An internal combustion engine of reciprocating type is available as a generator of synthesis gas which comprises hydrogen and carbon-monoxide by partial oxidation of hydrocarbon with oxygen.
The principal objections to this method are formation of excessive quantities of free carbon, fouling of the spark plug when oxygen is rare, and danger of.flash back, knock or pre-ignition when oxygen is rich.
These difficulties can be overcome by selecting suitable compression ratio, oxygen to hydrocarbon ratio and intake pressure together with the adoption of specially designed gas-mixture intake mechanism.
To develop this process, we constructed a eight-cylinder spark ignition engine having 42.4l total stroke volume, and conducted the performance test using natural gas (con-taining 94% methane) and 96% oxygen, varing oxygen to methane ratio, intake press-ure.revolution sneed and others.
As the typical example of performance, 77% of the combustion heat of methane is transformed to the combustion heat of utility gas, and 8% to mechanical energy, so the net thermal efficiency reaches to 85% which is the highest efficiency of the synthe-sis gas production process.
We conducted 1000 hours continuing endurance test to ascertain the reliability and the stability of the engine.As the endurance test is successfully completed, we disasse-mbled the engine and made a close inspection.No damage was found in the engine and contamination due to carbon deposit in the combustion chamber was not serious.
All the test results lead us to the conclusion that the manufacturing of synthesis as by an internal combustion engine is practical and one of the most efficient process.
View full abstract