Low-Temperature Ethanol Reforming: A Multi-Cylinder Engine Demonstration

Wheeler, Jennifer; Stein, Robert A.; Morgenstern, David; Sall, Erik D.; Taylor, James W.

doi:10.4271/2011-01-0142

Cited by 18 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…600 o C). However, it may still be possible to reform the methanol part of the blend, as work led by Monsanto has shown for ethanol reforming, where the ethanol in E85 has successfully been dissociated in a prototype reformer leading to significant efficiency benefits: Fowler et al [244] report 10-12% over E85 operation; Wheeler et al [245] measured 8.5-12.7% relative to E85 and 18-19.8% relative to 98 RON. This is because of dethrottling as well as other effects.…”

Section: Fuel Reforming Using Engine Waste Heatmentioning

confidence: 99%

Methanol as a Fuel for Internal Combustion Engines

Liu

Pei

et al. 2021

Energy, Environment, and Sustainability

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Transportation of people and goods largely relies on the use of fossil hydrocarbons, contributing to global warming and problems with local air quality. There are a number of alternatives to fossil fuels that can avoid a net carbon emission and can also decrease pollutant emissions. However, many have significant difficulty in competing with fossil fuels due to either limited availability, limited energy density, high cost, or a combination of these.Methanol (CH 3 OH) is one of these alternatives, which was demonstrated in large fleet trials during the 1980s and 1990s, and is currently again being introduced in various places and applications. It can be produced from fossil fuels, but also from biomass and from renewable energy sources in carbon capture and utilization schemes. It can be used in pure form or as a blend component, in internal combustion engines (ICEs) or in direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs). These features added to the fact it is a liquid fuel, making it an efficient way of storing and distributing energy, make it stand out as one of the most attractive scalable alternatives.This review focuses on the use of methanol as a pure fuel or blend component for ICEs. First, we introduce methanol historically, briefly introduce the various methods for its production, and summarize health and safety of using methanol as a fuel. Then, we focus on its use as a fuel for ICEs. The current data on the physical and chemical properties relevant for ICEs are reviewed, highlighting the differences with fuels such as ethanol and gasoline. These are then related to the research reported on the behaviour of methanol and methanol blends in spark ignition and compression ignition engines. Many of the properties of methanol that are significantly different from those of for example gasoline (such as its high heat of vaporization) lead to advantages as well as challenges. Both are extensively discussed.Methanol's performance, in terms of power output, peak and part load efficiency, and emissions formation is summarized, for so-called flex-fuel engines

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Section: Fuel Reforming Using Engine Waste Heatmentioning

confidence: 99%

Methanol as a Fuel for Internal Combustion Engines

Liu

Pei

et al. 2021

Energy, Environment, and Sustainability

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“…Lowtemperature ethanol reforming, which yields equal molar parts of CO, CH 4 and H 2 , has been thoroughly investigated [16]. It was reported that 50% fuel reforming lead to a significant improvement (10%e17%) in BTE at medium and light loads over the E85 reference fuel.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…a battery, is used for startup, thus resolving the cold start problem and improving the transient response of the propulsion system. The pre-ignition problems of ICE with TCR were solved by some authors [16] through limiting the hydrogen content in the induced fuel by partial fuel reforming at light and medium loads, and using the liquid unreformed fuel at high loads. Even if the pre-ignition problems of ICE operating with stoichiometric airehydrogen mixture and fuel supply to intake manifold or port fuel injection would be resolved, its maximal power output still will be lower by about 17% compared to a samesize gasoline engine.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Energy efficiency of a direct-injection internal combustion engine with high-pressure methanol steam reforming

Poran

Tartakovsky

2015

Energy

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“…D-EGR uses fuel-rich combustion in one cylinder and recirculates its exhaust to the intake system, generating brake thermal efficiency as high as 42.5% and demonstrating a vehicle-level fuel consumption decrease of more than 10% . This category also includes injecting fuel during the negative valve overlap period for a homogeneous charge compression ignition engine to manipulate the fuel–air mixture autoignition propensity. − The second category of fuel reforming, and the category of the present work, is where a catalyst is used to reform the fuel outside of the engine cylinders. ,,− …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Catalytic Exhaust Gas Recirculation-Loop Reforming for High Efficiency in a Stoichiometric Spark-Ignited Engine through Thermochemical Recuperation and Dilution Limit Extension, Part 1: Catalyst Performance

et al. 2018

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The use of fuel reformate from catalytic processes is known to have beneficial effects on the spark-ignited combustion process through enhanced dilution tolerance and decreased combustion duration, but, in many cases, reformate generation can incur a significant fuel penalty. In this two-part investigation, we demonstrate that efficient catalytic fuel reforming can result in improved brake engine efficiency while maintaining stoichiometric exhaust under the right conditions. In Part 1 of this investigation, we used a combination of thermodynamic equilibrium calculations and experimental fuel catalytic reforming measurements on an engine to characterize the best possible reforming performance and energetics over a range of equivalence ratios and O2 concentrations. Ideally, one might expect the highest levels of thermochemical recuperation for the highest catalyst equivalence ratios. However, reforming under these conditions is highly endothermic, and the available enthalpy for reforming is constrained. Thus, for relatively high equivalence ratios, more methane and less H2 and CO are produced. Our experiments revealed that this suppression of H2 and CO could be countered by adding small amounts of O2, yielding as much as 15 vol % H2 at the catalyst outlet for 4 < Φcatalyst < 7 under quasi-steady-state conditions. Under these conditions, the H2 and CO yields were highest and there was significant water consumption, confirming the presence of steam reforming reactions. Analyses of the experimental catalyst measurements indicated the possibility of both endothermic and exothermic reaction stages and global reaction rates sufficient to enable the utilization of higher space velocities than those employed in our experiments. In a companion paper detailing Part 2 of this investigation, we present results for the engine dilution tolerance and brake engine efficiency impacts of the reforming levels achieved.

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Low-Temperature Ethanol Reforming: A Multi-Cylinder Engine Demonstration

Cited by 18 publications

References 17 publications

Methanol as a Fuel for Internal Combustion Engines

Methanol as a Fuel for Internal Combustion Engines

Energy efficiency of a direct-injection internal combustion engine with high-pressure methanol steam reforming

Catalytic Exhaust Gas Recirculation-Loop Reforming for High Efficiency in a Stoichiometric Spark-Ignited Engine through Thermochemical Recuperation and Dilution Limit Extension, Part 1: Catalyst Performance

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