NATURAL GAS QUALITY SENSOR AND METHOD FOR USING THE SAME

A system for determining a quality of natural gas includes a fuel line (42) for communicating natural gas to an engine (22). An infrared light source (54) is disposed along the fuel line (42) and is configured to emit a beam (50) of infrared light into the fuel line (42) having a wavelength of 6 to 10 micrometers. An infrared light detector (56) detects a transmission value of the natural gas as the beam (50) of infrared light passes through the fuel line (42). Based thereon, a natural gas quality module (68) determines a quality value of the natural gas based on an amount of infrared light absorbed by methane in the natural gas. An engine control module (70), including a feed-forward control loop, receives the quality value from the natural gas quality module (68) and alters an operating parameter of the engine (22) in response thereto.