AMMONIA APPLICATION TO RECIPROCATING ENGINES. VOLUME 1

Abstract

Two engines, one naturally aspirated spark-ignition and one supercharged compression-ignition, were successfully converted to operate with anhydrous ammonia as fuel in lieu of the hydrocarbon fuel normally used. The final configuration of the spark-ignition engine was able to deliver a maximum of 41 horse-power on ammonia alone and 53 horsepower on ammonia plus 1.5 percent hydrogen. The maximum output with gasoline was 65 horse-power. Higher outputs on ammonia were available but performance had to be curtailed because of high firing pressures and the danger of failing the cast iron crankshaft in the particular engine tested. The compression-ignition engine was converted to operate with ammonia fuel in two different configurations. Performance with the spark-ignition conversion exceeded that with diesel pilot fuel. Effect of varying the compression ratio was also investigated. Direct injection of liquid ammonia into a high compression ratio was also investigated. Direct injection of liquid ammonia into a high compression ratio (30: 1) engine was attempted and was unsuccessful. Various other auxiliary aids such as fuel additives, ionization and radio frequency dissociation were also investigated.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 01, 1967
Accession Number
AD0706856

Entities

People

  • Thomas J. Pearsall

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Burning Rate
  • Carburetors
  • Chemistry
  • Combustion
  • Combustion Chambers
  • Compression Ignition
  • Compression Ignition Engines
  • Dielectric Gases
  • Fuel Injection
  • Hydrocarbon Fuels
  • Ignition
  • Ignition Lag
  • Ignition Systems
  • Materials Laboratories
  • Nitrogen Oxides
  • Rocket Oxidizers
  • Spark Ignition

Readers

  • Electrochemical Engineering/ Fuel Cell Technologies
  • Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) Technology.
  • Petroleum Engineering