Adaptation of Air-Gas Regulator for Small Capacity Producer gas Engine

Abstract Producer gas (PG) is a biomass derived multi component gaseous fuel, which is popularly used for power generation application via internal combustion (IC) engine. Due to the fluctuating tendency of a PG composition across the upstream end of a down draft gasifier (DDG), the combustion properties of a PG fuel vary. Thus, the variation in PG composition influences the combustion process and eventually the engine performance. This paper reports, an attempt made in adapting an air-gas regulator (AGR) for an effective operation of a small capacity (2.2 kW & 359 cm 3 ) engine close to stoichiometry condition. These regulators are known to support gas engines under variable engine load conditions and fuel composition. The technical challenges faced while adapting the available AGR for the given engine is brought out in detail. Since the existing port diameter of an AGR was not in match for the present engine, an optimization approach was followed to achieve a stable and full load (14 Nm) engine operation. The experimental results were obtained considering a bottled PG under naturally aspirated mode with constant speed (1500 rpm) at compression ratio (CR) of 11:1. The analysis revealed an optimum gas port diameter of 33.3% of 30 mm on an existing commercial AGR model 7218-2. The measured PG engine performance parameters like brake power and work output were in agreement with available literature.