Bioresource Technology 100 (2009) 66246629

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Bioresource Technology
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/biortech

Effects of mixing system and pilot fuel quality on dieselbiogas dual fuel engine performance
Ivn Daro Bedoya *, Andrs Amell Arrieta, Francisco Javier Cadavid
Gas Science and Technology Group, Faculty of Engineering, University of Antioquia, Calle 67 No., 63-108 Medelln, Colombia

a r t i c l e

i n f o

a b s t r a c t
This paper describes results obtained from CI engine performance running on dual fuel mode at xed engine speed and four loads, varying the mixing system and pilot fuel quality, associated with fuel composition and cetane number. The experiments were carried out on a power generation diesel engine at 1500 m above sea level, with simulated biogas (60% CH440% CO2) as primary fuel, and diesel and palm oil biodiesel as pilot fuels. Dual fuel engine performance using a naturally aspirated mixing system and diesel as pilot fuel was compared with engine performance attained with a supercharged mixing system and biodiesel as pilot fuel. For all loads evaluated, was possible to achieve full diesel substitution using biogas and biodiesel as power sources. Using the supercharged mixing system combined with biodiesel as pilot fuel, thermal efciency and substitution of pilot fuel were increased, whereas methane and carbon monoxide emissions were reduced. 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Article history: Received 5 December 2008 Received in revised form 17 July 2009 Accepted 17 July 2009 Available online 14 August 2009 Keywords: Dual fuel engine Biogas Biodiesel Mixing system Pilot fuel quality

1. Introduction Biogas is a renewable fuel produced by anaerobic fermentation of organic material. It can be produced from animal manure waste, waste water and solid waste. Its composition varies with the source, but usually it has 5070% CH4, 2550% CO2, 15% H2, 0.33% N2 and traces of H2S. In countries with poor fossil energy supplies, biogas is of special interest because it is a renewable fuel. A common alternative for biogas utilization are CI engines converted to dual fuel mode for stationary use. Dual fuel CI engines introduce a premixed airgaseous fuel mixture, which is ignited at the nal stage of the compression stroke by a liquid fuel injection (pilot fuel) with good ignition properties. Induction of gaseous fuel, called primary fuel, reduces the consumption of diesel (substitution level) for power generation, which increases the premixed combustion and decreases NOx and PM emissions related to diesel engine operation. However, when a dual fuel engine operates at part load with high substitution levels, the thermal efciency is lower than in diesel engines and CO and UHC emissions are increased. Negative effects of part load and high substitution levels on dual fuel engine performance are a result of the ignition delay increase and poor ame propagation of the airgaseous fuel mixture, which in these conditions is closer to the lower ammability limit (Badr et al., 1999). Karim (1980) presented several strategies for improving dual fuel operation at part load that have been researched and
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +57 4 219 8548; fax: +57 4 211 9028. E-mail address: ibedoyac@udea.edu.co (I.D. Bedoya). 0960-8524/$ - see front matter 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2009.07.052

published by various authors. Among these are the use of low substitution levels (Abd Alla et al., 2000; Papagiannakis and Hountalas, 2003), modication of the pilot fuel injection factors (Abd Alla et al., 2002; Selim, 2004; Nwafor, 2007), preheating of inducted airfuel mixtures (Poonia et al., 1999; Abd Alla et al., 2001), increase in rich inducted mixture by air throttling (Kubesh and Brehob, 1992; Poonia et al., 1998), modication of temperature and charge composition with controlled exhaust gas recirculation (Wong and Karim, 1996; Selim, 2003; Pirouzpanah et al., 2007), direct injection of gas into the combustion chamber (Hill and Douville, 2000; Carlucci et al., 2008) and using gaseous fuels with high burning rates (Masood and Ishrat, 2008; Saravanan et al., 2008). Quality of injected pilot fuel is another factor that has an effect on dual fuel engine performance, since composition and cetane number of liquid fuels affect ignition delay period and premixed combustion duration (Gunea et al., 1998). Some results suggest that biodiesel and vegetable oils as pilot fuels can improve engine performance (Nwafor, 2000; Kumar et al., 2001; Selim et al., 2008), nevertheless their use in dual technology has not been documented extensively. The presence of inert gases such as CO2 and N2 in the primary fuel increases the negative effects at part load operation due to its inuence in burning rate inhibition (Abd Alla et al., 2001; Kobayashi et al., 2007). Some investigations have evaluated the use of biogas in dual fuel engine performance (Henham and Makkar, 1998; Bilcan et al., 2003; Bedoya et al., 2007; Duc and Wattanavichien, 2007; Tippayawong et al., 2007), but the available information about strategies to improve part load operation in these dual systems is still limited. In this study, the results of CI

