Lean Combustion Research Articles

Simulation analysis of a gas engine with various prechamber neck diameters in lean burning condition

The research presented in this paper focused on the simulation analysis of the pre-chamber neck diameter on in-cylinder processes in a large gas engine. The investigation was conducted using AVL Boost software and the implemented PCSI combustion model. The scope of the analysis included different neck diameters from 17 to 26 mm and variations of the ignition timing in the range of 0 to 40 degrees. Using the narrowest ignition chamber neck resulted in the largest inter-chamber throttling effect. This translated into an increase in the maximum pressure in the cylinder, obtaining more heat release and the heat release rate. Further reduction of the constriction below 17 mm led to a rapid pressure increase in the ignition chamber at the start of combustion above the maximum pressure in the cylinder, for which the indicated constriction value was considered limiting.

New laminar flame speed correlation for lean mixtures of hydrogen combustion with water addition under high pressure conditions

Hydrogen may become a substitute for liquid fossil fuels, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions reductions in internal combustion engines. Numerical simulations play a critical role in the advancement of these engines, with laminar flame speed being the main input. Experimental data of hydrogen flame speed at elevated pressures are scarce, due to the instability of the flames. Nonetheless, stable hydrogen flames can be predicted using chemical kinetics models. Moreover, the injection of water into the hydrogen fuelled engine could offer several benefits to engine combustion and emission performance, as it modulates the laminar flame speed within the combustion chamber and this effect has not been completely understood. Currently, no correlation exists to predict the laminar flame speed of hydrogen-air combustion with water addition under lean mixture engine operating conditions. In this study, we have extended the newly developed laminar flame speed correlation of hydrogen-air combustion to account for the effects of water addition under engine relevant conditions by using chemical kinetic laminar flame speed values. The laminar flame speed correlation was derived for pressures from 10 to 70 bar, temperatures from 400 to 800 K, equivalence ratios from 0.35 to 1 and water addition by mole from 0 to 20%. The hydrogen laminar flame speed correlation was expressed using polynomial forms with reduced order and number of terms with optimized values of coefficients. Additionally, a new exponential term was proposed to the power term α of the laminar flame speed correlation to capture the coupled effects of pressure and temperature on laminar flame speeds under engine-relevant lean burn water-diluted operating conditions.

Investigation of ignition process of a multi-swirl staged model combustor in low-temperature environment

The ignition reliability of lean combustion is fundamental to make sure that gas turbine combustor can operate in low-temperature environment reliably. It is important to investigate the influence of key factors on ignition process to improve ignition performance. Based on the multi-swirl staged model combustor, the effect of low-temperature inlet and fuel to air ratio (FAR) on the behaviors of the initial flame kernel and flame propagation. In this work, Large Eddy Simulation (LES) and Dynamic Thickened Flame (DTF) model coupled with skeletal chemical reaction mechanism of kerosene are used to capture flamelet information during the ignition process. The results show that the numerical method can capture the ignition process accurately. The axial velocity, droplet temperature and local equivalence ratio of the ignition position decrease as the inlet air temperature decreases, while the local equivalence ratio increases with the increase of FAR. Ignition fails when inlet air temperature reducing to 253 K, as local equivalence ratio and local FAR decrease, and the Karlovitz number (Ka) of the ignition position increases. The ignition with low-temperature inlet air can be successful by raising the FAR to 0.04 at the same time, but the ignition delay time is extended by 26.72 % and the flame propagation path is changed.

Influence of initial electric arc root position on electric arc behavior with spark plugs in large lean burn spark ignited gas engines

Increasing efficiency while reducing emissions leads to high mean effective pressures, high compression ratios and increasingly lean operation for spark ignited large gas engines. Despite these boundary conditions, gas engines must be operated between knocking and misfiring at low cycle-to-cycle fluctuations. The excess air ratio and the ignition process of the lean mixture greatly influence the stability of the combustion process. To enable sufficiently low cycle-to-cycle fluctuation of the combustion process despite the ever increasing excess air ratio levels, it is necessary to understand and investigate the sub-areas of the engine process, for example, ignition, flow condition and mixture formation. This paper focuses on one sub-area of conventional spark ignition, the influence of the electric arc root position on the origin and stretching of the electric arc, because electric arc behavior is considered important in the subsequent combustion process. The results show that electric arc roots on the downstream end of the electrodes tend to enable a longer electric arc length at the first electric arc short circuit (i.e. the first abrupt shortening of the electric arc during its spark duration) than electric arcs with electric arc roots on the upstream ends of the electrodes.

