An experimental study of the biogasdiesel HCCI mode of engine operation

S. Swami Nathan, J.M. Mallikarjuna, A. Ramesh

*
I C Engines Laboratory, IIT Madras, Chennai 600 036, India
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:
Received 2 May 2008
Received in revised form 4 February 2009
Accepted 8 September 2009
Available online 2 March 2010
Keywords:
Biogas
Renewable fuel
HCCI engine
Alternative fuels
NO
x
control
a b s t r a c t
In this work biogas was used in a HCCI engine with charge temperature and amount of diesel injected
into the intake manifold being used to control combustion. The presence of CO
2
in biogas suppresses
the high heat release rates encountered with neat diesel fuelling in HCCI engines. Normally biogas use
leads to a drop in thermal efciency in both SI and CI engines. However, present results indicate that ther-
mal efciencies close to diesel engine values can be obtained in the HCCI mode. The NO level was less
than 20 ppm and the smoke level was less than 0.1 BSU at all conditions. The best energy ratio was
50%. HC levels were very high and were lowered when the charge temperature was raised. A charge tem-
perature of about 80135 C was needed, which can be attained though heating by exhaust gases. On the
whole the HCCI mode can be a viable option to utilize biogas in a diesel engine.
2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
Gaseous fuels in general are considered to be good for internal
combustion engines on account of their ability to readily form a
mixture with air. Their wide ammability limits and high self igni-
tion temperatures enable spark ignition engines to operate with
high compression ratios along with lean mixtures with consequent
benets of good thermal efciency and low emissions.
Biogas is good for decentralized power generation in rural areas
[1] particularly in developing countries. Biogas can be produced
from cow dung and other animal waste and also from plant matter
such as leaves and water hyacinth. Bacteria, which break down or-
ganic material under air less conditions in a process called anaer-
obic digestion are responsible for its production. Small capacity
biogas plants are widely available in several developing countries
including India. Biogas contains about 60% of methane and the rest
is mainly carbon dioxide as seen in Table 1. The presence of carbon
dioxide adversely affects the combustion quality of methane [2] as
seen in Table 1. The self ignition temperature is high, the amma-
bility limits are low and the ame speed is also low.
Biogas can be used in spark ignition (SI) engines directly [3].
However the thermal efciency is low and HC levels are very high
due to the presence of CO
2
[4]. Removal of CO
2
enhances the am-
mability limits and improves ame speed thereby enhancing ther-
mal efciency and lowering emissions [5,6]. Though removal of
carbon dioxide is often done in large biogas plants, which use mu-
nicipal waste in cities, this method is not viable for rural applica-
tions. In addition, care must be taken to control NO emissions
when CO
2
is removed biogas is used in engines.
Biogas can be used in compression ignition (CI) engines in the
dual fuel mode [7]. In a dual fuel engine, after compression of
the charge comprised of biogas and air a small amount of diesel,
called the pilot is injected. This injected pilot fuel gets self ignited
and then becomes the ignition source for the inducted biogas. The
main advantage of dual fuel engines is that they can work with a
wide variety of gaseous fuels without engine modications [8].
However, they have problems of high HC (hydrocarbons), CO (car-
bonmonoxide) and NO
x
(oxides of nitrogen) emissions [9]. Biogas
dual fuel engines generally have low thermal efciencies due to
the presence of CO
2
[10]. They also emit high levels of hydrocarbon
emissions for the same reason. This particularly becomes signi-
cant at low loads [11]. In addition a close control over the pilot fuel
quantity with respect to load is required in dual fuel engines [12].
On the whole the use of biogas in SI and CI engines leads to poor
thermal efciency and high emissions. Thus an alternative method
of utilizing biogas in diesel engines with high thermal efciency,
low emissions is worth investigating. One of the alternative engine
combustion concepts that are being widely studied is Homoge-
neous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) [13,14]. Here a homoge-
neous mixture of air and fuel is compressed and allowed to self
0196-8904/$ - see front matter 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.enconman.2009.09.008
Abbreviations: BD-HCCI, biogasdiesel homogeneous charge compression igni-
tion engine; BMEP, Break Mean Effective Pressure; BSU, Bosch smoke units; CA,
crank angle; CI, compression Ignited; COV, coefcient of variation; EGT, exhaust gas
temperature; FID, ame ionization detector; HCCI, Homogeneous Charge Compres-
sion Ignition; HRR, heat release rate; NG, natural gas; PM, particulate matter; PP,
peak pressure; ppm, parts per million; rpm, revolution per minute; RTD, resistance
temperature detector; SI, spark ignited; TDC, top dead center.
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 44 2257 4676; fax: +91 44 2257 4652.
E-mail address: aramesh@iitm.ac.in (A. Ramesh).
