Authors: Vishnu Deo Tiwari, Om Prakash Sondhiya

Abstract: The growing need for environmentally sustainable transportation has encouraged extensive re-search into alternative fuel technologies capable of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and im-proving engine efficiency. Among the various alternatives, hydrogen has attracted considerable attention because of its high flame propagation speed, broad flammability limits, and cleans com-bustion characteristics. Despite these advantages, the widespread adoption of hydrogen-fueled vehicles remains constrained by challenges associated with hydrogen storage, transportation, and infrastructure development. To overcome these limitations, the present study investigates an on-board hydrogen generation system based on ethanol steam reforming for application in spark-ignition (SI) engines. Ethanol is considered a suitable feedstock due to its renewable nature, ease of handling, established distribution network, and relatively high hydrogen content. In the pro-posed system, ethanol undergoes catalytic steam reforming to produce a hydrogen-rich gas stream, which is subsequently supplied to the engine to improve combustion characteristics and overall performance. The research focuses on evaluating the influence of key reforming parame-ters, including reforming temperature, steam-to-ethanol ratio, and catalyst loading, on hydrogen production efficiency. Furthermore, engine performance is assessed in terms of brake thermal efficiency, brake specific fuel consumption, and exhaust emissions such as carbon monoxide (CO), unburned hydrocarbons (HC), and nitrogen oxides (NOx). Advanced optimization tech-niques, namely Response Surface Methodology (RSM) and Artificial Neural Networks (ANN), are proposed to identify the optimum operating conditions for maximizing hydrogen yield and engine performance while minimizing emissions. In addition, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis using Fluent is considered to examine combustion behavior and flow dynamics within the engine system. The anticipated outcomes of this work include enhanced combustion efficiency, lower pollutant emissions, improved fuel utilization, and the promotion of renewable fuel-based hydrogen generation as a practical pathway toward cleaner and more sustainable trans-portation technologies.

DOI: http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20675475