Speakers Information- Controls, Measurement & Calibration Congress

Combustion analysis of a single cylinder engine running with several levels of

ethanol-water blending
Rafael Lago Sari
Macklini Dalla Nora
Mario Eduardo dos Santos Martins
Tiago Evaldo Freitag
Leandro Michels
Federal University of Santa Maria - Brazil

Speakers Information- Controls, Measurement & Calibration Congress

Thompson Diordinis Metzka Lanzanova

Horcio Antonio Vielmo
Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul-Brazil

ABSTRACT
There is enormous scientific effort to obtain clean and renewable energy sources nowadays. Ethanol from sugar cane can
be an answer to these efforts. Its production can be summarized in crop production, mashing and cooking, fermentation,
distillation and chemical dehydration. In the crop production phase, CO2 is absorbed from the environment due to crop
photosynthesis, reducing greenhouse gases impact of the entire life cycle. The energy spent increases exponentially to
obtain ethanol-in-water volumetric content above 80%. Thus, the use of ethanol with high water content can be an
attractive way to reduce the cost of this fuel. This research compares the use of high water-in-ethanol volumetric content,
varying from 5% to 40%, as fuel in a naturally aspirated 0.668-L single-cylinder port-injected Otto engine through
computer simulation and experimental data. Tests were carried out at various operating conditions. Combustion related
parameters were analyzed through in-cylinder pressure data.

INTRODUCTION
Nowadays, there is a huge worldwide effort aiming to replace fossil fuels. The greenhouse gases emission, the constant
rise of fossil fuel costs and their finite availability increase the importance of the research for renewable fuels. Within this
scenario, ethanol appears as very good solution. The photosynthesis process during crop production absorbs CO 2 from
the environment, counter balancing the CO 2 emission during the production and use of ethanol as fuel. Different methods
can be employed to obtain ethanol from feedstock. The use of the right method and feedstock must result in an attractive
balance in theCO2 chain [1].
The steps to obtain 95% ethanol in water (the azeotropic limit) are basically constituted of crop production, transportation,
mashing and cooking, fermentation and distillation. To obtain ethanol above 80 % v/v demands an exponential increase in
energy for distillation. This fact makes the use of ethanol with higher water percentages an attractive way to improve its
life cycle balance and reduce production costs. Figure 1 shows the energy consumption in the distillation process relative
to ethanol LHV (lower heating value):
Ethanol can be used as fuel for road transportation, but is also commonly used in power generation. Moreira (2000)
shows that ethanol have a significantly participation in Brazilian energy matrix, with a growing demand for production due
to higher consumption [2]. This is widely used as fuel and additive in internal combustion engines (ICE). In Brazil, the
gasoline contains percentages of ethanol, to improve the anti-knock properties [3].The ethanol molecule contains oxygen,
thus, the burn of ethanol gasoline blends is more cleanly and the CO, HC and particulates emissions decrease. The water
contained in high hydrated ethanol, decrease the reaction rate in combustion chamber, because the water absorbs heat to
evaporate. Thus, the flame propagation occurs more slowly, due at low laminar burning velocities, impairing the
combustion [4]. Engines with high swirl-chamber, advanced combustion techniques, such Homogeneous charge
Compression ignition (HCCI) and Controlled Auto-Ignition (CAI) can be used to overcome this fact.

Figure1: dispended energy in distillation process relative to ethanol LHV

Studies were carried out in a Volkswagen 1.9L 4-cylinders engine operating in HCCI combustion mode running with
blends of ethanol-water until 60 % in volume fraction of water. A pre-heater in intake port was used to heat the inlet air,

thus, was controlled the ignition timing. The pre-heater capacity allows elevate the temperature of inlet air to obtain stable
combustion at maximum 40 % of water. Improves in emissions was be achieved, mainly in NO x production [5].
Christensen et al. (1999) utilizing a Volvo Td100 series in-line 6-cylinder engine proved that the ignition timing and rate of
combustion, in a narrow rage, can be controlled by the injection of water in HCCI combustion [6].

This paper aims to evaluate the effects of using different water-in-ethanol blends as internal combustion engine fuel.
Dynamometer tests were carried out with different ethanol-in-water blends. Computer simulation using a commercial
code, GT-Power, was developed to investigate implications in the combustion process. The engine used was a modified
naturally aspirated 0.668-L single-cylinder port-injected engine, with swirl-chamber spark ignition.