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Nomenclature CI DI PM UHC EGR BTDC ATDC TDC NDIR SM1 SM2 Z _ mP _ mD _ mB _ ma NE compression ignition direct injection particulate matter unburned hydrocarbon exhaust gas recirculation before top dead center after top dead center top dead center non-dispersive infrared dual fuel system with natural aspiration and diesel as pilot fuel dual fuel system with supercharged aspiration and biodiesel as pilot fuel substitution level (%) pilot mass ow rate (kg/s) diesel mass ow rate in diesel mode (kg/s) biogas mass ow rate (kg/s) air mass ow rate (kg/s) electric power output (kW) thermal efciency (%) biogas low heating value (kJ/kg) LHVP / /b AFRB AFRP gv pilot low heating value (kJ/kg) total fuel air equivalence ratio biogas fuel air equivalence ratio stoichiometric air fuel ratio of biogas stoichiometric air fuel ratio of pilot fuel overall volumetric efciency air density (kg/m3) mixing airbiogas density (kg/m3) engine displacement (m3) engine speed (rpm) crank angle () ignition delay (CA) crank angle at ignition (CA BTDC) crank angle at injection (CA BTDC) rst in-cylinder derivative pressure related to crank angle (bar/CA) total heat release rate related to crank angle (J/CA) air inlet temperature (C) exhaust gas temperature (C)

qa qa,B

Vd n CA hR hI hINY dP/dh dQ/dh Ta Tg

gE
LHVB

engine in dual fuel mode for power generation using biogas and varying mixing system and pilot fuel quality are discussed. Air inlet pressure and temperature, mixer type and mixing length were modied to improve thermal efciency at part load. Palm oil biodiesel was utilized as pilot fuel to achieve full diesel substitution. Engine performance under these conditions was compared in regards to alternative operation with conventional mixing system and diesel as pilot fuel.

Table 2 Fuel properties. Property API gravity at 60 F Low heating value (MJ/kg) Cetane number Viscosity at 40 C (cSt) Cloud point (C) Simplied chemical composition Stoichiometric air fuel ratio (AFR) Lower Woobe index (kW h/N m3) Methane number Diesel 31.9 43 44 4.66 1 C10.8H18.7 14.32 Palm oil biodiesel 31.2 39.55 57 4.67 18 C19.7H36.9O2 12.55 Biogas 23.73 60% CH4 + 40% CO2 (by volume) 6.05 6.16 160

2. Methods 2.1. Test system A stationary CI engine was coupled with a generator for operating in Medelln city (1500 m above sea level). A generator was selected to run at maximum torque speed (1800 rpm). Table 1 shows technical engine characteristics. Engine loads were xed with a variable electrical resistance bank from 3 to 10 kW connected to the generator and power output was dissipated as heat. In the dual fuel mode, Colombian commercial diesel and palm oil biodiesel were used as pilot fuels. Biogas was simulated with a typical composition of 60% CH4 and 40% CO2, on a volumetric basis. Table 2 summarizes important properties of fuels utilized in the experimental procedure. The ow rate of biogas and air were both measured with hot wire sensors (FM 5400, Omega Engineering Inc.) and the ow rate of pilot fuel was measured with coriolis sensor (MASS 2100, SieTable 1 Diesel engine characteristics. Engine type Displacement Bore stroke Compression ratio Rated power Maximum torque Inlet valve open Exhaust valve close Lister Petter TR2, DI, four stroke, two cylinders, naturally aspirated, air cooled 1550 cm3 98 101 mm 15.5:1 20 kW at 3000 rpm 76 N m at 1800 rpm 36 BTDC 32 ATDC

