The engine reformer: Syngas production in an engine for compact gas-to-liquids synthesis
Methane (CH[subscript 4]) reforming was carried out in an internal combustion engine (an “engine reformer”). We successfully produced syngas from the partial oxidation of natural gas in the cylinder of a diesel engine that was reconfigured to perform spark ignition. Performing the reaction in an eng...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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Wiley Blackwell
2017
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/106955 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6295-7807 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7044-8156 |
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| author | Lim, Emmanuel Gocheco Dames, Enoch E. Cedrone, Kevin David Acocella, Angela Josephine Needham, Thomas R. Cohn, Daniel R Bromberg, Leslie Cheng, Wai K Green, William H Arce, Andrea, S.B. Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Chemical Engineering |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Chemical Engineering Lim, Emmanuel Gocheco Dames, Enoch E. Cedrone, Kevin David Acocella, Angela Josephine Needham, Thomas R. Cohn, Daniel R Bromberg, Leslie Cheng, Wai K Green, William H Arce, Andrea, S.B. Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| author_sort | Lim, Emmanuel Gocheco |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Methane (CH[subscript 4]) reforming was carried out in an internal combustion engine (an “engine reformer”). We successfully produced syngas from the partial oxidation of natural gas in the cylinder of a diesel engine that was reconfigured to perform spark ignition. Performing the reaction in an engine cylinder allows some of the exothermicity to be captured as useful work. Intake conditions of 110 kPa and up to 480 °C allowed low cycle-to-cycle variability (COV[subscript nimep] < 20 %) at methane-air equivalence ratios (ϕ[subscript M]) of 2.0, producing syngas with an H[subscript 2]-to-CO ratio of 1.4. Spark ignition timing was varied between 45–30° before top-dead-center (BTDC) piston position, showing significant improvement with delayed timing. Hydrogen (H[subscript 2]) and ethane (C[subscript 2]H[subscript 6]) were added to simulate recycle from a downstream synthesis reactor and realistic natural gas compositions, respectively. Adding these gases yielded a stable combustion up to hydrocarbon-air equivalence ratios (ϕ[subscript HC]) of 2.8 with COV[subscript nimep] < 5 %. Ethane concentrations (with respect to methane) of up to 0.2 L/L (20 vol%) (with and without H[subscript 2]) produced robust and stable combustions, demonstrating that the engine can be operated across a range of natural gas compositions. Engine exhaust soot concentrations demonstrated elevated values at ϕ[subscript HC] > 2.4, but < 1 mg/L below these equivalence ratios. These results demonstrate that the engine reformer could be a key component of a compact gas-to-liquids synthesis plant by highlighting the operating conditions under which high gas conversion, high H[subscript 2]-to-CO ratios close to 2.0, and low soot production are possible. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T16:40:42Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/106955 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T16:40:42Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | Wiley Blackwell |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1069552024-03-23T02:15:27Z The engine reformer: Syngas production in an engine for compact gas-to-liquids synthesis Lim, Emmanuel Gocheco Dames, Enoch E. Cedrone, Kevin David Acocella, Angela Josephine Needham, Thomas R. Cohn, Daniel R Bromberg, Leslie Cheng, Wai K Green, William H Arce, Andrea, S.B. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Chemical Engineering Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Plasma Science and Fusion Center MIT Energy Initiative Lim, Emmanuel Gocheco Dames, Enoch E. Cedrone, Kevin David Acocella, Angela Josephine Needham, Thomas R. Arce, Andrea Cohn, Daniel R Bromberg, Leslie Cheng, Wai K Green, William H Methane (CH[subscript 4]) reforming was carried out in an internal combustion engine (an “engine reformer”). We successfully produced syngas from the partial oxidation of natural gas in the cylinder of a diesel engine that was reconfigured to perform spark ignition. Performing the reaction in an engine cylinder allows some of the exothermicity to be captured as useful work. Intake conditions of 110 kPa and up to 480 °C allowed low cycle-to-cycle variability (COV[subscript nimep] < 20 %) at methane-air equivalence ratios (ϕ[subscript M]) of 2.0, producing syngas with an H[subscript 2]-to-CO ratio of 1.4. Spark ignition timing was varied between 45–30° before top-dead-center (BTDC) piston position, showing significant improvement with delayed timing. Hydrogen (H[subscript 2]) and ethane (C[subscript 2]H[subscript 6]) were added to simulate recycle from a downstream synthesis reactor and realistic natural gas compositions, respectively. Adding these gases yielded a stable combustion up to hydrocarbon-air equivalence ratios (ϕ[subscript HC]) of 2.8 with COV[subscript nimep] < 5 %. Ethane concentrations (with respect to methane) of up to 0.2 L/L (20 vol%) (with and without H[subscript 2]) produced robust and stable combustions, demonstrating that the engine can be operated across a range of natural gas compositions. Engine exhaust soot concentrations demonstrated elevated values at ϕ[subscript HC] > 2.4, but < 1 mg/L below these equivalence ratios. These results demonstrate that the engine reformer could be a key component of a compact gas-to-liquids synthesis plant by highlighting the operating conditions under which high gas conversion, high H[subscript 2]-to-CO ratios close to 2.0, and low soot production are possible. United States. Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (Award DE-AR0000506) Research Triangle Initiative MIT Energy Initiative Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Tata Center for Technology and Design 2017-02-16T15:48:04Z 2017-02-16T15:48:04Z 2016-03 2015-09 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0008-4034 1939-019X http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/106955 Lim, Emmanuel G. et al. “The Engine Reformer: Syngas Production in an Engine for Compact Gas-to-Liquids Synthesis.” The Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering 94.4 (2016): 623–635. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6295-7807 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7044-8156 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cjce.22443 The Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ application/pdf Wiley Blackwell Other repository |
| spellingShingle | Lim, Emmanuel Gocheco Dames, Enoch E. Cedrone, Kevin David Acocella, Angela Josephine Needham, Thomas R. Cohn, Daniel R Bromberg, Leslie Cheng, Wai K Green, William H Arce, Andrea, S.B. Massachusetts Institute of Technology The engine reformer: Syngas production in an engine for compact gas-to-liquids synthesis |
| title | The engine reformer: Syngas production in an engine for compact gas-to-liquids synthesis |
| title_full | The engine reformer: Syngas production in an engine for compact gas-to-liquids synthesis |
| title_fullStr | The engine reformer: Syngas production in an engine for compact gas-to-liquids synthesis |
| title_full_unstemmed | The engine reformer: Syngas production in an engine for compact gas-to-liquids synthesis |
| title_short | The engine reformer: Syngas production in an engine for compact gas-to-liquids synthesis |
| title_sort | engine reformer syngas production in an engine for compact gas to liquids synthesis |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/106955 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6295-7807 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7044-8156 |
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