Clean gaseous fuel application in diesel engine: A sustainable option for rural electrification in India

Compression Ignition (CI) engine is used to generate power for various stationary applications in remote places due to the non-availability of centralised grid connectivity. The burning diesel in CI engine leads to fossil fuel depletion and environmental degradation. Hence, there is a huge demand of generating remote electricity by utilizing available renewable resources with the help of existing CI engines. In this paper biogas (BG) and producer gas (PG) based CI engine technology for remote electricity generation in India has been reviewed. The study is organised in two sections. The first section focused on conceptualizing the influence of these gaseous fuels in CI engine as secondary fuel under dual fuel (DF) mode with diesel/biodiesel as pilot fuel. The effect of various operating parameters on the performance, combustion and emission characteristics have been reviewed. It is evident from the study that induction of gaseous fuel declines the engine performance to some extent, however emission characteristics reported to be enhanced. However, changes in the operating conditions bring with immense scope in the improvement of the engine performance. The study develops a clear understanding on the possibilities of these gases to be used as a primary source for generating rural electricity. In the second section, a discussion on the implementation of such technologies in various rural localities of India considering the biomass potential of the country has been addressed. An exhaustive review is also carried out on various electricity generating units in India powered by BG and PG individually. The literature on use of combined BG and PG units for energy generation are limited and no suitable economic model has been developed considering these gases for rural power generation. This study provides a complete insight to every pros and cons associated with such power generating units and its socio-economic impacts on rural livelihood.