mens A.G.). Exhaust gas composition in dry basis was measured with NDIR principle (MAIHAK 610, Sick Maihak Inc.) for CH4, CO2 and CO, and electro-chemical principle was used for O2. Cylinder pressure was recorded with a piezoelectric transducer (KISTLER 6121, Kistler Instrument A.G.) and crank angle position was measured using an incremental encoder with resolution of 1024 pulses per revolution (ROD 426, Heidenhain Corporation). Combustion diagnosis was carried out with a cero dimensional one zone model (Heywood, 1988) after obtaining the average pressure signal from 600 engine cycles. The number of cycles recorded was according to results reported about cyclic variability in dual fuel engines (Selim, 2005). The pilot fuel injection pressure was recorded using a piezoelectric transducer (AVL 41DP, AVL Inc.), which was mounted between injection pump and injector. Signals of ow rate of fuels and air were recorded on a personal computer, as well as signal pressure in the cylinder and the injection system related to crank angle position. The acquisition card could collect data at a rate of 250 kHz, with a resolution of 16 bits. In Fig. 1, the experimental setup is shown.

2.2. Experimental procedure In the rst experimental phase, the maximum substitution level that allowed stable engine operation at part load was determined. Experimentally, at local environmental conditions, electric power

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28

14 PILOT

15 27 16 17 26 19 T 20 CH 4 , CO, O 2 ,CO 2 21 18

2 1 BIOGAS 8 9

10

12 T 11

13

25

V I 24 F 22 23

Fig. 1. Experimental setup. (1) Biogas cylinder. (2) High pressure regulator. (3) Biogas controller and ow meter. (4) Control valve. (5) Low pressure regulator. (6) T mixer. (7) Air lter. (8) Supercharger. (9) Control valve. (10) Air ow meter. (11) Manometer. (12) Air temperature sensor. (13) Kenics mixer. (14) Pilot fuel tank. (15) Control valve. (16) Pilot ow meter. (17) Pilot injection pressure meter. (18) Lister Petter TR2 engine. (19) Exhaust temperature sensor. (20) Exhaust composition analyzer. (21) Opacity meter. (22) Voltage, current and frequency meters. (23) Electric load bank. (24) Crank angle encoder. (25) Piezoelectric pressure transducer. (26) Charge amplier. (27) Charge amplier. (28) PC based data acquisition system.

outputs at 40%, 50%, 70% and 100% load were found to be running in diesel mode. Diesel ow rate in the conventional mode for each power output was found by means of a three times replicated experimental factorial design. The engine was converted to dual fuel mode using natural aspiration, a simple T mixer, and a short mixing length (25 mm) from the mixer to the engine intake manifold. Maximum substitution level when the engine operated at these loads in dual fuel mode with diesel as pilot fuel was 70%. Substitution level Z was determined using the diesel mass ow rate _ in diesel mode mD (kg/s) and pilot mass ow rate in dual fuel mode _ mP (kg/s), according with the following expression:

Table 3 Experimental design for recollecting and analysis data. Factor Dual fuel system System components Natural aspiration, T mixer, short mixing length (25 mm), diesel as pilot fuel Supercharging, Kenics mixer, large mixing length (250 mm), biodiesel as pilot fuel Speed (rpm) Engine operation 1800 Dual fuel system designation SM1 SM2 Load (%) 40 50 70 100