Energy Conversion and Management 51 (2010) 13471353
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Energy Conversion and Management
j our nal homepage: www. el sevi er. com/ l ocat e/ enconman
ignite. Combustion is controlled by varying the temperature and
composition of the charge. This concept was rst studied experi-
mentally in a two-stroke engine and low levels of cyclic variations
were obtained [15]. HCCI leads to extremely low levels of NO
x
and
particulates. Several fuels have been successfully used [16]. HCCI
mode of combustion has been used for utilization of gaseous fuels
also (LPG and NG) [17,18]. However it cannot be realized at low
loads on account of the lean mixtures that are used and the low
temperatures that prevail in the combustion chamber. Further
the auto-ignition temperature is high for gaseous fuels. Charge
temperature and fuel additives are generally used to control the
start of combustion. Intake charge temperature control, variable
valve timing to achieve different compression ratios and exhaust
gas recirculation have been used successfully [19]. One of the main
problems in HCCI engines is that combustion can become too rapid
and lead to knock [20]. High combustion rates are seen when the
load is high and this limits the range of operation of HCCI engines
[21]. This mode of combustion cannot be realized at low loads on
account of the lean mixtures used and the low temperatures that
prevail in the combustion chamber. Thus the range of loads where
in HCCI combustion can be had is limited.
Combustion control in HCCI engines can be done using two
fuels with different combustion properties in different proportions
[22]. Often diluents like recirculated exhaust gases or other gases
are used to control combustion rate [23,24]. In an earlier work,
the authors found CO
2
to be a good diluent for combustion control
in a HCCI engine fuelled with diesel [25]. Thus it was thought that
the CO
2
present in biogas itself could control combustion rate in a
biogas fuelled HCCI engine. The use of biogas in a HCCI engine does
not seem to have been reported in literature. This motivated the
authors to under take this investigation on biogas fuelled HCCI
mode of operation. Since biogas has a high self ignition tempera-
ture, an additive with a low self ignition temperature, in this case
diesel was needed for ignition.
2. Present work
The objective of the present work is to investigate the potential
of the HCCI concept to utilize biogas effectively. Here biogas is the
main source of energy and diesel is used to control combustion. A
compression ignition engine was operated in the HCCI mode with
biogas being inducted along with air like in a dual fuel engine. Die-
sel which was also injected into the intake air through a high pres-
sure injection system for good atomization, was used to control the
start of combustion. The charge temperature was also varied to
control the combustion process. The inuence of charge tempera-
ture and biogas to diesel proportions was studied at different Brake
Mean Effective Pressures (BMEPs) under a constant speed of
1500 rpm.
3. Experimental setup
The base engine used in this work is a single cylinder, water-
cooled, DI, diesel engine which was modied to operate on the
HCCI mode and the schematic of the setup is shown in Fig. 1.
The specications of the engine are seen in Table 2. An electrical
heater was placed in the intake air stream to control the charge
temperature. There were no changes in the combustion chamber
geometry to convert it from CI to the HCCI mode. However, a sep-
arate inline injection system run by the cam shaft which could be
set at any injection timing desired was developed and used. The re-
quired injection timings were set with the help of an external
mechanical arrangement. A needle-lift sensor was used to nd
the actual start of injection. The pintle type diesel fuel injector
was placed after the electrical heater. Biogas generated in a xed
dome reactor was collected in a exible bag and then transported
Fig. 1. Schematic of experimental setup. 1. Biogas oating drum; 2. Biogas fuel control and measurement system; 3. Manifold injection system; 4. Intake manifold; 5 and 6.
Heater system; 7. Air ow measurement; 8. Pressure transducer; 9. Crank angle encoder; 10. Data acquisition system; 11. Personal computer; 12. Cooling water inlet; 13.
Water ow measurement; 14. Cooling water temperature measurement; 15. Cooling water outlet; 16. Exhaust gas temperature measurement; 17. Exhaust manifold; 1821.
Exhaust gas analyzers; 22. Dynamometer controller; 23. Eddy current dynamometer; 24. Clutch controller; 25. Electric motor; 26. Electromagnetic clutch; 27. Engine.
Table 1
Biogas properties.
Caloric value (MJ/kg) 17
Density at 1 atm and 15 C 1.2
Flame speed (m/s) 0.25
Stoichiometric A/F (kg of air/kg of fuel) 5.7
Flammability limits (vol.% in air) (7.514)
Research octane number 130
Auto-ignition temperature (C) 650
1348 S. Swami Nathan et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 51 (2010) 13471353
to the laboratory. It was then sent into a oating drum meant to
maintain a constant pressure. The ow rate of the biogas was con-
trolled by a valve and was measured with a gas ow meter before
