Applied Thermal Engineering 31 (2011) 1463e1467

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Applied Thermal Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apthermeng

Cold-start emissions of an SI engine using ethanolegasoline blended fuel

Rong-Horng Chen a, *, Li-Bin Chiang a, Chung-Nan Chen a, Ta-Hui Lin b
a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Southern Taiwan University, Taiwan
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The effects of ethanolegasoline blended fuel on cold-start emissions of an SI engine were studied. During
Received 30 October 2010 cold-start, the ECU controls fuel injection rate based on cooling water temperature and intake air
Accepted 11 January 2011 temperature, which were carefully controlled during the experiment. More ethanol content in the
Available online 25 January 2011
blended fuel makes the airefuel mixture leaner and also affects the RVP value. The engine could be
started stably with E5, E10, E20, and E30. The HC and CO emissions decreased significantly with more
Keywords:
ethanol than 20% added. However, for E40 the engine idling became unstable because the airefuel
Ethanolegasoline blends
mixture was too lean. Therefore, the ethanol content in gasoline for best cold-start emissions was
SI engine
Cold-start
determined to be at least 20 per cent but no greater than 30 per cent.
CO Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
HC
NOx
Emissions

1. Introduction
Ethanol has been used in automobile engines since the nine-
teenth century, but was eventually replaced by the cheaper petro-
leum-based gasoline. In view of the depletion of fossil fuel and the
worsening of global warming, more and more countries turned their
attention to bioenergy. Ethanolegasoline blended fuels applications in
SI engines have been studied by many researchers. Ethanol was
generally accepted to have beneficial effects on the anti-knock
capability and the emissions of CO and UHC. Research before 1989
was surveyed by Bata et al. [1].
The RVP (Reid Vapor Pressure) of ethanol is 17 kPa, far lower
than 53.7 kPa for gasoline. But their mixture does not have an RVP
value linearly proportional to the volume fraction. A volume frac-
tion of 5e10% ethanol can achieve the maximal RVP and thus
facilitate cold-start [2]. Furthermore, the octane number of ethanol
is higher than that of gasoline. Therefore, by increasing engine
compression ratio, both the efficiency and power can be increased.
Palmar [3] found that the octane number had an increment of five
and the engine output increased 5% for every 10% ethanol addition
to gasoline.
Hamdam and Jubran [4] concluded that under partial load the
blended fuel containing 5% ethanol had the best engine perfor-
mance and the thermal efficiency was increased by 4e12%. Abdel-
Rahman and Osman [5] tested E10 through E40 in SI engines while
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: chenrh@mail.stut.edu.tw (R.-H. Chen).
varying the compression ratio and concluded that, for ethanol
content higher than 10%, due to the lowering of heating value, the
engine performance deteriorated. Badwan [6] studied blended
fuels ranging from E10 to E70 and concluded that the highest anti-
knock capability was obtained with E50.
One major objective of using ethanolegasoline blended fuel is
its ability to lower the emissions of CO and UHC. Alexandrian and
Schwalm [7] found that air/fuel ratio variation greatly influenced
CO emission and, under fuel-rich conditions, CO and NOx emissions
could be reduced with blended fuels. Taylor et al. [8] compared
the performance of four alcohols. They found little difference in
combustion efficiency of the four alcohols from gasoline. However,
using alcohol can increase charge density because of the evapora-
tive cooling in the intake manifold.
In Zervas et al. [9,10], ethanol was found to enhance the emis-
sions of methanol, acetic acid, acetaldehyde, and ethanol itself.
Poulopoulos et al. [11] concluded that the benefit of ethanol addition
was eliminated by the catalytic converter operation. In Magnusson
et al. [12] increased acetaldehyde and reduced CO emissions were
found to be the major effects of ethanol addition. In Zervas et al.
[13,14], E5 and E20 were found to decrease NOx by 20% at stoichi-
ometry, and up to 30% at fuel-lean condition. Al-Hasan [15] showed
that ethanolegasoline blends increased the brake power, torque and
brake thermal efficiency, but decreased the brake specific fuel
consumption. He et al. [16] found, in most cases, ethanol-blended
fuels decreased CO, THC (Total HC), and NOx emissions.
Wu et al. [17] used an open-loop operation in a fuel injection SI
engine. Under fuel-rich conditions, the blended fuel could reduce

