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Recent Advances in Natural Gas Combustion and Emissions of Conventional Powertrain and Hybrid Propulsion Systems

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A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "J: Thermal Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (24 February 2021) | Viewed by 11242

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Theodoros Zannis

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Guest Editor

Hellenic Naval Academy, Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering Section, 18539 Piraeus, Greece
Interests: compression ignition; spark ignition; combustion; emissions
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. John Katsanis

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Guest Editor

Hellenic Naval Academy, Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering Section, 18539 Piraeus, Greece
Interests: thermodynamics; marine energy systems; waste heat recovery; internal combustion engines

Dr. Efthimios Pariotis

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Guest Editor

Hellenic Naval Academy, Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering Section, 18539 Piraeus, Greece
Interests: simulation and optimization of energy systems; heat transfer; emissions; internal combustion engines
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are inviting submissions to a Special Issue of Energies on the subject area of “Natural Gas Combustion and Emissions of Conventional Powertrain and Hybrid Propulsion Systems”. With the increasing global environmental awareness and the imposed continuously stringent emission standards in various fields of transportation, the topic of natural gas combustion has attracted a lot of attention in recent years.

The rate of natural gas penetration in conventional powertrain systems (compression ignition (CI) engines, spark ignition (SI) engines, gas turbines, steam engines, and combined systems) is continuously increasing in light of progressively stricter emission regulations in various transportation sectors and powerplants. However, during recent years, hybrid powertrain systems have continuously gathered very strong interest from scientists and engineers around the world, since they can combine the virtue of free-carbon electric propulsion with the extended autonomy supported by conventional engines. For this reason, various hybrid propulsion systems such as natural gas engine/electric systems can be a very promising alternative to conventional propulsion systems in light of the current operational, economic, life-cycle carbon footprint, and local infrastructure limitations of fully electric propulsion systems. Hence, nowadays, there is a large number of conventional (dual–fuel, spark ignition) and advanced (RCCI, HCCI, PCCI, SACI, etc.) technologies, which can be used to further seriously improve the operational and the environmental performance of existing and new powertrain systems. Additionally, natural gas is a very attractive alternative fuel for hybrid systems such as conventional natural gas engines/electric systems, and for other hybrid schemes such as conventional natural gas engines/fuel cells/batteries propulsion systems.

Dr. Theodoros Zannis
Dr. John Katsanis
Dr. Efthimios Pariotis
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Dual-fuel and spark-ignition reciprocating and rotary engines modeling and experimentation
Modeling and experimentation of gas turbines, steam engines, and combined propulsion systems burning natural gas
Modeling and experimentation of hybrid propulsion systems fueled with natural gas
Advanced natural gas combustion concepts (RCCI, HCCI, PCCI, SACI, etc.)
Chemical kinetic mechanisms for natural gas combustion and pollutant emissions prediction
Pollutant emission inventories from natural gas propulsion systems
Emission reduction technologies in natural gas engines and hybrids
Exhaust-after treatment systems for natural gas propulsion systems
Interaction of natural gas combustion systems with supply and support infrastructure

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 1284 KiB

Open AccessArticle

NO Formation and Autoignition Dynamics during Combustion of H₂O-Diluted NH₃/H₂O₂ Mixtures with Air

by Ahmed T. Khalil, Dimitris M. Manias, Dimitrios C. Kyritsis and Dimitris A. Goussis

Energies 2021, 14(1), 84; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14010084 - 25 Dec 2020

Cited by 26 | Viewed by 2803

Abstract

NO formation, which is one of the main disadvantages of ammonia combustion, was studied during the isochoric, adiabatic autoignition of ammonia/air mixtures using the algorithm of Computational Singular Perturbation (CSP). The chemical reactions supporting the action of the mode relating the most to NO were shown to be essentially the ones of the extended Zeldovich mechanism, thus indicating that NO formation is mainly thermal and not due to fuel-bound nitrogen. Because of this, addition of water vapor reduced NO formation, because of its action as a thermal buffer, but increased ignition delay, thus exacerbating the second important caveat of ammonia combustion, which is unrealistically long ignition delay. However, it was also shown that further addition of just 2% molar of H

_{2}

_{2}

does not only reduce the ignition delay by a factor of 30, but also reverses the way water vapor affects ignition delay. Specifically, in the ternary mixture NH

