Energy and Exergy of Theoretical Combustion Analysis for Hydrogen Blended with Traditional Fuels

• Published in: Journal of Aeronautics, Astronautics and Aviation
• Main Author: Bin Mamat A.M.I.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: The Aeronautical and Astronautical Society of the Republic of China 2024
• Online Access: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85187557689&doi=10.6125%2fJoAAA.202403_56%281S%29.19&partnerID=40&md5=71454219795387e09ae1f37a44072bc3

Hydrogen combustion engine has the biggest potential to reduce carbon emissions significantly because the combustion products are water and Nitrogen gasses only. However, the burning speed and the flammability of the Hydrogen have made the combustion difficult to control. Also, the amount of energy released from the combustion is lower than the traditional fuels. Thus, the mixture of Hydrogen with traditional fuels such as n-Dodecane (diesel), n-Octane (gasoline), Methane (Methanol), Ethane (Ethanol) and n-Butane (Butanol) is the possible technology transition before the full Hydrogen combustion technology can be used. This paper evaluates the energy and exergy of Hydrogen and other traditional fuels and the mixture of Hydrogen with traditional fuels. Initially, the equilibrium chemical reactions of the combustion process were done. The theoretical energy modelling from the first law of thermodynamics, the second law of thermodynamics and the third law of thermodynamics were applied to analyse the energy released, the entropy generated and the energetic efficiency of the combustion process. Hydrogen's enthalpy combustion per kg of fuel is the highest, but n-Dodecane has the lowest. However, energetic efficiency for Hydrogen is the lowest, and n-Dodecane is the highest. Although no drastic improvement was found for the mixture of Hydrogen less than 0.7, a significant improvement was found for the energy of combustion per kg of fuel, which increased by as much as 56%, and the energetic efficiency was approximately 67% for the Hydrogen mixture with n-Dodecane as the Hydrogen ratio is increased to 0.975. In conclusion, the mixture of Hydrogen with n-Dodecane and other traditional fuels has a good potential to improve the combustion control for the Hydrogen combustion engine. © 2024 The Aeronautical and Astronautical Society of the Republic of China. All rights reserved.