Laminar burning velocity and flammability characteristics of biogas in spark ignited premix combustion at reduced pressure

Biogas as a "Powergas" is an alternative fuel produced in digestion facilities, that is sustainable and renewable. Based on chemical analysis, the composition of the biogas produced in East Java is 66.4% methane, 30.6% carbon dioxide and 3% nitrogen. Methane is a flammable gas, whereas, nitrogen and carbon dioxide are inhibitors. Given it has a different composition to traditional fuels, a fundamental study of biogas flame propagation characteristics is desirable to quantify this important fuel property. Spherically expanding flames propagating at constant pressure are employed to measure the laminar burning velocity and flammability characteristics as mixture function of the mixture composition. These important parameters were measured using a photographic technique in a high pressure fan-stirred bomb. The characteristics of biogas-air flames were initially studied at reduced pressure and at various equivalence ratios from the lower flammable limit to the upper flammable limit. The results were compared with those from biogas- air flames at atmospheric pressure. Based on this experimental investigation, the laminar burning velocities of biogas-air mixtures at reduced pressure were 0.218 m/s for φ =0.75, 0.246 m/s for φ =0.80 and 0.269 m/s for φ =0.85 respectively and only for these biogas mixtures propagated at reduced pressure. At the same equivalence ratio (φ), the laminar burning velocities of the biogas-air mixtures at reduced pressure are higher than those at atmospheric pressure. The flammable region of biogas became narrower by reducing initial pressure. The dilution effect is stronger at reduced pressure. Therefore, the flammable composition mixture areas of biogas-air mixtures are more limited at reduced pressure than those at atmospheric pressure.