Improving low load combustion, stability, and emissions in pilot-ignited natural gas engines

Stringent environmental policies and the ever-increasing demand for energy have triggered interest in novel combustion technologies that use alternative fuels as energy sources. Of these, pilot-ignited natural gas engines that employ small diesel pilots (∼1-5 per cent on an energy basis) to compression ignite a premixed natural gas-air mixture have received considerable attention. This paper discusses the effect of intake charge temperature and pilot injected quantity on the onset of ignition (Δ IGN ) and combustion (Δ COM ) in a pilot-ignited natural gas engine with specific focus on early diesel pilot injection [begining of injection (BOI) at about 60° before top dead centre (BTDC)] for low-load operation. Both Δ IGN and Δ COM had a strong influence on performance and emissions at 60° BTDC. At advanced BOI for both half and quarter-load operation, the best performance and hydrocarbon (HC) emissions could be obtained by optimally advancing Δ IGN relative to TDC and minimizing the cyclic variability in the Δ IGN . Furthermore, a clear dependence of Δ COM on Δ IGN was observed with the optimally advanced and the least-variable Δ IGN producing the least Δ COM variations. Engine performance, stability, and emissions were more sensitive to intake charge temperatures in comparison with pilot injected quantities. The best improvement in performance and emissions was obtained with increasing intake temperature at half load, where fuel conversion efficiency (FCE) increased from approximately 31 per cent to 38 per cent, coefficient of variation of indicated mean effective pressure (COV IMEP ) decreased from about 11 per cent to 4 per cent, and HC emissions decreased from 72 to 23 g/kW h, while oxides of nitrogen (NO x ) emissions increased from 16 to 142 mg/kW h. Performance and emissions trends at quarter load were similar to those observed at half load.