Exhaust Emissions, Fuel Economy, and Driveability of Vehicles Fueled with Alcohol-Gasoline Blends

Abstract

<div class="htmlview paragraph">Current national interest in alternative fuels has placed considerable emphasis on alcohols, mainly methanol and its blends with gasoline. Vehicle studies with methanol-gasoline and ethanol-gasoline blends showed that adding alcohol to gasoline without carburetor modifications decreased carbon monoxide emissions, volume-based fuel economy, driveability, and performance. Depending on the carburetor's air-fuel ratio characteristics, hydrocarbon and nitrogen oxide emissions and road octane are either increased, decreased, or not affected.</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">These effects can be explained on the basis of changes in stoichiometry, energy content, combustion temperatures, and detonation resistance caused by the addition of alcohol to gasoline.</div>