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Effects of argon dilution on the thermal efficiency and exhaust emissions of a NG engine

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Abstract

Argon (Ar) is the third most common gas in the Earth’s atmosphere. About 700,000 tonnes of Ar are produced worldwide every year. Ar is inexpensive since it occurs naturally in air, and is readily obtained as a byproduct of cryogenic air separation in the production of O2 and N2. To decrease NOx emissions and slightly improve the thermal efficiency, Ar has been used in ICE before. However, it appears that it was used only in diesel and gasoline engines. This paper presents the effects of Ar dilution on the thermal efficiency and NOx emissions of a 6-cylinder natural gas SI engine. Ar was added into the intake charge at fixed boundaries under 1450 rpm and 50% load. The results show that the thermal efficiency increases first and then decreases with NOx emissions being decreased significantly as the dilution ratio (DR) of Ar increases. The thermal efficiency peaks at 9.8% DR with NOx emissions being decreased by 31.1%. At the maximum DR (18.4%), the thermal efficiency decreases by 0.3% with NOx emissions being decreased by 64.0%. Furthermore, from comparative experimental results it can be concluded that Ar dilution is superior in maintaining higher thermal efficiencies than CO2 and N2 for NG engines.

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Abbreviations

AFR:

air fuel ratio

Ar:

argon

BMEP:

brake mean effective pressure

BTDC:

before top-dead-centre

CA:

crank angle

CNG:

compressed natural gas

CO:

carbon monoxide

CO2 :

carbon dioxide

COV:

cycle to cycle variations

cp :

specific heat capacity at constant pressure

Cp :

heat capacity of mixture at constant pressure

cv :

specific heat capacity at constant volume

Cv :

heat capacity of mixture at constant volume

DR:

dilution ratio

EGR:

exhaust gas recirculation

H2O:

steam

HC:

hydrocarbon

ICE:

internal combustion engine

MAP:

manifold air pressure

MFC:

mass flow controller

MFM:

mass flow meter

N2 :

nitrogen

NG:

natural gas

NOx:

nitrogen oxides

O2 :

oxygen

P:

pressure in the cylinder

ppm:

parts per million

PMEP:

pump mean effective pressure

SCR:

selective catalytic reduction

SI:

spark ignition

ST:

spark timing

T:

temperature in the cylinder

THC:

total hydrocarbon

TWC:

three-way catalyst

λ:

excess air ratio

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Automotive Simulation and Control, Jilin University, Changchun, 130025, China

    W. F. Li, Z. C. Liu, J. Tian, Z. S. Wang & Y. Xu

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  1. W. F. Li
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  2. Z. C. Liu
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  3. J. Tian
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Correspondence to J. Tian.

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Li, W.F., Liu, Z.C., Tian, J. et al. Effects of argon dilution on the thermal efficiency and exhaust emissions of a NG engine. Int.J Automot. Technol. 16, 721–731 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12239-015-0073-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12239-015-0073-7

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