Dual fuel engines fueled with three gaseous and biodiesel fuel combinations

ABSTRACT

Alternative fuels have numerous advantages over fossil fuels as they are renewable, biodegradable, provide energy security and foreign exchange savings, and help in addressing environmental concerns and socio-economic issues. Renewable fuels such as biodiesel and gaseous fuels can be used for transportation and power generation applications. Honge oil methyl ester (HOME) biodiesel and three gaseous fuels – compressed natural gas (CNG), hydrogen enriched compressed natural gas (HCNG), and producer gas – were used as injected and inducted fuels. This paper presents the performance, combustion and emission characteristics of a single-cylinder, four-stroke direct injection stationary diesel engine operated in dual fuel mode on a combination of HOME and the gaseous fuels CNG, HCNG and producer gas. For a diesel engine operated in dual fuel mode with HOME–gaseous fuel combinations, experimental results showed decreased brake thermal efficiency, smoke and nitric oxide emission levels and increased hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emission levels when compared with single fuel mode of operation. Compared to CNG and producer gas dual fuel operation, HCNG operation resulted in overall improved performance (with HOME being the common fuel in all dual fuel modes of operation). Enriched CNG with hydrogen (20%) i.e. HCNG improved the dual fuel engine performance with HOME when compared to CNG operation.

KEYWORDS:

• Dual fuel engine
• compressed natural gas
• hydrogenated compressed natural gas
• producer gas
• Honge oil methyl ester
• emissions

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.