The effect of Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) on the emission from a lean-burner gas engine Projektrapport March, 1998 Dansk Gasteknisk Center a/s • D r. Neergaards Vej SB • 2970 Hørsholm • Tlf. 2016 9600 • Fax 4516 1199 • www.dgc.dk • dgc@dgc.dk The effect of Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) on the emission from a lean-bum gas engine Per Pedersen Danish Gas Technology Centre a/s Hørsholm 1998 TiLle The effect of Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) on the emission from a lean-bum gas engine Re port Category Project Report Author Per Pedersen Date of issue March 1998 Copyright Danish Gas Technology Centre a/s FileNumber 717.65; H:\717\65\rapport\EGR report.doc Project Name Experimental methods for reduction of emission from gas engines ISBN 87-7795-130-1 For servicesofany kind rendered by Danish Gas Techno/ogy Centre a/s (DGC) tlze foliowing conditions shall apply • DGC sirall be liable in accordance with "Almindelige Bestemmelser for teknisk Rådgivning og bistand, ABR 89" ("General Conditions for Consulting Services (ABR 89)"), which are considered adoptedfor the assignmenJ. • DGC's liability per error and negligence and damages s uffered by the client o r any third party is limited to 100% ofthefee received by DGCfor the respective assignment. The clie111 shall indemnify and hold DGC harmless against all losses, expenses and claims which may exceed the liability of DGC. • DGC shal/ - withour /imitation • re-perform its own services in conneelion with errorsand negligences contained in the material delivered to the client by DGC. Tilis reporl is copyright, and mustnot be reproduced in whole or in part without the prior written consent of DGC. This English translation is providedfor convenience only and in case of discrepancy the Danish wording shall be applicable. July 1997 DGC-report Table of Contents 1 Page l Introduetion .... .............................. .............. ........ ........................... ......... ........................... ....... .... 2 2 Summary .. ....... ....... ..................................................................... .......... ..................... ..... ... .. ... ..... 3 3 En gine, generator and control unit ............................................... .... .......... ..... ............................. 5 3.1 Engine ...................................... ... ...... .......................................... ....... .. ............................. ..... 5 3.2 Generator ...................................... ... ...... .. ...... .......................... ... ............ ......... ...... ..... .... ... .... 6 3.3 Control unit .............................. ........................................................ .. ......... ... .. ........ ... ........... 6 3.4 Operation ......................................................... ............. ... ................ ..................... ... .............. 7 4 Meters, analysers and data acquisition .... ... .. ................................................................................ 8 4.1 Uncertainty ....................................... ............................................................................ ......... 8 5 Planning the experiments .... .. ... ... .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. .. .. .. ... .. .. ... .. ... .. .. .. .. ... .. .. ... . .. .. .. . .. .. .. ... .. .. ...... ... .. .. ... .. l O 5 .l Range of parameters .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ... .. .. .. ... .. .. .. .. .. .. ... .. .. . .. .. .. .. .. .... ... .. .. ... ..... .. ... ...... ... . .. ... .. .. .. .. .. . .. l O 5.2 Succession of measurements ....................................... ................................. .............. .. ....... lO 6 Measurements ........................................................ .. .... ...... ..... ... .... .. ...... ...... .............. ....... ....... .. 12 6.1 Ignition timing and air/fuel ratio without EGR .................................................................. . 12 6.2 Measurements with EGR ....... ... ....................................................................................... .... 15 7 Closing remarks .......................................... .... .................. ... ...... .. ...... ........ ... ................. .......... .. 18 Appendix ....... ... ........ ... ....... ............ .... .......... .. ............. ................. ....... .......... .............................. .. 19 Analysers .................... .................. ... ..... .... ..... ... ... ......... ........... ......... ...... ....... ................... ............. 