being admitted into the intake manifold.
Intake air and exhaust gas temperatures were measured by
means of the thermocouples and the coolant water outlet temper-
ature was measured by using RTD. An optical-encoder and a ush-
mounted, water cooled, piezoelectric pressure transducer were
used to measure in-cylinder pressure history. During experiments,
in-cylinder pressure data was acquired for 100 consecutive cycles.
Heat release rate was calculated fromthe cylinder gas pressure his-
tory based on a method proposed in literature [26]. A Flame Ioni-
zation Detector for HC, Non-Dispersive Infrared (NDIR) analyzer
for CO, chemiluminescent analyzer for NO
x
and Bosch smoke meter
for smoke emissions were used. Tables 3 and 4 provide information
about instrumentation accuracy and uncertainties.
4. Experimental procedure
In order to achieve HCCI, the engine was initially motored with
the intake charge temperature being increased steadily using a
heater. Then the engine was started when diesel was injected into
the inlet manifold. An intake charge temperature of 85 C was re-
quired for starting the engine. Subsequently, the engine was loaded
to a Brake Mean Effective Pressure (BMEP) of 2.5 bar, i.e. 50% of the
maximum for this engine. Then the biogas was slowly allowed
along with the intake charge and the amount of diesel that was in-
jected was reduced simultaneously and the engine speed was
maintained at 1500 rpm throughout. The coolant outlet tempera-
ture was maintained at 50 C always. Three intake charge
(air + biogas + diesel) temperatures namely 80, 100 and 135 C
were tried at different dieselbiogas proportions at the BMEP of
2.5 bar. The limits of operation in the HCCI mode were misre
(at high biogas ow rates i.e. low diesel ow rate) and knock (at
low biogas ow rates i.e. high diesel ow rate). Subsequently, the
BMEP was raised from 2.5 bar in steps to 4 bar at different constant
charge temperatures of 80, 100 and 135 C. The engine could not
run at BMEPs below 2.5 bar in the HCCI mode as the intake charge
temperature could not be raised beyond 135 C due to system lim-
itations. Beyond a BMEP of 4 bar, combustion rate became very
high and very careful control over the charge temperature and bio-
gas ow rate was needed. Results have been reported at different
biogasdiesel energy ratios. Here energy ratio is dened as the ra-
tio of energy supplied by the biogas alone to the sum of the energy
supplied from biogas and diesel expressed in percentage. Engine
performance, emission and combustion characteristics were evalu-
ated in all the tests.
5. Results and discussion
The engine could operate in the biogasdiesel HCCI (BD-HCCI)
mode satisfactorily in the BMEP range of 2.54 bar with charge
temperatures in the range of 100135 C. Measurements were
not done at BMEPs below 2.5 bar as the charge temperature
needed was very high. In the case of BMEPs above 4 bar control
was difcult as the charge temperature had to be lowered and bio-
gas quantity had to be carefully elevated.
5.1. Brake thermal efciency
The brake thermal efciency in the biogasdiesel HCCI (BD-
HCCI) mode of operation at a BMEP of 2.5 bar is seen in Fig. 2. Bio-
gas was supplied till the efciency dropped down signicantly. It
may be noted that in the diesel-HCCI mode even a charge temper-
ature of 100 C cannot be used as it will lead to severe knocking
due to high heat release rates. With biogas, higher charge temper-
atures could be tolerated due to the presence of CO
2
and the high
self ignition temperature of methane present in it. For example, at
the charge temperature of 100 C the thermal efciency increased
as the biogas quantity was elevated due to the fact that the com-
bustion was progressively delayed towards TDC for good thermo-
dynamic efciency. At the charge temperature of 100 C, a
maximum of 40% substitution by biogas was possible. Here the en-
ergy ratio is dened as the amount of energy from biogas to the to-
tal energy (diesel + biogas) supplied to the engine. High levels of
biogas lowered the heat release rate and thus the thermal ef-
ciency. When the charge temperature was elevated a similar trend
was seen. Higher biogas rates could be tolerated with better ther-
mal efciencies. At the charge temperature of 135 C, it was possi-
ble to use a biogas energy ratio of 4057%. Still higher thermal
efciencies and biogas rates could have been achieved if the charge
temperature was elevated. This was however not tried in this work
Table 2
Engine specications.
Bore stroke 80 110 mm
Connecting rod length 231 mm
Compression ratio 16:1
Rated output 3.7 kW at 1500 rpm
Displacement volume 0.000553 m
3
Injector NOP 220 bar
Table 3
Instrument accuracy.
Sl. no. Parameter Instrument type Accuracy
1 Biogas ow Positive displacement 0.001 m
3
2 Temperature Thermocouple 1 C
3 HC emission FID 50 ppm
4 NO emission Chemiluminescence 5 ppm
5 CO emission NDIR 0.01%
6 Pressure Piezoelectric 0.25 bar
7 Torque Load cell 0.5%
Table 4
Instrument uncertainty.
Sl. no. Measured parameter Uncertainty (%)
1 Biogas ow rate 0.5
2 Intake charge temperature 0.5
3 NO emission 4.1
4 HC (FID) 2.1
5 CO (NDIR) 1.5
6 Cylinder peak pressure 1.3
7 Brake thermal efciency 0.7
10
14
18
22
26
30
20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60
Biogas Energy Ratio [%]
B
r
a
k
e