1359-4311/$ e see front matter Ó 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2011.01.021
1464 R.-H. Chen et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 31 (2011) 1463e1467
Fig. 1. Experimental setup.
the emissions of CO and HC. Al-Farayedhi et al. [18] tested
oxygenated fuels, namely, MTBE (Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether),
methanol, ethanol and found that they improved the engine brake
thermal efficiency. Zervas et al. [19,20] found that ethanol addition
to gasoline could reduce all HC emissions except methane, ethane
and cyclohexane. A four-stroke motorcycle engine was studied in
Jia et al. [21]. The results showed that CO and HC emissions were
lower with E10 fuel, while NOx and aromatics were found to have
no significant reduction. In Bayraktar [22], the most suitable fraction
of ethanol in the blend for SI engines was determined to be 16.5%
theoretically and 7.5% experimentally. Ceviz and Yuksel [23]
pointed out that cyclic variability in mean effective pressure, CO,
and HC emission concentrations can be minimized by less than 10%
fraction of ethanol in the blended fuel. A review article by Niven
[24] indicated that E10 is of debatable air pollution merit and offers
little advantage in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. Yucesu et al.
[25] used a one-cylinder variable compression ratio engine to test
blended ethanolegasoline fuels. The blended fuels E40 and E60
possessed higher octane number and yielded better detonation
resistance. Song et al. [26] showed that the replacement of MTBE by
ethanol can improve CO, HC, and NOx emissions.
Hsieh et al. [27] studied the closed-loop control of the ECU of an
SI engine. For up to E30, the torque was little changed but the HC
emission could be reduced by 20e80%. Topgul et al. [28] indicated
that by utilizing E60 in a 10:1 compression ratio engine the HC
emission could be reduced by 32%. In Yucesu et al. [29], four blends
were tested with varied compression ratios. Optimal operation
conditions were obtained by an artificial neural network approach.
Ethanolegasoline blended fuel for SI engines has been studied
quite extensively. All of the studies focused on the engine perfor-
mance of a warmed and steady running engine. During an SI engine
startup, fuel-rich injection is needed to ensure ignition. This over-
supply of fuel and the non-functioning of catalytic converter due to
its low temperature produce the large amount of HC and CO
emissions in the cold-start period. Seeing that there is a lack of
research results on the cold-start emissions for SI engines which
utilizes ethanolegasoline blended fuel, the present engine test work
was designed to fill this gap of knowledge. The total amount of
emissions associated with various ethanolegasoline blends during
the cold-start period were collected and analyzed to determine the
effect of ethanol addition on cold-start emissions.
2. Experimental apparatus
In Fig. 1, the experimental apparatus is depicted. The engine, see
Table 1, was the OPEL Astra C16SE multi-port gasoline injection
engine without EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation). The torque and
rpm were maintained by an Eddy-current dynamometer (APICOM
FR-150). The engine cooling water was connected to a temperature
control system to maintain the coolant temperature at 80  C. The
catalytic converter was removed, and the exhaust gas was sampled
and analyzed by an MEGA-300 automobile emissions analyzer. This
gas analyzer measured the concentrations of HC, CO, CO2 by
nondispersive infrared (NDIR) gas detector, and those of NO, and
O2, by an electro-chemical sensor and was capable of computing
the equivalence airefuel ratio, using the built-in Brettechneider
formula [30]. The error associated with CO, HC and NO measurements
was 2%. The NOx emission from an SI engine contains mostly NO
[31]; therefore, the NO concentration is representative of the NOx
concentration.
During the cold-start experiments, the valves 1, 2, 3, 4, see Fig. 1,
were closed so that the cooling water only circulated in the water
jacket. This simulated the actual water circulation during cold-start
when the thermostat is closed. After one experiment, generally
lasting for 3 min, valves 1, 4 were opened to cool the engine back to
the cold state to facilitate the next experiment.
The concentrations of CO, HC, and NO emission were measured
in two ways to ensure correct measurement. During the 3-min
experiment, one probe was inserted in the emissions probe hole,
see Fig. 1, to measure the instantaneous exhaust concentration. At
the same time, a collection bag was placed behind the exhaust pipe,
see Fig. 1, to collect the total emissions during the 3 min. After the
experiment, the concentrations of CO, HC, and NO and the total
volume of the collection bag were measured and checked against
the integrated value of the instantaneous measurement from the
emissions probe hole. The two measurements were found to match,
so in the results section, only the results from the instantaneous
measurements were presented.
It is important to mention that the fuel injection rate during the
cold-start period is controlled by the ECU with the signals of
cooling water and intake air temperature. Without careful control
Table 1
Engine specifications.
Item Specification
Engine type C16SE
Number of cylinders/arrangement 4/in line
Number of valves 8
Swept volume 1598 cm3
Bore diameter 79 mm
Stroke 81.5 mm
Power 74/5800 kW/rpm
Torque 135/3400 Nm/rpm
Compression 9.8:1
 R.-H. Chen et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 31 (2011) 1463e1467 1465

Fig. 2. Cold-start emissions for E0.

