The development of a simple alternative hybrid engine for gasoline, LPG and biogas

Abstract

This work was focused on the development of a hybrid engine which was fueled with three different fuels; gasoline as original fuel, Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) and biogas as two alternative fuels. The developed engine consisted of fuel storage tanks, a small gas reducer, a fuel premixer and the engine of a Suzuki Skydrive 125CC motorcycle. Performances of the prototype and developed engines were compared in terms of wheel speed. The developed engine could be started, idled and accelerated with the average maximum speed of 1276 revolutions per minute when it was connected directly with the biogas reservoir. Then, the biogas was compressed and stored in a standard gas tank which was connected with the developed engine, the average maximum speed of 1273.67 revolutions per minute was obtained from three experiments. This work emphasized not only biogas usage as the alternative fuel for the engine but also pointed out that biogas quality could affect the engine performance. The developed engine could be applied as vehicle engine or it could drive household self-power generators by using household biogas as fuel.