A gas engine is an
internal combustion engine
An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal co ...
that runs on a gaseous fuel, such as
coal gas
Coal gas is a flammable gaseous fuel made from coal and supplied to the user via a piped distribution system. It is produced when coal is heated strongly in the absence of air. Town gas is a more general term referring to manufactured gaseous ...
,
producer gas,
biogas,
landfill gas
Landfill gas is a mix of different gases created by the action of microorganisms within a landfill as they decompose organic waste, including for example, food waste and paper waste. Landfill gas is approximately forty to sixty percent methane ...
or
natural gas
Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbon d ...
. In the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
, the term is unambiguous. In the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
, due to the widespread use of "gas" as an abbreviation for
gasoline
Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organic c ...
(petrol), such an engine might also be called a gaseous-fueled engine or natural gas engine or spark ignited.
Generally in modern usage, the term ''gas engine'' refers to a heavy-duty industrial engine capable of running continuously at full load for periods approaching a high fraction of 8,760 hours per year, unlike a gasoline automobile engine, which is lightweight, high-revving and typically runs for no more than 4,000 hours in its entire life. Typical power ranges from to .
History
Lenoir
There were many experiments with gas engines in the 19th century, but the first practical gas-fuelled
internal combustion engine
An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal co ...
was built by the Belgian engineer
Étienne Lenoir in 1860. However, the Lenoir engine suffered from a low power output and high fuel consumption.
Otto and Langen
Lenoir's work was further researched and improved by a German engineer
Nicolaus August Otto, who was later to invent the first four-stroke engine to efficiently burn fuel directly in a piston chamber. In August 1864 Otto met
Eugen Langen who, being technically trained, glimpsed the potential of Otto's development, and one month after the meeting, founded the first engine factory in the world, NA Otto & Cie, in Cologne. In 1867 Otto patented his improved design and it was awarded the Grand Prize at the 1867 Paris World Exhibition. This atmospheric engine worked by drawing a mixture of gas and air into a vertical cylinder. When the piston has risen about eight inches, the gas and air mixture is ignited by a small pilot flame burning outside, which forces the piston (which is connected to a toothed rack) upwards, creating a partial vacuum beneath it. No work is done on the upward stroke. The work is done when the piston and toothed rack descend under the effects of atmospheric pressure and their own weight, turning the main shaft and flywheels as they fall. Its advantage over the existing steam engine was its ability to be started and stopped on demand, making it ideal for intermittent work such as barge loading or unloading.
Four-stroke engine
The atmospheric gas engine was in turn replaced by Otto's
four-stroke engine
A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directi ...
. The changeover to four-stroke engines was remarkably rapid, with the last atmospheric engines being made in 1877. Liquid-fuelled engines soon followed using Diesel (around 1898) or gasoline (around 1900).
Crossley
The best-known builder of gas engines in the United Kingdom was
Crossley
Crossley, based in Manchester, United Kingdom, was a pioneering company in the production of internal combustion engines. Since 1988 it has been part of the Rolls-Royce Power Engineering group.
More than 100,000 Crossley oil and gas engines ...
of Manchester, who in 1869 acquired the United Kingdom and world (except German) rights to the patents of Otto and Langden for the new gas-fuelled atmospheric engine. In 1876 they acquired the rights to the more efficient Otto four-stroke cycle engine.
Tangye
There were several other firms based in the
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...
area as well.
Tangye Ltd., of Smethwick, near Birmingham, sold its first gas engine, a 1
nominal horsepower
Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are the ...
two-cycle type, in 1881, and in 1890 the firm commenced manufacture of the four-cycle gas engine.
Preservation
The
Anson Engine Museum
The Anson Engine Museum is situated on the site of the old Anson colliery in Poynton, Cheshire, England. It is the work of Les Cawley and Geoff Challinor who began collecting and showing stationary engines for a hobby. The museum now has one o ...
in
Poynton, near
Stockport
Stockport is a town and borough in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt and Tame merge to create the River Mersey here.
Most of the town is withi ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
, has a collection of engines that includes several working gas engines, including the largest running Crossley atmospheric engine ever made.
Current manufacturers
Manufacturers of gas engines include
Hyundai Heavy Industries
Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (HHI; ) is the world's largest shipbuilding company and a major heavy equipment manufacturer. Its headquarters are in Ulsan, South Korea.
History
HHI was founded in 1972 by Chung Ju-yung as a division of th ...
, Rolls-Royce with the
Bergen-Engines AS,
Kawasaki Heavy Industries
(or simply Kawasaki) is a Japanese Public company, public multinational corporation manufacturer of motorcycles, engines, Heavy equipment (construction), heavy equipment, aerospace and Military, defense equipment, rolling stock and ships, headq ...
,
Liebherr,
MTU Friedrichshafen
MTU Friedrichshafen GmbH is a German manufacturer of commercial internal combustion engines founded by Wilhelm Maybach and his son Karl Maybach in 1909. Wilhelm Maybach was the technical director of Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (DMG), a prede ...
,
INNIO Jenbacher,
Caterpillar Inc.,
Perkins Engines,
MWM,
Cummins
Cummins Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and distributes engines, filtration, and power generation products. Cummins also services engines and related equipment, including fuel systems, controls, air ...
,
Wärtsilä
Wärtsilä Oyj Abp (), trading internationally as Wärtsilä Corporation, is a Finnish company which manufactures and services power sources and other equipment in the marine and energy markets. The core products of Wärtsilä include technol ...
,
INNIO Waukesha,
Guascor Power,
Deutz, MTU, MAN,
Scania AB,
Fairbanks-Morse, Doosan, and
Yanmar. Output ranges from about
micro combined heat and power (CHP) to .
Generally speaking, the modern high-speed gas engine is very competitive with gas turbines up to about depending on circumstances, and the best ones are much more fuel efficient than the gas turbines. Rolls-Royce with the Bergen Engines, Caterpillar and many other manufacturers base their products on a Diesel engine block and crankshaft. INNIO Jenbacher and Waukesha are the only two companies whose engines are designed and dedicated to gas alone.
Typical applications
Stationary
Typical applications are
base load
The base load (also baseload) is the minimum level of demand on an electrical grid over a span of time, for example, one week. This demand can be met by unvarying power plants, dispatchable generation, or by a collection of smaller intermittent e ...
or high-hour generation schemes, including
combined heat and power
Cogeneration or combined heat and power (CHP) is the use of a heat engine or power station to generate electricity and useful heat at the same time.
Cogeneration is a more efficient use of fuel or heat, because otherwise- wasted heat from elect ...
(for typical performance figures see),
landfill
A landfill site, also known as a tip, dump, rubbish dump, garbage dump, or dumping ground, is a site for the disposal of waste materials. Landfill is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of the wast ...
gas,
mines gas,
well-head gas and
biogas, where the
waste heat
Waste heat is heat that is produced by a machine, or other process that uses energy, as a byproduct of doing work. All such processes give off some waste heat as a fundamental result of the laws of thermodynamics. Waste heat has lower utilit ...
from the engine may be used to warm the digesters. For typical biogas engine installation parameters see. For parameters of a large gas engine CHP system, as fitted in a factory, see.
Gas engines are rarely used for standby applications, which remain largely the province of Diesel engines. One exception to this is the small (<150 kW) emergency generator often installed by farms, museums, small businesses, and residences. Connected to either natural gas from the public utility or propane from on-site storage tanks, these generators can be arranged for automatic starting upon power failure.
Transport
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) engines are expanding into the marine market, as the lean-burn gas engine can meet the new emission requirements without any extra fuel treatment or exhaust cleaning systems. Use of engines running on
compressed natural gas
Compressed natural gas (CNG) is a fuel gas mainly composed of methane (CH4), compressed to less than 1% of the volume it occupies at standard atmospheric pressure. It is stored and distributed in hard containers at a pressure of , usually in ...
(CNG) is also growing in the
bus sector. Users in the United Kingdom include
Reading Buses
Reading Buses is a bus operator serving the towns of Reading, Bracknell, Newbury, Slough, Windsor, Maidenhead, Wokingham and the surrounding areas in the counties of Berkshire, Oxfordshire, and Hampshire, England, as well as parts of Greater ...
. Use of gas buses is supported by the Gas Bus Alliance and manufacturers include
Scania AB.
Use of gaseous methane or propane
Since
natural gas
Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbon d ...
, chiefly
methane
Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The relative abundance of methane ...
, has long been a clean, economical, and readily available fuel, many industrial engines are either designed or modified to use gas, as distinguished from
gasoline
Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organic c ...
. Their operation produces less complex-hydrocarbon pollution, and the engines have fewer internal problems. One example is the
liquefied petroleum gas
Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG or LP gas) is a fuel gas which contains a flammable mixture of hydrocarbon gases, specifically propane, propylene, butylene, isobutane and n-butane.
LPG is used as a fuel gas in heating appliances, cookin ...
, chiefly
propane
Propane () is a three-carbon alkane with the molecular formula . It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure, but compressible to a transportable liquid. A by-product of natural gas processing and petroleum refining, it is commonly used as ...