T
h
e
r
m
a
l
E
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
c
y

[
%
]
Intake charge Temp 100C
Intake charge Temp 135C
2.5 bar bmep
Coolant Temperature 50C
Fig. 2. Variations of brake thermal efciency of biogasdiesel HCCI operation at
2.5 bar BMEP.
S. Swami Nathan et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 51 (2010) 13471353 1349
as the air had to be heated to as high as 200 C to achieve a charge
temperature of 135 C. At these conditions the exhaust gas temper-
ature is above 250 C. Hence, a heat exchanger could be used to
preheat the charge by the exhaust.
Subsequently the engine was run at different BMEPs with three
charge temperatures namely 80, 100 and 135 C. It may be noted
that here the biogas energy ratio was xed at the condition where
knock was just avoided. The highest thermal efciency obtained
with this constraint (lowest biogas energy ratio without knock)
at each BMEP in the BD-HCCI mode is seen in Fig. 3 for each charge
temperature. The optimum charge temperatures are 135 C at 2.5
and 3 bar, 100 C at 3.5 bar and 80 C at a BMEP of 4 bar. The ther-
mal efciencies with the BD-HCCI mode are lower than the case CI
mode with diesel by a maximum of 3% absolute (i.e. from 30% (CI
mode) to 27% in the BD-HCCI mode at a BMEP of 4 bar). It may be
noted that even in the case of biogas diesel operation in the dual
fuel mode the thermal efciencies are lower than the neat diesel
mode of operation [10]. In the case of dual fuel operation with bio-
gas and diesel higher drops in thermal efciency have been re-
ported [11].
The shaded area in Fig. 4 indicates the biogas energy ratio that
gives the best thermal efciency at different BMEPs. The corre-
sponding charge temperatures are also easily read off the graph.
In all cases a ratio of about 50% delivers best result. The curves
in Fig. 2 also show how the energy ratio varies when the engine
is operated at the condition where knock is just avoided.
5.2. Emissions
The variation of HC at a BMEP of 2.5 bar under two different
charge temperatures is seen in Fig. 5. As the amount of energy from
biogas increases the HC level goes up probably because of the un-
burned portion of the charge which is thought to be composed of
biogas, which becomes richer. Beyond a particular substitution
there is sudden rise in the HC level due to an increase in the partial
burn and misring cycles. Fig. 6 also shows that the HC levels go up
with rise in BMEP or rise in charge temperature. As the charge tem-
perature rises, at any BMEP more biogas has to be used to suppress
knock. As the BMEP increases, we nd from Fig. 4 that the biogas
energy ratio increases if we need operation at the knock border.
Thus it is evident that the HC level goes up whenever the biogas
energy ratio increases. These levels are far higher than the base
diesel values. Biogas diesel dual fuel engines also show signi-
cantly increased HC levels as compared to normal diesel operation
[10].
Fig. 7 indicates that at a BMEP of 2.5 bar the CO level drops to a
minimum and then rises as the biogas energy level is increased.
Near the operating condition of highest thermal efciency the CO
level is a minimum. When misre occurs the CO level shoots up
as in the case of HC. However, the HC level always goes up with
an increase in the biogas energy ratio. We nd from Fig. 8 that
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5
BMEP [bar]
B
r
a
k
e