_ _ mD mP 100 % _ mD

In the second experimental phase, the mixing system for dual fuel operation was modied using a supercharger, a special mixer (Kenics mixer), and a large mixing length (250 mm) from the mixer to the engine inlet manifold. Pressure induced by the supercharger (8) (see Fig. 1) was xed in 85 mbar by using a control valve (9) and reading relative pressure given by the manometer (11). The Kenics mixer (13) consists of a series of spiraling blades, each twisted 180. It was used to achieve homogeneous mixture of air and biogas according to ow inlet conditions. Dual fuel engine was evaluated at the same engine loads as the previous phase using palm oil biodiesel as pilot fuel, achieving a full diesel substitution and stable engine operation at all loads evaluated. The experimental factorial design employed in recollecting and analysis data is shown in Table 3 and was replicated two times according to procedure described by Montgomery (1991). Engine performance was evaluated by comparative results at different experimental phases analyzing thermal efciency, volumetric efciency, fuel air equivalence ratio, CO and CH4 emissions, cylinder pressure traces, total heat release rate related to the crank angle, ignition delay, and maximum substitution level. 2.3. Analysis procedure This section describes briey how the dependant variables were calculated. Thermal efciency (gE) was dened as electric power

Initial substitution level

70%

output NE (kW) to energetic contribution of primary and pilot fuel relation, as below:
E gE _ 100 % _ mB LHV B mP LHV P

_ _ where mB (kg/s) is the biogas mass ow rate, mP (kg/s) is the pilot mass ow rate, LHVB (kJ/kg) is the biogas low heating value and LHVP (kJ/kg) is the pilot ow heating value. Total fuel air equivalence ratio (/) was dened as the relationship between the actual fuel air ratio and the total stoichiometric fuel air ratio, as below:

_ _ mB AFRB mP AFRP _ ma

where AFRB is the stoichiometric air fuel ratio of biogas, AFRp is the _ stoichiometric air fuel ratio of pilot fuel and ma (kg/s) is the air mass ow rate. Overall volumetric efciency (gv) was dened according to local atmospheric conditions (atmospheric pressure of 85.2 kPa). Due to the low stoichiometric air fuel ratio of biogas, for dual fuel opera-

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tion, overall volumetric efciency was calculated using thermodynamical properties of mixing airbiogas and its ow rate, as below:

500 225

Exhaust gas temperature

400

_ _ 2ma mB gV qa;B V d n
3 3

4
175
Ta [C]

where qa,B (kg/m ) is the mixing airbiogas density, Vd (m ) is the engine displacement and n (rpm) is the engine speed. Ignition delay (hR) was dened as the crank angle difference between the start of diesel or biodiesel injection into the combustion chamber and the start of combustion, as follows:

125

SM2 Air inlet temperature

200 100 0 20 40 60 Load [%] 80 100

75

hR hI hINY CA

5
25

where hI (CA BTDC) is the crank angle at ignition and hINY (CA BTDC) is the crank angle at injection. The start of the pilot fuel injection was obtained from the pressure injection diagram. It was estimated that the pilot fuel injection starts when a change in the slope of pressure injection crank angle position diagram is presented (Zhang and Van Gerpen, 1996). To determine crank angle at start of combustion, the rst in-cylinder derivative pressure related to crank angle (dP/dh) was used. The (dP/dh) diagram changes its concavity when combustion starts. 3. Results and discussion In the rst experimental phase, dual fuel engine performance using natural aspiration, simple T mixer, a short mixing length (25 mm) and diesel as pilot fuel was evaluated. Changes in the mixing system were selected as a strategy for improving the performance of dual fuel engine in the second experimental phase, using the SM2 dual fuel system, which is comprised of a supercharger, a Kenics mixer, a large mixing length (250 mm), and biodiesel as pilot fuel. For the evaluated load range, thermal efciency (gE) was increased nearly 8% for the SM2 system, as shown in Fig. 2. The improvement on the thermal efciency with the SM2 system was due to a better utilization of both primary and pilot fuel in the combustion process. In the second experimental phase, biogas ow rate was xed and the pilot fuel quantity needed to achieve power output was varied, resulting in a decrease of the pilot fuel consumption, nearly 10% for the SM2 system. Consequently, the energy waste in the exhaust stream was reduced due to the thermal efciency improvement, as seen in Fig. 3, where lower exhaust temperature (Tg) levels are shown for the SM2 system. The thermal efciency improvement for the SM2 system could have been due to a better mixing of biogas and air as well as an increase in the reactivity of biogasair mixture. For the SM2 system,