19 Oz ........................................ ...... .. ....... ........... .................................................................... ........ . 19 NOx········· ······································ ················· ····· ······ ············································ ············ ···· ····· 19 co .............................................................................................................................................. I9 THC ........... ........... ... .... .......... .. ............................................................................. ............. ........ 20 COz .... .......... ... .............. ..... ...... .. .. ..................... .............. .. ........ ... ...... ........ ...... ... ... .............. ..... . 20 Literature .......... .. ............. ............. .............. .......................................................... ..... .......... .... ...... 21 DGC-report 2 1 Introduetion In recent years, attention has been focused on the emission of unbumed hydrocarbons in the exhaust gases from natura} gas engines. The stationary gas engines instaHed in Denmarkare almost exclusively operatedasparts of cogeneration plants. The composition of unburned hydrocarbons is dominated by methane, which is a greenhouse gas. Emission of total unbumed hydrocarbons (THC) can be caused by many factors, such as crevice volumes in the combustion chamber and overlapping valves. Another factor is the mixture completeness. Running an engine on a Iean mixture is an effective way of reducing nitric oxides in the exhaust gases. The combustion temperature becomes lower leading to lower formation of nitric oxides (Zeldovich). Unfortunately, running anengine on a Iean mixture has often an adverse effect on the emission of unburned hydrocarbons. Several solutions such as catalysts and improved combustion are presently being investigated. This project investigates the effect of using exhaust gas recirculated to the air intake as replacement for air excess. The work has been sponsored by the Danish gas companies and carried out at the labaratory at Danish Gas Technology Centre a/s (DGC). Q/A on this report was done by Brian Schmidt, DGC. Hørsholm, March 1998 f h J~' Per Pedersen Bjarne Spiegelhauer Project Manager Viee-President Dept. of Gas Utilization Dept. of Gas Utilization DGC-report 3 2 Summary Exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) is a well known method of centrolling emission of nitric oxides from engines. It w as used on petrol engines befare introduetion of the three-way catalyst. Recently, it has been re-introduced in cernbination with the three way catalysts. On automotive petrol engines smaller rates of EGR are utilised. When larger rates of EGR are applied, it is known from various sources in the literature - e.g. /2/ and /3/- that the THC content in exhaust gases increases, and, eventually, severe misfires occur at about 30% EGR. In this project, only smaller EGR-rates were investigated. Purpose The project should demoostrate an indirect effect of EGR on the content of total unburned hydrocarbons (THC) in the exhaust gases from a lean-bum natura! gas engine. When running a specific engine on lower air excess (without EGR), it is known that the THC content in the exhaust gases is aften lower compared to the THC content when running the engine on higher air excess. On the other hand, nitric oxides will increase rapidly at decreased air excess. The formation of nitric oxides can be suppressed by the use of EGR. A small rate of EGR has littie effect on the emission of THC according to the literature. The indirect effect of replacing air excess with EGR should thus be a reduction of the emission of THC. Results The tests showed that a small amount of about l% (EGR) reduces the nitric oxides signifieand y, with no detectable undesired effect on fuel consumpti an or THC emission. This is the case for gas engines running moderately lean (max. 50% air excess), and EGR can thus be recommended for these engines. It lowers the conten t of nitric oxides, or the engine can be operated on a richer mixture leading to reduced THC emission. On engines running on ultra lean mixtures, EGR has littie effect, mostly disadvantages. The experiments reported here were carried out on a supercharged natura! gas lean-bum engine instaBed in the labaratory at DGC. The engine has been built into a mini co-generation unit comprising control unit, asynchronous generator and heat exchanger. Emission characteristics have been reported in an earlier project repart Il/. DGC-report 