Experimental Study on the Effect of Injection Timing on a Dual Fuel Diesel Engine Operated With Biogas Derived From Food Waste

The present work emphasizes the effects of injection timing on the characteristics of a 5.2-kW powered four-stroke diesel engine using biogas and its heat loss analysis. The biogas is obtained from food waste consisting of methane (CH₄)—88.1% and carbon dioxide (CO₂)—11.8% as the composition. The biogas (BG) is selected by mass basis ranging from 20% to 60% with 10% increments and is used to operate the engine by dual-fuel mode. The effect of three injection timings such as 25.5 deg (retarded), 27.5 deg (actual), and 29.5 deg (advanced) before top-dead center (bTDC) under dual-mode operation to enhance the properties of the engine is studied, and the results are compared with diesel mode at actual injection timing. Maximum brake thermal efficiency of 30.1% was observed for BG20 operated at 29.5-deg bTDC injection timing (IT). The dual mode operated at the injection timing of 29.5-deg bTDC showed an increase in cylinder pressure compared to diesel by 11.9% at full load conditions, whereas carbon monoxide emission was lower by 5.2% at 29.5-deg bTDC IT than diesel, and nitrogen oxide emission was lower at 25.5 deg bTDC IT than diesel mode by 45%. Besides, at 75% engine load, the least amount of heat losses was observed for BG50 exhibiting effective conversion of fuel energy into equivalent work higher than that of diesel by 2.2%, respectively.