Research and development of natural-gas fueled engines in Iran

As global energy demand rises, natural gas (NG) plays a pivotal role in energy supply. Natural gas is the cleanest fossil fuel and it has high energy conversion efficiencies for power generation. Natural gas has been extensively investigated for use in spark-ignition (SI) and compression-ignition (Cl) engines. This paper consists of two sections: the first section gives an overview of natural gas fuel in the world and highlights the share of natural gas in Iran energy market and then expounds the role of natural gas vehicles (NGVs) in the context of Iran environmental pollution and its sustainable development. It is concluded that natural gas is the promising alternative fuel for vehicles in Iran. In the second part, the paper reviews the research works on natural gas fueled engines by Iranian researchers, and reports the most achievements obtained by them in the field of the natural gas fueled engines which involve natural gas-fueled SI engines, dual fuel (natural gas/diesel) engines, and Homogenous Charge Combustion Ignition (HCCI) engines. It is found that Iranian researchers started investigations on NGVs along with world researchers and developed research in line with their needs and priorities. Recently they further focused on this topic and their contribution to this field is significant especially regarding dual fuel engines. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.