Comparison of Advanced Ignition Systems for Near-Zero-Emission Heavy-Duty NG Trucks
Improving fuel efficiency for heavy-duty natural gas vehicles with advanced ignition systems
North American Repower, LLC
Recipient
Oceanside, CA
Recipient Location
36th
Senate District
76th
Assembly District
$275,398
Amount Spent
Completed
Project Status
Project Result
During initial testing, issues with the ignition system required North American Repower to redesign the system for testing that would provide real world results. Engine components were installed and revised to support dynamometer testing and at the end of the project term, testing was ongoing to confirm and finalize results. The results from this testing were to be used for follow-on research funded by the CEC (PIR-16-026) in order to improve the efficiency gap between HD natural gas and baseline diesel engines, as well as improve emissions. At the request of North American Repower, the follow-on research and demonstration agreement was terminated due to funding and staffing issues. The lean/dilute burn engine is at a lower TRL than comparable stoichiometric engines, but it holds the promise of higher potential efficiency and more reliable low NOx, and lower CO2 operation.
The Issue
The ignition characteristics of natural gas fuel represent challenges to engine manufacturers working to reduce harmful emissions and achieve lower fuel consumption and higher engine performance, while responding to market pressure to reduce operating and maintenance costs. While exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) is a promising solution, this approach comes at the cost of reduced ignition stability with increased potential for misfire. Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) have tried to overcome this problem by increasing the spark energy, but this leads to rapid deterioration of spark plug electrodes necessitating more frequent costly engine maintenance and increased fleet downtime.
Project Innovation
The goal of this project was to optimize, test and demonstrate two advanced ignition systems for heavy-duty natural gas (NG) engines. These unique systems will facilitate the stable and efficient ignition of NG fuel under conditions of high-boost pressure and elevated levels of exhaust gas recirculation. The advanced ignition development for engines under this agreement will enable existing engines to improve fuel economy by up to 18 percent and attain or surpass the voluntary CARB NOx emissions goal of 0.02 grams per brake-horsepower-hour (g/bhp-hr), while demonstrating required levels of performance, drivability, and cost-effectiveness. The next stage in this product development will be to install the engine(s) in a vehicle(s) and demonstrate their performance in commercial service. Once this is done, the engines and/or vehicles can be marketed and sold based on their low emissions coupled with their low cost of ownership. A similar technical approach can then be applied to other engines of different sizes and OEMs in order to benefit a wider range of vehicles.
Project Benefits
Testing, integration, and demonstration of the two ignition systems will enable these spark-ignited HD NG engines to attain or surpass the voluntary CARB goal for NOx emissions of 0.02g/bhp-hr while demonstrating required levels of performance, drivability, and cost-effectiveness in comparison with standard diesel engines.
Affordability
With the integration of this advanced ignition system into natural gas engines, this technology has the potential to reduce fuel consumption by approximately 1,111 gasoline gallon equivalents per vehicle per year, resulting in over $1,000 in annual fuel costs.
Environmental Sustainability
The advanced ignition technology will result in approximately 12-18 percent in fuel savings and mitigate performance loss issues in natural gas vehicles as compared to their diesel counterparts.
Key Project Members
John Reed
Subrecipients
McLaren Performance Technologies
Match Partners
North American Repower, LLC
