Design and fabrication of a low-cost research facility for the study of combustion characteristics of a dual producer gas-diesel engine
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
A combustion pressure measurement system is a major unit used to study combustion characteristics of an alternative fuel compared to a baseline fossil fuel. Many previous studies have used a Kistler make transducer connected to a Kistler charge amplifier to detect the combustion pressure inside the cylinder, but the prices are very high, more than 5,000 US$. Consequently, this technical paper provides some tips to properly assemble a combustion pressure measurement system with a much lower price and apply theoretical functions to convert raw data into combustion output variables. An AutoPSI pressure sensor connected with a charge amplifier and a PicoLog 1012 data logger was chosen, and the total cost was 2,250 US$. The pressure measurement unit was used to detect the combustion pressure of producer gas in a diesel engine operated in dual fuel mode. A venturi and a U-tube manometer were designed and fabricated to read producer gas flow rates based on the Bernoulli principle. Three different engine loads (i.e., 35%, 53%, and 70%) with gas flow rates (i.e., no gas, 10 kg/h, and 20 kg/h) were controlled to test the combustion pressure measurement system and the gas flow reader. The results highlighted that the combustion characteristics of the present study are in the same trends as those of existing studies. The combustion peak occurs lower and later with a higher gas flow rate, but an increase in engine load raises the peak pressure. This study contributes to offering technical tips to design a low-cost research facility.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
References
Yilmaz H, Yilmaz I. Combustion and emission characteristics of premixed CNG/H2/CO/CO2 blending synthetic gas flames in a combustor with variable geometric swirl number. Energy, 2019;172(1):117-33.
Sutheerasak E, Pirompugd W, Sanitjai S. Performance and emissions characteristics of a direct injection diesel engine from compressing producer gas in a dual fuel mode. Eng Appl Sci Res. 2018;45(1):47-55.
Kalsi SS, Subramanian KA. Experimental investigations of effects of hydrogen blended CNG on performance, combustion and emissions characteristics of a biodiesel fueled reactivity controlled compression ignition engine (RCCI). Int J Hydrogen Energ. 2017;42(7):4548-60.
Rith M, Biona JBM, Gitano-Briggs HW, Sok P, Gonzaga J, Arbon N, et al. Performance and emission characteristics of the genset fuelled with dual producer gas–diesel. The DLSU Research Congress; 2016 Mar 7-9; Manila City, Philippines.
Kim TY, Park C, Oh S, Cho G. The effects of stratified lean combustion and exhaust gas recirculation on combustion and emission characteristics of an LPG direct injection engine. Energy. 2016;115(1):386-96.
Mustafi N, Raine R, Verhelst S. Combustion and emissions characteristics of a dual fuel engine operated on alternative gaseous fuels. Fuel. 2013;109:669-78.
Banapurmath NR, Tewari PG. Comparative performance studies of a 4-stroke CI engine operated on dual fuel mode with producer gas and Honge oil and its methyl ester (HOME) with and without carburetor. Renew Energ. 2009;34:1009-15.
Rith M, Arbon N, Biona JB. Optimization of diesel injection timing, producer gas flow rate, and engine load for the diesel engine operated on dual fuel mode at a high engine speed. Eng Appl Sci Res. 2019;46(3):192-9.
Gao J, Tian G, Sorniotti A. On the emission reduction through the application of an electrically heated catalyst to a diesel vehicle. Energy Sci Eng. 2019;7(6):2383-97.
Gao J, Tian G, Sorniotti A, Karci AE, Palo RD. Review of thermal management of catalytic converters to decrease engine emissions during cold start and warm up. Appl Therm Eng. 2019;147:177-87.
Rith M, Gitano-Briggs HW, Arbon NA, Gonzaga JA, Biona JBM. The effect of Jatropha seed cake producer gas flow rates on a diesel engine operated on dual fuel mode at high engine speed. Eng Appl Sci Res. 2019;46(4):303-11.
Rith M, Biona JBM, Maglaya AB, Fernando A, Gonzaga JA, Gitano-Briggs HW. Fumigation of producer gas in a diesel genset: Performance and emission characteristics. 10th International Conference on Humanoid, Nanotechnology, Information Technology, Communication and Control, Environment and Management (HNICEM); 2018 Nov 29 – Dec 2; Baguio City, Philippines. USA: IEEE; 2019. p. 1-4.
Rith M, Buenconsejo B, Gonzaga JA, Gitano-Briggs HW, Lopez NS, Biona JBM. The combustion and
emission characteristics of the diesel engine operated on a dual producer gas-diesel fuel mode. Eng Appl Sci Res. 2019;46(4):360-70.
Rith M, Gitano-Briggs HW, Gonzaga JA, Biona JBM. Optimization of control factors for a diesel engine fueled with jatropha seed producer gas on dual fuel mode. Int Energ J. 2019;19(3):149-58.
Sombatwong, P, Thaiyasuit P, Pianthong K. Effect of pilot fuel quantity on the performance and emission of a dual producer gas-diesel engine. Energy Procedia. 2013;34(2013):218-27.
Raheman H, Padhee D. Combustion characteristics of diesel engine using producer gas and blends of Jatropha methyl ester with diesel in mixed fuel. Int J Renew Energ Dev. 2014;3(3):228-35.
Banapurmath NR, Tewari PG, Hosmath RS. Experimental investigations of a four-stroke single cylinder direct injection diesel engine operated on dual fuel mode with producer gas as inducted fuel and Honge oil and its methyl ester (HOME) as injected fuels. Renew Energ. 2008;33(2008):2007-18.
Optrand Incorporated. Optrand introduces a combustion analyzer for its cylinder pressure sensors [Internet]. 2018 [cited 2020 May 5]. Available from: http://www.optrand.com/.
Rith M, Buenconsejo B, Biona JBM. Design and fabrication of a downdraft gasifier coupled with a small-scale diesel engine. Eng Appl Sci Res. 2020;47(1):117-28.
Kreith F, Manglik RM, Bohn MS. Principles of heat transfer. 6th ed. USA: Global Engineering; 2011.
Heywood J. Internal combustion engine fundamentals. New York: McGraw-Hill; 1988.
Pico Technology. PicoLog 1000 Manuals [Intermet]. 2019 [cited 2020 May 5]. Available from: https://www.picotech.com/data-logger/picolog-1000-series/picolog-1000-manuals.