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MODIFICATION OF DIESEL ENGINE FOR

ELECTRICITY PRODUCTION FUELED BY BIOGAS

Conference Paper · January 2007

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Sittiboon Siripornakarachai
Rajamangala University of Technology Lanna, Nan, Thailand
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 MODIFICATION OF DIESEL ENGINE FOR
ELECTRICITY PRODUCTION FUELED BY BIOGAS

Sittiboon Siripornakarachai 1and Assoc. Prof. Thawan Sucharitakul 2

1
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai,
THAILAND 50200
siripornakarachai@yahoo.com
2
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai,
THAILAND 50200, Phone: +66 53 944146 Ex. 948, Fax: +66 53 944145
thawan@dome.eng.cmu.ac.th

ABSTRACT This study is to modify and convert a bus diesel engine to spark ignition engine to be used with
biogas to produce electricity in animal farm. A biogas carburetor is designed and installed on the engine.
Operating variables including air/fuel ratio, ignition timing, and turbocharger pressure are studied. A spacer has
been designed and fabricated for the cylinder head to bring the compression ratio down from 25:1 to 8:1 for
proper spark ignition operation. A Hino K-13CTI 13000 cc 24 valve engine is used for the experiment and is
coupled to a 3 phase 4 pole induction motor to produce electricity. It was found that when the system is
operating at 1500 rpm, the range of engine setting is air/fuel ratio between 0.9 to 1.2, ignition timing between 50o
to 70o before top dead center, and turbocharger pressure setting between 40 to 70 kPa. Under these operating
conditions, the system will produce electrical power of 90 to 120 kW. Fine tuning for maximum engine
efficiency, minimum pollution, and shortest payback period will be performed in the future research.

Keywords: (Automotive engine, Engine for electricity, Biogas engine, Engine for biogas, Gas engines,
Biogas fuels)

1. INTRODUCTION
Biogas is a form of renewable energy with two folds benefits. One is that it can be used in place of fossil fuel to
produce electricity (1) and another is that biogas is the result of waste treatment in animal farm. Further more,
while biogas is being produced, high quality organic fertilizer is also created as a by product (1,2).
Biogas is formed by digestion of animal waste by anaerobic bacteria and the approximate composition is 60-80%
methane (CH4), 20-40% carbon dioxide and about 1% of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and other trace gases. Biogas
has liquefying pressure of 200-300 bar and heating value of about 23,400 kJ/m3 (3,4). The gas density is 1.2
kg/m3 and has research octane number (RON) of about 130 (4,5). From the above property, it can be seen that it
is difficult to liquefy biogas for storage or transport and it is quite suitable to be used as fuel in internal
combustion engine. Statistics as of 2006 shows that there are pig farms that have biogas waste treatment system
that can produce biogas totaling 35,000,000 cubic meter per year which if all are used to produce electricity, the
total energy of 35,000,000 kilowatt-hour can be produced per year (6).

2. ECONOMICS OF BIOGAS ENGINE IN THAILAND

Bus is an expensive commodity in Thailand when compared to per capita income. As the result busses are kept
running long beyond life expected by the manufacturer. To keep these buses running, skilled mechanics as well
as used engine markets and spare parts are well developed in this country. A used bus engine imported from
Japan in reasonably good condition can be had for about 5500 US dollar. The cost for engine overhaul after
running for about 1,000,000 kilometer is about 1400 US dollar. With a used bus engine coupled to a electrical
generator, a farm owner can make a 100 kilowatt power generator fueled by biogas for about 17000 US dollar
and the breakeven can be as short as one year. These engines do not use a proper gas carburetor and are seldom
tuned for best efficiency or low pollution. This project is to find the optimal operating points for such generators.

3. BIOGAS AS AN ALTERNATIVE FUEL

Bus engines being used to produce electricity in the farm are originally designed to run on diesel fuel. To use
biogas as the fuel, modifications must be made to make these engines work as a spark ignition engine.
Modifications required include reduction of compression ratio, installation of biogas carburetor, and installation
of spark ignition system. Since biogas is mixed in with the intake air in gaseous form, it does not evaporate and
cool the intake charge as gasoline does, so the volumetric efficiency is expected to be reduced as well as the
power output of the engine. The high RON of the biogas fuel will let the engine run at higher compression ratio
and better thermal efficiency of the engine can be expected from this effect (7). The flame speed in the cylinder
of biogas/air mixture is certainly differ from the diesel fuel and the optimal ignition timing will be found
experimentally.

