Fundamental Advancements in Pre-Chamber Spark Ignition and Emissions Control for Natural Gas Engines

Conference · Wed Aug 14 04:00:00 EDT 2019

OSTI ID:1557960

Longman, Doug ^[1]; Zigler, Bradley T ^[2]; Curran, Scott ^[3]; Musculus, Mark ^[4]

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1. Argonne National Laboratory
2. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
3. Oak Ridge National Laboratory
4. Sandia National Laboratories

Argonne National Laboratory, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Sandia National Laboratories collaborated on research to address barriers for natural gas engine efficiency. This research project focuses on early stage research focusing on pre-chamber spark-ignition (PCSI) to achieve diesel-like efficiency in medium- and heavy-duty natural gas engines by extending the lean dilution limit and/or exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) dilution limit, as well as shortening burn duration, with integrated aftertreatment. This project integrates experimental and simulation based tasks to address four key barriers to market penetration of PCSI for medium- and heavy-duty natural gas engines. These include Inadequate science base and simulation tools to describe/predict the fluid-mechanical and chemical-kinetic processes governing PCSI to enable engineers in industry to optimize designs for efficiency, noise, reliability, pollutant formation, emissions control integration, and drivability; limited ability to extend EGR and/or lean dilution limits at higher loads; increased propensity for PCSI hot-spot pre-ignition at high loads relative to spark ignition; and ineffective methane catalysts for the high engine-out unburned fuel concentrations coupled with low exhaust temperatures (<<400 degrees C) of high efficiency engines.

• Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Vehicle Technologies Office (EE-3V)
• DOE Contract Number: AC36-08GO28308
• OSTI ID: 1557960
• Report Number(s): NREL/PR-5400-73864
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS
catalyst
efficiency
emissions
engine
fuel
fuel economy
ignition
methane
natural gas
pre-chamber spark