are active in ships and automobiles. Private
companies are developing ammonia engines for ships. The Hyundai
Mipo Dockyard recently received a request from Lloyd’s Register of
England to develop an ammonia-fueled ship that plans to commercialize
ammonia-propulsion ships within the next five years [4]. An example of
an automobile is the ammonia engine developed by the Korea Institute
of Energy Research by remodeling a combined engine for LPG and
gasoline [5]. Specifically, it was a mixture of 70 % ammonia and 30 %
gasoline, and the research team completed a test run at 60–80 km/h in a
car equipped with this engine.
Ammonia has a slow combustion rate and low calorific value, and its
environmental utilization is inevitably limited. In particular, the engine
rotation speed is limited when utilized in an engine. In research on
utilizing ammonia as fuel for engines, hydrogen was utilized to
compensate for the slow burning rate of ammonia [6]. Ammonia has a
minimum ignition energy of 680 mJ, which is very high compared to
other fuels. To ignite it with a general spark plug, a spark plug with high
ignition energy must be applied, or multiple spark plugs must be utilized
[7]. To supply hydrogen, there is a method of supplying hydrogen
directly, but there is also a method of supplying hydrogen by decom­
posing ammonia [8]. In the case of the mixed combustion of ammonia
and gasoline, studies have been conducted to stabilize combustion by
improving the uniformity of the fuel by mixing the two fuels in advance
and supplying them to the engine [9,10].
When applying the compression ignition method, the engine must be
designed and manufactured with a high compression ratio of 35 for
ammonia [11], with a high autoignition temperature of 650◦ . However,
because it is difficult to apply in terms of commercialization, a method of
mixing diesel and combustion is mainly adopted. Reiter et al. [12]
achieved stable combustion at a compression ratio of 20 or less by
injecting ammonia into the combustion chamber via an intake valve and
burning diesel fuel via direct injection. Because ammonia has a low
calorific value, the direct injection of ammonia at high pressure is
appropriate for obtaining a high output from an ammonia engine;
however, the effect on mixture formation that may occur in the direct
injection method has not been directly compared [13].
Because hydrogen burns rapidly and has a short quenching distance,
it can extend the flammability limit of ammonia. The utilization of
hydrogen is encouraging in terms of fuel economy and unburned
ammonia emissions. Recently, the authors implemented combustion by
injecting ammonia fuel into a cylinder at high pressure utilizing a 15-
MPa class LPG direct injection fuel injector. When only ammonia is
utilized as a fuel, its low ignitability and combustion rate limit the
operating range to low-speed and high-load conditions. However, add­
ing hydrogen made a stable operation possible in the low- and high-load
areas under constant engine speeds. The results of comparative
2
Applied Thermal Engineering 241 (2024) 122382
experiments on ammonia combustion have been reported for various
fuel supplies and mixture strategies. However, the experimental
research results for maximizing the ammonia fuel ratio by applying the
ammonia direct injection method are relatively insufficient. Therefore,
the combustion and emission characteristics of ammonia-hydrogen fuel
according to the operating conditions were evaluated in an ammonia
direct-injection engine for passenger vehicles. The direction of techno­
logical development is reviewed in relation to commercialization pos­
sibilities. In terms of ammonia combustion, the combustion and
emission trends according to hydrogen addition and operating condi­
tions were analyzed to improve the combustion and output character­
istics in the non-spleen phase.
As part of the research on the commercialization of ammonia en­
gines, this study examined the possibility of expanding the operating
range of a direct-injection ammonia engine modified from an actual
four-cylinder LPG engine based on the engine’s rotational speed and
output under hydrogen-added combustion conditions of a direct injec­
tion ammonia engine modified from an actual four-cylinder LPG engine.
By expanding the operating range by varying the mixing ratio of
hydrogen under the same engine speed and load conditions as an
existing LPG engine, we experimentally examined the effect of hydrogen
properties on the operation of an actual ammonia engine. The charac­
teristics of hydrogen supply flow rate, exhaust gas, and thermal effi­
ciency are of great significance in providing the basis for the feasibility
of ammonia engine operation. This is because research on ammonia
engines is still in its early stages, and no research has yet been reported
linking hydrogen mixed combustion utilizing high-pressure direct in­
jection devices in multicylinder engines. This is of great significance as a
research result that provides basic data for commercializing ammonia
engines.
2. Experimental setup and method
2.1. Experimental apparatus
A 2.5-L in-line four-cylinder supercharged direct injection spark
ignition engine was utilized here. The configuration of the experimental
equipment and detailed specifications of the engine are illustrated in
Fig. 1 and Table 1. The flow rate of the supplied ammonia was confirmed
with a mass flow meter (CMFS010P, Micro-Motion). A broadband oxy­
gen meter (LA4; ETAS Co.) was utilized to measure the excess air ratio.
The amount of fuel was controlled via the throttle and supercharging of
air in the turbocharger. A low-pressure pump (EU YEON WESTEC) was
utilized to supply liquid ammonia to prevent vaporization due to
decreased supply pressure. The high-pressure pump, installed in the
engine and operated by a camshaft, pressurizes the fuel injection pres­
sure to 15 MPa and directly supplies the high-pressure liquid ammonia
fuel into the combustion chamber through the injector.
To evaluate the effect of hydrogen addition, hydrogen containers
stored at a pressure of 12 MPa are connected in parallel to maintain a
constant pressure. After the pressure is reduced to 0.8 MPa in the
regulator, hydrogen is supplied via the engine’s intake manifold. The
flow rate of the supplied hydrogen was controlled with a thermal mass
flow controller (M3400V, Linetech), and the flow rate was measured
with a Coriolis-type mass flowmeter (CMFS010M, Micro-Motion). En­
gine parameters were varied with an engine control unit. The combus­
tion characteristics were analyzed with a combustion analyzer
(DEWE211, DEWETRON Co.) and a spark-plug-type pressure sensor
(6113CF, Kistler). The analysis was based on the average value of a
section of more than 200 cycles in the combustion chamber. nitrogen
oxides (NOx) and unburned ammonia emissions from the exhaust were
measured with an exhaust emission analyzer (SESAM FTIR, AVL).
2.2. Experimental procedure
The engine speed was changed from 1500 rpm to 3800 rpm by
C. Park et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 241 (2024) 122382