4. CURRENT BIOGAS ENGINE SITUATION

With the quick payback period of the biogas engine, it is common that the farm owner will team up with the
local auto mechanic and electrician to create a power generating system to be used in the farm. The bus engines
are modified to reduce compression ratio and ignition system installed and the carburetor is nothing more than a
mixing chamber with gas flow controlled by a ball valve. The setup works because an engine will run reasonably
smoothly with air/gas volume ratio being anywhere from 6.0/1 to 8.6/1 (0.9 ≤ λ ≤ 1.3) and electricity will be
produced (4). The engine operation is usually far from optimum which causes excessive gas consumption, high
ware and tear, as well as high pollution emission. For spark ignition engines, pollution emission is oxides of
Nitrogen (NOX) and carbon monoxide (CO) and the amount of these pollutions depends on engine design and
the state of tune of the engines. The normal range of NOX is around 500 ppm to 1000 ppm and between 1% to
2% for CO (7).

5. ENGINE ADAPTATION FOR BIOGAS USE

From the above discussion, it can be seen that three variables can be investigated to find optimal running
condition for diesel engine adapted for biogas fuel. The variables are carburetor design, proper ignition timing,
proper turbocharger pressure and suitable compression ratio. Other area such as bore/stroke ratio, optimal
camshaft design, and combustion chamber shape are beyond the local machinist ability to make modification to
the engine and thus will not be investigated. Bus engines are very durable because they are designed to run for
1,000,000 kilometers between overhauls and the peak torque is usually around 1500 rpm which is the
synchronous speed of a four pole generator (8).

5.1 Carburetor Design

Literature survey shows that a suitable carburetor for a biogas engine should be a venturi with accelerator cone
being tapered as a curve of 30 mm radius and the diffuser cone angle of 10o (4). The gas is fed in to the venturi
through multiple circular ports around the throat area and the throat air velocity should be between 100 to 150
meters per second (4). With this information, a carburetor is designed for the 13000 cc engine operating at 1500
rpm is shown in Figure 1. The metering needle for the gas inlet is fabricated with a square root profile to provide
some linearity between needle position and the gas flow rate.

Figure 1: Biogas carburetor design

5.2 Ignition Timing

Since the biogas engine will be operated at constant speed (1500 rpm) and constant load, Ignition coil,
distributor, and spark plugs is installed in place of the diesel fuel injection system. The ignition timing need not
change during operation and to prevent the ignition timing from changing, the vacuum advance mechanism was
modified for manual adjustment operation. The distributor hold-down bracket was also modified to permit wider
range of ignition timing setting.

5.3 Turbocharger Pressure

The turbocharger pressure is another parameter to be optimized. Too low pressure will cause loss of efficiency
while too much boost will cause knocking which can damage the engine in the long run. The boost pressure in
the experimental engine is varied by modifying the waste gate spring housing so that it can be adjusted to vary
the turbocharger pressure.

5.4 Compression Ratio

The compression ratio of the test engine can be varied by making the combustion chamber volume bigger with
the use of a spacer. A spacer has been designed and fabricated for the cylinder head to bring the compression
ratio down from 25:1 to 8:1 for proper spark ignition operation. The cylinder head is also modified to
accommodate a set of spark plugs in place of the fuel injection nozzle. The modified cylinder head is shown in
Figure 2.

Valve guide

(A) (B)

Figure 2: Cutaway view of the modified cylinder head: (A) Before modification, (B) After modification

6. TEST RIG DESCRIPTION

The purpose of this experiment is to find optimal tuning condition when a bus diesel engine is modified and
converted to spark ignition engine to be fueled by biogas to drive electrical generator to produce electricity. Inlet
air and biogas are monitored so air/fuel ratio can be calculated. Exhaust gas is also checked for carbon monoxide
and oxide of nitrogen emission at various engine setting. Each component of the test rig is briefly described in
the following section. The overall block diagram of the test rig is in Figure 3.

6.1 Spark ignition Engine for Testing

The test engine is a Hino 13000 cc diesel engine with 4 valves per cylinder. The engine model is K-13CTI and is
normally installed in buses in Thailand. This engine was chosen because of used engine availability and
commonly available spare parts. It was overhauled to new engine specification before testing and is currently
undergoing endurance test at 4T farm, Chiang Mai, Thailand.

6.2 Electrical Generator Unit

The generator used is an Induction motor made by HASCON model number 200L2-2 3 phase 4 pole 132 KW
generator. The generator is directly coupled by clutch mechanism to the test engine and is synchronized to the
power grid when in operation. The nominal operating speed is 1500 rpm.

