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The Use of Biogas in Internal Combustion Engines: A Review

Conference Paper · January 2006

DOI: 10.1115/ICES2006-1306

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ASME Internal Combustion Engine Division 2006 Spring Technical Conference
) * + , - + & . .
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☛
- /
Biogas derived from organic waste materials is a promising alternative
and renewable gaseous fuel for internal combustion (IC) engines and
could substitute for conventional fossil fuels. The aims of this study
are to review the past researches on biogas fuelled IC engines and
from this review, to identify current research needs. A detailed
analysis of the previous results of biogas fueling on the emissions and
performance of spark ignition (SI) and dual fuel compression ignition
(CI) engines is presented. The literature review reveals that the
published research on biogas fueled IC engines are not rich in number
and the scenario of biogas-diesel dual fuel engines is even worse.
According to the analysis, biogas fueling in IC engines causes lower
power output compared to natural gas, irrespective of the engine
operating conditions. However, the use of biogas allows exhaust
nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions to be reduced substantially. Both
experimental and computational analyses have been done in the case
of SI engines. However, there are needs to investigate the exhaust
emissions for the biogas-diesel dual fuel engines both experimentally
and computationally. Also the effect of H2S on engine emissions and
life/durability, which is neglected very often in the literature, needs to
be investigated.
Key words: Alternative fuel, Biogas, IC engine, Combustion,
Emissions.
. / + * + .
Commercially, global primary energy consumption has grown at an
average rate of about 2% a year over the last two centuries [1]. The
growth trend in global energy consumption is expected to continue in
the future, primarily because of the expected increase in the world’s
population and the anticipated economic growth of developing
countries. However, the current pattern of energy consumption, which
is heavily dependent on fossil fuels, cannot be sustained, because of
two major constraints: the environmental impact of fossil fuel uses and
the depletion of their reserves. The issue of environmental pollution
created by the use of conventional fossil fuels is becoming more
important, as we are getting more concerned regarding the sustainable
environment of our planet. These concerns, as well as emission
standards enforced by legislation, have led research works for the use
☛
Corresponding author. Tel: (64) 9 3737599 Ext. 88176; Fax: (64) 9 3737479
E-mail: r.raine@auckland.ac.nz (Robert R. raine)
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Proceedings of ICES2006
May 8-10, 2006, Aachen, Germany
! "#ICES2006-1306
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of alternative fuels in different prime movers, including the
extensively used internal combustion engine [2]. One of the most
effective approaches to mitigating emissions would be reducing
consumption of fossil fuels, by substituting them with renewable
energy sources such as biomass. Rural and remote areas of developing
countries are normally non-electrified and are quite infeasible to be
connected with the national grids because of several unavoidable
constraints. Small capacity independent power plants based on
biomass energy sources could be a feasible solution for rural
electrifications.
Future fuels for IC engines will be derived from biomass both in liquid
and gaseous forms. Biomass that is easily biodegradable can be
fermented anaerobically to produce a mixed gaseous fuel, primarily
composed of methane and carbon dioxide, which is commonly called
biogas. The technology for the production of biogas is now well
established in China and India. In the former, nearly 7 million
household digesters were in use by the end of the year 1998, and this is
increasing at a rate of about 300,000 households a year, while in India,
the figure for installations by March 2003 was reported to be 3.5
million [1]. In other countries, such as Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka
and Thailand, there is also growing interest in biogas. Being
agricultural countries and maintaining a huge number of cattle, there
are greater potentials to produce biogas in these countries. Biogas is a
good fuel for application in IC engines, provided that it is being
purified. In particular, biogas as a fuel could bring substantial
reductions in green house gases, particles and dust or nitrogen oxide
(NOx) emissions [3].
Biogas is one of the important renewable energy sources of the age
and it offers the multiple benefits:
it is environmentally friendly and its combustion does not
increase the net amount of CO2 in the atmosphere
it is produced from waste biomass materials and hence ensures
the maximum availability
it facilitates a better way of waste disposal along with a
provision of energy supplies
it possesses the potential to replace a substantial amount of
fossil fuels throughout the world and thus the emissions
it provides a rich bio-fertilizer for agricultural lands, which can
replace the use of chemical fertilizers for cultivation
it can prevent deforestation especially in developing countries.
$ ! ' !
 Utilization of biogas in diesel engines has some extra benefits over
petrol engines. Diesel engines operate on the dual fuel mode with
biogas fuel and they can be switched over to diesel-only mode and
vice versa without interrupting the engine operation. This is important
since biogas supplies may themselves have interruption problems
during the operation. Also, diesel engines have higher thermal
efficiency compared to the petrol engines since they normally operate
at higher compression ratios.
This paper reviews published researches particularly on the
performance and exhaust emissions of biogas operated IC engines.
The results are analyzed and compared. Inadequate research is noted
especially in the fields of combustion and emissions analyses for
biogas fueled diesel engines. In addition, the effects of impurities in
raw biogas, which can affect engine durability has not been addressed
seriously in the literature. Substantial research works are therefore
needed in order to achieve a better understanding and knowledge in
these areas.
- + &
Anaerobic fermentation, by which biogas is produced from organic
wastes, depends on various operating parameters such as temperature,
pH, hydraulic retention time (HRT), carbon to nitrogen ratio (C/N),
nutrients addition, particle size of the substrate etc [4].
The primary sources of biogas include agricultural residues and wastes
and human and animal wastes, industrial wastewater treatment
systems, stabilization of sewage sludge, landfill management, biomass
slurries arising in the food and drink industries and biological wastes
from slaughterhouses. There are now over 800 farm-based digesters
operating in Europe and North America. More than 1000 high-rate
anaerobic digesters are operated worldwide to treat organic polluted
industrial wastewater including processors of beverages, food, meat,
pulp and paper, and milk [3]. Gas recovery from landfills has become
a standard technology in most of the industrialized countries for
energy recovery, environmental and safety reasons. Increasingly the
gas is used in combined heat and power (CHP) engines or as a
supplement to natural gas. In developing countries biogas production
from sewage sludge, landfills and industrial wastewater treatment
plants are still to be developed.
(35.7 MJ/m3) and pipeline NG (35.7 MJ/m3, in US) [5]. Table 1 shows
the characteristics of biogas with a comparison to other fuel gases.
- + & ,* 0 . . & .
The utilization of biogas in IC engines is a long established and a
reliable technology. Thousands of engines are operated on sewage
works, landfill sites and other biogas installations. The engine sizes
range from 45 kW (approx. 12 kWel) on small farms up to several MW
on large-scale landfill sites [3]. Power generation from landfill gas
using spark ignition engines, dual fuel engines and gas turbines has
been successfully demonstrated in the UK for engine sizes ranging
from about 0.5 to over 4 MW. In the US as of 1990, 117 landfill
methane power plants were in operation, each a few megawatts in size
[5]. For large scale applications (> 60 kWel) diesel engines are
standard [3]. Engine rating will depend mainly on the rate of
production of the biogas from the digester. For an engine/generator
set, assuming the engine efficiency is 30% and the generator efficiency
about 70%, the gas production rate required to produce 1 kW of
electricity is 0.56 m3/hr [6].
-
Small cogeneration systems are invariably associated with the use of
an SI engine operating directly on biogas – that is, without the removal
of impurities such as CO2, H2S or H2O. The conversion of SI engines
to gas fuelling is a straightforward matter, requiring only the fitting of
a simple gas-fuel adaptor and possibly, hardened valves and valve
seats [7]. The research articles published for biogas operated SI
engines mainly include studies of the overall performance, and
emissions of the engines with a comparison to the conventional liquid
and gaseous fuels. The following sections will discuss these results. In
addition, a small number of analytical studies with or without
computer simulation have been found in the literature. Analytical
studies include modeling of thermodynamic cycle analysis,
combustion analyses, and prediction of emissions, blowby flow rate
and engine overhaul life. However, the effects of H2S in the fuel are
normally neglected. Almost all of the researchers used simulated
biogas instead of actual raw biogas, with a typical composition of CH4
(~60%) and CO2 (~40%) for their studies. According to the literature,
biogas being a dilute gaseous fuel may have significant effects on
engine operating parameters as well as on performance and emissions
characteristics.