EXPERIMENTAL SETUP

The engine used was a single-cylinder Diesel modified to operate at Otto cycle. The engine main characteristics are
showed in Table 1.
Table 1 : engine characteristics

Cylinders
Valves per Cylinder
Stroke
Piston Bore
Injection Type
Connecting Rod Length
Displacement(total)
Compression ratio
Intake Pipe Inner Valve Seat Diameter
Exhaust Pipe Inner Valve Seat Diameter

1
2
105 mm
90 mm
PFI
160 mm
0.668 L
12:1
41 mm
35 mm

An eddy current dynamometer, specially built for this experiment, with a Frenelsa model F12-40 EL brake was used to
brake the engine. The ignition timing and fuel injection were controlled by a Fuel Tech F400 ECU. AGH14D AVL
piezoelectric sensor was used to obtain and monitor in-cylinder pressure data. When abnormal peak pressure, causing
knock, appeared in monitor, spark advance was delayed. MAP sensorsMPX4250APwere used at the inlet and exhaust
manifolds to acquire instantaneous pressure. Thermo-couples K type were used at the same position of the MAP sensors
to obtain temperature data. Time was measured with chronometer for the consumption of 30 ml of water and ethanol
blend to provide fuel rate consumption. The torque was acquired through load cell.
Installed sensors signals were acquired with a National Instruments acquisition board model NI USB-6259 and Labview
Signal Express software. Data post processing was required due to the angle indicating system which required too much
processing that couldnt be done at real time. A Mathlab routine was designed to post process all data. Pegging was
developed through offset of the entire in-cylinder pressure data to equalize the instantaneous pressure at the intake phase
BDC (bottom dead center) with the intake manifold pressure at the same crank angle position.

EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE
Experimental tests were carried out at 1800 RPM and engine partial load, always trying to achieve the same brake torque
levels. Dynamometer control system capacity was maintained at 25%. This load was use to avoid engine overheating
damages due to low cooling system capacity, which was designed for Diesel cycle operation instead of Otto cycle. The
air-fuel ratio and ignition timing was controlled by ECU. Lambda was manually controlled to be kept nearly stoichiometric
condition. Spark timing was advanced aiming to achieve MBT (maximum brake torque) until high noise and knock begun
to occur.

The nomenclature used for ethanol and water mixtures was EXXWYY, where E stands for Ethanol and W stands for
water. XX and YY are respectively the percentages of ethanol and water. Tests were carried for water-in-ethanol
volumetric contents of 5%,10%,20%,30% and 40%. The time for

SIMULATION
Using the engine software GT- Power, a one-dimensional finite volume model was created to provide full thermodynamic
cycle analysis. Combustion analysis was carried out through a TPA analysis (Three Pressure Analysis Burn Rate
Calculation). This method uses instantaneous pressures from the intake and exhaust ports as boundary conditions,
instead of modeling the entire intake and exhaust systems, to provide flow quantities through the cylinder valves. This
way, volumetric efficiency can be calculated, not imposed. Also, with the instantaneous in-cylinder pressure the software
provides a complete heat release analysis. Figure 2 show the model used to carry out the TPA analysis. The model is built
through blocks which represent engine systems or system parts.

Figure2: engine model in GT-Power software

results
The data obtained from experimental procedure and simulation, with spark timing selected, when possible, for MBT
(Maximum Brake Torque), are showed in this section. The deviations of from the stoichiometric value are mainly due to
fluctuations of fuel-air ratio and engine velocity, which were manually controlled. Other factor could be attributed to the
cyclic variation due to the engines combustion chamber high surface/volume ratio. The table 2 shows the parameters
utilized in the tests for the various ethanol-in-water blends. The ignition advance was knock limited. Combustion noise
levels and in-cylinder pressure signal were monitored. Thus, the tests were performed with spark timing as close as
possible to MBT. For each test, brake torque was measured BMEP (brake mean effective pressure) and brake power
were calculated. These results are shown in table 3.
Table 2: mean velocity, mean and ignition advance for the every fuel blend

Fuel
Mean
Velocity
(RPM)

MBT
mean

Ignitio
n
advanc
e

(CA
BTDC)
E95W5
E90W1
0
E80W2
0
E70W3
0
E60W4
0

1776

1,08

6,5

1806

1,11

1801

1,08

11

1822

1,08

16,25

1824

1,11

20,25

Table 3: Torque, Power and BMEP for every fuel blend

Fuel
E95W5
E90W1
0
E80W2
0
E70W3
0
E60W4
0

BTorque
(N.m)
33,2

MBT
BPower
(kW)
6,18

BMEP
(kPa)
625,2

32,9

6,23

619,5

34,9

6,58

657,0

35,9

6,85

675,8

32,9

6,29

619,5

Using the three necessary instantaneous pressures (inlet, in-cylinder and exhaust pressures) acquired in the experimental
procedure, the TPA combustion analysis model was ran. The figure 3 shows the variation in combustion duration from
different ethanol-in-water mixtures. For these mixtures there was a rise in combustion duration (0-90% MFB mass
fraction burn). The increase of the water content slows down combustion duration and increases ignition delay lower flame
velocities. As water content is increased, spark advance could be increased and so in-cylinder pressure reached higher
values. The increase in cylinder pressure increases flame velocities, somewhat compensating the flame speed reduction
due to higher water content to the limit of 30% of water. For the E60W40, the flame speed reduction due to higher dilution
with water cannot be compensated by the pressure rise.

Figure3: Combustion duration of different ethanol-in-water blends.