Fig. 3. Variation of air inlet temperature (Ta) and exhaust gas temperature (Tg) related to engine load and dual fuel system.

a Kenics mixer was designed to increase mixing turbulence, and mixing length was increased tenfold. Both of these strategies could have contributed to achieve higher quality of mixing. Inlet air temperature (Ta) was around 30 C with the SM1 system, whereas for the SM2 system it was around 90 C for all loads evaluated, as shown in Fig. 3. The SM2 system increased biogasair equivalence ratio (/b) around 6% (see Fig. 4) and temperature level of the charge in the cylinder at ignition, which expanded inammability range and raised burning rates of biogasair mixture. Overall volumetric efciency (gv) presented a reduction of nearly 6% using the SM2 system when compared to the SM1 system, as seen in Fig. 2. It was due to pressure drop in the inlet manifold caused by the Kenics mixer and the increase in mixing length with the SM2 system. At part load, the effect of a lower volumetric efciency with the SM2 system on dual fuel engine performance was less signicant than the effect produced by the improvement in the reactivity of the biogasair mixture. However, it could have contributed to attenuate the effect of the SM2 system on engine performance at full load. Fig. 5a provides cylinder pressure traces for 50% engine load comparing both the SM1 and the SM2 systems. The peak pressure was greater (approximately 10%) and it occurred closer to Top Dead Center (TDC) for the SM2 system compared with the SM1 system. This fact suggested an increase in the reactivity of biogasair mixture during the premixed combustion period for the SM2 system. Fig. 5b shows cylinder pressure traces for engine operation for the SM1 and the SM2 systems at full load. The peak pressure was

35 30

0.8 0.90

Volumetric efficiency

0.7 0.70

Total fuel air equivalence ratio

0.7

E [%]

25

0.5

20 15

SM1 Thermal efficiency SM2

0.5

0.50

Biogas fuel air equivalence ratio

SM1 SM2 40 60 Load [%] 80 100

0.3

10 20 40 60 Load [%] 80 100

0.4

0.30 20

0.1

Fig. 2. Variation of thermal efciency (gE) and volumetric efciency (gv) related to engine load and dual fuel system.

Fig. 4. Variation of biogas fuel air equivalence ratio (/b) and total fuel air equivalence ratio (/) related to engine load and dual fuel system.

0.6

Tg [C]

SM1

300

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a
Cylinder Pressure (bar)

80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 100 50 0 50 Crank Angle (CA) 100 SM2 SM1

b
Cylinder Pressure (bar)

80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 100 50 0 50 Crank Angle (CA) 100 SM2 SM1

120 110 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 20 0 20 40 Crank Angle (CA) 60

SM1 SM2

140 130 120 110 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 20 0 20 40 Crank Angle (CA) 60

SM1 SM2

dQ/d (J/CA)

70

dQ/d (J/CA)

70

Fig. 5. Cylinder pressure traces related to crank angle position at 50% (a) and 100% loads (b) for the SM1 and the SM2 dual fuel systems. Total heat release (dQ/dh) traces related to crank angle position at 50% (c) and 100% loads (d) for the SM1 and the SM2 dual fuel systems.