Biogas is primarily composed of methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide ! 4 The presence of the diluent, CO2,
(CO2) with smaller amounts of hydrogen sulfide (H2S). Trace amounts in biogas causes a reduction in the values of maximum cylinder
of hydrogen (H2), nitrogen (N2), carbon monoxide (CO), saturated or pressure (Fig.1a) and the rate of pressure rise. As the concentration of
halogenated carbohydrates and oxygen (O2) are occasionally present in the diluent in the fuel is increased, a delay in the position of maximum
the biogas. Biogas produced from landfills and wastewater treatment combustion pressure occurs. [6,7,8,9,10,11,12]. The effects can be
plants may contain significant amount of H2S. Usually, the mixed gas explained in terms of lean mixture, low burning velocity and low
is saturated with water vapor and may contain dust particles and
siloxanes [3]. The composition varies according to the types of feed
biomass-materials, the method of digestion and digester retention time. * . & 8 & -
:! :! : < ) =%
A hydraulic retention period for biogas production normally ranges ; ; ("< + %
from 30-50 days from an anaerobic digester, except the landfill < ;
sources [4]. For landfill sources it is exceptionally longer as it requires Calorific value (lower) MJ/m3 36.14 16.1 21.48
a number of years before gas production. Biogas is typically composed Density kg/m3 0.82 0.51 1.21
of 60-65 mol% CH4, 35-40 mol% CO2, 0.1-0.5 mol% H2S, and traces
Max. ignition velocity m/s 0.39 0.70 0.25
of other gases and vapors of various organic compounds (e.g.,
aromatics, chlorinated hydrocarbons, alcohols etc.) [5]. When Theor. air requirement m3air/m3 gas 9.53 3.83 5.71
conditions are best, organic wastes in a digester can generate a gas Dew point °C 59 60 60-160
containing up to 80% by volume of methane [6]. But more general
properties are typically 60% CH4 and 40% CO2. The energy value of $4 , & >(?
biogas ranges from about 18.6 to 24.2 MJ/m3, compared to pure CH4

