• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
• /
• v.15 no.1
• /
• pp.193-200
• /
• 2007

Natural gas is one of the most promising alternatives to gasoline and diesel fuels because of its lower harmful emissions, including $CO_2$, and high thermal efficiency. In particular, natural gas is seen as an alternative fuel for heavy-duty Diesel Engines because of the lower resulting emissions of PM, $CO_2$ and $NO_x$. Almost all CNG vehicles use the PFI-type Engine. However, PFI-type CNG Engines have a lower brake horse power, because of reduced volumetric efficiency and lower burning speed. This is a result of gaseous charge and the time losses increase as compared with the DI-type. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of injection conditions (early injection mode, late injection mode) on the combustion phenomena and performances in the or CNG Engine. A DI Diesel Engine with the same specifications used in a previous study was modified to a DI CNG Engine, and injection pressure was constantly kept at 60bar by a two-stage pressure-reducing type regulator. In this study, excess air ratios were varied from 1.0 to the lean limit, at the load conditions 50% throttle open rate and 1700rpm. The combustion characteristics of the or CNG Engine - such as in-cylinder pressure, indicated thermal efficiency, cycle-by-cycle variation, combustion duration and emissions - were investigated. Through this method, it was possible to verify that the combustion duration, the lean limit and the emissions were improved by control of injection timing and the stratified mixture conditions. And combustion duration is affected by not only excess air ratio, injection timing and position of piston but gas flow condition.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
• /
• v.20 no.6
• /
• pp.23-30
• /
• 2016

The conventional natural gas engine realized lean combustion for the improved efficiency. However, in order to cope with exhaust gas regulations enforced gradually, the interest has shifted at the stoichiometric mixture combustion system. The stoichiometric mixture combustion method has the advantage of a three-way catalyst utilization whose purification efficiency is high, but the problem of thermal durability and the fuel economy remains as a challenge. Hydrogen-natural gas blend fuel (HCNG) can increase the rate of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) because the hydrogen increases burning speed and lean flammability limit. The increase in the EGR rate can have a positive impact on heat resistance of the engine due to the decreased combustion temperature, and further can increase the compression ratio for efficient combustion. In this study, to minimize the exhaust emission developed HCNG engine with stoichiometric combustion method, developed three-way catalyst was applied to evaluate the conversion characteristics. The tests were carried out during the steady state and transient operating conditions, and the results were compared for both the conventional and proto-three-way catalyst of HCNG engine for city buses.