All, I received this link to an interesting study on engine performance on producer gas from Dr. P Raman, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI),New Delhi. This is a size (75 kWe) which is typical of many village applications around the world.
Tom -- Greetings from P. Raman, India. We have done a detailed study of combustion characteristics of producer gas and performance of the internal combustion engines. Recently, we have published a research article titled, "Performance analysis of an internal combustion engine operated on producer gas, in comparison with the performance of the natural gas and diesel engines". The paper published in "ENERGY Journal" on performance analysis of I. C. Engines, is provided with free access (untill 26th March 2014) at: http://elsarticle.com/1ejEmhV This paper brings out a number of facts about the technology status and performance level of IC engines. At part load operating conditions, biomass consumption is very high as compared to the biomass consumption in peak load. Factors responsible for the poor efficiency of engines and scope for improvements are presented in the paper. The outcome of the study indicates that there is a large scope for improving the gas quality and efficiency of the engine to reduce the biomass consumption rate. You may find it useful. With Best Regards, P Raman, Ph.D A b s t r a c t The growing economy and changing lifestyle have increased the demand for modern energy, like electricity. Globally 1.3 billion people are without access to electricity. In India, 289 million people do not have access to electricity. Decentralized distributed power generation using renewable energy is a competitive alternative for energy supply to all, with a sustainable growth. The performance of an internal combustion engine fueled with 100% producer gas was studied at variable load conditions. The engine was coupled with a 75 kWe power generator. Producer gas generated from a downdraft gasifier system was supplied to the engine. The overall power generation efficiency of 21% was achieved above 85% load. The power generation efficiency of the producer gas engine was estimated at variable load conditions. The influencing factors of the power generation efficiency of a producer gas engine, such as volumetric efficiency, energy density of the fuel mixture, adiabatic flame temperature, compression ratio and expansion ratio were studied in detail. A relation between volumetric efficiency, expansion ratio, compression ratio and thermal efficiency was established and verified. The efficiency of the engine estimated using the new method has a correlation coefficient of 0.99 with the efficiency estimated using the energy input and output. _
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