Abstract

There is a growing expectation that cleaner alternative fuels such as hydrogen, biomethane and ammonia will progressively replace the traditional fossil fuels. Therefore, there is a great opportunity for hydrogen to play an important role, particularly in sectors of the economy that rely on internal combustion engines (ICEs), such as heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs), marine, off-road mobile machinery (NRMM), and in construction equipment. There is a growing body of research investigating the effect of hydrogen on engine materials and thermal performance.

However, there has been a dearth of detailed analysis, particularly concerning tribological (friction, lubrication and wear) and lubricant performance in the presence of hydrogen and/or its combustion by-products. Furthermore, comprehensive multi-scale studies, ranging from full vehicular tests down to tribometric assessment and precision surface characterisation of formed tribofilms, are still lacking. This paper aims to highlight the findings from recent in-depth studies of the authors.