increased approximately 5% for the SM2 system compared to the SM1 system. However, it occurred at the similar crank angle as for the SM1 system, resulting in less difference between the SM1 and the SM2 systems on the thermal efciency at full load. Effect of the SM2 system on the reactivity of the biogasair mixture at full load was attenuated because the charge temperature and burning rates increased with load and equivalence ratio, for both the SM1 and the SM2 systems. Total heat release rate (dQ/dh) related to crank angle at 50% and 100% load, comparing the SM1 and the SM2 systems is shown in Figs. 5c and d. The peak value of the heat release rate during premixed combustion of the pilot and the primary fuels, that has been reported by Bilcan et al. (2001) and Garnier et al. (2005) for dual fuel operation, are not differentiable in the heat release rate diagram experimentally achieved in this research. This may have been due to a prolonged delay period during which a large portion of pilot fuel was mixed with air, producing a rapid energy release, combining both premixed combustion phases and producing a high value of total premixed combustion. At 50% load, the heat release rate for SM2 system showed earlier premixed combustion and lower diffusion combustion on the expansion stroke than for the SM1 system, as seen in Fig. 5c. This combined effect caused a higher portion of energy to be released before and during the rst stages of the expansion stroke which can be used in mechanical work generation with the SM2 system. At full load, diffusion combustion had the same behavior for the SM1 and the SM2 systems, as shown in Fig. 5d. Effect of earlier pre-

mixed combustion attained with the SM2 system over thermal efciency was attenuated by the charge temperature and higher burning rates caused by higher equivalence ratios at full load, for both the SM1 and the SM2 systems. The ignition delay (hR) was lower for the SM2 than for the SM1 system (Table 4). Reductions on ignition delay of 2.7 and 3.2 CA were observed at 50% and 100% load, respectively, with a supercharging level of 9.5 kPa using the SM2 system on dual fuel mode. This was due to the increase in the temperature at pilot injection, the higher cetane number of biodiesel, and a higher amount of oxygen in the delay period. Fig. 6 shows methane (CH4) and carbon monoxide (CO) emissions variations related to engine load for the SM1 and the SM2 systems. At 40% load, unburned CH4 was reduced close to 34% using the SM2 system because charge reactivity was higher than with the SM1 system. At 100% load, the effect of dual fuel system on methane emissions was less than at part load because the equivalence ratio was closer to the stoichiometric value for both

Table 4 Ignition delay (hR) for the SM1 and the SM2 systems at 50% and 100% load. Load (%) Ignition delay (CA) SM1 50 100 16.5 15.4 SM2 13.8 12.2

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0.5 2.7 2.3

Carbon monoxide emissions

0.4

CH4 [%]

1.5 1.1 0.7 0.3 20 40 60 Load [%] 80

SM1 SM2 Methane emissions

0.2 0.1 0.0

100

Fig. 6. Variation of methane emissions (CH4) and carbon monoxide emissions (CO) related to engine load and dual fuel system.

the SM1 and the SM2 systems, and combustion efciency of biogas was more inuenced by the charge temperature than by the air inlet temperature. At 40% load, carbon monoxide emissions were increased with the SM2 system due to an increase in partial oxidation phenomena of methane, lower pilot fuel quantity and higher total fuelair equivalence ratio. This occurred because the reactivity of biogas air mixture on the compression stroke was increased, and the pilot fuel quantity was reduced with the SM2 system. At higher loads, carbon monoxide emissions increased for both the SM1 and the SM2 systems due to the reduction of unburned methane and lower oxygen availability at higher equivalence ratios (see Fig. 4). However, the SM2 system allowed a reduction in CO emissions in comparison with the SM1 system, close to 40% at 100% load. It was due to higher burning rates and higher availability of oxygen in later stages of combustion. 4. Conclusions In this work, an experimental setup was developed to evaluate the effects of mixing system and the pilot fuel quality on a stationary dual fuel engine performance using biogas as primary fuel. The results showed that full diesel substitution is attainable using palm oil biodiesel as pilot fuel on biogas dual fuel engine. The combination of a supercharger and Kenics mixer in the inlet system of biogas dual fuel engines can be applied as a strategy to increase thermal efciency and substitution level of pilot fuel as well as to reduce methane emissions at part load. Acknowledgements Authors would like to express thanks to Professor Olivier Le Corre from University of Nantes for his contribution in this work. Authors also wish to thank The Committee for Research Development (CODI) of University of Antioquia for their nancial support in the research project Evaluation of mechanical, thermal and environmental performance of a diesel biogas dual fuel engine with and without post-combustion. References
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