Prediction on the Performance Parameters of a Variable Compression Ratio (VCR) Dual Fuel Diesel-Producer Gas CI Engine: An Experimental and Theoretical Approach

In recent years, biomass fuelled engines have gathered major interest due to rapid depletion and rising price of conventional fuels. Biomass gasification has a better conversion efficiency compared to other conversion techniques. Also, Producer gas can be used directly in diesel engines without any modifications. In this study, the performance parameters of a variable compression ratio CI engine fuelled with diesel-producer gas combination derived from rice husk, coconut shell, and rubber shell have been experimentally and theoretically investigated. During experimentation, brake thermal efficiency (BTE), brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC), brake specific energy consumption and biomass consumption (BMC) are obtained by varying compression ratio and brake power (BP). A new theoretical model based on the finite-time thermodynamics is developed and validated with experimental results. The experimental results show that rubber shell powered DF engine showed the maximum diesel savings of 48%. It is also observed that, among the three selected feedstock, the rubber shell-based dual fuel engine had the highest BTE of 19.80% followed by the coconut shell and rice husk as 19.44% and 19.13%, respectively. Similarly lowest BMC of 3.53 kg/h was observed for rubber shell driven engine. In addition, the rubber shell derived producer gas had a lower BSFC of 0.64 kg/kWh on dual fuel mode than rice husk and coconut shell. It is also predicted that the optimum BTE and diesel savings as 19.18% and 48% are obtained at the compression ratio and BP of 18 and 2.56 kW, respectively.

Automated summary

In this study, the performance of a variable compression ratio CI engine fuelled with diesel-producer gas combination derived from rice husk, coconut shell, and rubber shell has been investigated. The experimental results show that the rubber shell powered DF engine showed the maximum diesel savings of 48%, with a higher brake thermal efficiency compared to the other feedstocks. The theoretical model based on finite-time thermodynamics is validated with the experimental findings, and the optimized conditions for maximum brake thermal efficiency and diesel savings are predicted.