Experimental Evaluation of Diesel Engine Performance using Producer Gas and Conventional Fuel: A Comparative Study

This study empirically evaluated the performance of a downdraft biomass gasifier integrated with a diesel engine using a combination of biomass and diesel fuel. The employed downdraft gasifier consisted of two interconnected oil drums measuring 60×151 cm. A combustion chamber was installed in the conical steel drum with a central axis having a throat diameter of 31 cm. Rubberwood, tamarind wood, and sawdust were used as fuel sources. These woods were combusted to produce gas, which was subsequently channeled through a filtering and temperature-reduction apparatus before being blended with diesel fuel. A Nissan RD28 94 hp diesel engine was used for the experiments, with an airflow rate set at 0.226 m3/s. The experimental results showed that burning a mixture of rubberwood and sawdust (7.5 kg each) produced gas for 61 minutes. Tamarind wood combustion (15 kg) resulted in 58 minutes of gas production. Burning pure rubberwood (15 kg) produced gas for 37 minutes. Combusting a blend of tamarind wood and sawdust (7.5 kg each) produced gas for 45 minutes. The gooseberry wood (15 kg) was burned for 57 minutes with gas formation lasting 48 minutes. Adjusting the air input to the gasifier combustion chamber to 100%, the rubberwood and sawdust mixture exhibited the highest gas production. Furthermore, engaging the RD28 engine at 978 RPM in gear L resulted in the gear halting at 99 RPM after gradually adding steel blocks. The torque required to cease the gear was measured at 10.68 N.m, highlighting the potential for stopping gear L within the low-speed range due to misalignment between the engine's end flywheel and the gear pulley spline.