T
h
e
r
m
a
l

E
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
c
y

[
%
]
Charge Temp 80C
Charge Temp 100C
Charge Temp 135C
CI Mode
Best Operation of BD-HCCI
Fig. 3. Variations of brake thermal efciency of biogasdiesel HCCI operation for
the operation window.
Fig. 4. Variations of energy ratio for different charge temperatures for the operation
window.
1000
1800
2600
3400
4200
20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60
Biogas Energy Ratio [%]
H
C

E
m
i
s
s
i
o
n

[
p
p
m
]
Intake charge Temp 100C
Intake charge Temp 135C
P l (I k h T
2.5 bar bmep
Coolant Temperature 50C
Fig. 5. Variations of HC emissions of biogasdiesel HCCI operation at 2.5 bar BMEP.
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5
BMEP [bar]
H
C

E
m
i
s
s
i
o
n

[
p
p
m
]

Charge Temp 80C "
Charge Temp 100C
Charge Temp 135C
CI Mode
Fig. 6. Variations of HC emissions for different charge temperatures for the
operation window.
0.00
0.05
0.10
0.15
0.20
20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60
Biogas Energy Ratio [%]
C
O

E
m
i
s
s
i
o
n

[
%

V
o
l
]
Intake charge Temp 100C
Intake charge Temp 135C
2.5 bar bmep
Coolant Temperature 50C
Fig. 7. Variations of CO emissions of biogasdiesel HCCI operation at 2.5 bar BMEP.
1350 S. Swami Nathan et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 51 (2010) 13471353
the CO level falls with increase in BMEP when the biogas ratio is
maintained to avoid knock. Here the biogas energy ratio increases
(i.e. the diesel share decreases) with rise in BMEP. In general it is
seen that CO falls when the diesel share reduces.
The NO level was found to reduce as the biogas energy ratio was
raised because the combustion rate came down with a decrease in
the amount of diesel injected. Even when the engine was knocking
the NO levels in the BD-HCCI mode was below 60 ppm is seen in
Fig. 9 due to the effect of CO
2
. Fig. 10 indicates that at different
BMEPs the NO level when the engine was at the knock border is
less than 20 ppm as compared to values between 250 and
470 ppm with neat diesel operation.
5.3. Combustion characteristics
Fig. 11 shows the heat release rate in the BD-HCCI mode at bio-
gas energy ratios in the range of 4057% at a charge temperature of
135 C and a BMEP of 2.5 bar. We nd that the addition of biogas
delays the combustion and also reduces the heat release rate. This
is because of the presence of CO
2
and also because methane pres-
ent in biogas has a high self ignition temperature. The highest ther-
mal efciency occurred at a biogas energy rate of 51% due to
optimal phasing of combustion. In this case neat diesel operation
in the HCCI mode was not possible due to knock. The correspond-
ing calculated cylinder peak temperatures were reduced from
1600 K to 1330 K when the energy ratio changed from 40% to
57% is shown in Fig. 12. There was a reduction in NO levels also.
Figure 13 indicates that biogas can signicantly reduce the
maximum rate of pressure rise which can be very high with HCCI
operation. At the best efciency condition the maximum rate of
pressure rise was about 4 bar at both the charge temperatures at
the BMEP of 2.5 bar. The cycle by cycle variations in peak pressure
show a sharp increase beyond the best thermal efciency point due
to misring and partial combustion as seen in Fig. 14.
Subsequent graphs indicate the effect of BMEP on combustion
parameters when the biogas energy ratio was maintained at a con-
0
100
200
300
400
500
2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5
BMEP [bar]
N
O
x