Reducing Methane Emissions From Lean Burn Natural Gas Engines With Prechamber Ignited Mixing-Controlled Combustion

Abstract The oil and gas industry heavily relies on lean burn spark ignited natural gas reciprocating engines. These engines are used in many applications, such as oil and gas exploration, production, processing, compression, transmission, and power generation. These engines produce criteria pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides (NOx) and carbon monoxide (CO), but due to their premixed nature, also produce relatively large amounts of unburned methane (CH4) emissions. These pollutant emissions not only impact air quality, but methane is a very powerful greenhouse gas, with a global warming potential ∼25–84 times higher than that of CO2. Therefore, it is essential to decrease these emissions for the protection of our environment and public health. The primary source of methane emissions in lean burn engines is the crevices and near wall quench layers. Thus, one method to dramatically reduce methane emissions is to alter the combustion process to be nonpremixed, mixing-controlled combustion. High auto-ignition resistance fuels, like natural gas, are not conducive to mixing-controlled combustion due to very long ignition delays. This study investigates using an active prechamber ignition source and a direct injector to achieve mixing-controlled combustion of natural gas with very short ignition delays. In this concept, the active prechamber acts as a reliable ignition source for the direct injected natural gas, which is referred to as prechamber ignited mixing-controlled combustion (PC-MCC). The PC-MCC concept enables a ∼10× reduction in methane emissions, making it a promising technology for reducing the environmental impact of reciprocating engines. In this study, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations have been used to compare two modeling approaches for PC-MCC: a pure Eulerian gaseous injection approach and a gas-parcels injection method. Using the parcel method to model the gas injection enables an engineering approach to study and design the PC-MCC concept in a timely manner with coarser computational grids. This study also investigated the impact of several variables that may contribute to the performance and emissions of the PC-MCC strategy. The parameters that were examined include prechamber passageway characteristics like nozzle diameter, number of nozzles, and the orientation of nozzle orifices. Understanding the effects of each of these parameters will allow PC-MCC with natural gas to be optimized for low methane emissions.

The Effect of Water Injection on a Naturally Aspirated Spark-Ignited Engine

Water injection (WI) is a well-known technique to mitigate knocking phenomena, reducing the in-cylinder gas temperature with a high heat of vaporization and specific heat of water. In this study, the effect of WI directly into the cylinder on fuel efficiency was investigated using a 2.0 L naturally aspirated (NA), four-cylinder, port fuel injection (PFI)-spark-ignited (SI) engine. Spray visualization of water injection by a commercial gasoline direct-injection (GDI) injector was performed to elucidate the water evaporation characteristics. In engine experiments, combustion characteristics were analyzed by adjusting the WI timing and amount. Synergistic effects with other gas dilution techniques, such as EGR and Lean burn, were also investigated. The spray image of WI showed poor evaporation of water compared to gasoline, even at high fuel temperatures. The optimal timing of WI was advanced up to the early intake stroke due to the harsh conditions of NA engines for water evaporation compared to turbocharged engines. With the combination of EGR, the optimal WI timing was advanced by the compression stroke, and further fuel efficiency improvement was achieved. In lean combustion, WI can improve both combustion stability and fuel efficiency.

Oxygen Dynamics in Lean Propylene Catalytic Combustion over CeO2 and Pr6O11: Roles and Interplay between Lattice and Adsorbed Oxygen Species

Oxygen Dynamics in Lean Propylene Catalytic Combustion over CeO₂ and Pr₆O₁₁: Roles and Interplay between Lattice and Adsorbed Oxygen Species

Experimental investigation on the combustion characteristics of ultra-lean premixed hydrogen/air using turbulent jet ignition

Amid growing environmental concerns, hydrogen (H2) is emerging as a prospective alternative fuel for driving internal combustion engines. Employing lean combustion technology in tandem with turbulent jet ignition (TJI) has the potential to enhance combustion rates while mitigating NOx emissions. Therefore, an experiment was developed to investigate the combustion characteristics of ultra-lean premixed H2/air by TJI. An active pre-chamber (PC) with an additional H2 supply was selected. Moreover, the effect of nozzle structures and equivalence ratio was discussed. The results show that with a nozzle diameter of 3 mm and an elevation of ΦPC to 1.4, the lean flammability limit is extended to an equivalence ratio of 0.13, with a consistently stabilized ignition delay within 4 ms. Increasing the nozzle number also extends the lean flammability limit, but it incurs higher energy losses. Additionally, two ignition mechanisms exist in TJI: flame ignition and combined ignition. The transition from flame ignition to combined ignition commonly occurs when the equivalence ratio of the main chamber drops below 0.3. This transition typically results in higher peak pressures and burnt fuel ratio, lower combustion duration, and longer ignition delay.