6.3 Control Unit

Biogas Advisory Unit, Chiang Mai University designed the control unit and the blueprint is available to the
public at no cost. It is used to start the test engine, synchronize the generator with the power grid as well as
safety function monitoring such as gas supply shortage, engine overheating, loss of oil pressure in the engine or
power grid failure.

Temperature meter
Biogas main
Gas meter
Ball valve
Temperature meter

Air main Air

Gas meter
filter
Cooling water, Gas
Safety & Control unit mixer & Oil lubricant
Temperature meter
Intercooler

Three phase Four stroke engine with

induction motor spark ignition Air flow

Crank angle signal

Monitor
Adjustable waste gate Pressure gage

Carburetor

CO, O2, NOX emission Turbocharger

analyzer & Exhaust gas
temperature meter

Figure 3: Block diagram of the test rig

6.4 Intake Air Measurement

Intake air flow rate is measured using a Kobold gas flow meter model GVPA-303-GDR.

6.5 Intake Biogas Measurement

Composition of inlet biogas varies with type of animal waste used to produce the gas as well as the ambient
temperature in which the fermentation occur. In general, biogas contains carbon dioxide, methane and one
percent of other trace gases. The methane content of biogas can be determined by finding the amount of carbon
dioxide, add 1 percent to the amount and subtract from 100 will yield the percentage by volume of methane. The
amount of carbon dioxide in the biogas can be determined by using the Brigon IND 60 gas analyzer. The volume
flow rate of biogas is measured using Kobold gas flow meter model GVPA-303-GDR.

6.6 Exhaust Gas Measurement

Flue gas analyzer (Testo 300XL-1) was used to monitor the quantity of O2, CO, and NOX in the exhaust gas. The
probe attached can also measure the exhaust gas temperature as well.
6.7 Ignition Timing Measurement
Ignition timing is measured by a timing light (Sincro model DG86) with trigger signal from the high tension wire
from the distributor to cylinder number one spark plug.

6.8 Power Output Measurement

Power output from the generator is monitored by Curcutor model AR5 supply network analyzer.

7. EXPERIMENTATION PROCEDURE
The experiment was carried out using the following steps to collect data for analysis.

7.1 Turbocharger Pressure Adjustment

The Engine will be running on biogas that has research octane number of about 130. To get the most benefit
from the higher RON, higher compression ratio should be used for higher thermal efficiency (9). The proper
compression ratio for the spark ignition engine to be run on biogas fuel is between 10 to 12:1 (4). While a
naturally aspirated spark ignition engine may have sufficient margin of safety relative to knock to allow modest
inlet-air boost, any substantial air compression prior to cylinder entry will require charges in engine design
and/or operating variables to offset the negative impact on knock. The variables which are adjusted to control
knock in turbocharged SI engine are: compression ratio, spark retard from optimum, charge air temperature, and
air/fuel equivalence ratio (7). Therefore the cylinder head was installed with a spacer to increase the combustion
chamber volume and produce lower compression ratio. The experiment will start at the compression ratio of 8:1
and the turbocharger pressure adjusted by the waste gate at 40 kPa and increase at an increment of 4 kPa until
engine efficiency begins to decrease.

7.2 Initial Air/Fuel Mixture Adjustment.

Start the engine and set the ignition timing at about mid range (60o BTDC) and adjust the air/fuel mixture screw
to the position that the engine just running smoothly (lean mixture).

7.3 Initial Ignition Timing Adjustment.

Set the ignition timing at 50o BTDC at the beginning of a data set collection.

7.4 Data Collection.

Recording of air temperature, biogas temperature before and after boost by turbocharger, engine coolant
temperature, lubricating oil temperature, biogas consumption rate, ignition timing, generator power output,
carbon monoxide and oxide of nitrogen emission in the exhaust gas are made.

7.5 Ignition Timing Increment

The ignition timing is advanced 2o and data in heading 7.4 is again collected. The process is repeated until the
ignition timing reaches 70o BTDC or excessive pre-ignition is observed.

7.6 Air/Fuel Mixture Increment

After a set of data is collected, the air/fuel mixture screw is turned halve a revolution in the rich direction.
Another set of data is collected and the process is repeated until the mixture is too rich for the engine to run
smoothly.

7.7 Data Processing.

Collected data are process in to air/fuel ratio, engine efficiency and then the system efficiency, power output,
carbon monoxide and oxide of nitrogen emission are plotted against the turbocharger pressure, ignition timing,
and air/fuel ratio. The resulting graphs are shown in Figure 4.

