Experimental Evaluation of the Methane Number Measurement Procedure for Gaseous Fuel Rating

Dawson P. Baucke, Daniel M. Wise, Robin J. Bremmer and Daniel B. Olsen ()
Additional contact information
Dawson P. Baucke: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA
Daniel M. Wise: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA
Robin J. Bremmer: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA
Daniel B. Olsen: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA

Energies, 2024, vol. 17, issue 9, 1-26

Abstract: Methane Number (MN) is a fuel rating technique for gaseous fuels analogous to Octane Number. This study establishes and shares a repeatable and reproducible method for MN determination of a gaseous fuel using a modified Cooperative Fuel Research Engine (CFR). Adaptations required to convert a CFR engine for use in the MN test procedure are identified. The investigation includes allowable environmental parameters and operating variation limits. An essential aspect of the MN method involves identifying and quantifying Knock Intensity (KI) during engine operation. CFR engines, originally designed for gasoline testing, come equipped with their own knock measurement systems utilizing a capacitive detonation sensor. The original system is compared with a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) approach that uses a piezoelectric pressure transducer. Quantification of methane number requires an accurate assessment of the reference fuel blend (CH 4 + H 2 ). A comparison is carried out between dynamic blending using mass flow meters and bracketing using certified gas bottles containing various CH 4 /H 2 blends from a gas supplier.

Keywords: methane; hydrogen; natural gas; combustion; end gas autoignition; knock resistance; cooperative fuel research engine; gaseous fuel (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: 2024
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/9/2172/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/9/2172/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:9:p:2172-:d:1387575

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().