. engine used in vast numbers of
forklift
A forklift (also called lift truck, jitney, hi-lo, fork truck, fork hoist, and forklift truck) is a powered industrial truck used to lift and move materials over short distances. The forklift was developed in the early 20th century by various ...
trucks. Common United States usage of "gas" to mean "gasoline" requires the explicit identification of a natural gas engine. There is also such a thing as "natural gasoline", but this term, which refers to a subset of
natural gas liquids
Natural-gas condensate, also called natural gas liquids, is a low-density mixture of hydrocarbon liquids that are present as gaseous components in the raw natural gas produced from many natural gas fields. Some gas species within the raw natu ...
, is very rarely observed outside the refining industry.
Technical details
Fuel-air mixing
A gas engine differs from a
petrol engine
A petrol engine (gasoline engine in American English) is an internal combustion engine designed to run on petrol (gasoline). Petrol engines can often be adapted to also run on fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas and ethanol blends (such as ' ...
in the way the fuel and air are mixed. A petrol engine uses a
carburetor
A carburetor (also spelled carburettor) is a device used by an internal combustion engine to control and mix air and fuel entering the engine. The primary method of adding fuel to the intake air is through the venturi tube in the main meteri ...
or
fuel injection
Fuel injection is the introduction of fuel in an internal combustion engine, most commonly automotive engines, by the means of an injector. This article focuses on fuel injection in reciprocating piston and Wankel rotary engines.
All com ...
. but a gas engine often uses a simple
venturi system to introduce gas into the air flow. Early gas engines used a three-valve system, with separate inlet valves for air and gas.
Exhaust valves
The weak point of a gas engine compared to a
Diesel engine
The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-cal ...
is the exhaust valves, since the gas engine exhaust gases are much hotter for a given output, and this limits the power output. Thus, a Diesel engine from a given manufacturer will usually have a higher maximum output than the same engine block size in the gas engine version. The Diesel engine will generally have three different ratings — standby, prime, and continuous, a.k.a. 1-hour rating, 12-hour rating and continuous rating in the United Kingdom, whereas the gas engine will generally only have a continuous rating, which will be less than the Diesel continuous rating.
Ignition
Various ignition systems have been used, including
hot-tube ignitors and
spark ignition. Most modern gas engines are essentially
dual-fuel engines. The main source of energy is the gas-air mixture but it is ignited by the injection of a small volume of
Diesel fuel
Diesel fuel , also called diesel oil, is any liquid fuel specifically designed for use in a diesel engine, a type of internal combustion engine in which fuel ignition takes place without a spark as a result of compression of the inlet air and ...
.
Energy balance
Thermal efficiency
Gas engines that run on natural gas typically have a thermal efficiency between 35-45% (
LHV basis)., As of year 2018, the best engines can achieve a thermal efficiency up to 50% (LHV basis).
These gas engines are usually medium-speed engine
Bergen EnginesFuel energy arises at the output shaft, the remainder appears as waste heat.
Large engines are more efficient than small engines. Gas engines running on
biogas typically have a slightly lower efficiency (~1-2%) and
syngas
Syngas, or synthesis gas, is a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, in various ratios. The gas often contains some carbon dioxide and methane. It is principly used for producing ammonia or methanol. Syngas is combustible and can be used as ...
reduces the efficiency further still. GE Jenbacher's recent J624 engine is the world's first high efficiency methane-fueled 24-cylinder gas engine.
When considering engine efficiency one should consider whether this is based on the
lower heating value (LHV) or
higher heating value (HHV) of the gas. Engine manufacturers will typically quote efficiencies based on the lower heating value of the gas, i.e. the efficiency after energy has been taken to evaporate the intrinsic moisture within the gas itself. Gas distribution networks will typically charge based upon the higher heating value of the gas. ''i.e.'', total energy content. A quoted engine efficiency based on LHV might be say 44% whereas the same engine might have an efficiency of 39.6% based on HHV on natural gas.
It is also important to ensure that efficiency comparisons are on a like-for-like basis. For example, some manufactures have mechanically driven pumps whereas other use electrically driven pumps to drive engine cooling water, and the electrical usage can sometimes be ignored giving a falsely high apparent efficiency compared to the direct drive engines.
Combined heat and power
Engine reject heat can be used for building heating or heating a process. In an engine, roughly half the waste heat arises (from the engine jacket, oil cooler and after-cooler circuits) as hot water, which can be at up to 110 °C. The remainder arises as high-temperature heat which can generate pressurised hot water or steam by the use of an exhaust gas
heat exchanger.
