PERFORMANCE STUDY OF PRODUCER

GAS POWERED SI ENGINE

Submitted by
Kiran Cherian
INTRODUCTION

Renewable fuels in IC engines

A possible alternative fuel is producer gas.

Gasification
 OBJECTIVES

• To study the performance of an SI engine using producer gas

from a downdraft gasifier

• To analyse the exhaust gas emissions of the engine.

• To enhance the power output of engine when running on

producer gas.
 GASIFICATION

• Thermo-chemical conversion of biomass into a combustible

gas mixture (producer gas) through a partial combustion route.

source: Chapter 4 alternate energy in agriculture, vol 2

 Zones of downdraft gasifier

source: A hand book of biomass gasifier

• Drying zone- the feedstock is heated and dried at the top of the
gasifier unit in the drying zone.
• Pyrolysis zone
- Large molecules break down into medium size molecules
& char.

- Some will break down to even smaller molecules of

hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide.

- The pyrolysis products flow downwards into the hotter

zones of the gasifier.
• Combustion zone
- The combustible substance of a solid fuel is usually
composed of elements like carbon, hydrogen and oxygen.

- In complete combustion carbon dioxide is obtained from

carbon in fuel and water is obtained from the hydrogen.

C + O2 ‒> CO2
2H2 + O2 ‒> 2H2 O
• Reduction zone
- water, carbon dioxide and un-combusted partially cracked
pyrolysis products now pass through a red-hot charcoal
bed
C + CO2 ‒> 2CO
C + H2O ‒> CO + H2
CO + H2O ‒> CO + H2
CO2 + H2 ‒> CO + H2O
C + 2H2 ‒> CH4
 METHODOLOGY

• Coconut shell and coconut leaf stalk were used as the

feedstock for the gasifier.
• Producer gas derived from gasifier was used to run the SI
engine.
• Electrical load in steps of 200W was applied to the engine.
• Performance and emission data was studied at each load.
• HHO gas was added to the engine along with producer gas and
the effect of power variation was studied.
 EXPERIMENTAL SETUP

• Gasifier
• The gasifier used was an open top downdraft gasifier.

• The air required for gasification was partly drawn from top
and remaining from air nozzle at the combustion chamber.
• The required suction for the process was obtained from water
spray nozzle/blower.
• The hot producer gas leaving at the reactor bottom passes
through cooler, chilled water scrubber, fabric filter, blower and
finally to engine.
• Engine
 Model Pelican 2500 D-A
Maximum output (VA)(50 Hz) 2200
Starting system Electric/hand
Oil alert system yes
DC output 12V 8.3A
Rated power/KW/3000 RPM 3.8
Displacement CC 196
Fuel consumption(kg/hr) 0.6
Fuel consumption(litre/hr) 1
• Loading system

A resistive type loading system capable of holding 12 incandescent bulbs of

various power ratings in parallel connection .
• Gas emission analyser
•• Type -• DiGas 444
• Power supply - 11-22V DC/100-300VAC@50Hz
• Power consumption - 25W
• Operating temperature - 5-45
• Storage temperature - 0-50
• Relative humidity - <=95% non condensing
• inclination - 0-90°
• Normal gas flow - 180l/h
• Maximum over pressure - 450 hPa
• Oxygen sensor type - electro chemical
• Measuring range CO
- 0-10% vol
HC
- 0-20000 ppm vol
- 0-20% vol
- 0-22% vol
NO
- 0-5000 ppm vol
• HHO kit
- Device that uses electrolysis to convert water into two moles
Hydrogen and one mole Oxygen (HHO).

- Running electric current through the water, the atoms split

back into their original elemental forms.

- The Hydrogen atoms run toward the negatively charged

electrode, and all the oxygen atoms move toward the
positive electrode.
• It simply add free hydrogen & oxygen in gaseous state to
combustion process.
• The mixture burns so hot & fast that it helps to complete
the combustion process.
• Benefit of this technology is that gas is not stored anywhere.
• Gas production starts as the engine is ignited and finishes as it
is switched off.

