Fuel Economy and Emissions of the Ethanol-Optimized Saab 9-5 Biopower

Abstract

Saab Automobile recently released the BioPower engines, advertised to use increased turbocharger boost and spark advance on ethanol fuel to enhance performance. Specifications for the 2.0 liter turbocharged engine in the Saab 9-5 Biopower 2.0t report 150 hp (112 kW) on gasoline and a 20% increase to 180 hp (134 kW) on E85 (nominally 85% ethanol, 15% gasoline). While FFVs sold in the U.S. must be emissions certified on Federal Certification Gasoline as well as on E85, the European regulations only require certification on gasoline. Owing to renewed and growing interest in increased ethanol utilization in the U.S., a European-specification 2007 Saab 9-5 Biopower 2.0t was acquired by the Department of Energy and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) for benchmark evaluations. Results show that the vehicle's gasoline equivalent fuel economy on the Federal Test Procedure (FTP) and the Highway Fuel Economy Test (HFET) are on par with similar U.S.-legal flex-fuel vehicles. Regulated and unregulated emissions measurements on the FTP and the US06 aggressive driving test (part of the supplemental FTP) show that despite the lack of any certification testing requirement in Europe on E85 or on the U.S. cycles, the vehicle is within Tier 2, Bin 5 emissions levels (note that full useful life emissions have not been measured) on the FTP, and also within the 4000 mile (6400 km) US06 emissions limits. Emissions of hydrocarbon-based hazardous air pollutants are higher on Federal Certification Gasoline while ethanol and aldehyde emissions are higher on ethanol fuel. The advertised power increase on E85 was confirmed through acceleration tests on the chassis dynamometer as well as on-road.

A proposed methodology for estimating transient engine-out temperature and emissions from steady-state maps

“…In the results presented below, the present study's simulations are compared with experimental measurements from a Mercedes A170 CDI diesel vehicle [14,15] and a Saab 9-5 Biopower flex-fuel (gasoline/ alcohol) sedan [16]. The Mercedes vehicle was powered by a 1.7 l diesel engine with a five-speed manual transmission and had a curb weight of 1095 kg.…”

Drive cycle simulation of high efficiency combustions on fuel economy and exhaust properties in light-duty vehicles

“…Stoichiometric PFI combustion was characterized in a Saab 9-5 BioPower, 2.0-L, fuel-flexible, turbocharged engine designed for a 2007 Saab BioPower Sedan [38]. All the measurements were conducted on a chassis dynamometer featuring a twin-roll type (0.55meter diameter) with an eddy current brake.…”

Alcohol Fuels for Spark-Ignition Engines: Performance, Efficiency, and Emission Effects at Mid to High Blend Rates for Ternary Mixtures

“…There are moral concerns regarding how cobalt in particular is obtained, too. Therefore, due to the fact that alcohols can either be used as pure fuels in their own right or blended in many ways with existing fossil hydrocarbon fuels [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24], there is, in the authors' opinion, considerable merit in continuing to investigate them as a potential future automotive energy vector.…”