VISVESVARAYA TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

JNANASANGAMA, BELAGAVI - 590018

A Seminar Report on

“Hydrogen usage in Wankel Engine”

Submitted by
ANILKUMAR M RAGHUNAVR
( 2GP18ME402 )
VIII SEMESTER, 2021-21
Uunder the guidance
Ast Prof. ASHIRWAD
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Government Engineering College ,Majali ,Karwar -581345
 GOVERNMENT ENGINEERING COLLEGE
MAJALI, KARWAR- 581345 (Affiliated by VTU Belagavi)

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

CERTIFICATE
Certified that the SEMINAR report entitle

“Hydrogen usage in Wankel engine”

is a bonafied work carried out by ANILKUMAR M RAGHUVNAR
bearing the USN 2GP18ME402 in the partial fulfilment prescribed
by the VISVESVARAY TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY,
BELAGAVI for VIII semester Mechanical Engineering during the
year 2020-2021. This seminar report has been approved as it
satisfies the academic requirements in respect to the seminar work
prescribed for the Bachelor of Engineering Degree.

………………. …………………. ………………

Guide HOD Principal
(Prof. Ashirwad) (Prof. Pallavi T) (Dr.Shanthala B)

Evaluators :
1) ……………….. 2) ........................
 DECLARATION

I here by declare that the report of the technical seminar entered with
“HYDROGEN USAGE IN WANKEL ENGINE” is being submitted to VISVESVARYA
TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY, BELGAVI in partial fulfilment of the
requirements for the award of degree in Bachelor of Engineering in the
Mechanical Department ,is a bonafied report of the work carried out by me.
The material contain in this report has not been to any university or institution
for the award of any degree.

Place : Majali, Kawar ANILKUMAR M RAGHUNAVAR

(2GP18ME402)
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The satisfaction and the happiness that accompanies the successful completion
of any task would be incomplete without the appreciation and gratitude to the
people who made it possible. We take this opportunity to express our deepest
gratitude to our guide and HOD, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Prof.
PALLAVI T for his helpful advice and everlasting enthusiasm. We are indebted
and obliged for his valuable advice for making this endeavor a success. We
express our sincere thanks to him for inspiring us and providing us with all
facilities. We express deep hearted gratitude to our beloved Principal Prof.
SHANTALA B for his valuable guidance and support to finish our project work
and bring out this report successfully. We also express our gratitude to our
parents for their moral support throughout the span of this work. We also thank
all the teaching and nonteaching staff for their valuable co-operation.
Thanking you

Place: Majali, Karwar ANILKUMAR M RAGHUNAVAR

Date: (2GP18ME402)
ABSTRACT

In this study, investigations on the hydrogen usage in spark ignition (SI) rotary engines
are reviewed to assess trend researches. Many scientists conducted various studies to
investigate performance, emission and combustion characteristics of hydrogen technology. The
studies generally focused on their usage as an additive fuel. It can be seen that hydrogen usage
in SI engine are very promising for their lower emissions, more efficient combustion, and
higher power output. Nevertheless, hydrogen utilization may cause combustion problems such
as back fire, auto and pre-ignition. Moreover, because of their small molecular structure
hydrogen storage is another issue. Especially, hydrogen blending is a particular solution and
this makes hydrogen gas tolerable for storage and transporting problem. In the recent studies,
hydrogen usage in rotary engine is found well suited and feasible by scientists. Combustion
difficulties caused by long and narrow shaped combustion chamber and long quenching
distance of this type of engine can be solved by hydrogen addition. However, absence of a
light, safe and less cost storage technology are still bottle necks for their usage and waiting for
solution.
 CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1 ………………………………………………….(1)
1.1 INTRODUCTION ……………………………………………(1)

CHAPTER 2 ………………………………………………….(2)
2.1 THE PARTS OF A WANKEL ENGINE …………………….(2)
2.1.1 ROTOR …………………………………………….(2)
2.1.2 HOUSING ………………………………………….(2)
2.1.3 OUTPUT SHAFT …………………………………..(3)

CHAPTER 3 ………………………………………………….(4)
3.1 HYDROGEN AS A FUEL …………………………………..(4)
3.1.1 FLAMMABILITY LIMITS ………………………..(4)
3.1.2 FLAME VELOCITY ………………………………………………….(4)

CHAPTER 4 …………………………………………………..(5)
4.1 METHODOLOGY …………………………………………...(5)

CHAPTER 5 …………………………………………………..(6)
5.1 WORKING PRINCIPLE ……………………………………..(6)
5.1.1 INTAKE STROKE ………………………………....(6)
5.1.2 COMPRESSION STROKE ………………………...(6)
5.1.3 COMBUSTION STROKE …………………………..(7)
5.1.4 EXHAUST STROKE ……………………………….(7)

