Gas and dual-fuel injection systems for large engines
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To continue reading this article, please exit incognito mode or log in. Visitors are allowed 3 free articles per month without a subscriptionand private browsing prevents us from counting how many stories you've read. We hope you understand, and consider subscribing for unlimited online access. Natural gas is cheaper and cleaner than diesel, but uncertainty about future prices make shipping companies reluctant to switch.
Technology that allows diesel engines to instead run primarily on natural gas could provide a economical way for railroads and shipping companies to shift their vast transportation systems over to natural gas. Such a shift could lower greenhouse gas emissions, since natural gas when burned emits 15 to 20 percent less carbon dioxide than diesel. GE has developed locomotive engines that still use diesel but can also run on up to 80 percent natural gas.
It recently started testing the locomotives with the freight railroad company BNSF. Meanwhile, some trucking companies have developed similar technology for long-haul trucks. In a diesel engine, fuel and air are ignited not with a spark, as in gasoline engines, but by compressing them until they get hot enough to combust.
In a dual-fuel engine, the problem is solved by injecting a small amount of diesel into the engine to trigger combustion. The main addition needed to convert a diesel engine to a dual-fuel one is a system to inject the natural gas. GE researchers have also designed a control system that takes into account the load being put on the engine and ambient temperatures, and adjusts the ratio of natural gas to diesel accordingly.
This can be useful, for example, when running a locomotive through a tunnel, where the engine heats up to levels that can make natural gas combustion harder to control.
In this case, the GE system automatically shifts to using less natural gas. But low natural gas prices have recently increased demand and led engine makers to fine-tune the technology to meet emissions requirements and displace as much diesel as possible while still maintaining performance.
The technology does have shortcomings. For one thing, most dual-fuel engines can burn no more than 65 to 80 percent natural gas.
However, Westportbased in British Columbia, has developed engines that can run on up to 95 percent natural gas. They still use diesel to trigger combustion but are optimized to run on natural gas. While dual-fuel technology could facilitate a transition to natural gas, a comprehensive changeover will be held up by the high cost of natural gas engines and the lack of fueling infrastructure.
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