JP2007113461A - Gas engine improving ignitability of fuel - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent knocking by converting natural gas to easily ignitable reformed fuel, supplying the same to an auxiliary chamber and igniting the same, and supplying hardly ignitable natural gas to a main chamber. <P>SOLUTION: This gas engine is provided with a heater 19 and a fuel reforming catalyst 18 in a fuel reforming device 9, and ignition fuel is supplied to the auxiliary chamber 2 through an ignition fuel supply port 16 by opening an ignition fuel supply valve 3 to improve ignitability of natural gas. Then, a natural gas supply valve 7 arranged in a natural gas supply port 21 and a water injection valve 6 are provided in an intake passage 14, and lean air fuel mixture formed of air and natural gas supplied by opening the natural gas supply valve 7 is supplied to the main chamber 1 to prevent knocking. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to, for example, a gas engine capable of improving the ignitability by reforming a natural gas fuel and supplying the ignition fuel to a sub-combustion chamber to ensure ignition.

In recent years, improving the thermal efficiency of engines is indispensable for solving major global problems such as global warming and depletion of energy resources. Since these problems could not be solved due to the extension of the prior art, it was considered to use natural gas as a fuel as a new method. That is, for engines, hydrocarbons such as methane (CH ₄ ), propane (C ₃ H ₈ ), butane (C ₄ H ₁₀ ) (hereinafter referred to as “natural gas”), that is, natural gas, has a large calorific value and a large amount in the natural world. Because it exists, it is expected as a future alternative fuel for oil. In order to improve the thermal efficiency of the engine, it is only necessary to increase the power of the effective work generated from the engine. However, the thermal efficiency of a diesel engine with a large compression ratio, which is currently considered the best, is approximately 40 to 48%. The above improvements are not possible. However, even with diesel engines, since most of the heat is exhausted as exhaust gas or dissipated to the cooling water, a means to recover these heats has been considered, but only a few percent of thermal efficiency can be improved. Further improvement in efficiency was impossible.

  Conventionally, the main component of natural gas is methane, and since the ignition temperature of methane is very high, it is extremely difficult to perform diesel combustion in a gas engine using natural gas as fuel. The ignition temperature of methane fuel is about 800 ° C, and it can be seen that the ignitability of natural gas is much worse than that of light oil when compared to the ignition temperature of 400 ° C for light oil. Therefore, it is impossible from the beginning to use natural gas with poor ignitability as a fuel in a HCCI (Homogineous charge compression ignition) engine, that is, a diesel engine, that performs compression ignition.

The applicant first developed a gas engine equipped with a fuel reformer. In the gas engine, for example, natural gas is reformed into reformed fuel to increase thermal efficiency, and ignition combustion in the sub chamber is ensured. In the gas engine, a sub chamber control valve is disposed at a communication port that communicates between the main chamber and the sub chamber, and the natural gas is converted into a reformed fuel of H ₂ and CO by a fuel reformer disposed in the exhaust pipe. Quality. A reformed fuel valve is provided in the intake manifold of the intake pipe to supply reformed fuel to the main chamber during the intake stroke. A natural gas fuel valve is provided in the sub chamber, and natural gas is supplied to the sub chamber from the intake stroke to the compression stroke. The sub-chamber control valve opens in the latter half of the compression stroke, blows a mixture of air and reformed fuel from the main chamber into the sub-chamber, and ignites and burns natural gas in the sub-chamber. Is provided to assist the ignition and combustion of natural gas (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

In addition, the present applicant has previously developed a natural gas reforming apparatus for use in a gas engine. The natural gas reforming apparatus captures CO ₂ in the exhaust gas and uses the thermal energy of the exhaust gas. Utilizing this, natural gas is reacted using a catalyst, the reforming rate of natural gas is increased, and the heat quantity of fuel is increased to improve the thermal efficiency of the engine. Specifically, the natural gas reforming apparatus uses CO ₂ contained in exhaust gas, H ₂ O supplied from the outside, and O ₂ contained in the exhaust gas, so that a catalyst suitable for each of them can be used. Natural gas, CO ₂ , H ₂ O, and O ₂ are sequentially reacted in the presence to convert natural gas into reformed fuel (see, for example, Patent Document 2).
JP 2003-239809 A JP 2003-321208 A

