Characterization of pressure oscillations and combustion noise of hydrogen reactivity-controlled compression ignition (RCCI)

Knock and combustion noise are the main reasons limiting the increase in hydrogen (H2) replacement rate in H2 reactivity-controlled compression ignition (RCCI). This study aims to identify the knock-dominated mechanism and elucidate the characteristics of knock and combustion noise of H2 RCCI operated at a broad range of parameters through the combined analysis of the heat release profile and pressure oscillations. The results indicated that under inhomogeneous heat release conditions, the onset of pressure oscillations is mainly attributed to the local fast heat release at the initial combustion stage, but for the conditions with relatively homogeneous and high-reactivity mixture, the pressure oscillations are primarily excited by the end-gas autoignition. Compared with the single injection strategy, the double injection strategy with the first and second start of injection of −60 and −15°CA ATDC (SOI1/2 = −60/-15°CA ATDC) can effectively mitigate the pressure oscillations and shorten the propagation period of pressure waves. However, as the SOI2 is advanced to −30°CA ATDC, the pressure oscillations dramatically increase, because the enhanced fuel reactivity of premixed H2 exacerbates the end-gas autoignition. The results of frequency analysis of in-cylinder pressures show that with the increase in inhomogeneous combustion, the first resonance frequency reduces. As the intake pressure (Pin) is raised from 1.2 to 1.6 bar, the first resonance energy increases, since the elevated in-cylinder temperature associated with the piston compression during the compression stroke enhances the propagation and development of pressure waves. The high-order resonance is closely related to the autoignition of end gas with higher fuel reactivity. Overall, the combustion noise shows a good linear correlation with peak heat release rate for all the points investigated in this work, but the linearity of H2/polyoxymethylene dimethyl ethers RCCI is better than that of H2/diesel RCCI. Moreover, with the increase in Pin, the engine noise associated with the piston compression increases. © 2024 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC