Effects of temperature and composition inhomogeneity on the ignition characteristics of NH3/H2 co-firing fuels under HCCI operating conditions

The application of ammonia (NH3) in combustion devices, such as internal combustion engines (ICEs), is expected to largely reduce the greenhouse gas (CO2) emission. NH3/H2 cofiring fuels in homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engines may provide a potential way to deal with zero carbon requirements. However, in HCCI engines, the ignition process needs to be moderated since the ignition is only controlled by the chemical kinetics of the fuel. Therefore, this study investigates the effects of temperature and composition stratification strategies on the auto-ignition characteristics of NH3/H2/air mixtures under HCCI engine operating conditions with direct numerical simulation (DNS). 12 cases with different stratification strategies have been set under turbulent conditions. The chemical kinetics of NH3/H2/air was verified with the laminar flame speeds and ignition delay times. Results show that the temperature stratification can reduce the peak value of heat release rate (HRR), advance the ignition time and extend the combustion duration. In this case, the chemical reaction front is dominated by the deflagration or flame propagation mode. However, in contrast, composition stratification shows very limited effect on the overall combustion process, which is similar to homogeneous ignition and denoted as the spontaneous ignition mode. When increasing the hydrogen content in the fuel, the ignition time is obviously advanced and the peak of HRR is slightly increased. Higher NO emission is also observed which is mainly due to the increase of O, H, and OH intermediates to enhance the fuel NO production. Temperature stratification degree can improve the ignition process under both negatively correlated or unrelated T-Φ fields. However, the improvement is more evident for unrelated T-Φ condition when increasing the stratification degree.