Products of catalytic oxidative coupling of methane to improve thermal efficiency in natural gas engines

Pretreating natural gas using catalytic oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) produces ethylene and ethane, both species that increase fuel reactivity, thus increasing the potential to expand the operability range of highly efficient compression ignition combustion in natural gas engines. This paper presents the first experimental results on the impact of OCM product species on engine thermal efficiency and operability range. In the work, a benchtop experiment was conducted to generate a product species distribution from OCM over a Sr/La2O3 catalyst. A computational study using known chemical mechanisms was then employed to investigate the laminar flame speed and ignition delay of the OCM-modified fuel. Finally, engine experiments in both spark-ignition and compression-ignition combustion modes were carried out using a variable compression ratio single-cylinder engine. Results from the benchtop catalyst experiments showed that practical fuel conversion for single-pass OCM resulted in 18 % methane conversion, 60 % C-2 selectivity, and 10.8 % C-2 yield at a molar C/O ratio of 6. After determining realistic fuel blending ratios for engine operation, the numerical simulation results showed that fuel reactivity and ignition delay improved compared to with methane alone, while laminar flame speed decreased due to higher dilution from the presence of inert OCM products. Engine experimental results confirmed that OCM products have an advantage in CI mode due to reduced ignition delay time. The CI operating range was widely expanded, and approximately 9.9% thermal efficiency gain was achieved. By contrast, efficiency in SI mode was reduced when using OCM products due to an increase in combustion duration and retarded combustion phasing.

Automated summary

Pretreating natural gas using catalytic oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) can produce ethylene and ethane, increasing fuel reactivity and expanding the operational range of highly efficient compression ignition combustion in natural gas engines. This study presents experimental and computational results on the impact of OCM product species on engine thermal efficiency and operability range.