Potential Levels of Soot, NO_x, HC and CO for Methanol Combustion

Methanol is today considered a viable green fuel for combustion engines because of its low soot emissions and the possibility of it being produced in a CO₂-neutral manner. Methanol as a fuel for combustion engines have attracted interest throughout history and much research was conducted during the oil crisis in the seventies. In the beginning of the eighties the oil prices began to decrease and interest in methanol declined. This paper presents the emission potential of methanol. T-Φ maps were constructed using a 0-D reactor with constant pressure, temperature and equivalence ratio to show the emission characteristics of methanol. These maps were compared with equivalent maps for diesel fuel. The maps were then complemented with engine simulations using a stochastic reactor model (SRM), which predicts end-gas emissions. The SRM was validated using experimental results from a truck engine running in Partially Premixed Combustion (PPC) mode at medium loads. The SRM was able to predict the combustion in terms of pressure trace and rate of heat release. The CO and NO_x emissions were matched, however, the HC emissions were underestimated. Finally, the trajectories from the SRM simulations were superimposed on the T-Φ maps to investigate the in engine conditions. The T-Φ map analysis shows that emission of soot are non-existent, formaldehyde can be avoided and that emissions of methane are kept at, compared to diesel combustion, low levels, however CO and NO_x levels are similar to diesel combustion. These results were confirmed for engine conditions by the SRM simulations and the engine experiments.