Fig. 1. Schematic of experimental setup.

conducted in a sufficiently warmed-up state (90 ± 2.5 ◦ C).

Table 1
Specifications of test engine.
3. Experimental results and discussion
Item Specification

Displacement volume [cc] 2497 First, we examined the effects of the hydrogen mixing ratio on stable
Number of cylinders [–] 4 combustion under various operating conditions. Fig. 2 presents the re­
Compression ratio [–] 10.5 sults of the lowest hydrogen mixture ratio under the experimental
Bore X Stroke [mm] 88.5 × 101.5
Max. Torque [Nm] 26.0 @ 3800 rpm (w/LPG)
conditions by changing the load based on the BMEP at engine speed
Max. Power [kW] 101 @ 3800 rpm(w/LPG) from 1500 rpm to 3800 rpm. As illustrated in the figure, the combustion
Direct fuel injection timing [CAD, BTDC] 360 speed is a fuel characteristic and changes according to the energy ratio of
hydrogen to ammonia fuel. As the engine speed increases, the combus­
tion rate must also increase because the absolute time required for
applying ammonia and hydrogen in the experiment. The load conditions
combustion, according to the movement of the piston, and not the crank
were evaluated by changing the brake mean effective pressure (BMEP)
angle-based time, decreases. Consequently, as the engine speed
at 0.2-MPa intervals from a BMEP of 0.2 MPa to the maximum torque
increased, the minimum hydrogen energy ratio increased to increase the
condition. Under each operating condition, the highest torque condition
combustion speed for stable combustion. The change in the hydrogen
that could be secured by stable combustion with a coefficient of varia­
energy ratio according to the change in load, which was relatively
tion of 5 % for the indicated mean effective pressure (COVIMEP) was
insensitive to the change in combustion rate, was not large. However,
evaluated. Under each torque condition, the ignition timing and intake/
when the engine speed is constant, the total energy supplied to the en­
exhaust valve timing were controlled according to the fuel to compare
gine is very low. Therefore, in low-load driving conditions such as BMEP
the results of the optimal driving conditions. In the case of the excess air
0.2 MPa, where stable combustion is generally difficult, the hydrogen
ratio, 1.10 was utilized as a standard, which ensured stable combustion
energy ratio is higher than that under other load conditions. At 1500
under certain operating conditions, with only ammonia utilized as fuel
rpm, the lowest engine speed, the hydrogen energy ratio was approxi­
in the previous experiment.
mately 4.5 % under all load conditions, except for the low load of the
Here, because the hydrogen supply flow rate was changed to target
BMEP 0.2 MPa. Stable combustion was possible only when hydrogen
the minimum hydrogen mixing ratio required to expand the operating
was supplied at a high energy ratio of 27.8 % in the case of a full-load
range for each operating condition when the engine was operated only
condition of 3800 rpm, which is the engine speed at the rated-power
with ammonia, the experiment was conducted based on the conditions
operating condition.
for stable operation. Therefore, the excess air ratio was not selected as a
When looking at the results of Fig. 3, which depict the brake thermal
variable. Previous research results confirmed that the operation range
efficiency (BTE) under the same operating conditions, almost no change
can be expanded via hydrogen addition. Therefore, the minimum
in the BTE was observed according to the change in engine speed, and
hydrogen mixing ratio that can be operated stably while changing the
the BTE increased with the load. Because the excess air ratio was fixed at
engine speed and load was confirmed, and the performance and exhaust
1.1 over the entire operating range, the effect of pumping loss due to
gas were observed. The energy ratio of hydrogen is based on the ratio of
throttling appeared in the lower load operating range. This indicates
the heating value of hydrogen to the total heating value of ammonia and
that the effect of friction loss according to the change in engine speed
hydrogen input during engine operation. Under each operating condi­
was insignificant. At the lowest load, the BTE value was approximately
tion, the engine operating conditions were kept constant. Because it is
23 %, and the maximum efficiency was 39.8 % at 2000 rpm.
difficult to secure combustion stability even when the engine cooling
When considering a supply system for one fuel in a general means of
water and engine oil temperatures are low, the experiment was

