Combustion of syngas in internal combustion engines

The combustion of synthesis gas will play an important role in advanced power systems based on the gasification of fuel feedstocks and combined cycle power production. While the most commonly discussed option is to burn syngas in gas turbine engines, another possibility is to burn the syngas in stationary reciprocating engines. Whether spark ignited or compression ignited, syngas could serve to power large bore stationary engines, such as those presently operated on natural gas. To date, however, there has been little published on the combustion of syngas in reciprocating engines. One area that has received attention is dual-fueled diesel combustion, using a combination of diesel pilot injection and syngas fumigation in the intake air. In this article, we survey some of the relevant published work on the use of synthesis gas in IC engines, highlighting recent work on dual-fuel (syngas+diesel) combustion.