A comparative study of combustion of methane in air-fuel, CO2 diluted partial oxy-fuel, and oxy-fuel modes in an SI engine
(2024) 27ème Journées d’études de la section Belge — Location: Brussels (3.April.2024)
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- By 2050, renewables will represent the bulk of the energy supply [1]. Due to the mismatch between renewable production and demand, the manufacture of ”e-fuels” as a form of long-term seasonal energy storage is likely to achieve significant uptake [2, 3, 4]. Furthermore,e-fuels such as synthetic CH4 and H2 can be produced where renewable energy is abundant and transported across the globe, resulting in a carbon-neutral electrical grid. Currently 30 GW of engine power plant capacity, operating largely with natural gas (NG), contributes to power generation in the EU [5], which is approximately 10% of the current installed wind power across the memberstates[6]. Due to their high dispatchabilityand ramping capabilities,the IC engine power plant is an ideal technology for peaking demand and grid stability, which will become increasingly important with electrical grids featuring a high degree of intermittent generation. Currently,these engine power plants emit pollutants, such as oxides of nitrogen [7], which have both global warming potential and a negative impact on human respitory health. The advanced combustion technique known as oxy-fuel combustion is a compelling solution to eliminate these species in IC engines while sustainably reusing existing natural gas engine assets. Oxy-fuel combustion is a process in which a fuel is combusted in the presence of oxygen ratherthan air, eliminatingN2 in the intake mixture and thereby avoiding the formation of NOx. In practice, oxy-fuel engines could valorize streams of oxygen produced as a byproduct of water electrolysis for green hydrogen [8]. The CO2 in the exhaust stream of an oxy-NG engine is substantially less energy intensive to capture than that of conventional engines due to the high CO2 concentration in oxy-fuel exhaust gas, and an oxy-fuel IC engine operating with synthetic methane could even achieve net-zero CO2 power generation. Despite these compelling possibilities, realizing robust oxy-fuel combustion in reciprocating engines requires a diluent to replace N2 to maintain reasonable operating temperatures during the combustion process. Recycled exhaust CO2 from the oxy-NG combustion process is one possible pathway, but there is limited study regarding the behavior of CO2-diluted, spark-ignited (SI) oxy-NG combustion in IC engines, particularly with respect to experiments. This work will therefore provide an initial investigation, both experimental and numerical, of the combustion event in an oxy-fuel SI engine using methane as a surrogate for NG. Moreover, this study is conducted over a range of different oxidiser mixtures that feature CO2 dilution and oxygen enrichment.
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Daese, M., Contino, F., & Lacey, J. (2024). A comparative study of combustion of methane in air-fuel, CO2 diluted partial oxy-fuel, and oxy-fuel modes in an SI engine. 27ème Journées d’études de la section Belge, Brussels. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/273242