CHAPTER 6 …………………………………………………...(8)
6.1 ADVANTAGES ………………………………………………(8)
6.2 DISADVANTAGES ………………………………………......(8)

CONCLUSION ………………………………………………...(9)
REFRENCES ……………………………………………….…(10)
HYDROGEN USAGE IN WANKEL ENGINE

CHAPTER 1
1.1 INTRODUCTION
The wankel radial engine is a fascinating beast that features a very clever rearrangement
of the four elements of the Otto cycle. The Wankel rotary engine is a type of internal
combustion engine, invented by German engineer Felix Wankel, which uses a rotor instead of
reciprocating pistons. This design delivers smooth high-rpm power from a compact,
lightweight engine. In 1951, Wankel began development of the engine at NSU (NSU
Motorenwerke AG), where he first conceived his rotary engine in 1954 Considerable effort
went into designing rotary engines in the 1950s and 1960s. They were of particular interest
because they were smooth and very quiet running, and because of the reliability resulting from
their simplicity, A rotary engine is an internal combustion engine, like the engine in your car,
but it works in a completely different way than the conventional piston engine. In a piston
engine, the same volume of space (the cylinder) alternately does four different jobs -- intake,
compression, combustion and exhaust. A rotary engine does these same four jobs, but each one
happens in its own part of the housing. It's kind of like having a dedicated cylinder for each of
the four jobs, with the piston moving continually from one to the next. The rotary engine
(originally conceived and developed by Dr.Felix Wankel) is sometimes called a Wankel
engine, or Wankel rotary engine.

Fig 1.1 Wankel engine

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HYDROGEN USAGE IN WANKEL ENGINE

CHAPTER 2
2.1 THE PARTES OF A WANKEL ENGINE

1. ROTOR
2. HOUSING
3. OUT PUT SHAFT

2.1.1 ROTOR

The rotor has three convex faces as shown in fig 3, each of which acts like a piston. Each
face of the rotor has a pocket in it, which increases the displacement of the engine, allowing
more space for air/fuel mixture. At the apex of each face is a metal blade that forms a seal to
the outside of the combustion chamber. There are also metal rings on each side of the rotor that
seal to the sides of the combustion chamber The rotor has a set of internal gear teeth cut into
the center of one side. These teeth mate with a gear that is fixed to the housing. This gear mating
determines the path and direction the rotor takes through the housing.

Fig 2.1 Rotor

2.1.2 HOUSING

The housing is roughly oval in shape, it's actually an epitrochoid. The shape of the
combustion chamber is designed so that the three tips of the rotor will always stay in contact
with the wall of the chamber, forming three sealed volumes of gas. Each part of the housing is
dedicated to one part of the combustion process. The four sections are:
• Intake
• Compression
• Combustion
• Exhaust

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HYDROGEN USAGE IN WANKEL ENGINE

The intake and exhaust ports are located in the housing. There are no valves in these ports.
The exhaust port connects directly to the exhaust, and the intake port connects directly to the
throttle.

2.1.3 OUTPUT SHAFT

The output shaft as shown in fig 4 has round lobes mounted eccentrically, meaning that they
are offset from the center line of the shaft. Each rotor fits over one of these lobes. The lobe acts
sort of like the crankshaft in a piston engine. As the rotor follows its path around the housing,
it pushes on the lobes. Since the lobes are mounted eccentric to the output shaft, the force that
the rotor applies to the lobes creates torque in the shaft, causing it to spin.

Fig 2.2 Output Shaft

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HYDROGEN USAGE IN WANKEL ENGINE

CHAPTER 3
3.1 HYDROGEN AS A FUEL
Characteristic fuel properties of hydrogen and gasoline fuel have Unique properties of
hydrogen such as flammability limits, low ignition energy, high burning rate etc. lead to more
stable combustion process even for ultra-lean mixtures increasing the combustion limits.

3.1.1 Flammability limits

Hydrogen usage at stoichiometric conditions speeds up NOx formation due to increment in

cylinder pressure. On the other hand hydrogen has wider flammability range in air to allow.

Rich or lean mixtures. Hence, the lean operation provides better fuel economy because of
more complete combustion of the fuel and results in lower NOx emission due to lower
combustion temperature.

3.1.2 Flame velocity

A hydrogen engine approaches thermodynamically ideal cycle more, because of high flame
velocity when stoichiometric conditions are performed. The features like flame velocity and
adiabatic flame temperature affect the engine parameters such as combustion stability, thermal
efficiency, emissions etc. Due to fast burning features of hydrogen the engine can run with high
speed operations which results in higher power output with sacrificing the lean operation.

