Influence of Intake Port Structure on the Performance of a Spark-Ignited Natural Gas Engine

Jie Pan, Junfang Ma, Junyin Li, Hongzhe Liu, Jing Wei, Jingjing Xu, Tao Zhu, Hairui Zhang, Wei Li () and Jiaying Pan ()
Additional contact information
Jie Pan: Weichai Power Co., Ltd., Weifang 261016, China
Junfang Ma: Weichai Power Co., Ltd., Weifang 261016, China
Junyin Li: Weichai Power Co., Ltd., Weifang 261016, China
Hongzhe Liu: Weichai Power Co., Ltd., Weifang 261016, China
Jing Wei: Weichai Power Co., Ltd., Weifang 261016, China
Jingjing Xu: Weichai Power Co., Ltd., Weifang 261016, China
Tao Zhu: Weichai Power Co., Ltd., Weifang 261016, China
Hairui Zhang: Weichai Power Co., Ltd., Weifang 261016, China
Wei Li: Weichai Power Co., Ltd., Weifang 261016, China
Jiaying Pan: State Key Laboratory of Engines, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 22, 1-13

Abstract: Spark-ignited natural gas engines have received increasing attention in the heavy-duty market due to their low cost and reliability advantages. However, there are still some issues with natural gas engines retrofitted from 10 to 15 L diesel engines, which is a valuable medium-term goal for the automotive industry. In this work, the effect of intake port structure on the performance of a spark-ignited heavy-duty natural gas engine was investigated by multidimensional numerical simulations. A newly designed intake port was proposed, with strengthened in-cylinder turbulent kinetic energy and homogeneous air-fuel mixtures. Bench tests show that the proposed intake port has impressive thermal efficiency, cycle variation, and acceptable emissions performance. The effective thermal efficiency improves from 41.0% to 41.4%, and the cycle variation is 36% lower than traditional schemes. However, with the accelerated flame propagation, the in-cylinder temperature and NO x emission of the mixed-flow port increase while the CO emission decreases. In summary, a proper balance of in-cylinder swirl and tumble flow can significantly affect the economy and stability of natural gas engines. The proposed structure solves the inherent problems of slow natural gas flame propagation and harmful cyclic variations.

Keywords: natural gas engine; Intake port; in-cylinder flow; turbulent kinetic energy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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