Cold-start performance of an ammonia-fueled spark ignition engine with an on-board fuel reformer

Abstract This work demonstrated the first-ever cold-start operation of an ammonia (NH3)-fueled four-cylinder spark ignition engine with an on-board fuel reformer, applying autothermal reforming. In this system, an electrically heated NH3-air mixture was provided to a reforming catalyst and approximately 3 s was found to elapse between the start of engine rotation and the onset of combustion. Stable fast idle operation in conjunction with a cold start was realized with a H2-to-NH3 molar ratio of 2:1. Nearly zero NH3 emissions were achieved during cold start and fast idle until the engine warmed up, by adsorbing unburned NH3 passing through a three-way catalyst before the catalyst was sufficiently warmed up. The NH3 adsorption capacity of this system could be regenerated during the engine warm-up when the engine was running under lean conditions.