Simulation of a hot air engine for a generation of electricity using biogas for Tanzania rural application

At the moment, about 80% of the rural population in Tanzania lacks grid electricity. As a result, up to 90% of energy requirements in rural areas are met by firewood and hence causing deforestation. In the present paper, the authors are advocating the application of biogas to generate electricity in rural areas to minimise deforestation. Preliminary study conducted has shown that the power required in rural areas is about 10kW for household and small economic activities. As such, the authors have investigated the possibility of applying a hot air engine using biogas as a source of energy to generate electricity. The study involved simulation of hot air engine using a Stirling Numerical Analysis Program (SNAP) with use modifiable code. In the exercise, the performance of the simulated engine was assessed with helium, hydrogen and air as working media. Reheat loss and pressure losses were also assessed for varies range of engine power and efficiency. It has been observed that with helium and hydrogen as working gas, the power output could easily reach 10kW, which is sufficient for rural household application. However, with air the engine could realise only 4kW under similar conditions. It has further been observed that air has bigger and more viscous molecular with lower thermal conductivity and heat capacity, which results in higher losses. This implies that a relatively bigger engine need be employed for running with air. However, high initial cost will be offset by the reduction in operating cost, since air is freely available. For proper operation of the engine heater temperature should be maintained above 630(deg)C, which is realizable with biogas having a flame temperature of about 870(deg)C. (author)