A Comprehensive Study of the Effects of Various Operating Parameters on a Biogas-Diesel Dual Fuel Engine

Abstract

Alternative fuels are found to be the most promising solution to the problem of conventional IC engine pollution because their use curtails its huge emissions without exerting a negative impact on its performance. In this research, a conventional compression ignition engine is investigated by operating it with the combination of simulated biogas and neat diesel under a dual fuel mode of operations. The simulated biogas in the current work comprises different proportions of methane and carbon dioxide in the mixture. The full factorial approach in this work involved studying the effects of parameters such as biogas flow rate, composition, intake temperature, torque, and methane enrichment (complete removal of CO2 from biogas) on the engine performance, emissions, and combustion indices with an extensive number of experiments. It is witnessed from the research that biogas is capable of providing a maximum of 90% of the overall energy input, while the CI engine operates under dual fuel mode. Under the dual fuel mode of operation involving biogas, a significant amount of reductions are witnessed in secondary fuel consumption (67%), smoke (75%), and NOx (55%) emissions. At low flow rates, biogas is found to improve brake thermal efficiency (BTE), whereas it reduces hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emissions. Methane enrichment resulted in more diesel substitution by 5.5% and diminishes CO and HC emissions by 5% and 16%, respectively. Increasing the intake temperature caused an increase in thermal efficiency (2%) and a reduction in diesel consumption (~35%), and it curtailed all emission elements except NOx.