Combustion and Emissions in a Spark-ignition Engine Fueled with Coal-Bed Gas - Modeling and Experimental Results

There is a worldwide interest in the research of various alternative fuels for automotive engines for the purpose of reduction of CO₂ and toxically harmful exhaust emissions. Coal-bed gas, the main component of which is methane, has been considered an attractive alternative fuel for combustion engines due to its abundant resources, high hydrogen-carbon ratios and very low soot formation tendency. The composition of available coal-bed gas, however, can vary considerably, and this has made its combustion stability difficult to control in conventional spark ignition engines.

To overcome the problem, a combustion system with a swirl chamber connected to the main combustion chamber through an orifice has been developed for the use of coal-bed gas in spark ignition engines, and the corresponding combustion process has been studied using a developed combustion model involving flame kernel formation and flame front propagation. The combustion model includes two sub-models with the first dealing with the calculation of turbulence intensity history, and the second modeling a jet flow through the orifice of the swirl chamber. Emissions of NO_X, HC and CO have been predicted using the combustion model based on an extended Zeldovich mechanism, wall quenching and incomplete oxidation simulations. The effects of various components in coal-bed gas on the engine combustion process and emissions are also investigated. Validation of the combustion model has been performed through comparing simulation data with the experimental result obtained from a relevant single cylinder research engine, and a satisfactory agreement between them has been achieved in terms of combustion parameters and exhaust emissions.