[The Engines and Energy-Conversion Laboratory at Colorado State University] The state-of-the-art monster

Journal Article · Wed Feb 01 04:00:00 EST 1995 · American Gas; (United States)

OSTI ID:6571185

Crawford, A P

The state-of-the-art large-bore natural gas-engine testing facility was founded in May 1992 when the city of Fort Collins donated its cavernous old power plant to the university for use as a test-bed facility. The facility is the brainchild of a group of level-headed scientists, gas industry engineers and manufacturers whose cooperation created a one-of-its-kind lab that is, by universal acclamation, the most advanced independent control and analytic testing facility for large-bore compression engines in the world, one that already has its first produce ready for field-testing and commercialization. In January, engineers from Woodward Governor Co., a Fort Collins, Colo.-based manufacturer, began installing at four sites its electron gas-admission system, the product of years of research by the manufacturer into the continuous monitoring and control of constant pressures across the cylinders of large-bore engines, a process known as ''balancing.'' Imbalances can mean increased fuel consumption and emissions that are higher than necessary. The new systems developed under this program provide continuous and automatic adjustment, several times a minute. When any imbalance is detected, the air/fuel ratio is adjusted to keep pressure balanced between all cylinders. Such continuous balancing should result in greater combustion stability. This, in turn, should reduce engine vibrations, as well as foundation and grouting stress, resulting in a longer life for the engine itself.

• OSTI ID: 6571185
• Journal Information: American Gas; (United States), Journal Name: American Gas; (United States) Vol. 77:1; ISSN AMGLEH; ISSN 1043-0652
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

03 NATURAL GAS
034000* -- Natural Gas-- Combustion
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
COLORADO
COMBUSTION
COMBUSTION CONTROL
CONTROL
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
ENERGY SOURCES
ENGINES
FLUIDS
FOSSIL FUELS
FUEL GAS
FUEL-AIR RATIO
FUELS
GAS FUELS
GASES
HEAT ENGINES
INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES
LIFETIME
NATURAL GAS
NORTH AMERICA
OXIDATION
PRESSURE CONTROL
SERVICE LIFE
TEST FACILITIES
TESTING
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
USA