Methane abatement remains a challenge in aftertreatment systems of natural gas engines, currently under discussion in combination with synthetic methane. In this study, Pt/Rh and Pd/Rh-based three-way catalysts are investigated under various transient conditions because transients between O₂ excess (lean) and O₂-poor (rich) conditions can significantly enhance methane abatement. At mid to high temperatures, transitions from rich to lean feed yield higher rates of methane direct oxidation under lean conditions with the Pt/Rh catalyst, compared to the Pd/Rh catalyst. Both catalysts are able to trigger methane steam reforming (SR) after transitions from lean to rich feed. The SR reaction leads to increased H₂ and NH₃ formation. However, SR deactivates much faster in the Pt/Rh catalyst. At low temperature, the Pt/Rh catalyst is more active for SR. Results from an additional Pd-only catalyst confirm that Rh is essential for NO_x conversion and high N₂ selectivity. The distinct characteristics of Pt, Pd and Rh demonstrate the benefits obtained from the combination of the three platinum group metals. The potential of the Pt/Pd/Rh catalyst is proved to be significant throughout the complete engine map. Under optimized lean/rich oscillatory conditions, the Pt/Pd/Rh catalyst yields more than 95% methane conversion under almost all conditions while maintaining efficient abatement of all other pollutants.

To increase the efficiency of a natural gas engine, the use of a Miller camshaft was analysed. To avoid a decline in the low-end torque and also in the transient response, a pressure wave supercharger (Comprex™) was compared to the conventional single-stage turbocharger. The analyses for this conceptual comparison were performed experimentally, and the data were then used to run simulations of driving cycles for light commercial vehicles. A torque increase of 49% resulted at 1250 rpm when the Comprex™ was used in combination with a Miller camshaft. Despite the Miller camshaft, the Comprex™ transient response was still faster than the turbocharged engine. Using the same camshaft, the turbocharged engine took 2.5-times as long to reach the same torque. Water injection was used to increase the peak power output while respecting the temperature limitations. As the Comprex™ enables engine braking by design, we show that the use of friction brakes was reduced by two-thirds. Finally, a six-times faster catalyst warmup and an up to 90 ${}^{°}$C higher exhaust gas temperature at the three-way catalytic converter added to the benefits of using the Comprex™ supercharger. The known drawbacks of the Comprex™ superchargers were solved due to a complete redesign of the machine, which is described in detail.