Abstract
The rapacious growth of transport sector in last few decades has made it one of the major contributor of air pollution. This has pushed the governments of different countries around the globe to impose stringent pollution norms on vehicular emissions. Therefore, these days design of automobile engines is greatly influenced by criteria of reducing the emissions. Amongst all automotive engines, compression ignition engines are especially prominent in long-hauling scenarios due to their higher thermodynamic efficiency and better low-end torque. However, they are notorious for the black smoke which they emit. Alternative fuels and combustion technologies are explored extensively to reduce the emissions and improve the combustion efficiency further in such engines. Amongst different alternative fuels explored by researchers, hydrogen is attractive due to its extremely clean combustion properties. This work critically evaluates the amenities and shortcomings of the hydrogen as a fuel in compression ignition engines. Application of hydrogen in advanced compression ignition technologies such as HCCI and PCCI is also explored.