Simulation Study on Utilisation of Biogas from Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) as Fuel for Diesel Generator Set

Biogas harnessed from the liquid by-product of palm oil production is widely used for power generation. Dual-fuel engines incorporate biogas as primary fuel and diesel as pilot fuel to facilitate advanced combustion strategies. This study presents a simulation study of biogas utilisation in dual fuel mode conducted on a diesel generator set in IOI Pukin Palm Oil Mill, Rompin, Pahang. In this paper, the maximum substitution level of diesel with biogas for the proposed dual-fuel engine is presented. The CFD combustion simulation was performed using ANSYS Forte IC Engine software to study the effect of biogas substitution on in-cylinder peak pressure, maximum temperature, chemical rate of heat release (RoHR) and emission characteristics for six different biogas-diesel compositions. For turbulence analysis, RNG κ−ε model was employed whereas default models were used to study other combustion parameters. The optimum engine load for dual-fuel operation was found to be 75% with 486kW power output based on theoretical calculations of brake thermal efficiency, specific fuel consumption and diesel replacement ratio.