Optical investigation of the influence of high-reactivity iso-octane turbulent jet ignition on the combustion characteristics of ammonia/air mixtures

Ammonia has attracted considerable attention as a zero-carbon fuel; however, challenges such as ignition difficulty and slow flame propagation persist. These challenges can be addressed by employing a highly reactive fuel in the pre-chamber to initiate the ignition of ammonia. This work aims to experimentally investigate the influence of pre-chamber fuel composition and concentration on ammonia combustion characteristics across various equivalence ratios. The results are as follows: elevating iso-octane equivalence ratios in the pre-chamber enhances stoichiometric ammonia combustion characteristics, reducing ignition delay and burn duration. However, excessive values result in significant delays and a decrease in flame speed. At an iso-octane equivalence ratio of 0.8, the main chamber exhibited the shortest combustion duration. By utilizing the optimal pre-chamber total equivalence ratios of 2.0 and 2.3, the ammonia lean combustion limit was achieved at an excess air ratio of 1.89 under experimental conditions (0.8 MPa, 440 K). As main chamber equivalence ratios decreased, ignition delay shortened. The pre-chamber total equivalence ratios exert a more pronounced impact on the main chamber ignition delay. In contrast, the main chamber equivalence ratios substantially influence the middle and later stages of combustion.

Effects of exhaust gas recirculation on nitrogen oxides, brake torque and efficiency in a hydrogen direct injection spark ignition engine

This study investigated the effects of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) on emission and efficiency in a hydrogen direct injection spark ignition engine. EGR was supplied as the low-pressure (LP)-EGR system by controlling EGR valve from zero to 18.7% in terms of mass fraction. The result showed that EGR effect on nitrogen oxides (NOx) reduction became enlarged as higher engine speed due to increasing residual gas fraction. Also, under the same excessive air ratio (λ:2.2), EGR addition made NOx reduction from 89.9 to 98.7 % as varying engine speed. As NOx limit was low, the maximum brake torque was also reduced. However, by using appropriate EGR, NOx margin could be converted to increasing brake torque under the same NOx concentration level from 1.9% to 18.2% as varying engine speeds. From this result, to achieve the maximum output when reaching the turbocharger’s limit in a hydrogen engine and effectively reduce nitrogen oxide emissions, it is not only dependent on lean combustion but also effective to incorporate approximately 20% EGR into the operating strategy.

Numerical investigation on gaseous fuel injection strategies on combustion characteristics and NO emission performance in a pure hydrogen engine

With the proposal of “dual-carbon” goals and increasingly stringent emission regulations, hydrogen as a zero-carbon alternative fuel has great potential in engine applications. In the appliance of pure hydrogen engines, direct injection plus lean burn technology can effectively improve engine performance and reduce emissions. Therefore, this work establishes a three-dimensional (3D) simulation model of the pure hydrogen spark-ignition internal combustion engine (ICE) coupled with chemical reaction kinetics. Then, the applicability of different commonly used hydrogen simplified mechanisms to characterize the combustion process based on experimental data is evaluated, and the feasibility of the transient calculation model is verified. Then, the engine combustion and emission performance are compared by adopting hydrogen port injection (HPI) and hydrogen direct injection (HDI) strategies. Meanwhile, the effects of hydrogen injection timing (HIT) on flow, combustion and nitric oxide (NO) emission processes under direct injection plus lean burn mode are analyzed. The results show that: 1. For mixture distribution at ignition timing (IT), the hydrogen should be distributed near the spark plug and avoid its concentration being too rich since the richer mixture will lead to intense combustion and rapid heat release. 2. When using HDI mode, the engine combustion performance and power performance are better than that of the HPI mode. Delaying HIT, the power performance improves under HDI modes, while both the indicated thermal efficiency (ITE) and indicated mean effective pressure (IMEP) reached the maximum at Case6-HDI-100 with the values are 40.52 % and 0.498 MPa, respectively. 3. Considering the engine combustion, power and emission performance, Case6-HDI-100 (HIT at 100 °CA BTDC) is the preferred scheme. Its ITE and IMEP are 8.49 % and 37.33 % higher than that of Case1-HPI (HPI mode scheme) and 6.50 % and 14.95 % higher than that of Case4-HDI-220 (the lowest scheme under HDI mode), respectively, while nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions meet the European Stage V non-road emission standards. This study provides some reference values for the combustion design of pure hydrogen ICEs.

