Effect of ternary blends on the noise, vibration, and emission characteristics of an automotive spark ignition engine

The type of fuel, engine speed, and load are some of the parameters, which influence engine noise, vibrations, and exhaust emissions of an internal combustion engine. The present investigation is carried out to study the effect of isobutanol addition to methanol-gasoline blends on engine's noise, vibration, and emission characteristics of an unmodified automotive SI engine operated at various engine speeds. The engine was fueled with 10 and 15% (v/v) blended fuels of methanol-gasoline (M10, M15) and methanol-isobutanol-gasoline (iBM10, iBM15). The blended fuels produced relatively high noise levels and less vibration in the vertical and longitudinal direction when compared with gasoline operation. The maximum noise level of 64.43dBA observed with the M15 blend and which is 4 dBA higher than gasoline. Only a slight variation in the total fuel consumption observed for all the test fuels at higher engine speeds. The emissions from the test fuels iBM10 and iBM15 showed a reduction in HC by 25 and 10% and CO emissions by 65 and 87%, respectively. The methanol-gasoline blends produced slightly higher CO2 and NOx emissions than gasoline.