COMPARISON OF ETHANOL, METHANOL AND BUTANOL BLENDING WITH GASOLINE AND RELATIONSHIP WITH ENGINE PERFORMANCES AND EMISSIONS.

Worldwide, in recent years, it has been observed intensive research to find out alternatives to fossil fuels because world's fossil fuel reserves are limited. Alternative fuels are derived from resources other than petroleum. Alcohol based fuels may have been regarded as one of the alternative fuels because they have several physical and combustion properties similar to gasoline. The use of alcohol fuels or alcohol-blended fuels in gasoline has a great potential to reduce engine emissions. That is why this study is aimed to develop the model of a spark-ignited engine for predicting the effect of various fuel types on engine performances and emissions. The simulation tool AVL Boost was used to analyze the engine characteristics for different blends of ethanol, methanol, butanol and gasoline (by volume). The simulation results obtained from different fuel blends indicated that when alcohol-gasoline fuel blends were used, the brake power decreased and the brake specific fuel consumption increased compared to those of gasoline fuel. When fuel blends percentage increases, the CO and HC concentration decreases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]