JOURNAL OF MECHANICS OF CONTINUA AND

MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
www.journalimcms.org
J. Mech. Cont.& Math. Sci., Vol.-15, No.-7, July (2020) pp 638-647
ISSN (Online) : 2454 -7190 Vol.-15, No.-7, July (2020) pp 638-647 ISSN (Print) 0973-8975

EXPERIMENTAL EVALUATION OF AN SI ENGINE

USING E10 EQUIVALENT TERNARY GASOLINE-
ALCOHOL BLENDS
Farooq Sk1, D. Vinay Kumar2
1
Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Vignan’s Foundation
for Science Technology and Research, Vadlamudi, AP, India.
2
Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering , Vignan’s Foundation
for Science Technology and Research, Vadlamudi, AP, India
1
farooq.314@gmail.com, 2vnykmr.d@gmail.com
Corresponding Author: D. Vinay Kumar

https://doi.org/10.26782/jmcms.2020.07.00056
Abstract
Ethanol can be used as an alternate fuel in internal combustion engines. But
extensive usage of ethanol is restricted because of its biomass limit. On the other
hand methanol can be obtained from different bio-resources and has the potential to
be used in engines. To limit the usage of ethanol, a model of ternary blends of
Gasoline, Ethanol and Methanol (GEM) has been formulated equivalent to binary
blend of Gasoline and Ethanol. The prepared ternary blends have identical Air Fuel
ratio, Lower heating value and Octane number as binary blend. In the present work
the influence of GEM blends in single cylinder, four stroke, and port fuel injection SI
engine in terms of performance and emission parameters have been studied
experimentally. The tests were conducted at constant engine torque of 7.5 Nm and
vary the engine speeds from 1700 to 3300 rpm. The measured performance and
emission values of binary blend E10 (G 90 E 10) and ternary blends E10_B1 (G
91.65 E 5 M 3.35), E10_B2 (G 92.5 E 2.5 M 5) were compared with pure gasoline, G.
The results show that GEM blends have similar performance characteristics as
binary blends and better compared to pure gasoline. Also exhaust emissions such as
Carbon monoxide (CO), unburned hydrocarbons (HC) shows decreased values for
binary and ternary blends compared to pure gasoline due to oxygenated nature of
alcohol blended fuels.
Keywords : Binary Blends, Ternary Blends, Iso stoichiometric air-fuel ratio,
Performance, Emissions.

I. Introduction
The reservoirs of petroleum depleting day by day due to increase in demand
for energy production and utilization in diverse fields. And also due to increase in
concern over air pollution has diverted attention towards renewable fuels. Bio fuels,

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especially alcohols such as ethanol and methanol have been used as substitute to
gasoline and diesel by blending with it in varying proportions and produce lower
emissions because of its oxygenated nature. But alcohols have several physical and
chemical properties different to gasoline especially lower energy content which needs
more amount of fuel to produce same power in gasoline fuelled engines. Al Hasan [I]
experimentally studied the effect of different ethanol gasoline blending proportions
on SI engine performance and emissions. The results showed that blending ethanol
with gasoline results increase in brake power, brake thermal efficiency, CO2
emissions and decrease in HC, CO at engine speeds ranging from 1000 to 4000 rpm.
Ashraf Elfasakhany [III] performed series of engine tests with 3-10 % v/v of ethanol-
methanol with gasoline at different engine speeds and reported that methanol-
gasoline blended fuels gives the lower level of CO and unburned hydrocarbons
whereas ethanol-gasoline blends showed a moderate emission level compared to pure
gasoline. Ozsezen et. al [IV] reported that by varying the engine speed from 40 to 100
km/hr, HC decreases by 14% and 10% for E10 and M10, while CO2 emission with
the use of E10 and M10 increased by 0.1% and 0.8%. V. Saikrishnan et al. [VI]
conducted experiments on a multi cylinder four-stroke SI engine for fuel blends of
E0, E5, E10, E15 respectively and reported an increase in engine performance
parameters such as torque , bake thermal efficiency. Despite of the extensive usage
of ethanol, is not considered to be viable in the long term as an alternate for
conventional fuels, due to the biomass limit [V]. Ethanol generally produces from
corns, sugar cane, sugar beets, potatoes and other food grains by fermentation and
distillation process. In contrast to this methanol can be produced from renewable
sources such as agricultural waste, municipal waste, animal and human waste etc.
Methanol also has high octane number, high latent heat of vaporization and produces
high power compared to gasoline and ethanol. A concept of ternary blends of
Gasoline, Ethanol and Methanol (GEM) was introduced by Turner et al [VIII] in
which each ternary blend have identical stoichiometric air fuel ratio as conventional
binary gasoline ethanol blend. Sileghem et al [VII] experimentally investigated the
E85 equivalent GEM blends and reported that all possible equivalent E85 GEM
blends have identical brake thermal efficiency, volumetric efficiency and heat release
rates as binary E85 blend. Chaichan [II] showed for E85 equivalent ternary blend of
G37 E20 M43 (37% gasoline + 20% ethanol+ 43% methanol) on multi cylinder
Mercedes Benz engine, exhaust gas emissions CO, HC and NOx concentrations
reduced by 46.49%, 25.16% and 1.75% compared to pure gasoline. In the present
study, we aim at preparing and investigating the E10 equivalent two GEM blends on
engine performance and emission parameters which is not presented in earlier studies
and limited only to equivalent E85 GEM blends.
The concept of E10 equivalent binary and ternary blends is shown in Figure
1. The Right side of the figure shows normal E10 binary blend whereas on left side,
E10 equivalent binary M6.65 blends of methanol and gasoline (Methanol of 6.65 %
v/v, Gasoline 93.35 % v/v). An iso-stoichiometric ternary (GEM) blend can be
determined by marking a vertical line in between the left and right side of Figure 1
and noting down the blend proportions on the left axis of the figure. It can also be
observed from Table 3. that two E10 equivalent ternary GEM (E10_B1 and E10-B2)
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blends have identical air fuel ratio, lower heating value, octane numbers and
sensitivity as binary E10 blend.
II. Experimental Set-Up and Procedure
In the present work, experiments were performed on a single cylinder, port
fuel injection, four stroke SI engine; model Honda GX 200, fitted with an eddy
current dynamometer. The detailed schematic diagram of the engine is shown in Fig.
2 and the specification of the engine is shown in Table-1. The engine performance
parameters were calculated by measuring the time taken by the engine to consume 20
cc of fuel for a given engine speed. The exhaust emissions from the engine were
measured using gas analyzer, model AVL Digas 444N.

