Investigations on the noise and vibration characteristics of SI engine powered with single and dual alcohol blends - performance, combustion, and emission studies

Abstract

Significant growth in renewable fuel output is required to effectively remove fossil fuel dependence in the transportation sector. Alcohol is regarded as an excellent renewable gasoline substitute. This study investigates the noise and vibration characteristics of a spark-ignition (SI) engine in relation to engine performance, combustion, and exhaust emissions evaluation using methanol-based single and dual alcohol (Ternary) blends. The tests were carried out on a single-cylinder, 4-stroke SI engine utilizing an eddy current dynamometer to investigate the behaviors of single and dual alcohol blended fuels. This study compared the blended alcohol fuels (M10, M15, M20, iBM10, and iBM15) with baseline gasoline at various engine loads. Because of the natural oxygen levels of alcohols, alcohol blends had higher BTE, peak in-cylinder pressure, and heat release rate (HRR). At 2500 rpm and 75% load, the iBM15 had a higher BTE of 33.58 percent. The blended fuels significantly reduced HC and CO emissions compared to conventional gasoline. The noise level increases as the load increases, and blends had a slightly higher but comparable noise level to gasoline. Compared to gasoline, alcohol blends vibrate less, with iBM15 exhibiting a 25.2% and 51.12% drop in vibration level in the Z and Y direction, respectively. It's worth noting that the higher-order alcohol isobutanol can be used to improve the quality of methanol-gasoline blends and as a partial replacement for fossil fuel in the SI engine.