Status, challenges and opportunities of dual fuel hybrid approaches - a review

Consumers conventionally adopt diesel generation to meet the energy needs where the grid connection is unreliable or unavailable. While electrification has provided these communities a variety of economic and social opportunities, diesel consumption has resulted in adverse costs and environmental pollution. Two technologies available to reduce the expense and emissions of diesel fuel reliance include dual fuel or hybrid diesel applications. The dual-fuel approach involves a supplementary gas fuel charge in support of reduced diesel fuel consumption. Hybrid applications involve the integration of renewable generation to displace diesel fuel consumption. This paper reviews the potential for hybrid dual-fuel applications, identifying engine flexibility as a major integration barrier. In comparing the flexibility of various dual-fuel technologies to operate dynamically, this paper presents a critical review across hydrogen, liquified petroleum gas (LPG), natural gas (NG) and blended hydrogen and NG derivatives. The results identify a range of approaches able to improve engine flexibility and thus reduce the cost and carbon intensity of diesel-fired internal combustion engines. At low load conditions, while NG and LPG exhibit similar performance, the use of hydrogen and hydrogen blends provide improved engine performance and response. Unfortunately, given the current cost of hydrogen fuel, significant commercial barriers exist to the adoption of hydrogen or hydrogen blended fuels. Despite this, this review indicates the potential of hydrogen-NG blends to offer additional flexibility in comparison to alternative dual-fuel technologies. This position is furthered considering near term cost targets associated with the development of a global green hydrogen industry, coupled with its ability to serve as a demand-side management approach within isolated power systems, one of the multiple future research themes.