_{3}

_{2}

O/H

_{2}

_{2}

, addition of water vapor does not prolong but rather shortens ignition delay because it increases OH radicals. At the same time, the presence of H

_{2}

_{2}

does not affect the influence of H

_{2}

O in suppressing NO generation. In this manner, we were able to show that NH

_{3}

_{2}

O/H

_{2}

_{2}

mixtures offer a way to use ammonia as carbon-less fuel with acceptable NO

_{x}

emissions and realistic ignition delay. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Natural Gas Combustion and Emissions of Conventional Powertrain and Hybrid Propulsion Systems)

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20 pages, 4397 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Liquefied Natural Gas for Civil Aviation

by Pavlos Rompokos, Sajal Kissoon, Ioannis Roumeliotis, Devaiah Nalianda, Theoklis Nikolaidis and Andrew Rolt

Energies 2020, 13(22), 5925; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13225925 - 13 Nov 2020

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 4489

Abstract

The growth in air transport and the ambitious targets in emission reductions set by advisory agencies are some of the driving factors behind research towards new fuels for aviation. Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) could be both environmentally and economically beneficial. However, its implementation in aviation has technical challenges that needs to be quantified. This paper assesses the application of LNG in civil aviation using an integrated simulation and design framework, including Cranfield University’s aircraft performance tool, Orion, and engine performance simulation tool Turbomatch, integrated with an LNG tank sizing module and an aircraft weight estimation module. Changes in tank design, natural gas composition, airframe changes, and propulsion system performance are assessed. The performance benefits are quantified against a Boeing 737–800 aircraft. Overall, LNG conversion leads to a slightly heavier aircraft in terms of the operating weight empty (OWE) and maximum take-off weight (MTOW). The converted aircraft has a slightly reduced range compared to the conventional aircraft when the maximum payload is considered. Compared to a conventional aircraft, the results indicate that although the energy consumption is increased in the case of LNG, the mission fuel mass is decreased and CO₂ emissions are reduced by more than 15%. These benefits come with a significant reduction in fuel cost per passenger, highlighting the potential benefits of adopting LNG for aviation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Natural Gas Combustion and Emissions of Conventional Powertrain and Hybrid Propulsion Systems)

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20 pages, 2247 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Multiobjective Optimisation of a Marine Dual Fuel Engine Equipped with Exhaust Gas Recirculation and Air Bypass Systems

by Sokratis Stoumpos and Gerasimos Theotokatos

Energies 2020, 13(19), 5021; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13195021 - 24 Sep 2020

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 3012

Abstract

Dual fuel engines constitute a viable solution for enhancing the environmental sustainability of the shipping operations. Although these engines comply with the Tier III NO_x emissions regulations when operating at the gas mode, additional measures are required to ensure such compliance at the diesel mode. Hence, this study aimed to optimise the settings of a marine four-stroke dual fuel (DF) engine equipped with exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) and air bypass (ABP) systems by employing simulation and optimisation techniques, so that the engine when operating at the diesel mode complies with the ‘Tier III’ requirements. A previous version of the engine thermodynamic model was extended to accommodate the EGR and ABP systems modelling. Subsequently, a combination of optimisation techniques including multiobjective genetic algorithms (MOGA) and design of experiments (DoE) parametric runs was employed to identify both the engine and the EGR/ABP systems settings with the objective to minimise the engine brake specific fuel consumption and reduce the NO_x emissions below the Tier III limit. The derived simulation results were employed to analyse the EGR system involved interactions and their effects on the engine performance and emissions trade-offs. A sensitivity analysis was performed to reveal the interactions between considered engine settings and quantify their impact on the engine performance parameters. The derived results indicate that EGR rates up to 35% are required, so that the investigated engine with EGR and ABP systems, when operating at the diesel mode, achieves compliance with the ‘Tier III’ NO_x emissions, whereas the associated engine brake specific fuel consumption penalty is up to 8.7%. This study demonstrates that the combination of EGR and ABP systems can constitute a functional solution for achieving compliance with the stringent regulatory requirements and provides a better understating of the underlined phenomena and interactions of the engine subsystems parameters variations for the investigated engine equipped with EGR and ABP systems. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Natural Gas Combustion and Emissions of Conventional Powertrain and Hybrid Propulsion Systems)

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