3
C. Park et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 241 (2024) 122382

Fig. 2. Minimum hydrogen energy ratios for stable ammonia engine combustion with various engine speed and load conditions.

Fig. 3. Brake thermal efficiencies for hydrogen-added ammonia engine with various engine speed and load conditions.

transportation, a hydrogen fuel supply system must be added to an
ammonia fuel supply system to introduce hydrogen. Suppose a hydrogen
fuel container is not installed. In that case, a method for decomposing
ammonia fuel into nitrogen and hydrogen with engine exhaust heat and
then supplying the decomposed gas via an intake manifold can be
reviewed. However, because the heat capacity of the exhaust gas, as a
heat source required for ammonia decomposition, is flexible depending
on the engine’s operating conditions, a stable supply of hydrogen cannot
be guaranteed. The supply of ammonia to the decomposition device to
generate hydrogen mixed gas via ammonia decomposition also causes a
decrease in efficiency, that is, the specific output compared to the
ammonia input, in the overall aspect of transportation means. Therefore,
the energy ratio of hydrogen is minimized.
However, as the engine speed increased, the required supply fuel
flow increased under the constant load condition of the engine. As
mentioned above, because the minimum hydrogen energy ratio in­
creases proportionally with the engine speed, the required hydrogen fuel
flow rate increases as the engine speed and load increase, as presented in
the results of the hydrogen fuel flow rate in Fig. 4. Up to the high-load
condition of 2000 rpm and the low-load condition of 2500 rpm, the
hydrogen energy ratio of 10 % targeted in previous studies can be
satisfied within 0.33 kg/hr. The high flow rate of the hydrogen fuel
under low-load conditions was due to an increase in the minimum
hydrogen energy ratio under low-load conditions. The hydrogen flow
rate required under the rated-power operating condition of 3,800 rpm
full load is 2.24 kg/h, which is a very large flow rate. Based on these
results, obtaining the same output level as an engine utilizing conven­
tional hydrocarbons without adding a sufficient amount of hydrogen in

4
C. Park et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 241 (2024) 122382

Fig. 4. Hydrogen fuel flow rates for hydrogen-added ammonia engine with various engine speed and load conditions.

an ammonia engine with a low combustion rate is difficult.
Fig. 5 illustrates the fuel-injection period applied to the ammonia
fuel injector according to the operating conditions under the same
operating conditions. The fuel injection period increases with the engine
load when the fuel injection pressure is constant at 15 MPa. Although
only the fuel injection cycle becomes faster, the fuel injection period
must be maintained almost constant as the engine speed increases, and
the fuel injection period is reduced because the fuel supply flow rate of
ammonia is reduced relative to the total fuel energy supply; this is
because the required hydrogen fuel flow rate increases as the engine
speed approaches the rated power operating condition, as indicated in
the results above. As for the maximum fuel injection period, a signal of
9.5 ms was applied under the maximum torque condition of 1500 rpm,
the lowest engine speed condition. The fact that the fuel injection period
applied to the ammonia fuel injector did not increase significantly, even
when the speed and load of the engine increased, is an encouraging
phenomenon in terms of the inherent capacity of the fuel injector.
However, this should be reviewed because it is related to the relative
positions of the pistons.
Fig. 6 indicates each operating condition’s fuel injection end timing
(EOI) based on the before top dead center (BTDC). The fuel injection
timing, which depicts a similar level on an absolute-time basis in the
state where the start of the fuel injection timing is at the bottom dead
center, appears when the EOI is more retarded because the piston moves
faster as the engine speed increases. As the load increases, the fuel in­
jection duration increases; therefore, the EOI is increasingly retarded up
to 182 crank angle degrees (CAD), which is close to the intake valve
opening time in the rated operating condition. The fuel injection

Fig. 5. Ammonia injection durations for hydrogen-added ammonia engine with various engine speed and load conditions.

