Emissions control and reduction for natural gas engines

The use of natural gas as a fuel for on-road commercial vehicles offers significant benefits, including lower greenhouse gas emissions. Methane, the main component of natural gas, has many virtues as a fuel. One of these benefits is that it is a very stable molecule. This stability does introduce a challenge: it is hard to remove from the exhaust stream any methane that isn’t consumed in the engine. This internship will help to address this factor, focusing on using a catalytic reactor in the exhaust of an engine. The intern will install and test two novel, sub-scale catalytic converters, specially designed for methane removal, on the exhaust from a research engine. These results will help to advance Westport’s ongoing efforts to develop cleaner and more cost-effective natural gas engines.

Faculty Supervisor:

Patrick Kirchen;Steven Rogak

Student:

Partner:

Westport Innovations Inc

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Manufacturing; Transportation and warehousing

University:

The University of British Columbia

Program: