Analysis of Combustion Process in Industrial Gas Engine with Prechamber-Based Ignition System

Abstract

Application of a pre-combustion chamber (PCC) ignition system is one of the methods to improve combustion stability and reduce toxic compounds emission, especially NOx. Using PCC allows the operation of the engine at lean combustion conditions or the utilization of low calorific gaseous fuels such as syngas or biogas. The paper presents the results of an experimental study of the combustion process in two stroke, large bore, stationary gas engine GMVH 12 equipped with two spark plugs (2-SP) and a PCC ignition system. The experimental research has been performed during the normal operation of the engine in an industrial compression station. It was observed that application of PCC provides less cycle-to-cycle combustion variation (more than 10%) and nitric oxide and carbon monoxide emissions decreased to 60% and 26% respectively. The total hydrocarbon (THC) emission rate is 25% higher for the engine equipped with PCC, which results in roughly two percent engine efficiency decrease. Another important criterion of engine retrofitting was the PCC location in the engine head. The experimental results show that improvement of engine operating parameters was recorded only for a configuration with one port offset by 45° from the axis of the main chamber. The study of the ignition delay angle and equivalence ratio in PCC did not demonstrate explicit influence on engine performance.

Keywords

• prechamber
• combustion stability
• two-stroke engine
• NO emission
• THC emission