By the way, for a gas engine, natural gas is reformed to improve ignitability, and the reformed fuel is ignited and combusted at a predetermined place. If a structure that does not ignite in the main combustion chamber is configured, knocking or the like does not occur, and an ideal combustion device, that is, an engine can be provided. However, even if natural gas is used as fuel for the engine, ignitability is poor and a good gas engine cannot be constructed. For example, natural gas is reformed using the thermal energy of exhaust gas. The above technical idea can be considered. When the applicant actually tested the combustion of natural gas, it was found that ignition was extremely difficult in the case of natural gas, and problems such as startability were extremely difficult. As a result of research and development to improve the quality, it was found that when the reformed fuel obtained by reforming natural gas is used as the fuel, the reformed fuel becomes CO and H ₂ and its calorific value increases by about 30%. However, in some cases, natural gas reforming does not proceed completely, and it was found that its properties are not always stable. Natural gas fuel containing methane as its main component has a high ignition temperature as described above, so it is difficult to ignite it. temperature increases, a large amount of the NO _X is discharged, knocking occurs. When the engine is started, the compressed air temperature is low and the wall surface temperature of the auxiliary combustion chamber is low.

Therefore, the present inventor provided a sub-combustion chamber for introducing fuel to produce a rich mixture in addition to the main combustion chamber for introducing EGR and air in order to reduce the O ₂ concentration with a very lean mixture. We thought that a control valve was installed at the communication port connecting the main combustion chamber and the sub-combustion chamber, and that a high-efficiency engine could be provided by operation with a diesel cycle. According to such a structure, the exhaust gas of the gas engine becomes a high temperature of 850 ° C. or higher when the combustion chamber is configured as a heat shield structure. By recovering thermal energy from the high-temperature exhaust gas, it is possible to improve the total thermal efficiency of the engine.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a main combustion chamber and a sub-combustion chamber in order to solve the above problem, and heat and thermally decompose methane, which is a component of natural gas, so that the pyrolyzed ignition fuel is ignited from natural gas. Focusing on the low temperature, fuel that is easy to ignite is supplied to the secondary combustion chamber to be ignited, and natural gas that is difficult to ignite is supplied to the main combustion chamber to produce a lean mixture that is difficult to ignite. The ignition fuel in the auxiliary combustion chamber is easily ignited in the auxiliary combustion chamber without using a glow plug or the like by the entrance of the high-temperature lean mixture injected into the auxiliary combustion chamber, and then the flame is injected into the main combustion chamber. Propagation of the flame to the lean air-fuel mixture in the combustion chamber promotes combustion and prevents knocking. In addition, the communication hole connecting the main combustion chamber and the sub-combustion chamber and the sub-chamber throttle valve are devised to provide a high-temperature lean Let the air-fuel mixture enter the secondary combustion chamber smoothly, To provide a gas engine which sprayed the flame from the combustion chamber into the main combustion chamber.

The present invention includes a cylinder head attached to a cylinder block, a piston reciprocatingly moved in a cylinder formed in the cylinder block, a main combustion chamber formed by the piston and the cylinder, and a sub-portion provided in the cylinder head. In a gas engine having a combustion chamber and an intake / exhaust passage, an intake / exhaust valve disposed in the intake / exhaust passage, and a sub-chamber throttle valve disposed in a communication hole communicating the main combustion chamber and the sub-combustion chamber,
A fuel reformer having a heater and a fuel reforming catalyst and converting methane, which is a natural gas component provided in a gas fuel supply path, into reformed fuel, and an ignition fuel supply port opening in the sub-combustion chamber An ignition fuel supply passage, an ignition fuel supply valve that opens and closes the ignition fuel supply port, and a natural gas supply valve and a water injection valve that are provided in the intake passage. The reformed fuel from the fuel reformer is supplied to the auxiliary combustion chamber when the ignition fuel supply port is opened, and is supplied to the intake passage when the natural gas supply port is opened by the natural gas supply valve. A lean mixture produced by gas fuel and air is supplied to the main combustion chamber, and the reformed fuel of 15 to 10 wt% at full load when the ignition fuel supply port is opened by the ignition fuel supply valve To the auxiliary combustion chamber A gas engine, characterized in that igniting the combustion chamber.

  In this gas engine, the heater in the fuel reformer is controlled so that a large current flows when the load is small and the current is throttled when the load is large.

  The heater in the fuel reformer is composed of a porous member such as a metal porous body and a wire, and the fuel decomposition catalyst is composed of catalyst particles such as platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium and nickel supported on the porous member. Has been.