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HYDROGEN USAGE IN WANKEL ENGINE

CHAPTER 4

4.1 METHODOLOGY

Fig 4.1 Schematic layout of hydrogen wankel engine

In the wankel engine, the four stroke of an otto cycle occur in the space between each face
of three sided symmetric rotor and the inside of a housing. The oval like epitrochoid shaped
housing surrounds a triangular rotor and the inside of housing surrounds of a triangular rotor
bow shaped faces similar in appearance to a reuleaux triangle. The theoretical shape of the
rotor between the fixed apexes is the result of minimizing the volume of the geometric
combustion chamber and maximizing the compression ratio.

The center drive shaft called the a “ eccentric shaft “, passes thought center of the rotor
being supported by fixed bearings the rotor both rotate around the eccentric and make orbital
revolutions around the eccentric shaft the rotor moves in in its rotating motion guided by the
gears and eccentric shaft ,not being guided by the external chamber , the rotor must not rub
against the external engine housing . the force of expended gas pressure on the rotor exerts
pressure to the centre of the eccentric part of the output shaft.

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HYDROGEN USAGE IN WANKEL ENGINE

CHAPTER 5

5.1 WORKING OF HYDROGEN WANKEL ENGINE INVOLVS;

a) Intake stroke
b) Compression stroke
c) Combustion stroke
d) Exhaust stroke

5.1.1 Intake stroke

The intake phase of the cycle starts when the tip of the rotor passes the intake
port. At the moment when the intake port is exposed to the chamber, the volume of
that chamber is close to its minimum. As the rotor moves past the intake port, the
volume of the chamber expands, drawing air/fuel mixture into the chamber. When
the peak of the rotor passes the intake port, that chamber is sealed off and
compression begins.

5.1.2 Compression stroke

As the rotor continues its motion around the housing, the volume of the chamber gets
smaller and the air/fuel mixture gets compressed. By the time the face of the rotor has
made it around to the spark plugs, the volume of the chamber is again close to its minimum.
This is when combustion starts.

Fig 5.1 Strokes of wankel engine

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HYDROGEN USAGE IN WANKEL ENGINE

5.1.3 Combustion stroke

Most rotary engines have two spark plugs. The combustion chamber is long, so
the flame would spread too slowly if there were only one plug. When the spark plugs
ignite the air/fuel mixture, pressure quickly builds, forcing the rotor to move. The
pressure of combustion forces the rotor to move in the direction that makes the
chamber grow in volume. The combustion gases continue to expand, moving the
rotor and creating power, until the peak of the rotor passes the exhaust port.

5.1.4 Exhaust stroke

Once the peak of the rotor passes the exhaust port, the high-pressure combustion
gases are free to flow out the exhaust. As the rotor continues to move, the chamber
starts to contract, forcing the remaining exhaust out of the port. By the time the
volume of the chamber is nearing its minimum, the peak of the rotor passes the intake
port and the whole cycle starts again.

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HYDROGEN USAGE IN WANKEL ENGINE

CHAPTER 6
6.1.1 ADVANTAGES OF HYDROGEN WANKEL ENGINE
• Only hydrogen usage in rotary engine decreases emission and improves efficiency.
• They may avoid incomplete combustion and lower driving range.
• This reduction in emission of co and co2.
• No reciprocating parts.
• Cheaper to mass production as the engine contains fewer parts.
• Operating with almost no vibration.
• Wider speed range giving greater adaptability.
• Not prone to engine knock.

6.1.2 DISADVANTAGES OF HYDROGEN WANKEL ENGINE

• Low efficiency.
• Oil leak.
• Fuel combustion is slow using gasoline.
• Bad fuel economy using gasoline fuel.
• Engine ports overlap.

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HYDROGEN USAGE IN WANKEL ENGINE

CONCLUSION
Even though the Wankel engines possess inferior efficiencies and emission
problems inducing pollution as compares to conventional IC engines, they are
preferred in aviation and automobile applications which warrants for superior power
to weight ratio and rapid accelerating characteristics. Wankel engines produces three
power strokes in one cycle of its operation as compared to two and single power
strokes of two stroke and four stroke IC engine. As the Wankel engines possesses
very minimal noise and vibration signatures they are preferred in surveillance aircraft
like the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.

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HYDROGEN USAGE IN WANKEL ENGINE

REFERENCES
[1] Mustafa Ozcanli , Oguz Bas* , Mustafa Atakan Akar, Safak Yildizhan, (2018) “Recent
study on hydrogen usage in wankel engine”

[2] m Ramesh, DR harinarayanna, “new trends in ic engine”

[3] Yamaguchi, Jack k(1985). The New Mazda RX-7 and Mazda rotary engine sports car New
York: St. Martins press.

[4] Yamamoto, Kenichi(1981). Rotary Engine. Toyo Kogyo

[5] Ansdale, R. F. (1968). The Wankel RC Engine,Design nd Performance.

[6] Hwang JJ. Review on devlopement and demonstration of hydrogen fuel cell scooters.

[7] Ghazi AK. Hydrogen as a spark ignination engine fuel. International journal of hydrogen
energy 2003.

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