Effect of entropy waves on the thermoacoustic instability of choked outlet combustion chambers

Thermoacoustic instability is a major issue in aero-engine and gas turbine combustion chambers, especially for the case of lean premixed combustion. The instability is caused by the interaction of acoustic waves with unsteady heat release. As considering the accelerated entropy waves in the system, the entropy effect on the acoustic waves cannot be ignored, which will further modify the thermoacoustic instability. Recent researches have shown that the entropy waves can be generated by the steady heat sources or temperature gradients, which can exclude the interference of unsteady heat release factors in instability analysis. In this study, the effect of entropy waves on the thermoacoustic instability of the combustion chamber model with choked outlets is investigated by constructing a low-order acoustic network model. New modes introduced by entropy waves, called as the entropy acoustic modes (EA modes), are investigated by a steady heat source. Then the unsteady heat release is considered, and the effect of entropy waves on different modes and the coupling behavior of these modes are analyzed comprehensively. It is found that some modes are jointly affected by the flame, entropy waves as well as the acoustic waves, which are called as the entropy thermoacoustic modes (ETA modes). Moreover, the modal frequencies of the intrinsic thermoacoustic instabilities modes (ITA modes) are changed remarkably due to the introduction of entropy waves. In addition, the entropy wave dispersion and dissipation show a non-negligible effect on the thermoacoustic instability.

Efficiency and power enhancement strategies for methane direct injection argon power cycle engines

Argon Power Cycle (APC) is a novel concept for high efficiency and zero carbon emissions, which replaces the air by an argon-oxygen mixture. Previous studies have experimentally demonstrated that APC has a great efficiency enhancement potential for methane-fueled engines. However, the port methane injection tends to cause knock and limits thermal efficiency gains. In addition, few researches have focused on the power of APC methane-fueled engines. In this study, fundamental experiments are first conducted in a spark ignition methane direct injection engine with compression ratio = 9.6. Strategies such as lean combustion, dilution combustion (increasing argon mole ratio in argon-oxygen mixture), and boosting intake pressure are adopted. Results indicate that lean combustion has a more significant effect in efficiency enhancement under APC compared with air cycle due to the high specific heat ratio of argon. The combination of dilution combustion and boosting intake pressure is a feasible approach to further improve both efficiencies and powers. When argon mole ratio = 85 %, intake pressure = 0.12 MPa, and excess oxygen ratio = 1.37, the highest net indicated thermal efficiency reaches 59.0 % and the indicated mean effective pressure increases a factor of 1.61 than that at argon mole ratio = 79 % and intake pressure = 0.09 MPa. In this case, the ratio of gross indicated thermal efficiency to theoretical thermal conversion efficiency is 90.5 %. Based on thermodynamic calculation, when the ratio of gross indicated thermal efficiency to theoretical thermal conversion efficiency is assumed to be 90 %, a high net indicated thermal efficiency of 65 % is predicted to be obtained at compression ratio = 14.

Experimental investigation of multi-burner array with lean lifted spray flames in inline and inclined configurations

Lean combustion in gas turbines garners attention for emissions reduction, yet it faces stability challenges demanding careful design considerations. In this study, a novel CHAIRLIFT combustor concept, which integrates low swirl lean lifted spray flames known for substantial nitrogen oxides emissions reduction, into a Short Helical Combustors (SHC) arrangement, is investigated. A comprehensive experimental test campaign explores key parameters, including staggered arrangement offset, equivalence ratios, and air inlet temperature, to evaluate its performance. The results reveal exceptional stability in low swirl, lifted flames compared to moderate swirl flames with larger inner recirculation zones. The unwanted flow deflection of highly swirled flames in the SHC arrangement is effectively avoided with the investigated low swirl, lifted flames. The study emphasizes the significant influence of fuel droplet evaporation time on flame stability near the flame root under low air inlet temperatures. Furthermore, at high air inlet temperatures, the complex flame stability mechanism in inclined configurations is controlled by various parameters, including outer recirculation zone size, air inlet temperature, and additional vortices generated by pressure differences near the wall. OH∗ chemiluminescence results corroborate these stability mechanisms, showing that at lower temperatures, the flame stabilizes closer to the nozzle exit due to local rich pockets near the shear layer. Conversely, at the same tilt angle, higher air inlet temperatures lead to an increased flame lift-off height due to faster evaporation and enhanced mixing. Exhaust gas analyses confirm the potential of the investigated lean lifted spray flames in a multi-burner arrangement to achieve very low NOx emissions over a wide range of operating conditions for all investigated burner inclinations. These findings may facilitate the future development and optimization of lean combustion technology for aircraft engines.