• Minimizes the threat of explosion- too dangerous to store the

gas since it carries high energies and easily and violently
combusts producing a lot of energy.
RESULTS & DISCUSSIONS
Performance curve
The maximum power output in producer gas operation is 1400 W

while that for gasoline is 2200 W

Lower electrical power output for producer gas operation was due

to lower calorific value of producer gas.

There was a power de-rating of about 40%.
Fuel consumption curve
Petrol
BSFC vs Load
Producer gas
For gasoline bsfc is high in low loads due to low mechanical

efficiency –mechanical losses high relative to work produced.

Bsfc for producer gas is higher than that of gasoline due to

lower calorific value of the producer gas.

It needs more fuel to produce same output power.
CALCULATIONS
Output power of engine=
Heat input=total fuel consumption calorific value of fuel
Calorific value petrol =44680 kJ/kg
total fuel consumption=
x- amount of fuel consumed in cc
t- time taken for x cc fuel consumption
- density of petrol in kg/.

Reference: IC Engines, V Ganesan

Output power of engine=
Heat input= gas consumption calorific value of producer gas
Calorific value producer gas =5 MJ/
Gas consumption=gas flow rate

Reference: IC Engines, V Ganesan

Emission analysis
Ideal combustion
CxHy + O2 --> H2O(g) + CO2

Hydrocarbons react to produce water vapour and

carbondioxide.
Nitrogen will pass through unaffected by combustion
CO Emission
As the load increases specific fuel consumption of engine
decreases and efficiency increases up-to rated load.

 This is due to efficient combustion and hence CO composition

decreases up-to rated load.

After rated load specific fuel consumption increases and

efficiency decreases - CO emission increases there after.
 A Major constituent of producer gas is CO.
When operating an engine at low loads -emission of unburned
fuel is due to bulk quenching.
Flame extinguishes in the gas before the combustion is
completed.
This is due to low in-cylinder temperature & pressure.
CO emission is high during beginning.
As the load increases due to more complete combustion.
CO converts to CO emission decreases with load.
NO-emission

250

200

Petrol
150 Polynomial (Petrol)
Producer gas from coconut shell
ppm

Polynomial (Producer gas from

100 coconut shell)
Producer gas from coconut leaf stalk
Logarithmic (Producer gas from
coconut leaf stalk)
50
Polynomial (Producer gas from
coconut leaf stalk)

0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500

Load(W)
At low temperatures atmospheric nitrogen exists as stable

diatomic molecule.
At high temperatures, diatomic nitrogen breaks down to

monoatomic nitrogen which is very reactive.

High cylinder temperature & pressure occurs during

combustion process
It cause nitrogen to react with oxygen to form oxides of

nitrogen.
Large amount of is produced during moderate to heavy load

conditions when combustion temperature & pressure are their

highest.

Small amount of is produced during light loads.

ONO
NO
NO
NOO
Maximum temperature in producer gas engine-1800 K
Maximum temperature in SI engine -3000 K
Higher combustion reaction temperature more diatomic
nitrogen will dissociate to monoatomic and more is produced
Emission
 concentration is an indication of how well the air/fuel mixture is

burned.

As the load increases specific fuel consumption decreases and

efficiency increases upto rated load.

 emission increases upto rated load since emission is an

indication of combustion efficiency.

After rated load specific fuel consumption increases and

efficiency decreases and hence emission decreases.
Carbon monoxide which is a constituent in producer gas will
be converted to carbon dioxide upon combustion

So the carbon dioxide emission high in the beginning.

On increasing the load due to more complete combustion

more CO gets converted to and thus emission increases with
load
HC emission
CAUSES
Incomplete combustion
Flame quenching
Crevices inside combustion chamber
Combustion chamber deposits
Oil on combustion chamber walls
For producer gas there is a small amount of methane present in
the gas.

Due to bulk quenching unburned hydrocarbon emission is little

high in the beginning.

