Marquette University

Marquette University will enable an innovative combustion technology for lean-burn (high air-fuel ratio) natural gas engines to potentially reduce the amount of methane slip—or methane in the inlet fuel stream that escapes to the atmosphere—to 0.25% of the inlet fuel stream. The 0.25% target would represent a 90% reduction from current levels. The proposed system aims to achieve a non-premixed, mixing-controlled combustion process with natural gas in a lean-burn engine through an actively fueled prechamber. Simulations have shown that this non-premixed combustion system yields a 10-fold reduction in methane slip compared with a conventional lean-burn natural gas engine. This system could be retrofitted to existing lean-burn engines or as a new engine technology. The proposed concept will deliver a transformational reduction in methane slip while meeting site-specific targets for criteria pollutants, reliability, and durability. It also provides a pathway to a transformational reduction in total greenhouse gas emissions as a new engine technology via significant increases in efficiency.

REMEDY addresses methane emissions from domestic oil, gas, and coal value chains, accounting for 78% of U.S. primary energy.