Renewable Energy 29 (2004) 1181–1191

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Technical note
The use of ethanol–gasoline blend as a fuel
in an SI engine
Fikret Yüksel , Bedri Yüksel
Faculty of Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Atatürk, Erzurum, Turkey
Received 27 April 2003; accepted 10 November 2003

Abstract

One of the major problems for the successful application of gasoline–alcohol mixtures as a
motor fuel is the realization of a stable homogeneous liquid phase. To overcome this prob-
lem, a new carburetor was designed. With the use of this new carburetor, not only the phase
problem was solved but also the alcohol ratio in the total fuel was increased.
By using ethanol–gasoline blend, the availability analysis of a spark-ignition engine was
experimentally investigated. Sixty percent ethanol and 40% gasoline blend was exploited to
test the performance, the fuel consumption, and the exhaust emissions.
As a result of this study, it is seen that a new dual fuel system could be serviceable by
making simple modifications on the carburetor and these modifications would not cause
complications in the carburetor system.
# 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Alternative fuels; Ethanol; Engine performance; Pollutant emission preface

1. Introduction

All kinds of vehicle engines work with fuels produced from petrol. However, pet-
rol reserves in the world are limited and expected to be exhausted in about 41
years. Limited energy sources warn of a potential lack of energy in the future.
Depletion of fossil fuels and environmental considerations have led engineers and
scientists to anticipate the need to develop a clean, renewable and sustainable
energy system. The energy crisis created an incentive to study and evaluate alco-
hols as an alternative fuel in the spark-ignition engines. Since ethanol can be fer-


Corresponding author. Fax: +90-442-236-09-57.
E-mail address: fikretyuksel@yahoo.com (F. Yüksel).

0960-1481/$ - see front matter # 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.renene.2003.11.012
1182 F. Yüksel, B. Yüksel / Renewable Energy 29 (2004) 1181–1191

mented and distilled from biomasses, it can be considered as a renewable energy

[1]. As a fuel for spark-ignition engines, alcohol has some advantages over gaso-
line, such as better anti-knock characteristics and reduction of CO and UHC emis-
sions. Although alcohol has these advantages, due to limitations in the technology,
and economic and regional considerations, still it cannot be used extensively.
Alcohol is completely miscible with water in all proportions, while gasoline and
water are immiscible [2]. This may cause the blended fuel to contain water, and
further result in corrosion problems on the mechanical components, especially on
the components made of copper, brass or aluminum. To minimize this problem on
fuel delivery system, such materials mentioned above must be avoided [3]. Alcohol
can react with most rubber and cause a jam in the fuel pipe. Therefore, it is
advised to use fluorocarbon rubber as a replacement for rubber [4].
On the combustion characteristics, the auto-ignition temperature and flash point
of alcohol are higher than those of gasoline, which make it safer for transportation
and storage. The latent heat of evaporation of alcohol is 3–5 times higher than that
of gasoline, which makes the temperature of the intake manifold lower, and increa-
ses the volumetric efficiency. The heating value of alcohol is also lower than that of
gasoline. Therefore, we need 1.5–1.8 times more alcohol fuel to achieve the same
energy output. Moreover, the stochiometric air–fuel ratio (AFR) of alcohol is
about 2/3–1/2 that of gasoline, hence the required amount of air for complete
combustion is lesser for alcohol.
Sustaining a clean environment is an important issue in an industrialized society.
The air pollution caused by automobiles and motorcycles is one of the most impor-
tant environmental problems to be tackled. Since using ethanol–gasoline blended
fuels can ease off the air pollution and the depletion of the petroleum fuels simul-
taneously, much research has been devoted to study the effect of these alternative
fuels on the performance and pollutant emission of an engine. Palmer, [5] for
instance, used various blend rates of ethanol–gasoline fuels in engine tests. The
results indicated that 10% ethanol addition increases the engine power by 5% and
the octane number can be increased by 5% for each 10% ethanol added. Abdel et al.
[6] tested 10%, 20%, 30%, and 40% ethanol of blended fuels in a variable-com-
pression-ratio engine. They found that the increase of ethanol content increases the
octane number, but decreases the heating value. The 10% addition of ethanol had
the most obvious effect on increasing the octane number. Under various com-
pression ratios of the engine, the optimum blend rate was found to be 10% ethanol
with 90% gasoline.
Bata et al. [7] studied different blend rates of ethanol–gasoline fuels in engines,
and found that the ethanol could reduce the CO and UHC emissions to some
degree. The reduction of CO emission is apparently caused by the wide flamm-
ability and oxygenated characteristic of ethanol. In the study by Palmer, he indi-
cated that 10% of ethanol addition to gasoline could reduce the concentration
of CO emission up to 30% [5]. Alexandrian et al. [8] showed that the AFR has
great influence on the CO emission. Using ethanol–gasoline blended fuel instead of
gasoline alone, especially under fuel-rich conditions, can lower CO and NOx
emissions. However, studies of Chao et al. and Rideout et al. [9,10] pointed out
 F. Yüksel, B. Yüksel / Renewable Energy 29 (2004) 1181–1191 1183