Thermally stable Pd/CeO2@SiO2 with a core-shell structure for catalytic lean methane combustion.

Noble metal catalysts exhibit high catalytic activity in lean CH4 combustion at low temperatures. However, the high surface energy of noble metal nanoparticles makes them susceptible to deactivation due to migratory-aggregation during the catalytic process. Herein, a core-shell structure with a Pd/CeO2 core and a SiO2 shell (denoted as Pd/CeO2@SiO2) was designed and prepared to enhance the thermal stability for catalytic lean CH4 combustion. A series of characterization methods demonstrated the successful encapsulation of SiO2 and the modified thermal stability. The results of activity tests indicated that Pd/CeO2@SiO2 exhibited the optimal catalytic performance. After seven runs, Pd/CeO2@SiO2 achieved 90% conversion of CH4 at 385 °C compared to Pd/CeO2 at 440 °C. The remarkable catalytic performance was attributed to the synergistic effect of strengthened metal-support interactions and the core-shell structure. On the one hand, the migration and aggregation of Pd nanoparticles were limited due to the protection of the SiO2 shell layer. On the other hand, the SiO2 shell layer further enhanced the interactions between the Pd nanoparticles and CeO2, thus promoting the formation of PdxCe1-xO2-δ solid solutions and active oxygen species, which were beneficial for the improvement of the stability and redox capacity of the catalyst.

Comparative analysis and optimisation of hydrogen combustion mechanism for laminar burning velocity calculation in combustion engine modelling

Hydrogen stands out as a compelling alternative to fossil fuels for combustion engines. Predictive combustion models are instrumental in developing hydrogen-fuelled engines. A fundamental metric of these models is the laminar burning velocity (LBV), which can be precisely determined through laminar flame propagation simulations. In this context, the selection of an appropriate combustion mechanism is critical. This paper aims to propose the appropriate combustion mechanism for calculating LBV in predictive combustion models of hydrogen-fuelled engines. 15 state-of-the-art combustion mechanisms were applied to reproduce the LBV measurements in engine-like conditions, especially considering the application of lean combustion and water injection. The FFCM 1.0 mechanism was identified from them and further optimised to improve its prediction accuracy at elevated pressures for the lean mixture. The maximum deviation of LBV was reduced from 17.6 % to 8.7 % by this optimisation, in comparison to 10.5 % for its closest competitor mechanism, ELTE (Varga et al., 2015).

Fundamental study on lean operation limit of super lean-burn spark ignition engines: MIE transition and limit prediction

Fuel-lean combustion is challenging because of the difficulty in successful ignition-to-flame propagation transition in intense turbulence conditions. This study aims to elucidate the governing factor of fuel dependence on the lean limit through fundamental ignition experiments and numerical simulations. Previous scaling analysis has reported strong correlations between lean engine operation limit and Minimum Ignition Energy (MIE) transitions. Additionally, the temporal evolution of turbulent intensity in the engine cylinder plotted on Peters diagram suggested that the flame kernel growth occurs only in relatively weak turbulent intensity, u′, the condition under which u′ is lower than the MIE transition. To investigate the behavior of flame kernel growth in the vicinity of the MIE transition condition, we conducted ignition experiments under both laminar and turbulent conditions utilizing a constant volume chamber with counter-rotating fans. Flame initiation was achieved by spark discharge at various turbulent intensities. The results showed notable distinctions in flame kernel growth processes between below and above the MIE transition condition. For u′< MIE transition, flame kernel development is governed by molecular transports showing an apparent Lewis number effect, whereas for u′> MIE transition, the effect seems to disappear. Subsequently, experiments and numerical simulations on spherically propagating flames in quiescent mixtures with various blended fuels were conducted. The results indicated that fuels facilitating rapid flame kernel growth generally exhibited leaner engine operation limits, regardless of engine specifications. The present study successfully demonstrated that the fuels suitable for lean combustion could be predicted by investigation of spherically propagating flames in quiescent mixtures.