4 The engine has since then been modified. Forthis reason, the emission characteristics were re-investigated prior to the EGR experiments. Results without The emission of both NOx and unburned hydrocarbons is much lower com- EGR pared to the earlier engine layout. On the other hand, the emission of carbon monoxide has increased and an oxidation catalyst is required in order to fulfil the Danish legislation for CO 15/. From samples of exhaust gases taken just after the exhaust manifold and samples taken after the turbocharger, it was noted, that unburned bydroearbons were oxidised in the exhaust system. The effect is pronounced at low air excess (A~ 1.5) and retarded ignition timing. With increased air excess, the effect becomes negligible. Hydrocarbonsis decomposed into carbon monoxide which oxidises further to C02, but the last step takes place at a slower rate. Thus more CO is observed in the exhaust gases after passage of the hottest part of the exhaust system. Results with A small amount of cooled and dried exhaust gasses was feed back to the EGR induction system, after the carburettor at the suction side of the turbocharger. The amount was measured to be in the range of l% of the volume of air consumed. This yielded almost 20% reduction in nitric oxides. The results are similar to other EGR experiments on lean-bum engines reported in the literature, but here the results are based on larger EGR rates. See e.g. 121 and /3/. DGC-report 5 3 Engine, generator and control unit The complete unit comprising engine, generator and control unit has been designed as part of a masters thesis by two students at the Copenhagen Technical College. The work was done in co-operation with a company manufacturing small co-generation units. The work was sponsored by the Danish gas companies, and DGC carried out measurements of emission and efficiency. After the masters thesis, the unit was moved to DGC and installed. 3.1 Engine The engine is a former Ford diesel engine converted by Power Torque for natural gas operation under the designation SI4. It is a four-cylinder, fourlitre dispiacement engine. The engine was not built for lean-bum operation, therefore some modification has been made. In order to secure ignition and to maintain high power output at a lean mixture, the ignition system has been changed and a turbocharger has been added. The gas is mixed with air in an Impco gas carburettor. Mixture adjustment c an be carried out manually, while the engine is running. The throttle is operated by a servo motor and a position sensor for remote control. After the carburettor, the mixture is compressedin the turbocharger. After compression the mixture is cool ed in an intercooler (Mermaid type 4) to about 30400C. The turbocharger is a Garret type T2 with waste-gate. The waste-gate allows for manual adjustments of charge pressure, which makes it possible to maintain the same power output at higher air excess. Between the exhaust manifold and the turbocharger a reactor has been added. It consists of a l oo conical expansion from the manifolds, Ø50 internal diameter on the flange up to 0129. Tubes of this diameter extends for c a. l, 17 m through two rounded bendings, directing it to the turbocharger. Anether l oo con e contracts the diameter to match the turbochargers turbine inlets. All pipes, cones and flanges are made of stainless steel. DGC-report 6 The reactor was added as part of another project investigating the effect of adding a strong oxidising agent to the exhaust gases. Both the manifold and the reactor are insulated in order topreserve a high temperature in the exhaust gases and to avoid radiant heat. It soon turned out, that the reactor was active by itself, oxidising more or less unburned hydrocarbon. The original ignition system has been replaced by a Motortech IQ250 capacitive discharge ignition system. The ignition timing varies with engine RPM after a linear relation. The setting can be manually adjusted or remotely controlled (not used). The selected spark plugs were Champion R.L. 85.G recommended by Power Torque. The progress of combustion was briefly monitored by means of a Kistier spark plug with pressure transducer. No signs of knock were ever detected, regardless of operating conditions. 3.2 Generator The engine is coupled to an asynchronous generator with a nominalload of 37 kW. The electricity generatedis disposed off by feeding it into the main electricity supply. 