  In this gas engine, the lean air-fuel mixture is generated in the main combustion chamber by opening the natural gas supply valve and supplying only the natural gas fuel to the intake passage at the time of partial load, and the load is increased to increase the load. In response to the wall surface temperature of the main combustion chamber being 400 ° C. to 500 ° C., water is injected from the water injection valve into the intake passage to control the temperature of the lean air-fuel mixture to stabilize the combustion. Is.

  The water injected into the lean air-fuel mixture is supplied to the main combustion chamber so as to collide with the top surface of the piston through the intake passage when the intake passage is opened by the intake valve. It is taken away and evaporated to become water vapor.

  In this gas engine, the fuel supplied to the main combustion chamber and the sub-combustion chamber has an air-fuel ratio of about 10 to 10% by volume or less, and the fuel supplied to the sub-combustion chamber is 15% of the supplied fuel. Therefore, the fuel to the subcombustion chamber is as small as 1.5% with respect to the air, and the energy supplied to the subcombustion chamber is very small even if it is heated. become. Based on the above phenomenon, this gas engine is equipped with a heater and a catalyst that thermally decomposes methane, which is a component of natural gas fuel, in the fuel reformer. The fuel is converted into reformed fuel, the ignition fuel supply valve is opened, and 15 to 10 wt% of fuel at full load is supplied to the auxiliary combustion chamber for ignition, so that the supply energy can be much smaller. Become. In addition, this gas engine decomposes the fuel supplied to the sub-combustion chamber with a small amount of energy and changes it to a reformed fuel with good ignitability, so that it can be ignited and combusted extremely reliably to greatly improve the ignitability. Also, in the main combustion chamber, natural gas fuel with a high ignition temperature is supplied to generate air and a lean mixture, and the lean mixture is burned by flame propagation from the subcombustion chamber. it can. Also, in this gas engine, when the engine load increases, the wall surface temperature of the main combustion chamber rises, and the temperature of the air-fuel mixture rises, the heater of the fuel reformer is throttled to reduce the natural gas into the auxiliary combustion chamber. In addition to supplying ignition fuel, there is a possibility of knocking occurring in the latter half of the compression stroke. To prevent knocking, the temperature rise of the mixture is suppressed by water injection, and the mixture supplied to the combustion chamber is reduced. Inject and mix water. Water evaporates into steam, but the temperature of the mixture decreases due to the heat of vaporization at that time, and the transition to the latter half of the compression stroke occurs without causing knocking. The mixture in the main combustion chamber becomes the subcombustion chamber. Because it is ignited by flame propagation from. Normal operation can be continued.

Embodiments of a gas engine with improved fuel ignitability according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The gas engine according to the present invention is particularly characterized in that a natural gas fuel whose main component is CH ₄ is reformed very efficiently, and the reformed fuel is supplied to the auxiliary combustion chamber and ignited and burned. This gas engine reforms methane, which is a component of natural gas, into reformed fuels such as CO, H ₂ , HC, etc., increases the amount of heat of natural gas fuel, and increases the thermal efficiency of the engine. It is preferable to apply as an engine of a system, automobile, ship, etc.

  In this gas engine, for example, a main combustion chamber 1 and a sub-combustion chamber 2 are configured to have a heat shielding structure, and are driven by a diesel cycle using natural gas as fuel, and reciprocate mainly in a cylinder 4. The main combustion chamber 1 provided on the piston 5 side and the sub-combustion chamber 2 provided on the cylinder head 12 are provided, and the communication hole 11 communicating the main combustion chamber 1 and the sub-combustion chamber 2 is provided with a gap 27 to restrict the sub chamber. A lean mixture of natural gas and air is supplied to the main combustion chamber 1 through the intake pipe 31 and the intake passage 14 which are provided with the valve 8 and intake air, and the natural gas is supplied to the auxiliary combustion chamber 2 by the fuel reformer 9. Reformed fuel is supplied to the sub-combustion chamber 2, the sub-chamber throttle valve 8 is opened at the end of the compression stroke, and the high pressures of air and natural gas fuel from the main combustion chamber 1 to the sub-combustion chamber 2 are opened. Is injected, and the reformed fuel supplied to the auxiliary combustion chamber 2 is ignited. It is intended to.

