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Arctic Science 2000 - Crossing Borders: Science and Community
Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada, Sept 21-24 2000
American Association for the Advancement of Science & Yukon Science Institute

Natural Gas Fueled Automobile Engines for Reducing Pollution

Deteriorating air quality has been a matter of concern warranting serious efforts toward research to reduce the amount of pollutants in automobile exhausts. Arctic and subarctic regions are more prone to this type of pollution, especially in the wintertime. This is evidenced by higher carbon monoxide levels occasionally detected in Fairbanks, Alaska, than what is considered acceptable by the US Environmental protection Agency.

It is estimated that automobiles share about 70 - 75 % of urban air pollution worldwide. Therefore, substitution of gasoline and diesel fuel by an environment friendly alternate fuel has become an important approach to diminish the environmental pollution in automotive research.

To address this issue, researchers on internal combustion engines have developed natural gas fueled engines. In this presentation we will summarize the research and development activities on natural gas vehicle (NGV) technology. It is estimated that currently there are about a million converted NGVs operating worldwide. Most are of bi-fuel type, i.e.; they can use either gasoline or natural gas. We will show the schematic of a typical compressed natural gas equipment installed in a passenger car. Working of several conversion systems being tested by retrofitting with conversion kits to enable the operation in the bi-fuel mode will be discussed.

Data from these converted engines show decreased levels of pollutants due to the clean burning characteristics of natural gas. Comparison of various pollutants in the emissions of gasoline versus natural gas engines will be presented. From published data on engine testing, reduction in greenhouse gases via NGVs will be shown. On the deficiency side, loss in power and torque of natural gas engine relative to gasoline engine will also be highlighted. With proven reserve of natural gas increasing rapidly in recent years with new discoveries, NGVs should play a major role in the transportation sector in the future, while preserving the environment.

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