Performance, emission and combustion characteristics of a single cylinder spark ignition engine using ethanol–petrol-blended fuels

Abstract

The performance, exhaust emission and combustion analyses of a single cylinder spark ignition engine fuelled with extended range of ethanol–petrol blends were carried out successfully at full load conditions. Ethanol produced from raffia trunks was blended with petrol at different proportions by volume. In order to establish a baseline for comparison, the engine was first run on neat petrol. The engine performance parameters (engine torque, brake power, brake specific fuel consumption, brake mean effective pressure and brake thermal efficiency), exhaust emission parameters (CO, HC, CO2 and O2 emissions) and combustion parameters were determined for each blend of fuel at different engine speeds. The test results interestingly revealed that the addition of ethanol to petrol causes an improvement in combustion characteristics and significant reduction in exhaust emissions which in turn improved engine performance. In all, ethanol and its blends with petrol exhibited performance characteristics trends similar to that of petrol thus confirming them as suitable alternative fuels for spark ignition engines.