[Digestion] Small water-cooled gensets

[Hoysall Chanakya]

Dear List users
At this small end of the scale it is best today to adapt motorcycle
engines to 100% biogas [biogas start and biogas run] systems.  Modern
motorcycle engines are highly tuned and have multiple spark plugs and
carburettion /ignition advance can be controlled through various software
based engine control units (ECUs].  Therefore one can get
biogas-2-electricity efficiencies upwards of 20-22% i.e. getting
1.42-1.5kWh electrical per standard cubic metre of biogas.  This is
something unheard of at this end of the scale.

Earlier we did modify the older petrol-start kerosene-run Honda /Yamaha
/Villiers engines for this purpose.  The compression ratios of these
engines have been kept low to avoid knocking [4.5 to 5 for running with
kerosene] and so the energy efficiency comes down to about 6-8.5%
(requiring about 1.8-3 cu.m biogas per kWh).  Therefore if you have the
wherewithal and required skills then it would be better to take up a 100
-125cc modern motorcycle engine and get a high efficiency even at
compression ratio of 9 [instead of the ideal 13] and compensating the low
flame velocity by alternative methods of firing such as multiple spark
plugs, etc. which these engines anyway allow in their software.  They can
also be tuned for lean burn enormously increasing efficiencies at low
loading!!

Just for the record
We did just filed a patent and got a company to agree for mass manufacture.
You could ask "Race Dynamics" for engines of this kind
happy hunting
Chanakya




>
>
> Dear friends,
>
>
> I am looking for advice/information on very small (5-10 kW)
> water-cooled gensets suitable for being fueled by biogas. Prefer
> US-based options, but any information would help.
>
>
> d.
>
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> http://www.adelaide.edu.au/biogas/
> and the Biogas Wiki http://biogas.wikispaces.com/
>
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-- 
Dr. Hoysall Chanakya
Centre for Sustainable Technologies
(Assoc. Faculty at Centre for Infrastructure, Sustainable Transport and
Urban Planning (CiSTUP) and Centre for Contemporary Studies)
Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560 012
ph 91-80-2293 3046; fax-91 80 2360 0683


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