Field Study to Test Clean-Air Technology

New clean-air technology that might hold the key to reducing large amounts of industrial air pollution will be tested on city water well engines next month as part of a joint experimental project announced Thursday by Southern California Gas Co. and regional air-quality officials.

Because Huntington Beach operates Orange County’s largest stationary, internal-combustion engines, which are a source of smog-causing emissions, air-quality officials said they are eager to see if the technology works.

For the 18-month field study, the city water department’s two powerful engines, fueled by natural gas and used to pump ground water into pipelines, will be equipped with technology developed by the gas company.

The equipment includes a catalyst to reduce emissions, a controller to adjust the amount of air injected into the engines and an oxygen sensor that monitors the amount of oxygen in the exhaust.

The experimental technology is similar to emissions controls on cars, although it is made for large, natural gas-fired engines.

“The system . . . is already being used successfully in smaller engines, like those found in an automobile. We’re trying to expand its use to larger engines,” said Gilbert Ching, project engineer for Southern California Gas Co.

Howard Johnson, the city’s water production supervisor, said Huntington Beach wants to keep operating the powerful, economical and dependable engines but also wants to ensure that it can comply with increasingly stringent anti-smog rules. One of the engines is 150 horsepower, while another is 400.

More than 1,000 engines over 50 horsepower operate on natural gas in Southern California, according to the gas company. They are used for everything from refrigeration to generating electricity and irrigating crops.

“We are hopeful this research project will show that clean-air standards can be met in an economical way,” James M. Lents, executive officer of the South Coast Air Quality Management District, said in a statement.