that using ethanol–gasoline blended fuels increases the emission of formaldehyde,

acetaldehyde and acetone 5.12–13.8 times than those from gasoline. Although the
emission of aldehyde will increase when we use ethanol as a fuel, the damage to the
environment by the emitted aldehyde is far less than that by the poly-nuclear
aromatics emitted from burning gasoline. Therefore, higher percentage of alcohol
in blended fuel can make the air quality better in comparison to gasoline [11].
From the literature review, it is understood that alcohol–gasoline blended fuels
can effectively lower the pollutant emission without major modifications to engine
design [12,13].
Moreover, ethanol can be made from biomass. Ethanol (C2H5OH) is a pure sub-
stance. It contains an oxygen atom, which can be viewed as partially oxidized
hydrocarbon. Gasoline–alcohol mixtures may be prepared by addition of certain
amount of ethanol to the gasoline. Gasoline–ethanol mixtures, which contain up to
20% ethanol by volume, can be safely used without causing any damage to the
construction of the motor. In this system, depending on the ratio of ethanol, gaso-
line and water components, it is possible to distinguish the limits of a homo-
geneous and stable phase. A phase separation is observed in gasoline–ethanol
mixtures when the amount of water present in the mixture is over a certain limit.
At the phase separation, gasoline, which contains less than 20% ethanol by volume
and is also aromatic in character, is said to be more stable. As pointed out, to be
able to use gasoline–ethanol mixtures as a motor fuel, the mixture must be stable
and a separation of phases should not occur. In gasoline–ethanol–water systems,
the phase separation depends on the methanol and water content of the blend, the
environmental temperature, and the composition of gasoline. In order to reduce
the phase separation temperature, higher aliphatic alcohols such as tertiary butyl
alcohol, benzyl alcohol, cyclohexanol or toluene are usually added to the gasoline–
alcohol blends [14,15].
In this study, the carburetor was redesigned to solve the aforementioned pro-
blems and be able to use a 60% alcohol–gasoline blend by volume.

2. Experimental apparatus and method

Experimental apparatus included three major systems, i.e. the engine system, the
power measurement system, and the exhaust measurement system (Fig. 1). The
engine system used in this experiment, whose technical data are shown in Table 1,
was a commercial engine. Properties of the fuels used are given in Table 2. The
engine output power was metered by the hydraulic dynamometer made by Taylan–
Etker. In the experiments, the concentrations of CO, CO2, HC and O2 in the
exhaust gas were measured on-line by the analyzer of VLT-3600 with pre-cali-
bration.
In the SI engine used, the air and fuel are mixed together in the intake manifold
system prior to entry to the engine cylinder by using a carburetor. The engine
under the investigation was tested with original carter carburetor (Fig. 2). Then,
the carburetor was redesigned to be able to use gasoline–alcohol mixture as a fuel.
The new carburetor had two float chambers (Fig. 3), one used as an ethanol tank
1184 F. Yüksel, B. Yüksel / Renewable Energy 29 (2004) 1181–1191

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the experimental system.

while the other used as a gasoline tank. Connection point of the ethanol float
chamber with the original carburetor is shown in Fig. 2. With the use of new car-
buretor system, the consumption of two different fuels, which made phase trans-
formation, was secured. Gasoline and ethanol was mixed in the fuel discharge tube.
In the case of idle speed, the fuel was taken only from gasoline float chamber when
the throttle plate position was increased and also the ethanol amount in the mix-
ture was increased.
The mixture ratio as a function of engine speed is shown in Fig. 4. When the
engine worked only with the gasoline, the alcohol pathway was cutoff and the
experiment was resumed with normal gasoline carburetor. Then, the alcohol–gaso-
line mixture which had a high alcohol proportion was dispatched from the engine
by means of some arrangements.
The selected operating conditions for this experiment were as follows:

– The engine speeds were in between the idle speed and the maximum speed.
– Throttle valves were at 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% (wide open throttle, WOT)
opening.

Table 1
General properties of the test engine
Engine type Opel record L, water cooled, spark ignition engine
Number of cylinders 4
Firing order 1-3-4-2
Bore 74 mm
Stroke 85 mm
Capacity 1668 cc
Compression ratio 8:1
Maximum power (4300 rev/min) 43 kW
Maximum torque (1800–2400 rev/min) 125.6 Nm
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Table 2
Properties of ethanol compared with gasoline

Fuel property Ethanol Gasoline

Formula C2H5OH C4 to C12
Molecular weight 46.07 100–105
v
Density, kg/l, 15/15 C 0.79 0.69–0.79
v
Specific gravity (Relative density), 15/15 C 106–110 91
v
Freezing point, C 114 40
v
Boiling point, C 78 27–225
v
Vapor pressure, kPa at 38 C 15.9 48–103
Specific heat, kJ/kg K 2.4 2.0
v
Viscosity, mPa s at 20 C 1.19 0.37–0.44
Lower heating value, 1000 kJ/L 21.1 30–33
v
Flash point, C 13 43
v
Auto-ignition temperature, C 423 257
Flammability limits, Vol %
Lower 4.3 1.4
Higher 19.0 7.6
Stochiometric air–fuel ratio, weight 9.0 14.7
Octane number
Research 108.6 88–100
Motor 89.7 80–90

– With these operating conditions (throttle valve opening, engine speed, fuel
type), torque output, fuel consumption rate, engine speed, intake air quantity
and concentrations of CO, CO2, HC and O2 emissions were recorded
for further analysis.

