Characteristics of SI engine fueled with BE50-Isooctane blends with different ignition timings

Abstract

The effect of various ignition timing on spark ignition (SI) engines with bioethanol-isooctane mixtures has been widely studied. In the present studies, we used three different ignition angle positions, namely 9°, 12°, and 15° BTDC to increase the combustion pressure in the combustion chamber. In addition to macroscopic observations through engine performance, observations are also carried out from a molecular perspective, i.e.; atomic, bond, and bond angle properties of bioethanol-isooctane fuel. The result shows that more atoms of the isooctane carbon chain are non-rotatable (23 atomic bonds) than the 8 bonds of the bioethanol carbon chain. Furthermore, isooctane also has a wider bond angle (around 121.1745°) than the bond angle of ethanol (around 110.0476°). The unique properties of the atoms in the carbon chains of these two fuels have a direct impact on engine performance. The results show that the viscosity of bioethanol is lower when compared to isooctane, which indicates that the bioethanol molecules are more reactive and flammable. The result also found that at an ignition angle of 12° the BE50 engine has the best performance. Moreover, the test results also show that bioethanol produces clean combustion as evidenced by the lowest CO and HC gas emissions.

Keywords

• Bioethanol
• Isooctane
• Molecular properties
• Ignition timing
• Engine characteristic
• Spark ignition