E
m
i
s
s
i
o
n
s

[
p
p
m
]
Charge Temp 80C
Charge Temp 100C
Charge Temp 135C
CI Mode
Fig. 10. Variations of NO
x
emissions for different charge temperatures for the
operation window.
-10
10
30
50
70
90
110
130
330 340 350 360 370 380 390 400
Crank Angle [CA]
H
e
a
t

R
e
l
e
a
s
e

R
a
t
e

[
J
/

C
A
]
40% Biogas
45% Biogas
47% Biogas
51% Biogas
54% Biogas
57% Biogas
135C-Chrage Temp
Fig. 11. Heat release rate for 135 C charge temperature at 2.5 bar BMEP.
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
1800
320 330 340 350 360 370 380 390
Crank Angle [CA]
T
e
m
p
e
a
r
t
u
r
e

[

K
]
40% Biogas
45% Biogas
47% Biogas
51% Biogas
54% Biogas
57% Biogas
135C-Chrage Temp
Fig. 12. In-cylinder temperature for 135 C charge temperature at 2.5 bar BMEP.
0.00
0.03
0.06
0.09
0.12
2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5
BMEP [bar]
C
O

E
m
i
s
s
i
o
n

[
%

V
o
l
]
Charge Temp 80C
Charge Temp 100C
Charge Temp 135C
Fig. 8. Variations of CO emissions for different charge temperatures for the
operation window.
0
30
60
90
120
20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60
Biogas Energy Ratio [%]
N
O
x

E
m
i
s
s
i
o
n
s

[
p
p
m
]
Intake charge Temp 100C
Intake charge Temp 135C
2.5 bar bmep
Coolant Temperature 50C
Fig. 9. Variations of NO
x
emissions of biogas-diesel HCCI operation at 2.5 bar BMEP.
0
3
6
9
12
15
20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60
Biogas Energy Ratio [%]
M
a
x
i
m
u
m

R
a
t
e

o
f

P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

R
i
s
e

[
b
a
r
/

C
A
]
Intake charge Temp 100C
Intake charge Temp 135C
2.5 bar bmep
Coolant Temperature 50C
Fig. 13. Variations of MRPR of biogasdiesel HCCI operation at 2.5 bar BMEP.
S. Swami Nathan et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 51 (2010) 13471353 1351
dition where the engine was just about to knock. In Fig. 15, we see
that the Maximum Rate of Pressure Rise (MRPR) falls with BMEP
increase and also rise in charge temperature. As mentioned earlier
as the BMEP increases or the charge temperature rises in the fol-
lowing graphs, the biogas energy ratio goes up. Thus we see from
Fig. 13 that the MRPR falls with increase in the biogas energy ratio.
The combustion duration also goes up as seen in Fig. 16. Combus-
tion duration was calculated using the cumulative heat release
curve between 10% and 90% of total heat release. The COV of PP
also follows a similar trend indicating that the biogas energy ratio
has a signicant effect (Fig. 17).
The variation of heat release rates at a charge temperature of
80 C (Fig. 18) indicates that though the peak heat release rate in-
creases with BMEP, combustion gets delayed. This is because at
higher BMEPs larger biogas energy ratios had to be used while
working at the knock limit for good thermal efciency. Even
though the maximum heat release rate rises with BMEP the MRPR
reduces as seen earlier in Fig. 15. This is because of the delayed
combustion phasing. Fig. 18 also indicates a small early heat re-
lease portion (cool ame) at the BMEP of 2.5 bar where the biogas
energy ratio is low (diesel energy ratio is highest). At higher BMEPs
this phenomenon is not clearly seen because the fraction of diesel
energy is low. The absence of cool ames in the case of lower
hydrocarbons like methane is reported in literature [27].
Figure 19 indicates that as the charge temperature is raised at
xed BMEP (3 bar) while the engine operates on the knock bor-
der, combustion starts earlier and the heat release rates also be-
come higher. This occurs even though the biogas energy ratio is
raised as the charge temperature is elevated. The maximum rate
of pressure rise thus signicantly increases with charge tempera-
ture. Thus it is evident that a close control over the biogas energy
ratio and charge temperature is needed to achieve good
combustion.
6. Conclusions
This work has shown that biogas can be effectively used in the
HCCI mode with manifold injected diesel and charge temperature
0
4
8
12
16
20
20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60
Biogas Energy Ratio [%]
C
O
V