8. TEST RESULT AND DISCUSSION

Power output, engine efficiency and oxides of nitrogen are plotted against the turbocharger pressure. An example
of such graph is shown in Figure 4 which is the result of the test run on the engine. The compression ratio is set
at 8:1 and the turbocharger boost was varied by adjusting the waste gate. It was found that the engine efficiency
increases as the boost is increased from 40 to 52 kPa and there is a slight increase of NOX and CO as the boost
goes up. As the boost is increased from 52 kPa to 60 kPa, the engine efficiency begins to decrease and the
amount of pollution is increased. Increase in engine vibration is also noted in this turbocharger boost range.
Oxides of nitrogen plotted against excess air ratio at turbocharger boost of 52 kPa is shown in Figure 5. The
graph shows that NOX is high when high pressure and temperature occur in the combustion and the NOX is low
when the mixture is too lean or too rich.
9. CONCLUSION
When the system is operating at 1500 rpm, the range of engine setting is air/fuel ratio between 0.9 to 1.2,
ignition timing between 50o to 70o before top dead center, and turbocharger pressure setting between 40 to 70
kPa. Under these operating conditions, the system will produce electrical power of 90 to 120 kW. Test shows
that more power can be generated if the engine is operated with rich air/fuel ratio and high turbocharger boost.
Higher engine output will yield shorter payback period for the investment but increasing the boost pressure
beyond 52 kPa will cause excessive pollution emission and engine vibration which will probably shorten the
engine life. It can be conclude that boost pressure of 52 kPa yields highest efficiency with acceptable pollution
level for this engine. Fine tuning for maximum engine efficiency, minimum pollution, and shortest payback
period will be performed in the future research.

Turbocharger boost (kPa)

40 44 48 52 56 60
30 150

Actual electric power output (kW)

3550
Engine efficiency
Oxide of nitrogen; NOX (ppm)

140
28
Engine efficiency (%)

3050
130
2550 26

2050 120

1550
24 Power output
110
1050
22
100
550

50 20
Oxide of nitrogen; NOX 90
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Figure 4: Output power, efficiency and oxide of nitrogen plotted against turbocharger pressure setting

1000
Oxide of nitrogen; NO X (ppm)

900

800

700

600

500
0.987 1.016 1.040 1.062 1.077 1.097 1.116 1.141 1.165 1.192 1.214

Excess air ratio;

Figure 5: Oxide of nitrogen plotted against excess air ratio setting at turbocharger boost 52 kPa

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The work presented in this research would not have been possible without the invaluable support from many
people. First and foremost, the authors would like to gratefully acknowledge the Mechanical Engineering and
Agricultural Engineering in Faculty of Engineering Chiang Mai University, Thailand for helped me in tangible
ways and material to finish the research, Biogas Technology Center (BTC), Thailand for the other data and tools,
4T farm Chiang Mai, Thailand for the location and biogas support to finish the research, Energy Policy and
Planning Office (EPPO), Thailand for the financial support.
 Last and most importantly, the authors would like to thank all the people in this research office project and their
support that sustained me throughout to finish the research and their encouragement.

REFERENCES

Table 1: Reference List

Book: Thai-Germany Biogas Project. (2002), Energy and bio-manure from biogas well, Northern Regional
Agricultural Extension Office.
Book: Potikanond, N. (1995), Use of animals dung from biogas reactor as furtilizer, Project for promotion
biogas production in animals farm, Biogas Advisory Unit; BAU.
Book: Werner, U., Stoehr, U. and Hees, N. (1989), Biogas plants in animals husbandry, A Practical Guid
in Deutsche gesellschaft fuer Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), Germany.
Book: MitZalff, Klaus von. (1988), Engine for biogas; Theory, modification, econum, operation, federal,
Republic of Germany.
Book: James, and Gisela, Lorenz. (1985), Production and utilization of biogas, Schriftenreihe der GTZ,
No. 97, Printed in Germany.
Book: Biogas Advisory Unit, Chiang Mai University. (2000), Project an encourage produces biogas in
animals farm; Large farm, Paper presented in the trained in biogas advisory unit.
Book: Heywood, J.B. (1988), Pollutant formation and control, Engine Operating characteristics. In:
Internal combustion engine fundamentals, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, USA, pp. 567,
842−843.
Book: HinoMotors,Ltd. (2005), Industrial Engines, Hinodai 3-chome, Hino-shi, Tokyo 191-8660, Printed
in Japan.
Journal: Jingdang, Huang, and Crookes, R.J. (1998), Assessment of simulated biogas as a fuel for the spark
ignition engine: introduction. Elsevier Science., Vol. 77, No. 15, 1793−1801.

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