Effect of Compression Ratio on the Performance of Direct-Injection Hydrogen Engines

Direct injection of hydrogen into the cylinder can avoid abnormal combustion such as backfire, and the hydrogen engine can operate in a wider range of excess air coefficient. However, direct injection hydrogen engines still have problems such as high NOx emissions under high load conditions, reduced power output due to lean combustion, and low thermal efficiency. This paper adopts a variable compression ratio structural design to study the impact of compression ratio changes on the comprehensive performance of direct injection hydrogen engines. The results show that under the same working conditions, as the engine compression ratio increases, the turbulence in the engine cylinder becomes more intense, increasing the back pressure in the cylinder, inhibiting the diffusion of hydrogen, making the hydrogen distribution more concentrated and the combustion conditions in the cylinder better. The overall performance of the engine is significantly improved.

Study on lean combustion of ammonia-hydrogen mixtures in a pre-chamber engine

Ammonia holds promise for achieving zero carbon emissions from internal combustion engines. The pre-chamber turbulent jet ignition, characterized by multipoint distributed ignition and rapid combustion, could be applied to ammonia combustion to extend combustion limits and stability. This study investigates the impacts of hydrogen energy fraction (Hfrac), equivalence ratio, and ignition timing on the combustion and emission characteristics of ammonia-hydrogen mixture at lean combustion conditions in a pre-chamber (PC) marine engine by CFD Simulation. In H2-fuel active PC mode, increasing the hydrogen content or achieving stoichiometric combustion within the PC will shorten the cold jet phase and accelerate the formation of a more intense hot jet. As the Hfrac and the equivalence ratio in the main-chamber increase, the combustion pressure, temperature, and heat release rate (HRR) rise, while the combustion duration shortens due to enhanced reactivity, potentially leading to end gas auto-ignition and knock due to lower auto-ignition energy of the mixture. NO primarily forms near the flame front, and both NO concentration and the generation area increase with an increase in hydrogen content and equivalence ratio. Fuel-NO is likely to be the dominant factor in NO generation with lean combustion conditions. N2O, as a product of NH3 low-temperature combustion, is mainly concentrated near the flame front. An increase in unburned NH3 emissions corresponds to an increase in N2O emissions. Delaying the ignition timing to reduce NOx emissions is primarily achieved by controlling NO emissions, even though there is a slight increase in N2O.

A novel Fe2O3/Al2O3 porous media catalyst prepared by ultrasonic-assisted impregnation for low-concentration methane catalytic combustion

Porous media (PM) catalytic combustion offers a potential strategy for stable and efficient combustion of low-concentration methane (LCM). Herein, a porous media catalyst loaded with Fe2O3 as the active component (Fe2O3/Al2O3) was developed by ultrasonic-assisted impregnation for LCM catalytic combustion in a four-layer porous media burner. The influences of the gas flows, velocities, equivalence ratios, and PM arrangement patterns on the temperature distribution, combustion stability, methane conversion, and emissions were investigated in detail. The results indicated that the Fe2O3/Al2O3 catalyst possessed exceptional catalytic activity and thermal stability at medium-to-high temperatures, which broadened the limiting equivalence ratio for CH4 stationary combustion to 0.43 with the CH4 conversion exceeding 99 %. LCM enabled higher combustion stability in the PM burner with a gradually varied configuration, achieving steady combustion for more than 120 min under the lean combustion condition (0.43 equivalence ratio and 50 L/min). The high-quality flue gas from LCM catalytic combustion with an average temperature over 600 ℃, lower CO (< 150 ppm) and NOx emissions (< 10 ppm) could serve for the comprehensive utilization of power generation, heating, and cooling. The catalytic oxidation of LCM on the Fe2O3 surface was primarily divided into four steps with the second-step CH4 dehydrogenation in CH4 dissociation being the dominant rate-limiting step. This work proves that the catalyst fabricated by ultrasonic-assisted impregnation can effectively break through the lean combustion threshold, which provides a valiant reference for the clean and efficient utilization of LCM.