  In particular, the gas engine includes an ignition fuel supply passage 17 that supplies reformed fuel to the auxiliary combustion chamber 2 through an ignition fuel supply port 16 that opens to the auxiliary combustion chamber 2, an ignition fuel supply passage 17, and a fuel supply passage 38. A fuel reformer 9 having a heater 19 and a fuel decomposition catalyst 18 disposed between them, an ignition fuel supply valve 3 for opening and closing the ignition fuel supply port 16, and a natural gas supply port provided in the intake passage 14 21 is provided with a natural gas supply valve 7 and a water injection valve 6, and the lean gas mixture generated by the natural gas and air supplied with the natural gas supply valve 7 opened is supplied to the main combustion chamber 1. Further, the fuel supply valve 3 for ignition is opened, and 15 to 10 wt% of the reformed fuel at full load is supplied to the auxiliary combustion chamber 2 to ignite in the auxiliary combustion chamber 2.

  This gas engine also opens and closes an actuator 23 that opens and closes an ignition fuel supply valve 3, an actuator 24 that opens and closes a sub chamber throttle valve 8, an actuator 25 that operates a water injection valve 6, and a gas fuel supply valve 7. An actuating actuator 26 is provided. The controller 10 is configured to control the opening / closing operation timing of the actuators 23, 24, 25, and 26 and the amount of current applied to the heater 19 in response to various information such as the load sensor 20. In this gas engine, for example, the heater 19 in the fuel reformer 9 responds to a detection value from the load sensor 20 by the controller 10 so that a large current flows when the load is small and a current is throttled when the load is large. Be controlled. Further, the lean air-fuel mixture to the main combustion chamber 1 supplies only natural gas fuel to the intake passage 14 at the time of partial load, and when the load increases and the wall surface temperature of the main combustion chamber 1 becomes 400 ° C. to 500 ° C. Water is injected from the water injection valve 6 into the intake passage 14 to reduce the temperature of the lean air-fuel mixture and to control combustion. At this time, water in the lean air-fuel mixture is supplied to the main combustion chamber 1 so that the intake valve 15 opens and collides with the top surface 22 of the piston 5 from the intake passage 14, and the wall surface of the piston 5 heated there In contact with water, water evaporates into water vapor, which takes heat of vaporization from the surroundings and lowers the temperature.

In the fuel reformer 9, a catalyst 19 made of catalyst particles is disposed on a heater 19 and a porous member 32 that supports the heater 19. The heater 19 provided in the fuel reformer 9 is incorporated in a porous member 32 such as a metal porous body or a wire. The fuel decomposition catalyst 18 is a natural gas gas catalyst 18 supported on the porous member 32. It is composed of catalyst particles such as platinum (Pt), palladium (Pd), rhodium (Rh), ruthenium (Ru), nickel (Ni), Al ₂ O _{3 and the} like which modify the component methane. Here, the heater 19 fulfills the function of passing a large current when the load is small and only reducing the current when the load is large. In this gas engine, the cylinder head 12 is fixed to the cylinder block 13 directly or via a member (not shown) such as an intermediate head. For example, the hole formed in the cylinder head 12 is shielded against heat. A sub-chamber structure (not shown) that forms the sub-combustion chamber 2 having the structure is disposed. In this gas engine, for example, a cylinder liner is fitted in a hole formed in the cylinder block 13, and a piston 5 is configured to reciprocate in a cylinder 4 formed in the cylinder liner. A communication hole 11 that communicates the main combustion chamber 1 and the sub-combustion chamber 2 is formed in a cylinder head 12, for example, a sub-chamber structure.

  In the communication hole 11 formed in the cylinder head 12, a sub chamber throttle valve 8 is disposed to open and close the communication hole 11. The sub-chamber throttle valve 8 includes a valve umbrella portion 28 that is slidably inserted in the communication hole 11 with a gap 27 and a stem member 29 that is integral with the valve umbrella portion 28. In the cylinder head 12, a stem portion 29 of the sub chamber throttle valve 8 is disposed through the sub combustion chamber 2, and a seal member 30 is disposed in the stem portion 29 of the sub chamber throttle valve 8. However, when the communication hole 11 of the sub-combustion chamber 2 is opened, the sub-combustion chamber 2 is sealed with a seal member 30 from the outside. The sub-chamber throttle valve 8 is configured to be opened and closed by, for example, a valve operating mechanism or an actuator 24 and closed by, for example, a return spring (not shown). An ignition fuel supply port 16 connected to the ignition fuel supply passage 17 is opened in the auxiliary combustion chamber 2. An ignition fuel supply valve 3 that is opened and closed by a cam or an actuator 23 is disposed at the ignition fuel supply port 16. Therefore, the ignition fuel supply port 16 is configured to be opened and closed by the ignition fuel supply valve 3.