Engine cooling
Two most common engine types are an
air-cooled engine
Air-cooled engines rely on the circulation of air directly over heat dissipation fins or hot areas of the engine to cool them in order to keep the engine within operating temperatures. In all combustion engines, a great percentage of the heat ge ...
or
water cooled engine. Water cooled nowadays use
antifreeze in the
internal combustion engine
An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal co ...
Some engines (air or water) have an added
oil cooler.
Cooling is required to remove excessive heat, as overheating can cause engine failure, usually from wear, cracking or warping.
Gas consumption formula
The formula shows the gas flow requirement of a gas engine in norm conditions at full load.
where:
*
is the gas flow in norm conditions
*
is the engine power
*
is the mechanical efficiency
* LHV is the Low Heating Value of the gas
Gallery of historic gas engines
File:National gas engine (Rankin Kennedy, Modern Engines, Vol II).jpg, 1905 National company's ordinary gas engine of 36 hp
File:Körting gas engine (Rankin Kennedy, Electrical Installations, Vol III, 1903).jpg, 1903 Körting gas engine
File:Backus upright gas engine (New Catechism of the Steam Engine, 1904).jpg, Backus upright gas engine
File:Otto horizontal gas engine (New Catechism of the Steam Engine, 1904).jpg, Otto horizontal gas engine
File:Otto vertical gas engine (New Catechism of the Steam Engine, 1904).jpg, Otto vertical gas engine
File:Westinghouse gas engine, section (Rankin Kennedy, Electrical Installations, Vol III, 1903).jpg, Westinghouse gas engine
File:Crossley gas engine and dynamo (Rankin Kennedy, Electrical Installations, Vol III, 1903).jpg, Crossley gas engine and dynamo
File:Premier twin gas engine electric generating plant (Rankin Kennedy, Modern Engines, Vol III).jpg, Premier twin gas engine electric generating plant
File:125hp gas engine and dynamo (Rankin Kennedy, Electrical Installations, Vol III, 1903).jpg, 125 hp gas engine and dynamo
File:Crossley engine.jpg, Crossley Brothers Ltd., 1886 No. 1 Engine, 4.5 hp single cylinder, 4-stroke gas engine, 160 rpm.
File:Crossley Gas Engine - Kelham Island Industrial Museum.jpg, 1915 Crossley Gas Engine (type GE130 No75590), 150 hp.
File:Gas Engine in the Gas Museum - geograph.org.uk - 2120293.jpg, National Gas Engine
File:Premier tandem scavenging high-power gas engine (Rankin Kennedy, Modern Engines, Vol II).jpg, Premier tandem scavenging high-power gas engine
File:Blast furnace gas engine with blowing cylinder (Rankin Kennedy, Modern Engines, Vol II).jpg, Blast furnace gas engine with blowing cylinder
File:Stockport gas engine and belt-driven dynamo (Rankin Kennedy, Electrical Installations, Vol III, 1903).jpg, Stockport gas engine and belt-driven dynamo
See also
*
Autogas
Autogas or LPG is liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) used as a fuel in internal combustion engines in vehicles as well as in stationary applications such as generators. It is a mixture of propane and butane.
Autogas is widely used as a "green" ...
*
CHP Directive
The Directive on the promotion of cogeneration based on a useful heat demand in the internal energy market and amending Directive 92/42/EEC,
*
Cogeneration
Cogeneration or combined heat and power (CHP) is the use of a heat engine or power station to generate electricity and useful heat at the same time.
Cogeneration is a more efficient use of fuel or heat, because otherwise- wasted heat from elec ...
*
Gas turbine
*
History of the internal combustion engine
*
List of natural gas vehicles {{unreferenced, date=November 2017
This is a list of natural gas vehicles.
Airplanes
* Tu-155 only experimental
* Tu-206 a LNG version is available as the Tu-206
* Tu-330 a LNG version is available of this transport/survey/tanker aircraft
Hel ...
* Tables of European biogas utilisation
*
Anson Engine Museum
The Anson Engine Museum is situated on the site of the old Anson colliery in Poynton, Cheshire, England. It is the work of Les Cawley and Geoff Challinor who began collecting and showing stationary engines for a hobby. The museum now has one o ...
References
External links
Crossley Gas EngineAntique Stationary EnginesOld EnginesGas Engine ArticlesGas Engine Magazinenbsp;— An internal combustion historical magazine
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gas Engine
Engines
Stationary engines
Internal combustion piston engines