Description | Industrial Natural Gas Engines: Technology, Markets and Development Challenges Joel Hiltner of Hiltner Combustion Tuesday, May 14 in MEB 238 3:30- 4:30 PM ABSTRACT: Technology, Markets and Development Challenges: Reciprocating industrial natural gas engines are applied in a range of markets where emissions, fuel cost, performance and power density are important. The dramatic drop in the price of natural gas relative to other fuels has led to a substantial surge in demand for large engines (>1 MW) in electric power, gas compression and mechanical drive applications. Driven by the surge in demand for high performance engines, the past 20 years have seen dramatic increases in engine power density (+75%) and engine efficiency (~35% increased to ~48%) at the same time that large reductions in regulated emissions have been achieved. This talk will provide an overview of the major markets for large bore industrial natural gas engines before describing the technology that is currently deployed and new technology that is under development. New market challenges and opportunities and the technology required to address these will also be highlighted. SPEAKER BIO: Dr. Hiltner completed his Ph.D. at Ohio State University with a focus on optical diagnostics in reciprocating engines. Working for two years in the engine research group of an industrial gas engine OEM taught Dr. Hiltner that large company culture did not suit his demeanor. Three years of post-doc work around the world (Trinity College Dublin, UC Berkeley, Royal Melbourne Instituted of Technology) further convinced Dr. Hiltner that teaching was not one of his talents. Since returning to the US in 2001, Dr. Hiltner has focused on building a team of natural gas engine experts at his small company (Hiltner Combustion Systems, Ferndale, WA). HCS utilizes combustion and engine simulation, in combination with single-cylinder research engine testing to develop new engine technology for manufacturers of large (1 MW to 15 MW) natural gas engines for stationary and marine applications. |
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