October 13, 1995

South Coast Air Quality

Management District Board

Background

At its February 10, 1994 meeting, the Governing Board approved cosponsoring the second phase of a multi-year project to demonstrate a novel, low-NOx internal combustion engine. Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), the developer of this hybrid rich-burn/lean-burn concept, was then awarded a contract amendment to continue the development of this stationary engine.

In SwRI's concept, one or more cylinders in a multi-cylinder engine are operated extremely fuel rich. Under these fuel-rich conditions, the natural gas is converted into combustion products that have high levels of hydrogen and carbon monoxide (CO). The resulting hydrogen-rich exhaust is then injected into the engine's remaining lean-burn cylinders to extend the lean-burn limits of natural gas fuel and reduce NOx emissions.

This three-phase, multi-year project has been organized into five tasks. In the first phase, Tasks 1 and 2 were completed. These tasks involved modeling low-NOx natural-gas combustion and demonstrating it in laboratory experiments. Under phase two, Task 3, the rich-burn combustion process and the resulting combustion products were studied and matched with the lean-burn combustion on a single-cylinder test engine. Parametric studies were performed using various mixtures of air, hydrogen and natural gas and yielded very low NOx emissions without sacrificing engine performance. Based on these results, under Task 4A, a full-size Waukesha natural-gas compressor engine was acquired and converted to the rich-burn/lean-burn technology. New hardware and electronics were developed to control air flow, fuel flow, turbocharger boost pressure and ignition timing. The engine was operated with an increase in horsepower and is currently located at SwRI in San Antonio, Texas.

Proposal

SwRI has presented a proposal to complete the third and final phase of this project. This consists of Tasks 4B and 5, the final emissions optimization and the demonstration of the hybrid engine in an actual field application.

The final emissions optimization, under Task 4B, is a series of tests to determine the optimum operating parameters including ignition timing, rich equivalence ratio, lean equivalence ratio, relative throttle positions, and supercharger and turbocharger control. These parameters will then be incorporated in the electronic control system and hardware, as appropriate.

Under Task 5, a field demonstration is planned for the South Coast Air Basin. The demonstration site will be the natural gas compressor station for fueling natural gas buses at SunLine Transit located in Thousand Palms, California. Following the final emissions optimization, the hybrid engine will be transported, installed and operated for one year. Natural gas consumption and NOx emissions will be monitored regularly. This system is expected to provide a substantial operating cost savings. Following this one-year demonstration, another demonstration site will be sought in Los Angeles County.

Sole-Source Justification

Section II, Step 3(C) of the Consultant selection policy identifies four provisions under which the Governing Board may award a sole-source bid: (1) cost to prepare documents exceeds cost for consultant, (2) delay would result in the endangerment of public health, (3) services are only available from sole-source, and (4) other circumstances exist identifying sole-source as in the best interest of the District.

This request for a sole-source bid is made under provision #3. SwRI is uniquely qualified to complete this project. SwRI has developed the concept for the hybrid rich-burn/lean-burn engine through internal research and development efforts and is pursuing patent protection. SwRI has successfully completed the first two phases of this project, with results that are sufficiently promising to justify continuation. SwRI has identified the South Coast Air Basin as the initial market for this low-emission engine technology based on its assessment of current District rules and regulations.

SwRI is a nonprofit corporation that conducts applied research and development, with an emphasis in engine, fuel, and vehicle research. SwRI's experience and capabilities include numerical modeling of combustion processes and internal combustion engine performance; complete engine and vehicle test facilities; pollutant emissions and engine performance measurement instrumentation; fuels analysis; engine tribology; engine design; data acquisition instrumentation; and statistical design and analysis of modeling and experimental results.

In addition to its unique technology and capabilities, SwRI has been able to secure co-funding from the Southern California Gas Company for 50 percent of the total project cost.

Financial

The total cost of the three-phase, multi-year project is $1,088,372. The third phase is estimated to cost $363,254. Southern California Gas Company and SCAQMD intend to share this cost equally. Staff recommends that up to $181,627 be authorized to support SwRI for the final year of this project.

Sufficient funds are available in the Fiscal Year 1995-96 Technology Advancement Budget to fund this project. This recommendation was reviewed and approved by the Technology Committee on September 13, 1995. Additionally, the project has been approved by the Technical Review Committee established to review the allocation of SB 2297 funds received from Los Angeles County vehicle registration fees.

THEREFORE IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT YOUR BOARD:

--Authorize the Chairman of the Board to execute a contract Amendment with Southwest Research Institute for the development and demonstration of a hybrid rich-burn/lean-burn low-NOx engine in an amount not to exceed $181,627.

Respectfully,

James M. Lents, Ph.D.

Executive Officer

ACL:ARA:MXB