Fig. 1: Iso-Stoichiometric GEM blends Equivalent to conventional E10

Four blended fuel samples were prepared during the tests, pure gasoline, G, one E10
and two E10 equivalent GEM blends on volume % basis E10_B1, E10_B2. Different
properties of the gasoline, ethanol and methanol are presented in Table 2. The
experiments were conducted at constant torque of 7.5Nm by varying engine speed
from 1700 to 3300 rpm. The engine performance and emissions data were recorded
for each speed after attaining engine stable operating condition.

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Fig. 2: Schematic diagram of single cylinder SI engine

Table 1: Engine Specifications

No. of cylinders 01

No. of Strokes 04

Fuel Gasoline

Rated Power 4.1 kW @3600 rpm

Cylinder Diameter 68mm

Stroke Length 54mm

Connecting rod length 105mm

Compression Ratio 8.5: 1

Cooling type Air Cooled

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Table 2: Fuel Properties

Gasoline Ethanol Methanol

Molecular Formula C4-C12 C2H5OH CH3OH

Molecular Weight 95-120 46 32

Oxygen content 0 34.73 49.9

(%)

Density (kg/m3) 731 789 791

Lower Heating 45.2 26.9 20.09

Value, LHV
(MJ/kg)

Research Octane 95.3 109 109

number

Motor Octane 85 98 88.6

number

Stoichiometric A/F 14.8 9.0 6.5

ratio

Latent heat of 305 840 1100

vaporization
(kJ/kg)

Boiling point, o C 38-204 79 65

Table 3: Properties of Blended fuels

Gasoline E10 E10_B1 E10_B2

Fuel Component (G) (G90 (G 91.65 E 5 (G 92.5 E 2.5
E10) M 3.35) M 5)

Stoichiometric Air 14.8 14.3 14.35 14.33

Fuel ratio

Density (kg/m3) 731 745 744 743

Lower Heating 45.2 43.3 43.25 43.32

Value (MJ/kg)

Oxygen content, 0 3.6 3.2 3.5

(mass %)

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Research Octane 95.3 98.3 98.2 98.22

Number, RON

Motor Octane 85 85.02 85.08 85.05

Number, MON

Octane Number, ON 90.15 91.57 91.64 91.63

Sensitivity (RON- 10.3 13.28 13.12 13.17

MON)

III. Results and Discussion

Brake Power, BP
The BP of an SI engine operating at varying engine speed ranging from 1700
to 3300 rpm is shown in Fig. 3. The BP of the engine is increases with raise in engine
speed and it is observed higher for binary and ternary blends compared to pure
gasoline. The higher value in brake power of engine with alcohol blended fuels is
because of higher latent heat of vaporization of alcohols, which results increase in
density of intake air fuel mixture. And also it can be observed from the Fig. 3 that the
measured BP of the engine is approximately equal for the binary E10 and its
equivalent ternary E10-B1 and E10-B2 blends and it increases by 16%, 12% and 14%
compared to pure gasoline.

2.8
G
2.6 E10
E10-B1
2.4
E10-B2
2.2

2.0
BP (kW)

1.8

1.6

1.4

1.2

1.0

1600 1800 2000 2200 2400 2600 2800 3000 3200 3400
Speed (RPM)

Fig. 3: Comparison of BP of engine for different engine speeds

Brake Thermal Efficiency, (BThe)
The BThe of the engine with pure gasoline, binary and ternary blended fuels
is shown in Fig. 4. The increase in BThe of alcohol blended fuels is due to increase in
brake power and partially oxidized nature of alcohols which contributes to quick and
full combustion of air-fuel mixture. And also BThe of ternary GEM blends (E10-B1
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and E10-B2) is found to be similar with binary E10 blend and this is in accordance
with the hypothesis proposed by Turner et al [6]. This is due to identical fuel
properties of binary blends and its equivalent ternary blends.

