Comparison of Propane and Methane Performance and Emissions in a Turbocharged Direct Injection Dual Fuel Engine
With increasingly restrictive NO x and particulate matter emissions standards, the recent discovery of new natural gas reserves, and the possibility of producing propane efficiently from biomass sources, dual fueling strategies have become more attractive. This paper presents experimental results from dual fuel operation of a four-cylinder turbocharged direct injection (DI) diesel engine with propane or methane (a natural gas surrogate) as the primary fuel and diesel as the ignition source. Experiments were performed with the stock engine control unit at a constant speed of 1800 rpm, and a wide range of brake mean effective pressures (BMEPs) (2.7-11.6 bars) and percent energy substitutions (PESs) of C 3 H 8 and CH 4. Brake thermal efficiencies (BTEs) and emissions (NO x, smoke, total hydrocarbons (THCs), CO, and CO 2) were measured. Maximum PES levels of about 80-95% with CH 4 and 40-92% with C 3 H 8 were achieved. Maximum PES was limited by poor combustion efficiencies and engine misfire at low loads for both C 3 H 8 and CH 4, and the onset of knock above 9 bar BMEP for C 3 H 8. While dual fuel BTEs were lower than straight diesel BTEs at low loads, they approached diesel BTE values at high loads. For dual fuel operation, NO x and smoke reductions (from diesel values) were as high as 66-68% and 97%, respectively, but CO and THC emissions were significantly higher with increasing PES at all engine loads
- Research Organization:
- Mississippi State Univ., Starkville, MS (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
- DOE Contract Number:
- FG36-06GO86025
- OSTI ID:
- 1079582
- Report Number(s):
- GO8602561; JETPEZ
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power, Vol. 133, Issue 9; ISSN 0742-4795
- Publisher:
- ASME
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Analysis of Ignition Behavior in a Turbocharged Direct Injection Dual Fuel Engine Using Propane and Methane as Primary Fuels
MODELING AND PARAMETRIC STUDY OF END-GAS AUTOIGNITION TO ALLOW THE REALIZATION OF ULTRA-LOW EMISSIONS, HIGH-EFFICIENCY HEAVY-DUTY SPARK-IGNITED NATURAL GAS ENGINES
Related Subjects
Brake mean effective pressures
Brake thermal efficiency
Combustion efficiencies
Constant speed
Direct injection diesel engines
Dual-fuel operation
Dual-fuels
Engine control unit
Engine load
Engine misfires
High load
Ignition source
Low load
Natural gas reserves
Particulate matter emissions
Performance and emissions
Primary fuels
Smoke reduction
Total hydrocarbons