o
f

P
e
a
k

P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

Intake charge Temp 100C
Intake charge Temp 135C
2.5 bar bmep
Coolant Temperature 50C
Fig. 14. Variations of COV of peak pressure of biogasdiesel HCCI operation at
2.5 bar BMEP.
0
2
4
6
8
10
2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5
BMEP [bar]
M
a
x
i
m
u
m

R
a
t
e

o
f

P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

R
i
s
e

[
b
a
r
/

C
A
]
Charge Temp 80C
Charge Temp 100C
Charge Temp 135C
Fig. 15. Variations of MRPR for different charge temperatures for the operation
window.
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5
BMEP [bar]
C
o
m
b
u
s
t
i
o
n

D
u
r
a
t
i
o
n

[

C
A
]
Charge Temp 80C
Charge Temp 100C
Charge Temp 135C
Fig. 16. Variations of combustion duration for different charge temperatures for the
operation window.
0
1
2
3
4
5
2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5
BMEP [bar]
C
O
V

o
f

P
e
a
k

P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

Charge Temp 80C
Charge Temp 100C
Charge Temp 135C
Fig. 17. Variations of COV of peak pressure for different charge temperatures for the
operation window.
-10
10
30
50
70
90
110
330 340 350 360 370 380 390 400
Crank Angle [CA]
H
e
a
t

R
e
l
e
a
s
e

R
a
t
e

[
J
/

C
A
]
2.5 bar BMEP
3.0 bar BMEP
4.0 bar BMEP
80C-Chrage Temp
Fig. 18. Heat release rate for 80 C charge temperature at 2.5 bar BMEP.
-10
10
30
50
70
90
330 340 350 360 370 380 390 400
Crank Angle [CA]
H
e
a
t

R
e
l
e
a
s
e

R
a
t
e

[
J
/

C
A
]
135C Charge
100C Charge
80C Charge
Temp
Temp
Temp 3.0 bar BMEP
Fig. 19. Heat release rates for different charge temperatures at 3 bar BMEP.
1352 S. Swami Nathan et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 51 (2010) 13471353
being employed for controlling combustion. The presence of CO
2
in
biogas suppresses the high heat release that normally occurs in
HCCI engines fuelled with diesel. The high self ignition tempera-
ture of methane helps delay the combustion process to favorable
crank angles. Efciencies close to diesel operation along with ex-
tremely low levels of NO and smoke were attained in a BMEP range
of 2.54 bar. This can be extended to still higher BMEPs with prop-
er control over the charge temperature and biogas energy ratio.
This mode of operation seems to be better than the biogas diesel
dual fuel mode in the range of BMEPs tried as regards thermal ef-
ciency and emissions of NO and smoke.
The thermal efciency at a BMEP of 4 bar is 27.2% in the biogas
diesel HCCI mode as against 30% with diesel operation. The NO le-
vel is less than 20 ppm and the smoke level is less than 0.1 BSU at
all conditions in the biogasdiesel HCCI mode. The best energy ra-
tio of biogas is about 50%. HC emissions are signicantly higher
with the biogasdiesel HCCI mode as compared to the normal die-
sel mode. The HC level increases with a raise in the biogas energy
ratio. A charge temperature of about 80135 C is needed. This can
be attained through heating by exhaust gases. On the whole the
biogasdiesel HCCI mode can be employed in the medium to high
output ranges when biogas is to be utilized in a diesel engine.
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