Abstract
This paper presents operation and the characteristics of electric power generation of a spark-ignition engine fuelled with biogas produced through a low-temperature biomass gasification process. The biomass resource was mixture of pig manure and wood chips. Two kinds of load was connected to the generator, one was electric resistance and the other is Ni-MH battery manufactured by Kawasaki Heavy Industry Co. The engine was successfully operated at the maximum BMEP (Brake Mean Effective Pressure) of 0.38 MPa which was 65 % of the original gasoline. The generation efficiency was more than 26 %, which was even higher than that of gasoline. The power could also be charged to the battery, but the BMEP and generation efficiency were 0.19 MPa and 15 %, respectively, which were pretty lower than those of resistance.