In this gas engine, the cylinder head 12 is formed with an intake passage 14 in which an intake valve 15 is arranged and an exhaust passage (not shown) in which an exhaust valve (not shown) is arranged. The piston 5 is composed of, for example, a piston head 33 made of ceramic such as silicon nitride having excellent heat resistance, and a piston skirt 34 fixed to the piston head 33 with a coupling ring. The piston head 33 is formed with a main combustion chamber 1 composed of a concave cavity 35. A heat insulating air layer 36 is formed between the piston head 33 and the piston skirt 34, and the main combustion chamber 1 is configured to have a heat insulating structure. Further, the natural gas fuel is accommodated in a natural gas supply source 55 such as a tank provided at an appropriate place. The natural gas fuel of the natural gas supply source 55 is pressurized to ⁵ to 7 kg / cm ² by, for example, the operation of the oil feed fuel pump, and the pressurized natural gas fuel is naturally supplied through the fuel supply passages 37 and 38. The gas is supplied to the natural gas supply device 57 and the fuel reformer 9 provided with the gas supply valve 7 respectively. The natural gas fuel in the natural gas supply passage 37 is supplied to the main combustion chamber 1 through the intake passage 14 when the natural gas supply port 21 is opened by the natural gas supply valve 7. In addition, when the engine load is small, a large current flows through the heater 19, so that the natural gas fuel in the natural gas supply passage 38 is sent to the fuel reformer 9, where it is thermally decomposed and reformed fuel (for example, CO2). , H ₂ HC, etc.), and then the ignition fuel supply valve 3 opens the ignition fuel supply port 16 so that the reformed fuel is supplied to the auxiliary combustion chamber 2. Further, when the engine load is large, the heater 19 is controlled so as to reduce the current, so that natural gas is not thermally decomposed and supplied to the auxiliary combustion chamber 2 from the ignition fuel supply port 16 in the state of natural gas. However, since the auxiliary combustion chamber 2 is in a high temperature state, troubles such as ignition mistakes do not occur.

  This gas engine is configured as described above, and is generally operated as follows. As shown in FIG. 3, this gas engine is operated by sequentially repeating four strokes of an exhaust stroke, an intake stroke, a compression stroke, and an expansion stroke. In this gas engine, for example, the intake valve 15 communicates the intake passage 14 with the main combustion chamber 1 from the initial stage to the latter half of the intake stroke, the natural gas supply port 21 is opened, and the natural gas supply port 7 is opened. The natural gas fuel from 21 is supplied to the main combustion chamber 1 as a lean air-fuel mixture together with the air supplied to the intake passage 14. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 1, the ignition fuel supply valve 3 opens the ignition fuel supply port 16 from the first half of the intake stroke where the sub chamber throttle valve 8 closes the communication hole 11 to the first half of the compression stroke. The reformed fuel is supplied to the auxiliary combustion chamber 2 through the ignition fuel supply passage 17. The ratio of the fuel supplied to the main combustion chamber 1 and the sub-combustion chamber 2 is, for example, that the amount of reformed fuel supplied to the sub-combustion chamber 2 is about 15 to 10 wt% of the total amount of fuel. 1 is about 85 to 90 wt% of the total amount of fuel, and since natural gas fuel is supplied in the main combustion chamber 1, the ignition temperature of natural gas is high and it is difficult to ignite, so the main combustion In the chamber 1, it is difficult to generate self-ignition, that is, knocking, of the lean mixture of natural gas and air.