With increase in the load due to more complete combustion

unburned hydrocarbon emission decreased with load.
Power enhancement using hydrogen
Flame speed of hydrogen(265-325 cm/s) is much higher than
that of producer gas(20-40 cm/s).

Burning producer gas in presence of hydrogen will result in

overall faster and more complete combustion thus increasing
combustion efficiency

Addition causes slight enrichment in calorific value of

combustible mixture which increases power input to the engine
Calorific value of hydrogen- 12 MJ/
Calorific value of producer gas- 5 MJ/
Calorific value of producer gas-hydrogen mixture
5+0.0612=5.72 MJ/.
M a x im u m p o w e r o u tp u t

2000

1500

1000

500

0
producer gas producer gas+ HHO
CONCLUSIONS
SI engine-generator unit was successfully operated on producer

gas alone.
Producer gas engine offer an environment friendly operation.

NO & CO emissions were lower for producer gas operation.

HC emission was initially slightly higher but was lowered with

increase in load.
emission was higher for producer gas operation but doesnot

add any new environment.

Maximum power output was lower for producer gas compared to

gasoline due to lower calorific value of producer gas.

Irrespective of the feedstock used , power and emission characteristics

does not showed major variation.

Power output enhanced with addition of hydrogen for producer gas

operation.
Enhancement in power output is contributed by overall faster and

complete combustion of producer gas in presence of hydrogen & due to

slight increase in calorific value of mixture.
REFERENCES
Kalyani A. Motghare, Ajit P. Rathod,” Comparative study of
different waste biomass for energy application”,2015.
 Pratik N. Sheth,B.V. Babu,” Experimental studies on producer
gas generation from wood waste in a downdraft biomass
gasifier”,2012.
 David Vera, Bárbara de Mena,” Study of a downdraft gasifier
and gas engine fueled with olive oil industry wastes”,2012
 M. Ouadi , J.G. Brammer,” fixed bed downdraft gasification
of paper industry wastes”,2012.
Tae-Young Mun,Jin-O Kim,” Influence of operation conditions
and additives on the development of producer gas and tar
reduction in air gasification of construction woody
wastes”,2012
MiaomiaoNiu, YajiHuang,” Oxygen Gasification of Municipal
Solid Waste in a Fixed-bed Gasifier”,2012
SakhonRatchahat, Satoshi Kodama,” gasification of biomass
wastes enhanced by Ni/catalyst in molten eutectic carbonate
salt”,2014.
N. Homdoung , N. Tippayawong,” Prediction of small spark
ignited engine performance using producer gas as fuel “,2014
Stefanos Tsiakmakis, Dimitrios Mertzis,” Experimental study of
combustion in a spark ignition engine operating with producer
gas from various biomass feedstocks”,2014.
 N. Homdoung a, N. Tippayawong,” Performance and emissions
of a modified small engine operated on producer gas”,2015.
 Ajay Shah, Radhakrishnan Srinivasan,” Performance and
emissions of a spark ignited engine driven generator on biomass
based syngas”,2010.
A.S. Ramadhas, S. Jayaraj,” Dual fuel mode operation in diesel
engines using Renewable fuels-rubber seed oil and coir pith
producer gas”,2009.
N.R. Banapurmath , P.G. Tewari,” Combustion characteristics
of a 4-stroke CI Engine operated on hongeoil,neem and rice
bran oilwhen directly injected and Dual fueled with producer
gas”,2012.
S.Bari, M Mohammed Esmaeil “Effect of addition in
increasing the thermal Efficiency of a diesel engine”,2010.
KaraozY,Orak E, “Effect of gas mixture addition on
emissonsand performance of a SI engine”,2012.
THANK YOU
FLOW RATE
Flow rate was determined by calculating water displacement
per time

The HHO gas flows into the water open pool pushing the water
down of the inverted graduated cylinder

The volume of gas collected in the graduated cylinder per unit

of time was measured as the HHO flow rate