Abstract

Influence of Ethanol-Water Blends in Spark Ignition Engine Performance and Emissions Operated with Gasoline

Author(s): Balaji Dhanapal, Balu R and Jenoris Mutiah

The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of using DNS85 (ethanol 79.3%+water 5.7%+gasoline 15%) as fuel in a four cylinder four strokes SI engine. In the process of investigation, the performance tests were conducted on the engine to analyze volumetric efficiency, brake thermal efficiency, brake power, engine torque and brake specific fuel consumption. Exhaust emissions were also investigated for carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC), oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and carbon dioxide (CO2). Experiments are conducted at 50% throttle opening position at different engine speeds ranging between 2500 rpm to 4500 rpm. The results of the experiments revealed that, blending the unleaded gasoline with denatured spirit increases the brake thermal efficiency, volumetric efficiency, brake power, engine torque and brake specific fuel consumption. The CO, HC, NOx and CO2 emissions in the exhaust decrease. The DNS85 as fuel produced the encouraging results in engine performance and reduced exhaust emissions for all the tested speeds and measured performance parameters.