Performance, combustion and emission characteristics of a spark-ignition engine with simultaneous injection of n-butanol and gasoline in comparison to blended butanol and gasoline

Simultaneous injection of n-butanol and gasoline through a new system of two injectors directing the sprays towards the back of the intake valve in a spark-ignition engine was tried in lieu of injecting a blend of these fuels through a single injector. This system avoids the problem of phase separation, which is generally faced during the use of alcohol-gasoline blends. Experiments were conducted on a spark-ignition engine with this dual injection system using a fuel ratio of 1:1 (B50S) on the mass basis. High-speed photographs indicated that the sprays from the injectors did not interfere till they reached the intake valve. Comparisons were made with pre-blended butanol-gasoline (B50) and neat (100%) gasoline at the best spark timing. All injection and spark parameters were controlled using a real time engine controller.Neat n-butanol (B100) was superior only near full throttle with improved efficiency of the engine of about 1.2% (absolute). Heat release rates were observed to be higher and more advanced with B100 at wide open throttle. However, a reverse of this trend was observed at the throttle position of 15%. NO emission was also lower by 30% with B100 at wide open throttle as compared with gasoline. However, a small increase in carbon monoxide (CO) levels was observed because of lower post combustion temperatures as compared with gasoline and B50S. Simultaneous injection reduced hydrocarbon (HC) emissions by 13% to 50% as compared with B50 (blended fuel). HC emissions with gasoline and B50S were similar. Nitric oxide (NO) emission was lower with B50S as compared with gasoline; however it was higher than B50 because of better combustion. On the whole, the developed dual injection system was superior to the conventional method of blending in terms of performance, emissions and ability to change the fuel ratio as needed. B50S is suitable at all throttle positions, whereas B100 shows benefits at full throttle conditions. Copyright (c) 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.