TY - JOUR
TI - Hydrogen enriched compressed natural gas (HCNG): A futuristic fuel for internal combustion engines
AU - Nanthagopal Kasianantham
AU - Subbarao Rayapati
AU - Elango Thangavelu
AU - Baskar Ponnusamy
AU - Annamalai Kandasamy
JN - Thermal Science
PY - 2011
VL - 15
IS - 4
SP - 1145
EP - 1154
PT - Article
AB - Air pollution is fast becoming a serious global problem with increasing  population and its subsequent demands. This has resulted in increased usage  of hydrogen as fuel for internal combustion engines. Hydrogen resources are  vast and it is considered as one of the most promising fuel for automotive  sector. As the required hydrogen infrastructure and refueling stations are  not meeting the demand, widespread introduction of hydrogen vehicles is not  possible in the near future. One of the solutions for this hurdle is to blend  hydrogen with methane. Such types of blends take benefit of the unique  combustion properties of hydrogen and at the same time reduce the demand for  pure hydrogen. Enriching natural gas with hydrogen could be a potential  alternative to common hydrocarbon fuels for internal combustion engine  applications. Many researchers are working on this for the last few years and  work is now focused on how to use this kind of fuel to its maximum extent.  This technical note is an assessment of HCNG usage in case of internal  combustion engines. Several examples and their salient features have been  discussed. Finally, overall effects of hydrogen addition on an engine fueled  with HCNG under various conditions are illustrated. In addition, the scope  and challenges being faced in this area of research are clearly described.