Enhancement of M15 Engine Performance by the Addition of Propylene Glycol

Abstract

The researches on fuel alternative for the spark-ignition engine are currently conducted intensively, including the use of methanol-gasoline blend. One of the problems faced against the use of this fuel is the decreasing of engine performance. In this research, the use of the additive in a spark-ignition engine fueled with methanol-gasoline M15was investigated. The purpose of the research was to find an additive that could overcome the decrease of power and torque of an engine fueled with M15 methanol-gasoline blend. So, the study was intended to determine the effect of additive on the engine torque and power, as well as to find the best additive composition which produced relatively the same performance if compared with the pure gasoline engine. The measurements were performed by using a 1200 cc electronic fuel injection car that has maximum power and torque of 51.7 kW and 84.5 Nm, respectively. The engine was tested on a roll chassis dynamometer equipped with an engine scanner and the acquisition data system. The composition of the additive being tested was between 3 to 10 cc/l. It was found that the power and torque relatively unchanged on the additive composition of 9 cc/l. It can be concluded that the engine performance can be kept up by adding the propylene glycol as an additive for methanol-gasoline blend. Therefore, through this study, a method has been found to overcome the decrease in power and torque of an engine fueled with M15 methanol-gasoline blend.