[en] Simple fermentation, reflux distillation and blending protocols were developed to produce a bioethanol azeotrope and a hydrous gasohol fuel: the MMSU hBE gasohol fuel, respectively. The 95% fuel-grade hydrous ethanol, MMSU 95 hBE, was produced from sweet sorghum and sugarcane. It was subsequently used to formulate a hydrous gasohol blend: the MMSU hBE-20. Unlike other hydrous gasohol blends, our formulation does not need dispersants, nor cosolvents. When MMSU 95 hBE was added to the commercially available anhydrous E-10, the resulting MMSU hBE 20 was stable at ambient temperature and did not show phase segregation even at refrigerated conditions. Tests of the hydrous gasohol fuel in stationary 4-stroke engines, motorcycles and motor vehicles, revealed no discernible problems. The performance of a 6.5 HP engine fueled with MMSU hBE-20 was similar to that fueled with commercial E-10. Under engine load of 4, 61 and 8 kg, fuel consumption (L/hr), brake horsepower (BHP), brake fuel rate (L/BHP-hr), heat value (Btu/lb), and brake thermal efficiency were also comparable. Further tests show that MMSU 95 hBE can also be used in blends up to E-85, indicating the possibility that it can be used in Flex Fuel Vehicles (FFV) when they become available in the Philippines. The MMSU hBE 20 is a promising fuel for gas powered engines and vehicles. It is more economical and environmentally sustainable to produce and use than blends using anhydrous ethanol. More important, these technologies are scale-adaptable and easily adoptable at the village level to create an enterprise that is economically viable. Current forecast indicate an average production cost of PHP 30 per liter using feedstocks from sugarcane and sweet sorghum. Commercialization of these technologies will open opportunities for village level ethanol production and would be a significant contribution towars the implementation of several Republic Acts: The RA 9637- the Philippine Biofuels Act, RA 9003 - Philippines' Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, RA 9513- The Philippines Renewable Energy Act, and the RA 8749- The Philippine Air Act. (author)

[en] Short communication

[en] The objectives of this paper are to describe the research efforts in diesel engine combustion at Sandia National Laboratories' Combustion Research Facility and to provide recent experimental results. We have four diesel engine experiments supported by the Department of Energy, Office of Heavy Vehicle Technologies: a one-cylinder version of a Cummins heavy-duty engine, a diesel simulation facility, a one-cylinder Caterpillar engine to evaluate combustion of alternative fuels, and a homogeneous-charge, compression-ignition (HCCI) engine facility is under development. Recent experimental results to be discussed are: the effects of injection timing and diluent addition on late-combustion soot burnout, diesel-spray ignition and premixed-burn behavior, a comparison of the combustion characteristics of M85 (a mixture of 85% methanol and 15% gasoline) and DF2 (No.2 diesel reference fuel), and a description of our HCCI experimental program and modeling work

[en] The study is made on the assumption that Sweden, as a first step, will substitute alcohol fuels for five percent of the gasoline and diesel consumption, i.e. 700-900,000 m³ alcohol/year, and later increase the alcohol share. Alcohol will be mixed into all gasoline, and one new fuel quality (85 percent alcohol) will be introduced during a ten year period. The cost for adapting the distribution system to alcohol fuels, and for building new service stations etc are also estimated. 15 refs

[en] Highlights: • Exhaust gases are the major source of exergy losses for full load condition. • Pumping losses are the major source of irreversibilities for partial loads. • Ethanol combustion has a lower degree of irreversibility compared to that of gasohol. • Higher mechanical losses are observed when the engine is operating with ethanol. • Exergy of exhaust gases is higher for lean mixtures conditions. -- Abstract: Exergetic analysis consists in the evaluation of the exergetic balance on experimental data. When applied to an internal combustion engine, exergetic analysis can identify sources of inefficiency and potentialities for utilizing exergy that would be rejected. To perform this analysis, experimental data were acquired for different operating conditions of a spark-ignition engine by using gasohol and hydrous ethanol as fuels. With these data, an exergetic analysis was carried out by evaluating the effects of engine operating parameters on associated irreversibilities. Afterwards, a comparison between the exergetic analyses of hydrous ethanol and gasohol was presented. Finally, first and second law efficiencies were evaluated as functions of engine speed, engine load and air–fuel ratio. Exergy distributions of hydrous ethanol at different conditions and the accounts of exergy losses during engine operations were also evaluated.

[en] Short communication

[en] The use of ethyl alcohol is in continuous increase in the field of the transports. Consequently, there is a renewed interest for its flammability characteristics in order to decide the necessary conditions of safety. In this paper the flammability characteristics of ethyl alcohol are examined and some examples of calculation of the flammability limits of different mixture with gasoline are reported.

[en] A study concerning the real possibilities of establishing in Colombia a broad program about the use of ethanol and gasoline in mixtures as an automotive fuel is described. Based in the use of sugar cane as the raw material, environmental, social-economical and technical effects are discussed

[en] Highlights: • Gasohol exhibited relatively higher P, P_max, HRR, RoPR and CHR. • With increasing engine speed, HRR_max increased. • Gasohols showed 1–3 dB(A) higher total noise than gasoline. • Gasoline exhibited highest vibrations amongst all test fuels. • Total noise was 5–8 dB higher than corresponding combustion noise. • Higher load did not necessarily result in increased combustion noise. -- Abstract: Engine noise and vibrations are influenced by engine’s combustion characteristics in addition to contributions from moving components. Combustion characteristics in-turn depend on various parameters such as fuel type, engine load, engine speed, spark timing etc. Low-carbon intensity fuels such as methanol have emerged as an attractive alternative to gasoline because of potential of their production from renewable resources and their higher octane rating. This experimental study was carried out in a single cylinder gasoline direct injection (GDI) research engine to investigate engine’s noise, and vibration characteristics and correlate them with the combustion characteristics of the engine. In this study, 10% (v/v) and 20% (v/v) methanol was blended with gasoline (M10 and M20), and these test fuels were evaluated at varying engine loads and speeds vis-à-vis baseline gasoline (G100). It was found that methanol-gasoline blends evaluated in this study generated relatively higher in-cylinder pressure, higher HRR, higher rate of pressure rise (RoPR) and cumulative heat release (CHR) compared to G100, which influenced engine's noise and vibration characteristics significantly.

[en] Experiences from foreign countries from introduction of alcohols, gasohol, ethers and methane derived from bio-sources are reported. The following countries are covered: Brazil, USA, France, Australia and New Zealand