Performance of an ethanol-gasoline blend fuelled spark ignition engine

This work investigates the performance of a production 1.0-liter, eight-valve, four-stroke engine fuelled by hydrated ethanol or a blend of 78% gasoline and 22% ethanol. The engine, of compression ratio 12.0, was tested in a dynamometer according to NBR/ISO 1585 standard. The performance parameters under investigation were torque, brake mean effective pressure, power, and specific fuel consumption. The results showed that torque and brake mean effective pressure were higher when the gasoline-ethanol blend fuel was used under low engine speeds, and, for high engine speeds, higher torque and brake mean effective pressure were achieved when hydrated ethanol was used as fuel. Utilization of hydrated ethanol originated higher power at high engine speeds, while, for low engine speeds, both fuels produced about the same power. Engine thermal efficiency was higher for hydrated ethanol throughout all the engine speed range investigated, but so was the specific fuel consumption.