Modeling of Combustion Characteristic in Diesel Engine Fueled by Producer Gas

The use of biomass as an alternative fuel in diesel engines has advantages from both economic and environmental standpoint. This paper presents the combustion characteristic of a direct injection four stroke diesel engine using computational fluids dynamic (CFD) software. A model of a combustion chamber from a research engine: Yanmar L60AE-DTM single cylinder engine was built, using IDEAS (CAD software) and was exported to AVL Fire Version 8.2. By applying certain engine speed, the model analyzes the pressure versus crank angle and rate of heat release versus crank angle with given geometry, operating temperature, injection timing, fuel properties, initial conditions and boundary conditions. The result from computer simulation for diesel alone was validated against experimental results. The model was subsequently used to investigate the combustion characteristics of diesel engine fueled by producer gas. Results show that the engine experienced some decrease in performance, produced lower in-cylinder pressure compared to diesel alone system, but higher value of peak heat release. Combustion analysis also reveals that the diesel engine fueled by producer gas has similar combustion characteristic to diesel engine fuelled by diesel alone.