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C. Park et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 241 (2024) 122382

Fig. 6. End of fuel injection timings for hydrogen-added ammonia engine with various engine speed and load conditions.

duration corresponds to 178 CAD, a considerably long period in the
entire combustion cycle because of the low calorific value of ammonia,
despite the high-pressure direct injection condition of 15 MPa. The
tendency of the ammonia fuel supply flow rate to decrease as the engine
speed approached the rated-power operating condition under high-load
operating conditions was not significantly confirmed in terms of the EOI.
To empirically confirm the optimal combustion timing according to
the change in the mixing ratio of the hydrogen fuel for each operating
area, the result of the mass fraction burned 50 % (MFB50), which is the
angle at which half of the fuel is burned, is presented in Fig. 7. The
optimal timing of MFB50 in a general spark-ignition engine exhibits a
result of approximately 8–10 CAD after the top dead center (ATDC),
reflecting losses such as wall heat transfer and exhaust energy compared
with the output [14]. Overall, it exhibits 7–10 CAD ATDC results that
were close to the MFB50 period of the general trend. Under low-speed,
low-load operating conditions, an ATDC value of 10 CAD or higher can
be confirmed because of the decrease in the combustion rate owing to
the low hydrogen energy ratio. The MFB50 time advances until the top
dead center due to the high hydrogen energy ratio as it goes to the high-
speed and high-load operating range close to the rated-power operating
conditions, which indicates that the effect of increasing the combustion
rate by hydrogen is significant. The combustion pressure and heat
release rate under BMEP 0.2 MPa condition and BMEP 1.22 MPa con­
dition at 1500 rpm are presented in Fig. 8 to compare the difference in
the in-cylinder pressure change and heat release in the combustion
chamber based on the difference in combustion speed.
Fig. 9 illustrates the concentration of unburned ammonia emissions
according to engine speed and load changes. Although the combustion
stability was secured at 5 % or less over the entire operating range, the
lower the engine speed, the higher the emission of unburned ammonia.

Fig. 7. 50 % mass fraction burned timings for hydrogen-added ammonia engine with various engine speed and load conditions.

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C. Park et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 241 (2024) 122382

Fig. 8. In-cylinder pressure and heat release rate traces under 1500 rpm, BMEP 0.2 and 1.22 MPa load conditions.

Fig. 9. Unburned ammonia emissions for hydrogen-added ammonia engine with various engine speed and load conditions.

Because the minimum ignition energy of ammonia is very high and the
quenching distance is 6.985 mm under the stoichiometric air–fuel ratio
condition, which is more than ten times longer than that of hydrogen
(0.635 mm) [15], this result implies that a relatively high proportion of
ammonia does not participate in combustion and is discharged to the
exhaust when hydrogen, which has the opposite tendency, is not suffi­
ciently contained in the mixture. This is in line with previous results
[16], which indicated that the emission of unburned ammonia is not
related to the ignition timing and that the amount of ammonia present in
the crevice of the cylinder and piston is dominant. In the 1500 rpm and
medium-load operating conditions, the maximum unburned ammonia
emission result is 9285 ppm, and under the rated operating condition,
the emission result is reduced to 3000 ppm; however, considering the
unburned hydrocarbon emissions in a general gasoline engine, it is at a
high level. Considering the harmful effects of ammonia on the human
body, it is necessary to develop an after-treatment device with an
increased hydrogen energy ratio under low-speed operating conditions
to reduce unburned ammonia. However, a high exhaust gas temperature
is required because non-catalytic decomposition starts at 400 ◦ C or
more, and the light-off temperature when utilizing a ruthenium catalyst
is 300 ◦ C [17].
Fig. 10 illustrates the NOx emissions. The NOx generated during
ammonia combustion is mostly known as fuel NOx, which has a higher
reaction rate at low temperatures than thermal NOx, formed when
atomic or molecular nitrogen reacts with oxygen during high-
temperature combustion [18]. Because the emission of thermal NOx is

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C. Park et al. Applied Thermal Engineering 241 (2024) 122382

Fig. 10. Nitrogen oxides emissions for hydrogen-added ammonia engine with various engine speed and load conditions.

