Experimental based comparative exergy analysis of a spark-ignition Honda GX270 Genset engine fueled with LPG and syngas

The present study investigates three different fuels such as gasoline, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and syngas in spark-ignition Honda GX270 Genset engine under wide-open throttle position on its performance, combustion characteristic as well as availability analysis. The results showed that when the engine operated with gasoline fuel, the brake thermal efficiency was higher than that of LPG and syngas by 6.2% and 7.4%, respectively, throughout the engine load condition. Brake-specific fuel consumption of the engine with syngas (660 g/kW h) and LPG fuel (812 g/kW h) was higher than that of the gasoline fuel (510 g/kW h) at the 4.5 kW of engine load. The engine emission results showed syngas operation caused a significant reduction in NOx by 58.4%, CO by 16.5%, HC by 23.2% compared to gasoline fuel at peak load conditions. On the other hand, exergy analysis concludes the exergy efficiency for all the test fuels increases with an increase in engine load due to a high rise in shaft output. At a 4.5 kW power output, the exergy efficiency of the engine was improved to 46.45% from 45.62% and 29.73% with syngas, gasoline, and LPG, respectively. The maximum exhaust gas availability has been observed as 24.51% of availability input for syngas at 100% load condition.

Automated summary

This study investigates the performance, combustion characteristics, and availability analysis of three different fuels (gasoline, LPG, and syngas) in a Honda GX270 Genset engine. The results show that gasoline fuel provides higher brake thermal efficiency, while syngas operation significantly reduces emissions.