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energy input per cycle, and due to the fluctuations in mixture strength.
However, higher compression ratios can improve the maximum
cylinder pressures significantly (Fig.1b). Huang et al. [6], experienced
an optimum compression ratio of 13:1 for a biogas mixture composed
of about 40% CO2, in their experiment. Above this CO2 concentration,
the engine efficiency reduced, all emissions rose and detonation
started to occur.

# / 4 The presence of CO2 in biogas

reduces the range of flammable air-fuel ratios. As the percentage of
CO2 in the fuel increases, the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio decreases
[7,13,14,15,16]. The engine operating point moves away from the
stoichiometric mixture towards the weak-mixture flammability limit
with increasing CO2 content, and the combustible mixture range
becomes more sensitive to the velocity level and turbulent
characteristics of the mixture to be burnt [17]. Alder et al. [15]
estimated the range of flammable air fuel ratios for different fuel
compositions (Fig. 2). The authors mentioned that the carburetor itself
made the mixture weaker as the concentration of CO2 in biogas , 4 , + %
increased. CO2, being a denser gas than CH4, reduces the volume flow , 0 A / >$B?
rate of fuel induction.

, 4 The presence of diluent

CO2 in biogas significantly affects the propagation of flame into the
flowing streams of fuel-air mixtures following spark ignition. Since $ < ) =
the specific heat of CO2 increases at a higher rate with increasing
temperatures, it’s share of the fraction of energy released by oxidation
of fuel increases at higher combustion temperatures. Also CO2 will " < ) =
tend to undergo highly endothermic dissociation reactions at such high
C < ) =
temperatures. So, the net effect is the substantial reduction of the
adiabatic flame temperature due to CO2 presence in biogas [17]. Both 7 < ) =
the laminar and turbulent burning velocities reduce significantly due to
the reduction in reaction rates, flame temperature, diffusivity and
transport properties of the mixture [17,18]. Whiston et al. [18], used a
two zone combustion model to calculate the mass fraction burnt. The
model was adapted to the combustion chamber geometry of the engine
under study, which enabled the turbulent burning velocity values to be
obtained. The authors found a reduction of 50% in the turbulent
burning velocity with a biogas mixture of 70% CH4 and 30% CO2,
compared with 100% CH4 (Fig. 3).
, (4 2 - 2 ! 8 6
The lowered flame propagation rates cause a substantial increase in the ) =1 + / - D >$"?

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 average length of the combustion period and it increases as the
concentration of CO2 in biogas increases. The MBT timings are
normally more advanced in the case of biogas combustion. Stone et al.
[14] used a spark ignition engine model with computer simulation to : < ) =% = < + ;
investigate the effect of dilution by CO2 in biogas on burn durations
and MBT timings. The authors found more advanced MBT timings
and the prolonged 10% and 90% mass-fraction burn durations for
biogas (Fig. 4). In order to achieve an optimum engine performance,
spark timing for biogas is to be advanced compared to the natural gas
or gasoline to compensate for these detrimental effects

;
[9,10,13,14,15,17].

