Effect of low percentage methanol blends in gasoline RON 90 on fuel volatility characteristics and spark ignition engine performance

Abstract

Methanol is one of the promising alternative fuel for gasoline that can be made from renewable sources. Methanol has high octane number, which can increase octane number of gasoline. Methanol is also an oxygenate and contain less carbon content than gasoline, so combustion emission can be reduced. Blending methanol with gasoline influences the volatility characteristics of the fuel blend where it could influence engine performance. Fuel used in this study were gasoline RON 90 blended with methanol in percentage of up to 20%. In this study, distillation and Reid vapor pressure were measured, and then engine performance tests were performed using those fuel blends. The obtained result showed that the vapor pressure was increasing with addition of methanol up to 15% with maximum vapor pressure of 74.75 kPa and started to decrease at 20% methanol blends. The distillation curve showed that increasing methanol addition to the fuel blend flattened the distillation curve below the methanol boiling point. Engine performance test results revealed that addition of methanol in fuel blend resulted in decrease of torque, changes in specific fuel consumption, and reduced CO and HC emission.