THEORETICAL DETERMINATION OF THE EFFECTIVE POWER OF A TRACTOR ENGINE USING COMPRESSED NATURAL GAS AS ALTERNAT IVE FUEL

The determination of the effective power of a tractor engine using Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as alternative fuel was carried out by following the procedure for the design of Internal Combustion Engine (I.C.E.). The indicated parameters i.e. pressure, temperature and volume at the completion of intake, compression, combustion and the expansion processes were determined to be 0.144 MPa, 6.211 MPa, 11.801 MPa and 0.442 MPa; 336.44K, 967.35K, 2189.04K and 1159K; 6.705x10 4 m 3 , 4.47x10 -5 m 3 and 6.705x10 4 m 3 respectively. The indicated diagram was constructed (P-V graph) and the indicated diagram area was determined to be 3254mm 2 , length of diagram 155mm and the scale µ on the pressure scale was 0.05 MPa to 1mm, hence the mean effective pressure was determined to be 0.83 MPa. With the engine displacement capacity of 2.5x10 -3 m 3 , the effective power of the tractor CNG engine was determined to be 41.5KW. This power falls within the third category of tractor power rating classification (30-70kW) i.e. general-purpose tractor.