proportional to the combustion temperature, the emission of NOx is high
under conditions where the combustion speed and combustion tem­
perature are high and the hydrogen energy ratio is high [19]. Under
rated-power operating conditions, it exhibited a high level of 4870 ppm.
Even under the low-speed driving condition of 1500 rpm, which has a
relatively low emission level, the fact that the emission level is higher
than that of a general gasoline engine of 2200 ppm or more seems to be
due to the effect of fuel NOx emissions by the nitrogen component in
ammonia fuel [20].
As indicated in the exhaust gas temperature results presented in
Fig. 11, the efficiency of the ammonia engine was not significantly
different from that of a general gasoline engine; however, the exhaust
gas temperature was low. Although the emission of unburned ammonia
is high owing to the low combustion temperature and exhaust loss, it can
be considered the cause of the thermal efficiency being similar to that of
a gasoline engine. Under high-speed and high-load conditions with
relatively low emissions of unburned ammonia and high emissions of
NOx, the exhaust gas temperature is high enough to consider the
application of selective catalytic reduction (SCR) to reduce NOx [21].
However, considering that the ratio of hydrogen to be mixed is above a
certain level, even under low-speed and low-load operating conditions,
the exhaust gas temperature is low for hydrogen generation via
ammonia decomposition.
As discussed above, when the hydrogen mixing ratio is increased for
high-speed and high-load operations, the emission of NOx increases.
Conversely, unburned ammonia emissions are high in low-speed, low-
load operation areas because of the low combustion temperature and
exhaust loss. An SCR system that utilizes ammonia or an ammonia
precursor as a reducing agent can be utilized to reduce NOx and un­
burned NH3 simultaneously contained in the exhaust gases discharged

Fig. 11. Exhaust gas temperature for hydrogen-added ammonia engine with various engine speed and load conditions.

8
C. Park et al.
from ammonia engines. Suppose unburned NH3 is utilized as a reducing
agent in an SCR system. In that case, it may leak from the exhaust port
due to its high NH3 concentration under incomplete conversion or
reduced exhaust gas temperature conditions. An ammonia oxidation
catalyst must be applied to treat this ammonia slip properly.
4. Conclusion
When hydrogen was added to a 2.5-L direct injection ammonia en­
gine, the combustion, thermal efficiency, and exhaust gas results were
experimentally compared under a minimum hydrogen energy ratio,
enabling stable operation for a wide range of operating conditions. The
results are summarized as follows.
As the engine speed increases, the minimum hydrogen energy ratio
increases to increase the combustion speed for stable combustion;
the change in the hydrogen energy ratio according to the change in
load, which is less sensitive to the change in combustion speed, is not
large.
Under low-load operating conditions such as BMEP 0.2 MPa, where
the BTE is low, the hydrogen energy ratio is higher than other load
conditions, and the hydrogen energy ratio for stable operation is
about 4.5 % at 1500 rpm, and hydrogen must be supplied at a high
energy ratio of 27.8 % in the case of a rated-power condition of 3800
rpm.
Almost no change in BTE according to the change in engine speed
occurs, and as the load increases, the BTE increases; at the lowest
load, a BTE value of approximately 23 % can be observed, and the
maximum efficiency exhibits a BTE of 39.8 % at an engine speed of
2000 rpm.
As the engine speed approaches the rated operating condition, the
required hydrogen fuel flow rate increases; hence, the ammonia fuel
supply flow rate decreases relative to the total fuel energy supply.
However, as the load increases, the fuel injection duration increases,
and thus the EOI is retarded up to 182 CAD, which is close to the
intake valve opening time in the rated-power operating condition.
At 1500 rpm and medium-load operating conditions, unburned
ammonia emission results of up to 9285 ppm are presented, and
under rated operating conditions, the emission results of 3000 ppm
are lower.
The emission of NOx demonstrated a high level of 4870 ppm under
rated-power operating conditions, even under a low-speed operating
condition of 1500 rpm, with a relatively low emission level of more
than 2200 ppm.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Cheolwoong Park: Supervision, Writing – original draft, Writing –
review & editing. Yonghun Jang: Data curation. Chanki Min: Formal
analysis. Yongrae Kim: Methodology. Young Choi: Project adminis­
tration. Minki Kim: Resources.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Data availability
The data that has been used is confidential.
Acknowledgement
This research was a part of the project titled “Development of 2100
Applied Thermal Engineering 241 (2024) 122382
PS LNG-Ammonia dual fuel engine,” funded by the Korean Ministry of
Oceans and Fisheries (Project No. 1525011796) and “Development of
core parts technology for non-carbon fuel main propulsion engine,”
funded by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Republic of Korea
(Project No. 20017612).
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