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An investigation on performance and combustion characteristics of pure n-butanol and a blend of n-butanol/ethanol as fuels in a spark ignition engine

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  • Fagundez, J.L.S.
  • Golke, D.
  • Martins, M.E.S.
  • Salau, N.P.G.

Abstract

The n-butanol, an alcohol with chemical characteristics similar to gasoline, was evaluated experimentally in a spark ignition (SI) engine and through two-zone computer modelling. To do so, n-butanol was burned as a pure fuel and compared to hydrous ethanol, and a blend of n-butanol/ethanol was compared to a blend of gasoline/ethanol in order to evaluate combustion characteristics and engine performance. Experimental results have shown that n-butanol performed worse than hydrous ethanol, especially due to its lower octane number, which at 13.5:1 compression ratio and 7 bar BMEP tested gave advantage to the second alcohol fuel properties due to knock limitation. At the same test conditions, n-butanol blend showed similar engine efficiency parameters, such as indicated power, when compared to the gasoline blend, indicating that n-butanol is a potential surrogate for gasoline when blended with ethanol. In order to evaluate auto-ignition occurrence, an ignition sweep was done at a 9.5:1 compression ratio and 6 bar BMEP, showing that pure n-butanol had its performance rather limited by knocking combustion and cyclic variability, while its blend with ethanol was able to avoid sporadic knock, achieving a desired performance with stable combustion.

Suggested Citation

  • Fagundez, J.L.S. & Golke, D. & Martins, M.E.S. & Salau, N.P.G., 2019. "An investigation on performance and combustion characteristics of pure n-butanol and a blend of n-butanol/ethanol as fuels in a spark ignition engine," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 521-530.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:176:y:2019:i:c:p:521-530
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2019.04.010
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Gallagher, Paul W. & Shapouri, Hosein & Price, Jeffrey & Schamel, Guenter & Brubaker, Heather, 2003. "Some Long-Run Effects of Growing Markets and Renewable Fuel Standards on Additives Markets and the U.S. Ethanol Industry," Staff General Research Papers Archive 10648, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    2. Gallagher, Paul W. & Shapouri, Hosein & Price, Jeffrey & Schamel, Guenter & Brubaker, Heather, 2003. "Some long-run effects of growing markets and renewable fuel standards on additives markets and the US ethanol industry," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 25(6-7), pages 585-608, September.
    3. Gallagher, Paul W. & Shapouri, Hosein & Price, Jeffrey & Schamel, Guenter & Brubaker, Heather, 2003. "Some long-run effects of growing markets and renewable fuel standards on additives markets and the US ethanol industry," ISU General Staff Papers 200309010700001445, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
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    Cited by:

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    2. da Costa, Roberto Berlini Rodrigues & Rodrigues Filho, Fernando Antônio & Moreira, Thiago Augusto Araújo & Baêta, José Guilherme Coelho & Guzzo, Márcio Expedito & de Souza, José Leôncio Fonseca, 2020. "Exploring the lean limit operation and fuel consumption improvement of a homogeneous charge pre-chamber torch ignition system in an SI engine fueled with a gasoline-bioethanol blend," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 197(C).
    3. Diming Lou & Yedi Ren & Xiang Li & Yunhua Zhang & Xia Sun, 2020. "Effect of Operating Conditions and TWC Parameters on Emissions Characteristics of a Stoichiometric Natural Gas Engine," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-18, September.
    4. Wermer, Lydia & Lefkowitz, Joseph K. & Ombrello, Timothy & Im, Seong-kyun, 2021. "Spark and flame kernel interaction with dual-pulse laser-induced spark ignition in a lean premixed methane–air flow," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 215(PB).
    5. Sathish Kumar, T. & Ashok, B. & Saravanan, B., 2023. "Calibration of flex-fuel operating parameters using grey relational analysis to enhance the output characteristics of ethanol powered direct injection SI engine," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 281(C).
    6. Meng, Xianglong & Xie, Fangxi & Li, Xiaona & Han, Linghai & Duan, Jiaquan & Gong, Yanfeng & Zhou, You, 2024. "Study on the effects of intake valve timing and lift on the combustion and emission performance of ethanol, N-butanol, and gasoline engine under stoichiometric combustion and lean burn conditions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 300(C).
    7. Muhammad Kashif Jamil & Maaz Akhtar & Muhammad Farooq & Muhammad Mujtaba Abbas & Saad & Muhammad Khuzaima & Khurshid Ahmad & Md Abul Kalam & Anas Abdelrahman, 2022. "Analysis of the Impact of Propanol-Gasoline Blends on Lubricant Oil Degradation and Spark-Ignition Engine Characteristics," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-11, August.

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