SELECTIVE NOx RECIRCULATION FOR STATIONARY LEAN-BURN NATURAL GAS ENGINES

Abstract

The research program conducted at the West Virginia University Engine and Emissions Research Laboratory (EERL) is working towards the verification and optimization of an approach to remove nitric oxides from the exhaust gas of lean burn natural gas engines. This project was sponsored by the US Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) under contract number: DE-FC26-02NT41608. Selective NOx Recirculation (SNR) involves three main steps. First, NOx is adsorbed from the exhaust stream, followed by periodic desorption from the aftertreatment medium. Finally the desorbed NOx is passed back into the intake air stream and fed into the engine, where a percentage of the NOx is decomposed. This reporting period focuses on the NOx decomposition capability in the combustion process. Although researchers have demonstrated NOx reduction with SNR in other contexts, the proposed program is needed to further understand the process as it applies to lean burn natural gas engines. SNR is in support of the Department of Energy goal of enabling future use of environmentally acceptable reciprocating natural gas engines through NOx reduction under 0.1 g/bhp-hr. The study of decomposition of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) during combustion in the cylinder was conducted on a 1993 Cummins L10G 240 hp lean burn natural gas engine. The engine was operated at different air/fuel ratios, and at a speed of 800 rpm to mimic a larger bore engine. A full scale dilution tunnel and analyzers capable of measuring NOx, CO{sub 2}, CO, HC concentrations were used to characterize the exhaust gas. Commercially available nitric oxide (NO) was used to mimic the NOx stream from the desorption process through a mass flow controller and an injection nozzle. The same quantity of NOx was injected into the intake and exhaust line of the engine for 20 seconds at various steady state engine operating points. NOx decomposition rates were obtained by averaging the peak values at each set point minus the baseline and finding the ratio between the injected NO amounts. It was observed that the air/fuel ratio, injected NO quantity and engine operating points affected the NOx decomposition rates of the natural gas engine. A highest NOx decomposition rate of 27% was measured from this engine. A separate exploratory tests conducted with a gasoline engine with a low air/fuel ratio yielded results that suggested, that high NOx decomposition rates may be possible if a normally lean burn engine were operated at conditions closer to stoichiometric, with high exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) for a brief period of time during the NOx decomposition phase and with a wider range of air/fuel ratios. Chemical kinetic model predictions using CHEMKIN were performed to relate the experimental data with the established rate and equilibrium models. NOx decomposition rates from 35% to 42% were estimated using the CHEMKIN software. This provided insight on how to maximize NOx decomposition rates for a large bore engine. In the future, the modeling will be used to examine the effect of higher NO{sub 2}/NO ratios that are associated with lower speed and larger bore lean burn operation.