Performance Analysis of Binary and Ternary Blends of Ammonia, Hydrogen, and Diesel in Compression Ignition Engine

Compression ignition (CI) engines have caused a surge in carbon dioxide (CO₂) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions. Therefore, binary blends of hydrogen (H₂) and diesel in different ratios are predominantly focused in literature to mitigate these emissions. Extensive research has been carried out using binary blends of H₂ and diesel, but still, there is a lack of research on performance analysis of binary and ternary blends of ammonia (NH₃), H_2, and diesel in CI engines. Therefore, this research article examines various blends to determine various key performance parameters such as brake thermal efficiency (BTE), brake mean effective pressure (BMEP), brake torque, brake-specific fuel consumption (BSFC), and NOx emissions with and without exhaust gas recirculation (EGR). This research introduces a model of a single-cylinder CI engine developed within the Ricardo wave program, which was simulated across a range of ratios for binary and ternary blends. The simulations were conducted at a compression ratio of 21 and engine speed from 500 to 3000 rpm. Validation of the developed model is carried out against experimental data reported in the literature, and the absolute error was less than 5%, which validates the accuracy of the developed model. Results show that the BTE increases rapidly from 28% to 38% for the investigated binary blends (with 10% NH₃ to 90%) and 25% to 40% for the investigated ternary blended fuels at engine load from 500 to 2000 rpm, respectively. The maximum efficiency is observed in the case of 50% diesel and 50% NH₃ (D50A50) for the binary blends and 50% diesel, 25% NH₃ and 25% H₂ (D50A25H25) for the ternary blends. However, D50A50 and D50A25H25 exhibit 20% and 30% increased levels of NOx compared to diesel, respectively, particularly at higher engine speeds. However, when EGR is implemented at 25%, there is a substantial reduction in NO_x concentration.