The knocking limitation in the MBT search can be observed in figure 4. When E95W5 is used, the ignition advance results
in an increase in temperature and pressure, leading to knock. Therefore, the engine had to operate with delayed spark
timing to prevent possible damage resultant from knock. The use of E60W40 leads to an increase in the fuel knocking
resistance, as mentioned before, due to the lower maximum temperatures the unburned gas zone. Thus, the ignition
timing can be advanced without problems. The use of late spark timing makes that the combustion starts nearly of the
TDC (top dead center), taking place in a greater volume, and so, leading to lower pressures. On the other hand,
increasing water content (E60W40), with earlier spark timing, the combustion takes place in a lower volume resulting in
higher pressures.

Figure4: instantaneous in-cylinder pressure to E60W40 and E95W5

As some water is induced in the cylinder in the liquid state, latent heat highly affects maximum in-cylinder temperatures.
The in-cylinder temperature is deeply linked to the total heat available for the combustion and to the charge specific heat.
So, as water content is increased, keeping the ethanol injection rate almost constant for all fuel blends, the specific heat of
the charge also increases. This fact reduces the maximum cylinder temperature, as can be noticed in figure 5. As the

knock event is also related to the in-cylinder temperature, lower temperatures allow higher compression rates, an option
to improve the engine thermal efficiency.

Figure5: Maximum in-cylinder temperature

Figure 6 shows the burned mass fraction behavior. Can be observed that with more water in the fuel, more slowly the combustion
occurs. This, can be explained due the burning velocities, as higher the water percentage, lower is the burning velocities. Thus the
water addiction causes a decrease in burn rate, which agrees with the literature [7,8]. The modifying inclination of the burn mass
fraction curves can be attributed to the chamber geometry.

Figure 6: Burned mass fraction accumulated by crank angle

Finally, the brake efficiency is affected by the water content. To maintain the same torque baseline in the experimental
tests, the throttle had to be opened as the water content increased, leading to higher volumetric efficiency. Due to all
aspects earlier observed spark advance, combustion duration, volumetric efficiency the engine thermal efficiency
increases until 30% of water content. For the E60W40, the combustion is affected and the efficiency tends to decrease.
The major difference between the simulated and experimental efficiencies can be attributed to some slight differences in
air and mass flow rates.

Figure 6: brake efficiency for different ethanol-water mixtures.

Conclusion

This paper investigated the performance parameters of an Otto engine running on different water-in-ethanol blends trough
dynamometer testing and computer simulation. The main results can be summarized as:

Stable engine operation was achieved for up to 40% of water-in-ethanol volumetric content;

Efficiency increase was noticed until 30% water-in-ethanol volumetric content;

Combustion duration increases for higher water contents due to flame degradation, as a result from higher charge
dilution and lower in-cylinder temperatures;

Water anti-knock characteristic can lead to optimum spark timing without knock occurrence;

The decrease in charge temperatures due to higher water content leads to the possibility to use some aggressive
downsizing techniques such as higher turbo-boost pressures, higher compression ratios and simpler exhaust heat
recovery devices (related to heat recover from cooling system).

Finally, the use of ethanol with higher water contents proved to be an excellent option of a cost effective, renewable, biofuel. Its better energy life cycle balance makes it very competitive with the current fossil fuels and can be a sound answer
to tackle global warming.

Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Federal University of Santa Maria, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, and CAPES
(Coordenao de Aperfeioamento de Pessoal de Nvel Superior) for financial support.

References
1. Ethanol for road transportation
2. Moreira, J. P, Sugar cane for Energy-recent results and progress in Brazil. Biomass Users network (BUN) and
National Reference Center of Biomass (CENBIO) So Paulo, SP, Brazil
3. Kasseris, E P., Knock limits in spark ignited direct injected engine using gasoline/ethanol blends. Massachusetts
Institute of technology, 2011
4. Lanzanova T. D. M.; Vielmo, H. A.; Sari, R.; Martins, M. E. S.; Machado, P. R. M. .Low cost wet ethanol fuel: benefits
and challenges. In: Aachen Colloquium, 2012, Aachen. AachenerKolloquiumFahrzeug-und Motorentechnik. Aachen:
Aachen Herausgeber, 2012. v. 1. p. 1429-1454.Knock limits in Spark

5. Mack., J.H., Aceves, M.S. and Dibble, R.W., 2009. Demonstrating direct use of wet ethanol in a homogeneous
charge compression ignition (HCCI) engine. Energy, vol 43, pp. 782,787.
6. Christensen M., Johansson B., Homogeneous ChargeCompression Ignition. SAE Technical papers series, Lund
Institute of Technology, 1999
7. Harrington, J. A. Water Addition to Gasoline - Effect on Combustion, Emissions, Performance, and Knock. SAE Paper
820314.
8. Brewster, S.; Railton, D.; Maisey, M.;Frew, R. The effect of E100 water content on high load performance of a spray
guide direct injection boosted engine.SAE Paper 2007-01-2648.

CONTACT
Mario Martins, PhD - Senior Lecturer
Federal University of Santa Maria
Mechanical Engineering Department
E-mail: mario@mecanica.ufsm.br
Tel. + 55 55 9622 2373 / + 55 55 3220 8251 Ext. 21
Avenida Roraima, n1000 - Cidade Universitria - Camobi
CEP: 97105-900
Santa Maria RS - Brazil