::°°
8 , 4 The diluent CO2 in
biogas reduces the volumetric heating value of the fuel and hence
reduces the brake power output and increases the brake specific fuel
Fuel 1: 60%NG/40%CO2

-
consumption in comparison to natural gas or methane. The published Fuel 2: 75%NG/25%CO2
data of engine power for biogas fueling show wide variations. The Fuel 3: 55%NG/35%CO2/10%N2
wide variations in power output are due to the variations of engine
specifications and the operating air/fuel ratios and ignition timings.
Midkiff et al. [13] reported a 14% reduction in the brake power output
3 6 E / /
for biogas (60%CH4: 40%CO2) at = 1 compared to the baseline fuel
natural gas. Figure 5 shows the variation of output power and specific
energy consumption (BSEC), as a function of equivalence ratio, φ, for
biogas mixtures compared to natural gas (NG). According to this , =4 $ < 7 < - - : D
figure BSEC increases as the CO2 content increases in the fuel and the 6 E ; , E /
amount of dilution has a negligible effect on BSEC between φ = 0.7- - >$=?4
0.9. This is perhaps due to the fact that at lower equivalence ratios, the
air becomes more a dominant diluent than CO2 in biogas [14].
gas region was inhibited by the increased presence of the diluent in
The reduction in power output compared to either methane or natural biogas indicating a lower tendency to knock than the pure fuel
gas ranges from 3-22% depending on the operating conditions and methane mixture for the same operating conditions (Fig. 6).
engine configurations [6,9,13,14,17,19]. Stone et al. [14], suggested
that such a large reduction in power output in the case of biogas 4 The formation of the nitrogen
fueling could be due to the incorrect optimizations of air:fuel ratio and oxides (NOx) is strongly dependent on combustion temperature and
ignition timing. For instance, Wong [19] did not optimize ignition oxygen (O2) concentration. In leaner mixtures, the combustion
timing for biogas and the methane flow rate was kept constant while temperature is lower but the O2 concentration is higher. On the other
the CO2 was added to it. This resulted in a richer equivalence ratio and hand, as the mixtures become richer towards stoichiometric,
led to a 20% reduction in output power. Whiston et al. [9] conducted combustion temperature increases to the maximum but the O2
tests with stoichiometric air/fuel ratios and a fixed (not optimized for concentration becomes lower [20]. The result of these two competing
biogas) ignition timing (12° btdc). They found a 2.13% point reduction
in the output for every percentage point increase of CO2 in biogas.

However, Stone et al. [14] found a 9% reduction in power output when

the fuel is changed from methane to biogas at stoichiometric operation.
This was at a controlled equivalence ratio and MBT timing. This
reduction was found to be mainly due to the reduction in trapped
energy inside the cylinder and also partially due to increase in the
duration of combustion.

5 6 4 Biogas is mainly composed of

methane and methane is an excellent fuel for SI engines that has a high
resistance to autoignition and knock. This means that the engine can
work in a wider range of compression ratios and the biogas will not Fuel 1: 60%NG/40%CO2
cause sudden knocking. The presence of CO2 would tend to lower the Fuel 2: 75%NG/25%CO2
Fuel 3: 55%NG/35%CO2/10%N2
mixture temperature and though it reduces the burning velocity, the
knock tendency will not be enhanced for most engines and operating
conditions [17]. Shrestha et al. [10] estimated the effect of the
presence of diluents with the fuel, methane, on the incidence of knock.
The model considered knock to take place when the energy released
due to the preignition reaction activity of the end gas ahead of the , B4 - 6 8 !
propagating flame became sufficiently intense to produce autoignition. , E / %φ . & (#
(# -
The authors concluded that the preignition reaction activity of the end D (B %3 + - >$(?4

= ! ' !