of these two parameters, the emissions measurements would be
meaningless. In our experiments, a simulated cooling water
temperature signal was input to the ECU for all experiments to
ensure fuel injection rate. And the experiment time during the day
was selected to ensure the intake air temperature stay the same.
3. Results and discussion
The cold-start emissions characteristics of gasoline (E0) are
presented in Fig. 2. During the cold-start experiments on gasoline,
the cooling water temperature was recorded and averaged to be
used as a simulated signal to the ECU for the following experiments
on ethanolegasoline blended fuels (E5 e E40). The intake air
temperature varied a little for experiments on different day or time.
In the presentation of the data, we have restricted the range of
intake air temperature to within a few degrees. In Fig. 2, during the
first 15 s, very fuel-rich conditions was created in the engine by ECU
to ensure ignition, therefore, a peak value in the emissions and rpm
can be seen. As the cooling water temperature increased gradually,
ECU reduced the excess fuel injected. As a consequence, CO and HC
emission gradually decreased, while NO gradually increased; and
they all reached a stable value around 120 s, which corresponded to
a cooling water temperature of 40  C. The engine speed was
maintained at 1000 rpm.
In Fig. 3, measured data for E20 are presented. The engine speed
could be maintained at a stable 1000 rpm, showing no difficulty in
cold starting the engine. Compared with the E0 case in Fig. 2, the CO
emission after 120 s was lowered from 3% to 2% and NO emission

Fig. 3. Cold-start emissions for E20.

1466 R.-H. Chen et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 31 (2011) 1463e1467

Fig. 4. Cold-start emissions for E40.

was lowered from 90 ppm to 70 ppm, while only a slight reduction
was observed for HC emission.
Fig. 4 shows the results for E40. Both HC and CO emissions were
further reduced to around 400 ppm and 1%. However, the engine
speed was no longer stable. This instability can be explained as
follows. During the open-loop control of ECU on fuel injection rate
in the cold-start period, the fuel injection rate was roughly the
same for all fuels (E0 through E40) used. The stoichiometric air/fuel
ratios for gasoline and ethanol are 14.7 and 9, respectively. For the
amount of air to create a stoichiometric air/fuel mixture for gaso-
line (E0), the same amount of air would be excessive for etha-
nolegasoline blended fuels. The percentage of excess air for E5, E10,
E20, E30, and E40 are 2%, 4%, 9%, 14%, and 19%, respectively.
Apparently for E40, the air/fuel mixture in the engine was too thin
so as to cause engine speed instability.
Fig. 5 compares the emissions of six fuels for intake air temper-
ature around 20  C. E5 and E10 performed almost indistinguishably
from the gasoline (E0), while E20 - E40 clearly decreased HC, CO and
NO emissions. In Liao et al. [32], the combustion of ethanolegasoline
blends was monitored for various equivalence ratios in a constant-
volume chamber. They concluded that for E30, during the cold-start
period, the emissions of CO, HC, and NOx could be reduced by 60%,
40%, and 20%, respectively, from the emissions from gasoline
burning. In Fig. 5, e.g. at 120 s, E30 had about 50%, 20%, and 10%
reduction in CO, HC, and NOx from those of E0. HC and CO decreased
due to the more excess air for more ethanol in the ethanolegasoline

Fig. 5. Cold-start emissions for all fuels used.

 R.-H. Chen et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 31 (2011) 1463e1467
blends as mentioned above. NO decreased probably also due to the
excess air, which lowered the combustion temperature. The engine
speed was not stable for E40. Although the irregularities on the
curve seem light, in reality, the poor combustion caused consider-
able vibrations. In the long run, the vibrations could be very harmful
to the engine parts, E40 is therefore not recommended for cold
starting. In conclusion, the ethanol content in gasoline for best cold-
start emissions was determined to be at least 20 per cent but no
greater than 30 per cent.
4. Conclusions
During the open-loop control of ECU on fuel injection rate in the
cold-start period, the fuel injection rate is roughly the same for all
fuels (E0 through E40) used. This made the percentage of excess air
in the air/fuel mixture of E5, E10, E20, E30, and E40 to be 2%, 4%,
9%, 14%, and 19%, respectively. For E5-E30, the engine can run
smoothly. For E40, the air/fuel mixture in the engine was too thin so
as to cause engine speed instability. As far as emissions are con-
cerned, E5 and E10 performed almost indistinguishably from the
gasoline (E0), while E20 e E40 clearly decreased HC, CO and NO
emissions. Therefore, in conclusion, the ethanol content in gasoline
for best cold-start emissions was determined to be at least 20 per
cent but no greater than 30 per cent.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the National Science Council,
Taiwan, ROC, for the financial support under contract No. NSC97-
2221-E-218-036-MY2.
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