Importance and significance

Complete dependence on HC fuel which is formed over

millions of years for conversion of chemical to
mechanical energy with increase of energy conversion
devices led to over exploitation of these fuels.
Oil peak has surpassed hence fuel prices have
expected to increase as resources dwindle giving
worst economical impact on world economy specially
on developing countries like India, Srilanka and
Bangladesh etc
Due to instant use of HC fuels in couple of centuries
has raised environmental impact creating air pollution
and drastic changes of weather pattern due to large
amount of Co2 by combustion of fuels.
Above twin challenge of both impacts need immediate
attention towards ensuring safe , healthy and
prosperous environment for future.

OBJECTIVES:
Study the effect of cooling and cleaning systems on tar
reduction and gas quality for dual fuel diesel engines
fueled with producer gas derived from coconut shell ,Bio
diesel (ROME)and H2 gas mixtures adopted for
stationary power generation application.
Synthesis of alternate fuel (Bio diesel) from Non edible
oil required for dual fuel engine operation.
Evaluation of temperature, pressure drop and retention
time of raw gases with selection of optimum
parameters across cooling and cleaning systems for
improvement in gas quality.
Study of tar reduction techniques for removal of tar
from raw producer gas which is to be used for
operation of Duel fuelled diesel engine.
Evaluation on Performance of engines and exhaust
emission characteristics .

Indian Energy scenario :

India is 4th largest energy consumer in world after
U.S, China and Russia , energy consumption is still
increasing due to population growth and economic
development.
Biomass has been main energy source for
thousand of years and still today it contributes in
the range of more than 14% to world energy
supply ,38% of energy in developing countries of
Asia ,Africa and ranks as 4th source of energy in
the world.
Biomass contributes over 4rd of primary energy
and delivers most energy for domestic use (Rural
90% and Urban -40%) in India (NCAER,2012)

 Biomass has been recognized as an ideal energy

resource for Decentralized energy system and in
tropical
countries
biomass
grows
more
productively which can be converted into energy
carriers such as gaseous ,liquid fuels and
electricity that can be used in more affluent
society.
Modern Biomass Technologies in India:
Gasifier
technologies
has
penetrated
the
applications such as village electrification, captive
power generation .
Over 1600 gasifier systems, having 16MW total
capacity have generated 42 million KWh of
electricity replacing 8.8 million liters of oil
annually (CMIE, 1996).
Four Gasifier Action Research centers) ARCs tie up
with national institutes and supported by MNES

Biomass clean energy source:

Biomass is one of the most plentiful organic materials
on earth which is produced by photosynthesis
reaction in green plant in the presence of sunlight .
It stores solar energy in its chemical bonds as
chemical energy which can be further evolved by
breaking down of bonds by thermo chemical
conversions
toPhotosynthe
release the stored energy. Energy
Solar
Energy

sis

Biomass

Generation

Biomass takes carbon out of atmosphere while it is

growing and returns it as it is burned.
Main biomass sources are

Utilization of biomass resource:

Harnessing of energy from biomass via

gasification route is proven economical
and environmentally benign (Mukunda et
al, 1993)

Coconut shell Biomass:

Global coconut production has been growing steadily

in recent decades , india stands at 3 rd place among
top world leaders in coconut production.
Coconuts are permanent crops and are available
through out the year , so there will be constant supply
through out year.
Once coconuts are harvested , main products are
seperated and processed such as coir, milk etc but
coconut shells are being thrown.
Taking into consideration that approximately 15 % of
coconut consists of shell , total quantity of coconut
shell is around 9.3 Mt/yr with calorific value of 5500
kCal/kg this can replace 6.9 Mt/yr of coal.
Due to presence of porosity , surface area for reaction
is high and diffusion of reactant would be easy which
results in uniform temperature distribution.