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2 , D
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47 % 7 ° >$ ?4
effects leads to the highest NOx emissions at just weak of the
stoichiometric point of operation for most HC fuels [14]. The
emissions of NOx reduce by any means that lowers the combustion
temperature. Since the presence of diluents in methane lowers the
combustion temperature, biogas combustion produces lower NOx
emissions than NG or gasoline fuels. Similar results are obtained by
different researchers [11,13,14,16,19]. Midkiff et al. [13] found a
significant reduction in NOx emissions for every kind of biogas
mixtures compared to NG they used. For the biogas (60%CH4,
40%CO2), the peak NOx emissions, which occurred at 0.85<φ<0.9
range, were reduced by approximately 50% (Fig. 7). Stone et al. [14]
analyzed analytically the formation of NOx emissions for biogas and
found them lower compared to methane. The authors explained the
cause as lower burnt gas temperatures due to dilution by inert gases in
biogas. The burnt gas temperature was found to be lowered by about
130 K compared to methane and that was sufficient to halve the NO
level in the exhaust. In this simulation analysis, the peak value of
equilibrium predicted NO was found to be level in the exhaust. In this
simulation analysis, the peak value of equilibrium predicted NO was
found to be higher than kinetically predicted value initially and after
the end of combustion, the kinetically predicted concentration of NO
was above the equilibrium prediction. Huang et al. [16] reported that
higher compression ratios increased the NOx emissions compared to
those at lower compression ratios. But the peak NOx for biogas was
still lower than that obtained for NG.
For lean mixtures the carbon monoxide (CO) emissions for biogas are
found to be low and do not change with the CO2 fraction in the
mixture [11,16]. For the leaner mixtures (φ = 0.65 – 0.90), CO
emissions for a biogas mixture (60%CH4, 40%CO2), are found to be
greater by approximately 10% than NG [13]. As the mixtures are
enriched, the CO emissions rise rapidly with the CO2 fraction due to
incomplete combustion as O2 becomes scarce. [14,24,25]. Midkiff et
al. [13] also concluded that the increased level of CO emissions for
biogas appeared to be associated with decreased exhaust temperatures
(incomplete combustion) rather than with dissociation of the fuel CO2.
The study reveals that the higher CO2 fraction in biogas, the lower the
exhaust temperature and the ultimate result is higher CO emissions in
B !
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Fuel 1: 60%NG/40%CO2
Fuel 2: 75%NG/25%CO2
Fuel 3: 55%NG/35%CO2/10%N2
, C4 - 6 . + D ,
/ %φ . & (#
(# - D
(B %3 + - >$(?4
the exhaust. CO2 emissions increase proportionally to the
concentration of CO2 in biogas. However, Stone et al. [14], reported
that with mixtures richer than stoichiometric, increase in CO2
emissions was modified by the dissociation reactions:
CO2 = CO + 12 O2 and
CO + H2O = CO2 + H2,
which led to an increase in CO emissions. CO2 emissions were found
to be almost 80% greater than NG for the biogas (60%CH4, 40%CO2)
[13].
Unburned hydrocarbon emissions are found to be higher for biogas
than NG and it increases with the increase of CO2 fraction in biogas
mixtures [11,14,19]. Figure 8 shows the variation of THC emissions
with equivalence ratio for biogases compared to NG [13]. The
minimum THC is shown at around φ = 0.88-0.9. In the case of leaner
mixtures, the dominant parameters causing increased THC are
quenching effects due to the lower cylinder temperature and the
incomplete combustion due to the slower flame speed. For the richer
mixtures, the shortage of O2 concentration in mixtures causes
incomplete combustion, which leads to higher THC emissions.
0 4 A very few research articles have
been published which examined the effect of biogas fueling on engine
life. Picken et al. [21] investigated the severe corrosion of biogas-
fuelled engines that were found to fail after 1000 to 3000 hours of
operation. The cause of failure was found nearly always to be the
failure of the small end and camshaft bearing (especially copper-
based), due to attack by H2S. The formation of blowby, its
composition and flowrate were measured and modeled and simulated
through a simple computer program in the study. The simulation
showed that the fuel content of blowby was subject to the complex
nature of the quenching process in the combustion chamber. The
authors mentioned that the H2S attack could only be caused by unburnt
fuel entering the crankcase and the rate of ingress increased as the
engine operating hours increased. It was also recommended that the
copper-based bearings should either be avoided or be protected by a
' !

HC (grams/bhp-hr)
Fuel 1: 60%NG / 40%CO2
Fuel 2: 75%NG / 25%CO2
Fuel 3: 55%NG / 35%CO2 / 10%N2
Equivalence Ratio
, "4 - 6 ) , increase in the ignition delay is found to be extremely sensitive to the
E / %φ . & (# - D
(B %3 + - >$(?4
positive flow of engine oil. Similar problems were noted by other
researchers [22,23] during their investigations on biogas fueled
cogeneration systems. They recommended the use of a high TBN1 oil
with a careful oil monitoring to nullify the problem. According to a
questionnaire, among the owners of the digestion plants with CHP
installations the followings are concluded [23]:
- The SI engines are generally able to tolerate levels of H2S of up
to 1000 ppm.
- At H2S concentrations of 1000-2000 ppm the acidification
problem can be controlled by oil monitoring on the basis of
TBN results. The increased frequency of oil changes will lead to
higher operating costs, but generally less than the costs
associated with H2S removal.
. Tanoue et al. [24]
studied the effect of a small amount of H2 addition to the lean methane
mixture. The turbulent burning velocity was increased substantially
and the misfire limit was greatly increased which were the main
drawbacks of using biogas fuel. Roubaud et al. [25] used an
unscavenged combustion prechamber instead of direct ignition as a
way to a cleaner and more rational use of biogas without any major
economic burden. For the same rated power output and the
corresponding NOx emissions, the CO and THC emissions were
reduced by 15% and 8% respectively compared to NG operation. On
the other hand efficiencies higher than 36% were achieved and the
combustion process was essentially unchanged.
-
Biogas in diesel engines is normally operated on a dual-fuel mode
where biogas acts as a primary fuel and diesel is the pilot fuel. The
normal diesel fuel injection system still supplies a certain amount of
1 : !
TBN (total base number) of an engine oil is a measure of its alkaline reserve,
and hence its ability to neutralize acids. With use, the TBN of the oil decreases.
If its alkaline reserve is exhausted, for instance by the effects of H2S, the oil
becomes acidic and this causes corrosion of engine components, particularly
those manufactured from copper and zinc alloys. TBN is measured by a
titration technique, ASTM 2896. The units of TBN are mg KOH/g [44].
Downloaded From: http://proceedings.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/ on 02/05/2016 Terms of Use: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/terms-of-use
diesel fuel and the engine induces and compresses a mixture of air and
biogas before the injection. The mixture is then ignited by the released
energy from the combustion of the diesel fuel sprayed in. The amount
of diesel fuel needed for sufficient ignition is between 10-30% of the
amount needed for operation on diesel alone at normal working loads
[26,27]. Several researchers have investigated engine performance and
emissions experimentally and a very few have dealt with modeling
works. Modeling works include the prediction of engine cartography2
and NOx emissions [26], ignition delay of the pilot fuel [28], and
combustion analysis with a thermodynamic cycle computer simulation
model [29]. Like SI engines, biogas fuel quality also affects
significantly the operating parameters, combustion and performance
characteristics of CI engine as discussed below.
. With an increase in the
concentration of the diluent CO2 in biogas, the ignition delay period
increases substantially (Fig.9) and reduces the energy release rate [17].
As a result, the corresponding brake power decreases significantly
especially with higher CO2 content biogas fuels (Fig.10). The extent of
intake temperature of the mixture. Lower intake temperature and a
smaller amount of pilot fuel causes erratic running and may lead to
ignition failure, particularly at very low loads [30]. Delay periods in
the dual-fuel mode are found to be always higher than that in pure
diesel operation and decreases with an increase in engine output [28].
The presence of CO2 slows down the combustion phenomena (about
12% reduction in heat release rate for biogas-diesel fueling has been
noted during simulation [29]) as described previously in the case of
biogas operated SI engine and causes the narrowing of the
flammability limits. An increase in the quantity of pilot fuel results in
an overall decrease in ignition delay, but advanced injection timing
results in limited success particularly at low intake temperature [31].
Henam et al. [32] found a decrease in overall efficiency during their
experiment with an indirect injection (IDI) diesel engine with biogas.
, 74 2 8 E
/ , , 8 ) =A + 2
; $ F
G ! 4( 6 A [17].
2
Cartography or engine mapping, by which one can determine, for a given
engine power output, several combinations between the pilot fuel (diesel) and
the primary fuel (biogas) flow rates.
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, $ 42 - 6 8 + 8 , $$4 2 , ! * . & # +
E / , , 8 ) =A + & D = . 0 8 #
2 : ! ; $ ! >( ?4
F G ! 4( 6 A [17].

