The Effect of Methane and Carbon Dioxide Ratio in the Biogas to the Fuel Consumption of 2 Stroke Single Cylinder (63 cc) Engine of 750 Watt Electric Generator

Abstract

The 2 stroke single cylinder (63 cc) engine of 750 watt electric generator is very popular in the application because providing enough amount of electricity for small house hold with compact size, light weight with reasonable price. Usually this type of electric generator is fuelled with gasoline that mixed with oil as lubricant. The cylinder volume of the engine is usually around 63 cc. This type of engine can be fuelled with biogas with addition component to mix biogas together with air and lubricant, and set the compression pressure at 10 bar. Biogas mainly contain methane (CH4), carbon dioxide (CO2), moisture (H2O), and hydrogen sulfide (H2S). The CH4 is combustible gas and can be used as a fuel for internal combustion engine. Moisture and H2S are easily removed from biogas. To remove CO2 from biogas is about difficult and costly, therefore acceptable content of CO2 in the biogas should be investigate related with the fuel consumption. This research is conducted to understand the influent of ratio CH4 and CO2 in the biogas to fuel consumption of the 2 stroke single cylinder engine of 750 watt electric generator. The variations ratio of CH4 and CO2 were obtained from anaerobic digester with batch system. The results indicate that the CH4 and CO2 ration in the range 1.667-1.967 will yield optimum efficiency that reach biogas consumption in the range of 9.1-9.8 liter/minute.