3.3 Control unit The engine and the generator is controlled by a PLC which takes care of important operation and monitering tasks, such as starting the engine (using the original starter motor), running the engine at idle for a few minutes before increasing the speed slowly to slightly above 1500 RPM. When the engine has reached this speed, the generator is coupled online. Then the power is increased slowly until output power reaches 37 kW. The PLC program then maintains this load, while monitering coolant temperature and lubrication oil pressure during operation. If certain limits are reached, shut-down is automatically initiated. At normal shut-down procedure, the load is slowly reduced to O kW, then the generator is de-coupled and the enginespeed is slowly reduced to idle speed, at which the engine is kept running for five minutes in order to cool the turbocharger before stopping. Other conditions will cause emergency shut-down. DGC-report 7 The engine and the generator are encJosed in a noise-insulation housing. A door at one end of tbe hou ing provides access to the en gine. At the opposite side of the housing, the control unit is placed. The conu·oJ unit has two witches, a knob and an emergency stop button. A small display indicates the engineload at normaJ operation. At error conditions, the display indieates the error, e.g. missing oiJ pressure. 3.4 Operation When normal engine load has been reached, the operator can manually override the part of the PLC-program centrolling the engine load, by turning a switch into the MANUAL position and then, by turning a knob, either decrease or increase load until full throttle. Befare shutting down the engine, the switch must be turned back into the AUTO position. Then the first switch can be turned into the STOP position, and the shut-down procedure starts. An emergency stop button is placed in the centre of the front panel. All experiments were carried out in the MANUAL position, and the power output was adjusted to 35 kW in every measurement. DGC-report 8 4 Meters, analysers and data acquisition During installation in the labaratory at DGC, the engine has been equipped with a number of sensors and meters connected to a data acquisition system. The sensors and meters are shown in Pigure l. A number of measured values are instantly processed and shown on the dis- play. This is the case for actual 0 2 and C0 2 in the exhaust gases and emission of NOx (NO and N0 2), CO and THC. Purther values shown are fuel consumption, power and heat produetion and the efficiency of electricity production. The acquisition system scans all chanoels at an interval of two seconds. Measured and calculated values are stored in files. Values of ignition timing must be read using a stroboscope and noted manually. Fuel - pressure and temperature Volume flow olluel Intet manifold- pressure and temperature lntercooler Temperature ol exhaust gases belore and alter turbocharger Spark plug No l replaced by a Kistier spark plu whh pressure transducer Generator Temperature ol lubrtcation oll F ig ure l: Location of the various meters and sensors 4.1 Uncertainty The various meters and analysers contribute to the overall uncertainty on the resulting values of emission and efficiency. The foliowing tab le lists the tolerance of the meters. DGC-report 9 Min. Max. Values during Tolerance experiments Gas meter 1 m"/h 16 Flow meter 0,05 m"/h Electricity Pressure m~/h 10 m"/h ±1%. 2,5 m"/h O, 1 m"/h ±3%. O kW 50 kW 35 kW ±0,5% O bar 1 bar 0,3 bar ±0,6 hPa Barometer O bar 2 bar 1013 hPa ±0,5 hPa at 1 bar Temperature NiCr/Ni Al 100°C 1100°C 680°C (exhaust) ±3,?DC at Temperature Pt 100 ooc 400°C 20°C (gas) ±0,3°C coolant flow manifold and gas soooc 35°C (intake manifold) The gas analysers (Appendix l) were calibrated each day using test gases of ±2% relative uncertainty on the concentration. Prior to each measurement, the analysers' ranges were changed if necessary, and se al e factors in the data acquisition program were changed accordingly. Analyser Measure d Relative uncertainty [%] 02 5,5 vol% ±4,7 co2 8vol% ±2,7 CO 1000 ppm ±3,5 NO x 700 ppm ±4,0 THC 150 ppm ±2,7 DGC-report 1O 5 Planning the experiments Previously, many measurements on stationary engineshave been carried out maintaining certain conditions and then varied e.g. load, air excess, speed or EGR. In the literature these conditions are abbreviated as e.g. WOT Wide Open Throttle BPSA Best Performance Spark Advance MBT Minimum advance for Best Torque W e decided to carry out the measurements at a fixed load of 35 kW at various values of ignition timing and air excess. First, we measured without EGR in a wide range of air excess and a more confined range of ignition timing. The EGR w as applied and some measurements (at lo w air excess) were repeated. 