The addition of CO2 affected efficiency more compared to diesel At optimum injection timing for engine performance, a biogas-diesel
substitution by NG, especially at higher speeds. Up to 37% dual fuel engine is reported to be better than that of diesel engine [29].
substitution of diesel by natural gas (NG) and CO2 mixture does not Bhattacharya et al. [34] reported an injection timing of 30°btdc as an
affect performance much, but there are effects with higher substitution optimum for efficient operation. At this injection timing the engine
(Fig.11). The authors concluded that 60% diesel substitution was developed 81.6% of the maximum power obtained for diesel only
possible by biogas without knock. The power output and efficiency is operation and about 70% of diesel replacement was attainable.
reduced significantly at high loads and especially when the CO2
concentrations in the fuel mixture are beyond 30% by volume [17]. 4 CO emissions are always higher
in the case of dual fuel operation at low loads due to degradation in
Bari S. [33] concluded that the presence of as high as 40% CO2 in combustion and at high loads due to the dissociation of CO2, compared
biogas did not deteriorate the engine performance, and that mixtures to the diesel only operation [17] and are affected mainly by diesel
containing up to 30% CO2, could improve the engine performance substitution rather than CO2 dilution in biogas mixture [32] as shown
(based on bsfc) as compared to NG fuel, while investigating the effect in Fig. 13.
of CO2 on a biogas/diesel dual-fuel engine (Fig.12). The author
explained this effect as a result of dissociation of CO2 into CO and O2 The CO2 concentration in the exhaust increases almost proportionally
at the high combustion temperatures. Since CO is a comparatively fast
burning fuel gas, it can thus be speculated that the burning rate of the
total gas air mixture might be accelerated for the presence of CO. Also
the excess O2 produced by dissociation would reduce the ignition
delay period as well as enhancing the combustion of unburned carbon
particles. These combined effects caused a better engine performance.
With higher percentage of CO2 the dissociation stopped and acted as
inert gas (slower burning and incomplete combustion) and thus
affected the performance. However, from Figure 12, the improvement
is hard to notice and also the author does not provide any further
information supporting his above explanations. The engine ran harshly
with biogas containing more than 40% CO2 in this study (lower CO2
content compared to other researchers [29, 32]).

Exhaust temperature was affected more by NG substitution than by

CO2 addition except at higher NG substitutions [32]. Karim et al. [17]
mentioned that the exhaust temperature lowered throughout relative to
normal dual fuel operation with the increased presence of the diluent
in the fuel, particularly at light load. Cylinder peak pressure is found to , $ 42 8 +
be higher for dual fuel mode of operation than that for diesel only . & # + & D $B $ 4" 6 3 0
operation [29,32]. However, the peak lowers as the CO2 concentration 8 # ! 8 8
increases in the mixture [30]. >((?4

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 ! C4"
! #- D 8 8 4$ A
! #- D 8 8 4$ A
C4

C4=

:>. + D?;
C4

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4"

4
4 $= 4 $ 4 $" 4 4 4 =
#$
$A % >5 ?

, $(4 2 , + * . & # + & , $B4 2 . + D D 8

D = . 0 8 # ! D , 0
>( ?4 $B [26].

in turn with the increased presence of CO2 in the fuel [17]. Bilcan et
al. [26] reported that the smaller the load, the higher the specific
CO2 emission and the lower the efficiency. For low loads, the
combustion of gaseous mixture is poor because of the small fuel to air
ratio and the lower in-cylinder temperatures and rate of flame
propagation. But for higher loads, the efficiency is increased and
specific CO2 emissions decrease.
Increasing CO2 diluent in the fuel results in an increase in the
concentration of the unburnt methane in the exhaust as shown in Fig.
14. Karim et al. [17] explain this effect as a reflection of the relative
slowing down of the combustion processes (a consequence of the
reduction of the partial pressure of oxygen and lowering overall cycle
temperature) and the narrowing of the effective flammability limits for
the mixture charge.
However, in this experiment it is also noticed that with higher
equivalence ratio, the presence of diluent in the fuel does not have a
significant effect on such emissions. Increased pilot quantity
effectively reduced the CH4 and CO emissions, especially for
moderate and low equivalence ratios.
As mentioned previously, CO2 being a denser gas reduces the intake
air volume in the cylinder, thus decreasing the concentration of oxygen
in the charge and lowering the cycle temperatures. These effects
increase with increasing fraction of diluent CO2 in the fuel, which
leads to a rapid decrease in NOx emissions [17]. Also it has been found
that a smaller pilot produces a less NOx emissions compared with the
operation with larger pilots. Bilcan et al. [26] measured the NOx
emissions for different biogas mixtures in their experiment with a
biogas-diesel stationary engine and found that the composition of
biogas mixtures had little effect on NOx formation at a given pilot fuel
mass flow rate (Figure 15). The authors also proposed an empirical
correlation using an Arrhenius law to predict the NOx concentration in
the exhaust:
EA
[NOx] = A.exp (- ) (1)
R.Texh