  In this gas engine, at the end of the compression stroke, as shown in FIG. 2, the sub-chamber throttle valve 8 opens the communication hole 11 and is compressed to high pressure and high temperature as shown by the oblique lines in FIG. A lean mixture of gas fuel and air is injected from the main combustion chamber 1 into the sub-combustion chamber 2, and the reformed fuel in the sub-combustion chamber 2 is ignited and combusted in the sub-combustion chamber 2 by the entrance of the high-pressure and high-temperature lean mixture. As a result, the pressure in the auxiliary combustion chamber 2 rises, the combustion flame passes from the auxiliary combustion chamber 2 to the main combustion chamber 1 through the communication hole 11, and the unburned reformed fuel does not remain in the auxiliary combustion chamber 2. The whole amount is ejected. Therefore, for the first time, the combustion propagates to the lean air-fuel mixture in the main combustion chamber 1 to perform secondary combustion, completes the combustion in a short period of time, increases the thermal efficiency, shifts to the expansion stroke, and pushes down the piston 5 to work. Next, the exhaust valve opens the exhaust passage and shifts to the exhaust stroke, and the sub chamber throttle valve 8 closes the communication hole 11 in the latter half of the exhaust stroke. Next, the exhaust valve closes the exhaust passage, and the intake valve 15 opens the intake passage 14 to shift to the intake stroke. The engine is driven by repeating these strokes.

  The gas engine according to the present invention supplies natural gas to the sub-combustion chamber when the engine load is large. However, when the engine load is small, the natural gas fuel is pyrolyzed and reformed into a reformed fuel to increase the amount of heat of the fuel. The reformed fuel is supplied to the auxiliary combustion chamber to improve ignitability, and natural gas combustion is supplied to the main combustion chamber to prevent knocking and increase the thermal efficiency of the engine. It is preferable to be applied as an engine for automobiles, ships and the like.

1 is a cross-sectional view showing a closed state of a communication hole by an ignition fuel supply valve according to an embodiment of a gas engine according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the gas engine of FIG. 1 and showing a communication hole opened by an ignition fuel supply valve. It is explanatory drawing which shows the valve timing of each valve in the exhaust stroke and intake stroke of the gas engine of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main combustion chamber 2 Subcombustion chamber 3 Fuel supply valve for ignition 4 Cylinder 5 Piston 6 Water injection valve 7 Natural gas supply valve 8 Subchamber throttle valve 9 Fuel reformer 10 Controller 11 Communication hole 12 Cylinder head 13 Cylinder block 14 Intake Passage 15 intake valve 16 ignition fuel supply port 17 ignition fuel supply passage 18 catalyst 19 heater 21 natural gas supply port 22 piston top surface 32 porous member

Claims (5)

A cylinder head attached to the cylinder block, a piston that reciprocates in a cylinder formed in the cylinder block, a main combustion chamber formed by the piston and the cylinder, and a sub-combustion chamber provided in the cylinder head In a gas engine having an exhaust passage, an intake / exhaust valve disposed in the intake / exhaust passage, and a sub chamber throttle valve disposed in a communication hole communicating the main combustion chamber and the sub combustion chamber,
A fuel reformer having a heater and a fuel reforming catalyst and thermally decomposing methane, which is a component of natural gas, provided in the gas fuel supply path, and an ignition having an ignition fuel supply port that opens in the sub-combustion chamber An ignition fuel supply valve for opening and closing the ignition fuel supply port, and a natural gas supply valve and a water injection valve provided in the intake passage,
When the ignition fuel supply port is opened by the ignition fuel supply valve, the ignition fuel from the fuel reformer is supplied to the sub-combustion chamber, and when the natural gas supply port is opened by the natural gas supply valve, A lean air-fuel mixture generated by natural gas fuel and air supplied to the intake passage is supplied to the main combustion chamber, and when the ignition fuel supply port is opened by the ignition fuel supply valve, 15 to A gas engine characterized in that 10 wt% of the ignition fuel is supplied to the auxiliary combustion chamber and ignited in the auxiliary combustion chamber. The gas engine according to claim 1, wherein the heater in the fuel reformer is controlled so that a large current flows when the load is small and the current is throttled when the load is large. The heater in the fuel reformer is composed of a porous member such as a metal porous body and a wire, and the fuel decomposition catalyst is composed of catalyst particles such as platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium and nickel supported on the porous member. The gas engine according to claim 1, wherein the gas engine is provided. The lean air-fuel mixture is generated in the main combustion chamber by opening the natural gas supply valve and supplying only the natural gas fuel to the intake passage at the time of partial load. In response to the temperature being 400 ° C. to 500 ° C., water is injected from the water injection valve into the intake passage to control the temperature of the lean air-fuel mixture so that combustion is stabilized. The gas engine according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The water injected into the lean air-fuel mixture is supplied to the main combustion chamber so as to collide with the top surface of the piston through the intake passage when the intake passage is opened by the intake valve. The gas engine according to claim 4, wherein the gas engine is vaporized into water vapor.

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