5.1 Range of parameters According to the manual, the SI4 engine should be running at an ignition timing at of 17° BTDC, when running on rich mixture. A lean mixture bums at a slower rate, so higher ignition timings were considered to be of interest. The various experimental set points were selected as 18, 20, 22 and some at 24°BTDC. From earlier measurements it was found that a compromise between NOx and CO was found at 50% air excess, A= 1,5. A range of A from 1,3 to 1,8 was selected. Measurements with EGR were only carried out at the lowest air excess ratios. 5.2 Succession of measurements Ideally, the measurements should be situated equidistantly within a matrix. For elimination of systematic errors, the succession should be in random order. DGC-report 11 In practice, it is rather time consuming to adj ust air/fueJ ratio and subsequently engine power. Therefore, some rneasurements were carried out in systematic succession. At fixed air/fuel ratio, the ignition timing, wbich is much easier to handle, and subsequently engine power, were adjusted. DGC-report 12 6 Measurements Bach measurement takes approx. an hour. First, the engine is adjusted. Then after a while, the engine has settled and the analysers read out more or Jess constant values. Final adjustments of power output and air/fuel ratio must then be carried out. After a while, the engine has settled again. Then the actual measurements can take place. This willlast about 10 minutes. The acquisition system scans all channels at a two-second interval, until 500 rows of data have been collected, then the program stops. At constant load, a large amount of measurements was carried out within in a matrix of air/fuel ratio and ignition timing as deseribed in section 5.1. Measurements were carried out at both the manifold and in the stack. 6.1 lgnition timing and air/fuel ratio without EGR The ignition timing compensates for the burning velocity: if the engine runs slowly, the charge maybeable to bum completely at a given ignition setting. When the enginespeed is increased, the ignition must be advanced in arder to allow the charge to be burned befare the exhaust stroke starts. Furthermore, the burning velacity is dependant on the air/fuel ratio. Atleaner mixtures, the charge bums at a slower rate. Finally, the flame paths and combustion rates vary with the combustion chamber design and dimensions. lgnition timing (the time when the spark is fired) is defined as degrees of crank angle befare top dead centre ( BTDC). 0 DG C- repart 13 ppm ppm 21 02 [vol %] lgnition timing [ BTDC] 0 18 5 Pigure 2: CO measuredin samples taken in the exhaust manifold ppm ppm 02 [vol %] lgnition timing [ 0 BTDC] 18 5 Pigure 3: NOx measuredin samples taken in the exhaust manifold DGC-report 14 .. - ~ . . ~. . THC [ppm] THC [ppm] .. ·, • • - l Oxygen [val%] lgnition ["BTDC] 18 5 Pigure 4: THC measured in samples taken in both the exhaust manifold and in the stack By looking at Figure 3 and Figure 4 it can be seen that when running at low air excess, the engine produces unacceptable high levels of nitric oxides, while the level of unburned is very low, especially in the stack. If nitric exides could be reduced without affecting the level of THC, the engine could be run at lower air excess. This would yield an indirect effect of reducing THC. The particular engine used for the experiments hereis scrnewhat special, as it has a large highly insulated volume just after the exhaust manifold - the "reactor". The volume is about four times the swept volurne of the engine. It is known from literature /4/, that hydrocarbon can be burned in the exhaust at temperatures above 650°C and at relatively long residence time. As the exhaust temperature from the engine used for this project reaches 680°C, when the reactor is effective, some of the hydrocarbon will be oxidised, which appears from the measurements shown in Figure 4. There may be more complex reactions and this is being studied in anether project at DGC. For commercial engines, a level of THC corresponding to the level marked "Manifold" in Figure 4, or slightly lower, can be expected. DGC-report 15 The level of carbon monoxides (see Pigure 2) is high, and as mentianed earlier, there iseven more when measuredin the stack, due to the reactor. This is no problem, as oxidation catalysts are effective in removing carbon monoxide. 6.2 Measurements with EGR If Pigure 4 is viewed from the right side, it willlook as follows: 10000 ec. .E!; o 1000 .. 100 :t: 1- 10 •~ ~ ; ~ , ... . ... .... • ~ • THC without EGA • 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 0 2 [vol%] Figure 5: THC versus 0 2 in exhaust gases. As many different ignition timings are represented, the data is sarnewhat scattered. It is seen that a significant increase in THC eecurs at increased air excess. It was decided to apply EGR at air excess corresponding to 5.5% 0 2 . Exhaust gas was lead though a coil providing cooling to at bottle calleeting condensed water. The dry gas was measuredin a flowmeter with a full scale of 65 litre/minute. Measurements were then carried out at several ignition timings, and the rate of recirculated gas was kept constant at l% based on valurnes at normal condition. 16 DGC-report 1000 900 e Q. B d z 800 + NOx w ithout EGA 700 o NOx w ith EGA >. 600 500 5.50 5.52 5.54 5.56 5.58 5.60 0 2 [vol%] Figure 6: 18° BTDC 1000 • 900 '[ 800 ~ d z • • NOx w ithout EGA. ..... o o NOx with EGA 700 600 500 5.40 5.45 5.50 5.55 0 2 [volo/o] Pigure 7: 20° BTDC 5.60 5.65 5.70 DGC-report 17 1300 1250 1200 1150 E 1100 c. ~ 1050 & 1000 z 950 900 850 800 • 5.45 w ~hout EGA <> NOx w ~h EGA • NOx 6 ..., 5.50 5.55 5.60 0 2 [vol%] Figure 8: 22° BTDC 1400 ~ 1300 • Ec. + NOx without EGA S: 1200 <> NOx wilh EGA )( o z o 1100 1000 5.45 5.50 5.55 5.60 0 2 [vel%] Figure 9: 24° BTDC The figures show reductions in the range of 15 to 20% of nitric oxides. No direct effect of EGR on THC was seen. No detectable difference in fuel consumption or electrical efficiency between load with or without EGR w as observed. It is assumed, however, that the electrical efficiency will decrease at increased EGR and maintained 0 2 content in the exhaust gas. DGC-report 18 7 Closing remarks During the experiments, it became clear that the rate of EGR should be determined by other means than a flowmeter. When using flowmeters, the exhaust gases should by dried. Otherwise, the flowmeter becomes fouled by condensate. A better way is to measure C0 2 both in exhaust gases and in combustion air after mixing. W e did not achieve levels of nitric oxides fulfilling the Danish legislation /5/. To do so requires higher rates of EGR and slightly higher air excess. Our best guess is to run the particular engine at 6% 02 and to increase the EGR rate to 5-7%. Unfortunately, there was no time to verify this. More literature on EGR has been published since this project was initiated. It is well documented in the literature, that a reduction of nitric oxides of 50% can be achieved by using EGR rate of about 7%. There is reported no significant increase in THC emission at this level /2/. EGR has littie effect on engines running on very lean mixtures, due to smaller contents of water vapour and C02 • Finally, attention should be paid to cerrosion and wear problems when establishing EGR on commercial natural gas engines. Water vapours condense in the pipe leading exhaust gases to the inlet. Droplets could damage the turbo charger and if materiais such as copper are used for EGR pipes, corrosion could present a problem to the engine. DGC-report 19 Appendix Analysers The sample of flue gas was cooled, filtered and dried in an air conditioner before being fed into the analysers. The instruments arelabelled (DGC No.) and a log is kept for each instrument. The analysers we re calibrated every day using test gases of ±2 o/o relative uncertainty. The test gases used were the following. The bottles oftest gases are replaced minimum each year. Manufacture Type Servemax 572 - paramagnetic Range O- 25 vol. o/o Accuracy ± 0.1 vol. o/o DGC-no. 201 Manufacture Thermo Environmental Instruments Ine. Type Range lOA/R from O- 2.5 to to O- 10.000 ppm Reproducibility l o/o of full scale Linearity ±l% DGC-no. 302 CO Manufacture Hartmann & Braun AG Type Range Reproducibility Uras 3 G from O- 200 to O- 2.000 ppm ~ 0.5% of full scale 20 DGC-report l Linearily DGC-no. ±l %1 402 THC Manu faeture Type Range Analysis Automation Ltd. 523 from O- 2.5 ppm to O- 10.000 ppm Accuracy ± l vol. % o f range DGC-no. 601 Manufaeture Type Range Reproducibility Hartmann & Braun AG Uras 3K O - l O and O - 20 vol. % ::::; 0.5% of full scale Linearity ::::;±1% DGC-no. 501 DGC-report 21 Uterature Pedersen P.: Measurements of emission from a lean-burn gas engine. Hørsholm: Danisb Gastechnology Centre, 1997. 2 Raine, R.,R.; Zhang, G.; Pflug A.: Comparison of Emissions from Natural Gas and Gasoline Fuelled Engines. SAE paper 970743, 1997. 3 Johansen, Bengt; Docekal, Daniel: Effekt av A., EGR ocb tandvinkel på emissioner och virkningsgrad i e n konverterad naturgasmotor. Lund: Lunds Tekniske Højskole, 1995. 4 J., B ., Heywood: lnternal Combustion Engine Fundamentals. McGrawHill International, 1988. 5 Miljøstyrelsen: "Bekendtgørelse om kvælstofilteforurening mv. fra gasmotorer og -turbiner", bekendtgørelse nr. 688 af 15/10-1990