where [NOx] is the nitric oxide concentration in the exhaust gases,

A is the pre-exponential factor, EA is an overall activation energy and
Texh is the exhaust gas temperature.

* + . . + . 0* + .
Biogas is a satisfactory fuel for the IC engines provided that the engine
parameters are being tuned for optimum performance. According to
the above extract of the literature review the following statements can
be outlined as comments:
- Published research works in the field of biogas operated IC
engines are not large in number. The number for the biogas-
diesel dual fuel CI engines is even less than the biogas fuelled
SI engines.
, $=4 2 ) = ! D - The scope of research on SI engines operated on biogas fuel
8 E / , , may be considered as adequate. Both experimental and
8 ) =A + 2 : ! ; $ computational researches have been performed that include
F G ! 4( 6 A [17]. engine performance optimization, emissions predictions,

" ! ' !

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 combustion analyses with simulation software, and even for the
predictions of engine blowby flow rate and overhaul engine life
[35]. Almost all of the researchers do not take account of the
effect of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) in their research and it seems
that the concentration of H2S in biogas mixtures may not have
much effect on engine performance. However, its presence in
biogas can affect the engine overhaul life since its corrosive
effects can attack valves and bearing materials. Careful
selection of materials (such as copper materials should be
avoided) for these components and a careful monitoring of
engine oil and the use of high TBN engine oil can prevent the
corrosive effects Although H2S removal technologies are
available, they are still expensive for smaller applications. It is
believed that insufficient evidence has been obtained from
prolonged running to conclude on the effects of raw biogas
impurities. Therefore, future research activities are needed to
have better knowledge in this area.
- Complete investigation both experimentally and
computationally for biogas operated CI engine performance,
combustion or emissions are missing from the literature.
- Most of the results discussed above, for the biogas-diesel dual
fuelling have not considered all the affected parameters. For
example, Karim et al. [17] experimented with various diluents
with methane, but the engine operating conditions were kept as
normal diesel fuelling. They considered equivalence ratio as
the only affected parameter. The effects of varying injection
timing, compression ratio, engine speed, amount of pilot fuel
or engine load were not considered. Also, any detailed
combustion analysis is missing from their study. Henam et al.
[32] experimented with an indirect injection (IDI) diesel
engine, which may have significant effects on engine
performance and emissions compared to a direct injection (DI)
diesel engine. Moreover, there is no information regarding
fuel-air equivalence ratio, injection timing, compression ratio,
and amount of pilot fuel in this study. The study also excludes
the combustion analysis in details. Mathur et al. [29] developed
a thermodynamic cycle simulation model, which did not
include combustion analysis (such as burning rate, mass
fraction burnt etc.) and emissions. The model predicted the
heat release rate but it did not take account of the effects of
biogas dilution either in the case of mixture homogeneity,
preparation or the burning rates. Bilcan et al. [26] has proposed
an empirical correlation to predict NOx emissions in the
exhaust using Arrhenius law, but it does not take account of the
complex chemical kinetics of NOx production. The study also
excludes combustion analysis and is not optimized for biogas
fuelling.
Since biogas contains trace amounts of H2S, emissions of sulfur-
dioxide (SO2) can also be a matter of concern. However, no useful
research has been found in the literature in this regard. In addition, the
current authors note the lack of research in the field of particulate
matter (PM) emissions for the biogas operated dual fuel diesel engines.
Therefore, the need for research in the field of exhaust emissions
(especially PM emissions) for the biogas-diesel dual fuel engines is
being sought both experimentally and analytically.
/ , / . Vol. 71, pp. 197-203.
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$ ! ' !
on 02/05/2016 Terms of Use: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/terms-of-use