Experimental determination of suitable ethanol–gasoline blend for Spark ignition engine

Ethanol produced from biomass has high octane number and good antiknock characteristic, less ozone depletion potential and global warming potential than the pure gasoline, therefore it can be used as a blended fuel with gasoline fuel in the S.I. engine. In this paper the experimental investigation of four stroke petrol engine is carried out to analyze the engine performance and emission characteristics. Engine performance and exhaust emission are determined using different blend ratios of ethanol with gasoline (E0, E20, E40, E60, E80, and E100) to evaluate the most suitable blend. In this study the engine with compression ratio 10:1 is tested using pure gasoline and various blends by varying Brake power at constant engine rpm. Performance tests are conducted for total fuel consumption, brake specific fuel consumption, brake thermal efficiency and exhaust emissions. The exhaust emissions are analyzed for carbon monoxide (CO), and unburned hydrocarbons (HC). The results shows that blending of ethanol with gasoline increases fuel consumption, brake specific fuel consumption, brake thermal efficiencies, while the CO and HC concentration in the emissions of engine exhaust decreases considerably