Experimental Study on the Spray Characteristics of Ethanol Gasoline Blended Fuel in a Direct Injection System

Global warming and finite amount of oil resources have become serious issues. For this reason, the development of eco-friendly vehicles, using biofuel or oher materials has attracted significant attention. In particular, bioethanol has been focused on as an alternative to gasoline because it does not require a full-scale remodeling of a conventional internal combustion engine. However, the differences in the physical characteristics between gasoline and ethanol can lead to different spray characteristics, which can significantly affect the level of combustion. This study aims to identify the physical characteristics of an ethanol-gasoline blended fuel, including its viscosity, density and temperature by measuring the Sauter mean diameter (SMD) and applying a spray visualization. Through these experiments, basic data regarding the fuel characteristics and spray patterns according to the ethanol content required for an optimized combustion of an ethanol-gasoline blended fuel, are provided.