Effect of the Factors of Combustion Chamber on the Performance and Exhaust Emissions in a Natural Gas Fueled Spark Ignition Engine.

Abstract

An experimental study was made on a natural gas fueled spark ignition engine to improve its thermal efficiency and exhaust emissions by the lean burn operation. A multi-cylinder engine was used to obtain the data for practical application. Investigated were the effects of the throat area of the orifice which separated a prechamber from a main chamber, the position of ignition spark in the prechamber and the compression ratio on the thermal efficiency, the exhaust emissions and the lean limit of stable operation. The results showed that a small throat area resulted in low emissions of NOx, low thermal efficiency and narrow lean limit. The spark ignition at the center of prechamber or near the throat was preferable to the top of prechamber in terms of the thermal efficiency. Higher compression ratio resulted in shorter combustion duration, higher thermal efficiency and extended lean limit.