32

30

28

26
BThe (%)

G
24 E10
E10-B1
22 E10-B2

20

18

1600 1800 2000 2200 2400 2600 2800 3000 3200 3400
Speed (RPM)

Fig. 4: Comparison of BThe of engine for different speeds

Brake Specific Fuel Consumption, (BSFC)
Fig. 5 compares the BSFC of the engine for pure gasoline, binary E10 blends and
ternary (E10-B1 and E10-B2) blends. It shows observed lower for binary E10 blend
due to its higher brake thermal efficiency.

0.46

0.44

0.42 G
E10
0.40 E10-B1
0.38 E10-B2
BSFC (kg/ kWhr)

0.36

0.34

0.32

0.30

0.28

0.26

0.24
1600 1800 2000 2200 2400 2600 2800 3000 3200 3400
Speed (RPM)

Fig. 5: Comparison of BSFC of Engine for different speeds

Carbon Monoxide (CO)
CO is the colorless, harmful gas formed in the combustion chamber due to
insufficient oxygen to oxidize carbon in the fuel to carbon dioxide. Fig. 6 shows the
comparison of CO emissions by varying engine speed for different fuel blends. The
CO emissions at 2900 rpm using E10-B1, E10-B2 and E10 decreases by 21%, 26%
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and 28% respectively compared to pure gasoline. And also it can be observed that
because of the higher oxygen content in binary E10 blend, the volumetric decrease of
CO is higher than ternary E10-B1 and E10-B2 blends.
8

7
G
E10
6
E10-B1
E10-B2
5
CO(vol %)

0
1600 1800 2000 2200 2400 2600 2800 3000 3200 3400
Speed (RPM)

Fig. 6: Comparison of CO with Engine speed for different fuels

Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
Fig. 7 depicts the comparison of CO2 emissions for gasoline, E10 and its
equivalent ternary blends for different engine speeds. It is observed that formation of
CO2 is higher for alcohol gasoline blends compared to pure gasoline due to
availability of oxygen in blended fuel to oxidize carbon and improvement in
combustion process. The CO2 emissions for all engine speeds are nearly equal for
E10 equivalent binary and ternary blends. At engine speed of 2900 rpm using E10-
B1, E10-B2 and E10 increases by 5.8 %, 6.34 % and 6.7 % respectively compared to
pure gasoline.
14

13

12
CO2 (%)

G
11 E10
E10-B1
E10-B2
10

9
1600 1800 2000 2200 2400 2600 2800 3000 3200 3400
Speed (RPM)

Fig. 7: Comparison of CO2 with Engine speed for different fuels

Hydrocarbons (HC)
Hydrocarbon emissions are formed due to unburned hydrocarbons in the air
fuel mixture that lacks sufficient oxygen for complete combustion. Fig. 8 shows the
variation of HC emissions with engine speed for different fuel blends. The trend of
HC emissions are similar to CO which is again due to insufficient oxygen in the
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combustion chamber. At engine speed of 2900 rpm, HC decreases by 25%, 22% and
24% for fuel blends of E10, E10-B1 and E10-B2 compared to pure gasoline. This is
due to addition of alcohols to gasoline makes the fuel to be oxygenated and results in
reduction of HC emissions.

700

600
G
E10
500 E10-B1
E10-B2
HC (ppm)

400

300

200

100
1600 1800 2000 2200 2400 2600 2800 3000 3200 3400
Speed (RPM)

Fig. 8: Comparison of HC with Engine speed for different fuels

V. Conclusion
The experimental investigation has been done on single cylinder four stroke
SI engine by using pure gasoline and E10 equivalent gasoline-alcohol binary and
ternary blends at constant engine torque of 7.5 Nm and at varied engine speeds from
1700 to 3300 rpm. It has been observed from the obtained results that the brake
power, brake thermal efficiency of engine is similar for E10 binary blend and its
equivalent E10-B1 and E10-B2 ternary blends due to identical air fuel ratios and
lower heating values of blended fuels. And also by blending gasoline with ethanol
and methanol, exhaust emissions such as CO, HC decreases and CO2 increases
compared to pure gasoline due to oxygenated nature of blended fuel.

References
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performance and exhaust emission, energy conversion and management,
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II. Chaichan MT.: Gasoline, Ethanol and Methanol (GEM) Ternary Blends
utilization as an Alternative to Conventional Iraqi Gasoline to Suppress
Emitted Sulfur and Lead Components to Environment, Al-Khwarizmi
Engineering Journal, Vol. 12, No. 3, pp. 38-51, 2016
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III. Elfasakhany A.: Investigations on the effects of ethanol–methanol–

gasoline blends in a spark-ignition engine: performance and emissions
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