Comparative Study on Methanol (M100) and Ethanol (E100) Fueled Otto Cycle Engine

Year 2022, Volume: 6 Issue: 1, 61 - 67, 31.03.2022

Nıdhı Chaudhary K. A. Subramanian

https://doi.org/10.30939/ijastech..999550

Abstract

An experimental investigation was conducted to study the combustion, performance, and emissions of an
automotive spark ignition engine fuelled with ethanol (E100) and methanol (M100). The experimental tests
were performed at the same engine speed and torque with both fuels. It was observed from the experimental results that In-cylinder peak pressure at all the speeds was higher with M100 than E100. The cumulative
heat release curve indicated that the start of combustion advanced with M100. The crank angle for 10%
and 50% mass fraction burnt occured earlier with M100 as compared to E100. Brake thermal efficiency
of the engine increased by more than 30% with M100 as compared to E100. Volumetric efficiency of the
engine increased marginally (5-9%) with E100 than that of M100. Carbonmonoxide (CO) emission decreased by 32.9%, 52.9 %, and 7.3% at 3500 rpm, 3800 rpm, and 4200 rpm respectively with M100 as compared to E100. Hydrocarbon (HC) emission with M100 decreased by 14.2, 60%, and 67% at 3500 rpm, 3800 rpm,
and 4200 rpm respectively. NOx emission with M100 increased by 5 times than E100 at 3500 rpm while at 4200 rpm, it increased by 60%. It is concluded that the combustion, performance and emission characteristics of the engine was better with methanol (M100) than ethanol (E100).

Keywords

Combustion, Ethanol, Methanol

References

• (1) Muharrem Eyidogan, Ahmet Necati Ozsezen, Mustafa Canakci, Ali Turkcan, Impact of alcohol–gasoline fuel blends on the performance and combustion characteristics of an SI engine, Fuel, Volume 89, 2010, Pages 2713-2720.
• (2) V. Edwin Geo, D. Jesu Godwin, S. Thiyagarajan, C.G. Saravanan, Fethi Aloui, Effect of higher and lower order alcohol blending with gasoline on performance, emission and combustion characteristics of SI engine, Fuel, Volume 256, 2019, Pages 115-806.