Experimental investigation of dual-fuel diesel engine

Abstract

Spreading concerns over problems related to energy, economy and environment have prompted a tremendous burst of research activities in the field of combustion of both conventional and alternative fuels. Among them, natural gas and biogas are the potential substitution to conventional fuels in our country. Natural gas is cheap in Bangladesh and biogas is renewable in nature. Energy density of natural gas premixture is comparable to those of the diesel values; however energy density of biogas premixture is low as compared to diesel fuel. These gaseous fuels can be introduced in stationary diesel engine by fumigation method with minor physical modification of the engine. In the present study, performance studies are carried out in a 4stroke 4-cylinder diesel engine using natural gas and biogas as the main source of energy. A fixed amount of diesel is used as a pilot fuel to ignite the mixture. Synthetic biogas is prepared by mixing ClI< from main supply and CO2 from the cylinder. Performance studies are carried out at four different engine speeds at different loading conditions. Various performance parameters are analyzed and reported. Engine performances are found to be not deviating from its diesel performance when these fuels are used.