Non edible oil:

Non edible oil from plant seeds has long chain saturated,
unbranched HC is the most promising alternative fuel for
CI engine(Murugesan .A et al,2009 ) because it is:
1.Renewable , environment friendly , non toxic
&
biodegradable with low emission profile.
2. It has no sulphur content and aromatics
3. It poses some problems when directly used as substitute
for engine due to large molecular mass ,chemical
structure of oil, higher viscosity , low volitility and
unstaturated character of oil (Murugesan .A et al,2009 ).
It can chemically modified to biodiesel (liquid HC fuel
composed of fatty acids monohydric alcohol esters)
( Alessandro Schondorn et al,2009)

Problems faced by non edible oils:

Presence of fatty acids greatly affects the
properties of bio diesel , the different fatty acids
such as palmic ,steric , lignoceric and linoleic etc
these components greatly affects viscosity of oil .
Increase of viscosity reduces fuel atomization ,
increase fuel penetration as a result partial engine
deposites, piston rings sticking, injector coking
and thicking of oil.
Remedy :
Viscosity
of
oil
can
be
reduced
by
dilution,transestrification
,Pyrolysis
(thermal
cracking) and micro emulsification.

Producer gas:
Producer gas fuel has thermo-physical properties
which are different from conventional fuels.
Producer gas is a mixture of combustible (Hydrogen,
Methane and Carbon Monoxide) and non combustible
(Nitrogen, Carbon dioxide) gases.
It is produced by gasification(Thermo-Chemical
conversion) of carbonaceous material such as coal or
biomass when atmospheric air is used as gasification
agent.
Heating Value: 4.5 6
Constituents
% of gas
Carbon monoxide

18-22

Hydrogen

13-19

Methane

1-5

Carbon dioxide

9-12

Nitrogen

45- 55

Water Vapour

MJ/m3
Octane number: 100
Properties:
105
1. Low flame temperature
2. Better knock resistivity
3. Low calorific value
4. Auto ignition tendency at
high C.R.
5. High laminar flame
speed 50 cm/s

Methyl esters of rice bran oil(ROME)

Rice is the main cultivation in sub tropical
countries like india and srilanka. It it is the most
consumed cereal grain.
It is extracted from germ and inner husk (bran) of
the rice. It is mostly oily inner layer of rice grain
which is heated to produce ROME.
Properties
and ROME:
Property of Diesel Diesel
ROME
parameters

fuel

Density at 20 C ,
g/cm3

0.82

0.8742

Viscosity at 40
C,mm2/s

3.4

4.63

Flash point, C

71

165

Auto ignition temp, C

225

320

Cetane number

45

56.2

Oxygen content max

wat %

0.4

11.25

Concept of dual fuel technology:

Diesel alone accounts for 42% of total oil import bill
of india ,use of producer gas biodiesel fuel
combination can result in significant reduction of oil
import bill ( Ramdas et al,2008)
Limited fossil fuels ,stringent emission norms , rapid
hike of fossil fuels led use of renewable and
alternative fuels.
Dual fuel technology offers number of potential
benefits such as fuel flexibility, lower emission levels
and easy conversion of existing diesel engines
without major modifications (Bhanapurmath et al,
2011, Singh and Pathak 2007)
it uses both injected liquid and induced gaseous fuel
for power generation application .

Need for cooling and cleaning:

Producer gas as it comes out from gasifier is hot
and contains tar, soot particles and other
particulates these are cooled and reduced before
it is being let into
Contaminant
presence in gas and relative
Contamine Presence
problems
nt
problems(Belgiorno , 2
Tar

Complex mixture of organic HC

by partial oxidation in vapor
phase in producer gas

Difficult to remove
by simple
condensation ,
clog filter and
valve, metallic
corrosions

Particulates

Derived from ash, char and bed

material of reactors.

Corrosion of
metallic
compounds and
pollution

Alkali
metals

Sodium, potassium exsists in

vapour phase.

Thermal corrosion
by stripping of

Gas cooling:
Cooling increases volumetric efficiency of gas
and assist in cleaning of gas, it has been found
that with every reduction of gas temperature on
10% increase max. output of engine by 2%.
Avoids moisture condensation of producer gas
after mix with with air before it is let into engine.
Equipments used for cooling:
1. Natural cooling : fine pipes cooled by natural air.
2. Forced cooling: Fans are used (external source of
power required)
3. Water coolers: heat exchangers simultanious
cooling and cleaning in one operation.

Gas cleaning:
Cleaning is essential otherwise impurities will
cause excess wear , carbon deposits,
deterioration of lubricant oil ,low starting and
heat build up in engines.
Producer gas for I.C engine application requires
impurities to be removed to acceptable levels
( dust <50 mg/m3, tar < 50 mg/m3 and acids <
50 mg/m3).
Cleaning equipments consists of cyclones, fabric
filters, scrubbers and electrostatic precipitators.

Literature survey:

Methodology: