Biogas Combustion Engines for Green Energy Generation (eBook)

This book deals with the combustion and exhaust emissions of gas engines fueled with green biogas. Biogas is a mixture of gases, primarily consisting of methane and carbon dioxide. Biogas can be produced from raw materials such as agricultural waste, manure, municipal waste, plant material, sewage, food waste, etc. Biogas is considered to be a renewable source of energy. Therefore, it can contribute to the prevention of global warming.

The biogas engine is used to co-generate electricity by operating engine and heat from hot exhaust gases. The energy source used very efficiently. Unlike other green energy sources such as wind and solar, biogas is readily available when needed.

This book first describes the basics of biogas and its application to internal combustion engines. Next, it describes the engine system and the combustion phenomena in the engine cylinder. Engine technology continues to advance in spark ignition and dual-fuel engines to achieve higher thermal efficiency and lower harmful emissions. Several advanced combustion technologies are introduced to achieve higher thermal efficiency while avoiding knocking.

Eiji Tomita, Emeritus Professor of Okayama University since April 2020, received his  Dr. Eng. degree in 1990 from Kyoto University. He has made significant contributions to engine research and development, particularly with respect to turbulent flame propagation and irregular combustion like knocking, development of measurement technique for infrared absorption for hydrocarbon fuel or carbon dioxide concentrations in internal combustion engines, transient temperature measurement of unburned mixture in the end gas region just before knocking, combustion phenomena in gas engines fueled with biogas, syngas, hydrogen, and natural gas. He has published 12 chapters in books and more than 220 papers in international journals and conferences. In 2005, he was awarded SAE Harry LeVan Horning Memorial Award. He was awarded several times from some domestic societies, too. He is a Fellow of IOP (2004-2020), JSME (2005-), JSAE (2006-), and SAE (2014-). He was one of Colloquium Co-Chairs, IC Engine and Gas Turbine Combustion in 34th International Symposium on Combustion (2012) and 35th (2014). He was the chair of COMODIA2017 (The Ninth International Conference on Modeling and Diagnostics for Advanced Engine Systems).

Nobuyuki Kawahara is a Professor in the Department of Advanced Mechanics in Okayama University. His areas of interest are IC engines, combustion, alternative fuels, conventional fuels, optical diagnostics, laser ignition, and numerical simulation. He has published 8 chapters in 8 books and 210+ international journal and conference papers. Prof. Kawahara is a Fellow of JSAE (2009-), JSME (2019-), and Fellow Engineer of JSAE (2017-). He received several awards such as Oral Presentation Award of 2003 JSAE/SAE International Spring Fuels & Lubricants Meeting, SETC 2007 Best Paper Award, ICSAT 2008 Best International Paper Award, and 2009 SAE Excellence in Oral Presentation Award.

Ulugbek Azimov is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering in Northumbria University, UK. His major interests are R&D of internal combustion engines, renewable and biofuels and low-carbon propulsion systems. He held a JSPS Postdoctoral fellowship and conducted experimental and numerical engine research using advanced optical diagnostic techniques and modelling tools in Okayama University, Japan. After successful completion of his fellowship in Japan, he was involved in UltraBoost project as a TSB postdoctoral research associate in the University of Leeds, UK and conducted research on modelling of abnormal combustion and engine knock in highly boosted gasoline engines. This post was followed by a Senior Lecturer and later a Head of Department positions in Mechanical Engineering at Curtin University Malaysia. Dr. Azimov joined Northumbria University as a Senior Lecturer in 2013 and held different duties, such as, PGR programme leader, a programme leader for BEng/MEng Automotive Engineering, and Head of Subject in Mechanical Engineering. He has published more than 40 research papers and 2 book chapters. He has advanced work on renewable fuels, chemical kinetics mechanism development for dual-fuel engines, and application of multi-dimensional CFD models for modelling and designing of combustion systems. Dr. Azimov serves as an Associate Editor of Frontiers in Energy Research journal, he is a member of the Editorial Board of MDPI Energies, Fuels, and Vehicles. In 2011 he received the Felix Weinberg award from the Institute of Physics.