Journal of Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers ISSN:1738-3692(Print) 2093-7709(Online) 한국농공학회논문집

Syngas, also known as synthesis gas, synthetic gas, or producer gas, is a combustible gas mixture generated when organic material (biomass) is heated in a gasifier with a limited airflow at a high temperature and elevated pressure. The present research was aimed at modifying the existing LPG engine generator for fully operated syngas. During this study, the designed gasifier-powered woodchip biomass was used for syngas production to generate power. A 6.0 kW LPG engine generator was modified and tested for operation on syngas. In the experiments, syngas and LPG fuels were tested as test fuels. For syngas production, 3 kg of dry woodchips were fed and burnt into the designed downdraft gasifier. The gasifier was connected to a blower coupled with a slider to help the air supply and control the ignition. The convection cooling system was connected to the syngas flow pipe for cooling the hot produce gas and filtering the impurities. For engine modification, a customized T-shaped flexible air/fuel mixture control device was designed for adjusting the correct stoichiometric air-fuel ratio ranging between 1:1.1 and 1.3 to match the combustion needs of the engine. The composition of produced syngas was analyzed using a gas analyzer and its composition was; 13~15 %, 10.2~13 %, 4.1~4.5 %, and 11.9~14.6 % for CO, H₂, CH₄, and CO₂ respectively with a heating value range of 4.12~5.01 MJ/Nm³. The maximum peak power output generated from syngas and LPG was recorded using a clamp-on power meter and found to be 3,689 watts and 5,001 watts, respectively. The results found from the experiment show that the LPG engine generator operated on syngas can be adopted with a de-ration rate of 73.78 % compared to its regular operating fuel.