A Novel Two-Stroke SI Design for NOx Reduction in Natural Gas RI Species Enhanced Engine

This study examines the novel use of a strong presence of radical ignition (RI) species to augment flame front propagation in a two-stroke spark ignition (SI) engine. Periphery mounted secondary chambers enable the generation of these RI species in one cycle for use in the next cycle. These chambers are outfitted to enable fuel-insertion and rapid heat addition. The new technology examined in the study employs the chemistry of homogeneous combustion radical ignition (HCRI) for the RI species enhancement of pre-mixed charge (PC) SI. The aim is to see if this chemistry can increase the lean burn threshold of this 2-stroke engine with natural gas (NG). The analysis uses experimental data together with a full chemical-kinetics simulation formulation that also accounts for thermo-chemical and hydro-dynamic exchanges that are both between the chambers and with the environment. The mechanism for the chemical kinetics consists of 97 chemical reactions involving 33 species. The results suggest the potential for extending the experimentally successful 4-stroke RIS(A)-PCSI technology to 2-stroke SI engines for NOx reduction.