Performance of a Laser Ignited Multicylinder Lean Burn Natural Gas Engine

Almansour, Bader; Vasu, Subith; Gupta, Sreenath B.; Wang, Qing; Van Leeuwen, Robert; Ghosh, Chuni

doi:10.1115/1.4036621

Title: Performance of a Laser Ignited Multicylinder Lean Burn Natural Gas Engine

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Abstract

Market demands for lower fueling costs and higher specific powers in stationary natural gas engines has engine designs trending towards higher in-cylinder pressures and leaner combustion operation. However, Ignition remains as the main limiting factor in achieving further performance improvements in these engines. Addressing this concern, while incorporating various recent advances in optics and laser technologies, laser igniters were designed and developed through numerous iterations. Final designs incorporated water-cooled, passively Q-switched, Nd:YAG micro-lasers that were optimized for stable operation under harsh engine conditions. Subsequently, the micro-lasers were installed in the individual cylinders of a lean-burn, 350 kW, inline 6-cylinder, open-chamber, spark ignited engine and tests were conducted. To the best of our knowledge, this is the world’s first demonstration of a laser ignited multi-cylinder natural gas engine. The engine was operated at high-load (298 kW) and rated speed (1800 rpm) conditions. Ignition timing sweeps and excess-air ratio (λ) sweeps were performed while keeping the NOx emissions below the USEPA regulated value (BSNOx < 1.34 g/kW-hr), and while maintaining ignition stability at industry acceptable values (COV_IMEP <5 %). Through such engine tests, the relative merits of (i) standard electrical ignition system, and (ii) laser ignition system were determined. In conclusion, amore »« less

Authors:

Almansour, Bader ^[1]; Vasu, Subith ^[1]; Gupta, Sreenath B. ^[2]; Wang, Qing ^[3]; Van Leeuwen, Robert ^[3]; Ghosh, Chuni ^[3]

Univ. of Central Florida, Orlando, FL (United States)
Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Lemont, IL (United States)
Princeton Optronics, Inc., Mercerville, NJ (United States)

Publication Date:: Tue Jun 06 00:00:00 EDT 2017

Research Org.:: Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Energy Efficiency Office. Advanced Manufacturing Office

OSTI Identifier:: 1400269

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-06CH11357

Resource Type:: Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:: Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power

Additional Journal Information:: Journal Volume: 139; Journal Issue: 11; Journal ID: ISSN 0742-4795

Publisher:: ASME

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS; Laser Ignition; IC Engines; Engines; Ignition; Combustion; Ignition systems; Gas engines; Lasers

Citation Formats


                    Almansour, Bader, Vasu, Subith, Gupta, Sreenath B., Wang, Qing, Van Leeuwen, Robert, and Ghosh, Chuni. Performance of a Laser Ignited Multicylinder Lean Burn Natural Gas Engine.  United States: N. p., 2017. 
Web.  doi:10.1115/1.4036621.

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                    Almansour, Bader, Vasu, Subith, Gupta, Sreenath B., Wang, Qing, Van Leeuwen, Robert, & Ghosh, Chuni. Performance of a Laser Ignited Multicylinder Lean Burn Natural Gas Engine.  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4036621

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                    Almansour, Bader, Vasu, Subith, Gupta, Sreenath B., Wang, Qing, Van Leeuwen, Robert, and Ghosh, Chuni. Tue .  
"Performance of a Laser Ignited Multicylinder Lean Burn Natural Gas Engine".  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4036621.  https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1400269.

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@article{osti_1400269,

  title        = {Performance of a Laser Ignited Multicylinder Lean Burn Natural Gas Engine},

  author       = {Almansour, Bader and Vasu, Subith and Gupta, Sreenath B. and Wang, Qing and Van Leeuwen, Robert and Ghosh, Chuni},

  abstractNote = {Market demands for lower fueling costs and higher specific powers in stationary natural gas engines has engine designs trending towards higher in-cylinder pressures and leaner combustion operation. However, Ignition remains as the main limiting factor in achieving further performance improvements in these engines. Addressing this concern, while incorporating various recent advances in optics and laser technologies, laser igniters were designed and developed through numerous iterations. Final designs incorporated water-cooled, passively Q-switched, Nd:YAG micro-lasers that were optimized for stable operation under harsh engine conditions. Subsequently, the micro-lasers were installed in the individual cylinders of a lean-burn, 350 kW, inline 6-cylinder, open-chamber, spark ignited engine and tests were conducted. To the best of our knowledge, this is the world’s first demonstration of a laser ignited multi-cylinder natural gas engine. The engine was operated at high-load (298 kW) and rated speed (1800 rpm) conditions. Ignition timing sweeps and excess-air ratio (λ) sweeps were performed while keeping the NOx emissions below the USEPA regulated value (BSNOx < 1.34 g/kW-hr), and while maintaining ignition stability at industry acceptable values (COV_IMEP <5 %). Through such engine tests, the relative merits of (i) standard electrical ignition system, and (ii) laser ignition system were determined. In conclusion, a rigorous combustion data analysis was performed and the main reasons leading to improved performance in the case of laser ignition were identified.},

  doi          = {10.1115/1.4036621},

  journal      = {Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power},

  number       = 11,

  volume       = 139,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {Tue Jun 06 00:00:00 EDT 2017},

  month        = {Tue Jun 06 00:00:00 EDT 2017}

}

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