Fig. 2. Schematic diagram of Carter carburetor.

1186 F. Yüksel, B. Yüksel / Renewable Energy 29 (2004) 1181–1191

Fig. 3. Schematic diagram of redesigned carburetor.

For the 100% WOT position, engine characteristics such as specific fuel con-
sumption (sfc, g/kWh), torque (T, Nm), effective power (P, kW), mean effective
pressure, volumetric efficiency (gv, %), and thermal efficiency (ge, %) are demon-
strated in Fig. 5 as a function of the engine speed (r, rpm).
Specific fuel consumptions calculated from different WOT positions are shown in
Figs. 6 and 7 as a function of mean-effective-pressure and engine speed (map of
engine characteristics).
Concentrations of CO, CO2, HC and O2 emissions are shown in Figs. 8–11 as a
function of engine speed.

3. Results and discussion

The engine was initially started with only gasoline. Then, the ethanol ratio in the
blend fuel was increased with the increase in engine speed (Fig. 4).

Fig. 4. The ratio of ethanol in the mixture vs. engine speed.

 F. Yüksel, B. Yüksel / Renewable Energy 29 (2004) 1181–1191 1187

Fig. 5. Engine performance characteristics for gasoline and gasoline–ethanol blend fuels at 4/4 throttle
valve opening position.

From the evaluation of all figures together, it was seen that the blend fuel pro-
duced were very similar to engine characteristics when compared with those for
pure gasoline (Fig. 5). In the blend fuel, an increase in the specific fuel consump-
tion and a decrease in the engine torque and power output measurements were
observed. Although thermal efficiency of the engine showed no significant change
relative to gasoline, the advantage of increased octane number could well be used in
increasing the efficiency when the compression ratio of the engine was altered. Since
the blend fuel has relatively lower calorific values than gasoline (44.001 MJ/kg for
1188 F. Yüksel, B. Yüksel / Renewable Energy 29 (2004) 1181–1191

Fig. 6. Specific fuel consumption (sfc) as a function of mean effective pressure and engine speed (Per-
formance map of the engine used with only gasoline as a fuel).

gasoline, 26.771 MJ/kg for ethanol), the power output of the engine was
reduced [12].
The results of the above tests can be used to illustrate alternative strategies for
using ethanol blend in an engine. Ethanol contains an oxygen atom in its basic
form; it therefore can be treated as a partially oxidized hydrocarbon. When etha-
nol is added to the blended fuel, it can provide more oxygen for the combustion
process and leads to the so-called ‘‘leaning effect’’. Owing to the leaning effect, CO

Fig. 7. Specific fuel consumption (sfc) as a function of mean effective pressure and engine speed (Per-
formance map of the engine used of only gasoline–ethanol mixture as a fuel).
 F. Yüksel, B. Yüksel / Renewable Energy 29 (2004) 1181–1191 1189

Fig. 8. The variation of CO emissions in relation to the engine speed.

emission will decrease tremendously. HC and NOx emissions will also decrease
under some operating conditions.
As it can be seen in Figs. 6 and 7, for a fixed engine speed, a higher throttle
opening can provide more fuel for burning, i.e. more energy input. Therefore, the
torque output is increased with the increase of the throttle valve opening. The
theoretical AFR of gasoline is 1.6 times that of ethanol; therefore the specific fuel
consumption (sfc) should be increased with the increase of ethanol content.

Fig. 9. The variation of CO2 emissions in relation to the engine speed.

1190 F. Yüksel, B. Yüksel / Renewable Energy 29 (2004) 1181–1191

Fig. 10. The variation of HC emissions in relation to the engine.

4. Conclusion

The aim of this study was to increase the ethanol ratio in the fuel mixture, to
ease the engine’s work. These aims were accomplished by making small changes at
the carter carburetor.
The engine performance and the pollutant emission of a commercial SI engine
were investigated by using an ethanol–gasoline blend fuel. Experimental results
indicated that using ethanol–gasoline blended fuel, the torque output consumption

Fig. 11. The variation of O2 emissions in relation to the engine speed.

 F. Yüksel, B. Yüksel / Renewable Energy 29 (2004) 1181–1191 1191

of the engine increased slightly, the CO and HC emissions decreased dramatically

as a result of the leaning effect caused by the ethanol addition, and the CO2 emis-
sion increased because of the improved combustion. In this study, it was found
that using ethanol–gasoline blended fuel, the CO and HC emissions would be
reduced approximately by 80% and 50%, respectively, while the CO2 emission
increases 20% depending on the engine conditions (Figs. 8–11).
Finally, we emphasize here that in order to present a complete picture on the uti-
lization of the ethanol–gasoline blended fuel in engines, the extensions of this
study, such as the engine test under the open-loop control of carburetor, must be
investigated.

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